brynkitten | [006] Truthiness

Entry tags:

game: holloway's keep

[006] Truthiness

~Part One~

[It had been a few days since Bryn had gone on her late night stroll around the Keep grounds, and a bit longer still since she had confessed to Alex her secret. Surprisingly, nothing had gone wrong. Alex had greeted her news with joy, and most of the other guests she had run into in her other form had been rather pleasant, if not completely intrigued and fascinated. Their reactions had all gone a long way toward making Bryn feel more comfortable with who she was.

With her intention to enjoy her other form more, Bryn knew it would be wise to get this informate out into the open sooner rather than later. That she hadn't been attacked on the basis of some perceived need for self-defense had been very lucky.

Before all of that, however, Bryn made her way down to the kitchens to find Joe. He had been the only one to suspect her secret, and scared, she'd denied it. How convincing she'd been was up for debate, but she owed it to him to at least tell the truth before making a Keep-wide announcement.]

~Part Two~

[After speaking with Joe, Bryn cracked open her record and took a deep breath. She set her entry up for video, and offered a hesitant, nervous smile.]

Hi everyone. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Bryn. I've uhm, been here for a while and...well okay. [Deep breath!] I just...thought I should let you all know that I'm a shapeshifter. I can turn into a cougar. I know some of you are familiar with, ah, other shifters at the Keep but I don't lose myself at the full moon so, well. The point I'm trying to get to is that I'm safe to be around and I won't attack anyone so please don't be alarmed if you see me around.

And well, I know some of you have questions so, I'll be be in the Keep up in that little gallery above the hall if...well, anyone wants to find me. There's a little harpsichord up here...

[She pressed a couple keys, which make little plinking noises, and then the entry stopped.]

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[He gives a shaky nod, still incredibly uncertain of himself and what it is that he's doing - had he done the right thing? She's not shoving him away, or...or punching him in the nose, or running away screaming, so he supposed that he'd done something right.

Somehow, he's done more right in the past few weeks without trying than he has in his entire lifetime. He'd tried so hard when he was younger to fit in and now, standing here with Bryn and now having her throw a rock at him just for being blue was...

Well. Exhilarating.]

Good. [He clears his throat and...awkwardly pats her on the arm.]

That's...good. You should. There's nothing wrong with you, you know. Nothing whatsoever. It's fascinating - you're fascinating, incredible - so complex, how does it work?

Edited 2011-08-17 04:49 (UTC)

[Bryn let go after she started to feel awkward for holding on for so long. For all Megamind claimed to be evil, he was so incredibly good to her. It's strange how he's quickly become one of her closest friends, or at least, one she regarded highly.

She offers him a smile, a faint flush to her cheeks.]

No one's ever said...well. That. Thank you so much.

[She clears her throat.]

As for how it works well...where would you like me to start?

Edited 2011-08-17 16:22 (UTC)

[A light violet stained his cheekbones and the tips of his ears, and he cleared his throat and stepped away, adjusting his collar and cape.]

Er. Right.

[ONWARDS.]

Well, at the beginning, of course - I want to know everything, how you do it, the scientific of it all - is it chemical imbalance? Radioactive? Supernatural? [Since that apparently existed here, he wants to understand that, too. Having things beyond his reach is a bit of a pisser, so he wants to try and maintain some level of understanding for ALL the things, here.

Even things that aren't MEANT to be understood. Like fate and destiny and why his life has been so horribly, terribly unfair up until this very moment in time where all seems right and perfect in the world.

Something is going to happen to him soon to ruin all of this, he knows it. He hasn't done anything in his life to deserve any sliver of happiness - why start now?

Still though - he's going to enjoy it while he's able.]

[Onwards, indeed!]

Well, I'm not sure I'll have all of the answers you are looking for but I can tell you what I know and...well, what I suspect.

[She took a seat on the small bench by the harpsichord again, and debated where to start. The beginning was a place but...well, she'd have to tell Megamind more than she'd told anyone.]

We don't...have what I am back home. At least, not publicly, and I'd never met another person with my ability until I came here. Up until I was seventeen, I thought I was entirely human, entirely normal.

One day I just...I changed. Bones changed shape, muscles and tendons moved, and in moments I was a cougar.

[Bryn gave him a wry smile.]

I wasn't expecting it, to say the least, and passed out. When I woke up I was back to normal again and...

[Well, now they were treading on rather sensitive territory. What had happened after she woke up, well...Bryn didn't like lingering on it overlong.]

[He nodded – he’d hoped but hadn’t been expecting her to have all of the answers he wanted. At least, not in the depth or scope that he wanted. Bryn was smart – that much he was rapidly gathering – but if one were to be honest his intelligence was pretty much unmatched by anyone else on the planet, different worlds notwithstanding. It wasn’t an insult and to her credit, he certainly didn’t view her in the same light he viewed nearly everyone else: a soft headed lemming that followed orders obediently and had no brain to think for themselves.

Nonetheless, he had a feeling she would not understand the entropy of a black hole and the information paradox resulting from the combination of quantum mechanics and general relativity.

He stared at her.]

You just…changed? There were no signs, no symptoms?! [He was running through possibilities and the physics of it.]

…And…?

[He prompted her, raising a brow but noting her hesitation, he didn’t push further.]

Edited 2011-08-19 12:45 (UTC)

And...I went on the run, before my parents could deliver me into government hands.

[She gave him a wry smile.]

I made it to the woods and when I got there it just...it was instinct. I was able to shift again, like I'd always known how. The process can be a bit uncomfortable and awkward every once in a while but it doesn't hurt.

