Liah Rainey (phasedthrough) wrote in downfallrpg, @ 2010-02-26 08:07:00 |
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Current mood: | perplexed |
Language Barrier
Who: Liah and Minuette
Where: the main lobby, then the elevator
When: early evening, day 5
Liah was at loose ends, thus she was wandering nervously. Of course, she wouldn't have admitted any nervousness to anyone if she'd been asked. She liked to present the image of having metaphorical balls of steel. Hell, if something spooked her, she could just step through the wall, right? Or so she told herself. She'd had a wander down by the pool and through some of the corridors of the various floors, and she'd thought about going into the bar but she'd heard voices and had decided not to. She brushed her fingers over the marble check-in counter, sighing under her breath. She was so bored, and she barely knew any of these people. Maybe walking around was a decent place to start.
She had to do something, she thought as she turned and headed in the other direction, tossing her hair over one shoulder and stuffing her hands into the front pockets of her jeans.
Mini had separated off from the two men that had accompanied her in to the hotel. All that, making their way here together in itself, had been an ordeal and she was tired. With the lack of sleep and lack of proper sustenance and it was to be expected. Getting lost in the hotel was easy enough to do when you didn't know the layout, and Mini hadn't much wanted to go off too far off. The Hotel lobby seemed to be a good place to rest. She didn't know where Loren or Tony had gone and that was fine by Mini really. Loren had put her off at first, but had at least seemed nicer afterwards, Tony had been kind enough and she liked him. She hoped that everybody else she came in contact with would be like Tony. She might offer herself to the monsters if that was the case was otherwise.
This all clearly wasn't the most ideal situation. Not being able to speak the language of most of the people that lived here made it extremely difficult already. She missed Annelise desperately now; the fact that her girlfriend could speak English had made all the difference before now. She was still partially in shock, she knew that much. She was sort of numb after letting out her emotion after the monster had left her lover broken and bleeding in the clothing store. Now it was just the idea of survival. She didn't have the tools currently to grieve. She sighed laying her head down on her bag, hugging on to it and breathing in the familiar scent of smoke and musk of her girlfriend.
She heard the sounds around her, the people moving but she hadn't heard anybody in the lobby for some time, so when there were footfalls just a ways away from her, the survival instinct caused her to look up immediately, noticing the woman wandering around, Mini wasn't sure she should draw attention to herself.
The woman had been so still that Liah hadn't had any idea she wasn't alone. Once she'd turned around, she'd just happened to catch a sudden movement and, not knowing what it was, it had caused her heart to pound in her throat. When she realized that it was another person, someone who didn't look monster-y and also didn't look much older than she was, she exhaled and tried not to look as startled as she'd felt. She walked a bit closer, her flip-flop clad feet making a faint slapping sound on the floor. "The beds aren't that bad," she ventured, shrugging a little. "At least, mine isn't." She'd only been here a day herself, but she figured that maybe this was a new arrival. More people were coming in all the time.
Mini hadn't meant to startle the woman. She looked ordinary enough. Tony had said there were people in the Hotel and she was glad for that. Her face didn't fall but her heart did when the woman again, started speaking English to her. This time in a different accent then Tony and Loren's. There was no hello though, so Mini had to carefully listen to the words to decipher if she knew anything. She'd have to get used to being addressed in English she supposed. And not letting herself be disappointed every single time. Perhaps she could get Tony to write on a piece of paper that she didn't speak English and pin it to her coat. That'd ease up some of the explaining at least.
One word at least sounded familiar enough. Bed. She tried to smile at the woman at least. "Um, little English..." Her accent was heavy. She sighed at that She was really going to hate having to repeat that constantly. She gazed at the woman intently though, "Bed?" she asked, looking curious enough but nodding her head as if to say she knew what a bed was, but was that what everybody else was doing? Choosing beds? Of course, they were in a hotel, there ought to be beds, but Mini wasn't sure if everybody was taking up residence there? Moving in? Was that safe? She had no idea.
