Tali considered whether she should knock again. Was Simkha leaving her in the stairwell on purpose? Tali had announced « it’s Talitha » when she knocked. She stood just behind the light fixture so Simkha would see her clearly through the peephole. She waited for about ten seconds. She hoped Simkha was still awake. She considered un-muting her audio line in order to ask her sister’s opinion.
Tali raised her hand to knock again when the door rattled from the inside. But the door didn't open. Hmm. What did that mean?
What was Simkha doing? Simkha could have rattled the door… but then why not respond to Tali? Simkha could have somebody else over, and that guest rattled the door. Maybe Simkha had called a friend over for emotional support. But that would mean Simkha felt sad. She might be sad because Tali ran off after Simkha’s breakdown. Simkha should be getting emotional support. Hopefully Simkha didn’t have a booty call over. Because that could interfere with Tali’s plan to ask for help.
The door clattered again. This time the latch caught, and the door was flung open from the inside.
Simkha had opened the door. Clumsily, with her foot, while she lay on her back in the middle of her little hallway. And wow, Simkha was flexible. Her legs had an impressive reach. She wore baggy gray sweatpants under a worn purple-and-black Whiteaxe Cider hoodie. She didn’t look like she was lying down because she was hurt. She looked like she just preferred to remain horizontal. Aww. She was still Tali’s weirdo.
Simkha half-rolled and half flopped away from the door. Simkha had always had such an expressive face, even when they were children. She used to look like this when she pretended to follow grown-up instructions, but really planned to cause chaos the instant she had the chance. She gestured at Tali with her chin as if to say « don’t just stand out there, I made room for you to come inside. »
Tali entered the flat. She closed the door behind her.
Simkha watched Tali from the floor. Hmmm. Not only did Simkha intend to stay down there, she seemed unwilling to say or do anything. Her gaze was greedy—making Tali feel put-on-the-spot in the most anxious way. Simkha was just going to lurk, wait for Tali to do something interesting, and then squirrel away the experience to pick apart in her own mind later. Simkha was… being completely reasonable. After all, she wasn’t the one who had showed up at Tali’s door at 1.11 am.
Tali smiled at Simkha. She didn’t speak Simkha’s native language any more, but she was sure she could recall how Simkha had greeted her earlier.
« Er… H… Hoı? Haı? Hwı? »
Simkha let the corners of her lips flicker smilewards.
« Hmm. Gye. Hoı. »
Of course Tali shouldn’t have assumed Simkha intended to watch her in cold silence. Tali was obviously nervous, and Simkha had never let Tali feel alone when she was nervous. Okay.
Tali was here with an objective. She should focus on that. She pushed her nerves and exhaustion to the side. She needed Simkha to agree to wear the spare SIGN frame until Tali’s sister and professor came to rescue her, whenever that would be. And Tali had to do it while maintaining some emotional distance. She couldn’t risk Simkha learning too much about their past.
Tali knelt on the floor where Simkha could see her. She took out the SIGN frame and presented it in cupped hands. She gave a formal bow.
« Simkha…” said Tali in Saxonnaise, fully aware that the timeline had changed Simkha’s native language. “Please, help me. Please. Please, please, please.»
Simkha slowly looked back and forth between Tali and the presented SIGN frame. She pointed a finger at the SIGN frame, then at herself. She cocked her head.
« Ple… please? » said Simkha, badly emulating the Saxonnaise.
« Please. Please! » said Tali.
Tali held the frame towards Simkha. She tried to psychically project her desperation, focusing so hard that she barely held back tears. Tali needed this help, even though she had no right to ask for it. And… Tali might be trying too hard because she was tired. Tali could master herself. She elbowed her exhaustion back to the side where it belonged.
« Gye, » said Simkha. « Oukei, um… please. »
Simkha made a grabbing « gimme » gesture towards the sign frame. Oh bless you, Simkha. I could god-damned kiss you right now.
Kneeling, Tali took one of the bands and fastened it around Simkha’s wrist. Tali cinched it in as tight as it would go without becoming uncomfortable. She wouldn’t let it slip off by accident. Then she used a higher-dimensional trick to make the band even less obtrusive: scooting it away hleimthwise down Simkha’s arm. Tali watched Simkha’s expression, enjoying the moment that Simkha realized the trick had made the bracelet significantly less dense, and also physically thinner.
Simkha surprised Tali right back by grabbing the band and jiggling it hleimthwise along her arm. But of course Simkha was able to see and move hleimthwise. How could she not, given how extensively Tali had exposed her to dimensional stresses. Simkha moved the band a little closer, so it hung a little firmer and heavier on her arm.
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Tali fastened the other bands on Simkha’s wrist and ankles. Tali adjusted the other bands hleimthwise until they were the same density and size as the first one. She didn’t want them pinching or rubbing uncomfortably on those impressive forearms and ankles.
Tali knelt by Simkha’s head to fasten the necklace. She worked with calm care, unperturbed by the pressure of Simkha’s placid gaze. In no way whatsoever did Tali feel Simkha's eyes track every move of her dexterous fingers.
As the last step, Tali had to pair Simkha’s SIGN frame with her own. Tali would pair the necklaces by pressing their pendants together at a specific orientation, where they would link for up to a minute. She and Simkha both had to be wearing the necklaces for that entire time. Tali had somewhat intentionally avoided thinking about the geometry of the process. Sure, she would be effectively tied to Simkha on a 30 cm lead, but she refused to freak herself out by obsessing over a little physical proximity.
Remember what Hannah said. Keep your distance. Don’t get too close. Don’t make her uncomfortable. Don’t get too close. DO NOT get too close.
