Using Eyes for Eyes
2nd August
On the night of 1st August, it was a 2.
Mainly because a great mystery remained.....
WHO WAS 630-C !?!
( Either Josephine Brynr or Henry Helbrook )
The first person to gave up on understanding his own brain was Demo. Before any doctor told him or his father so, he would've needed to be an idiot not to know he functioned differently than others. Which was mostly- unforgiving to him. He gave up understanding, but it was always a question that started with a 'why' and still had no answer after several years.
But since most of his parts are functioning, he and his father felt no need to continue the investigation further. Only trusting that Demo would be able to adapt with his flaws as he goes on. He was his fathers child, after all. A word his father liked to use.
For example, his memory was in disarray often. Further blessed with the fear for forgetting anything, his selective memory was often his greatest enemy. How could he memorize some things easier than others? There was a pattern to this that grounded him, and yet didn't shield him from the rare sickening urge to take out his brain, inspects it, and fix which part of his brain was missing something so... supposedly simple.
People's appearance for one. Blonde. brunette. Red. Deep brown. Eyelashes. Flat nose. High bridge. Larger cheeks. Uneven lips. He identified all those separately enough, and even more. He could pick them apart in his head, and draw them somewhat accurately on paper. But he couldn't... for the life of him remember who these belonged to.
He instead honed all his focus on the one thing that was too often different from one another.
The eyes.
But hexcodes are far too complicated. What language could he learn that could translate what he was seeing?
Pantone colours.
It was the last desperate attempt Demo had the tools to avoid forgetting. A vocabulary only for him, and one that he didn't need anyone to understand before... until now.
" Hey you", he calls blandly, though not intentionally unkind. He came up to 535-C (Jeremy), interrupting whatever the heck they were doing. Without context, he shows two small cards. The had PANTONE , and under it a number code.630-C. Above the words, taking up more space around white borders is a shade colour of blue. " Look look look. Just look, at this. Do you know what the problem here is? I need your eyes to fix what I'm seeing once and for all. There can no longer be two. I'm confusing which one is the aid one that you lied to, and which is the sassy one "
@Jeremy Slater
Hanako Tone | Sara Kohana | Kotoka Sako
Using Eyes for Eyes
Jeremy could already tell that it was going to be hard having so many room-mates at camp. He had spent time with other kids before of course, but that had mostly been at a school, where at the end of the day you got to go home. He wasn’t used to seeing other kids at night-time. That was weird enough.
What made it harder was that you couldn’t actually get AWAY from any of the kids, say, if one of them thought you were an awful evil liar (@Henry Holbrook) or sometimes got on your last nerve (@Josephine Byrne). You were just stuck with them, forever. Or at least for a month.
But of all the kids Jeremy was going to be staying with, the one who made the strangest impression was the boy who had entered their cabin, flopped down onto the floor, and yelled that he wasn't deceased without so much as a 'Hello, hi, how are you?'. Jeremy was pretty sure that was very impolite, but maybe he was impolite too, because his parents had never told him what you were supposed to do in a situation like that one to begin with.
Just like how it might have been impolite for this boy to greet Jeremy today with a call of 'Hey you,' while he was reading, but how Jeremy didn't know what would be polite on his side so was forced to respond with another call back of "Um hi...you."
And with the next question, all politeness really went out the window, because Jeremy wasn't sure what was actually going on.
“….Huh?”
Jeremy looked down at the two blue cards in confusion. The boy had asked for help. The boy seemed very distressed. He asked Jeremy: Find the Problem. The problem was that what the boy was holding out to him was two blue cards, that looked exactly the same. It was like when his mum was picking a color for the new wall. His reaction then was the same as it is now. “They’re both white!” he'd insisted. His mum had insisted they were different.
But this time, he was really really REALLY REALLY REALLY sure that they weren't.
He stared down for a while, trying to find what could make one different than the other, and which one had the problem.
(Basically:
)
“Um, I guess this one looks kinda sassy?” the boy said tentatively, pointing to the one in Demo’s left hand. "But is it ok if you please me what the heck you're talking about?"
There, that was polite.
@Demo Chatura
What made it harder was that you couldn’t actually get AWAY from any of the kids, say, if one of them thought you were an awful evil liar (@Henry Holbrook) or sometimes got on your last nerve (@Josephine Byrne). You were just stuck with them, forever. Or at least for a month.
