Noriko and Nate

[x-kaminari.livejournal.com]

Out on the grounds, Nori is startled by the GIANT FLAMING BIRD and then proves that she can be charming when she's not thinking about it.



Noriko lay back on the grass, eyes slitted against the bright sun. She still wasn't used to the quiet out here on the grounds, after growing up in Tokyo, or the lack of buzz which had haunted her ever since she manifested. She wasn't used to it, but did she ever enjoy it. It had been cold in the mornings for a while now, but the days still got warm enough for her to enjoy, especially since it wasn't as humid as it was back home.

Her sunlight was quite rudely and abruptly interrupted. A giant glowing firebird shot over the top of the trees, its shadow flashing over her. It descended towards the lake, creating a massive splash as it hit.

It was the flash of other colored light which had got her to open her eyes fully, momentarily confused at where the florescent red had come from, but once she saw she was on her feet in a flash. "Nani sore! Iiiya!" She jumped backwards as the waves washed up on shore - more than a little bit of an over reaction, given the water didn't even come close to where she'd been laying.

Nathan sensed the flash of panic and immediately resurfaced, scanning for the mind he'd startled so badly. Aw, hell, he thought, seeing Noriko and realizing who she must be. He really had been out of the mansion more than he was in, this last month. He brought himself back to the shore, letting the exoskeleton collapse.

"Hello, Noriko," he said slowly and clearly, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She took another few steps back as the huge man stepped out of the water. Nori was getting used to being the shortest person around who'd hit puberty, but this man was alarming. The only one she'd seen who was worse was the Godzilla style groundskeeper. "Dare? Who is you?"

"Nathan," he said, smile staying on as he laid his hand on his chest. "Or Nate." Her English was obviously labored, although in a very different way than Sooraya or Yvette's had been.

"Nathan," she repeated, the combined th sound coming out as a s. "Yoroshiku." There was still a lot of wariness to her body language, although the smile was helping.

Nathan took a step back, spreading his hands wide and keeping his body language as unthreatening as possibly. "I like to fly," he said. "It's part of my power." Mischief mingled with a spark of embarassment lit his gray eyes. "I like the splash, too."

Weirdly, Noriko actually did know 'to fly', but... "What is 'splash'?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. The little spark of... entertainment? childishness? Whatever it was, it intrigued her.

"Let me show you." Nathan half-turned towards the water, gazing at it for a more. A good hard slap of telekinesis produced the desired effect, and he looked back at Noriko, grinning crookedly. "Splash."

She started again, more at the use of power as at the noise and motion of the water. "Aaaa I got it." The head tilt was back. "Is splash..." she paused, obviously looking for a word. "Spurashu no tame ni tobita? Fly is for splash?"

"Sometimes," Nathan said, hoping he was understanding what she was asking. "Sometimes I just fly, too. I like looking down," he said, "at all of this."

She considered this a moment, gazing about. Noriko was still getting used to seeing this many trees and this much open space from the ground. From the sky would be... Amazing, probably. "Un. To flying is good mutant."

What was it about flying, that was so attractive to so many of the youngsters around here? Well, dumb question. He flew, after all. He knew. "Someday, if you want, I'll take you. Flying, I mean." The offer was a bit impulsive, but hell, why not?

Oh, and that just went sailing right over her head. Certainly, her English was getting better - after two months in America it rather had to be - but mainly it meant she was better at picking out the words she knew from the stream of noise, and that the selection of things she knew was getting larger. A lot of grammar still seemed beyond her. The blank look and head tilt were back as she stared at Nathan, as though if she thought about it long enough, what he said would magically become comprehensible.

All right. Let's see if I can try that again... He might not have the advantage of being familiar with her native language, but that didn't mean the basics of communicating with someone still learning his didn't translate. "You and me," he said, gesturing back and forth between them, then pointing upwards. "Fly with me? To see all of this, from up there." The gestures weren't quite a pantomime, that sort of thing had always struck him as condescending, but he hoped they helped. "Not now. Later - another day?"

"Aa," she said, her eyes lighting up as, indeed, the simpler grammar and accompanying gestures helped make his meaning clear. "Sou ka. Jya... is maybe." After all, she was kind of curious, but the image of the giant flaming red bird going careening into the lake was rather at the forefront of her mind.

"Another day, maybe," he said firmly, giving her another reassuring smile to make sure she knew he wasn't pushing. She was projecting all over the place, so he could pick up on the trace of anxiety. "I live there," he went on, pointing in the direction of the boathouse. "With my wife, and baby."

"Eh?" Noriko perked up. "Is baby? Sugoi!"

"Not so little anymore," Nathan said, holding out his hand at about Rachel-height. "That big. Her name is Rachel."

"Rachel." The 'l' sound somehow managed to turn into 'ru', but Noriko didn't notice it. "Kirei! Is name very pretty."

Nathan made a mental note to introduce Noriko to the munchkin. Sounded like it might go over well. But right now... He took a deep breath and then let it out, trying to think of how to phrase this.

"Your English," he said, slowly, and steadily. "You try very hard with it. That's good, very good. I can help, if you want." He smiled. "I don't know Japanese, but I can learn. Just a little, to help you learn English." He didn't know if she'd follow, but he thought that if she did, it might go over well. All of the effort was on her part, so far, to keep learning English, and while it was great that there were people around who spoke Japanese - Noriko had one up on Sooraya in that sense - it wasn't quite the same as someone offering to try and meet her halfway.

Noriko's nose started to wrinkle as the topic of the dread English came up, but what he was saying wasn't quite the same as what most other people said and the expression faded as she slowly worked her way through it. When she spoke it was slowly, but more as though, in addition to figuring out the words, she was actually considering what he said. "Nathan is want learn Japanese?"

Nathan nodded, glad that much had gotten across. "You," he said, "are learning English. One of us," he said, and the gesture took in the whole mansion, "should learn, too. So I'll learn Japanese. Then maybe you and I can learn together."

A slow, somewhat amused smile spread across her face. "Zurui yo," she said. "Nesan wa torikku puree. Is Noriko to study trick."

"Yes, it is," Nathan admitted freely, the mischief back in his eyes. "But I'll still do it."

Noriko's smile was wide and easy by now, her earlier suspicion entirely gone. "Hai. Let's doing."