fandomhighdorms | The deck, Saturday afternoon

Jak had positively no idea what a flash mob was, so he shrugged at counter-guy in a way that said whatever she said, man, which got him a nod that was downright sympathetic. It was a guy thing. It was best not to question.

Then he turned, and pointed past her at a table. That one looked good, right?

Dinah nodded happily, and slid into the booth, pushing her box along the table, then opening it up. "Ahhh, my little victims. Who shall I consume first, hmmmm?" A chocolate cupcake was snagged and set down in front of her, while she waited for Jak to catch up and pick his victim.

"Do you guys have cupcakes like these back home?" She frowned and asked, "Hey. what's the name of where you're from?" She looked around for a napkin to write on. "Need a pen, so you can write it down...."

Jak had plucked out a cupcake that... looked tasty. It was raspberry (not that he knew what raspberry was) and he was already in the midst of poking at it when she asked her question. He held up a hand -- Stop? -- and with the other hand, took his Precursor-to-Roman-alphabet cheat sheet out of his pocket.

It would've been close to as messy as his introduction sheet was, if he hadn't taken such great care to make sure it'd remain legible. He smoothed the sheet out over the table, and pointed from one Precursor symbol to another.

The letters in her alphabet were scrawled underneath - S-A-N-D-O-V-E-R, he pointed.

"Sandover," Dinah said, then smiled, toasting him with her Red Alert. "To Sandover!" Then frowned after taking another swig. "So you can't read stuff here? Because of the alphabet? Is that working okay with your translation sheet here?" she asked, carefully peeling the paper off her cupcake, and giving the frosting a lick.

He was... getting along, he guessed? He gave the sheet a dubious look. One of these days it was going to fall apart, and he'd be stuck figuring it out on his own. He should probably transcribe it...

He leaned over to pick up his own cupcake, still looking thoughtful.

Dinah gave the transcribed sheet a look too, after Jak's dubious one. "You could re-copy it? Or have someone do it on a computer, and print out some copies?" She took a bite of her cupcake and sighed happily, thinking. "Have you seen those yet? Computers?" Another happy bite, and a gulp of Red Alert. "Do you have those back in Sandover?"

Well, they probably had Precursor tech that looked surprisingly like computers, but 'computer' was never the word they'd used for it, so as Jak pulled the sheet back towards himself (he'd have to look into that copying thing) he looked up at Dinah and shook his head lightly.

"I could help you with that. Maybe." If they could find a scanner in the computer lab, she could copy it and then clean it up a little. "If you wanted, I mean, maybe you're good with figuring it out yourself..." Dinah was now fidgeting again, either with all that Red Alert or the chocolate, or not having a good idea if she was crossing any lines. Jak had a really expressive face and way of gesturing, but sometimes, she wondered if she was assuming too much about what he was trying to get across.

It was... kind of hard to give an answer that was 'no, really, that'd be awesome' straight up when you didn't have any words and she was giving you the kind of answer where shaking 'no' could mean 'I don't want any help' or 'no, that'd be awesome', while nodding yes could mean 'Yes, I don't want any help' or 'Yes, you can help me'.

Which might have explained the quick look of mild frustration that passed over Jak's face before he shook his head, then gave her the thumbs up. That would be awesome.

... He was hoping that would communicate.

"That's a yes, right?" Dinah said, her face clearing into a smile as she nibbled her cupcake. She swung her feet under the booth, thinking very carefully about what she wanted to say next, watching Jak eat.

"You know, if it's ever really important, or really unclear, there's another way we can communicate, that's faster," she said cautiously. Jak had been okay with the telekinesis, but that was no guarantee he'd be okay with her next suggestion. "Um." And why did she feel like blushing? So she didn't have to think about it, she blurted out, "I'm a touch-telepath."

He was going to have to do that blinking thing again, because 'touch telepath' meant absolutely nothing to him. To punctuate said blinking, he bit down into the cupcake, blinking again as his mouth filled full of sugary flavour.

Okay, that didn't look like it translated from English to Sandover, so Dinah took a breath and explained. "I can read minds, if I'm touching someone. I can't do it now," she said hastily, in case he thought that it applied if she'd ever touched someone just once. "I have to be in contact. Then, um, I can hear what you're thinking." She could feel her face heat up, and pushed her hair behind her ear. "If, you know. You're okay with that. I wouldn't do it without permission." Chomp. Yay chocolate as a distraction, woo!

... Like what Eric had claimed to do. Did that mean Dinah was prone to have thinking headaches, herself? At that thought, a bare flash of concern passed over his face (for her, mainly, because that had looked painful) but, being Jak, it didn't last long.

On the other hand? People who were actively trying to hear what he was thinking were on short supply in many ways. Jak looked thoughtful as he watched her, taking a moment to put all of those thoughts in the right order.

For Jak, this was not a very common process.

Finally, he outstretched his hand.

Dinah couldn't follow that series of expressions too well; most of it was too internal, and she was too nervous.

