[SEMI-OPEN] May catch-all for Hibiki

[windsongs]

CHARACTERS: Hibiki and assorted
DATE: Throughout May
WARNINGS: Minor injury, will update as needed
SUMMARY: Individual threads for the month of May. Feel free to PM me on plurk (impearls or this journal if you want to plot anything.

Comments

[windsongs]

[ There are selfless people who like to help others, Knives, and his brother is far from the only one who would bend over backwards unprovoked. But he isn't wrong when it comes to internalized guilt. Sometimes these things go hand-in-hand.

The smaller blonde follows behind him, branching off only once they reach the kitchen to pull out a few things. Some leftover rice. A few eggs. Frozen vegetables. Ketchup(?). Prepping her ingredients, she lets the dreamlike hush hang in the air before breaking the silence. ]

This dish is pretty easy to make. You can watch me if you want to learn how, or not. That's completely up to you.

[ The burner clicks a few times before turning on, and as she pours rice and veggies into a pan, Hibiki keeps her eyes on the task at hand. Even if she can do this in her sleep. But there's a reason for that-- ]

I'm guessing since you're not used to eating that you're not human either. Or at least not fully.

[ "Not human either," she says nonchalantly. ]

[chlorokyll]

[ It occurs to Knives that like it or not, it might be a good idea for him to learn how to prepare his own food. This hunger doesn't seem to go away no matter what he does, and while it's possible that the need will fade as he regains some more of his power, he can't be certain of that.

He doesn't stand too close to her, but he lingers at the counter near enough that he can watch what she's doing and make some mental notes. A list of ingredients has already formed in his mind, filed away for later.

He watches as the food starts sizzling at the pan, but then his gaze slingshots back to Hibiki at that comment.

"Either"? Don't think he didn't pick up on that. ]

I'm not, no. [ There's distaste in his voice and in the twist of his mouth. ] I'm what is called an independent Plant. [ Which probably needs to be explained, but before that: ] What are you?

[windsongs]

[ This is such a weird conversation to have while scrambling eggs.

It's hard to tell whether he's watching her cook to learn, or because he's curious. Or possibly judging? The (false) memories Hibiki has of him make Knives seem like a different person, which is a bit confusion--but no more so than having them to begin with. Just another reminder that she can't rely on what she thinks she knows.

Pulling the rice pan off the burner and shoveling the contents into a bowl, the small blonde looks up briefly, exhaling deeply. ]

A siren--half. There's probably another name for it, but that's the one I know. Think bird-like people who can entice others with their voice.

[ Why is it always easier to talk about this kind of thing with someone who isn't human? Speaking of which. ]

An independent Plant? Plant like a flower, or something else?

[chlorokyll]

[ It's true that Knives' neutral expression can be interpreted as judgmental by someone who doesn't know him, though the sharpness of his gaze is more due to processing information than anything else. He certainly isn't thinking about how he might be perceived.

The way he tracks Hibiki's movements as she serves up the food, though, isn't so different from a predator scenting blood. He's hungry, hungrier than he even realized.

He hates this.

A siren. He nods as she explains. ] Known in stories for coaxing sailors to their deaths. Is that why you're so musically talented? [ The way he just casually calls her talented — he's not dwelling on it, though.

How many times will he have to explain what he is? As many times as there are people he meets in this place, it seems. He shakes his head. ] More like a power plant.

[windsongs]

[ Please stop looking at her like she's dinner, Knives. Poultry is not on the menu tonight!

The way he watches her is a bit unnerving, but Hibiki chalks it up to not having as much experience around humans, if she had to guess. Understandable, but she still finds it hard to relax when it feels like he's critiquing everything she does.

While the compliment doesn't go unmissed, a brief, shy smirk tugs at one corner of her lips. Blink and it's gone. ]

I think so, yeah. I've always been able to pick up instruments quickly, and I've been performing semi-regularly for almost a decade now. Piano was one of my first, though. Piano and cello.

[ Shaking the pan before pouring the scrambled egg mixture over rice, when he makes the distinction, her hand slips. It was looking so good, a blanket of fluffy eggs on top of rice, but she wiffed it on the dismount. Sorry Knives, you're going to have to eat ugly food. ]

That's... [ A long pause, as she makes a face. ] Sorry, I'm having a hard time fixing that. So... you have an overabundance of mana or chi, so you consider yourself a power plant?

