tabularasa_rp | Of Science, Art, and Spirit

Entry tags:

Of Science, Art, and Spirit

Who: Samuel Oak and OPEN
What: Early August Shenanigans
Where: Merlaut + Void + Elsewhere?
When: Early August
Content Warnings: Can't think of any, will add them if they come up.

1. Smeargles at Merlaut

While the Smeargle-things do normally keep to Wall Market, Samuel finds a few wandering around the outside of the Merlaut at the same time he is. Maybe because the light is better out here? They're skittish at first, of course, but when he sits down on the ground some distance away, unmoving except to pull out his notebook again, they slowly return to their work of doodling over the walls. He happily observes and sketches, and perhaps it's the sound of pen on paper that brings one of the Smeargles to him, eyes full of curiosity.

"See, I just wanted to draw you. What do you think?" He lets it take a look, and after flipping through his sketches, the creature hands it back and just hunches down near him. Realizing that it's posing for him, he returns to his own work; but after a while, the Smeargle grows bored and stands up again. It circles around behind him, and soon enough, he feels something wet brush against his back.

"H-hey! That's not a canvas!" He spouts in protest, and while it does give the Smeargle pause, it soon resumes. Sorry, Sam, they've learned that you're not going to hurt them by now. A few others come around too, apparently thinking that this art piece needs more colors, and he soon feels their brushes against his back as well, though he doesn't resist with anything more than words. By the time they're done, the back of his labcoat probably looks something like this. He sighs and stands up, taking off his labcoat to survey the damage; his clothes had mysteriously repaired themselves from the damage that the Piranha Stubby had done to them, but now his labcoat is ruined all over again, just in a different way.

2. Meditation in the Windy Void

After stowing his ruined labcoat away in the apartment he's claimed for himself, Samuel heads for the edge of the world, where the scenery gives way to that white void. And then he keeps going, until he can just barely see anything other than white in the distance behind him (though, of course, that distance might change once he has his back turned, putting him closer to the world where he can be seen if someone else comes wandering out to the edge). He remembers thinking earlier that the void would be a good place to meditate, and that's just what he came here to do.

So he sits down, cross-legged on the ground, hands resting on his knees. He's not going to chant or anything, just sit there with his eyes closed, so it might be easy to mistake his meditation for sleep, if it weren't for how straight and upright his back is. If he were sleeping, he'd slouch more or even fall over entirely, right?

When the wind picks up again, it doesn't even bother him; sitting on the ground like this, the wind can't pick him up or push him around, only ruffle through his hair and clothes. No, the only thing that disturbs his meditation is when he hears a voice behind him. Samuel opens his eyes and turns toward one side, still seated, to look over his shoulder and find out what's going on.

3. Wildcard

((Got another idea? Run it by me!))

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Does the professor remember when he threw one of the rabbit-cat-bird critters at Merlin's face and laughed at the ensuing chaos? Because Merlin remembers. And is repaying the favor right now by bursting into laughter of his own upon seeing the man's predicament.

For a famed wizard who's over a thousand years old, he sure can act pretty childish.

And yes, that same critter is apparently still following Merlin around, though the mage is continuing to pay it no mind whatsoever.

He would say that story is an oversimplification of things.

"I don't see what's so funny about this," he grumbles, draping the ruined labcoat over one arm. "So you know where I can get a new labcoat?" Because that's the only way to salvage this.

Perhaps. Though Merlin doesn't particularly care about how the other fellow saw things.

"Hmm, perhaps you'll get lucky with one of those stores in the caves?"

Merlin greatly doubts that, but if this guy goes and spends time checking all the stalls and stores anyway, well, he's not going to stop him.

Yeah, he hasn't really heard about Wall Market yet.

"What's that, now?"

But unless one of those stores is a science supply store, he also doubts they'll have labcoats for sale, much less any that fit him off the rack... and it's not like he has anything to sew with to alter clothes to fit like he usually does.

"You haven't seen? There's a cavern under the mountain now filled with stores. Or something meant to look like them, at least."

Most of it is just looks, really.

"I'm not exactly keen to run around a bunch of mountain caves in the dark, no. I've been staying outside, for the most part. The light is better out here." Not because of his age or anything like that, just because he's not prepared for that kind of expedition. Especially with the light situation being what it is; he could easily step off a cliff or something in there.

"I think usually people who explore caves do so at a walk."

He's clearly poking fun at the remark, but his tone somewhat lacks the all too cheerful manner he would have put into it before.

"Though there doesn't seem to be much of use down there, anyway."

"It's a figure of speech," he groans.

