Logs:Blindfold Challenge
| Blindfold Challenge | |
|---|---|
| Dramatis Personae | |
| In Absentia | 2024-12-08 "I'm super drunk." |
| Location
<XAV> Gardens - Xs Grounds | |
From indoor gardens to outdoor, though without the protective greenhouse glass the back gardens do not last all year round. Still, the gardens out here are well-tended and well-worth spending time in, as well. The paths wending through the beds of flowers and herbs and vegetables spread out through the school's back grounds, tended by students as a credit class. Benches offer seating and a small pond is home to koi and turtles, as well as a few frogs. At the far back edges of the garden, a droning buzzing marks a few stacked white boxes as beehives. It’s a late, cloudy night, and the gardens are still and quiet in the way only oncoming winter can be. Most students are turned in to their dorms for the night, given that the first curfew is rapidly approaching. Tok is walking through the gardens’ path- Well, ‘walking’ might be generous, given the pace they’re going, they might as well be crawling. Their hands are hovering just a few inches in front of them, a slight bend at their elbow, and each step seems to take a careful amount of consideration before the weight is shifted onto it. They’re wearing sweat pants and, surprisingly given the weather, just their regular sweatjacket with the hood pulled up. There are a few new holes in it here and there, mostly near the bottom, and their school-issued cell phone is tucked away in one of the pockets. They’ve got some stray leaves and dirt on them, like perhaps they ran into a bush or stumbled into some dirt—and if the cameras and drones about campus have anything to say about it, they definitely had in their very slow trek across the school grounds. Their eyes are crushed shut, tail wrapped tight about their waist for extra warmth, and they’re muttering to themself between shivers under their breath. "Is this some new game." How long has Halim been here? Who's to say; if he is here he's making no other sounds of life -- no breathing, no moving, just the very crisp and very flat sound of his voice piping up from somewhere very nearby. "I don't think I get it." There’s a startled hiss that rips itself from Tok’s mouth, and they stutter back a few steps, vaguely away from the direction Halim’s voice had come from, tail unwinding and poofing. They quickly press the side of their hand up to their mouth to cut off the hiss, and they let out a strained breathy laugh, “Sorry sorry! Heh- scared me!” Their voice is pitched high, unsure, and a tired attempt at a smile plastered on. Their eyes remain crushed shut throughout this, ears twisting underneath their hood, “Yeah it’s a new challenge thing. I’m just. Practicing.” "Practicing what. Getting hypothermia." This, too, is flat. "Do you need a coat. The school will provide you one if you do not have one." There's very little pause between this and his also-flat: "What's the challenge." Tok stays quiet for a moment, curling sagging more into their sweatshirt, “Was in a rush.” They say as a non-answer to the coat question, shrugging their shoulders. They shrug them again, in an uncomfortable sort of way, then tug at the sleeve of the sweatjacket. “You gotta get from one side of campus to the dorms blind- like eyes closed.” Their voice is losing its energy, but the response is quick at least. “S’called. Uh.” Their eyelids scrunch briefly, “Blindfold challenge.” "Blindfold challenge," Halim echoes. "Yard would have been easier than gardens, I think. Campus is a bit of a maze sometimes." Another beat. "How many of your classmates have done this? If powers are allowed some students have a clear edge." “Gardens.” Tok echoes, like this might be news to them. “Yeah, maze. You’re tellin’ me.” They mutter, and scuff their shoe against the ground. They bring their tail around and begin to smooth the puffed fur down, movements slow, stuttery like they keep forgetting what they’re doing, “Uh…like. A lot. Or.” They pause again, then start up, “They will. I’m first. Trendsetter Tok. S’what they call me.” They visibly wince, “Anyways, s’just for fun. Powers no powers, it’s whatever