Hello, it's me

[perroquet]

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: Hyrypia - The Swept Manor Grounds
WHEN: Morning of day 12
SUMMARY: Rudely calling like 80% of the Nest out for being cagey.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.



(Hello! Am I doing this right? Hello!!! Good morning!!)

[ The red sun is hardly up, it's barely after breakfast, some of the members of the nest may still be sleeping - and this one doesn't seem to mind. He noisily floods the network like a one-man-band who just won the lottery, his very thoughts musical and abrasively cheerful. ]

(It's been several long days since my young broodmate and I joined you in this dustbowl, but I have yet to meet all of you properly. I understand we're working covertly, but you're all quite cagey for being connected in the head, you know that?)

[ There's either a slight tone of vindication, as though he believes most have earned this morning call for being so standoffish. Or perhaps he's just being loud because he's inexperienced with the symbiote still. Possibly both. It's hard to tell through the band playing behind every word. ]

(Most of you don't know me yet, but I want to get to know every single one of you. Since we have another day here, I'd like to get started. Here, I'll go first-

My name is Gildor Helyanwe, and I'm a bard from Esterport. How are all of you? Well I hope, not getting too hot, learning to ride those constructs?)

[ The band stops. Crickets chirp, though hopefully not for long. If he's left hanging, he has no qualms over striking up the mental orchestra next. ]

Comments

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy was already awake and despite some of the unhappy emotions she has going on, this rather cheers her up. There's an amused brush of the mind in return. ]

( I'm Aloy of the Nora. Nice to meet you, Gildor. Sorry I haven't had a chance to meet you in person yet. )

[perroquet]

[ A new voice. His mind is quick to commit it to memory. ]

(Hello Miss Aloy! Miss Nora? Or just Aloy? It's a pleasure.)

[ The amusement is sensed and returned not with a brush, but with more music - something more pleasant, catered to fit her voice and help him remember better. A soft swelling of woodwinds that call to mind the warmth of sunrise after a cold night. ]

(It is all well and good. We're meeting now, aren't we? It's best to get to know everyone we are working with to better function as a team, especially while operating covertly, wouldn't you agree?)

[huntsmachines]

[ The music is surprising to her and her delight only grows. She hasn't heard anything like it before. Certainly, she's heard flutes and drums and singing but woodwinds... never. There's a fascination in her now as her attention turns towards him a bit more fully. ]

( Just Aloy is fine. Well met. And you're right. We all have to work together here, it's better to know each other. )

[ She's certainly warm. Almost like a flame, though there's also something like a breeze whistling through pine trees or the glint of light on snow-capped mountains in her. Something wild and free. ]

[perroquet]

[ He likes the feeling of her - reminds him of days spent traveling from one end of the continent to the other in search of another bounty. The good ones, anyway. ]

(Just Aloy then. Well Aloy, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this mission and any skills you bring to it, either in person later or now if it suits you.)

[ Her thoughts will be open for the rest of the Nest to pick up on should anyone else care to listen, and Gildor makes no effort to hide that. Only his song is focused on her, the rest of his mind open, vast, and incredibly dark. It would be unsettling if not for the sense of normalcy in it. ]

[huntsmachines]

( I don't know that I have many thoughts. We're being led around practically blind--I'm not sure what's going to end up happening, but it definitely makes me a bit nervous. I'm going to try and do what I can. Mostly I'm a hunter, a tracker. A warrior. The spy stuff isn't something I've done much of. )

[ It's nice to just talk about work, as it were. It's something to keep her mind off other unpleasant realities. ]

[perroquet]

(Ha, well, being blind I suppose it does feel a bit like that, yes.)

[ There's a dip in his tone, but no bitterness to the words. Just an amused sense of relation to their current situation. The music of his mind continues, light and cheerful as ever. ]

(Now don't count yourself out there! I'm sure the skills of a warrior will prove useful despite our need for discretion. It's nice to know there is a hunter among us when we are, in a sense, hunting for this mysterious enemy.)

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy's response is a mental note of amusement and a bit of grateful relief. She's being humble, true, but it's nice to have someone so positive and affirming comapred to some of the doomsayers in the Nest. There's a brief pause, unsure if her words have offended him, but the conversation rolls on. ]

( I suppose that's true! I just wish they left a trail I could follow instead of flailing around. It feels that way, anyhow. )

[perroquet]

(It's still early yet, isn't it? Chin up, perhaps we'll be so lucky as to catch them soon. Do let the Nest know if your tracking skills find you anything.)

[ A convenient way of including himself. Let the Nest know, let them all know, let him know. So many went to investigate the source of collective dread, yet none made an effort to share any findings. Even if they turned up nothing, he's a tad bitter about it. ]

(And let me know if I can help with anything. As a bard I am here to support my new comrades however I can, morally, medically, or magically.)

[ His mental song continues to play soothing notes for her, as if to demonstrate just that. A clarinet solo he remembers from time spent in the bard's guild, clear as the first time he heard it. ]