shellphones | Whale Man Tries to Turn Around And Walk Back Into the Rift

Yes.

[ Ulpianus brings out his own shellphone; there should be a voice recording function, right... He trusts in his own ability to remember everything she says, but he also doesn't know how being here will affect him.

... Speaking of which. He glances at the barkeeper, who catches on and asks what the guest would like. ]

Water.

[ Ignoring the weird look he gets and offers of beer, Ulpianus turns to Jill. ]

Continue.

[She waits until the bartender moves away before speaking. It is not that Eikons are a secret here; if they were, she wouldn't have mentioned being a Dominant to begin with. That remnant of her former life is no longer part of her now, yet Jill still desires control over who hears and when. The bartender has only one job and knowing her business is not it.]

I have not asked the other Dominants on their experience, thus I can only truly speak on my relationship with the Eikon I behold. She is capable of speech, though the opportunity to do so does not happen often. Any situations where I have called upon her wasn't one of camaraderie.

[Translation: too busy fighting to really talk.]

I am always aware of her presence in some manner, much like she is aware of mine. After all, I ultimately hold the key to whether or not she is allowed to come forth.

[Except when Jill loses control of her emotions, but she'd rather not discuss that right now.]

[ He notes that she doesn't seem to want to speak in the presence of the bartender. More secretive than he'd expected, but still at odds with her previous willingness to talk. Is she afraid? Simply cautious?

His brain files those considerations in the background while Ulpianus focuses his attention on her words. ]

Elaborate. Can she overcome your will and force a manifestation?

[The mug is at her mouth when he asks the question and it remains there when she answers him, giving Jill her own sort of mask to cover up the single word that comes out.

The irony is not lost on her, but at least it looks far more like an casual act than something as glaring as his piece of cloth.]

No.

[A lie. Her apartment here bears the scars that confirm it. Her shame equals her guilt.]

[ Jill. Jill he is going to be mad about you lying to him if he ever finds out. Jill no.

But for now, it's not enough signs for him to pick up on the lie. ]

I see. Tell me about the mechanism of manifestation.

[He can't get mad if he never finds out, so let's not have him find out, hmm?]

For what reason would you like to know?

[Much like she's uncomfortable telling him the truth that enough psychological stress means she loses her tether on Shiva, Jill's also uncomfortable explaining how she primes. It's something she never really cared much to do, especially all the times she was forced to, and having to put it into words brings up some not-too-long-forgotten feelings in Jill.]

[ This is the first time she is reluctant to answer, and it gives Ulpianus pause. Is she cautious? Or unwilling to talk for some other reason? Is "please and thank you" not enough to get an answer? ]

... To understand and combat a similar phenomenon in my world.

[If she wasn't cautious, she is now. Jill's already said too much. Her fault, really, but still, her hackles are raised. Coming from a place where the Ironblood would rather see her die from abuse than thrive in peace, she now wonders if this Hunter believes the Dominants and the Dominant-alike are abominations too.]

And why do you believe they need to be combated?

[The last word is spit out with a certain amount of disgust.]

[ Ah... Yes, he's hit on some nerve, even if he's uncertain what exactly it is yet. ]

It may indeed be possible to find another way to stop them. That is what I want to know.

[ Sure would be nice if he, like... explained. Anything. ]

Do not project your own problems onto me, and do not assume you know what my world faces from some broad, vague similarities.

[ SURE WOULD BE NICE!!!! IF HE WASN'T LIKE THIS!!! ]

[No, she's going to project. Why? Because she spent thirteen whole years with people who wanted to destroy her any way they could and Founder forgive her if she's going to sit here and give this man the information to do that to someone else.

Even if those other kinds may deserve it. Who know? It's not like he's telling her much of anything about his world, so she has only what little he's given her to work with.]

You come here, tell me something similar to what I am needs to be destroyed, and you have the audacity to tell me I'm making baseless assumptions? Do you even hear yourself?

[The bartender returns with the glass of water and manages to catch the seemingly reserved woman's final words. He probably can't figure out what has changed her attitude so much, but at least he's got the good sense to skedaddle out of there as soon as the glass hits the table.]

[ Ulpianus takes that glass of water calmly, seemingly unmoved by Jill's outburst. This, too, can be a way of getting to understand people, even if a somewhat cumbersome one.

If this were Aegir, he could have asked her to dance or sing together, but he's learned long ago that land-dwellers put very different connotations on those things. So he'll just go on what he can understand about her so far. ]

Your own isolation drives you to seek companionship in beings you have never seen, but hope that they are like you. Beings that would devour you as naturally as burdenbeasts graze on grass, and construct more of their brethren from the nutrients of your corpse.

Seek your solace in the multitudes of humanity, not in the unknown.

[Is it seeking companionship or her learning that even the beings being looked down upon deserve a chance to be understood? An old(er) man once taught here, every man is worthy of that chance. They just need to know it exists in the first place.

And Hunter doesn't seem like the type to take the time to inform them.]

You talk about these them as if they aren't living creatures in need of survival too. Regardless if they are as bad as you make them seem, your first thought is to gather enough information from me to end them rather than use that information to truly understand their goals. Their desires. Their wants and needs.

