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Paradox Springs VI [Kai and Jeri's home thread, closed to newcomers]
#324506 - Wed Feb 26 2003 03:00 AM
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Morning at Paradox Springs.
The sun is just peeking her head over the tops of the low mountains, sending warm, golden beams to dance and sparkle off the surface of the dozens of pools that dot the floor of the valley. The dew is just evaporating from the grass, texturing the sharp evergreen scent of the forest with the fresh smell of morning. A flock of blackbirds hop about atop one of the natural rock bridges that span the valley, exchanging morning gossip for all they are worth.
Normally a place such as this would serve as a watering hole for all sorts of wildlife, and perhaps even as a scenic resort and bath for people who want to relax. Fortunately most of the wildlife has better instincts than that, and word has spread among people in the Dream that Paradox Springs serves better as a training ground than a resort; The valley of the Springs is a wild magick node, and the water of most of the springs is mildly cursed. (ooc: PM me for details if you need 'em)
Small, cozy, and of mostly traditional one-story Japanese architecture, Kai Takahashi's house sits atop a small rise in the valley, above all but the worst possible flooding. These days though, it can no longer be called Kai's house only. Recently Jeri Kleinlowe has also come to live there and brave the insanity of the springs.
On this particular morning, Kai is poised atop one of the rock bridges doing a series of gymnastic maneuvers, practicing flexibility and balance as part of his morning workout. The birds may soon be in danger of having a human in their midst. In the house coffee is brewing in the kitchen, its aromatic scent filling the rooms.
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The early morning stillness is broken by the sound of air turbines and an odd thrumming noise. It gets steadily louder for a minute or two, and a somewhat familiar aircraft flies slowly over a ridge, circles and slows to a hover, and lands in an open space normally used for 'safe' sparring matches. A familiar ground sloth climbs out of the craft, and those that know him and this airplane might be surprised to note that he doesn't fall down on the way.  Paradox Springs. I seem to be coming full circle for once. The Spiral Dance loops 'round again... Snarf pauses as he wonders where that last thought came from. Then with a soft "Hmf" he starts toward the springs and Kai. --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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PM Snarf!! Important!When the airplane begins its descent into the valley Kai cuts his kata short, ending up in a balanced crane stance just as Snarf's plane touches down. As the sloth ambles over towards him, Kai trots lithely across the bridge and jumps the last few feet onto the ground, picks up his shirt, and uses it to wipe a bit of sweat off of his forehead before tossing it lightly over his shoulder and walking towards Snarf with a wave and a smile. "Snarf! Good morning! How's it going? Did you get the note we left for you?"
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"Morning, Kai; hope I didn't interrupt anything." Snarf looks a little puzzled. "Note? I haven't been by the power station in a couple weeks, what's up?" (OOC: PM read and replied.  Gotcha. ) --S
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Kai glances from Snarf to the aircraft and nods slowly with a look of dawning comprehension. "Ah, I see. Nah, you didn't interrupt anything, really. It's good to see you again," he smiles casually. "So tell me, what brings you here so early? If you're not in a rush, maybe we can discuss it over coffee, and I can fill you in on what's been happening lately at the same time."
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"Coffee would be good; thanks. I finished fitting out the ol' airplane at RMH's, went back to the scrapyard and made a few more changes, and I've been busy fixing up a helicopter. My 'plane is nice, but I can't take anybody for a lift."Snarf starts toward Kai, then angles toward the house as he joins the mage. "I was sort of hoping you'd be up... I have a few questions about something, and happened to be in the neighborhood. If you need more time to wake up, it can wait." --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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Mmfl. Wfsl - stupid birds. Getting up to early and running their turbines so loud, building nests and twittering in the trees...
When you're not used to getting up early, even your thoughts become mumbled. The noise of Snarf's aircraft slowly works its way through the waking fog of Jeri's mind, eventualy being recgonised by the part of his mind that wasn't still asleep.Right. Sloth. Stupid sloths. Getting up so early and running their turbines so loud, building nests and twittering in the trees... With instincts as deep and as strong as that of migratory birds, Jeri rises and makes his way toward the promising smell of coffee, letting lucidity wait for caffene. He has the presence of mind to wave to Snarf through the front door as he shuffles toward the kitchen, a pile of mussed hair wrapped in a loose robe.
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My ID. My PA card. My home. My garage.BONUS CARD!
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"Nah, thanks, but I'm pretty much awake already," Kai replies with a grin as he walks with Snarf towards the house and notes Jeri shuffle past the door. "Jeri, on the other hand, looks like he's gonna need that coffee pretty badly. Poor guy. He's really not a morning person, y'know?""So how do you take yours?" Kai asks Snarf congenially as he ushers the sloth through the front door and gestures for him to take a seat in the front room. "We got sugar and milk if you want 'em." Realizing the room is in a bit of disarray, Kai quickly begins to sort out the ubiquitous floor pillows into proper seating.
