InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "who's afraid of virginia woolf"

Jimmy Proudstar (little_jim) wrote in devolve,
@ 2011-01-24 00:18:00

Entry tags:

alisa_tager, jimmy_proudstar

Who: Jimmy and Alisa
What: Finishing his after-run rounds of the colony
Where: Library
When: Backdated Late Saturday January 22nd
Rating: PG
Status: Incomplete

Every time Jimmy came back from a run, once he'd scrubbed down and been checked over, was move through the colony until he could account for every member.

Some were easier than others. Dr. McCoy was almost always in the medical lab, Stark was nearly always in his own laboratory. A quick detour down in the sub basement confirmed this. This late in the day, most people were inside. Jimmy had seen a few when he came in, a quick round of the mansion's upper floor confirmed nearly everyone else.

Except one. Alisa Tager or Cipher. Who had the ability to turn completely invisible. Inaudible as well. Even Lorna said she couldn't sense her with her powers and she seemed to be able to sense everything from his understanding.

Jimmy could track her by smell. Which was how he'd tracked her down after a run since she'd been there. He didn't know much about her, not like everyone else. She spent most of her time invisible, which meant all he really knew about her was how she smelled. He didn't bother her, since she wouldn't be invisible if she wanted to be noticed. At least by his reasoning.

But he searched her out like everyone else after every run. Because he had to know they were all still there. All still alive. Or he'd never be able to sleep, get any rest at all.

He finally tracked her down in the library. Alisa had been all over the main compound common areas, but here her scent was the strongest and most consistent. Jimmy stepped into the room to confirm it, tracking until he could figure out where she was. Then he turned to leave.

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little_jim
2011-01-27 08:56 am UTC (link)

They were pretty bad too. But when it came to those, Jimmy switched to his warrior mentality. Warpath knew those sounds as a warning the enemy was near and to prepare for battle.

As for the dog whistle, Jimmy flinched at the memory. "No it wasn't," he admitted wryly. "Especially when the kid didn't stop." That was when he'd lashed out and broken the other boy's arm. His long fuse had reached its limit and he'd just snapped. Jimmy didn't like to think or talk about those moments though. They were his greatest shame.

Oh, it was purple prose of sorts. Still, better than how it could be described. Her other quote hit harder to home. "Me too," he admitted, his gaze going back down to the floor.

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aflyonthewall
2011-01-27 09:07 am UTC (link)

"Oh no," she said empathetical to his former plight, rolling her eyes. Really? No one could have blamed him for breaking the kids arm. She sure as Hell wouldn't have blamed him anyway and probably would have done the same. "God, I hope you kicked his ass from then until the next week."

Of sorts but everything was written like that. Or it was like Sylvia Plath had crawled out of her gr--wait, that wasn't a funny analogy anymore. She licked her lips, rubbing the back of her neck a little, "Oooh, look at me making things awkward."

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little_jim
2011-01-27 09:16 am UTC (link)

Jimmy looked away and tensed slightly. "I broke his arm," he admitted. "It probably would have been worse, but Pete was standing right next to me and stopped me. He's stronger than me, thank Usen."

That had been hard to tell her. He wasn't proud of his temper and his violent fits of rage. They were a mark on his honor, on his tribe's honor, a weakness.

He looked down and shook his head. "It's not your fault, Alisa," he told her. "I get angry and lash out. Not very often, but it happens and when I do.." Did he really need to explain in detail what someone with his size and strength could do in a blind rage. He just shook his head because there really was no way to explain it to someone who didn't have the same problem.

Not any way he knew anyways.

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aflyonthewall
2011-01-27 01:26 pm UTC (link)

Ooh, Jimmy had kicked his ass and didn't feel proud about it. Obviously. She was just screwing things up left and right wasn't she? As good at being social as she was and shit. Nice. Lovely.

"I understand about... lashing out," and it sounded like she really did but then she had been on the receiving end. Not that she was going to tell him that. As much as he felt comfortable sharing or as much as maybe she some how convinced him to share, she wasn't going to. No one needed to know about Him except people like Hank and Ororo.

They needed a distraction so she asked softly, "Um... Usen?"

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little_jim
2011-01-27 03:52 pm UTC (link)

There was nothing to be proud of. Yes, the other boy had been cruel to him, but he should have walked away. Now, he would have taken the whistle away, perhaps crushed it into tinfoil. But at seventeen, new to his powers, his strength, he had just reacted.

