Scynix wrote:
The implication, at least to me, is that Beryl's caste are the inquisitive type but that doesn't explain her reaction to the pilot shaking his hand. As you say, that stung of simple jealousy. I think Beryl wanted to be the one to test it and that's why despite the circumstances she still requested the chance. It bothered her.
Which is cute, too! Go Beryl! For SCIENCE!
<Team Beryl!>
Not just her caste. Herself, too. She's scarily intelligent, has an eidetic memory and an eye for details. For example she picked up on the inconsistencies of english spelling just from the few examples Alex has on his overall. She is eager to learn and fond of puzzles, and Alex presents the biggest one to her - himself. Might be she is already developing feelings for him - curiosity makes a good part of attraction, after all - but at the moment her jealousy is mostly the dismay a kid would feel when a sibling came to play with the favourite toy.
Scynix wrote:I do have to question her getting THAT close to him after the hand thing didn't work. It's a bit of a leap to go from "is it ok to touch hands?" to straight up hugging/pressing your forehead against someone.
She demonstrated a level of forethought about respecting another species interactions (which is good!) but seeing as Alex only acknowledged handshakes, this was one heck of a jump forward from handshaking.
Good for you Beryl!
Curious kills cats but you're a space elf! Keep investigating!
To me it looks much to me that skin-to-skin contact is the one big barrier which would border intimacy. As in, this would be the threshold where two Loroi do have to consent on (or can only be passed under dire circumstances), but beyond that there are little to no further thresholds to pass. I think I've read somewhere that Loroi do have a rather matter-of-fact approach to sex, for example, so I'd guess they'd rate the mental contact a touch provides
much higher on the level of intimacy then sex itself. The latter one is just a function of the body and endorphins, but the former one is a deep melding of one self to one another.
That would definitely add to the harsh reaction Beryl displayed on seeing him and Talon, for sure. And, Alex simply might not have been aware of the extent on what he agreed to.
Scynix wrote:
I agree, I think redhead would obliterate Beryl in combat- but Beryl has advantages, too! Alex seemingly trusts her. Redhead has only, at this point, actively demonstrated her ability to fling Alex around like a doll. Not particularly endearing.
I wasn't saying Beryl should fight redhead- just keep getting ahead of her in terms of friendship/trust.
Geeks don't get angry. They get even.
Scynix wrote:I agree with the others that I think redhead has become at least temporarily Alex's bodyguard. And I also agree that she was probably only hostile in the elevator as a demonstration of her ability and maybe even a test to see if terrans can react/are affected by the telekinetic ability.
I think it was on boarding the
Highland-7 where Beryl explicitely states that Fireblade is deployed as his bodyguard. Alex was obviously less than thrilled about it. And my bet is on Fireblade being rather hacked off, either. For her it must feel like a demotion from being chief of security on SG51's flagship down to bodyguard/nanny for a pink alien of dubious origin.
Yep. I bet on that she doesn't like her assignment one bit and would want to have as little to do with Alex as possible, and if they cross paths, she won't be above making her displeasure known to him.
Scynix wrote:After that incident, Redhead has been very forward about her duty.
Didn't redhead even plop down next to Alex just like Beryl when there was CLEARLY space for her to sit away from him if she really had a problem with him?
http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider072.html
Yep! This is what my best friend would call "being crafty"! Sneaky redhead.
I enjoy Alex's look of "ehhh?".
I'd interpret that look much more as *gulp* - she's slightly taller than him, lean, but with a definite muscle tonus (as much as the armor can tell) and has a scary ability to do him serious bodily harm without even touching him. Then he's within her arm's reach. Her whole posture tells of her displeasure and raising a barrier facing him. And she's giving him a look saying much like "Don't try anything funny.", coupled with the slight frown.
Much in contrast to Beryl's posture. She very much looks as if she'd like to start her experiments with skin-to-skin contact even that early on. Hmh - maybe Fireblade's look was partly aimed at
her, too
Scynix wrote:
It seems like the Loroi don't understand sarcasm. Anyone else notice that? Especially Beryl. Byproduct of sansai possibly?
They see speech as a method to conceal/distort the truth and doing so as a dishonorable thing to do. So yes, the concept of telling the opposite and only having posture, expressions and tone of voice convey that something has to be taken the other way round than the literal words say might be completely alien to them.