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"Hot, nasty, and the consistency of old motor oil. Black is fine," he says with a chuckle.Snarf has seen Jeri early in the morning enough times to know not to say much. Cats don't seem to get along with waking up. He waves back. The sloth helps Kai sort out the pillows, occasionally using his telekinesis (It's almost a third hand to him, now) to move the furniture around. (BTW, Jeri, I like the new sig card!  ) --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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There is a word for this time of day, and for Jeri, that word is usualy "bedtime". He's already in the kitchen by the time Snarf and Kai enter, emerging into the main room with a fresh mug and a a less bearly expression by the time they're done tidying up the pillows.He shifts his mug to one hand, freeing the other to give Kai a quick hug across the shoulders and a soft kiss on the cheek before he slips down onto one of the pillows in front of the table. "Hey, Snarf," he waves again, this time a casual gesture as he stifles a yawn, "What brings you 'round?" (Thanks! I've been meaning to use it for awhile...)
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My ID. My PA card. My home. My garage.BONUS CARD!
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"I was in the neighborhood, and I wanted to ask Kai a few questions - magick and psi thing I'm trying to figure out."Snarf doesn't even react to the affectionate gestures Jeri gives to Kai. He's seen too much in his travels. The sloth collects a cup of coffee and sits down on one of the ... okay, a few of the pillows. --S
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"'Morning, Jeri." Kai returns Jeri's quick hug with a quick one of his own, then collects his own cup of coffee Turkish style (black as night, sweet as sin). Resettling on the pillows near their guest he nods to Snarf. "I can't promise you any answers Snarf, but go ahead and ask. Heck...if I don't know the answer, maybe Jeri does. He's been to a fair amount of places, seen a fair amount of things too."
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Jeri nods in agreement, taking his glasses off breifly to clean them on the hem of the robe. "I have my little portable terminal here, too, so if we need more information, I can always pull it out and check the Library."(OOC: For my own future refrence - Jeri's remote terminal looks like a Toshiba T1200 - http://rune.tapper.com/museum/toshiba-1200.jpg - with a 'rubber duck' antenna from a CB radio mounted in the back-right corner of the case.)
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"Well, this has to do with my other self, and something I discovered." Snarf puts his coffee down for a second, and does a gesture he uses whenever he wants to show something. He holds his hands up, palms together, over to one side as if to clap a rhythm; but instead, he draws his hands apart, and a bubble of foggy light expands between his palms. Afer a few seconds, images coalesce in the bubble."Remember when my other self caused the biggest rash of headaches this side of Gorgon? I think his mindblast dug something out of my unconscious..." quote:
Originally posted by Snarf, back in Changes and Lessons:
Snarf's eyes go slightly wide when he remembers something that never happened to him... but did happen to his Sauk version. The sloth pulls the bedroom door shut, then softly says something in a language that sounds remarkably like Klingon.He turns off the stove and quietly puts the leftover food in the fridge as the secondhand memory runs through his mind...
As he approaches the Sauk encampment, he sees several Native American-style teepees scattered under the trees along with nests in the lower-to-middle branches of oak-like trees. Around him and several others are clustered nearly 50 female Sauk of all ages from kit to Elder with an ancient male and a young male maybe 12 or 13 years old... The recollection takes all of 30 seconds while he finishes up in the kitchen.
"Put it simply, I've been remembering things that didn't happen to me, but I am fairly sure happened to my other self... won't say I'm positive, but I think I'm reading his memories." --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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"Good call. Thanks, Jeri." Kai takes a sip of his coffee, then leans forward slightly to pay attention to Snarf. He shows no surprise at the magickally generated image, but merely peers at it with a slight and quickly covered look of distaste when he recognizes the scene. (ooc: I'm assuming the image is of the Sauk's memory, not of Snarf-sloth standing by the fridge remembering it. )When the image is finished playing, Kai gives a slight shrug and casts a quizzical look at Snarf across the rim of his coffee cup. "So what are you asking, exactly? The fact that you're reading his memories shouldn't come as a great surprise to you. You're two fragments of the same soul, after all. Are you asking how to stop reading his memories?"