right?” "Is it. I haven't heard that one yet." It's hard to say if there's amusement in Halim's voice. "You aren't recording." There’s another too long delay in Tok’s response, another stutter in their movements. “You’re kidding.” They say stiffly, expression hardly changing. They don’t reach for their phone to check or start a recording, instead they remove their hand from their tail to push the heel of their palm into their temple in a small circle. “Well- uh- There goes that run right? Better luck next time.” Their voice is a little quieter. They pull at their jacket again to readjust it, “You uh…you wanna try too? The challenge. Bet you’d do great at it.” "Yes. Humorist Halim. S'what they call me." Even the minor elision sounds stilted and awkward in Halim's gruff voice. "You could open your eyes, then. Dorms are not close, yet. It's very cold." Tok huffs out a small laugh, “Haven’t heard that one yet.” They quote back with a twitch of a smile. They go quiet, now, and maybe it goes on into a little awkward. They tug at their hood, but it can’t pull past their horns. “I-I guess I could, but I’m kinda committed, y’know?” They begin slowly moving in a direction again, opposite to the dorms. Their hands curl up into their sleeves and grip the fabric around their fingers to hide their shivering. “Ain’t even that cold.” They say, much too confidently for someone on track to take a dunk in the koi pond. “You’re gonna get hypothermia too if you sit out here. ‘Least I’m movin’ right?” "There are some holes in your logic." Maybe Halim is leaving it as an exercise to Tok to figure out quite what those holes are. Probably he is also leaving it as an exercise to Tok to discover the koi pond, because he's definitely giving no heads up about the impending danger. "No, I don't know. What are you committed to. Even weighed against your classmates your practices are baffling to me." Tok laughs again, tiredly with their eyes pressing harder together, and they rub at their temple again with a sleeve covered hand. They continue forward. “Can I get an award for that?” Another weak smile flickers on their face, “C’mon, you ain’t ever dig yourself a hole and then keep digging cause you already dug so far? They call that uh….sinking…cost….” Tok takes another long pause, “…something. Starts with…an ‘F’ I think.” Their shoes are beginning to tap around the edge of the pond. "Are you trying to get out of the hole. Do you think digging helps." Halim isn't volunteering whether or not he's ever done similar, though he is offering: "Fallacy. It's a fallacy. An error in logic." “Fallacy!” Tok shouts excitedly, then winces, and repeats quieter, “Fallacy, yeah yeah thanks. Full of those.” They inch closer to the pond, and place their foot on the edge, then their other foot begins lowering, attempting to find solid ground. “Well what if I dig just a little deeper and find diamonds there? Diamonds could be real helpfu-” Their back foot slips on the wet rock, and their leg splashes into the pond. They manage to scramble against the ground to keep from sinking too far deep, but they do go up to just below their knees. Their eyes have blasted wide open, bright white glow pouring from them, and they make another hissing noise, tail sticking straight up and poofing in reaction to the cold as they clamber back out, “Fuck fuckfuck coldcoldcold.” They scramble to their feet, teeth chattering, “Heh-wooo okay- Not that way!” There's silence, from Halim. Then a low humming, brief. Then more silence. Then more humming -- is that two things humming, now? The sound -- sounds -- maybe it's three -- are circling Tok just out of reach, though as they speed up the slight buzzing of the drones can maybe be felt. Tok crushes their eyes shut again, perhaps instinctively against the speeding drones, and they stiffen, bringing their arms and tail in close, “Whoa- Sorry-Sorry- Mr. Tawadros- look I didn’t-” They swallow harshly, “Did I- did I break somethin- sorry I didn’t mean to break nothin’. I’ll stop messin’ around I promise.” "Did you break something," Halim echoes. "Open your eyes and get back to your dorm, then. The wetness multiplies your hypothermia risk a lot."
