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You needn't apologise. [Said gently, because Goodsir is also forever apologising unnecessarily.] You've not done a single thing wrong.
[He follows along, referring to the map periodically. At 'history' he smiles and lets his gaze wander slowly from title to title before looking to the chair Koby has pointed out.]
Oh, yes. Yes, that looks perfect.
[He looks to Koby again, still smiling.] I suspect I'd say the same about yours. I don't suppose there are any volumes on it available to read...?
[He steps closer to the books, letting his fingers trace a few spines. His smile fades into something more thoughtful.]
It's strange to think of yourself as history. But if this place is, as they say, 2007, then I have over one hundred and fifty years to catch up on. I daresay most of it will probably be for the good. I've spoken to Mr. Laughlin at some length about the social changes even from his time to now, and he seems much happier for them.
[His fingers linger on a volume - Sad, Mad and Bad: Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 - before he shakes his head and lets his hand drop.]
Forgive me Koby, I'm being maudlin. Please, tell me what part of our history so fascinates you.
[He wants to know all of Koby's hyperfixations.]
[He follows along, referring to the map periodically. At 'history' he smiles and lets his gaze wander slowly from title to title before looking to the chair Koby has pointed out.]
Oh, yes. Yes, that looks perfect.
[He looks to Koby again, still smiling.] I suspect I'd say the same about yours. I don't suppose there are any volumes on it available to read...?
[He steps closer to the books, letting his fingers trace a few spines. His smile fades into something more thoughtful.]
It's strange to think of yourself as history. But if this place is, as they say, 2007, then I have over one hundred and fifty years to catch up on. I daresay most of it will probably be for the good. I've spoken to Mr. Laughlin at some length about the social changes even from his time to now, and he seems much happier for them.
[His fingers linger on a volume - Sad, Mad and Bad: Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 - before he shakes his head and lets his hand drop.]
Forgive me Koby, I'm being maudlin. Please, tell me what part of our history so fascinates you.
[He wants to know all of Koby's hyperfixations.]
I know.
[or -- he knows hate's one of the million things hao is feeling right now, a teeming mess that hisses and snarls and groans and hungers. it's a bad idea to get anywhere near that, really, but:]
I do, and I do want to, yeah. I'm not scared of you. I can take you, I'm pretty sure.
[...in a fight, koby?]
[or -- he knows hate's one of the million things hao is feeling right now, a teeming mess that hisses and snarls and groans and hungers. it's a bad idea to get anywhere near that, really, but:]
I do, and I do want to, yeah. I'm not scared of you. I can take you, I'm pretty sure.
[...in a fight, koby?]
I keep -- getting distracted. [a sheepish smile, a reflexive nudge of his glasses up his nose, lenses flashing with the dimming light.] I promised a tour, but I keep on talking and rambling and that's not -- well, it isn't what I said I'd do, and...
[koby trails off, feeling the shift in goodsir's mood, in his thoughts, away from the present and back towards something -- else, something in the past. it's not difficult to extrapolate what, exactly, he's thinking of. koby swallows hard, steps closer and, after a moment of scanning, taps a book at the beginning of a shelf.] Right around here. The 1840s. That's where you'll want to start.
[then he shakes his head, his turn to look wistful.] No, I'm afraid there's nothing about my world here. Just -- this one. Yours, I believe. That is -- I've read about Arctic expeditions. [he's read about the erebus and terror, specifically, but: time and place. he'll only admit to it if goodsir asks.
turning back to the shelf, koby smiles, then tugs the rolling ladder over -- because of course saltburnt has one of those. climbing a couple steps, he taps at a particular section with his pen.] Maritime history, of course. How this world developed sea travel, the Austronesian spread across the Pacific, the age of navigation, of exploration, the expeditions and trade routes from hundreds of years ago still taken today...
[he trails off, leaning against the ladder, expression somewhere between exhilarated and wistful.] It's the closest this place's history is to home.
[koby trails off, feeling the shift in goodsir's mood, in his thoughts, away from the present and back towards something -- else, something in the past. it's not difficult to extrapolate what, exactly, he's thinking of. koby swallows hard, steps closer and, after a moment of scanning, taps a book at the beginning of a shelf.] Right around here. The 1840s. That's where you'll want to start.
