Day 37: Arts and Crafts Room

[host_club_honey]

Honey was relieved when breakfast was over.  Even though there'd been plenty of sticky-sweet french toast to be had, the company left him feeling a little inadequate.  Usually girls fawned all over him, but Callisto had been downright mean.  Had he done something wrong?  What kind of girl wanted to fight rather than play?  It'd only been a few days

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[kagurazuki]

So much for ordinary conversation. Kagura tried to take it all in stride, after all, he was smiling politely, he couldn't be that bad. She set her things down, giving him a shy smile in return, then took a seat.

"It's alright," she assured him. "I... this place is hard on everyone, so... don't worry." The name, however, was so foreign to her that she wasn't even sure which part to use to be polite. Was Brainiac a surname? Or was she supposed to say it all like with Star Dragon Sword? He was some kind of super hero though, so she tried to act duly impressed. It was definitely much more interesting than her early college life.

"Ah- it's very nice to meet you Five-san," she bowed her head slightly, "I'm Sohma Kagura, I... I'm not a super hero or anything special though. That must be v-very exciting!" She laid out the fabric and tried to remember just how big Bridget's stuffed bear had been when she'd held him. He'd look really cute with a little red vest. She tried to give her tablemate as much attention as she could, however, as she chalked out the pattern.

[emotionl4arobot]

"I imagine most normal humans would indeed find this entire situation decidedly difficult," Brainiac 5 agreed. "Even despite my own extensive experiences, being in such a unusual place and in a new body as well makes things more complicated. But I have confidence that I will be able to adapt and remedy this situation in no time."

He watched the girl - Sohma, apparently - work. She seemed to be chalking a design out on some red fabric, though he couldn't think of why she would want to do something like that. Still, he supposed she had her reasons.

He glanced up in surprise at the name she called him by however. "My name is Brainiac 5," he repeated. "But it often gets shortened to 'Brainy' by those who know me. You may do the same if you like, Sohma." Almost everyone he'd met did, regardless as to if he told them to or not. He'd come to almost expect it now.

"I suppose the work of the Legion could be considered 'exciting'," he agreed. "However, considering the circumstances immediately before I arrived here, I doubt anyone appreciated it. Myself included." Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about the situation as it stood, just endeavor to return home as soon as possible and deal with the results of the recent difficulties afterward.

Sohma was still chalking out the design, and Brainiac 5 had to admit that he was somewhat curious, so finally he asked, "What exactly are you doing?"

[kagurazuki]

There was something odd about the way Brainiac 5 spoke, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was difficult, when two very different cultures collided and Kagura knew nothing about super heroes aside from the manga and occasional games she played.

When he corrected the way she'd said his name, her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She'd gotten it wrong! How awful! "A-ah I'm sorry! B-brainy-san then. I'm not used to all the... the foreign names. You can um... please call me Kagura then."

He didn't seem too terribly upset by her mistake though, since he continued talking. "What um... what kind of work did you do?" Saving the world probably, something heroic if the name was any indication.

Once the pattern was chalked, she pulled out the scissors, wherein would lie the real challenge, getting these weak children's toy scissors to cut real fabric. She hadn't really expected to be asked about it though. And when the attention shifted to her once again, her voice was quiet and shy. "Ah- um... I'm going to sew something for... for a friend of mine. I'm just cutting out the pieces now."

[emotionl4arobot]

Kagura blushed when he corrected her, a reaction Brainiac 5 hadn't expected. He prided himself on knowing a considerable amount on human emotions, considering that without his complex, self-designed programs to duplicate them, he would have had none, but they were just so difficult to predict. He knew that blushing generally indicated embarrassment, but Kagura had no reason to know his name or nickname, so the mistake was perfectly reasonable.

"You don't have any reason to apologise," he said, a raised eyebrow the only indication of his confusion on the matter. "Besides, it would appear I may also have been mistaken. I assumed that Kagura was your last name, is this incorrect?" He was certain he could recall a few Earth cultures which had different norms in relation to names and familiarity, it was entirely possible that Kagura was from one of those, he reasoned. That may also be an explanation for her shy nature, though he considered that personality was also a major factor there. If Superman had been here, he would have tried to make Kagura feel more relaxed and given her his full attention. Brainiac 5 decided he could do no less.

Carefully he folded the sheet of notes and set it aside, turning his complete focus and attention on his companion and the question she asked.

"The Legion offers protection and assistance to many different planets and their inhabitants," he explained. "In theory, we work with the Science Police, assisting in situations which require the expertise of the Legion's numerous superpowered individuals. However the Legion and the Science Police rarely see eye to eye, so things are often more complicated than that. My own role is to do with information, inventing new technology to aid the Legion, and inevitably repairing everything that they end up breaking."