“Yeah- yeah sure! I can- I can do that. Couldn’t agree more.” Tok is bringing their head down, trying to keep their eyes hidden despite the circles being made about them making that near impossible. Their eyes open a little blearily, still holding onto that white glow, still able to be seen even with how they try to keep them mostly lidded. “Hey uh- don’t- don’t get hypothermia yourself! Or- your drones.” They try to say as they begin to gingerly side step away from the pond. The circling drones are keeping their same orbit as Tok steps away from the pond, regular and spinning and probably fairly easily avoidable -- for anyone looking at them. One of them thuds, firm but not hard, into the student's shoulder as they move into its path. "Why," there's just the faintest hint of -- something, it's hard to say. Strain? In Halim's voice, now. "Are you blind." Is Joshua's appearance even noteworthy, here? Halim can see him, anyway, but Halim has already seen him a few seconds before -- he's actually properly in his paramedic uniform this time, boots and uniform shirt and pants, watermelon-print kippah, an ancient canvas jacket thrown on over top. The teleporting makes no sound, though, really, and he isn't speaking yet. Just watching Tok, brows slowly hiking. Tok jumps at the contact with the drone, tail twitching. They make a warbling noise and their breathing picks up, slightly, ears twisting to try and pin the locations of the drones, “I-I’m not- really I’m fine it’s just something that- I’m-” their tail twitches into their hands and they tug at the patchy fur at the end of it, “I’m super drunk.” They blurt out. "See." Halim's voice is as flat as ever. "I know they're very stupid but I think that this is still unusual behavior." Is he talking to Tok, still? The drones have pulled back away, judging by the noise. Two of them are retreating a short distance while the third -- a small waspish thing -- has moved to perch on a lightpost near Joshua. "I don't know what causes spontaneous blindness. I have not noticed it in other children around campus. Yet." "Mnnh," is Joshua's first reply. He's rubbing at his eyes, slow and tired with the heel of his hand. "Drink yourself blind is... really just an expression." He's stretching out a kind of tired healing sense, silent, to take a slow and thorough assessment of the teenager. "What happened?" Tok’s ears twist in confusion, eyes searching blankly for their new visitor. There’s a short delay, but they visibly flinch at the word ‘stupid’, “Don’t- don’t call me-“ Their blood vessels are flaring white, burning burning painful but with no where for the energy to go. They grit their teeth, then breathe shakily, most of the fight seeping out of them along with the glow. Their head pounds with a headache, eyes burning in the same way their blood vessels were, they sport a few bruises here and there from their stumbling around, an old larger bruise across their back. They’re also, very cold. “Sorry- just happens with my powers sometimes. Really- I’ll probably be fine.” They insist and press their one of their palms against their eye. “Last time this happened I was able to just sleep it off.” There's no further answer from Halim. The drone settles itself back on the lightpost and goes dormant. "Sorry," says Joshua, "he's --" But he doesn't actually bother to say anything further about Halim. Just puffs out a cold breath of air. "Do you need a lift back to your dorm?" Joshua sounds extremely flat, but then, he usually sounds extremely flat. "S'kinda things probably important to, uh. Tell people about. If it happens sometimes with your powers we can figure out ways to --" His lips have pressed thin, for just a moment, before he continues in the same level monotone. "Avoid the hypothermia next time." “S’fine.” Tok breathes again, ears flicking in the direction of the drone, pulling at the fur at the end of their tail, sparking brief notes of pain about it. They swallow, and there’s a visible guilt that flashes across their face. Brief, but there. They seem like they might be about to say no, but then a shiver runs through them. Finally they nod, quick, once. “Yes. Please.” They admit tiredly. “Just been tryin’ to get there for ages.” This is maybe an attempted joke, but it’s lacking energy. They hesitate, “and yeah I’ll… I’ll tell people. Next time. Swear.” "I don't mean next time. I mean before next time. Best time to have a plan is before you need the plan." From the slow scudding footsteps and the direction of his voice, Joshua has ambled nearer. "I don't -- know who your advisor is but I'm gonna see about scheduling some time to work with you on this. Make sure you have some strategies for what to do next time you overdo it." This does not sound like a request, just bland and informational. "... which dorm are you?" The fur of Tok’s tail seems to instinctively raise ever so slightly at Joshua’s approach, head twitching like they’re trying to track him with their eyes but can’t. They manage to hold still though. Their ears press down at the information in a worried, again almost guilty, sort of way, but they nod quickly without argument, “Oh- yeah. yeah. O-Okay.” They nod again, for good measure. “Thanks.” They hesitate and a nervous, quiet huff of a laugh escapes them, “I’m uh…on advisor number four now. I got Mx. Marinov.” They say the name with a hint of pride in there, and the next wrap of a lock of fur about their finger doesn’t end with a tug, “I’m in Hades hou- uh. Fuck.” They blink, hard, face scrunching in attempted concentration, “Worthington. I think.” They press their hand into their temple, “Yeah, I’m sure that’s the one.” They shrug, “I’ll know it when I see i-…nevermind.” Joshua's grunt is hard to interpret. His voice is lower when he says: "... been a rough year." His hand drops, firm, to Tok's shoulder, and a moment later the harsh cold and wind of the outdoors is replaced with the warmth and noise of a dorm hallway winding down for the night. One set of noises shifts for -- the same noises from a slightly different perspective, and then another shift. Then there's a knock, crisp shave-and-a-haircut, and then the quiet push of a door swinging open. "Three steps forward and you'll be in your room. Gonna check in on those eyes in the morning, aiight?" His hand squeezes down briefly, and then he's gone. | |
