[The question seems to catch Elleru off-guard: her ears flick upward, her surprise evident as a wide smile slowly forms across her face. She leans closer, her voice soft, hushed.]
Can you not tell, either? I have had such trouble knowing who is an adult and who is a child here! So many of you are short, but adults. [Rey included.] I did not want to ask, and I was thinking I might be the only one who could not tell!
[She giggles; her laughter is as inhuman as Elleru herself, her voice carrying a buzzing undercurrent like the thrum of a bird.]
[Okay, that... wasn't the response Rey was expecting. Well, she wasn't sure what to expect, but whimsy wasn't it. She just gapes at Elleru for a long moment, trying to parse where this conversation ends and begins.]
Honestly, that might just be that you're pretty fucking tall, yourself. [And Rey is no tiny person.] You could be some baby giant... elf... thing, for all anyone knows.
[Pause.]
But no, can't always tell. Sometimes people don't look their age.
Ah, this is true. [She sighs, settling back down.] But I am tall because I am an adult. Our kind are rarely as short as many humans. They come in so many sizes.
[Her ears twitch just a bit as she gives Rey a warm look.] Not that there is anything wrong with being short. I like short.
[Flatly:] You like short. [Rey repeats, eying Elleru warily.
[Such an innocuous thing to say, but everything is suspect from where she's standing most of the time. Hell, she wouldn't bother eating someone else's food made for her if not for the fact that she can't be poisoned.
[She just takes another bite of stew, but doesn't stop looking at Elleru, as if waiting for something to happen. On the plus side, at least she doesn't have to worry about some alien baby making innuendoes at her. Eugh.]
[Rey waits for something to happen, and Elleru seems to also be waiting, but while she's being watched with a wary eye, she's doing the watching with all the anticipation and excitement in the world, smiling brightly as Rey takes another bite of her gift.]
[For as obvious as it should be, Rey isn't sure what to make of that. Picking up "vibes" from people isn't really her forte. She's mostly finished with the stew before she can figure out how to respond to that.]
Well. Am not short. Not by average height, anyway.
[Compared to Elleru, though? Yeah, she's pretty dwarfed. Actually, her size and coloring reminds her of that one talking animal Rey had met a while back, who shares a suspiciously similar inflection.
[Is there a connection? Probably. But Elleru hasn't said anything yet for a reason, so maybe there's a reason for that. None of her business, either way.]
[Rey's obliviousness only seems to make Elleru try harder. How cute it is that this upright does not acknowledge her flirtations, she thinks. If Rey said she wasn't interested, Elleru would understand -- be disappointed, but understand. However, she's saying nothing of the sort. She just doesn't know.
That, or she is playing... what is it the uprights call it in their romance novels? Hard-to-get? Not that Elleru is after romance just yet, but she is certainly looking for a stronger connection of some sort with this lonely upright, even if she can't really formulate exactly what that would be in her own mind. Rey is unlike the other uprights, doing her best to not get to know them. That just makes her all the more intriguing.]
[While "playing hard-to-get" isn't Rey's intention, she wouldn't recognize someone's interest of it smacked her in the face with a brick. Flirting... just isn't a thing she does, or other people do to her. Most of her past selves never sought that type of companionship, and the only one that had didn't end very well for her.
[Didn't end very well for the current Rey, either. Then again, maybe it was her fault for developing a fondness for a sniper whose wife she had killed during wartime; though Faye seemed to absolve Rey of her past actions, she's not sure if she's ready to make that step yet. It wasn't that long ago they were laying low in that abandoned hotel in Arkhangelsk, trying to keep the other woman warm amidst the biting cold...
[Rey blinks hard, shaking her head until she quickly finishes the meal Elleru had given her. If there was anything wrong with the spiciness of it, she isn't showing it anymore, now that she was able to expect the sharp flavor. It wasn't the best thing that she ever had, but it was hardly the worst.]
Thanks, by the way -- for this. [Flawless maneuver.]
[That genuine thanks (accompanied by a somewhat nervous-sounding answer) gets an even wider smile from Elleru; she's beaming as she leans back and claps her hands together, utterly delighted to get what is probably the most positive reaction she's gotten out of Rey yet.]
You are welcome, Rrey! I will be happy to make more for you, if you like? I do want to learn, and it is good to have someone other than me to test it. To make sure it is not too hot?
[Did she really have to say the f-word? Rey winces internally but tries to remain neutral, even as Elleru seems to move nearer. Is she having trouble hearing or something? With those big-ass ears?]
Ah. Appreciate it, at least. Can't remember the last time since eating...
[She's been finding food here and there, so that's... good? Right?]
You should remember to eat, Rrey. I will remind you, if you would like me to.
[And now that she's so conveniently close, she'll just set her fingers right on top of Rey's to help her emphasize why she'd do that -- for any of the friends she's made, but especially this upright in particular.]
It would trouble me if something were to happen to you.
[The impulsive "Why?" almost comes out, but Rey knows already. Elleru's given her that answer before, so it seems a little redundant now. What she can't parse is why this person has taken such an interest in her well-being in a way so few in Rey's life ever had.
[She doesn't pull back her hand when Elleru reaches for it, but she isn't exactly sure what to do with her own, either.]
