[Scott] Wanting contact (tag Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

After a dinner of everything-in-the-kitchen-sink stew (which was decidedly strange but not bad-tasting) and a side of roast turtle, Scott and Ami stayed with the group talking for a while. Before long Scott was half-listening to the conversation and mostly keeping an eye out for Ripley. When he finally spotted her near the treeline, Scott

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[Scott] Recovery (tag Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

Ripley's description of the psychic Other's manipulation was chilling. Scott had heard about Tara's spell, its effects, and how the prisoners were dumped in the jungle. Now he understood why Tara and Tommy, if the rumors were true, had outed themselves as magic users. Who knew how much information the psychic prisoner had collected by simply reading whoever walked by?

Scott was also surprised to hear that she was having such a hard time being at the camp. Since he'd been so wrapped up in Ami and other assorted crises he hadn't seen much of Ripley. He genuinely felt bad.

Ripley sighed. "Please tell me you and Ami had a better day than me at least."

Scott smiled ironically. "Parts of it were good. The rest was what seems to be normal around here: crisis, recovering from crisis, doing something survival-related, repeat." He shook his head, then met Ripley's eyes candidly. "I'm glad you're still here despite how hard it's been. Hopefully people will be more accepting now that Tara, Tommy, and the Box of Many Things have upped the weirdness ante.

"You're welcome to hang out with the bunch of us over there, joint or no joint." Scott grinned, adding, "If you do toke up, promise me you'll stop me from doing anything weird from the contact buzz."

Ripley chuckled. "You too, huh?"

"Yeah," Scott laughed. "Being a lightweight must be a side effect of being a hybrid."

After they both sobered Scott decided to ask for the favor anyway. As much as he wanted to try out the co-locator that evening, it could wait. "Um, I wanted to ask you for another favor." Ripley regarded him questioningly. "Guard duty, because of what I found in the box." Ripley looked more puzzled and a little alarmed. "No, it's a good thing," Scott assured her. "It's a device that my father and I made so we can communicate. When in use there's a bit of a light show, and I don't think that everyone here is ready for that, and I certainly don't feel like explaining it. So that means getting out of sight and earshot from camp, which would make Ami and me easy targets for the Others. Would you be willing to stand guard? If it works we might get off of this godforsaken island sooner rather than later."

[Ripley] Making the best of it (tag Scott, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

"Thing is, Scott...my background isn't just weird, it's...scary.

"It'd be nice if I had an "other half" to my human side that was friendly and intelligent and more or less enlightened." Small smile. "It's not. My human DNA's mixed with that of xenomorphic /animal/, ok? I'm basically like a...a...werewolf? I think that's the right metaphor. In personality, anyway. The other half of me still remembers and cares about my friends--you know that--and I'm getting a better handle over it when it comes out. But I'm part predator, all the time.

"I fear...finding out about it and where it came from is gonna freak most normal folks. I do...wish, though." Her tone and mood were much more thoughtful as she continued talking, and less anguished. She shrugged a shoulder. "Johner was nominally human, and he even thought I was hot."

"I'm sorry that you guys are having such a hard time of it. I'm used to more stressful situations than even this, and I forget that that's /not supposed/ to be how it is. You guys...you're so fucking cute. You should be picking out wallpaper in a housing unit somewhere, not dodging kidnappings. What got me through mentally is remembering that these shitstorms never last forever. There will be a chance to pick out wallpaper and all that stuff later." Damn, the weed was making her ramble. But the ramblings /seemed/ pertinent.

She frowned, having to stop and reach for words. "I'm still here because...I'd miss some people, and it would be really selfish of me to go. I could survive out there. But the thing is, Ripley /and/ the xenomorph are both very loyal creatures. Even when it hurts. I don't want to outlive everyone again. They wouldn't have tried to tempt me away if I wasn't needed here.

"I-I...I'll give the social thing a try. I need to reconnect with Kenzaki, at least so he knows I am not angry at /him/. But...yeah. Heh. And I'll be really careful with the cannabis. I mean...Jesus. I smoke too much of this and I'll spend all night hitting on Jon or something."

...shit. She had /not/ just said that name in particular. Ahum. Okay, moooving right along....

Scott's request was a welcome diversion. She blinked slowly, then looked delighted. "You get to call your dad? That's so cool! Yeah, sure, no problem. Just say when. Oh--it'll need to be at least four hours from now because of this stuff."

She was just a tad offended when he called the island a nasty name. She liked the island. Sometimes, she even got the weird impression that it liked her back a little. But...the island was no place to do picking-out-wallpaper things. Certainly she could understand a more civilized person's position...even if she didn't share it. "I'll try as hard as I can to be around to back you guys until the whole escape thing happens."

[Scott] Making the best of it (tag Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

Scott thoughtfully listen to Ripley's words. It was strange. In some ways he could relate. In others, not at all -- like hitting on Jon. (What's up with that?) But he wasn't going to judge. Other people's personal lives were none of his business.