"Please, bed." Mini said moving to get up. Maybe it had been an offer? "You...Deutsch?" She inquired, a doubtful voice and then added, "Français?" Maybe? Tony had known some. If only her plane had landed in Quebec instead...
"You don't speak English," Liah repeated, her tone blank. Seriously? She had to force herself not to sigh and roll her eyes, because it certainly wasn't anyone's fault that one of the first people she'd run into here didn't speak her language. The woman looked to be around her age, maybe older; she found it nearly impossible to tell people's ages sometimes. She was pretty and she looked fairly helpless, and Liah didn't think it was a good idea for her to crash out in the lobby. Her default point of view was not to trust anyone, really, until they'd proven themselves to her, but she knew others weren't necessarily like that. This girl might not even realize the danger she might face.
"Bed," Liah said, nodding, since the redhead had seemed to understand that word. "Let's find you a room." She walked over to the front desk and then behind it, looking at the keys that were left. "What floor do you want to be on?" she asked before realizing that she wouldn't be understood. "Dammit." She gestured to the pegboard, hoping to somehow get across the idea that Mini needed to select a key from it. To her question about other languages Liah might speak, she replied, "No German, no French. I had to take a language in high school and I picked Spanish, but I sucked at it. Barely got out of that class with a D. No espanol."
When the woman spoke and said English, Mini just felt worse. The blank tone, well, it wasn't kind or understanding...Mini had to take from it what she could. She knew every time somebody found out she didn't speak English she likely became a pain to them. She didn't want to be in this situation anymore then the people wanted her there, she was beginning to figure out that much. It was a frustrating thought. She wasn't sure that being sorry for not speaking the same language would appease these people, but she wasn't sure she wanted to start apologizing. It would just make her seem weak. She wasn't weak. Not at all. But Americans could be strange people sometimes. Annelise had told her that. Not a very gracious bunch of people. Mini wondered if it was strange that she was in the middle of all this and was still considering civility.
She still got up though and followed this woman, putting her backpack back on her back. A shower...running water would be good. Maybe there was running water at this hotel. The Restaurant that they'd been in had only cold, but it had been enough to bathe. She at least seemed willing to help. Mini herself was on high alert, she couldn't blame people for not being overly happy she reasoned with herself. She looked at the peg board that the woman indicated to and gazed at the keys. She guessed she got to choose. Hmm. Anything too close to the first floor would be....too easy snack height. Too high and she'd never get out in time, longer to run. She peeked over the desk and then pointed to the key that read four zero six. That seemed safe. And the other keys in that area were all gone as far as she could tell.
She smiled when the woman spoke that she spoke German or French. She said something about Spanish but Mini just shook her head. She knew no Spanish herself. She had at least understood French and German. It was a start. "Thank...you?" She tried, her English again a bit heavy. She wasn't sure if that was right but she heard Annelise say it enough to the Flight Attendants as they'd been in the air. She hoped that was right. "Mmm." She pointed at herself like she'd done with Tony and Loren, "Mini..." she made a gesture asking for the woman's name.
Liah's expression had segued into a much more pleasant one when the woman seemed to understand what she was getting at with the keys. She'd been envisioning a half-assed game of Charades with dread, because she really didn't have the patience for making hand signals and gestures like a monkey. "406 sounds good," she said, a touch more enthusiasm in her tone. She plucked the key off of the pegboard and pushed it across the counter. "Real keys, too. I didn't know anyone used actual keys anymore." She knew the woman would not understand what she was saying, but it felt awkward somehow not to talk at all. Actually, Liah was probably talking more than usual just to fill the empty spaces.
"You're welcome," Liah said, walking out from behind the desk. The elevator was still working, which would make it much easier for them to get upstairs. She sure as hell wasn't looking forward to those twelve flights of stairs once the power went out for good. Her eyebrows arched slightly when the woman introduced herself. "Minnie?" she said, pointing to her and nodding. That was what it had sounded like to her, anyway. "Liah," she replied, pointing to her own chest.
