Passionless Poetry

[Lillian]

Seraphine sat reading a book of poetry. From her icy, calculating attitude, one might not guess that she would be as sappy as to like poetry, but she did. She loved how the words hid meaning inside of them, how they sat in perfect cadence. Words held more power than anything else in existence. They could move a nation, a soul, an enemy. Words could change the world. She tapped her fingers to the rhythm of the poem. She was not feeling, she told herself. She was not enjoying the verse. Scowling, she slammed the cover of the book shut and leaned against the fence behind her. She put the book in her bag and started walking towards to the entrance of the Academy, but somehow ran right into somebody. 'D*** it!,' she thought. Why wasn't she paying attention? These thoughts, of course, ran through her head in the course of a millisecond. She quickly composed herself and murmured, "Apologies."

[GeneralArin]

(I hope you don't mind me taking an artistic license with this. I figured this would be a bit more interesting to rp.)

Jake and Wayne were monkeying around. Which is to say he was playing around as a mountain gorilla. A big, hairy ape with a twinge of silver on its back. He rocked back onto his feet, then dropped back to rest on his knuckles. He took a deep breath and examined the yard. It was a nice yard, with green grass and a few large trees. 

He stiffened in reflex as something bumped into his back. 
Jake looked over his shoulder at the person with a rather neutral expression. It was a girl, and he thought he remembered briefly meeting her when he first got there. Wayne confirmed that he had. Though, neither of them recalled her name. 
Either way, he made an effort to soften the expression and give a thumbs-up in response to her apology. 
He accepted her apology, and didn't want to alarm her.
He couldn't exactly say that outright, however. Being a gorilla and all.

[Lillian]

((Oh, it is absolutely fine. Sorry if the thread was boring. I wanted to start something, but didn't have any good ideas. Apologies for taking so long. I just started high school two weeks ago and it had been stressful.))

It turned out the person Seraphine had ran into was not a person at all, but a mountain gorilla. He gave her a thumbs up, but, being a gorilla, he obviously could not speak. Normally by this point she would have walked away, but this situation quite intrigued her. Because it was highly unlikely that there would be an actual gorilla in the academy, she assumed it was a beast type student. The only beast type she knew of was a boy named Jake, but she hadn't met everyone at the academy yet, so she couldn't be sure of who the gorilla was.
 Curious, but not feeling like actually speaking, she raised an eyebrow. Her expression remained impassive.

[GeneralArin]

(lol, it's no problem. I just didn't want to just walk up and be like 'sup' like in all the other topics. Initially, it was going to be a cat, but gorilla sounded better. lol, and I figured I stumped you with walking up as a gorilla. I was thinking "Hmm. Maybe walking up as a gorilla was a bad idea. Who knew?")

When the girl raised a brow, Jake shrugged. Normally, he'd have a hundred and one ways to further a conversation, but right now it wasn't on the list of biological capabilities. 
That has to be the calmest reaction to bumping into a gorilla I've ever seen. Wayne commented. 
"Pretty much," Jake said-- or would have said, if he could talk. Wayne understood him regardless, though. "Its better than hyperventilating. That's happened a few times. There's no winning in situations like that."

[Lillian]

(xD)

Seraphine  looked questioningly at the gorilla. "Who are you?" She asked. She tried to go into the creature's mind, but wasn't able to. She assumed it was either because it was an older, more advanced student or because it was a gorilla. She had never tried to read an animal's mind before, so she wasn't sure if it would work. "If you don't want to transform back, I suppose you could write in the dirt with a stick. Or Morse code or sign language, if for some reason you happen to know one of those."  She knew both, but she doubted whoever had transformed into a gorilla did.

[GeneralArin]

(lol, or maybe it's because Jake has a thick skull. xP)

Jake titled his head. Neither him nor Wayne had any inclination to change back at the moment, though since she went to the academy too, it probably wouldn't be as alarming to transform in front of her. This area didn't seem like a very good writing surface, and there was the matter of writing it in a way they both could see and make it out. 
She had mentioned Morse Code, and Jake perked up a bit. 
He ran a hand over his head, similar to how he'd run a hand through his hair when he thought, and then did his best to remember it. He had learned how to do it as a kid from a game or movie he used to play all the time. And people said tv will rot your brain. 
He rocked back to free his hands up, then clapped out: "I am Jake." 
Jake and Wayne agreed trying to talk in Morse Code was much more interesting than just changing back and talking normally.