Ripley seemed to be in a better mood, and wasn't resentful that he was asking for another favor. She was indeed loyal. Even stranger, she suggested that she wanted to stay on the island. "So... you like it here?"

"Yep," Ripley grinned. "Clean water and air, green growing things and critters. It's paradise with enough danger to keep things interesting."

Scott laughed. "To each his own, I guess. I could handle this place if we could get rid of the monsters. Given the choice I'd prefer picking out wallpaper over fighting for my life every day." He grew serious, adding, "Look, about trying to fit in with the bunch of us non-predators... Try not to worry about it so much. So what if some of them are scared of your xenomorph side? Many of us like you for you. The rest will simply be grateful that you've worked so hard to protect us. If you need to go into the jungle to blow off steam, then do it. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. I stopped worrying about it years ago. Kinda had to, being empathic and more than a little paranoid. Your friends will take any eccentric behaviors in stride.

"Thanks for helping out with the co-locator - the device I'll use to 'call' Dad," he grinned. "Mostly I want him and Mom to know that I'm okay. I mean, my Dad traveled 126 light years to come back here when I called him years ago, and now I can't reach him. He and Mom must be freaking out. And I'll try to get a message to some of Ami's friends, too.

"Anyway, let me know when the buzz has worn off. Wake me up if you have to." Scott nodded in the direction of the cook fire. "Want to head back?"

[Ripley] Making the best of it (tag Scott, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

"Look, I'm not staying til I know it's safe for guests, know what I'm saying? But...I need someplace to call home that actually suits me. I don't have a homeworld or any society I really have a place in. I've been asked to do some adventuring with the Doc, and I think that could be really interesting. But I didn't know how much I wanted roots somewhere until the possibility presented itself."

She shrugged a little and grinned. "You guys can visit on your holidays or something. There's probably room for an airstrip somewhere."

Ripley pressed her lips together when Scott told her not to worry, looking for all the world like a scared kid on the first day of preschool. "This is still...new. Even the having feelings part. Give me any straight survival situation or a starship to play in, I'm a happy clone. Social things and feelings? Heh. Work in progress, I guess. I'll...keep trying. It's just that today was--bad. Very bad."

She smiled wistfully when Scott talked about having a family somewhere that was worried about him. "No problem. You go make sure they're not worried." /I never had a chance to do that with my daughter. She grew old and died never knowing what had happened to me./

"Yeah--yeah. Let's head back, you're right." She turned to follow him, a little hesitantly.

[Kenzaki] Making the best of it (tag Scott, Ripley, open)

[estirose]

Kenzaki watched as night began to fall. Soon, it would be time for him to be in his own element, at least when it came to protecting the camp. And he'd do it without the card, for the transformation would certainly terrify a bunch of people not quite ready to deal with same.

He spotted Ripuri coming out of the woods with Sukotto-san, and got up. He still had a bowl full of soup that he didn't need but was too polite to pass up when the young pregnant woman had handed it to him. Maybe Ripuri would see it as a peace offering, because the last thing Kenzaki needed going into watch was his partner having difficulties dealing with him.

Kenzaki walked towards the pair with the soup, knowing that she'd understand why.

[Scott] Making the best of it (tag Kenzaki, Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

Scott briefly put his hand on Ripley's back to urge her along and empathically push reassurance to her. He had an odd sense of deja vu from teaching his father the complicated and often nonsensical social graces that he took for granted. He was infinitely grateful that his father was inherently peaceful -- sometimes infuriatingly so. If his father had had anything like Ripley's predatory nature, they'd probably both be long dead.

Kenzaki approaching with a bowl of stew was a welcome distraction from the morbid thought. "Konichiwa, Kenzaki-san."

[Ripley] Reunions (tag Kenzaki, Scott, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

Ripley smiled a little sadly at Kenzaki when she and Scott reached him, but there was real warmth in her expression. She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, an instant and slightly personal-space-breaking sign that said in any language she was glad to see him. "I'm sorry," she said in her faltering Japanese. "I needed to be away from everyone. I was...." she struggled with it. "I do not have the words. But I was not away because I /wanted/ to be." That was absolutely true...and at the heart of it, maybe the most of what needed saying.

"Hey, what's this?" Ripley asked as Kenzaki offered her a bowl-o-stuff. She sniffed it, and it smelled...damn. Not bad. "Thanks for saving me some," she said honestly. She was too stoned to hunt, and she knew it.

She looked at Scott, then back at Kenzaki and to the crowd around the fire. "We were hanging out for a while here."

[Kenzaki] Reunions (tag Ripley, Scott, open)

[estirose]

Kenzaki handed the bowl to Ripuri. He turned to Scott. "Good evening, Sukotto-san." He smiled. Both of these people were trying, which was good. It was nice to be able to communicate at some level, even a limited one.

He looked at Ripuri. "Eat," he said gently, making a motion as if to ladle food out of the bowl and towards his mouth. He then withdrew. Ripuri seemed to be having a good time being social with Sukotto-san, and he needed to start keeping watch anyway.

OOC: The last word he said was "Tabete".

