redacted ★ beach party!

[infreefall]

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[misstrust]

[ A shoulder nudge. ]

What are you looking at?

[soulus]

[He ignores her.]

[misstrust]

...

[ She looks? At where he's looking??

But she's also observing him to see if this will clue her in to what the heck?? ]

[soulus]

[Following his line of sight unveils more air while Rufus continues to stare.]

[misstrust]

[ Rufus... what... ]

Was there an item like this...?

[soulus]

[Another participant can answer that. Rufus is currently busy with committing this sight to memory.]

[misstrust]

[ Well.

He'll talk to her when he's ready, so Dorothy will just sit beside him and wait. ]

[soulus]

[Because she and Hua Cheng waited patiently, Rufus turns to Dorothy after his initial answer to Ochako.]

There were eight points. The last one was cut short.

[misstrust]

[ Patience pays off!

And Dorothy, who has been listening, tilting her head-- blinks at him.

This is way out of her wheelhouse, but she's trying. ]

Why was it cut short?

[soulus]

There appeared to be an interruption.

[misstrust]

Was that due to something on our end?

[soulus]

I don't know if he perceived anyone.

[misstrust]

[ She nods. ]

Did he say anything else?

[soulus]

Should I show you? I'll have to borrow your right hand.

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy shrugs and offers her hand. ]

You're welcome to it.

[soulus]

[In response, Rufus gets up and moves behind Dorothy. Seated thus, he wraps his left arm around her shoulder to take the place of hers. He makes a fist in front of her chest.]

Raise your arm up straight.

[misstrust]

[ With a blink, she nonetheless obeys, extending her arm up in a straight line. ]

[soulus]

[He lowers his fist to her navel.]

That was the first point.

[Then he holds his hand out, fingers together, with the palm facing them.]

Point at yourself, at my palm, at one of us, then hold your hand out like mine—but with the palm facing out.

[It's a given that, when he saw Kano doing this, that point and palm were directed at him, who is a living participant.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy once again follows his instructions, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. A point to herself, at Rufus' palm facing them, then over to Ochako before she extends her hand. ]

Offering? Asking for something?

[soulus]

[Think about it later.]

This is the third:

[He spreads his fingers open.]

Seven. Six. Five. Four.

[At four, he starts to close his fingers accordingly. Three. Two. One. Zero. Then he opens all five fingers, closes them, opens them, closes them, opens them, and closes them again. As he does, he speaks:]

Ten. Zero.

[Her hand is meant to open and close with his. If she chooses to follow along, it'll look more fluid on her end. His fingers move rather jerkily at times, and some curl in and out slower than others.]

[misstrust]

[ It takes a minute, a beat past "four". But then Dorothy's hand moves, mimicking his-- and it's true that the movements are more graceful, though it's still very simple.

Open, close, open, close, open, close.

Not fives, then. Tens?

Hm. ]

[soulus]

[The tens are really all she had to mimic, seeing as he couldn't form seven fingers on his own.]

Fourth:

[He taps Dorothy's temple with his index finger, then flicks his hand away. He does this twice before making a fist.]

Please wrap your hand around mine, and do not move.

[Once she does, he pulls his fist away to drop to Dorothy's side. Her hand should stay where it is, at which point he instructs:]

Now gesture as if your hand were a pincer.

[riegan]

(...)

I don't think they have a lot of time to appear to us.

[misstrust]

I imagine it must be difficult enough to have them reach out...

[riegan]

Yeah, even their messages have difficulty getting to us so I imagine appearing to us would be even more of a challenge.