4th floor common room - Late morning

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Mayhap she should have asked Jonothon for help. It'd have been faster, of that she was certain. She'd seen one of the instructors of the gym insert the shiny disc in a black box and then there'd been images on the television. So far, she'd managed to turn on the television. And then she was stuck.

"You could help," she accused Pounce.

You need to learn to find your own way, Pounce told her, staying on his spot on the coffee table to observe her.

Sarden cat. "I'd not have taught this is of great importance," she told Pounce and randomly started pushing buttons on the black boxes underneath the television.

It's th-

She'd hit a button and the stereo installation lit up, music suddenly blaring through the common room. Pounce yowled and Beka hit the button again. Silence returned instantly, but Beka thought she'd might be deaf for the rest of the day.

[Open, of course. Pounce's responses not for radio, please. Since no one but Beka can understand him.]

Comments

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"Memory exercises?" he asked thoughtfully. "Like aerobics?"

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She laughed. "No, naught like that. Tis to train the mind," she clarified, which wasn't much of a clarification so she continued. "There's exercises you can do that help you to remember more. We're supposed to do them daily, like trying to remember more and more things at once."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I think my rememberance would be very low at the beginning," he said, considering the idea anyway. "I don't know how fast I'd learn despite the exercises."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"You've got to do it regularly to have it work," she said, "but it'd help. I notice when I don't have time to do them for a while."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I might try," Jonas said, just slightly hesitant. "My memories, the way I remember things is...different than others. I have a difficult time."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"How's it different?" she couldn't help asking. As far as she knew, there was just one way to remember sommat.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It takes me...longer to remember things over long periods of time," he said carefully.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She couldn't quite imagine what he meant with it. You either remembered sommat or you didn't, but... "I'm not certain I understand what you mean," she admitted.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It's hard to explain," he said and rubbed the back of his neck. "Making memories...isn't something I do easily and that's not because of my home being different than this place."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Does everyone have this where you're from?" she wondered for an instant if Gabriel'd forget about this trip. But then he was three, he'd forget about a lot.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It would be," he said after a moment, "but since they haven't left the Community, they'll believe what they know is all they need to know."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Is this what the Community's trying to hide?" she asked. It'd be a strange secret to keep.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It's..." He paused and looked down. "To others like yourself, it might look like that. Those in the Community, they don't see it like that."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Then what do they see?" she asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She couldn't ignore how when he talked like this, he'd not count himself among those.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"They see what they're told to see," he answered carefully.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"And no one asks questions they're not supposed to ask?" she asked, because that'd be hard.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"No questions are asked," he said, nodding. "They don't...know what to ask about."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

She shook her head. "Then how did you leave them? They don't sound like the type to decide to let you go. You'd have to had questions to get away."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"I...was able to leave due to my Assignment," he said, half lying and hating that he was. He'd been granted the permission to do so but he still hated it.

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

Her eyebrows knitted together as she remembered his previous explanation about how people were assigned to jobs. "I thought you weren't assigned."

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It's hard to explain," he said, looking away again. "I was but I wasn't. I know that doesn't make sense. Not much of what I say does."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"Not much of what anyone says about their world makes sense to me," she admitted, keeping her tone light.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"It's all very confusing," he agreed, taking a slow breath. "I keep hoping it will get easier."

[provostsdog.livejournal.com]

"I think we're supposed to take them as they are," she said thoughtfully.

[see-beyond.livejournal.com]

"That's more difficult than it seems," he said and bit his lower lip. "I'm trying."