[Ami] Welcome to the Neighborhood
Who: Ami
Where: The Beach
When: Day 36, during/after Volleyball!
Invited: Anyone, especially the new characters
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
Where: The Beach
When: Day 36, during/after Volleyball!
Invited: Anyone, especially the new characters
Status: Complete ( Read more... )
Tara opened her mouth to protest, but then River was there with Molly in tow, her expression determined.
River then moved to take Tara’s hand. “Circle of sisters. You are Reason. Need to deal with jumbled emotions.”
"Reason? I -" but Tara didn't really fight as River pulled the two women away from the crowd.
TARA EXITS
MAYDAY ENTERS
May followed a few paces behind the others, keeping an eye out for anything that might jump them from behind as they headed to camp. The hike was uneventful, fortunately. When she saw the remnants of the volleyball game - and just what they were using as a volleyball - she smirked and stepped forward, prepared to tease them about the game and what they'd done to that poor basketball.
"Shut up, Sawyer," someone snapped, and May sighed - a sure sign that it was just another day in camp, at least.
As she approached the group, opening her mouth to call out, an unfamiliar blonde suddenly turned to head back to the jungle and May nearly walked right into her. "Hey, guys, I - whoops, sorry!" She caught herself before she could plow right into the woman, who stopped short. May glanced around at the other new faces - whoa, was that guy green? - before adding, "Wow, how many new people did we pick up?"
Reply
He turned to look at Ivanova. "Nope. Never was a boyscout. Guess we're all going to be learning today," he said in response to her question. The fact was that Lindsey had never so much as pitched a tent. When he was a kid there was never time or money for camping trips, and it just never ranked very high on his list of things to learn afterward.
"I guess we have to go find materials to build with," he added, turning to follow Peyton towards the jungle, just as yet another girl joined their group, this one nearly walking right into Peyton.
"Er, nine, I think?" he told her.
Reply
It was a very tempting thought though.
"I see Sawyer's no less of an asshole than usual," she said by way of greeting. "Hi," she added for the benefit of the new people. "Isabel Evans. I was in a storm on a ship, got washed up on the beach." Distantly she felt the pain of remembering that she still didn't know if Jesse or the others had survived that. The impact had faded a bit, and she pushed it aside some more. There was no point dwelling on what she couldn't know. They had fixed the hull before she passed out, so there was a good chance the others had managed to stay on board and had, therefore, survived.
You're woolgathering, she thought, and pulled her thoughts back to the present. There was a definite telepathic murmuring going on which was quite usefully distracting.
"I can help with materials," she said. "If you need palm leaves and don't like climbing trees. What were you planning to use?"
Reply
There was a definite telepathic murmuring going on which was quite usefully distracting...
The Commander stiffened, the easy smile melting off her face to be replaced with a cold, hard glare, blue eyes steeling. Turning towards the 'group' in general, her gaze flickering over some that she could identify before she paused at Ami. There was nothing to show that they were teeps... no gloves, no pin. Rogues, undoubtedly, or perhaps from their times, it was more accepted?
"Don't scan me."
The three words were soft, bearing no little anger, or rather warning, beneath them. "I don't care what you do.. but do not scan me, do not try to get into my head." She'd know.
She turned her back, deliberately, and looked to Peyton, Lindsey, and Isabel, all humour drained from her manner and mien. "I'll join you."
Reply
Although the woman's words were quiet, they cut through the conversation. Ami and Scott tensed as they faced the soldier. On instinct Scott had strengthened his mental shields, so all he felt was Ami's familiar presence in the back of his mind.
Without another word the woman walked off with Lindsey, Isabel, and Peyton. "What was that about?" Scott wondered aloud. Ami hadn't scanned anyone. She didn't violate people's minds like that.
Reply
"Don't scan me." The accusation came out of left field as far as Ami could tell. One moment she was happily chattering away with her husband, Damon and Jon and next the woman had the nerve to launch accusations of telepathic impropriety in her direction.
"What was that about?" Scott wondered.
"She's a telepath," Ami announced, her voice dangerously low and cool. Though quiet, the words were able to reach anyone standing near. /That's why I can't sense her a bit./
She tugged her hand from Scott's and marched toward the woman. Newcomer, soldier or whatever, Ami worked too hard to get people here to trust her and to understand that what she did came naturally. She worked too hard to convince her fellow beach denizens that she didn't go probing about their heads and getting into their thoughts.
/Ami, wait -/
/No. I'm not going to let a paranoid psychic make people afraid of me. Or you. Or Damon or any of us. We've worked too hard to have some sodding Russian commander bitch with a chip on her shoulder ruin it./
Ami stepped into the woman's path, forcing her to draw to a halt. "I know that you're new here and this is all confusing. I know that this isn't your time or maybe it's not your reality or who knows what it isn't of yours, but there's something you need to know. You don't get the right to march in here and level accusations like that, yeah? I haven't bloody touched your mind and I don't bloody well plan on it because I don't do that. "
"Ami -" she recognized the firm, quiet interjecting voice as Daniel's, but she didn't look toward the archaeologist.
