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Post by JUDAH TEMPLE on Jun 9, 2012 23:24:22 GMT -5
The CDC complex was rather bleak. A seemingly endless network of hallways filled with nothing, but artificial light. There were no windows, no parks, no sunlight to bask in. Everyone wore uniforms. The patients had their unchanging outfits, and the doctors wore the stereotypical garb of a doctor. No one could leave the complex, at least none of the patients could. You might think that, considering the situation outside, no one would want to leave, but you've obviously never been cooped up in a prison like complex where you were forced to follow a schedule. Sure, the patients could wander around, but it was false freedom. The doctors had complete control over you, whether you knew it or not. If you did something against their will, they could simply drug you into submission. It was a place where you traded your life for your life. You got safety, in return for your free will.
One man who didn't seem to care at all about this circumstance was Judah. Happily, he walked down the halls. His long red hair swished back and forth behind him. He had no watch so he wasn't sure of the time. All he knew was he'd had breakfast a while ago, and it wasn't yet lunch time. After breakfast, he'd gone into his room to read a bit, and now that he'd read to his goal for the morning, it was time to socialize a bit. That was how he got over the fact that he didn't have the sunshine or the freedom to wear his robes proudly. If he was talking to other people and making them happy, and being the sunshine then he didn't have to think about why he was in a cafeteria talking to a bunch of people wearing the same clothes as him.
Humming lightly as he walked, the time slipped by quickly and he made his way to the cafeteria. As always, there was a good amount of people lounging around. Being the largest room in the complex, for obvious reasons, it was a popular hang out. Judah looked around curiously. His hand subconsciously reaching up to idly stroke the silver crucifix that hung from his red-beaded rosary. A couple people he regularly talked to took notice and tried to wave him over, but he kindly waved them off with his free hand. Today, he wanted to speak with someone new. After a short moments thought, he would approach a table and greet the person sitting there by saying. "Hello there. My name is Judah, may I sit with you?" in a cheerful manner. At this point, both his hands were hanging down by his sides.
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Post by TOTTORI NAOKO on Jun 9, 2012 23:52:59 GMT -5
 The Asian girl sat alone, as per usual, at a table in the dining hall, chewing on a piece of bread that was from her breakfast. The bread tasted almost stale, though there were chefs who prepared the food in the CDC. Naoko, as she was called, had her focus on a book she'd gotten from a shelf on the far side of the room. There were an assortment of reading materials there, some board games, and other small items meant to keep folks busy. As she sat there reading, she tried her hardest to make sense of the words. Being Japanese made it just slightly difficult to comprehend the English. Just a little. Some words she understood more than others. But still, she read. Each word engrossed her more and more until she was so enveloped in the book, she did not hear the footsteps approach her until the man opened his mouth. The girl was so startled, she dropped the bread. It hit the floor softly, left there for whatever creatures decided they needed to eat. She stared at the male for a long period of time, unblinking, eyes almost as big as saucers. What he probably didn't realize was she wasn't staring at him for so long because she was afraid. For the most part, that is. She was staring at him because she didn't know what to say. Swallowing, she let the book flip closed, her gaze turning to it as it did so. Then, a small smile touched her lips and she whispered, "Hello." The accent she had was heavy, but she was trying, it was obvious. When the book was finally closed, she turned to look up at him, the smile a ghost now. "I do not understand," she continued, blinking finally. She sounded like a child, her voice so small. But she was grown, it was obvious.