[Lillian]

Seraphine watched as the gorilla tilted its head. It changed from standing on four feet to standing on two, then began clapping. Calcifer mentally perked up. Knowing Morse code is always a good sign. Seraphine herself had learned Morse code from a book when she was bored. She had never actually used it, but she knew it none the less. She agreed with him, then clapped back to the boy who was indeed Jake, "I am Seraphine. I believe we have met, if ever so briefly."

[GeneralArin]

Jake nodded. 
"On arrival." He clapped. "You can just talk. Easier." He added, keeping the sentences brief for convenience. It would make things go a bit faster in the turn around, and she used a really long sentence, which Wayne had to help him keep track of the whole thing to decypher and respond.

[Lillian]

Seraphine nodded when Jake said they met when she arrived, then told her it would be easier if she just talked. "Indeed we did. And alright. Sorry about that." Her voice was quiet and a bit awkward. She wasn't used to talking so much and she wasn't sure what to say next. She considered for a bit, before asking, "Do you often turn into a gorilla?"

[Axel The Bunny]

(Only when he feels like taking on his true form)

[GeneralArin]

Jake shrugged. 
"Sometimes. I like gorilla. Big. Buff." He started cutting down his sentences a bit, for convenience's sake, it was easier to keep track of all the letters. 
He titled his head in thought as he finished the last few letters. 
"I like dog too. Fun." 
It takes a long time to talk like this. Wayne observed. There's got to be a better way. 
<Yeah,> Jake agreed. <The only thing I can think of is writing. Or sign language, I guess, but I don't know that.> 
And both of those only work when you have thumbs. Wayne pointed out. Jake agreed. Working something out would probably be beneficial. 

(I need to think of a way to decide Jake's thoughts... maybe I'll just put them in <triangle brackets> like animorphs.)

[Lillian]

Seraphine nodded calculatingly when Jake shrugged and clapped out that he liked gorillas because they were big and buff, though in fewer words. Calcifer chuckled. Big, Buff. Not traits we value. Seraphine readily agreed. <Indeed, but though I have no plans to make friends here, I don't want to make enemies with a gorilla, either.> He also liked dogs, apparently. "I had a dog once, years ago. He died of cancer, then I dissected him." That was... perhaps not the most appropriate thing to say, Seraphine. You're slipping. She scrunched up her nose and rolled her eyes at him. <Oops.,> she mentally murmured.  Trying to to think of something on topic and 'appropriate', she said. "So, you can turn into animals. Cool. I can read minds and control them and that sort of thing," She said coolly.

(Okie doke. Also, I thought gorillas did have thumbs... Yeah, they do. Maybe I misinterpreted you but I thought you said they didn't...)

[GeneralArin]

(Yeah, apparently I worded that badly, because Ax asked about it too. Jake and Wayne were thinking about things in general. So while Gorillas have thumbs and could write or sign, which would be faster than morse code, animals like dogs don't have that option, so they'd like to come up with a more effective way of communicating that'd work as a general thing.)

Jake titled his head when she apparently dissected a dog before on her own. 
Well, it's not like it needed the body anymore. Wayne commented. Jake gave half a shrug as she quickly changed the subject. 
He perked up with interest when she mentioned she could read minds. 
"Cool!" He clapped out. "Can you read mine?" He asked. Which might have been a fairly stupid and standard question, in hindsight, but he genuinely wanted to know. That was neat, if she actually could. 
<And probably a lot more convenient than morse.> Jake thought. Wayne agreed. She might need practice to do that. Or at least permission, like in the tv shows. 


(Preempting joke: Sorry Jake, you don't have any thoughts to read.)

[Lillian]

((Okie doke. xD))

Seraphine watched as Jake perked up with interest when she said she could read minds. He clapped his hands and asked if she could read his. Seraphine frowned. "I actually can't. Maybe it is because you are a gorilla, or maybe it is because you have had some sort of training against it. I'll try again. Maybe I just needed to focus more."
She stared at the gorillas head, trying as hard as she could. She finally felt his mind, but she couldn't get inside. She tugged at it a bit, but it wouldn't budge. She raised an eyebrow, withdrawing from his mind. "I can feel it, but I can't get in. Could you feel me? I'm quite curious. Most people can't."