[then he shakes his head, his turn to look wistful.] No, I'm afraid there's nothing about my world here. Just -- this one. Yours, I believe. That is -- I've read about Arctic expeditions. [he's read about the erebus and terror, specifically, but: time and place. he'll only admit to it if goodsir asks.
turning back to the shelf, koby smiles, then tugs the rolling ladder over -- because of course saltburnt has one of those. climbing a couple steps, he taps at a particular section with his pen.] Maritime history, of course. How this world developed sea travel, the Austronesian spread across the Pacific, the age of navigation, of exploration, the expeditions and trade routes from hundreds of years ago still taken today...
[he trails off, leaning against the ladder, expression somewhere between exhilarated and wistful.] It's the closest this place's history is to home.
Ah, but you're not taking into account that part of the reason for this tour is so that I can listen to you ramble. [He offers Koby a conspiratorial look.] I do the exact same thing, you see. So let us promise not to apologise for our enthusiasm distracting us, shall we?
[There are so many books. So many, many years. For the briefest moment Goodsir feels despair and a sort of swooning horror at the enormity of time. But then his natural curiosity and lust for knowledge rises up, spurred further by the beautiful look on Koby's face as he speaks of seafaring.]
I am sorry that you are so far from home. But selfishly, I am also pleased as it means I've the occasion to meet you.
And it is selfish, you know. I don't think I ever truly understood what it would feel like to never be able to return home until... well. Until it was too late.
But we must make do.
[There are so many books. So many, many years. For the briefest moment Goodsir feels despair and a sort of swooning horror at the enormity of time. But then his natural curiosity and lust for knowledge rises up, spurred further by the beautiful look on Koby's face as he speaks of seafaring.]
I am sorry that you are so far from home. But selfishly, I am also pleased as it means I've the occasion to meet you.
And it is selfish, you know. I don't think I ever truly understood what it would feel like to never be able to return home until... well. Until it was too late.
But we must make do.
( ........ in a fight, right koby??? )
u mean ur not scared of my big scary sharp vampire teeth?
( which Honestly don't look very different from his big scary sharp regular boy teeth. )
im nervous 🙃
( bro died one time and learned what fear is and now is experiencing Feelings all the time. )
u mean ur not scared of my big scary sharp vampire teeth?
( which Honestly don't look very different from his big scary sharp regular boy teeth. )
im nervous 🙃
( bro died one time and learned what fear is and now is experiencing Feelings all the time. )
I have a proportional respect for your big scary sharp vampire teeth, Hao, don't worry.
[he's had the non-vampy kind in his neck multiple times by now, after all.]
You won't hurt me. And even if you do, it's fine, you can't help yourself. You aren't yourself right now.
[he's had the non-vampy kind in his neck multiple times by now, after all.]
You won't hurt me. And even if you do, it's fine, you can't help yourself. You aren't yourself right now.
[koby blinks downwards, doe-eyed in his surprise.] Is it? Really? You don’t – mind it? [there’s hopefulness there, that goodsir means it, that he genuinely doesn’t find koby’s endless chatter annoying at best and maddening at worst. leaning against the ladder, smiling:] All right, I promise.
[and then the subject shifts, and that despair, that horror sweeps out like a wave across the sand, and koby’s expression knits together, tight, mouth grim. he’ll need to explain that too, his ability to read emotion, to sense intent in the shape of someone’s thoughts when they stand too close – or, really, when they aren’t close at all. he’s already committed the exact hue of goodsir’s presence to memory, sure he can trail it through the house. sure he’ll know if it vanishes.
the thought is a heavy one, emphasized by the softly resigned note in goodsir’s voice when he speaks of his own fate, his own destiny. koby’s lost hours and hours of sleep thinking about the life he has to return to, the path he’s started on that he can’t turn back from, even though he cares for those in this house so, so deeply. but at least he has a life to return to.
a pause, then koby’s suddenly pushing the ladder, forcefully, sending it zipping down the stacks with somewhat alarming speed until he stops at another section, plucks a book free, then zooms back with it balanced in his arms.] Try– this one first? [he offers it, hesitant smile, understanding, solemn eyes, reaching down with the heavy encyclopedia of marine biology held out.] I find if I’m reading something serious – like history, or um…world events – it helps to have something fun when you need to take a break?