She pointed to the chair. "Suwatte, kudasai," she uttered in her native tongue. She smiled once more, attempting to be friendly. Gestures had become a way for her to speak, since nearly no one knew what she said. There were a few other Asian people, but most spoke Korean. She knew a little, but not so much that she could hold a conversation. So, instead, she had begun using her own version of sign-language. While she waited for the red-haired man to sit, she began to examine him. He wore the same dull uniform as everyone else. Where the doctors had gotten them, the model was unaware, but if she ever met the designer, she'd have to slap them. Aside from the uniform, he seemed normal. If normal wore a rosary. That was something she recognized, since it was almost a universal symbol for Catholics. She figured he was just a religious man, and didn't bother thinking on it more. Further inspection showed that he was older than her, but not by much. And his hair was very long. Something that seemed a little unusual, though Naoko didn't really care. She glanced down on the floor at her bread and sighed. There goes my snack, she thought, a small pout forming on her lips.
The lunch servers wouldn't give out anything else until it was lunch time. Which wasn't for another hour. The thought made the girl's stomach gurgle. Embarrassed by this, her cheeks flushed with color and she looked up at the man through her lashes to see if he'd noticed. Hoping he hadn't, she touched her belly and sent a silent hush to it. Not that it would listen. The gurgle of her stomach was a familiar sound, seeing as she could barely eat these days. What, with being trapped in an underground facility with no light. That could do a number on a person. She'd asked one of the Japanese nurses if they'd ever get to see the outdoors and she explained that they wouldn't, because the lights in the facility were all natural and would ensure everyone got their Vitamin D. But it wasn't the same. It'd never be the same as feeling the warm touch of sunlight against the skin. Or seeing the sun rise and set. This made the young woman miserable, suddenly. Her fist clenched her shirt near her stomach and she sighed softly.
translations: suwatte, kudasai - sit, please |
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Post by JUDAH TEMPLE on Jun 10, 2012 1:04:33 GMT -5
Judah immediately felt bad as he saw the woman drop her bread. It was obvious that she'd done so because she'd been startled by his approach. The red-head almost bent down to pick it up and hand it back to her, almost. Of course, most people wouldn't want to eat something that had been dropped on the floor, so he simply stood there happily smiling at her. The smile wasn't as strong as when he first greeted her. Not only did he feel bad about causing her to drop her bread, but her expression didn't seem all that pleased to see him. The man was about to excuse himself and let her be when she finally spoke up and said hello.
Understanding crossed his face when he heard her accent and she followed up by saying she didn't understand. She wasn't a native, or at least, English wasn't her first language. He felt even more awkward about approaching, because now he'd put her in a situation where she was forced to converse with someone who didn't understand what he was saying. Still, she pointed to the chair and seemed to be gesturing for him to join her. Judah immediately recognized the language as Japanese. He knew a few words like 'kudasai' and 'arigato', but he didn't have a full understanding of the language like he did others. It was a shame he hadn't tried to learn the language. It would have come in handy. Though he felt bad, he'd already imposed, so he followed through by sitting in the offered chair.
After that, the woman said nothing, but Judah managed to catch the growling of her stomach. It made him feel a little worse about the bread. He'd have to make it up to the woman somehow. "Uh... My... Boku no.. name is... Judah." he'd say awkwardly using what little Japanese he knew and butchering it quite badly. As he spoke he would gesture towards himself to help her understand, and spoke slowly. The man looked and sounded like an idiot, but he was obviously trying to be sincere. "Er... Sorry about the bread... You... Anata can have some of my lunch... uh... Gohan...?" After saying that he would look at the woman looking slightly flustered, but hoping he got his point across.
Translations:
kudasai - please
arigato - thank you
boku no - my (masculine)
anata - you
gohan - rice, he's trying to say hirugohan which means lunch, but he doesn't remember the word.