"No, this clearly needs to be gotten over with before things get out of hand," Ami told him, never peeling her eyes away from the woman. "You're out of your element and you don't know anything about this beach or this camp or these people. And you really don't know anything about me. Don't. Ever. Accuse me of anything without good cause and good reason. And. Don't. Threaten. Me."
Reply
She stared at Ami, her tones soft. "But, you tell me that you haven't looked at all of us... every single one of us in a little threat assessment. How else would you know that I'm blocking if you don't have your little passive feelers out?" Her brows rise in askance. "I know about that little technique.. listening in on surface thoughts. That's not scanning, is it?"
"Where I come from, telepaths consider themselves to be the homo superior, bloodlines bred oh-so-carefully to make the perfect human. We created the PsiCorps to protect ourselves from invasion of privacy; laws that govern every aspect of the relationship between mundane and telepath... and still, if there was a way for them to break it, they would." Her tones were bitter; referring to the telepaths as 'they', separating them from herself.
Reply
"That's enough," Daniel stepped up laying a restraining hand on Ami's arm. He felt the tenseness of her muscles, and willed the woman to relax. "We've not had any problems with breaches of privacy and they aren't going to start today."
"Commander Ivanova," Daniel addressed the other woman in soft, cool, diplomatic terms. "I'm not a telepath and I don't pretend to know what abilities you have or Ami has. I also won't pretend to know anything about your world or where you come from. What I do know is that Ami Jackson is a loyal and trusted member of this camp. She has never breached anyone's privacy, and she willingly revealed her abilities to us knowing the fear and otracization that it might cause.
"You should know up front that we have several telepaths here in this camp, and they all follow the same codes of conduct. How do I know? Because I know these people and I trust them. We have to trust each other because we," Daniel indicated the camp with a gesture of his hands, "Are all that we have."
"Ami, the Commander isn't from our world, and her experiences are clearly radically different from yours. From my limited understanding of your abilities, it sounds like the basic abilities of telepaths in her world are radically different from yours. There's no reason to think -"
"I wasn't scanning her. I haven't scanned anyone," Ami practically hissed.
Daniel's eyes flickered past Ami to Scott and then back again. As much as Daniel understood her fear and inner conflict, only cool heads would prevail here and stop this before it escalated.
Reply
"Look, we get it all right," Jon drew attention to himself by stepping forward a bit. "You hate telepaths because they're the epitome of evil where you come from. Where we come from, people will hurt telepaths because they're," Jon shrugged, "Telepaths.
"Yours are built differently. They learn this passive scanning touchy-feely thing," Jon wiggled his fingers distractedly off to the side of his head. "Ours have to learn to block out stuff and it takes practice and it takes effort and it's a real pain in the ass from what I've heard, unless it comes naturally."
/What are you doing?/ Ami demanded.
/Being the cooler head,/ Jon shot back, /Which is really saying how much you're freaking out about this when I'm the voice of reason./
Jon shrugged, keeping his eyes on Ivanova. All he would have to do was drop his shields to feel what Ami felt and he knew it didn't require any activity on his part. It really was as natural as seeing or breathing. For half a heartbeat it was tempting, but he didn't do it. "Agree to disagree and avoid each other. You don't go implying that Ami - or anyone here - is gonna go digging for your personal brain treasure, and you -" Jon shot his gaze to Ami, "Don't pick fights with the newbies because they don't understand."
/And thicker skin, yeah, would be a big help./ Jon added for Ami's 'ears' only.
/I really can't expect you to understand -/
/That we don't want to be singled out and feared. I get it. Really. But can we just get along and argue about it later? You know how much I really don't like doing this, right?/
He took Ami's silence and her abrupt and sharp disappearance from his mind as assent. The younger/older woman sniffed once and arms folded across her chest, snapped, "Fine."
Jon looked to Ivanova, canted his head, "You okay with that or are we gonna have to go to cage fights and mud wrestling?"
Reply
"Actually, all passive scanning is is dropping your shields and reading peoples' broadcasted surface thoughts." Which, from what Susan understood, was easy. She, however, never, ever dropped her shield. For anyone. Yet one more thing to hide behind, hiding away from anything or anyone who would hurt her. "Shields need to be learned, too." And practiced. And perfected.
The Commander, however, nodded, though her shoulders and back remained tight; controlled. She looked at the teen, her brows rising slightly, and there came a tight smile. "It's one of the few 'touchy' subjects I have. As long, however, as we have an understanding," She looked at Ami, studying the woman for a long moment before she nodded once more towards Jon.
"Right. I need that shelter built... then see if the water feels as good as it looks right about now."
Reply
Reply
Another time, perhaps? :)
Reply
Reply
Reply
Talia was Susan's best friend...
Talia was a P5, a commercial teep, and Susan harbors deep resentment for the Corps taking her away. So, this could go either way, depending upon how it gets played from here on. :)
Reply
Stupid AFKness.
;)
Reply
Leave a comment