[and then the subject shifts, and that despair, that horror sweeps out like a wave across the sand, and koby’s expression knits together, tight, mouth grim. he’ll need to explain that too, his ability to read emotion, to sense intent in the shape of someone’s thoughts when they stand too close – or, really, when they aren’t close at all. he’s already committed the exact hue of goodsir’s presence to memory, sure he can trail it through the house. sure he’ll know if it vanishes.
the thought is a heavy one, emphasized by the softly resigned note in goodsir’s voice when he speaks of his own fate, his own destiny. koby’s lost hours and hours of sleep thinking about the life he has to return to, the path he’s started on that he can’t turn back from, even though he cares for those in this house so, so deeply. but at least he has a life to return to.
a pause, then koby’s suddenly pushing the ladder, forcefully, sending it zipping down the stacks with somewhat alarming speed until he stops at another section, plucks a book free, then zooms back with it balanced in his arms.] Try– this one first? [he offers it, hesitant smile, understanding, solemn eyes, reaching down with the heavy encyclopedia of marine biology held out.] I find if I’m reading something serious – like history, or um…world events – it helps to have something fun when you need to take a break?
[ As Koby reaches out with invisible fingers, what greets him is almost less an aura than it is a concentrated force — a jewel, what ought to be soft made solid and hard. The kind of blue that can be described as beautiful and cold at the same time, shot through with the sense of a wound scabbed over (or that never healed, like the orange eye set in scar tissue, unusually raw in comparison to the rest of him). It's an incursion that Silco can't sense, for better or worse — he sifts through the notes in front of him, none the wiser.
Still, the light tap of Koby's fingers is enough to get Silco to look up, his gaze — sharp, always sharp, no matter how he modulates the rest of his expression — meeting the young man's in an instant. ]
This is impressive work, Koby.
[ Another little sliver of praise, doled out in the only way Silco ever gives it — matter-of-fact, meant to be more significant for the fact that he never gives it idly. But it's as much an isolated thing as it is a treat, a sweet thing meant to cushion and soften the question he asks next, slow and light at the same time: ]
Who are you afraid might find this?
Still, the light tap of Koby's fingers is enough to get Silco to look up, his gaze — sharp, always sharp, no matter how he modulates the rest of his expression — meeting the young man's in an instant. ]
This is impressive work, Koby.
[ Another little sliver of praise, doled out in the only way Silco ever gives it — matter-of-fact, meant to be more significant for the fact that he never gives it idly. But it's as much an isolated thing as it is a treat, a sweet thing meant to cushion and soften the question he asks next, slow and light at the same time: ]
Who are you afraid might find this?
I don't mind at all. [Indeed, in Koby he thinks he's truly found a kindred spirit. Someone who understands the beauty found everywhere in the world, as well as someone who can examine its endless details.
Koby's sudden movement startles Goodsir, who is still blinking in surprise when the young man zooms back. He accepts the book and reads the title with a radiant smile.]
That sounds like an excellent plan.
[He opens the book and flips through, looking for the mammals. He finds what he's looking for and shows Koby - delphinapterus leucas, the beluga whale - and grins like a child.]
They are really sort of ridiculous looking, aren't they? But, here...
[More flipping. carcinus maenas: the European green crab.]
These fellows were such a part of my childhood. I caught far too many of them, really. I think that they are why I really started to wonder about how such marvelous things were put together.
Koby's sudden movement startles Goodsir, who is still blinking in surprise when the young man zooms back. He accepts the book and reads the title with a radiant smile.]
That sounds like an excellent plan.
[He opens the book and flips through, looking for the mammals. He finds what he's looking for and shows Koby - delphinapterus leucas, the beluga whale - and grins like a child.]
They are really sort of ridiculous looking, aren't they? But, here...
[More flipping. carcinus maenas: the European green crab.]
These fellows were such a part of my childhood. I caught far too many of them, really. I think that they are why I really started to wonder about how such marvelous things were put together.
Is that a way of asking to see me shirtless again? Or from another angle?
[ whoops, koby. there's something sent along akin to this. ]
You seem lonely there - where is that place?
This house has so many rooms, you must tell me all about this one.
[ whoops, koby. there's something sent along akin to this. ]
You seem lonely there - where is that place?
This house has so many rooms, you must tell me all about this one.
[ Sent along with a picture of a diagram: ]
From my perusal of the library, per our previous discussion. Not sustainable long-term for a population this large unless everyone pitches in (and I believe best combined with boiling, afterward), but better than nothing.
