[ his question causes her much more difficulty than she was expecting. The answer is: the people, there’s nothing else worth spit in that terrible city. But he won’t be so interested in hearing the names with no faces to put to them. What did she like? ]
I There were these bottles of carbonated water in green glass that we always had. Everyday we’d lay those out next to a brewing coffee pot while I made a meal for the evening. I miss that.
not really just gotta stay indoors or cover up dust gets fuckin everywhere
[Her description of the green-glass bottles has a nostalgic familiarity, even if he can't relate to that specific element.]
that sounds pretty nice we used candles sometimes at dinner even though we didnt need to, most of the time, or the meal wasnt even that nice cause it came out of a can or whatever still felt comfortable they were these waxy red candles you had to shape yourself mine always looked more like big ugly pieces of rock than a candle
[ It's a shame that he can't see her. It's the first genuine laugh she's had in months. Reshaping her first impression of him as a flashy neon bad boy. ]
Small things like that are important, aren't they? It makes something so simple feel special.
[ Maybe the canned food should be a telling comment, but that was often her reality as well, for weeks at a time. ]
Do you make them here? I feel like it would be
[ She is so embarrassed to say this ]
A good thing for protection. Or to keep those feelings with you. Comfortable, I mean.
here? i dont even know if this place has wax... guess i could look
[It's a thought. Something he hasn't considered, just as he'd pushed those wax candles down into the back of his mind. A forgotten compartment.]
what about you? found any carbonated water that compares? they finally lifted the rationing shit was a pain but i get the reason, this world was even worse off than the earth i know
Oh, I thought since bugs still exist so would bees... I’m sorry, I gave off the wrong impression, I didn’t drink the water. I usually had tea. The water was for a friend. [ never mind the fact she still feels so uneasy about calling the handymen that. Their relationship was a complicated one. ]
I am looking forward to longer showers, although I feel bad about that. I wonder if we should still do our part to help the city and be frugal. Since we’re going to live here
wax comes from bees? uh all that shit got imported where im from, so.
[No flowers, no bees on Mars.]
im used to short showers so its not too big a deal unless theyre saying you gotta cut back i dont see why you should sounds like they know when to tell citizens to do their part
you mean here, or the military? military was strict yeah only so much water to go around in space
[Those warships were built for long distance travel, stocked well for it with a hydrofarm for sustainability, but that hardly meant every soldier could take their own luxurious time.]
[ she was really hoping he’d bring up space. She really hates asking questions about people’s past, never seeing it as a bonding exercise and more of prying unwantedly. But this she wants to hear. ]
I’ve met someone else from space. She hasn’t talked about it much but What is it like? I’ve heard radio programs describe it as cold. And stars are far away.
No, I'm afraid I didn't receive much schooling. This sort of thing I've only heard about in passing. Do they look like the sun? I always wondered if it is as large as it looks. Sometimes the moon hangs so low in the sky. Like it's about to dip into the Earth. Is it like that?
apollo? is that like... an old earth thing? huh, name sounds familiar
i didnt get much either schooling i mean dropped out
all stars are kinda the same in theory, just giant balls of fire and gas but not all the same size alpha a is bigger than our sun, b is smaller the moons a lot closer to earth so it looks big to us, but the suns a whole 400 times bigger!
[Excitement leaks into the message. He's not that smart, he looked some of this up on The Internet with the implant -- won't confess how much time he does spend researching random information now with everything available at a thought.]
Yes, I think it was the American space shuttle. Russia might have had one before, but I'm not certain.
[ you bet your bottom she's bringing up that ! ]
Ah, you really enjoy talking about this, don't you? I'm glad you found a field that you're passionate about. As far as interests go it's a very fascinating topic. Your job here, is it related to space too?
yeah its okay didnt get to learn much about space before i went up there besides basics
[Playing down his interest...]
its just cool we can look up whatever shit we want on the implants but i work for a construction company you probably dont have a job yet huh? what do you think you wanna do?
A book on sign language. I was trying my best to learn but I'm afraid I'm not that great at it.
Really? I guess I hadn't either before applying. It's a lot of lights and interesting music. The general energy is excited and noisy. Before I use to sit alone for long periods of time with only the radio playing.
definitely tons of resources for that online hold on
[What follows is a slew of several links to tutorials -- mostly videos which demonstrate sign language and teach basic first steps to viewers.]
isnt it crazy?? theres so much
sure i could come visit you there sometime i go out to clubs and its real bright and energetic too sitting alone sounds like a way different environment whyd you apply?
