spellminders

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voice

[He's closed himself off. He thought it might help -- slow your surroundings to a standstill, and maybe everything going on inside would learn to slow as well. When he got control over himself, he could control this stupid magic of his that was given to him. He thought he'd be happy, getting back the gifts he was born into, but even with them, the storm inside had been roaring enough to keep him up night after night.

Which meant he'd been even more cut off than he'd intended.]

I can't sleep. I need to. Tell me...what to do.

[Simple as that. Just help him rest, please...]

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[Pop quiz? Musical genre? 20th century? Tunes???]

...Yes.

[That seems safest.]

Not loud. I won't like that. I know that, so you don't have to try with that kind.

I can curate for quieter things. Do you want to meet up?

Okay. You talk weird?

[HE NEEDS TO STRETCH HIS TELEPATHY LEGS MORE SO LEAKS LIKE THAT DON'T HAPPEN]

I don't stay in the busy parts of the city a lot... Can you come to the edge of Aimintas instead?

[There's a pause as. Oh.]

Yeah. Side we came in?

Mmn. That's easy.

[omw, etc.

Good thing it's not bustling or anything, because Lalli gives zero indication of his name or what he looks like because why would you ever??? He just doesn't think of this type of thing.

But there's this skinny weirdo pacing around and scuffing the ground with his sick and thigh-high boots.]

[He is approached by a lanky teenager with spiky hair and some pointy shades.]

Hey. Insomniac?

[For lack of a better name, hey.]

[how anime...of only he knew about anime. As things are, he has nothing familiar to compare Dirk to. What a strange-looking guy with weird habits...]

Um.

[...he doesn't actually know what that is either, but similar words have been said by now, so???]

...Yes. Maybe. [great] I'm Lalli.

Dirk.

[Not being great at social graces, Dirk cuts straight to pulling some headphones out of his sylladex. He holds them out to Lalli.]

I want you to try these on to see if they're comfortable before we get started. Then I can adjust them while we listen if they don't work for you.

[Lack of social graces is just fine for Lalli, who takes the headphones like they're more like vicious snakes than something he was asking for. He still places them over his ears obediently, but holds them in place rather than letting go or adjusting them to fit better. Feels safer this way.]

Does everyone have these...?

They became commonplace in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, in my world.

[He will give Lalli time to get used to them? Just get a second to understand the feel. If they're new tech, then it makes sense Lalli wouldn't get it immediately.]

I don't know what that means.

[History is kind of uhhh well time is complicated now for more mundane reasons than Homestuck reasons, at least.]

Okay. Do I have to do anything...?

It's a measure of time based on an important religious event to the cultural groups that determined the most commonly used calendar.

[Dirk nods to the headphones.]

You adjust them to sit more comfortably on your head. The band will get smaller or larger if you pull. Then you can let go and they'll just sit there.

I have an mp3 player for you, but we can play some tracks here together so I know what to transfer your way.

[So many people talk so weird here... Like, unnecessarily fancy. At least he can work this out quickly enough. Sometime after some event, like the Illness. This must be what the old world years were.

He's still hesitant to move, but sloooowly he adjusts the band, then drops his arms to his sides. aaaaaugh it's weird, this is too weird, he's just gonna go ahead and put his hands back up. They were usually the things clapped over his ears, it was only natural to keep having them there. Sorry if you were expecting anything normal, Dirk.]

Hn. That sounds okay I guess. [He's as ready as he'll ever be for this.] ...Um. So you're from the 21st century...?

[It's okay, they'll get there eventually. Dirk is remarkably patient, since he figures Lalli is just adjusting.]

I'm from four hundred years after that. Most of what I know about the era comes from my research.

[Dirk decides to start Lalli off with some relatively soft music.]

Tell me what you think and we can keep flipping through things.

Oh. That's a long time.

[His fingers twitch to tighten their hold automatically as the music starts up, but at least he doesn't fling the headphones away from himself like he had when Dave let him try his when they'd first arrived. That lasted about one second. This...

His lips flatten into a thin line and his eyes narrow as well while he consider the music, but just as he opens his mouth to say something, the singing starts and he closes it again. Hmn.

The song is over halfway through before he animates again.]

It's okay. Um. Sometimes there's a...hum. [Long, extended notes beneath the main melody. He can't figure out why, since he's pretty used to continuous, far more disturbing sounds, but it puts him on edge.] That part doesn't feel good.

Yeah. It was.

[He tries not to dwell on it.]

Okay, so no on the sustain. That probably negates most electronic things.

[So maybe something more folky? After a moment of trying to figure it out, he gives this one a try.

He absolutely only has Loituma on his glasses because of Memes.]

[he perks the FUCK UP]

Oh!

[He silences again so he can actually listen, and his heart feels like it's hammering against his ribs at the sudden, unexpected wave of emotion. Finnish. Unfamiliar Finnish, but even that was more familiar to him than everything else he'd been forced to come across in what feels like an eternity. He'd been dragged here from the island, and from there he'd been dragged from a place that wasn't even his home. He'd had one source to turn to for conversation. Real conversation. Now...

Pois sinä lensit avaruuteen,
niin ehkä löysit, mitä sä hait,
sammuessasi maailmaan uuteen
kirkkaamman, kauniimman loiston sä sait,
sammuessasi maailmaan uuteen
kirkkaamman, kauniimman loiston sä sait.]

...

[...Well, Dirk, your new friend looks like he's about to cry, so uhhh.]

[Shit. Shit did he fuck up. Did he fuck up. Lalli looks sad. He made Lalli sad. HE MADE LALLI WANT TO CRY? FUCKITY FUCK WHAT DOES HE DO]

Uh do you. Want me to change it or.

[INTERNAL SCREAMING WHAT DO YOU DO WITH CRYING PEOPLE HE DOESN'T GODDAMNED KNOW]

[This is your punishment for memes, Dirk.]

Nh.

[He shakes his head quickly, but it's obvious he's not having a great time. The lyrics seem to have wound down, though, so after a deep breath to give himself time to confirm that and calm down, he gives Dirk a nod.]

You know Finnish...?

[Why else would he have a Finnish song?]

[HE FUCKED UP!!!!!!!]

No, I, uh... knew this band from a meme, so I checked out some of their other stuff and liked it. I only speak English.

Sorry.

English...

[The way he says it, it's like the word is completely unfamiliar to him...which would be silly, since he knows Finnish, clearly, right? He gives another numb nod and finally lowers his hands again. Quite frankly, he's lost the will to hold on to it anymore.]

Oh. But you have more? Because of a meme?

[Whatever that meant.]

Yeah, uh, hang on...

[He has Loituma's discography so. ENJOY THAT, LALLI?]

You can tell me to shut it off if you want.

[He still has no idea what he's doing. The strangeness of how Lalli talked about English is registered but overwhelmed by this social terror.]

[well this polka track is a little weird, but]

No... It's...okay. I'm fine.

[He actually sits, folding his legs in carefully, and closes his eyes to process more. Dirk might be intimidated by the awkward social situation, but Lalli apparently gives no fucks about continuing to be a sad weirdo here.]

...It's good. The Finnish. [Even if that initial one absolutely wrecked him out of nowhere, what a choice to go with, what scary lyrics.] I can listen to these.

[look. look he doesn't fucking speak Finnish????]

Okay. I, uh, don't have anything else in Finnish, but I can shove some folk music in English onto the mp3 player. [a pause] This kind of music is known as 'folk music.'

Folk music, [he repeats like he's dead inside. Looks that way, so maybe!!!]

...Okay.

[He slides the headphones off and looks up at Dirk finally, eyes opening, but only partially.]

I'm not sleeping.

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