From my perusal of the library, per our previous discussion. Not sustainable long-term for a population this large unless everyone pitches in (and I believe best combined with boiling, afterward), but better than nothing.
[it's a pleasant, if mildly bewildering surprise, one that koby takes with an actual audible little oh!, sitting up a bit straighter where he sits on the dock. quickly:]
Thank you! This is brilliant, and should be easy enough to make. I wonder if distilling lake water is the best route, or if we should be gathering rainwater? I've read a bit about the pollution in both, but the risk of standing-water parasites in the lake seems higher.
You didn't need to do that. Thank you, really. :)
Thank you! This is brilliant, and should be easy enough to make. I wonder if distilling lake water is the best route, or if we should be gathering rainwater? I've read a bit about the pollution in both, but the risk of standing-water parasites in the lake seems higher.
You didn't need to do that. Thank you, really. :)
Both have their disadvantages. Either way, beginning a store of purified water in addition to your stockpiles couldn't hurt.
And of course. I'm a man of my word.
And of course. I'm a man of my word.
Of course, yes, I'll get started right away, then. Just in case. Maybe I'll see what the end result is for both, see what's better for cooking with and what's more sanitary and go from there. I'll keep you posted.
I really do appreciate it, Mr. Silco. If there's ever anything I can do to return the favor, please let me know. Anything, I mean it.
[a dangerous thing to promise, but.]
I really do appreciate it, Mr. Silco. If there's ever anything I can do to return the favor, please let me know. Anything, I mean it.
[a dangerous thing to promise, but.]
[by now, koby’s felt a wide array of consciousnesses, aura’s, minds in the unseen connection that haki gives him. he knows the radiant warmth of shanks’s, like the sun rising over a still sea, the sparking brilliance of quentin’s, the eclectic vibrancy of the crew. silco’s is unlike all of those, still and honed like a polished gem, every facet focused with keen precision. and though he’s worlds removed from the seas of home, though he wears a marine uniform and swears by a code of law that directly opposes such things, koby’s world is one of pirates, and there’s something in his blood and bone that sees a jewel and wants to reach out, touch it, feel it.
the question is careful, but logical, not overly prying, not invasive. koby doesn’t feel more than thoughtful curiosity at it being posed, though his own answer is still carefully measured in response.]
Other guests, the Balfours, anyone who might use it to hurt my crew. [and there’s a – shift, subtle, slight, a sharpening of koby’s wide-eyed gaze behind the round rims of his glasses.] Which doesn’t include you. Right? [and there’s a sense in the air, like the pressure spiking when a storm approaches, something tight and tensing and prepared, a thunderclap about to roll.]
the question is careful, but logical, not overly prying, not invasive. koby doesn’t feel more than thoughtful curiosity at it being posed, though his own answer is still carefully measured in response.]
Other guests, the Balfours, anyone who might use it to hurt my crew. [and there’s a – shift, subtle, slight, a sharpening of koby’s wide-eyed gaze behind the round rims of his glasses.] Which doesn’t include you. Right? [and there’s a sense in the air, like the pressure spiking when a storm approaches, something tight and tensing and prepared, a thunderclap about to roll.]
[it’s the sort of joy that koby knows is difficult to maintain at sea – the business of running a ship, keeping it afloat and pointing in the right direction and on course takes so much energy, so much effort, so much time that more trivial pursuits take a backseat to more important things. he’s been fortunate to find space, in this strange pocket world, to pursue his interests.
and koby finds he wants the same for goodsir. he wants him to be able to grin that widely, transforming the weary lines of his still-too-thin face into something bright and brilliant. smiling back, he descends the ladder, leaning over to look at the pictures, the whales and the crabs.]
I’m afraid I know more about how they taste – my crew and I work at a restaurant here, and our chef is the greatest in this world or any other. He’s especially good with seafood. [earnestly:] Tim works there as well. You’re more than welcome to come and visit and have a meal, if you’d like.
and koby finds he wants the same for goodsir. he wants him to be able to grin that widely, transforming the weary lines of his still-too-thin face into something bright and brilliant. smiling back, he descends the ladder, leaning over to look at the pictures, the whales and the crabs.]