That's incredible! I... this makes so much sense now. I confused those two signs so no wonder he couldn't understand me at the time. I can't believe no one corrected me.
You'll fit in right away, then. I'm not sure, if I'm honest. I worked in a club [ brothel? lounge? refuge house?? ] for a little while. It sounds silly but in my old city I had very limited options in what I could do. Someone told me that credentials are hard to fake here so I thought it was similar enough...
see told you why were you learning sign language anyway?
i get that. kinda why i stuck with the job i got here. its easy, im already good at moving around heavy shit and i could get it fast and get my own place faster if you wanted to work somewhere else, where would you? something quiet?
Someone I was living with was deaf. He was very good at reading lips, but I wanted to be able to speak with him in a way that he was most comfortable with. It was challenging. Everyone around us always signed so fast. I felt lost most of the time.
Yes, I understand exactly what you mean. It's nice, isn't it? Owning something you earned with hard work. I'm... not sure. I don't like being alone, but I think working in a library or garden would be nice. Too bad that books don't exist anymore. Maybe the garden... but the tips are very good at the casino...
[ later, she will be mortified about how much she is talking here. who says exactly what's on their mind? wild. ]
sounds like a lot of work not everyone wants to put in the effort of a new language pretty nice of you
[Sometimes talking about shit like this is easier over text. Spun out on a thought and lack of physical interaction, words can wander without restriction. Or so Cain feels that way.]
a garden? maybe theres one here theyve got those green spaces up on roofs right? could do both, work one part time or something like that. sometimes i do fights, for pay been saving up
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[ his question causes her much more difficulty than she was expecting. The answer is: the people, there’s nothing else worth spit in that terrible city. But he won’t be so interested in hearing the names with no faces to put to them. What did she like? ]
I
There were these bottles of carbonated water in green glass that we always had. Everyday we’d lay those out next to a brewing coffee pot while I made a meal for the evening. I miss that.
Do you have something similar?
no subject
just gotta stay indoors or cover up
dust gets fuckin everywhere
[Her description of the green-glass bottles has a nostalgic familiarity, even if he can't relate to that specific element.]
that sounds pretty nice
we used candles sometimes at dinner
even though we didnt need to, most of the time, or the meal wasnt even that nice cause it came out of a can or whatever
still felt comfortable
they were these waxy red candles you had to shape yourself
mine always looked more like big ugly pieces of rock than a candle
no subject
[ It's a shame that he can't see her. It's the first genuine laugh she's had in months. Reshaping her first impression of him as a flashy neon bad boy. ]
Small things like that are important, aren't they?
It makes something so simple feel special.
[ Maybe the canned food should be a telling comment, but that was often her reality as well, for weeks at a time. ]
Do you make them here? I feel like it would be
[ She is so embarrassed to say this ]
A good thing for protection. Or to keep those feelings with you. Comfortable, I mean.
[ she's such a sentimental sap at heart ]
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here? i dont even know if this place has wax...
guess i could look
[It's a thought. Something he hasn't considered, just as he'd pushed those wax candles down into the back of his mind. A forgotten compartment.]
what about you? found any carbonated water that compares?
they finally lifted the rationing
shit was a pain
but i get the reason, this world was even worse off than the earth i know
no subject
Oh, I thought since bugs still exist so would bees...
I’m sorry, I gave off the wrong impression, I didn’t drink the water. I usually had tea. The water was for a friend. [ never mind the fact she still feels so uneasy about calling the handymen that. Their relationship was a complicated one. ]
I am looking forward to longer showers, although I feel bad about that.
I wonder if we should still do our part to help the city and be frugal.
Since we’re going to live here
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uh
all that shit got imported where im from, so.
[No flowers, no bees on Mars.]
im used to short showers so its not too big a deal
unless theyre saying you gotta cut back
i dont see why you should
sounds like they know when to tell citizens to do their part
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They're very sweet smelling if it's beeswax. I wonder if it does still exist.
[ "still". so depressing. ]
From the military?
I
I mean it must be nice. The difference. Was it really that strict?
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you mean here, or the military?
military was strict yeah
only so much water to go around in space
[Those warships were built for long distance travel, stocked well for it with a hydrofarm for sustainability, but that hardly meant every soldier could take their own luxurious time.]
no subject
I’ve met someone else from space. She hasn’t talked about it much but
What is it like?
I’ve heard radio programs describe it as cold. And stars are far away.
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with experience up there
wasnt that cold since the temperature was regulated
on ship, i mean. cant really go outside
[No oxygen, etc etc.]
stars are far away yeah
closest one to us is the sun
next ones out are a binary pair
somethin called alpha centauri a and b
you ever heard of em?