Tali let out a calming breath. She leaned over, steadying herself so that her necklace dangled towards Simkha’s. With her other hand, she took Simkha’s pendant and held it up to hers. The pendants pulled towards each other like magnets, so she let them join together. They clicked when they reached the proper angle.
Each pendant was made of the springy, dark-green metal that also made up the bands. Each pendant was shaped like a broad coin, less a hexagram punched out of the center. Each was etched with an intricate abstract pattern on both sides, revealing a lighter blue-tinted metal on the inside. The etched pattern looked familiar and alien at the same time. It reminded Tali of medieval Roman mosaics, or maybe square Aramaic letters, perhaps circuit boards, possibly Maya glyphs. Tiny facets studded the outside edge of the coins.
Simkha looked back and forth between the joined pendants and Tali’s face, like she couldn’t decide which held the more interesting mystery.
Tali began to regret her failure to plan out the geometry. She had to hold herself up off Simkha with her one arm splayed out like a crab’s. She felt Simkha's eyes on her like an extra weight. Tali's arm was not strong enough. She tried to ignore the trembling in her arm. She set her jaw. She would overcome her arm’s protests. She sagged towards Simkha. She couldn't sustain this Oh, dammit. She was going to faceplant right between Simkha’s armpit and boob.
Oh. A goat! Tali was going to stick Simkha with a beautiful view of her jumper armpit. And with Tali’s more compact frame, she would give Simkha an unprovoked mouthful of tit as well. Tali felt an uninvited tension wending its way through her belly. Tali’s gaze leapt to Simkha’s face, finding panicky eyes.
« S… sorry. » Tali croaked out. « Sorry, sorry, sorry. »
Tali had to avert this disaster. She pressed upwards with her legs to tilt her body and catch herself. She felt the necklace line grow taut. She felt… not great about this. She slipped. She shuffled her legs apart, hoping to find a stable tripod formation. She wasn’t going to find one. She was going to land ass-first with all of her weight right on Simkha’s solar plexus.
Can’t wait until Hannah hears about this. I’m doing such a great job keeping my distance.
« Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! » Tali babbled in Saxonnaise.
A strong hand caught Tali by the hip, another by the waist. Oh, wow. Simkha was strong. Tali felt herself lifted up and straightened out so that—um—Tali was being moved across Simkha? No… Tali was being moved atop Simkha. Tali scrambled to adjust her legs, until she knelt with one leg on either side. She settled down as Simkha released her. She could brace her arms here too.
This was fine. Tali was fine. Tali was just sitting on Simkha, straddling her waist, with a flushed face, heavy breathing, lips less than thirty centimeters away. Tali definitely wasn't reveling in Simkha's attention. She was doing a great job behaving like a regular, platonic, fully heterosexual friend.
This was all Tali’s fault. She really, really didn't mean for this to happen. If she had half a brain, she would have forced Simkha up off the floor and paired the SIGNs while standing. God, I’m a dumbass. Tali had come to Simkha for help, then basically jumped in her lap. Tali clenched her eyes shut. Tali felt tears sting her eyes and nose.
« I’m really, really, really sorry, » whimpered Tali in Saxonnaise.
« It goed ıs, » soothed Simkha, in not-Saxonnaise. « Oukeı, Oukeı, to gyın Ingelzg preetst. Uhhh… omlette du fromage. »
Tali cried. Simkha ran her hands tenderly up and down Tali’s thighs. Neither of them watched the minor light show that the pendants put on.
The pendants clicked and fell apart. Tali shuffled herself off Simkha. She leaned over and slumped against a wall. She made herself look at Simkha.
Simkha was struggling not to laugh, and she was so bad at hiding it. Oh my god. She thought this whole farce was funny. And she might have been right. Damn her expressive face. Simkha obviously didn’t feel Tali had gotten particularly close to her. Simkha probably hooked up with whoever she wanted to hook up with, whenever she felt like hooking up. How could she not laugh when she saw how flustered Tali had gotten from a few seconds of her attention.
Tali couldn’t help but laugh at herself. She had been a dumbass but everybody was fine. Tali felt a little bad for putting Simkha into an awkward position. But at least Tali would have a much easier time keeping her emotional distance with this perspective. Tali recognized that she felt punch-drunk, and even Simkha let a chuckle slip.
« Bwet ter kregt perd ı— »
A semi-transparent notification box shimmered to life in front of Tali’s face.
« CALIBRATION SUCCESSFUL. NEW SIGN NETWORK ESTABLISHED. AUDIO FEED TERMINATED. PRIOR NETWORK CALIBRATION SAVED TO BACKUP STORAGE. »
Simkha nearly jumped out of her skin. « OH MYN G*D! »
Tali felt tears of relief in her eyes as she dismissed the notification. I’m not gonna die here. They’re gonna come rescue me.
Simkha was fully sat up on the floor. She stared with shimmering, wonder-filled eyes. Only Simkha could see the semi-translucent display that had appeared in front of her. Some bullshit fourth-dimension physics made a SIGN display invisible to everyone but its user.
Even so, Tali knew what Simkha was looking at because Tali had spent hundreds of hours looking at that SIGN default view.
Simkha wouldn’t be able to read her display yet, since it was labeled in High Tongue glyphs. She was likely to assume the general health monitor in the bottom corner was just a heartbeat tracker. Next to that, she would probably intuit that the default status bars were gauges of a sort. She would see that her status bars measured something, but she’d be unlikely to guess what until they finished calibrating. Rising up the sides, Simkha would see a bunch of incomprehensible icons. Later, she would learn that those icons opened a whole slew of sub-displays like goals, to-do lists, influences, moods, relationships… and, well, probably a dozen other things that Tali didn’t remember.
« Talı… » asked Simkha, « …in skerm… gyn myn eagen… howwe gyo my ın ferdomme HUD gyun? »