Can't really stop you.
[It's as close to a permissive response to such an offer as one is going to get.]
[That response is apparently good enough for Elleru, her lets her hand linger atop Rey's for just a smidge longer. Her skin is so warm, albeit a bit calloused and scarred like the rest of her; she has clearly had some harder times than the softer kaulahren, her own hands relatively smooth and unblemished by comparison.
With a quiet, pleased sigh, she relinquishes Rey's hand. It's so hard to be patient with uprights, waiting for them to come around, but it must be done. Rey has expressed her uncertainty before, and Elleru is determined to show her that she can be trusted. She takes the container with her as she gets to her feet, grinning coyly the whole way.]
Then I will tell you when I make more for you. Is healthy.
[Healthy to eat, or healthy to eat her food? She doesn't clarify as she gives Rey a little wave.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
circumitus) wrote2019-06-10 07:47 pm
no subject
Can you not tell, either? I have had such trouble knowing who is an adult and who is a child here! So many of you are short, but adults. [Rey included.] I did not want to ask, and I was thinking I might be the only one who could not tell!
[She giggles; her laughter is as inhuman as Elleru herself, her voice carrying a buzzing undercurrent like the thrum of a bird.]
no subject
Honestly, that might just be that you're pretty fucking tall, yourself. [And Rey is no tiny person.] You could be some baby giant... elf... thing, for all anyone knows.
[Pause.]
But no, can't always tell. Sometimes people don't look their age.
no subject
[Her ears twitch just a bit as she gives Rey a warm look.] Not that there is anything wrong with being short. I like short.
no subject
[Such an innocuous thing to say, but everything is suspect from where she's standing most of the time. Hell, she wouldn't bother eating someone else's food made for her if not for the fact that she can't be poisoned.
[She just takes another bite of stew, but doesn't stop looking at Elleru, as if waiting for something to happen. On the plus side, at least she doesn't have to worry about some alien baby making innuendoes at her. Eugh.]
no subject
[Rey waits for something to happen, and Elleru seems to also be waiting, but while she's being watched with a wary eye, she's doing the watching with all the anticipation and excitement in the world, smiling brightly as Rey takes another bite of her gift.]
no subject
Well. Am not short. Not by average height, anyway.
[Compared to Elleru, though? Yeah, she's pretty dwarfed. Actually, her size and coloring reminds her of that one talking animal Rey had met a while back, who shares a suspiciously similar inflection.
[Is there a connection? Probably. But Elleru hasn't said anything yet for a reason, so maybe there's a reason for that. None of her business, either way.]
no subject
That, or she is playing... what is it the uprights call it in their romance novels? Hard-to-get? Not that Elleru is after romance just yet, but she is certainly looking for a stronger connection of some sort with this lonely upright, even if she can't really formulate exactly what that would be in her own mind. Rey is unlike the other uprights, doing her best to not get to know them. That just makes her all the more intriguing.]
You are short to me.
no subject
[While "playing hard-to-get" isn't Rey's intention, she wouldn't recognize someone's interest of it smacked her in the face with a brick. Flirting... just isn't a thing she does, or other people do to her. Most of her past selves never sought that type of companionship, and the only one that had didn't end very well for her.
[Didn't end very well for the current Rey, either. Then again, maybe it was her fault for developing a fondness for a sniper whose wife she had killed during wartime; though Faye seemed to absolve Rey of her past actions, she's not sure if she's ready to make that step yet. It wasn't that long ago they were laying low in that abandoned hotel in Arkhangelsk, trying to keep the other woman warm amidst the biting cold...
[Rey blinks hard, shaking her head until she quickly finishes the meal Elleru had given her. If there was anything wrong with the spiciness of it, she isn't showing it anymore, now that she was able to expect the sharp flavor. It wasn't the best thing that she ever had, but it was hardly the worst.]
Thanks, by the way -- for this. [Flawless maneuver.]
no subject
You are welcome, Rrey! I will be happy to make more for you, if you like? I do want to learn, and it is good to have someone other than me to test it. To make sure it is not too hot?
no subject
[Though it was probably for the best that Rey was able to give Elleru her honest opinion. For science.]
no subject
I thought you might be. So many have been, and what is it friends are for if not to make each other well?
no subject
Ah. Appreciate it, at least. Can't remember the last time since eating...
[She's been finding food here and there, so that's... good? Right?]
no subject
[And now that she's so conveniently close, she'll just set her fingers right on top of Rey's to help her emphasize why she'd do that -- for any of the friends she's made, but especially this upright in particular.]
It would trouble me if something were to happen to you.
no subject
[She doesn't pull back her hand when Elleru reaches for it, but she isn't exactly sure what to do with her own, either.]
Can't really stop you.
[It's as close to a permissive response to such an offer as one is going to get.]
no subject
With a quiet, pleased sigh, she relinquishes Rey's hand. It's so hard to be patient with uprights, waiting for them to come around, but it must be done. Rey has expressed her uncertainty before, and Elleru is determined to show her that she can be trusted. She takes the container with her as she gets to her feet, grinning coyly the whole way.]
Then I will tell you when I make more for you. Is healthy.
[Healthy to eat, or healthy to eat her food? She doesn't clarify as she gives Rey a little wave.]