But of all the kids Jeremy was going to be staying with, the one who made the strangest impression was the boy who had entered their cabin, flopped down onto the floor, and yelled that he wasn't deceased without so much as a 'Hello, hi, how are you?'. Jeremy was pretty sure that was very impolite, but maybe he was impolite too, because his parents had never told him what you were supposed to do in a situation like that one to begin with.
Just like how it might have been impolite for this boy to greet Jeremy today with a call of 'Hey you,' while he was reading, but how Jeremy didn't know what would be polite on his side so was forced to respond with another call back of "Um hi...you."
And with the next question, all politeness really went out the window, because Jeremy wasn't sure what was actually going on.
“….Huh?”
Jeremy looked down at the two blue cards in confusion. The boy had asked for help. The boy seemed very distressed. He asked Jeremy: Find the Problem. The problem was that what the boy was holding out to him was two blue cards, that looked exactly the same. It was like when his mum was picking a color for the new wall. His reaction then was the same as it is now. “They’re both white!” he'd insisted. His mum had insisted they were different.
But this time, he was really really REALLY REALLY REALLY sure that they weren't.
He stared down for a while, trying to find what could make one different than the other, and which one had the problem.
(Basically:
)
“Um, I guess this one looks kinda sassy?” the boy said tentatively, pointing to the one in Demo’s left hand. "But is it ok if you please me what the heck you're talking about?"
There, that was polite.
@Demo Chatura
Using Eyes for Eyes
2nd August
Since there were no space in his head to consider how polite or impolite this conversation was going, to Demo - this was going well! First of all, he wasn't being shooed away. Such measly thing usually wouldn't stop him but unfortunately too many adults had taught him that when someone shoo's you away, thats it- can't be done- gotta listen to em.
Granted, even if this was going more well than he initially calculated, it was useless. It seemed that the boy he was confusing, was confusing Demo! Demo's eyes narrowed in intent focus. " But why" The question was directed to the other boy's claim that one was sassier than the other.
And then he was confused even more when 535-C (Jeremy)'s question. " What? whydeeyuuem? (WDYM)" exasperated, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. " If you didn't get what I was asking, why didn't you just say so earlier?" But then his expression softened as if remembering something useful as he leaned away, nodding his head. " Oh.. oh yeah.. I see. You like to lie" blunt. " I remember now. Well- no need to do any of that. Generally - I can't usually tell anyway. So if you get it or don't get it, trust me the process is going to be a lot more smoother if you just don't make it confusing for both of us". He suggests, seemingly still more interested in coaxing what information he thought 535-C (Jeremy) had.
" Anyway... let's start from the beginning and slowly" he shows the two pantone colous again. " Do you recognize what you're seeing here? Do you see what I'm seeing? Are these colours familiar to you? They belong to some of our tentmates. One that didn't like you lying, and another that was sassier. It's their eye colour. I just..." he makes a disgusted face before it fell back to it's usual blank expression. " forgot. Who. Exactly. They are. And you seem close to the sassy one. Whats another thing about them that can help me .... remember them - separately. Catch what I'm trying to give?"
@Jeremy Slater
Hanako Tone | Sara Kohana | Kotoka Sako
Using Eyes for Eyes
“Hey I do not like to— huh?”
Jeremy paused for a moment, an amazing battle being waged in his brain about what to say next. The urge to defend himself about being called a liar (AGAIN!!) was definitely putting up a fight, but it was still being soundly defeated by the utter bafflement about being told that he was the one making things confusing.
Do you recognize what you're seeing here? Do you see what I'm seeing? Are these colours familiar to you?
"They’re blue” Jeremy stated, bluntly, blinking up at the other boy.
But Mr. Blue kept going and it turned out that it wasn’t as simple as that. It was actually much MUCH less simple than that.
”Their EYE color? I…No. I…. I don’t 'catch what you’re trying to give',” Jeremy said. He wasn't even sure he knew what that meant.
“You mean Henry...” Jeremy said darkly, the name still giving him a feeling of... well... badness. But the other...? "And...." Who was Sassy? Not Strike, that was for sure. Not Declan.
“Close? But the only kid I know here is Jo, and— hey we’re not close!” He whined. Why did everybody think they were friends just cause they knew each other! They hung out ONE time and they had tried drawing runes together and it had been a disaster. That didn’t count as friends.
Okay. This was getting nowhere. If the boy wanted to go slow, then maybe Jeremy should go slow..