But misinterpreting that offer wasn't possible. And the number of people who were okay with what she could do, much less actively offered to let her see---

Dinah gave him a sunburst smile, then took a breath, and reached back.

Honestly, it was about twenty-five percent actual acceptance of something he could barely even picture, and seventy-five percent sheer stupid recklessness, the same kind that had gotten his best friend irreversibly changed just because Jak had to get his moment of anti-authoritanism in--

But Jak wasn't thinking about that. She'd asked about where he was from earlier, and so, with still a mild concern over whether or not she was going to double over and yell something about thinking pains, he thought about beaches, clear sky, green grass, and a memory of a village (http://www.playstationnotebook.com/JD/sandover1.jpg) that made him feel a little homesick. Sandover.

Most people's memories were sharper, and more static, than her own thoughts; it was usually pretty easy to tell her thoughts from theirs-- it was emotions that got tangled.

This, though, this-- was bright, and shiny, and warm, and ooooo.

Sandover? she sent to Jak, thrilled. It's wonderful!

Whoa. That was weird.

It was also Sandover, though, as he tried to think back at her. His eyes blinked with surprise, but no fear. Experimentally, he thought about a detail - the lazy yakow farmer who sat outside sleeping at all times, occasionally imploring Jak (and Daxter, who was less and less a babbling redhead in his memory, and more a familiar weight on his shoulder) to help him with the cows because they had, to the farmer's utter surprise, wandered off while he was asleep.

Dinah's response to this was silent laughter, amusement, and fascination at Jak's memories. She sent Jak a wordless sense of questioning, looking around Sandover in his memory, then placed herself there; not quite part of the scene, but still present, looking around at everything Jak wanted to show here, but not pushing to make him. She stretched out her arms, feeling the sun in his memory, and grinned at him.

He had to laugh, himself: out loud, and in reaction to hers, and mostly in surprise - because that silent laughter had been in his head and in his thoughts and it was the strangest thing.

He looked mildly caught aback by his reaction, though. But as the situation settled and dawned on him, he had to shift it, change it. Sandover itself wasn't that interesting (at least not if you'd lived there for years and years, in its primitive tranquility, and gotten bored after all of it, even if in the wake of his adventure, he hadn't minded some downtime) but there were things he could think of.

So there they were, back on Geyser Rock, just as green and sun-loved but isolated, the rocks rising high above the sea, and the sky crackled with blue eco from the open vent just before him. He wasn't sure how to communicate it but to think it: that was eco, and it was good.

Dinah giggled aloud when Jak did, and squeezed his hand; keeping that balance of inside-outside-Jak-Dinah was easier now than it had been a couple months ago, thanks to the practice exercises. And Gabrielle's mind had been a good experience too.

She blinked internally as everything melted and changed, then looked around the new place, all rocks and green, and turned. Oooooo! she sent spontaneously, watching the blue stuff rise up from the vent, then suddenly knew it was eco, and good, and the flavor/feel of the the thought was Jak. She kind of wanted to hug him for being able to get that across to her, for some reason.

What does it do? she sent back, looking at it. Can we touch it?

There are six kinds of eco.

Woah. Mind-voice. Cool. I don't really know the science of it, he tried, But according to the sages, I'm pretty hot with it. Never was it said that Jak's voice, hidden as it was, was supposed to be a particularly cultured one.

Memory-Jak reached into the blue, and took it into himself, curling around his form until he sparked with it-- and then he ran, faster than any human being should be able to, his entire body magnetised to the point where a few boxes snapped in half as he passed by.

So that was Jak's voice! Dinah listened, and tried to commit it to her own memory, curiousity rising--

Whoa! Dinah watched the electric-blue stuff tickle around Jak, hugging him, then gasped inside-and-outside as he took off like a human sonic boom. Holy-- they weren't kidding! Oh my god that's even faster than today, I am soooooo jealous! But mostly just thrilled, getting to watch this.

I'm good, right?

The weirdest thing about this was being around himself, in his brain, watching himself race off (and feeling a momentary ache for the lack of eco around here). I used to train here all the time. Mostly because Samos worried way too much.

Dinah laughed soundlessly, but he deserved to hear it, so, Yeah, you're good, you know you're good got sent back. And she wanted to hug Jak for sharing this, and not being scared or worried about it, and maybe that was a little because he hadn't quite gotten it, but mostly he was just.... Jak. He didn't worry about things like that, from what she could tell.

Who is Samos? She sent back, then wondered, Can you bring eco with you here? To Fandom?

Jak didn't... worry about a lot of things that he probably should worry about, but he got that lecture from Samos often enough and it never really helped. Eco doesn't last that long, he said, That's why Samos thinks the vents were originally built.

On the other question, though... uh... Jak rubbed the back of his head, then pictured Samos. Small. Stocky. Old. With a log (http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/3725/228762-samos_the_green_sage_large.jpg) on his head. Almost never without the bird that occupied the log on his head.

And always, always yelling about something or other. Jak winced.

The deck, Saturday afternoon

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