[A second or two later, and the door swings open. There stands Connor, straight-backed and appearing as well put-together as usual, looking up at her with a smile trademark of those he grants familiar, friendly faces.]
[Smile brightening when she sees his face, Konoha cheerfully thrusts the pumpkin at him, not yet realizing that... from his angle, it just looks like a plain pumpkin.]
I made this for you!
[Made it?
... If he turns it around, there's a fearsome face carved into one side.]
[The pumpkin thusly thrust in his direction, he blinks down at it and takes it accordingly. She's right, from this angle it doesn't look like anything more than a normal pumpkin, though he notes its weight is summarily lighter than what one might expect.]
You made a pumpkin- Wait, no-
[He turns it around, to see quite the face carved into the other side, looking at him with a sharp grin.]
[It's nicely carved, and while it's not like any jack o' lantern he would've envisioned based on traditional expectations, it is what he would've expected from Konoha. He glances back up at her, still grinning a little.]
So it goes. Thank you, Konoha. I'll be sure to display it properly, with a candle and everything when nightfalls.
[Adhering to custom, as she said.
Giant pumpkin held close, he steps back from the door, giving her space to enter.]
[There's not much better than someone likings gift, especially when it's something handmade. Konoha's tail swishes happily beneath her skirt, and she nods with a smile, letting herself in with care not to hit the doorframe or Connor himself.]
[Konoha will notice that Connor's room is rather neat, very clean. But also appearing like it's barely lived in, as if the android had just moved in yesterday. Hardly much sign of someone living here at all, other than a few items that a keen eye might spot -- a knife on a desk, an empty glass bottle next to it. And now, a finely carved pumpkin that he places right beside the other two items, turning its face outward to that it's displayed clearly to any visitors.
(He doesn't have very many visitors.)]
It did. [He turns to face her.] I was surprised to receive a text message from you, but I suppose that means you've started practicing writing, haven't you?
[Though it does seem rather sparse and neat... almost too much so... If you'd asked Konoha what kind of place Connor would live in she definitely didn't imagine "homey" or cluttered. She does look around a bit, admiring how fastidious he was while simultaneously feeling a bit lonely imagining living in such a space herself... but then-]
Ehe, not so much, but... I do know a few characters! Just... not enough to actually do it right, I don't think...
[She had a few sparse days at temple school, just... seeing certain kanji as shop signs and knowing their meaning.]
It really did make sense though? You're not just being nice?
The sentences were... sparse, but you used the right words for me to understand your base meaning. So, no, I'm not just being nice -- I really did understand your texts.
[He thinks about something for a moment, seeming to tilt his head. Idly, a hand comes up to straighten the knot of his tie, the other pulling at its bottom.]
The way translation works here is strange, and it makes me wonder: if I teach you, would that somehow increase your knowledge of your own native tongue? How does that even work?
Connor looks at her curiously, but is quick to remind himself that Konoha likely had no reason to question language at all, if everyone around her was apparently speaking Japanese.]
I'm speaking American English. I even have the accent for it.
[Which he assumes she does not hear at all. Or does he have a foreign twinge to his words, when she listens to him speak? An interesting thought.]
You're only hearing my words in Japanese, because Astoria means to make it easy for us to communicate -- that much, I think, is a safe assumption. Just like, to me, you're speaking English.
Konoha may not be an Android, but she does know how to 404 Error. If she'd been born a few decades later she might have the barest of awareness that Japan wasn't the only country in the world. That there was tons of countries across the sea and they all looked different and spoke different than her people... worshipped different gods and wore different clothes...
But she wasn't. Japan, more specifically her village's domain... that was the world, and she isn't even well educated enough to know about China... about... anything.]
... but I don't know "English". I'm speaking... whatever I know... and you're speaking it, too, just... with a weird dialect.
[She just didn't say anything about it to be polite???]
No, I promise you that I'm speaking English. It's my default tongue, since English is the official language of the United States -- the country I was created to function in.
[Konoha's experiences must be very limited, and he looks at her with consideration.]
I know that comprehending this might be an issue, given our differing time periods. But considering what I am, it's probably not too difficult to imagine something as mundane in comparison -- like me speaking a different language, being translated by what I can only assume is magic?
[He thinks that maybe her stress levels are spiking a little too high, as seems to be her habit when met with something she doesn’t understand; but the idea of experimentation born from curiosity is hard to ignore. Connor can assure her that there’s nothing to be concerned about after the fact.
Say something. Anything? He defaults to his usual introduction, enunciating clearly.]
My name is Connor. RK800 model, serial number three-one-three-two-four-eight-three-one-seven-dash-five-one.
[Connor nearly startles with the resounding of her hooves on the floor, but of course in his case that just means he stands straighter, fingers tensing.
Now’s the time to calm her down, if there was any.]
It’s all right, Konoha. I’m not speaking Japanese, so I can easily confirm that’s the case. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one — you spoke with Hank, correct? He was speaking English the entire time as well.
That being said, it’s nothing to be startled over. It really isn’t the strangest that’s happened to either of us, right?