"If I can get my hands on a reliable light source, I might poke around down there sometime. Not much point until then, though." Not when they can barely see down there, and by all rights shouldn't be able to see at all.

That groan would be so much more satisfying if Merlin could still sense and feed on emotions. Unfortunately, he can't right now, which means it's almost more wasted effort than anything. Oh, well.

"Well, then I suppose that's something to work towards, then."

If only he could use his magecraft, that wouldn't be a problem at all, though.

"Do you have any ideas? As to what we can use for light." He doesn't have a lighter or matches or anything, electronics aren't working, and there aren't any Fire or otherwise glowing Pokemon around, so....

"A torch, I suppose, if you have a reliable way to start a fire."

He's not particularly interested, though, the darkness is annoying but not impossible. There's other things about this place that bother him far more.

"Seems a bit dangerous, doesn't it?" Not sure if it's more or less dangerous than exploring caves in the dark.

Oh, sure, there are many mysteries in this place that interest him, of which the underside of Mt. Silver is only one... but he's not too fussed about which ones they tackle first.

"Starting a fire?"

He's a little surprised by the suggestion.

"Fire is no more dangerous than many of the other things humans have made regular use of over time. It's carelessness that's the true danger, anyway."

"More using a torch." He's never really had to use one before, having access to things like flashlights and glowsticks and Pokemon.

"There are things more dangerous than fire, but they're pretty hard to get ahold of for the average person." And even then, fire will almost always make any dangerous situation more dangerous. He's worked with things like hydrofluoric acid before, and he still has a healthy respect for fire.

(He's not counting Pokemon, there is nothing dangerous about letting 10-year-olds carry around literal living blobs of magma in little plastic balls, what are you talking about?)

Edited (iconfail) 2020-08-22 01:01 (UTC)

Oh, there's so much Merlin could say as to the dangers of fire--and just how easily it can go from contained to burning a city to the ground--but he's more a bit surprised by that first remark.

"Oh, it's quite simple, you just hold it so that the burning end is away from you, or anything else flammable!"

Yes, he worked out that much.

"What about the embers? Couldn't they land on you or your clothes?" Even holding it away from you, it seems like it'd be close enough for them to be a danger. The heat from having a fire so close concerns him, too.

He's probably overestimating how large a torch fire is, again because he's never had to use one before.

Merlin blinks at that. For someone who's apparently so observant of animals and such, this guy sure is utterly ignorant when it comes to things like common uses of fire.

"Not really, if it's properly made. Small embers would burn out quickly as they fall, and a torch that's shedding large pieces of itself would be a rather poor torch in the first place."

It's not fire he doesn't know about, just... torches. Who needs a torch when you can just use a Charmander's tail?

"Right, well, the point is moot anyway." As long as light is being wonky, a torch won't do him any good.

Clearly not someone who ever needs to worry about surviving alone in a wilderness!

"Until things change again, you mean."

Alone? A Pokemon trainer is never alone. And even if they don't have a Fire type for light, they have other technology to rely on. Torches at the point his world's at are just... all but obsolete.

"Well, maybe we can call another meeting at that cafe to exchange survival tips, because I certainly don't know how to build a 'proper' torch."

Still, anyone who plans to be out in the field for any length of time ought to plan for such contingencies, shouldn't they? Technology can break, after all.

"You may have to, if you do decide you want to explore the caves sometime."

Nope, not offering to actually help, here.

Nah, their technology is pretty reliable. Besides, his original point still stands; fire has its own dangers.

"If we do have a meeting like that, I've got my own helpful skills to share."

Yes, he noticed that.

And yet, here he is stuck in a place where it doesn't function in at all. In any case, that remark gets a raised eyebrow from Merlin.

"Such as being overrun by small animals?"

But fire doesn't work, either. Anyway, he crosses his arms, mouth turning downward; his patience is beginning to wear thin.

"I'd say building goodwill with the local wildlife can go a long way." Anyway, he raises his bandaged arm as a demonstration: "How about medicine, for starters?" Whatever else might not be functioning here, they can still get hurt.

A lot of things don't work! But something simple like fire is probably more likely to start working again first. Probably.

Merlin does raise an eyebrow at that last remark, though.

"Ordinarily, that wouldn't be a concern." For him, at least. "Or do you mean to say you haven't found anyone here who knows anything about that?"

"I'd say medicine is always a concern for any civilization." Because Samuel is thinking of the group, not just himself.

"I've met some who know a few things about first aid... but if anyone needs anything more than that, like stitches or surgery, I'm going to be their best bet." Not that he's got a medical degree, but he has as much medical experience as any doctor (even if most of it is either with Pokemon or patching himself up), and he's pretty sure he's the closest thing this place has to a doctor.