“Okay. Um.. you. You're asking about Henry and Jo. Right? Why. do. you. need. to know. their eye color?" he asked, very slowly. "I don't even know MY eye color," Jeremy said, with a shrug. It was brown, right? To tell the truth, he never really noticed people's eye colors. "And what do you mean about a thing about them to remember them? Remember what? Their name?" Jeremy said, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on right now, and what it had to do with problematic blue cards.
@Demo Chatura
Jeremy paused for a moment, an amazing battle being waged in his brain about what to say next. The urge to defend himself about being called a liar (AGAIN!!) was definitely putting up a fight, but it was still being soundly defeated by the utter bafflement about being told that he was the one making things confusing.
Do you recognize what you're seeing here? Do you see what I'm seeing? Are these colours familiar to you?
"They’re blue” Jeremy stated, bluntly, blinking up at the other boy.
But Mr. Blue kept going and it turned out that it wasn’t as simple as that. It was actually much MUCH less simple than that.
”Their EYE color? I…No. I…. I don’t 'catch what you’re trying to give',” Jeremy said. He wasn't even sure he knew what that meant.
“You mean Henry...” Jeremy said darkly, the name still giving him a feeling of... well... badness. But the other...? "And...." Who was Sassy? Not Strike, that was for sure. Not Declan.
“Close? But the only kid I know here is Jo, and— hey we’re not close!” He whined. Why did everybody think they were friends just cause they knew each other! They hung out ONE time and they had tried drawing runes together and it had been a disaster. That didn’t count as friends.
Okay. This was getting nowhere. If the boy wanted to go slow, then maybe Jeremy should go slow..
“Okay. Um.. you. You're asking about Henry and Jo. Right? Why. do. you. need. to know. their eye color?" he asked, very slowly. "I don't even know MY eye color," Jeremy said, with a shrug. It was brown, right? To tell the truth, he never really noticed people's eye colors. "And what do you mean about a thing about them to remember them? Remember what? Their name?" Jeremy said, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on right now, and what it had to do with problematic blue cards.
@Demo Chatura
Using Eyes for Eyes
2nd August
" Hm?" Demo never understood why anyone stopped what they were trying to say in the middle of the sentence. a) What was the point of using your voice to say anything if you weren't going to finish talking? and b) now Demo needs to know what Jeremy didn't like. But that could be saved for later. As the topic delved into eye colour- finally, they were getting right on track!
”Their EYE color? I…No. I…. I don’t 'catch what you’re trying to give',”
" Dats okay, we can go slow" Says the boy that never talked slow.
“Close? But the only kid I know here is Jo, and— hey we’re not close!”
"Close enough" Simple.
“Okay. Um.. you. You're asking about Henry and Jo. Right? Why. do. you. need. to know. their eye color?"
Demo tilted his head at this. Not cause he was confused of what he was saying, but why did he say it that slow. Sure they agreed to go slow- but why that slow? " Oh... you like.. you like tortoise?!" This earned a grin from the usually blank faced boy. Course it made sense. Slow was.. slow. But this is .. tortoise slow. Could 535-C (Jeremy) be a fan of The Tortoise and The Hare as much as Demo? Is that why he's mimicking this much slowness? That put a dose of positive-like reactions in Demo's demeanor. So of course, as another TTATH fan, he had to respond in the same slow way!
"I....can .. not.. tell.. who... is... who!" Talking slow, each pronounced word holding an evident dose of excitement to its tone. " I... have.. to.. know...who... I'm... talk...ing.. to.. or.. I..wil...for..get. And... I... don't... like... for...get..ing"
"I don't even know MY eye color,"
"535-C"
At the mention of name, Demo blinked. Shaked his head. No.
" I... do... not.. rem..emmm...ber...na..me... wee.. eeell. Eye.. need... but.. eye... too.. same.." he explains, not bored yet at his speech being slowed down to 0.25 speed. " Oh... oh ! Oh! Can... you... draw... well...?"
w/c: 331
@Jeremy Slater
Hanako Tone | Sara Kohana | Kotoka Sako
Using Eyes for Eyes
Jeremy really wished he’d never started talking slowly. This conversation was confusing enough, but now it was going to last for about five hours.
“I…wait, I like tortoises, yea, but, I um, I also like cheetahs so can you talk faster?” Jeremy tried, hoping that would work.
As Demo continued talking, Jeremy stared at him like he was a puzzle that he just couldn’t solve, and wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to. He thought he was starting to understand what he was saying, but he couldn’t say that he was starting to understand him, ‘cause Demo was making even less sense now when Jeremy understood him than when he hadn’t. Jeremy wondered if there was a polite way to say ‘you are the strangest boy I’ve ever met’ and figured there probably wasn’t.
