Running with the Shadows of the Night

[Ryn]

"But..." Ryn frowns. If there are the right words for expressing what she wants to she can't find them. "Then isn't anything you do trying?" she tries anyway.

[Katarina Kane]

"It's only really 'trying' if you don't know the outcome in advance," Katarina said, after a moment trying to collect her thoughts.

"You wouldn't have to 'try' to stab a 3-meter shadow monster with a knife. You would just do it, because you know how to do it and you've been practiced and trained at it. And I wouldn't have to 'try' to sing on stage, because I know how to do it and have been practiced and trained at it. We would just do those things.

But if we were in each other's shoes, it'd be a different story, yes? We would each be outside of our comfort zones, doing something where we wouldn't know if we would succeed or not. And at that point, you either try, or you don't. And if you never try, you never discover popcorn."

[Ryn]

Right, humans had to 'learn' things.

"I never had to practice with a knife. It's... what I do." She'd almost said 'what I am' but even she can recognize that that's at best confusing and at worst terrifying. "Like the wind knows to blow and the birds know to fly."

[Katarina Kane]

"And fashion sense? Is that something you just knew how to do?" Katarina said, gesturing to Ryn's look.

[Ryn]

"No." she's forced to admit. "But that's different."

[Katarina Kane]

"How so?" Katarina asked, with a sly smile.

[Ryn]

"It just is. It's a human-thing." she decides. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Things wrought and imagined by humans aren't something she does. "Different rules." she adds with only a slightly cheeky tone.

[Katarina Kane]

"And yet, here you are anyway, yes?"

[Ryn]

"And I still don't understand your 'fashion'."

[Katarina Kane]

"And yet, you are here anyway," Katarina repeated, gesturing at Ryn. "Not a fan of what you have selected?"

[Ryn]

"They're... fine? There are more comfortable options and I don't really understand aesthetics still. I've never been concerned about how I look before."

[Katarina Kane]

"Well, fashion is about attracting attention. So it's more about how other people want you to look more than anything else. Drawing the eye places you want it drawn."

[Ryn]

That at least makes sense. She is, after all, doing this for Katarina to begin with.

"Drawing one set of eyes draws others." she says. Bright angry warning colors like poisonous frogs maybe. But no, it'd have to be something that averts everyone but Katarina. Something only she likes. Unsolvable as far s Ryn can tell but Katarina thinks the attempt itself is enough? Maybe she doesn't have to succeed at fashion and just... tolerate it?

[Katarina Kane]

"Certainly. But you can help determine which eyes you draw by how you dress. It's a...signifier. Of who you are and what you are about," Katarina nodded after a moment's thought.

[Ryn]

"What I'm about. And different for different people? A kind of camouflage?"

[Katarina Kane]

"I suppose you could look at it like that, yes," Katarina said, thinking about it. "That's a bit of a...military way of looking at it," she said. "But yes, your fashion choices help define who you are to a group of people at a specific time. Like how I wear the suit when we're on a mission, so people take me more seriously."

[Ryn]

"I can work with that." she nods, glad to have gleaned some understanding of this very human thing. Which in and of itself is a little disturbing if she dwells on it for too long.

[Katarina Kane]

"Good enough for me," Katarina smiled. "Now, let's go watch some TV before that popcorn gets cold."

[Ryn]

"Yes!" Ryn says, not doing a very good job at hiding her excitement.

[Katarina Kane]

"Did you have anything specific in mind?" Katarina said, stifling a laugh, and thinking she had a fairly good idea what the answer would be.

[Ryn]

Someone even remotely socially competent would see this for the obvious trap it is and be able to make a conscious decision about how much to reveal of themselves in response.

"The one with you." she says without a second thought. Asking the being able to sit and watch the stars night after night after night for her preferences in entertainment might not yield the most varied choices.

[Katarina Kane]

"Well, we'll run out of those in short order, but I think I have one or two more left. My television career is not...the most lengthy."

[Ryn]

"Do you sing in them too?" she asks as the two head back to Katarina's room.

[Katarina Kane]

"A couple. Not all of them," Katarina admitted. "Some just have some of my music on the soundtracks."

[Ryn]

Ryn is unclear of the distinction, but she's always happy to listen to Katarina's singing. Nobody has explained records or cassettes to her as of yet.

"Do the others have car chases?"

[Katarina Kane]

"Mm, not so much. Other kinds of action scenes, though."

[Ryn]

"That's good." she nods her approval.

[Katarina Kane]

"We need to show you more kinds of things, anyway, so you can figure out what you like. Trying, right?"

[Ryn]

Ryn wants to dismiss new things on principle, but Katarina seems to somehow find things among all the pointless human works that she actually likes.

"Mrrm. Fine. Because you asked."

[Katarina Kane]

"And I didn't even have to use my gift," Katarina teased.

[Ryn]

"Your voice has magic." Ryn nods.

[Katarina Kane]

"It does," she sighed. " I'm doing my best to avoid using it, but sometimes it just slips out."

[Ryn]

"It's okay. Magic is wild and does as it pleases sometimes."

[Katarina Kane]

"Finding a way to whip it into shape is still important to me. Perhaps one day," she sighed.

"But let's not focus on the negative today."

[Ryn]

"Yes. Have some popped corn instead." she says and offers the bowl up to Katarina.

[Katarina Kane]

"Good advice for life, at that," Katarina joked, taking a handful.

[Ryn]

"That seems questionable." she says as they reach Katarina's room and Ryn opens the door so her friend can finish eating her handful of exploded maize.

[Katarina Kane]

"Not worrying over things we can't control is good advice in general. This is just the specific application," Katarina smiled.

[Ryn]

"Oh. Yes. Why don't humans just say what they mean all the time?" she vocalized her thoughts on the matter before she can think better of it.

[Katarina Kane]

"Oh, there's a ton of reasons. Sometimes you may be worried about how the other person might react -- you may be trying to softplay some criticism, or keep an upper hand for later. Or maybe you're not sure what you mean yourself, and have to answer anyway."