[b][center]Intermission // Georgia & Morai[/b][/center]

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As Georgia had returned to her shared apartment with Carolyn, she smelled something coming from the floor underneath her own. Following the trail she discovered it was coming from Morai's quarters, and his door was unlocked. Inside, there were several candles burning, and some incense as well, with Morai sitting in the center of the room, legs crossed, eyes closed, back straight, breathing slowly

Georgia watches him quietly, sniffing the air as she quietly shifts about the room and moves across the room. She finds a chair and moves to sit in it before clearing her throat and piping up, “Hey, you know, you've got something burning... It smells awful pretty, but mom always said if you're going to nap, always put everything out so nothing catches fire.”

Morai rolls his neck, hearing it crack a few times he opens his eyes and looks up at Georgia, his face remaining calm and serene. "It is in these moments that I am the most awake." He slowly stands up, motioning for Georgia to come in. "Would you like some tea?"

She tries to keep from wrinkling her nose at the offer but nods, knowing it would be impolite to refuse. “Ah, sure, Mister Morai. I could try some.” She furrows her brow, crooking her head to the side, “I don't get what you mean by most awake. Only time I can say I've felt like that is when you gave me that weird stuff during the mission.” She shudders remembering how it picked her up and had her going so much quicker. “Or when I ate a bunch of coffee beans. They upset my tummy, though.”

Slowly Morai grabs a tea kettle, and slower still, pours two small cups of tea with almost perfect precision in the amount. Setting the kettle down, he grabs both cups of tea and brings one to Georgia, holding it out for her without a single hint of a tremble in his body, which is strange as he had to be addicted to the combat drugs by now. "When I balance myself to the world as it is, and let mortal worries flow to the wind, I am at my most alert, most capable... I am one with my soul, and my soul is one with me in this brief moment of time." He sips his tea and smiles softly. "Green tea. It's hard to get anything other than this out here."

Georgia's gaze drifts over to the incense still smoking, obvious distrust of it being left unattended like that before she takes the tea and sips at it. She grimaces but takes another drink, nodding politely before settling it down, “It's, ah... good.” She coughs and offers a slight smile. She rubs her cheek, thinking about what he said before sighing, “I don't really understand the spiritual stuff you're talking about, Mr. Morai, I'm more of a science girl. Just like grampa, dad and Thomas. But if it helps you relax after everything we go through every time we touch soil, then maybe there's something to it.”

"Hmm..." He sips his tea again, sitting down on the floor at the center of the room again and crossing his legs. With a deep breath he pats the floor beside himself, inviting Georgia to sit with him. "Even those without belief can connect to their inner mind, and relinquish their mortal concerns. Meditation goes beyond spirituality, it is about finding something peaceful within yourself, and holding to it... Mine is my soul, and yours... Yours is whatever you find at the center of yourself."

Georgia moves to sit beside Morai and raises her brows, “I haven't looked recently, Mr. Morai, but I am pretty sure there's mushy stuff and gushy fluids.” She looks at him, “But this meditation, you really think it might help, huh?... And I might find something?” She ruffles her hair, “What if its something I don't like? People don't have much nice to say about people like me, you know. Think we're all crazy.” She hums and tries to fold her legs like his, setting her hands in her lap.

He grasps her hands and places them on her knees, then straightens her back. "It'll feel uncomfortable at first... And... If you do not like what you see... Hm... How to put this for someone that isn't spiritual..." He seems to ponder it for a moment, the small wrinkles around his eyes showing deep thought on this topic, though his eyes seemed quite clear. "Your inner mind, your... Soul, whether you believe in it or not, is like a garden, a large garden, with a river flowing through it. When you pay it no attention, the garden grows out of control, and one piece collides with another, one plant chokes another, it becomes festered and filthy with unattended thoughts, emotions, dreams... And the river dries, and so too does your peace, your serenity, your control over your emotions die with it. To see within yourself, to meditate, to clease your mind of all distractions and find that which is at the utmost core, you will see this... Mess... And slowly, by simply seeing it, you can clean it, clear it, remove the plants that choke others, restore serenity and see the river flow once more... And from that river, you can derive... Peace. Control. Discipline. No emotion can overwhelm the banks of the mightiest river." His eyes look her over, and he straightens out her back again. "Your inner mind, your heart, your soul... The core of your being, is from whence everything else that is you flows. When you know who you are at the center, the rest will follow, whether that is to change, or to preserve."

She finds herself already slumping again as she stares at Morai, gripping her knees lightly as she stares at him. “That doesn't make much sense, you know...” She frowns and cocks her head to the side. “But maybe it would do some good to figure out what makes me... me... One of the scientists thinks I'm going to keep changing. I heard one of them muttering... They went into another room. I couldn't help but listen in, with my... ah... talent... You know, some of them are worried, they think some of us might start resembling the shapeshifters.” She pauses and looks at the floor briefly, “If I keep mutating, would I still be myself if I do this? If I figure out this thing that's at my center?”