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(Exactly. I included the other stuff for reference. Sorry - I should have explained that.  Jeri, thanks for the reference on the computer. )"I'd like to know if it can be controlled... it's pretty darn random. Stuff like what I just showed you just pops up at the damndest times." "For example..." His image bubble shows how the other Snarf learned to fly and mate in midair. "...I get a lot of emotionally charged stuff. I've also gotten some things that are pretty damn personal, that I don't want to discuss even with close friends." "What I want is to find a way to turn it on and off... every time I try to fight it, I get a hellacious headache." --S
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(Real post edited into place in place of the funky double post.)Kai rolls his eyes in sympathetic pain at the kinds of things Snarf Sloth has been subjected to. Quietly he sits back for a few moments and thinks, and finally offers," Well...the only way I can think of to do it is to try either pinching the psychic cords that connect you, which would potentially give you control to turn it on and off, but would be tricky to set in place and learn to control...or to try and sever those cords completely, which could hurt if not done right, but would unbind you from each other completely. Thing is, because you're such close aspects of each other, I'm not sure how easy that would be, or if it's actually possible at all. What have you tried?"
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Jeri remains quiet, listening and slowly waking up. He shakes his head softly at the projected thought bubbles, rubbing the lip of his mug thoughtfuly between sips."One thing to consider before you try attacking the psychic angle - Remember how I suggested you might try unifying with your other self? I know you think you're too diverged for it to work, but it sounds to me, symptomaticly, like you might be natuarly doing it," he sighs and shakes his head, "Very slowly, I would have assumed it would have started instantly if it were, but the Dream is a very strange place, and its fracticious nature could easily have delayed it, only to be triggered by that intimate mental touch."
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My ID. My PA card. My home. My garage.BONUS CARD!
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Snarf considers for a couple minutes. "You could be right, Jeri. A Physical merge may not be possible after this much time apart... it could well be the case on a mind and spirit level, though.""I've tried to explore this on my own, but didn't get much. I don't know HOW it's happening, doesn't feel like regular telepathy." He Hmphs and adds, "Twins joined at the mind." --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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Note: This happens before Summer's Crusade in Brahma-continuity...Brahma was enjoying his usual leisurely walk through the Dream when he found the house where his old friend, Jeri, lives. The last time I was here, this area was flooded after the terrible storm, thought Brahma. Let us hope I do not change into a lion again. The minotaur approached the house, and knocked on the door carefully. It still thuds loudly. Sometimes I do not know my own strength, brahma winced.
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Jeri nods to Snarf. "Well, you shouldn't be so quick to assume I'm right. I would honestly think that phyiscal merging would come before any kind of.. soul-merging."
He looks to the open door at the knock, standing. "I'll get it," he quickly says, "Just a second."He straightens his robe slightly as he slips into the entryway, smiling as he recognises the looming form of the minotaur. "Hey, Brahma!" he calls, stepping from the doorway, "What finds you in this neck of the woods?"
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My ID. My PA card. My home. My garage.BONUS CARD!
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"Hmmm...that's a good question. I half wonder, though, if the soul-merging wouldn't come first since souls are of a much finer energy than physical bodies. I'd think they'd be easier to merge than bodies. But it's a good question."Kai shakes his head with a touch of resignation. "Well...it's got to be your choice which avenue you want to try, Snarf," he says. "You have to ask your other self and come to some kind of agreement. You two can either try to merge, try to separate, or try to live with things as they are. You...might be better off asking someone like Ceera for help with this. I could probably help you if you want to try for the mental split, but..." for the briefest of moments Kai's expression takes on a darker mein. It passes, and he looks Snarf squarely in the eyes with something between apology and regret, "...I don't think you'd enjoy it much." Just then his attention is diverted by the pounding at the door. He watches Jeri get up and answer it, his eyebrows raising a notch from surprise and curiosity as the visitor becomes known. Brahma? (ooc: If Brahma wishes to enter, he will find that there is just barely room in the house to accomodate him. The floorboards of the porch creak under his weight, but do not give way.)
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Brahma grins at Jeri. It is rare he does such a friendly gesture, but the cat is someone the minotaur could never frown at for too long. "Well, considering the last time I was here, we were under attack by Fury, and then I turned into a lion, I thought I would visit under more...pleasant circumstances."If invited, Brahma does, indeed, come in, ducking as he enters. He's used to such minor inconviences, and warmly greets Kai and Snarf, whom he technically has not met (or so he recalls). "Hello, all."
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Snarf doesn't have a chance to answer Kai when the minotaur knocks. The sloth jumps. As Brahma enters, he looks around, then up... and up... and up... ( )And some people say I'm big... "Hello... I think I've seen you before, but we've never spoken. Call me Snarf." He gets to his feet and waves rather than offering a handshake. --S
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Haiku and card by Jeri Kleinlowe
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Brahma's grin broadens Jeri's own into a broad smile. He walks ahead of the bull, making room for him to pass through."Can I get you coffee or anything while I'm up?"
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