Comments | the_blank_slate: I am First, my mother was First, her mother was First, her mother's mother was First

cavelion_totem in the_blank_slate

I am First, my mother was First, her mother was First, her mother's mother was First

Jul 14, 2008 23:38

Without a change of seasons, Ayla had found that the days became a rhythmic progression of work and play. Her survival was not dependant upon her hunting and gathering, not now that she knew about the kitchen. She still worked her furs and made her bowls and baskets. She had found the metal knife and fork and spoon to be incredibly useful. Some ( Read more... )

ayla, dr. daniel jackson, mohinder suresh, t-1000, bart allen, sarah carter, item post, dani reese

Comments 74

theunascended July 15 2008, 06:54:50 UTC

Of all the things that Daniel had expected to see when he'd decided to go swimming in the pool, the last thing was Ayla, crying over a broken bowl. He didn't even have to think about what to do. He walked over, wrapped his arms around her, and held her tightly, murmuring soft words and stroking a hand along her hair.

When she stopped crying, that's when he'd ask her what was wrong.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 07:00:12 UTC

Tears usually only slipped down her cheeks, then Iza had her laying down with a compress on her weak eyes until the decoction could be made and cooled and her eyes washed.

This time, the tears didn't wash trails through the dirt on her cheeks. They poured from her eyes, unending, and she keened loudly, before he gathered her up, then continued. It was as bad as when the old woman had died. This must be the love...delayed, perhaps...because without her mother, Ayla wanted to be in the ground with her.

theunascended July 16 2008, 15:53:14 UTC

When the tears didn't stop, Daniel just held her tighter, tucking her head under his chin and kissing the top of it. He glanced around to see what could have caused the tears, but the only thing he saw was the broken bowl. He had a feeling there was no 'but' to it.

"The island does horrible things sometimes," he said eventually. "Makes you remember things better left forgotten."

karmic_darwin July 15 2008, 06:58:56 UTC

Since breaking up with Daniel, Mohinder had been walking a lot. This afternoon, after class, Mohinder's meandering led him to the pool by the caves. His mind was on Molly and Del's desire for a child, and matters of families of choice. So much so that he almost didn't see Ayla until he was upon her.

His lips curved into an automatic smile of greeting. "Hello, Ayla," he began, before he'd even noticed she was crying. As soon as he did, he went to her side, crouching down to her level. "Ayla? What's happened? What's wrong?"

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 07:02:32 UTC

She tipped her chin up and tried, she tried so hard to be a good woman. To remain stoic and to pull the grief inside.

"Mohi..." she managed, then her voice cracked and she began to sob, frustrated that she could make no secret of the depths of her grief.

karmic_darwin July 15 2008, 07:08:15 UTC

"Shhh, it's all right," Mohinder said softly, even though it quite obviously was nothing of the sort. But seeing her reduced to such grief when she always prided herself on her demeanor, he didn't know what else to say.

A quick once-over showed no visible signs of physical injury, but she held a broken wooden bowl in her hands. So he sat beside her and rested a gentle hand on her far shoulder, encouraging her to lean into him if she would. What Daniel had told him about her made him leery of doing more.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 07:13:13 UTC

Ayla curled up, drawing her knees to her chest and holding them in place before she laid her head against Mohinder's shoulder. Contact was so rare here and so common among her people. Touch was one of the things she missed the most now that she lived among these people who seemed to prefer isolation.

Sobs wracked her small frame and she shook with the force of them. She was ashamed that she couldn't even speak words to explain her disgusting display of emotion.

Thread 37

9mmshotglass July 15 2008, 13:02:28 UTC

"Ayla?"

Dani had been moving quietly through the caves when she'd heard a sound, something to investigate, and followed it to find the woman who had become her teacher. Her name was the only thing she said and crouched near her, falling still and quiet. She caught sight of the bowl, something that hadn't been in Ayla's possession before, and wondered if the Island was being its usual cruel self. It had a way of ripping old wounds wide -- she'd only seen it once and it had been unpleasant.

She reached to gently wipe Ayla's tears away.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 21:32:49 UTC

"D-d-dani," she stammered through her sobs. They were gaining force, building within her to a point where she could not control them, no matter what. One more pained, choking breath and she collapsed against the woman, clutching the pieces to her chest.