"... Hm... The scientists know nothing of the battlefield." He seemed to hold some of them in contempt as he stands up slowly and walks over to a nearby cabinet. Tapping on it four times with a certain pattern, Georgia could hear a click sound, followed up with the cabinet door opening. Inside was a safe, which Morai quickly opened. It was a rather large safe, about the size of half a refrigerator, and inside were several papers, and other objects. He briefly stares with admiration at a red star medal, then pulls out a small piece of paper and closes the safe and cabinet. He paces slowly back and forth in front of Georgia, tapping the paper as his eyes ran over its contents. "Shapeshifters have the mental capacity to learn and grow as any human does. They not only have the capacity to equal homo sapiens in intelligence, they have the capacity to circumvent and surpass it. The only thing that holds them back is their age." He lowers the paper and looks at Georgia. "Think about it. On the battlefield we have seen them adapt to the environment and yet also use it like any human does. We've seen them identify specific targets and display emotions. The mechanized batallion wasn't beaten by monsters, it was beaten by an intelligent adversary... And with intelligence comes the capacity for reason, for emotion... Even if you become one of these, you will still be who you are, especially if you have control over your core, your centre... Your heart, your soul, your mind--whatever you wish to call it. It is yours, and yours alone, and turning into another intelligent creature will not diminish this."

Georgia stares up at him with wonder, and just a bit of curiosity as to why he even had a paper like that. She stands up and throws her arms about him, hugging him tight, “Thanks, Mister Morai. I'll remember that.”

Morai hugs her gently, patting her upper back before returning to his safe to put the paper away. "Now, you know why there is incense burning, unless you wish to join me, I will return to my meditation.

She pauses before uncertainly taking up her position back on the floor and taking up the position he had shown her. “I... I think I'll try it, Mister Morai.” She nods. “It doesn't do any harm, and... maybe it does sound a little relaxing and peaceful, and everyone could use that.” She offers him a big grin.

Morai sits beside her, straightening his back and hers once again. "It is better for your posture." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "First, deep breathes in, slowly exhale... Purge your mind of unnecessary thought, and focus only on the smell of the incense, and the light of the candle in front of you."

She follows his instructions, finding herself slowly relaxing into the position he put her in. Her mind begins to drift and she finds her focus begin to blur, as if she was beginning to see the candle from a different angle. She blinks and draws herself back, cheeks flushing as she tries to draw a bit more restraint over herself, embarrassed by her small psychic slip there in her relaxed state and hoping he had not noticed.

Morai smiles a little. "Relax further and ignore distractions." While he hadn't noticed that she had infiltrated his mind for a moment, he had noticed her recoil from something. "Practice, try again... Breath in... Breath out..."

She offers a flicker of a smile before she refocuses upon the candle and attempts to clear her mind. The faint buzzing chatter of what she wanted to do that day, of concerns of what the next mission would bring, of fears of what the future might bring in general, of thoughts of the past that blurred together like a tangled web she couldn't ever quite pick apart aside from time she spent with Carolyn... She watches the flickering flame as her breath draws in and out painfully slow. Time slips away from her. And for a moment, she begins to see what Morai meant as she draws in the intoxicating smell of the incense.

"Now, envision a tree." Morai says softly as he opens his eyes and watches her facial expressions, looking for her emotional state. "A nice, large, chestnut tree, with green leaves, in a grassy field... With a light breeze... See yourself there."

For a moment, she closes her eyes and she tries to envision the tree. Her thoughts begin to drift to something someone had said to her once... That there once were a lot of trees all over... Before things went bad and we were left with the world we had now... She tries to remember who had told her about that and a face of someone who was much older than her drifts into her mind, of someone with wavy dark auburn hair that was like hers before it changed, though cut much shorter. She gasps and opens her eyes, and frowns, looking at Morai. “I uhh... Sorry...”

"Why? What did you see?" Morai asked with curiosity as he kneels in front of her, his wizened eyes continuing to scan her face for whatever information he could derive.

She frowns and looks at her feet, “I... ah... at first the tree, but... then my big brother... he used to talk about the old world a lot...”

Morai tilts his head and looks at her with sympathy. "Oh? What happened to him?"

She furrows her brow, thoughts conflicted for a moment. She opens her mouth, first thoughts to say he was in the apartment with Carolyn before she whimpers and shakes her head. Tears start to roll down her cheeks. She didn't want to think about this any longer.

"Ah. I see." He says as he lowers his head. "I am sorry." He sips his cup of tea once more. "Would you like to sit here a while? Try to calm? Gain control?"

She shakes her head, wiping her eyes on her sleeves, “N-no... I think I've bothered you enough for one day, Mr. Morai... And I should get back to Carolyn and Tho-” she falls silent, frowning. “To Carolyn, she worries a lot...”

"Oh?" Morai asks as he takes her cup of tea and brings it to his kitchen. "Then next time, think of your favourite place to spend time with Carolyn... And relax. We can work on the rest later." He motions to the door. "Take care."

She nods and offers a rough smile, “And maybe you can tell me all about your mystery box and that red star, Mr. Morai... If you want to. I know its rude to pry, though. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to notice that.”

"It is fine." Morai says sharply. He then motions her out. "Now shoo. Back to your sister."

Something twists in her stomach at hearing Morai call Carolyn her sister, “She's my friend. My best friend. We... We just live together, that's all...” She flushes after correcting him and nods before going out the door.

He watches her leave and perks his eyebrows up as he closes and locks the door behind her. "Oh my..."