[Her hands go to her cheeks, frozen for a moment as she tries to process yet another completely insane thing to add to her already prestigiously long list of crazy things about this entire experience.
She only knows... the only language she's ever known, but he doesn't know it, and yet he's talking it right now? And she's... talking "English"?
Holy shi-]
N- No, it's not but... how is there magic happening all the time and it's just- Just happening?
[Okay, that's not expressed well, but. Wasn't magic... flashy, and kind of visible, and instant-based sort of things? Or- was this a curse? Or... the opposite of a curse?]
[She's still tense, still caught up in another revelation that seems to put her so on edge. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, and that not everyone can simply accept the oddities happening around them -- delegating them as simply a part of this whole Circle experience -- with the uncannily detached acceptance of an android.
Connor reaches up, putting a hand gently on her forearm. A gesture of comfort, squeezing lightly.]
It's going to be okay. It's just... harmless magic, really. It's been happening all this time and everything's been all right so far.
[When given the chance to hang onto something outside of herself, to take grounding from another... Konoha takes it. Her hands go for Connor's arm blindly while her eyes are still glued to how his mouth moves, then pat around for his hand so that she can clasp it in both of hers. It's something unnerving to her to be so aware of, like if someone asked how often you blinked or how to breathe...
But he's right. It's not like she can do anything about it, and it's not like it hurt anyone, just..,]
I'm sorry, Connor... it's just... really weird...
[Maybe... just to her.]
I know I should be used to it by now, I'm just... not somehow...
[Connor allows her to cling to him, registers the gentle pressure of her hands clasped around his. He doesn't move, just stands there looking up at her with his brow pinched in a facsimile of concern.]
I know. Many things here are... impossible for me to understand, too. I have to cope by simply choosing not to process it, or to overthink it. I wasn't made to function in these particular circumstances, but now I just... don't have much of a choice.
[A little squeeze from his hand, a gesture of reassurance.]
It's all right, though. Individuals adjust on their own terms, in their own time. Now that you're aware, it'll become less strange as the days continue onwards. I can almost guarantee you that.
Konoha squeezes his hand back, momentarily bows her head over them and tries to just... forget. Not think about it. They've been pulled to whole other worlds, she doesn't know if she'll ever see her parents or Gonta again, there was a whole city of metal...
So yeah, he's right. This was just... one more new thing. So she just has to smile like she always did.]
... Can you still teach me how to make the pictures?
[He knows, at a base level, that his advice is barely satisfactory. Does very little for the strange sense of displaced dysphoria one experiences when away from what’s familiar — but it’s the only and best advice he can give. Push onwards, accept that this is a new reality, process it the best one can knowing that there are others around you doing the same.
The smile is a thin thing, he believes. But it’s better than her fretting.]
Yes, here-
[Gently, his hand slips away so he can move to adjust himself at an angle. For her to better see the watch, and he smiles amicably as he provides an example.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[A change of pace! ...Even if Connor's room is still as sparse as the day he moved in. Womp.]
I'm in my room.
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[And a minute or so later... here's Konoha, outside his room, a giant pumpkin in her hands and a smile on her face, knocking with a tap of hoof.]
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Hello, Konoha. Thanks for dropping by.
[Ah, impossible to miss the giant pumpkin.]
You brought a pumpkin?
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[Smile brightening when she sees his face, Konoha cheerfully thrusts the pumpkin at him, not yet realizing that... from his angle, it just looks like a plain pumpkin.]
I made this for you!
[Made it?
... If he turns it around, there's a fearsome face carved into one side.]
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You made a pumpkin- Wait, no-
[He turns it around, to see quite the face carved into the other side, looking at him with a sharp grin.]
A jack o' lantern. You made this for me?
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[She's based the face on the onigawara demon tiles from her world, fangs and scary smile-scowl and all.]
Someone here told me that they were a custom right now- and that they scare away bad spirits for you!
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So it goes. Thank you, Konoha. I'll be sure to display it properly, with a candle and everything when nightfalls.
[Adhering to custom, as she said.
Giant pumpkin held close, he steps back from the door, giving her space to enter.]
Please, come in.
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[There's not much better than someone likings gift, especially when it's something handmade. Konoha's tail swishes happily beneath her skirt, and she nods with a smile, letting herself in with care not to hit the doorframe or Connor himself.]
Did my watch writing make sense?
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(He doesn't have very many visitors.)]
It did. [He turns to face her.] I was surprised to receive a text message from you, but I suppose that means you've started practicing writing, haven't you?
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Ehe, not so much, but... I do know a few characters! Just... not enough to actually do it right, I don't think...
[She had a few sparse days at temple school, just... seeing certain kanji as shop signs and knowing their meaning.]
It really did make sense though? You're not just being nice?
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[He thinks about something for a moment, seeming to tilt his head. Idly, a hand comes up to straighten the knot of his tie, the other pulling at its bottom.]
The way translation works here is strange, and it makes me wonder: if I teach you, would that somehow increase your knowledge of your own native tongue? How does that even work?