[ She's really trying, help a poor girl out. ]

[chlorokyll]

[ Despite the fact that Hibiki claims to be a siren, it doesn't sound as if she spent her life in the sea, singing to ships to coax them into dangerous waters. She speaks of performing, of playing a variety of instruments, and it all sounds rather mundane.

Before Knives can pursue that line of questioning, however, he's distracted by her almost dumping the egg mixture onto the counter instead of over the rice. Did something he say bother her? Or perhaps her arm simply got tired holding the pan. There's no saying sirens are physically stronger than humans in any way.

He doesn't seem bothered by the supposed ugliness of the meal, however, still staring it like he's going to devour it in one bite. ]

Plants are interdimensional beings. We have access to a higher plane, where we can draw on a variety of resources — gravity, water, energy, matter. The fact that I can stand here and carry out a conversation with you as my own being is what makes me an independent. Most plants are kept in tanks, not unlike power generators.

[ As he speaks of his sisters, his expression tightens and his eyes darken as if he's suddenly standing under a stormcloud. ]

[windsongs]

[ It is mundane--but that's exactly what she wants. While yes, that aspect of her time in Shinjuku was relatively uneventful, it was the work that she did outside of the occasional live performance that made up for that fact. But it isn't necessarily something she openly talks about, outside of a few people who manage to coax it out of her.

Talking to non-believers about ghosts, spirits and nightmares roaming the Earth isn't something she's used to. It tires her out.

With the cooking adventure done, she puts the pan in the sink to wash later. Finding a bit of bare counter space, she rests her elbows on it, propping her head up with a hand as she listens. Her mind already works ahead of his words, trying to fit them into the (un)natural order of things back home. A people from another realm, with access to basic resources and elements of the world. Not quite spirit or kami, but something completely different-- ]

...

[ Her countenance quiets when he mentions subjugation and the presence of free will setting him apart from his sisters. That's what that is, right? Hibiki doesn't have all the details, not nearly enough to be able to form any kind of proper hypothesis for why, but how could it be anything other than inhumane? But the fact that people need these plants to act as some kind of battery... or maybe supplier might be more accurate...

Brows furrowed deeply, slate gray eyes search his for further explanation. ]

...That's awful. But why would they need to be used like that? Those are all things that occur naturally, right?

[ She may know the answer to that, but she has to ask. ]

[chlorokyll]

[ Perhaps for most worlds the people here come from, which seem to differ quite greatly, Plants wouldn't be needed. They shouldn't be necessary, and would have never been created if humans hadn't done what humans always do. It's an odd thing to think about, that Knives' existence was precipitated on the folly of man, but that's all the more reason for him to acknowledge their sins and inability to move past them, and take action.

These are all trains of thought he's worked through countless times before, so he's able to multitask now, moving to grab one of the bowls filled with steaming food. He digs into a drawer for a fork as well and soon starts eating — taking large, but somehow still composed, bites.

He doesn't seem to mind the taste at all. ]

The planet the humans originally lived on, Earth, had to be abandoned when they completely stripped it of all resources. They could no longer subsist on it, so they left it to ruin. The planet that the last vestiges of their kind live on now, after traveling through space, is aptly referred to as No Man's Land. It's a barren place, covered in desert, baking under two suns.

[ He meets her gaze without flinching, waiting in a calm and reserved manner for her reaction to this tale. ]

[windsongs]

[ The concept of an Earth completely bereft of all natural resources isn't completely foreign to her, the backdrop of many a sci-fi books or movies. But speaking to someone who lives this as a reality, whose purpose to humanity is to provide that which they lack is incredibly jarring. Hibiki tries her best not to stare, as the image that she has of him via false memories shifts drastically.

Her eyes widen as her back straightens a bit out of discomfort, no longer leaning her weight against the countertop. Not for him specifically, but just... everything? It feels similar to when she first spoke to Brooks, his words turning all that she knew on its head. ]

Another dying world, huh?

[ Said quietly, introspectively. If hers was that; if her dreams were to be believed. ]

So they need plants like you to survive. And I take it you don't get much if anything out of that arrangement.