I’m afraid I know more about how they taste – my crew and I work at a restaurant here, and our chef is the greatest in this world or any other. He’s especially good with seafood. [earnestly:] Tim works there as well. You’re more than welcome to come and visit and have a meal, if you’d like.
Oh, yes! Tim did mention. I will absolutely be by. Fresh food prepared by a chef? I'll be downright spoiled.
[He's careful not to joke about tinned rations, partly to avoid the awkwardness and partly not to spiral about it. It's a strange relationship to be have with food: to be so desperate for it and yet a little frightened.
His first day in the manor he'd eaten too much in spite of knowing better and been sick. But his stomach is slowly catching up to his appetite.]
Tim is a lovely man, isn't he? I've had little occasion to meet any Americans before. It's a charming sort of accent he's got.
As is yours, for that matter.
[He's careful not to joke about tinned rations, partly to avoid the awkwardness and partly not to spiral about it. It's a strange relationship to be have with food: to be so desperate for it and yet a little frightened.
His first day in the manor he'd eaten too much in spite of knowing better and been sick. But his stomach is slowly catching up to his appetite.]
Tim is a lovely man, isn't he? I've had little occasion to meet any Americans before. It's a charming sort of accent he's got.
As is yours, for that matter.
( hhhhhhgggggghrvrhrhrggghhhh he hates this sO fucking much. maybe he should've just waited until he was back to normal to message koby ..........
but a part of him wonders how he reacted when hyunsu had told him what had happened, how he's thought about hao since then. maybe that's a little narcissistic. maybe he just has a feeling (or some kind of fucked yo hope?) that it was bad. )
ugh
fine
im in my room
but its actually not fine if i hurt u bc ill never forgiv myself ok??
so i want u 2 grab my bat when u come in just in case
itll b by the door
im fkn sereous
but a part of him wonders how he reacted when hyunsu had told him what had happened, how he's thought about hao since then. maybe that's a little narcissistic. maybe he just has a feeling (or some kind of fucked yo hope?) that it was bad. )
ugh
fine
im in my room
but its actually not fine if i hurt u bc ill never forgiv myself ok??
so i want u 2 grab my bat when u come in just in case
itll b by the door
im fkn sereous
[koby smiles even wider, looking immensely pleased.] I'll let him know about your, ah -- situation, if you'd like? When I first met him, I couldn't stomach a lot of very rich things either, and he did a wonderful job making things that were still delicious, but not too elaborate.
[the mention of tim gets a thoughtful, bemused sort of sideways look.] He's wonderful, yes. He's been a really good friend since we both arrived. I'm glad you met, I think you'll get along just famously.
[then, blinking owlishly upwards:] Accent? I have an accent?
[the mention of tim gets a thoughtful, bemused sort of sideways look.] He's wonderful, yes. He's been a really good friend since we both arrived. I'm glad you met, I think you'll get along just famously.
[then, blinking owlishly upwards:] Accent? I have an accent?
[Goodsir smiles.] Your tact is appreciated. Yes, if he wouldn't be offended by something with, ah, smaller portions? That would be lovely.
[Oblivious, his smile widens.] As am I. He's been an incredible resource of information, and a great comfort. And he's very... gallant? Yes. I admire that.
[A soft laugh.] Yes. But everyone does. Yours is more familiar sounding to me than some. The long vowels and all. But you've got the most lovely rising intonation!
[Oblivious, his smile widens.] As am I. He's been an incredible resource of information, and a great comfort. And he's very... gallant? Yes. I admire that.
[A soft laugh.] Yes. But everyone does. Yours is more familiar sounding to me than some. The long vowels and all. But you've got the most lovely rising intonation!
Not at all. I was on a ship where I didn't eat very often, and he was very sympathetic, in his way. Sanji's a little, ah. [koby falters a bit, trying to find a tactful word, before settling on:] Abrasive, sometimes. But he doesn't mean it cruelly.
Do you? I'll have to let him know. [with the very smug, satisfied expression of a bestie about to tease mercilessly.] But I quite agree.
Oh. Thank you. [koby's blushing again, ears red, head ducking.] I think yours is very nice too. Your voice, I mean.
Do you? I'll have to let him know. [with the very smug, satisfied expression of a bestie about to tease mercilessly.] But I quite agree.
Oh. Thank you. [koby's blushing again, ears red, head ducking.] I think yours is very nice too. Your voice, I mean.
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