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Post by TOTTORI NAOKO on Jun 10, 2012 10:39:09 GMT -5
His attempts at conversation made Naoko giggle. She understood what he was trying to say, though. And in response, she sat a bit more comfortably, turning toward him a bit. Then, she pointed to herself and said softly, "Watashi no namae ha Naoko." She had to think for a long minute back to all the English classes she'd taken through school to remember how to say it in English. "My name...is Naoko." The sentence felt foreign to her, but it was better than nothing. As he sat down, she tried to think of anything she could say to talk about. It seemed he knew very little Japanese. And she knew very little English. So the chances of them being able to converse for long were slim. But, the dark-haired girl didn't seem to care. He said something about rice and it caused her to tilt her head before giggling. "No, no. No gohan," she said, waving her hands back and forth and laughing gently. She didn't want any rice. But the question was...why had he said that? Then she remembered that her stomach had growled and it all made sense. Perhaps he meant lunch. Some of...his? Well, that was probably not a good idea. They weren't even given that much anyways. "No, I will be...good," she went on, after finally grasping the conversation.
"Hotondo no nipponjin ha gozonji, desu ka?" she inquired, mostly to herself, but if he understood, then perhaps he'd give an answer. Judah was his name. Quite an interesting name for a white man. The most interesting thing to her was his hair, honestly. It was flaming red, something she'd only ever seen models have when they were wearing wigs. And then there were those cosplayers when she was in Tokyo. A broad smile touched her lips as she imagined him wearing cosplay. In a way, she couldn't actually see a man like him doing so, especially dressed in the crappy garb they were all made to wear. Her hand fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she thought about what she could be wearing instead. Anything but this crap, that was for sure.
She let her hand go free of the fabric and rest on the cafeteria's table. They were pale white, like most everything else around. It was getting to the point where white was redundant. The doctors dressed in white lab coats. The nurses in white scrubs. She wondered why they would ever do that, because to Naoko, white meant pure and she knew for a fact that the doctors in this place were not pure. It also made no sense if they had to deal with bloodied refugees. Wouldn't their clothes get soiled with the crimson? She had to shudder at the thought and shake it away with a flick of her head. Being dragged from her thoughts made her remember the man sitting beside her. She'd nearly forgotten about him as she thought about bloody clothes. It made her stomach churn just thinking of it. But now, she laid her focus back on the other and smiled slightly.
translations: watashi no namae ha - my name is
hotondo no nipponjin ha gozonji desu ka? - you know very little japanese, don't you?
(i'm not sure if this is right, so just pretend. 8l)
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Post by JUDAH TEMPLE on Jun 10, 2012 18:22:03 GMT -5
Judah would smile when the woman giggled and seemed to be amused by his attempts to speak to her. He might have been trying his best to speak the language right, but he was also trying to make her feel better. If he had to get laughed at to do that, then that would be the price he had to pay. Too bad for the woman it meant that he would continue to speak with snippets of horrible Japanese. At least he might be able to pick up a thing or two. When she said 'Watashi no namae ha Naoko' he mouthed the words silently to try and remember the correct way to say the sentence. It could come in handy in the future. The man was a bit dissapointed when she rejected his offer of lunch. She said that she would be good, but her stomach rumbled, and it was his fault that she'd lost the bread. Judah witheld a sigh. If she didn't want his aid there was no reason to force it on her. The lack of mutual language understanding would have made getting her to accept his offer harder anyway.
The next thing that she said confused him. He knew the words 'nippon' and 'jin', and he knew what 'honto' meant, but not 'hontodo'. He frowned softly as he tried to get understanding of what she was saying, but he couldn't figure it out. It was obviously a question, so he just awkwardly said "Y-Yes?" He could have just accepted a marriage proposal for all he knew. After that the woman seemed to be distracted. He wondered if she was bored with the conversation, or if she might've been trying to tell him to go away. His worries were proven wrong when she focused on him and smiled. She must have been thinking about something. What, he had no idea, but it wasn't his business.
"So... What... nani are you... anata reading desu ka?" he'd ask with a raised eyebrow as he tried to get the conversation going. All the while he spoke he tried to gesture towards her and the book when it was appropriate. During his time in California, he'd run into the poor and homeless who had little knowledge of English, so at least he had some experience when it came to this sort of situation. Too bad he'd picked Spainish over Japanese.
Translations:
nani - what
desu ka - ending of a question
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