onlyhearmusic | [the last voyages] ic inbox

I want to hear everything you want to tell me.

[ She tips her head to one of the tables. ]

Can we sit down together for that, though?

[He laughed.]

Fuck off.

[He waited a moment for that to settle in the air between them. Then,]

I tell each and every one ta 'fuck off'. I ain't interested in anything here. So. Now I've told you.

[He made no move to accommodate her request to have a seat.]

[ That just gets a laugh, not a mean one or a mocking one. Just a tired one and she shakes her head. ]

And what do they usually say back?

Wardens are a stubborn beast. They get hard-headed and expect what they want. They either keep pushin' ta make their point, or they say 'stay out of trouble or you'll see more of me'. Sometimes both.

Don't matter. I still tell 'em 'fuck off' every chance I get.

[At least the ones paired with him. Saga had his attention though. He was telling her to leave him alone, but he wasn't leaving. He was watching, listening.]

What does matter?

[ She's not saying what she's going to do. Or either of those things. She's listening, not talking. ]

[He made a soft scoffing noise via exhale through his nose.]

In this place? Nothin'.

[ The way her eyes widen a little says that that's not necessarily what she expected but after a moment, she nods. Okay. Sure. ]

But just in this place?

Why?

[His head tilted to one side slightly as he regarded her. Not that he had never been asked what mattered, or what he wanted, before. But he was curious about her angle.

Of course, the simplest answer was that all wardens got something out of being here. Unlike inmates.]

Nothin' changes here. Oh, there's tha chaos of it, always changin' tha rules and makin' trouble. But tha heart of it remains tha same. And none of it makes a difference.

[ She nods along with the first part of it; she's definitely gotten to feel the chaos and the changing of rules. In fact, she's definitely noticed all the weird little different rules that come along with a few of the passengers. All the same- ]

I don't understand how it's all the same. Or how none of it makes a difference.

Would you be willing to explain?

[This time it was an obvious sigh. He shook his head.]

No. [Then a light entered his eyes as he stared at her.] Not without recompense. A question fer a question.

[ That she can do. ]

Ask away. That's fair enough.

What is that song? That one playin' fer ya right now.

[ And that makes her pause. She needs a moment, dips into her Mind Place, and sees the radio is currently on. She's found it on before a few times since she got here, but as she finishes the blink- ]

It's by my grandpa and granduncle's band. Their music. I've been listening to a lot of it.

[ She leans in. ]

My question: do you hear that kind of thing for everyone?

[He tilted his head to one side again, opposite direction, but his gaze did not leave hers. It only grew more intense.]

Everyone has a song. Do they have one that invades my music when I ain't huntin' them? No, lass. That's different. That's new.

[ She considers that and lets her head tilt back, then forth, as she considers it. ]

I've used that music. It's part of why I've been listening to it. It helped me a few times, gotten me out of trouble. Let me do things I couldn't do otherwise.

[ Would he hear me if I tried to profile him? ]

Like in tha darkness.

[He noticed that affect. He remembered the feeling it gave him once it began to play over the speakers. It had been enhanced, dispersed the gloom mentally if not so much physically.

That meant it was magical or supernatural in some way, didn't it. He frowned slightly at the thought.]

[ That's a nod and a curious frown. ]

Does it bother you?

[He moved forward suddenly and then angled his way into walking a slow circle around Saga. His eyes gauged her up and down as he did so. A predator sizing up dangerous prey.]

I thought it interestin' when I first heard it. Like nothin' I've ever heard before. Beatin' against my own music. Changin' it's tune.

[He stopped walking.]

Never met anyone else with music like me own. But it's different, isn't it. It ain't natural.

[ In a few days time, they'll see that Saga's spirit takes the form of a deer, but it wouldn't be a surprise to her. Especially not now. He might be circling her like prey, but she has horns. She's not afraid. ]

Natural is subjective, isn't it?

I mean, it's natural for a bear to have fur and natural for a bird to have feathers. It's not natural for a human to have either of those things.

[That did not help. That just made what he usually thought of as a gift as some unnatural phenomenon.]

Oh, I've been told countless times I ain't natural. Ya don't have ta pretend otherwise fer me, lass.

[ And she raises an eyebrow, cool as a cucumber, smooth as silk. ]

Who's pretending?

Treating the human experience like a homogenized lump is the least natural thing there is.

Human experience, and the ways in which the human mind can function, can adapt, are incredibly variable.

[He remained quiet. Perhaps thoughtful, perhaps just to stare ominously at her.]

So is your music natural to you?

[ Gonna have to try harder to intimidate her, Collins. The stare isn't going to work. ]

You've said what other people have 'called' you. Not what you think.

[His eyes flicked away and he did look thoughtful this time.]

It's my gift. Doesn't make it natural. Doesn't make it...acceptable ta anyone else.

It doesn't make it not those things either.

[ Just... saying. ]

So... a gift. Something that was given to you, not something chosen. And so far, I haven't heard why it wouldn't be acceptable to someone.

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