"I wonder if that sort of thing would even be a problem here, right now," Merlin remarks. After all, things like breathing and eating are optional, and sleep straight up doesn't exist. Injuries might not behave the way they normally would, either.

Ruined? More like the lab coat became amazing. Their preferences in art aside, that lab coat and the commotion that had caused it also meant that there was some source of paint in the world, and that was of immediate interest to Turing. It had felt like forever since they'd had a chance to paint anything.

"If nothing else, the splashes of colour make it unique!"

Then again, that remark was also coming from a little blue robot.

"It's not bad as a piece of art, but it's not really my style." He could see someone else wearing a jacket that looks like this, but not himself. "Besides, it's useless as a labcoat now."

He does look a little surprised to see the little robot, but takes it in stride soon enough. It helps that Turing isn't the first robot he's met here.

"Ah...yes, I suppose that's true."

Turing frowned. It might make a good artist smock, but that didn't seem to be needed at the moment. Not for sketches, anyway. And speaking of sketches--!

"Do you have an interest in art as well?"

"Hmm?" What would give him that idea? Oh, right, his notebook.

"I have some interest, I suppose. But I wouldn't call myself an artist or anything." But that's probably obvious given the labcoat, right? Not that it's impossible to be both a scientist and an artist, but it's uncommon at the very least.

Turing's expression brightened. Some interest was better than no interest!

"I'm unsure whether to call myself an artist as well, though I do still enjoy it."

"I think if you make art on a regular basis, you can call yourself an artist." Not here, of course, nobody's made art here, but just in general.

"I would like to make art on a regular basis here as well, but procuring supplies has been...challenging."

There weren't exactly many places to get canvases and paints here.

"I understand what you mean. I'm bound to run out of paper soon." Sam flips toward the back of his notebook, holding the blank paper between his fingers to show how much (or rather, how little) is left.

"Hmm..."

Turing took a moment to think. Devising creative solutions instead of thinking in straight lines was still a skill they were working on.

"It may become necessary for us to produce our own paper."

"I know paper can be made from leaves, or old paper... but I don't really know how."

Oh, sure, every kid has that 'recycling old newspaper' science/art project in school, but it's been a long time for him, he's learned other things since then that he needs to use more. And making paper from leaves, well, he just has no idea. (There's also making it from trees, but he doesn't want to cut down the trees and he's not sure they have the means to do so anyway.)

"Perhaps there's someone here who does?"

Hopefully so, as that would mean an eventual multitude of distractions, as opposed to a distraction that only had so far to go before ending. While Turing hadn't had the pleasure of meeting everyone just yet, so far they all seemed rather nice and helpful.

Well. Except for maybe one person.

"I will try to find out!"

They still had to hone their own investigative skills, after all!

Is that one person Seto Kaiba? Or perhaps Merlin? He's had the... fortune... to run across both.

"That's a good idea." He nods encouragingly, then bobs his head at the building nearby. "There could be some paper in there, too."

Edited 2020-08-26 09:25 (UTC)

Ding ding ding! Their last encounter with Kaiba had gone poorly for many reasons.

They did perk up some at being praised. While that particular quirk hadn't approached 'bad habit' territory, there was definitely already an established pattern.

"Oh, I see! Though if someone has taken refuge there, I hope they don't mind if we look around."

Not that they had ever trespassed before. Nope. Never.

"It's a big place... one person couldn't claim all of that." Well, they could, but it wouldn't be very fair.

"Only way to find out is to try!" It's a cheerful declaration, and he starts walking toward it, notebook in one hand and ruined labcoat draped over the other arm. He glances back at the robot, to see if he's coming.

"I agree!"

Turing was indeed following, though they had to walk a bit faster thanks to their shorter stride. When they did get to the front door of the building, Turing was once again reminded that most doors were designed with humans in mind, and not ROMs of their own stature. They had to reach up just to touch it.

It's alright, he'll open the door for him, even waiting for him to go through before he does himself.

Once they're inside, he looks around the lobby, wondering where any paper might be kept. Behind the reception desk looks like a good place to start, and he nimbly hops over it (surprisingly so, considering his age) to the other side.

Turing looked at the desk as well, as if they were considering jumping over it as well. However, that would also mean jumping higher than they were tall (and then some, probably), so maybe it wasn't the best idea...

Yup, time to walk around.

"Hello? Is anyone home?"

If they were going to be rifling through everything, it seemed like common courtesy to make sure no one was living here. ...Or at least no one was there at the moment.

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Of Science, Art, and Spirit

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