Demo did point out that he knew Jeremy’s eye color, but he also didn’t sound like he knew what a color was, since he got it confused with numbers and letters (“Um, that’s not a color,” Jeremy pointed out). It seemed like there was a LOT Demo didn’t know though, and Jeremy began to wonder if maybe Owen had been right all along, and they should have got a grown-up, because Demo seemed to have hit his head very hard when he fell into the cabin on that first night.
“Oh! Can... you... draw... well...?"
“No…? But, um, I can try? But wait…What do you mean you can’t tell who is who? Are you blind?” he asked, staring. He didn’t LOOK blind.
“Um…'cause, well, first, I can give you a way better way to remember them. Henry is the one that’s a boy. Jo is the one that’s…a girl?? You know, like... Boys? Girls? There’s only one girl? And it’s Jo?” Sure, she wasn’t a girly-girl or anything, but she sure was a girl! And his parents said HE didn't pay attention to his surroundings! Sheesh!
“I…wait, I like tortoises, yea, but, I um, I also like cheetahs so can you talk faster?” Jeremy tried, hoping that would work.
As Demo continued talking, Jeremy stared at him like he was a puzzle that he just couldn’t solve, and wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to. He thought he was starting to understand what he was saying, but he couldn’t say that he was starting to understand him, ‘cause Demo was making even less sense now when Jeremy understood him than when he hadn’t. Jeremy wondered if there was a polite way to say ‘you are the strangest boy I’ve ever met’ and figured there probably wasn’t.
Demo did point out that he knew Jeremy’s eye color, but he also didn’t sound like he knew what a color was, since he got it confused with numbers and letters (“Um, that’s not a color,” Jeremy pointed out). It seemed like there was a LOT Demo didn’t know though, and Jeremy began to wonder if maybe Owen had been right all along, and they should have got a grown-up, because Demo seemed to have hit his head very hard when he fell into the cabin on that first night.
“Oh! Can... you... draw... well...?"
“No…? But, um, I can try? But wait…What do you mean you can’t tell who is who? Are you blind?” he asked, staring. He didn’t LOOK blind.
“Um…'cause, well, first, I can give you a way better way to remember them. Henry is the one that’s a boy. Jo is the one that’s…a girl?? You know, like... Boys? Girls? There’s only one girl? And it’s Jo?” Sure, she wasn’t a girly-girl or anything, but she sure was a girl! And his parents said HE didn't pay attention to his surroundings! Sheesh!
Using Eyes for Eyes
2nd August
Jeremy didn't realise at the time what a huge bullet he dodged by mentioning a cheetah instead of a hare or rabbit. " Oh" that didn't hide Demo's disappointment still. " Kay.. cheetahspeed". Which he translated as super fast with no spaces in between. (good luck reading dialogs in this post)
The the mention that its not a colour Demo frowned, looking away as he tried to think of the closest baby language for colours. " Blue" . There, he said it. " Bluegreybitsofpurple.." blue grey, bits of purple
" Yeah!" he said to if he was blind. Because he learned it was easier to say he was, than to explain another explanation of what exactly he isn't remembering. " Enoughblindtonotrememberfacesthatwell" Enough blind to not remember faces that well
He gave an incredulous look at 535-C (Jeremy). Blinking, as if buffering his sentence. " Girl.... .. and.. boy" he repeats- accidentally slow. It was impossible to talk as fast as a cheetah when he was this confused. " I've never touched a girl!" he states a little too loudly than necessary, somewhat excited that this could be the reason for not understanding who was who. " Then I don't know who's Jo- they're both still 630-C. I don't want to touch them just to check.." he gave Jer what looked like a disgusted look as if it was Jer's fault that the idea was even suggested. Gross. But whatever. " Couldn't you- oh sorry- couldn'tyoulike-justdraw ... whattheylooklike... ororor - lurethemout andthenmakethemstandstill- soIcanlookcloser!" Er.. Idon'twannadrawthemthough.."
Couldn't you like just draw what they look like or or or lure them out and then make them stand still so I can look closer! Er. I dont wanna draw them though..
w/c: 233
@Jeremy Slater
Hanako Tone | Sara Kohana | Kotoka Sako
Using Eyes for Eyes
Well, the good news was that Demo listened to him, and was talking a lot faster. The bad news was he was talking so fast it was hard to understand him. This was very concerning because it had already been really hard to understand him, even when he was talking very slowly, and now Jer didn’t even have time to think about it.