Perhaps Alisa did. Jimmy couldn't blame her if she did. Something terrible had happened to her for her to hide away all the time. He didn't ask, she didn't offer.

Her question brought a small smile to his lips. "Usen is the lifegiver," he explained. "He taught the first Apache how to hunt, how to make medicine, after he defeated the dragon terrorizing our lands. He commands the mountain spirits and granted us our homeland." This was one of those things that was hard to explain in English, let alone in terms Christians understood.

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aflyonthewall
2011-01-28 05:12 am UTC (link)

She never offered. No sense in upsetting people with things they couldn't possibly understand or fix or change. She'd dealt with it. She didn't want to bring it up and have to fucking deal with it again. Okay, maybe she hadn't really dealt with it. After all, she still was terrified and spent most of her time invisible...

Her first instinct was to say 'so he's a god' except as she recalled, things didn't exactly work that way in the various tribal myths. "So... Usen is like... the uber-spirit?" At least she didn't say god. "I want to hear about this dragon though."

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little_jim
2011-01-28 07:35 am UTC (link)

Jimmy had never really come to terms with John's death or the deaths of his parents and the tribe. He had no room to talk there certainly.

"Basically," he agreed. "Christians would call him a god, and really that's what he is. The greatest of all the spirits, greater than the sky, the moon or the earth."

Of course she wanted to hear about the dragons. "The dragon or serpent, although the description fits what people think of dragons better than snakes, was far too wise and powerful to be killed. He kept eating one of the first women's children. Finally, after her last son was born, she dug a deep hole to hide him. She hid the opening and covered it with a fire. Whenever the dragon came, she claimed she had no more children because the dragon had eaten them all."

His dark eyes grew lively as he continued the tale. "The dragon thought she was lying, but he could never find the child. The woman went down every day to feed him, and the dragon never found him. But as he got older, he didn't want to hide anymore and the dragon saw his tracks. His mother hid him and lied to the dragon again, but he he was more suspicious and she lived in constant fear the dragon would find out and kill both of them."

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aflyonthewall
2011-01-31 06:59 am UTC (link)

"I try not to go the god route with religions I don't know," Alisa shrugged. Especially with Native myths but that was really entirely beside the point. Okay, maybe she was raised a little too PC sometimes.

She settled in, leaning her elbows against her knees and listening with perhaps a ridiculous amount of respect. It wasn't every day you got treated to a story telling of such a degree. "Dragons are such bastards," she commented when he paused then blushed and covered her mouth with her hands. It wasn't polite to interrupt or something.

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little_jim
2011-02-01 04:27 pm UTC (link)

It was a little overly politically correct. Calling Usen a god showed understanding of his might and importance. Jimmy had been much more tense about labels and correctly them when he was younger. Ororo's counsel and upsetting people by overreacting to well meaning attempts to understand his people's religion had taught him to not be so sensitive anyway.

"It is good to be respectful," he admitted, not wanting to discourage her when she was being sociable for the first time.

He had to chuckle at her observation. No it wasn't polite to interrupt, but comments like that generally meant you had your audience engaged in the tale.

"The boy decided he wanted to learn to hunt," he continued. "He begged his uncle to make him a bow and teach him. His mother said no, that the dragon and serpents and other beasts would eat him, but the boy said 'No, tomorrow I go.' The next day, with his new bow and arrows, the boy and his uncle went hunting. The boy finally made a kill, a deer. His uncle taught him to skin the animal and broil the meat. But the smell attracted the dragon."

Jimmy probably enjoyed this too much, storytelling was one of the few times that he enjoyed himself without having to be cajoled into it. He used his hands as he narrated, trying to help his listeners envision creatures like dragons made of rock and stone.

"The boy's uncle was terrified, frozen where he stood with fear. The boy was not afraid, which surprised the dragon. He told the dragon he would not eat him, eat his uncle or their kill. The dragon admired the boy's courage and indulged him in the challenge he issued. The dragon could take four shots at him with his bow and arrow, and if he survived, he would be able to do the same to the dragon with his new bow and arrows. The dragon, having three layers of scales made of rock and stone, knew the boy couldn't kill him with his puny arrows and warned him. But the boy insisted. So the dragon took his bow, a mighty pine tree taller than the mansion and his arrows which were saplings twenty feet long and fired at the boy."

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