[Scott] Reunions (tag Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

"Tabete," Scott repeated, then volunteered the English equivalent. "Eat." Then Kenzaki left. Scott turned to Ripley. "Okay, I know my Japanese sucks, but I didn't think it was *that* bad."

OOC: Does "konichiwa" mean "good evening" as well as "hello/good day?" If not, what's Japanese for "good evening?"

[Ripley] Reunions (tag Scott, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

Ripley's face fell, and she looked after Kenzaki in abject confusion. /What did I do?/

"I think /I/ must have screwed up," she said unhappily, getting a touch of that baffled-kid look in her eyes again.

"Don't sweat it too much. Kenzaki seems a little eccentric." Scott put a hand on her back, and she sighed and let him lead her off to the fireside.

[Scott] Being social (tag Ripley, open)

[starborn_scribe]

Ripley's comment about Kenzaki being eccentric got Scott chuckling. Since they were nearing the cookfire he lowered his voice. "If we divided the camp into eccentric and non-eccentric, I'd bet money that there'd be more people on the eccentric side. But seriously, I need to tear myself away from Ami more and spend time with you guys. It'll be good to learn Japanese, too."

[Ripley] Being social (tag Scott, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

"I'd advocate dragging her along, just because we all actually get along most of the time and--that's rare. Heh.

"I'm not the best person to be trading languages with somebody. I probably could have taught him to fly a star-freighter in the time it's taken us to trade a few dozen word-meanings and work out some grammar. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea. I'm sure he'd be thrilled. 'Hey Kenzaki, wanna be shipmates?'"

They found a spot on a log near the fire and joined the rest of the crowd. Ripley ate her stew slowly as they spoke. It wasn't bad at all, for cooked stuff with vegetables in it.

[Kenzaki] Konbanwa (tag Scott, Ripley, open)

[estirose]

Kenzaki returned back to the main camp, a little happier now that he had two more people in the camp who spoke decent Japanese. However, he felt that he probably needed to speak to them sometime when they weren't so busy.

He spotted Ripuri with Sukotto-san, still together. He settled himself silently down nearby, smiling a little at Ripuri's socialness and wishing he could be a companion to her in that way as well. In the meantime, at least she had Sukotto-san and the others. His smile turned sad. Eternal isolation, that's what he had wrought in his change to Undead. But it was a terrible lonliness that he had to keep to himself; not even Ripuri would understand.

[Ripley] Konbanwa (tag Scott, Kenzaki, open)

[hybrid_ripley]

Ripley saw Kenzaki sitting off a little ways watching them, in his usual slightly morose way. Unfortunately, she was now stoned, and thus in no way whatsoever willing to put up with that crap. She held a hand out to him.

/C'mon, kid, if I have to do this, you have to do this. The whole thing is weird and risky and all that, but--everything about this place is that way. Scott made some serious points./

He demurred politely, and she gave him a glare. He looke a bit fidgety, and she stood up. Putting her hands on her hips, she said in her best pouty-Gaijin way in Japanese, "Little brother, get your /ass/ over here or I'll drag you over."

Then she deliberately poked out her lower lip like a kid. "C'mon!"

[Kenzaki] Konbanwa (tag Scott, Ripuri, open)

[estirose]

Kenzaki caught the meaning of Ripuri's words, even if the woman had managed to mangle whatever she'd meant to say. She wasn't going to let him sit there alone, for whatever reason. Kenzaki thought about refusing, but it was clear that she wouldn't give up until he got over there.

He gave her a smile. "I met two Japanese speakers today," he said by way of greeting. He turned to see Sukotto-san. "Thank you for keeping Ripuri company, Sukotto-san."

[Scott] Konbanwa (tag Kenzaki, Ripuri, Ami [optional], open)

[starborn_scribe]

Scott couldn't help but laugh from Ripley's good-natured bullying of the enigmatic Kenzaki. (He's even more antisocial than I am,) Scott marveled.

Jin stalked past them, heading toward the stream. Scott knew that Ami was somewhere in that direction, so he peered ahead curiously. The fading light revealed a few figures, but no details. Since he'd felt some mild discomfort from Ami through their link he was idly curious about what was going on. Overall Ami seemed okay, so he didn't intrude.

Meanwhile Ripley had cajoled Kenzaki into joining the small group around the fire. Kenzaki said something in Japanese to Ripley, then to him. All Scott could make out was "Japanese," "thank you," and his and Ripley's names. Scott simply smiled and said "You're welcome," in Japanese.

Suddenly anger surged from Ami. Scott automatically looked in her direction. Jin had reached the group by the stream. Other than that, nothing was different. Before Scott could ask, Ami thought to him /Thank you./

Realizing that he'd attracted some of the others' attention, Scott turned his eyes to the fire, trying to hide his confusion. /For what?/

/Jin's being ... Jin again. Thank you for not being that way./

Scott guessed that "that way" meant jealous and overprotective, or maybe just plain angry. He decided not to inquire further. /You're welcome./ He punctuated the thought with a pulse of affection.