Perhaps you should do that and maybe, just maybe, you might find you can come to a peaceful mutual understanding.

[Of course, this is all her supposing that whatever this great thing Hunter is in opposition to can't be that awful. Much like how some people think Dominants and Bearers are nothing but the elements that turn a good world bad.

Though one could say Hugo Kupka has earned that reputation.]

Many sought that mutual understanding. And it was only ever one-sided.

[ He seems as unwilling to budge as her. ]

They have only one goal. Only one need and desire. To propagate. To turn the sea, and then the land, and then the stars into themselves.

[ Fortunately for everyone involved, he stops for a second to think about how to convince Jill instead of simply insisting he's correct. ]

If this helps you understand... I am one of them.

I could easily say your take is just as one-sided too.

[In other words, she's only getting his view on things. Maybe if there was someone else to corroborate with what he's telling her or even better, another person to refute all his words, Jill just has to work with what she's got right now and none of it sits well within her.

No, it doesn't help her understand, but it cause her to stop and think for a moment, brow furrowed in confusion.]

You want to end your own kind?

[She understands being so hopeless where self-destruction seems like the best choice of all. She, however, does not comprehend the idea of wanting to wipe out your entire species too.]

[ If ONLY Ulpianus knew how to earn people's trust and explain things clearly and without apparent hostility. ]

They are not my kind.

[ That totally helps.

Again, he pauses, looking at Jill as though he's studying her. Eventually, he leans back slightly, seemingly having reached a decision. ]

An analogy for you, Dominant. Do you hear the voice of that Eikon you hold inside you? Do you feel what it wants? Do you know it better than a stranger from another world?

[This man speaks in riddles now. Is he or is he not what he claims to be part of? Aegir is what he said he was. Is that not the species he named? How are they not his kind? (Yes, explaining things would clear up the confusion, but that doesn't seem likely to happen, does it?)

And then Hunter does something that sends a disgusted shiver down her spine, something that's actually visible in how she tenses up without answering his questions. The staring? No. It's the calling her Dominant rather than her given name. Every time someone does it, it feels like they're reducing her down to nothing but the Eikon and to be perfectly honest, she's had enough of that for a lifetime.]

Jill. My name is Jill.

[Her words have razor sharp edges, as if she's using them to protect her fragile sense of self over something others would just consider an innocent title.]

[ Ah. So she is clearly not happy about that title. That adds more explanation to her earlier outbursts - he'd misjudged them to be simply the longing of an outlier, but it seems to go deeper.

This would be a good place to maybe apologize and deescalate the tension.

Would be. ]

You never gave me your name.

[Yes, he's right. But he's the worst kind of right: the technically correct sort. Yet, did it not occur to Hunter than when she asked his name, he should do the same?

Jill closes her eyes and takes a few deep breathes to center herself. Rarely the kind to lose her temper, this man certainly has found ways to test her composure.]

You never asked. [Totally his fault.] When you give yours, it's commonplace to ask for one in return.

[She's going to have to hold his hand through every landwalker custom, isn't she?]

[ She is. Hope you have fun with that, Jill! ]

And in some lands it is commonplace to offer one's own name when asking another's.

[ --ah, but he knows at least some customs! ]

Does your culture require the use of honorifics? Based on age, sex, or other social status?

I never asked for yours. [Technically.] I just made a comment on your tendency to demand things without offering something, anything, in return. You offered your name in order to get answers to your questions—which might I add, you received—and not because you wanted to get to acquainted.

[Is she being petty? Yes and it's quite unlike Jill to be so, but to be honest, this guy has rubbed her wrong since text message #1. Why is she even still bothering to speak with him?]

Social status for the most part. Lesser nobles would be Lord and Lady and the like. Anything higher, you'd use their royal title: King, Prince, Archduke...

[ The problem with being petty with Ulpianus is that he mostly ignores it unless you're close - which he does now, too, instead using the time to take a sip of his water.

Through his mask. ]

Which one do you require?

[One could say she was a princess once upon a time. They could also say that she'd be considered a lesser noble by virtue of being a ward of the Duchy. But in any case now, today, right this moment in this inn, there's no status for her to claim.

She shakes her head, frowning both at his question and the fact that the water can't taste very good being filtered through his mask. Even if she believed in using honorifics (and she still does, but for other people), insisting one be used for her would seem silly. A lady wouldn't have committed the atrocities she has, much less a proper princess.]

None of them. I am of common stock.

[So she feels.]

[ He pauses briefly again. So far, taking her at her word rarely improved communication. It is possible she expects something else of him, despite her insistence on no status-based honorifics. ]

I have observed that honorifics are used among commoners too.

[ Ulpianus thinks back to that boy, Breogan's descendant. He'd insisted on calling him "Don Ulpianus". ]

In the last country I visited, custom would dictate that I address you as Doña Jill.

[There's little Jill has come to expect of this man, except for him to continue testing her nerves.]

I assure you, that custom does not hold here. In all honestly, I've never heard that word in my life.

[But if referring to her like that means he never calls her Dominant again, so be it.]

[ Well, whatever floats your... powers your landbound vehicle. ]

Equivalent or similar usage: miss, ma'am, hanimefendi, mademoiselle, sheila.

[ Take your pick, Jill. ]

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