[He remembers learning this in class, one of the few things he'd paid attention to - and he's almost excited to share.]
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No, I'm afraid I didn't receive much schooling. This sort of thing I've only heard about in passing.
Do they look like the sun?
I always wondered if it is as large as it looks.
Sometimes the moon hangs so low in the sky. Like it's about to dip into the Earth. Is it like that?
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i didnt get much either
schooling i mean
dropped out
all stars are kinda the same in theory, just giant balls of fire and gas
but not all the same size
alpha a is bigger than our sun, b is smaller
the moons a lot closer to earth so it looks big to us, but the suns a whole 400 times bigger!
[Excitement leaks into the message. He's not that smart, he looked some of this up on The Internet with the implant -- won't confess how much time he does spend researching random information now with everything available at a thought.]
no subject
[ you bet your bottom she's bringing up that ! ]
Ah, you really enjoy talking about this, don't you?
I'm glad you found a field that you're passionate about. As far as interests go it's a very fascinating topic.
Your job here, is it related to space too?
no subject
didnt get to learn much about space before i went up there
besides basics
[Playing down his interest...]
its just cool we can look up whatever shit we want on the implants
but i work for a construction company
you probably dont have a job yet huh?
what do you think you wanna do?
no subject
I see.
I haven't really tried to search anything in particular.
There was a book I use to study... I wonder if I could find it.
Oh, I have a job. I serve alcohol at a casino.
It's very hectic. I mean, the atmosphere. Not to sound ungrateful. It's just... different.
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[No, don't blame yourself, Alex. It's all him.]
a casino? never even been to one before...
different how?
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Really? I guess I hadn't either before applying.
It's a lot of lights and interesting music. The general energy is excited and noisy.
Before I use to sit alone for long periods of time with only the radio playing.
Would you like to go sometime?
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hold on
[What follows is a slew of several links to tutorials -- mostly videos which demonstrate sign language and teach basic first steps to viewers.]
isnt it crazy?? theres so much
sure
i could come visit you there sometime
i go out to clubs and its real bright and energetic too
sitting alone sounds like a way different environment
whyd you apply?
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That's incredible! I... this makes so much sense now. I confused those two signs so no wonder he couldn't understand me at the time.
I can't believe no one corrected me.
You'll fit in right away, then.
I'm not sure, if I'm honest.
I worked in a club [ brothel? lounge? refuge house?? ] for a little while.
It sounds silly but in my old city I had very limited options in what I could do. Someone told me that credentials are hard to fake here so I thought it was similar enough...
no subject
see told you
why were you learning sign language anyway?
i get that. kinda why i stuck with the job i got here. its easy, im already good at moving around heavy shit
and i could get it fast and get my own place faster
if you wanted to work somewhere else, where would you? something quiet?
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Yes, I understand exactly what you mean. It's nice, isn't it? Owning something you earned with hard work.
I'm... not sure. I don't like being alone, but I think working in a library or garden would be nice.
Too bad that books don't exist anymore. Maybe the garden... but the tips are very good at the casino...
[ later, she will be mortified about how much she is talking here. who says exactly what's on their mind? wild. ]
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not everyone wants to put in the effort of a new language
pretty nice of you
[Sometimes talking about shit like this is easier over text. Spun out on a thought and lack of physical interaction, words can wander without restriction. Or so Cain feels that way.]
a garden? maybe theres one here
theyve got those green spaces up on roofs right?
could do both, work one part time or
something like that. sometimes i do fights, for pay
been saving up
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[ not to mention he wouldn’t bother talking to to you if you didn’t know ASL. And she had so much to thank him for. ]
Yes, the sky parks. I haven’t visited yet but I have plans.
Oh, is that dangerous here?
[ totally under the impression that people pay him to go beat people up in the streets. ]
May I ask what you’re saving up for?
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its crazy being that high up with so much green around you
[Is the fighting ring dangerous? In some respect, fighting always is, but...]
its underground
havent had any issues yet
kinda dangerous in this city no matter what
given the situation, but i can handle it
nothing really? never had a way to make money like this so
just in case some shit happens
maybe get a bigger place someday
or a hoverbike
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[ squashing down the urge to send a sea of worried texts. After all, he might be one of those people who can grind anyone into dust with no effort. ]
All right. Just please, if you ever need help...
[ she doesn’t know why she says that, not like she can do anything in that sort of situation. ]
A hoverbike? I’ve only seen the cars. Do you have one in mind?
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