He watched as Kagura struggled to cut the fabric out with what appeared to be some exceedingly blunt scissors. Judging from the outline of the pattern and what he knew of the ancient practice of sewing - long since replaced by more efficient technological advancements - he could extrapolate an idea of what the girl was intending to make.

"Perhaps I'm mistaken, but you appear to have a major flaw in your design. Your friend can't possibly be small enough to fit into the item you're working on."

[kagurazuki]

"Oh," she replied quietly when he explained. Maybe she didn't have the need to apologize, but hadn't it been her fault? Well, it was resolved now, so she would try not to worry about it too much. "N-no, my family's name is Sohma. Kagura is my given name."

When Brainiac gave her his full attention, it made her a little bit nervous. Luckily, she couldn't cut her fingers on the dull tools. Not only was he a super hero who saved the world, it was other planets too! "That's really incredible," she praised him, giving a faint smile. "Your world must be happy to have people who would work so hard for it."

"A... a flaw?" she looked up, slightly distressed. She'd thought it was alright, maybe it wasn't as stylish as it could be, but... "Oh!" she covered her mouth and gave a quiet giggle, "n-no, it's not sized for a person. It's for his stuffed teddy bear. I just thought... it would be kind of cute."

[emotionl4arobot]

"Kagura it is then. I assume you have no problems with me calling you by your given name?" The girl seemed somewhat nervous, so it was a good thing that the scissors she had didn't appear to be sharp enough to injury her should she slip. But even if that had happened, Brainiac 5 would have summoned one of the nurses keeping an eye on the area and they would have dealt with the problem.

He blinked again at Kagura's praise of his work with the Legion, but returned the faint smile with one of his own. "My homeworld Colu..." he sighed and lowered his gaze momentarily. "Isn't exactly pleased with my decision to leave the Hive Mind. But Earth and the Legion are my new home and I... enjoy... being able to protect them." The actual reaction the Legion received from the planets they protected tended to be rather more complicated than that, but it was enough for the time being.

"A teddy bear?" Brainiac 5 echoed, looking suddenly confused. "I'm not entirely familiar with the term; it's a type of child's toy, isn't it? Why would you want to make clothing for something like that?"

[kagurazuki]

A few more snips and it was finally cut out. She started to fold up the extra fabric, in case someone else wanted to use it. "Mm hmm," she nodded, "I don't mind if you call me Kagura."

Kagura picked up the thread next, and a small sewing needle, preparing to patch all the pieces together now that they were cut out. Most of it should be easy, but if she wanted to put any button holes in, that would take some time. She listened though, as she worked, but even so, she had trouble grasping some of the things Braniac was talking about. Being from another world wasn't too big of a deal, she'd met at least a few people that weren't from Earth. But he'd said Earth was his home now so then... that meant he was an alien!

"I'm... not sure I quite understand," she admitted, looking a little confused. Colu, hive mind, those were unfamiliar, but it sounded kind of like her own situation. Leaving home, even if it upset the ones left behind, it was sometimes necessary to learn and grow as a person. "But... but I know leaving home isn't easy."

But it did make sense now, the way Brainy talked and why he was confused over something as ordinary as a teddy bear. He wasn't asking the question to be rude, he genuinely wanted to understand.

"They're... yes, a child's toy, but I think... it's okay to like them even if you're grown up. They're like miniature bears, but they're soft and... and cuddly. Sometimes you give them as... as presents to people you like." Though for Kyo, she'd always made kitties instead. Cute little orange ones.

As for why someone would make clothing for them, that was a good question. "I just... wanted to do something for my friend. He's really attached to his bear and... I thought maybe he would like it. Do... do you think it's a bad idea?" she looked a little worried. Maybe boys wouldn't like that sort of thing after all.

[emotionl4arobot]

"No," Brainiac 5 agreed, "it wasn't easy." Though perhaps not in the way Kagura had meant; the difficulty had been more to do with how his people were reluctant to allow one of their more useful resources to leave than any reluctance on his part. He still held some concern that they would decide to take him back to Colu, regardless of his feelings on the matter. He wondered briefly if it should turn out that his current state was permanent, would that make his people more or less likely to insist that he return home?

Pointless concerns based on something that may or may not even come to pass. It was more important to focus on the present.

"I believe I understand," he said in response to the explanation. During one of the rare times the Legion had had some downtime, Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl had gone on a few dates and he recalled things such as soft toys featuring rather prominently whenever they'd returned. Perhaps creating clothing for them wasn't such a stretch after all, considering human tendencies to anthropomorphise such items.

"I don't know your friend, so I can't give you an accurate idea as to if your plan is a good one or not. Though if you believe that it is, then the effort at least should be appreciated. I've noticed that the practicality of gifts is not proportional to their apparent emotional worth." The amount of flight rings alone that he had to rebuild for the Legion was more than enough of an indication of that.

