trans_9 | Tightrope

It had been a few days since the Outsider's gathering, where Hit Girl had finally been able to utilize her strength and talent to help others. All in all, it went pretty well: choices were made, friendships were had, blah blah and kumbaya. What SHE had wanted to show was that she was the type of girl who got the job done, and if anyone needed to be reminded, she would show that to them. Grabbing the flag had just been the start: now she wanted to make sure that whatever happened next, she would be ready, she would show people the type of person her daddy trained.

Which led to today's excursion in the Sensorium: she was doing tightrope walking, one of her weaker points, in order to maintain balance and poise. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop had demanded both, and while she had mastered that, she had not yet made her foray to really careful jumping in tight spots. To give her some energy, she had this playing in the background, and she jumped from rope to rope, her eyes concentrating, her tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.

Each step took courage, and the slightest imperfection would result in her falling, although of course it wouldn't be that big of a deal when you were in the Sensorium anyway. Despite this, Hit Girl demanded nothing less than imperfection: once she had this mastered, going to Negi and learning the delayed spells would be next, not to mention training Sasami.

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He blinked a few times in confusion. "If I am touching someone's earring or some bauble or bracelet, why would I need to do so stealthily? It has caught my attention and so I would like to feel the texture of said object or know more about it. It seems counter-productive to do so 'without being seen' since I am not a rogue and have no intention of pilfering said objects." Well now he knew he shouldn't try to touch her cape and most definitely not her mask. Oh well, maybe next time.

"Oh," Hit Girl said. So that was what he was talking about. Well, she could see why he would need to be educated as far as what to touch and not touch. In this case though, there seemed to be a pretty fair solution.

"In that case, why don't you just ask?"

He wasn't sure what other way she could have taken his words to give such a response. Perhaps it would be best to know so he wouldn't have to repeat it all to Ronnae, later. "In what context did you assume I meant?" he questioned, bemused expression still adorning his face.

"Though I do not ask right away because that is not the first thing to come to mind. My first instinct is to touch, hold, listen to or smell it."

"Well, I'm not sure. I just thought you went around poking your face into people's personal space and bothering them. I didn't know you actually went and touched people's things. That they're kind of particular about. Even I wouldn't like someone going off and touching my shit without asking."

She nodded. "Yeah, you should probably start with asking though. That would definitely help."

Well that was kind of true in a sense. Either or would be what most of the glares and disgruntled words were about. It was probably a wonder he had all of his limbs and digits intact, but then again he'd been rather good about not touching anything on anyone since arriving on the ship. Though there was that time he snatched Billy's glasses, but he was sleeping at the time so it hardly mattered, right?

"So I am told, though it is surprisingly difficult to undo a hundred and fifty plus years of instinct," he said simply.

Hit Girl snickered. "Well try," she said. "There's a lot of things we all have to deal with when we get on this ship. Being touchy about other people's stuff is definitely not gonna help you when they lose their temper, you know? And I'd rather they didn't to you: you seem all right."

That was what she thought anyway.

He made a face at her words, "Oh, it is not that I have not tried, it is just difficult. Like trying to hold your breath for an extended amount of time; even if you are underwater or in a room with poisonous gas, after a time your basic instinct makes you take a breath, even if you do not want to." He shrugged, "Or you pass out probably dying in the process anyways. Regardless, I am much better about these things compared to a few scant years ago and a bit easier to suppress as well."

Nokosi regarded her with an earnest smile, "Thank you. I haven't angered anyone quite yet. Raised tempers are certainly not uncommon where I am from but still, I suppose understand the merit of not 'ruffling any feathers' as the Gnomes say."

Hit Girl could barely believe that he described the ability to leave other people's stuff alone as akin to holding your breath underwater, but it honestly wouldn't be the first time she heard something so nutzoid on the ship. "Well at least you're getting better," she said, still momentarily stunned at the comparison.

Hit Girl laughed. "In that case, you probably deserve an award. I know by now that I've definitely pissed off a few people here on the ship. It's one thing to see someone like you, at least you're one a little weird. Most people are not used to a little girl with a dirty mouth that kills people."

Not that she was complaining: she LIKED notoriety.

Nokosi observed her reaction carefully before simply shrugging. It wouldn't be the first time someone thought he was a bit crazy and it most certainly wouldn't be the last, not that it bothered him at all. He'd always found that Humans and Gnomes, didn't quite get nature, the spirits or the creatures from either. It was a simple concept, one that required no gadgets or status, currency or knowing the hows and whys of everything. Just like any animal, you simply lived reacting on your base impulses.

"I would assume not. Cursing is usually for the rugged, grizzled types who need certain words to properly convey the strength of their feelings. Some of the young ones in the city were forced by their caretakers to chew soap for that, whatever that was supposed to accomplish. Though from what you mentioned I can assume those who willingly take other's lives are very rare barring the 'bad' groups of people. It must make your peers and some adults somewhat uncomfortable."

It wasn't so much that he thought he was crazy: if anything, she preferred his point of view to most of the people, which she thought pretty much verified how crazy SHE was to begin with. At the same time, she thought there was definitely some wisdom there that most people might not have noticed because they were too busy prejudging him. That kind of thing happened all the time, especially on the ship.

"Yeah, that's me all right," she said, grinning. "I'm pretty rugged and grizzled or whatever. And as for someone washing my mouth out with soap, like to see them try without me breaking their fingers. The peers and adults being uncomfortable is not my problem though. I think there's a bit more to be concerned about than my mouth."

Not her problem, eh? He could identify with that. "I would almost like to see that happen just so I could see the reaction of said person trying to avoid inevitable finger breakage. Even though there is a lot to be concerned about, to me it tends to feel as if we were on some sort of long vacation that has a strange idea of 'fun'. I have no idea what we are actually doing or supposed to be doing to halt the threat of the Ohm."

Tightrope

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