Mini looked at the key for a moment before picking it up. Accepting the Key was making all of everything she'd gone through a reality. That everything she loved was gone, dead in a store, probably still being feasted upon. That her family whom she never really loved, was likely also gone. That everything she'd ever known was destroyed.
It was a lot to bear.
She managed not to break down though, bottling it up and smiling a bit at the woman as she spoke. Mini didn't understand any of it except for Key...which she picked up rather quickly. Mini wasn't horrible with languages, she knew two after all. But other then perhaps the few words that were coming up, her conversation skills would mostly be limited. 'You're Welcome' sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure what it meant. It normally followed after 'Thank You' and so she could deduce that pretty clearly. She nodded her head at the mimic of the name, following the woman heading to the bank of elevators. "Minuette...Mini..." She smiled making a back and forth gesture with her hand, as if to say, it's okay to be called Mini...
She then tried out Liah's name, and it fell off her tongue alright, not too clumsily. She'd remember the woman's face and the name. Perhaps it wouldn't be too hard to remember everybody. Liah was nice though and Mini appreciated it, pressing the button for 'up' once actually at the elevators, pocketing the key. She looked at Liah and then remembered what was in her bag. She unshouldered it, and went through the front pockets while they waited. She found the half bar of already opened French Chocolate, her girlfriend's favorite, and opened it up, offering the woman a bit. It really was the least she could do. "It's good. Fancy..." She said in German, thinking of the words that Annelise had used to describe it. She tried to think of how to convey this to Liah. "Mmm!" She let out, rubbing her stomach and smiling, hoping she didn't look too stupid. She took a piece for herself to show her that she'd eat it...it was excellent after all...she'd have to cherish the three other bars she had.
"That's a pretty name," Liah said. She'd never heard it before and she figured it must be foreign, maybe originating from the woman's home country. What was someone who didn't speak English doing here? she wondered. Just visiting? Although why anyone would want to visit Detroit was beyond her. She would've been the hell away from it years ago if she'd been old enough and if her family wasn't all here. She'd often said that this part of Michigan was like she imagined Hell to be, just cold.
Mini pulled out a candy bar and offered Liah a piece, speaking in what Liah assumed was German; she tilted her head slightly to one side to see if she could puzzle out any of the words. No, not a single one. "Thanks," she said, accepting the candy, figuring Mini was just trying to be friendly, since they seemed to have a language barrier and all. The door opened and Liah stepped inside, smiling a little at the way the other woman rubbed her stomach. She held the Door Open button and waited for Mini to join her so she could start the car on its way up.
Mini's mother had decided that her 'German bred girl' was going to need a dainty name to make up for her possible German genes. It hadn't been something Minuette had wanted to hear as a teenager, that she'd gotten a dainty name in hopes that she'd stay that way. The woman had, after all, been crazy. Mini just smiled at her though at the compliment she didn't understand. She got name, that was obviously. Pretty she was pretty sure she knew, but didn't want to assume. Maybe there was a bookstore around here that she could steal a dictionary out of. She hadn't counted on being away from Annelise's side, and so there had been no need for one previously.
"You're welcome..." Mini tried again in English, sounding less like a question, before scrambling to crunch the chocolate wrapper in her palm and gather up her girlfriend's backpack up and into the elevator. She wondered if it was a smart idea to be using elevator when the power could go out at any minute. She didn't want to get trapped between floors and all. She pocketed in to the backpack the chocolate and sighed a little bit, blowing hair out of her eyes. She really wanted to get cleaned up. She placed on the floor the back pack and pulled out the shampoo bottle for a visual aid and showed it to Liah. "Do have..." She used her limited English to state it was a question she was trying to ask, and then wondered what hot water looked like in pantomime... Mini fanned herself as if to say hot, and then made a mimicking motion of washing her hair. She hoped that it got across.