9mmshotglass July 15 2008, 21:54:04 UTC

She stroked the woman's hair, adjusted her so they both wouldn't collapse, and let her cry. Reese murmured soothingly every once and awhile, but words weren't needed. Contact was. How many times had she calmed someone down suspects, kids, people who were messed up because of shit they'd seen? When she was ready, she'd talk or she wouldn't. The best Reese could do was be where she was needed.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 23:51:37 UTC

It was many minutes before her tears ceased and her breathing slowed. Ayla was deeply ashamed for her gross display of her feelings. It wasn't as if she was standing over Iza's grave, where the bowl should rightfully be.

"I am sorry, Dani. I am fine now," she said as she gently pulled away.

Thread 9

thedescent_into July 15 2008, 15:55:44 UTC

Sarah doesn't speak when she lowers herself down next to the weeping girl. Not because she doesn't want to. It is one of the few times her mind is screaming at her, Say something.

But she knows Ayla prefers silence and she's already so broken, sitting there alone with a broken bowl, Sarah doesn't want to do anymore damage.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 21:37:07 UTC

With Sarah at her level and her own heart as broken as the bowl she held, Ayla leaned against her without thinking. She keened softly, unable and not entirely willing to explain what the shattered pieces meant. It was more than a bowl; it was a sacred object as well as a symbol of her family's destruction in a way.

No words. Just tears and ragged sobs and Sarah. Sarah whose silence was so often a comfort. Ayla leaned against her and let the tears fall. She could make the treatment for weak eyes later.

thedescent_into July 16 2008, 01:07:31 UTC

Sarah shushes her wordlessly, a stream of murmured nonsense, her fingers gently smoothing through Ayla's hair. Worried, she wants to ask what's happened, the long dormant mothering instinct awakening in her, but Ayla still finds words difficult.

Really, all she needs to know is right here in front of her.

cavelion_totem July 16 2008, 04:05:28 UTC

She leaned and drank in the contact. Human contact, she'd missed it so much. Things here were not the same and many of the things she labeled stupid were simply so forein. Touch was universal. Contact.

Ayla reached both arms around Sarah's waist and held on. The tears subsided and the sobs slowed to even breathing, and still she held on. Contact and a heartbeat, those alone were pure comfort.

Thread 7

skybot_snd July 15 2008, 17:47:41 UTC

The T-1000 stopped at some distance as he noticed Ayla. Crying. He kept nearly frozen, only watching at first, then looked around, trying to see if there was somebody in the area more qualified to deal with non-physical pain. The human kind of pain. There was no one.

He didn't know if he could help, but he had to try. Ayla was his friend.

He approached her quietly, kneeling beside her and after a moment's pause, wrapping his arms around her. Hugging was designed to make people feel better, but personally, he'd had a sketchy experience with it at best. Still, it was the only tactic he was familiar with for comforting people. He stayed silent for now, afraid of saying something wrong, of hurting her more. He knew he wasn't remotely good at this sort of thing.

It was easier to think of himself as bendable metal, capable of reshaping itself and becoming whatever she needed at the moment.

But he wasn't. He only had one very human body. It was tangible, though, and maybe it could be enough.

cavelion_totem July 15 2008, 21:41:30 UTC

Ayla melted into his arms, all traces of stoicism washed away with tears and blown away with breath. She pressed both pieces of the bowl to her chest, her cries growing to keening and she rocked against the strong, solid form of this man offering a kindness and demanding nothing. Perhaps it would be easier, perhaps more natural if he had. If she could fetch water or some other mindless task, instead of bawling like an infant wanting its mother.

skybot_snd July 16 2008, 00:11:28 UTC

The T-1000 had little experience with crying. But he knew breaking. He had done it himself.

And it was better to break this way rather than keep everything locked up until it shut you down, or until there was nothing left to break and rebuild. He stayed mostly immobile - something for her to hold on to - only moving his hand across her back in an attempt of a calming gesture.

He doubted words could be of much use to her in this state, and he couldn't fake them, so he kept quiet, waiting for the crying to subside.

cavelion_totem July 16 2008, 04:08:26 UTC

He was so much like the men she knew. The way he remained stiff and solid, not bending or soft, but clearly there to keep order for a wailing woman reminded her of Brun or one of the other hunters--or it would remind her at some later time of reflection. Now, Ayla only felt the solid warmth and gentle hand and curled against him, letting the bowl slip from her grasp onto the soft earth.

Thread 5