[Magic is a very strange thing, isn't it.]
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[Just checking! Most everyone here has been so nice to her that sometimes she thinks she might be dreaming, so.
But what he says... makes Konoha just stare at him as if he'd suddenly spouted two heads.]
... What language are you speaking right now?
[CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE JAPANESE.
... and Konoha maybe hasn't had any discussions with people about language yet. When does that come up? Everyone speaks Japanese???]
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Connor looks at her curiously, but is quick to remind himself that Konoha likely had no reason to question language at all, if everyone around her was apparently speaking Japanese.]
I'm speaking American English. I even have the accent for it.
[Which he assumes she does not hear at all. Or does he have a foreign twinge to his words, when she listens to him speak? An interesting thought.]
You're only hearing my words in Japanese, because Astoria means to make it easy for us to communicate -- that much, I think, is a safe assumption. Just like, to me, you're speaking English.
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Konoha may not be an Android, but she does know how to 404 Error. If she'd been born a few decades later she might have the barest of awareness that Japan wasn't the only country in the world. That there was tons of countries across the sea and they all looked different and spoke different than her people... worshipped different gods and wore different clothes...
But she wasn't. Japan, more specifically her village's domain... that was the world, and she isn't even well educated enough to know about China... about... anything.]
... but I don't know "English". I'm speaking... whatever I know... and you're speaking it, too, just... with a weird dialect.
[She just didn't say anything about it to be polite???]
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[Konoha's experiences must be very limited, and he looks at her with consideration.]
I know that comprehending this might be an issue, given our differing time periods. But considering what I am, it's probably not too difficult to imagine something as mundane in comparison -- like me speaking a different language, being translated by what I can only assume is magic?
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Is it...
[No, wait-
Wait...]
But... your mouth is... wait, say something right now! I'll watch your lips!
[Magic is like... for big things and it's all flashy, and it's... okay, she doesn't know anything about magic either, but!
She might be freaking out.]
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Say something. Anything? He defaults to his usual introduction, enunciating clearly.]
My name is Connor. RK800 model, serial number three-one-three-two-four-eight-three-one-seven-dash-five-one.
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Brows furrow, lips purse, and she isn't really listening to what he says so much as the syllables...
Until she almost jumps, hooves clattering on the temple floor.]
Oh my gods I think it doesn't match?!
[She might be imagining things, but. Holy crap he's not speaking Japanese, that's the takeaway here.]
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Now’s the time to calm her down, if there was any.]
It’s all right, Konoha. I’m not speaking Japanese, so I can easily confirm that’s the case. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one — you spoke with Hank, correct? He was speaking English the entire time as well.
That being said, it’s nothing to be startled over. It really isn’t the strangest that’s happened to either of us, right?
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[Her hands go to her cheeks, frozen for a moment as she tries to process yet another completely insane thing to add to her already prestigiously long list of crazy things about this entire experience.
She only knows... the only language she's ever known, but he doesn't know it, and yet he's talking it right now? And she's... talking "English"?
Holy shi-]
N- No, it's not but... how is there magic happening all the time and it's just- Just happening?
[Okay, that's not expressed well, but. Wasn't magic... flashy, and kind of visible, and instant-based sort of things? Or- was this a curse? Or... the opposite of a curse?]
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[She's still tense, still caught up in another revelation that seems to put her so on edge. He supposes he shouldn't be surprised, and that not everyone can simply accept the oddities happening around them -- delegating them as simply a part of this whole Circle experience -- with the uncannily detached acceptance of an android.
Connor reaches up, putting a hand gently on her forearm. A gesture of comfort, squeezing lightly.]
It's going to be okay. It's just... harmless magic, really. It's been happening all this time and everything's been all right so far.
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But he's right. It's not like she can do anything about it, and it's not like it hurt anyone, just..,]
I'm sorry, Connor... it's just... really weird...
[Maybe... just to her.]
I know I should be used to it by now, I'm just... not somehow...
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I know. Many things here are... impossible for me to understand, too. I have to cope by simply choosing not to process it, or to overthink it. I wasn't made to function in these particular circumstances, but now I just... don't have much of a choice.
[A little squeeze from his hand, a gesture of reassurance.]
It's all right, though. Individuals adjust on their own terms, in their own time. Now that you're aware, it'll become less strange as the days continue onwards. I can almost guarantee you that.
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[She really was.
Konoha squeezes his hand back, momentarily bows her head over them and tries to just... forget. Not think about it. They've been pulled to whole other worlds, she doesn't know if she'll ever see her parents or Gonta again, there was a whole city of metal...
So yeah, he's right. This was just... one more new thing. So she just has to smile like she always did.]
... Can you still teach me how to make the pictures?
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The smile is a thin thing, he believes. But it’s better than her fretting.]
Yes, here-
[Gently, his hand slips away so he can move to adjust himself at an angle. For her to better see the watch, and he smiles amicably as he provides an example.]
Bring up your texting function first.
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i give up you win
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