[kagurazuki]

Kagura wasn't sure she ought to say more on the subject of leaving home. If it was painful for him to talk about, then maybe she should just leave it at that. At least her explanation on teddy bears had been successful, though her attempt to ask a boy's opinion on the little red vest hadn't gone quite as well.

"I hope he likes it," was all she said before tilting her head and looking at him curiously this time. "Oh- um, weren't you working on something as well? When I came over at first. Do... do you mind if I ask what it was?"

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 nodded and retrieving the folded notes and opening them, smoothing the paper neatly against the surface of the table while being careful not to smudge the ordered lines of Interlac script.

"I was making notes on everything I've learned so far about this place," he explained. "I believe with enough information I will be able to discover how I was brought here and altered into this human form. That would allow me to devise a way to reverse the change and perhaps to find a way to return myself and others to our correct spacial and temporal locations."

He allowed Kagura to look over the notes, though he doubted she would be able to make sense of them. Even if she was somehow able to read Interlac - and information on the board suggested that was possible, somehow. Perhaps nanotechnology for translations? He would have to research that further later - the notes were encoded under three unrelated systems and would appear to be random letters, numbers and phrases. Admittedly the system was crude considering his normal work, but when he transferred the notes to a safer location he would take the time to encode them again in such a way that they would appear incongruous.

[kagurazuki]

Kagura took a look at Brainiac's notes, but couldn't make heads or tails of them. She made a thoughtful hmmm noise as she glanced over them, but was just as confused when she looked up at the one who'd written them.

"You think you can figure it out?" that was a pretty good goal. But what did he mean by human form? He was an alien, right? But how alien? Would he have big antennae or claws or a dozen tentacles? She didn't like monsters, even if they were friendly it was hard not to be scared!

She finished off a stitch and cut a new piece of thread, flipping the piece right side out before she started slip-stitching the last seam "U-um... so... when you say 'human form' um... does that mean... you normally look much different from how you do now?"

[emotionl4arobot]

Brainiac 5 remained silent as Kagura looked over the notes and made a thoughtful humming noise like she could read them perfectly. Superman had often done the same when looking over something in Brainy's lab, he recalled. The hero would look carefully at what he was working on and make the exact same sound, all the while trying to act like he knew exactly what Brainiac 5 was doing. The memory brought a soft smile to his face for a moment, before Kagura spoke and brought his attention back to the situation at hand.

"Yes. I believe so," he stated. "Once I have enough data to learn how such a thing was accomplished, I should be able to reverse it." Then he'd be able to build a way to return himself and theoretically others to their correct locations and places in time.

He watched as Kagura worked, finding the process interesting and oddly soothing in a way. Most likely the repetitive nature of the movements, he decided. But he looked away and up at his companion's face at the next question.

"I'm not entirely sure, I haven't had the chance to look at myself if any kind of reflective surface." He paused, catching onto Kagura's nervousness and quickly reassessed her question. Of course, she was nervous that his natural form was one so vastly different from the norm of humanity. It was a common and perfectly understandable fear for this day and age, as Earth had yet to have much by way of significant alien contact that was not a form of invasion and most aliens known to be on Earth in this time period had a mostly humanoid appearance.

"But any aesthetic differences are most likely minor. My body was... is... very similar to human in appearance. I haven't detected and differences in my height or weight since I woke here, so I assume that this body is remarkably close in physique as my own. And it has already been brought to my attention that my insignia is still present." He gestured to his forehead and the three pale circles there.

"I suppose you might consider the most striking differences if I were to 'change back' would be my dermal plating and other cybernetic implants, as well as the overall colouration of my 'skin', which would be green."

[kagurazuki]

It was kind of a relief to know that Braniac would still be relatively human even if he got his real form back. It was hypocritical of her, she knew, since her own other form was tiny, four-legged, and covered in bristly brown fur.

"That would be amazing!" she assured him. If someone could help reverse what'd happened to everyone, find a way back home, a way back to normal, things would be so much better. "I wish I could do more to help, but I'm no good at things like that."

She'd almost finished the last seam as well, but the announcements began and it looked like the nurses were starting to take the patients back into the cafeteria. Much as she wanted to have it done now, she'd just have to do it later.

The marks on Brainiac's forehead were easy to notice, but she hadn't wanted to seem rude by bringing them up. It seemed like a strange insignia, but maybe the aliens just really liked circles? "I'm sorry," she said, glancing down for a moment to fold up her work. "That must be hard to deal with. I'm lucky I guess, they didn't do anything to change me when I was brought here." Well, there'd been the few strange incidents in the daytime when she'd hugged Leon or that orderly grabbed her and she hadn't changed, but... maybe it was better not to think on those.

"It was really nice meeting you," she added as her nurse came to pick her up. "I hope... I hope we can talk again sometime."