Liah's own name had been essentially made up by her mother. Most people thought it was Leah when she pronounced it, because that was what it sounded like, but Maria had gotten creative with the spelling. Which was fine with Liah, because she liked being different. She'd never met anyone else with this version of her name. She didn't guess Minuette had either, unless that was a common name in Germany. Who knew?
She punched the button for the sixth floor and then turned her attention to Mini's pantomime. Without the shampoo bottle, she wouldn't have had much idea what the girl was trying to ask her. The fanning could have just meant that she was hot. The motions of hair scrubbing were a little easier to interpret when paired with the shampoo. "You wanna wash your hair? There're showers in all the rooms," she said, nodding and then making waggling motions with her fingers in front of herself as if to mimic running water.
Minuette was more French than anything, her mother having used her own roots for her daughter. Mini knew that her mother figured that if you gave the name of a clod to a girl, she would end up a clod. Minuette's mother was also certifiably insane.
Mini felt silly, but she really just wanted to know if they had hot water. That was all that she wanted, a nice hot bath and a bed. She could pretend all of this didn't happen and just relax. At least, if there were trouble the others would get her. She hoped. She wondered who had decided to take the lead on everything, and who was directing who, or if they were all responsible for themselves and were just staying together. Sighing she wondered what floor Tony was staying on. He at least seemed to be kind enough to care if something happened. Maybe she should find out later, just in case.
The mimic of running water was funny and Mini smiled, for once. It was nice to smile. "Thank you." She said again, remembering. At least she had that. Her smile faded and she looked at the floor and considered what to say to this woman. She didn't really know but the silence, at least for her, wasn't uncomfortable. She wanted to ask if the other woman was scared, but she had no idea how. Was she safe now or not? She remembered the word from earlier when Tony had said it. "Is safe...?" She asked, looking over at the woman and then making a motion indicating she meant the hotel.
The car ascended, moving smoothly and relatively quickly toward the sixth floor, and Liah braced herself against the back wall. She didn't mind the bit of silence, particularly since she and Mini didn't speak the same language. Wasn't as if they could chat about the weather or about the lives they'd had before all this had happened. Liah didn't especially want to talk about her life before, but she figured that some people would. She just wanted to forget it as best she could, because the alternative hurt too much. She turned her head in Mini's direction when she spoke again, and her brow furrowed a little as she thought about the question. Were they safe here? In her honest opinion, they were about as safe as it was possible to be with Michigan-- the world-- the way it was right now. She nodded her head 'yes', something she figured Mini would be sure to understand, and said, "Yeah, I think so. As much as we can be."
Mini nodded her head like she understood what the reply was. At least she had the smarts enough to nod at her to indicate yes. Though she knew the word Yes as well. She'd learn. She'd have to. She had no idea if the rest of the world had gone through the exact thing they had, but at current, all she could think to do was take that shower and lay her head on a nice pillow and sleep.
When the elevator came to a stop she hoisted the bag up and stepped off the elevator. She pulled the key out of her pocket and compared the numbers on it to the numbers on the sign that indicated which way she should go. Once she'd figured that out, she turned to see if the woman was going to come with her, or leave her just there. At this point Mini didn't care either way.
Liah was standing in the open doors of the elevator after Mini had stepped out; she was watching to make sure the foreign girl understood how to find the room for which she held the key. Well, she would, because numbers were the same in German, right? Feeling slightly foolish at that thought, Liah waggled her fingers at the girl, making no move to follow her. "'Bye," she said. "I'll just let you take it from here." She didn't imagine that Minuette needed any further company, plus it was awkward trying to talk to someone when the two of you didn't speak the same language. She might just head back up to her suite to see who all was up there.
Mini waved back at the woman as she watched the doors of the elevator close and then go off. She hoisted her bag and headed towards her new room. She already knew how crappy this whole situation was going to be...not being able to communicate with anybody. It depressed her enough to know that she was to end up probably spending the rest of the day in bed, and probably all day tomorrow too. Just to catch up on her sleep and to dwell in the fact that out of the whole world she was basically stuck here. With these people for very likely the rest of her life.