[GeneralArin]

(lol Jake's just got a thick skull.)
(I'm going to lean towards being able to yes, just for opening a way for Jake to talk a bit faster. And it'd kinda be funny to watch in missions you reacting to his snark that no one else can hear. XP)

Jake tilted his head when she said she couldn't. 
I think you're missing something between the ears for that. 
<Shut up, Wayne.>
She asked him a question. Jake glanced up as he thought about it. 
"Maybe," he clapped. 
<What does getting your mind touched by a mind reader feel like?> Jake asked Wayne. That was much too long to tap out in morse code. Wayne mentally shrugged. He thought he had sensed something weird, but he couldn't tell what it was exactly. 
"Would another animal help?" Jake clapped.

[Lillian]

((Okie doke. I wasn't sure if she was allowed or not, so I went with not. I shall adjust. And that will be funny to watch xD.))

Jake asked if another animal would help. Seraphine squinted and said. "I don't think so. The only thing closer to a human would be an ape, I guess. I am going to try a bit harder."
She once again tried to enter his mind, pushing even harder. At last, she entered. She felt around, getting a sense of how his mind was structured. She gave him a thumbs up, in case he couldn't feel her.

[GeneralArin]

(Yeah, that's fine. lol, we can play it off with Jake just being incredibly thick skulled. That actually feels in character anyway.)

Jake did his best to think opened minded thoughts or whatever would help. Wayne thought it was generally dumb, but then Jake definitely felt something shift.
<Woah.> Jake thought. He could sense her checking out his mind. 
Watch the mess. Wayne quipped. 
<Hey.> Jake complained. <It's my head, not my room.> 
They both are a mess. 
Jake grunted, mentally waving the wisp off. 
<So... I guess you can hear this?>

[Lillian]

((Okie doke))
 
Seraphine smirked when she heard Jake's wisp say 'watch the mess'. The two of them bickered a bit, and she could hear it. She didn't try to go into his memories, because he might get mad at her for 'violating his privacy'. She had learned that one the hard way. She knew she could sometimes control thoughts, but she had never had someone aware that she was doing it, so she had never tried to use it as telepathy. Now though, she considered it. Perhaps if she made Jake think something, she could communicate with him mentally. Giving it a shot, she focused on his thoughts and tried to make him think <Hello. Seraphine here. I can hear you. Your mind is the fourth messiest mind I've ever been in. The first three were my schizophrenic cousins.>

((I'll let you decide whether that works or not))

[GeneralArin]

Jake blinked when he got a thought that wasn't his. Or Wayne's. That he recognized a bit better, after being with Wayne for a while. 
Hah. Wayne said. 
Jake crossed his arms. <It's not that bad.> He insisted stubbornly. <Everything's where it should be.>

(Hah, maybe Jake's just a scatterbrain, that's why. XP)

He brushed it off and sat down.
<Well, this is faster than Morse Code, at least.> Jake thought.

[Lillian]

(Okay, so maybe <> for Seraphine's thoughts, and [] for ones she gives Jake.)
Seraphine smirked at Jake and Wayne's mental conversation. Jake said that at least this method was faster than Morse code. [Indeed it is.] She continued to loom around a bit. [Everything is where it should be?] She remarked. [Ha. I beg to differ. 'Should' is quite subjective.]
Ah, Sevvy, do be nice.
<Shut up, Calcifer.>

[GeneralArin]

Jake gave a snort. Wayne found it amusing, though. 
<Hey, does it still work with other animals?> Jake asked, suddenly switching gears to the experimenting and toying with this new opening. 
Jake dropped back down to human then immediately swapped to a dog. 
He barked and dropped to a play-bow. 
<Can you still hear me?> He asked eagerly.

[Lillian]

Seraphine thought she would still be able to hear him, but she wasn't positive. Maybe the difficulty getting into his mind the first time was merely due to Jake's stubbornness. Sure enough, she wasn't thrown out of his mind each time he transformed. She felt a sort of shift, but she remained where she was. When he asked if she could still hear him, she responded, [Indeed. I guess I can hear animals. Or at least animal turned humans. Not sure about regular ones.]

[Ginger]

((Mind if I join?))

[GeneralArin]

(Sorry, been offline. I'm okay with it if she is. My post would be mostly Jake being a hyperactive derp anyway.)

[Sponsored content]