Maybe he had to think of a more normal-speed animal. What was in between tortoise and cheetah? ”I also like…monkeys?” Jeremy tried hopefully, when he was able to get a word in.
So Demo did know colors, that was good. And he…WAS blind? But he wasn’t! While Demo being blind would explain a lot, Jeremy knew that he could see him NOW, and could see the colors enough to know that they were the same. Maybe he just couldn’t see very well, but then how did he see the colors of people's eyes?
Then, Demo repeated ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ as if he’d never heard those words in his entire life. Jeremy found that alarming. Had his parents never had this talk with him?? Jeremy had known about the differences between boys and girls since he was three years old, and if Demo didn’t his parents had really let him down on this one. “Your parents told you about this stuff...right?" Jeremy asked, his voice a bit hushed, cause HE certainly didn't want to be the one to tell him. Jer had read a story about a boy who was raised by wolves once. He wondered if Demo was raised by wolves. He was definitely going to ask him that. Or he would have, if Demo hadn't next said:
“I've never touched a girl!"
Jeremy put out his hands, horrified. “Don’t do that!
”You’re not supposed to touch a girl! he hissed. ”And you don’t have to say that so loud either!” He looked around, but luckily they were alone.
He could suddenly just imagine Demo going to touch Jo and Henry to find out who was a boy and who was a girl. The thought was absolutely horrifying and when they asked him who told him to do that, was he gonna say Jeremy? Merlin, THAT was not happening.
And since the choices were Jeremy drawing, or Demo going to make them stand next to each other while he stared at them until he figured out the difference between a boy and a girl, there was really only one choice.
”Wait I can draw them!” Jeremy blurted out suddenly. ”I’ll um. I’ll draw them. Okay? I’ll draw them so you don’t have to look closer or touch them or…I’ll just…I’ll just draw them.” the boy said, before scurrying off to find something to draw with.
A few minutes later, Jeremy held up the results. He had not drawn before, really, but it was hopefully good enough. He didn’t really know how to draw people well, so he did what he could.
Jeremy tapped on the parchment as he showed it off, speaking as if to a much younger child. “See? Boooooy. Giiiiiirl. And nobody needs to touch anybody.”
Maybe he had to think of a more normal-speed animal. What was in between tortoise and cheetah? ”I also like…monkeys?” Jeremy tried hopefully, when he was able to get a word in.
So Demo did know colors, that was good. And he…WAS blind? But he wasn’t! While Demo being blind would explain a lot, Jeremy knew that he could see him NOW, and could see the colors enough to know that they were the same. Maybe he just couldn’t see very well, but then how did he see the colors of people's eyes?
Then, Demo repeated ‘girl’ and ‘boy’ as if he’d never heard those words in his entire life. Jeremy found that alarming. Had his parents never had this talk with him?? Jeremy had known about the differences between boys and girls since he was three years old, and if Demo didn’t his parents had really let him down on this one. “Your parents told you about this stuff...right?" Jeremy asked, his voice a bit hushed, cause HE certainly didn't want to be the one to tell him. Jer had read a story about a boy who was raised by wolves once. He wondered if Demo was raised by wolves. He was definitely going to ask him that. Or he would have, if Demo hadn't next said:
“I've never touched a girl!"
Jeremy put out his hands, horrified. “Don’t do that!
”You’re not supposed to touch a girl! he hissed. ”And you don’t have to say that so loud either!” He looked around, but luckily they were alone.
He could suddenly just imagine Demo going to touch Jo and Henry to find out who was a boy and who was a girl. The thought was absolutely horrifying and when they asked him who told him to do that, was he gonna say Jeremy? Merlin, THAT was not happening.
And since the choices were Jeremy drawing, or Demo going to make them stand next to each other while he stared at them until he figured out the difference between a boy and a girl, there was really only one choice.
”Wait I can draw them!” Jeremy blurted out suddenly. ”I’ll um. I’ll draw them. Okay? I’ll draw them so you don’t have to look closer or touch them or…I’ll just…I’ll just draw them.” the boy said, before scurrying off to find something to draw with.
A few minutes later, Jeremy held up the results. He had not drawn before, really, but it was hopefully good enough. He didn’t really know how to draw people well, so he did what he could.
Jeremy tapped on the parchment as he showed it off, speaking as if to a much younger child. “See? Boooooy. Giiiiiirl. And nobody needs to touch anybody.”