[Bryn swallowed, and then gave him a little shrug.]

No symptoms though. Just a tingling before the first time. And I don't know how it works or what caused it. I never met any other shifters back home. I don't even know if there were any, and those that I've met here...it doesn't work the same way for them. My changing isn't tied to the moon and there isn't some...animal instinct or behavior that can take over and make me dangerous.

It's just me in there.

[He looked as if he wanted to say something in regards to her first comment - like he wanted to make some sort of remark but was visibly biting his tongue and holding it in solely for her benefit. She hadn't elaborated and clearly wasn't going to, therefore it wasn't exactly his place to pry. He had hardly offered information as to his own childhood, after all.

Not even to Roxanne. Oh, he'd tried for an interview or two on occasion, though that had mostly been brushed off and it had been for show anyway. He hadn't ever, ever actually planned on giving the woman the whole truth behind Megamind, the man behind the orange prison jumpsuit. No, the people wanted their villain and their hero. They didn't care how that Megamind had been force-fed his role.]

By the stars... [He murmured, staring at her with one of those creeping smiles.]

You're fantastic! Incredible - perhaps almost as incredible as me, just look at you, a modern marvel!

[Without even thinking he picks her up and gives her a little twirl, eyes wide.] Not even a creation of science, you're just you! Amazing!

Edited 2011-08-20 03:17 (UTC)

[Bryn could see he was restraining himself the moment she brought up her parents, but was glad he held it back at least long enough for her to finish answering him as best as she could.

Surprisingly, the idea of talking about her parents to Megamind wasn't something she was averse to. She supposed that out of everyone she knew, he would undoubtedly be on her side in this regard.

As he started to smile at her, Bryn couldn't help but smile back, but his words brought an immediate blush to her face, and she averted her eyes a second before he picked her up and twirled her around. Bryn's eyes widened as she let out a surprised laugh, and found herself exhilarated and buoyed by Megamind's enthusiasm.]

P-perhaps not as incredible as you but...thank you very much.

[Don't mind her she's just going to be a bit wide-eyed now. No one has ever been so complimentary of her before.]

[He set her down immediately - as soon as he realized what, exactly, he'd done and cleared his throat, attempting to move on without any further embarrassment to himself.]

Well. [He reached to stretch at his collar.]

You...are quite close. [And that, Bryn, is an incredible compliment coming from him.]

[Bryn's head spun a bit, but not in an unpleasant way. She beams up at him, taking the compliment and all it entails into account.]

Again, thank you.

[She clears her throat.]

Was...was there anything else you wished to know? About my ability or...anything?

[It's almost, almost an invitation for him to pry if he likes.]

[There is more he wants to know, but Bryn has already answered all that she can about her ability - if there's anything else to be discovered about that it's unfortunately not going to be done at the Keep. He needs his lab, his bottles and vials and giant microscope and DNA samples.

There are, however, other questions left unanswered that puzzle him.

He hesitated - her question seemed open ended, but he knew how private he was, and he's afraid if he presses, he will be expected to return the favor.

Taking a deep breath, he decides to simply throw caution to the wind.]

You mentioned preciously that you ran before your...parents could deliver you to the government.

...Why on earth...?

[Would her parents do that? Would she be afraid they would do that? It didn't make sense.]

[Bryn went still for a moment, debating how to answer...what to answer. There were so many peculiarities, so many particular quirks about how their family worked that she wasn't sure how to make another person understand.]

There was no such thing as real shapeshifters or weres or anything like that where I lived. My parents have always been more concerned with their public image and careers, and how they were viewed by their peers, than the well-being of their children. My younger brother was to be groomed to follow in my father's footsteps and...as a daughter I was worth nothing to them until they could find a politically and financially advantageous marriage to push me into.

My turning into...my becoming a "freak of nature" to them and potentially beyond their control was unacceptable. Better that I should disappear quietly and they pretend I died than complicate their lives in such a way. They didn't want a daughter to begin with and that was the excuse they took to get rid of me permanently.

[She gave him a shrug, as if to say that this was simply the lot in life she'd been given, and that she had accepted it, but there was an emptiness in her eyes that suggested a great deal more hurt than she was letting on.]

My brother always loved me though. He helped me escape when I woke up and I ran until I lost myself deep in the mountains. Three years later I...I was still living there until Lord Deior brought me here.

[He is absolutely silent during her story, her tale that reminds him so sharply of himself. He also has to fight to quell the anger that threatens to rise up; how dare someone do that to her, how dare they treat her like that –

But then he remembers his own story, his own childhood and he takes a good, long look at the tips of his leather boots and the cape and the polyurethane suit – and he remembers. He remembers that people don’t like different, that they looked down on ‘freaks’, on ‘outcasts’.

He wants to go back to Bryn’s world and bring hellfire and brimstone down around these people – these fools that had dared treat her like this, that had the audacity to hand over their own daughter to the government in an attempt to rid themselves of her.

The only thing that brought him back to reality was the creak of leather – his hands had curled into fists at his sides. When he speaks, his voice is smooth and controlled, but filled with a thickness that is impossible for him to identify, because he is overwhelmed with emotions that he has not ever dealt with before.]

That-

[He clears his throat.]

That is...unacceptable. And...you are not a freak of nature - by any means. You...are magnificent. An incredible beautiful creature, and damn the fool that thinks otherwise.

Edited 2011-08-22 02:33 (UTC)

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[006] Truthiness

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