Anwyn sat on a mat in an out of the way corner in the full lotus position, headphones on her head, listening to the language tapes. She had already picked out the most important phrases [most important to -her- anyway]: 'Yes' 'No' 'Please' 'Thank you' 'I am new here', 'Do you speak Standard?' 'I apologize for any mistakes in speaking your lovely language'
It was frustrating, though, that she could -almost- understand this new language she was trying to learn. She was used to almost 'magically' picking up languages 'out of the air' as it were. This one, though, would be taking careful learning on her part.
Another frustrating predicament was the fact that even with careful hoarding, her money wasn't going to last all that long. What kind of work could a 16-year-old girl do here? There didn't seem to be anything she could/would be hired for here at the Complex. She'd already checked that out first thing. And, if her arithmatic was correct, on the other side of the Gates, in the Old City, she was only 13. Maybe she could get out her flutes and busk for some money...
Sighing with frustration, Anwyn shook her head, closed her eyes, and concentrated on the language tapes once again.
Pretending that she hadn't seen or heard any them, she wandered towards the quietest corner. Grabbing a mat from the pile, Kay spread it out neatly on the floor, and began a few stretches. Out of the corner of her eye, she eventually noticed a familiar face. It was that girl again -- the tourist who hadn't brought sufficient warm clothing.
Giving a small smile, Kay looked over at the girl. Perhaps she was another Service Brat -- there was that painfully-neat appearance and the posture as well. "Hi", she said warmly, wondering if the girl could hear her through those headphones.
Anwyn opened her eyes at the voice, then looked up at the woman standing before her. She shut off the learning tape and smiled shyly. "Hullo," she said, gracefully leaving the full lotus position and standing up in one fluid motion.
"It's good to see that at least ONE person around knows how to exercise in a civilized manner", Kay commented. She waved a hand at the rest of the rest of the room, "Look at all those rats on the treadmills, and all the muscleheads lifting dumbells -- I don't understand how they manage to avoid boredom".
Then, realizing that she'd forgotten her manners again, she added "I'm Kay, by the way ... Kay MacDonald from Records ... Did you just transfer in as new personnel ? Or are you vacationing here ?".
Anwyn giggled softly, shyly, as Kay MacDonald indicated said 'rats' and 'muscleheads'. She thought the same thing. But then, being a Service Brat, she tended to find things to do that didn't require much space to do it in (and didn't require equipment that would have to be hauled around). Yoga fit the bill - especially since her folks tended to keep her squirreled away... when they remembered they even -had- her, that is.
"I'm Anwyn... Anwyn McCarron. Um... I sorta got diverted here." Anwyn shrugged, as if not only was it no big thing to her but also as if this wasn't the first time she had experienced such a situation. "Still," Anwyn said, blushing pinkly and indicating one of the more fit men working out at the weights, more particularly his washboard abs, "such things are good for -some- things, yes?" Grinning, Anwyn made like she was at a sink and washing her undergarments on... well... a washboard.
Kay giggled back. Those sort were amusing enough to watch, but THAT was all the use SHE had for any of them.
Still grinning, Anwyn reached out and gave Kay's extended hand a firm shake - then blinked. What the... ??? For, suddenly, she was seeing this woman, Kay, crouched in a dark alley, dressed up like a boy, cuddling a small black kitten to her chest, and talking(?) to some sort of bird of prey on the ground in front of her. None of them looking very clean or very healthy. Near the mouth of the alley stands a large man (mostly hidden in the shadows) with what appears to be an owl perched on his shoulder. Anwyn hadn't seen him before and couldn't even be sure she would recognize him if she saw him again. Another blink, and the image was gone.
Kay stared at Anwyn in confusion, and quickly stuck both of her hands back in her pockets. Perhaps these mats were full of static electricity and she was just getting paranoid about seeing feyfolk everywhere. But what if it was for real -- which meant that Anwyn had the Gift as well ?
Yet the touch (if it had had been real) had been like something Kay thought she'd felt before -- though it was _different_ from what she'd gotten from Melissa or Dolo or Louis. Kay didn't dare to take a closer peek yet. She still hadn't completely recovered her balance after what had happenned earlier between herself, Melissa and Louis. And this was a public place full of gossips. Too much could go wrong if her control slipped any further.
"Ban-dia duit! A bheil G�idhlig agaibh?" [OOC: translation: Goddess bless you! Do you speak Gaelic?"], Kay finally said softly, wondering if Anwyn could understand her. If so, then she could make certain inquiries with a greater degree of privacy. Unless it was essential to their duties, most base personnel didn't bother with any other language than Standard -- they relied on the translation programs instead.
"Aye," Anwyn replied in kind. "That I do." Anwyn looked up at Kay with huge eye and swallowed - hard. "Then you'll likely find it very useful around here", said Kay softly, "You look like the sort of person who might be interested in hearing some ... tales ... of the Sidhe and the humans with whom they ... interacted. And of the many things that some of these humans saw (or thought they saw). But this is neither the time nor place for such things; it'd be far better to leave it until tomorrow".
Anwyn really wished her grandmother McCarron had been a little less close about explaining that which they called the 'second sight' on Terra. What good was 'seeing' stuff if you didn't know if it was 'yesterday' or 'tomorrow'?.
Trying very hard not to show anything, Anwyn grinned up at Kay again. "So... how does a 'lost' kid earn some extra money around here, Kay?"
"Hmmm", came a thoughtful answer. There weren't many honorable options for a stranger girl who looked like a minor. Kay reached into her waist-pouch and pulled out her notebook. After removing a blank page, she then wrote her name, department, commcode, and quarters number in Standard. Passing the piece of paper to Anwyn, Kay grinned "Here's where you can find me. Come visit tomorrow morning. By then, I should have a list of possibilities and contacts to give you".
"Thanks Kay," Anwyn said, taking the card. "I'll find you first thing". a very warm smile came in return. "See you then", Kay answered, "I should get back to finishing my yoga routine". Resisting the temptation to take even just a tiny peek, Kay then picked up where she'd left off --- but again only with part of her mind (the rest of it was busy thinking about this new complication).