TEXT; UN: J.SHEPPARD

[impavid]

Alright, new pop quiz. When you think of home, what do you think of?

[ Open question, which he's not going to expand on unless prompted -- though really he's curious about something specific. Do people consider Olympia or Wyver their home now? Maybe the Natha station? Or do they think of home worlds they've been told no longer exist? ]

Comments

[impavid]

Well what do you want me to say? I thought we were avoiding the lying thing where possible

[priorly]

Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.

Well it's been wonderful speaking with you, but I really have to powder my nose.

[impavid]

Oh, come on! You know when something hurts bad enough no words makes it hurt less. That's all I meant. Listen, I know it was a stupid thing to say and you didn't deserve it. You were trying, I was lashing out. I've said I'm sorry, and I am. But you know what? I also didn't expect you to go dancing around in my head. Usually I prefer at least a little wine and buttering up before that kind of thing.

[priorly]

Really, you wouldn't believe how quickly the shine can accrue if one doesn't keep on top of it.

[impavid]

[ What does that even mean?! ]

What do you want from me?

[priorly]

I'm talking about my nose, Jonathan. Which I need to powder or anyone talking to me will think they're speaking to a mirror, I'll be so reflective.


Though, for the record, I do know that when something hurts badly enough words don't soothe much. Though standing there in bitter silence watching you repeatedly shoot someone strikes me as even less likely to be of use. Platitudes often become platitudes because there's something in them useful enough to bear repeating. And I didn't dance a single step. I'm not Jiminy Cricket, I don't get to choose whose subconscious to hop into next. Maybe yours was getting weary of being stuck in that loop.

[impavid]

Maybe.

[ He still feels a little cranky about it, but he can accept that Prior didn't mean to do it on purpose. The same way it happened way back on that first month he was here, unintentionally jumping through memories. John gets irritable when pushed but his anger rarely flares up hot, and the irritation fades easily. He's not interested in nursing it, he's more interested in something else. ]

You didn't answer my question.

[ Don't think he didn't notice. ]

[priorly]

[He still feels cranky? Prior still hasn't gotten an apology without a 'but', which everybody knows is no apology at all.]

Which one? I seem to have lost track.

[impavid]

[ The first one didn't have a but!! It just also still called his platitudes shitty. ]

I'm serious.

[priorly]

You know what's home to me.

[impavid]

That's not what I meant.

[ Which he's pretty sure you know, but still. ]

[priorly]

Did nobody ever say to you it's not the same if they tell you what they want?

I don't want anything. You haven't called in a while.

[impavid]

Neither have you.

[ He's just saying. ]

[priorly]

Maybe I was nursing the bruises from not being able to say anything to you without getting it shot back.

[impavid]

I learned from the best.

[priorly]

Well I personally find it exhausting. All that back and forth, back and forth, and before you know it you're all wound up with nothing to show for it. It's enough to give anybody blue balls.

[impavid]

Pretty sure I learned that tactic from the best too.

You wanna come pet my dog?

[priorly]

Really, you'll have to introduce me sometime, they sound formidable.

Is that a euphemism?

[impavid]

Probably because they are.

[ John doesn't exactly answer the other question, but he provides more information.

He attaches a picture of himself seemingly sat on the floor leaning against a wall, with a puppy sprawled in his lap. Momentarily it has run out of charge and is napping. John knows this won't last forever. ]

[priorly]

Would I like them?

[This picture is unfairly cute and Prior's chief weapon is the lack of a video screen to show he's noticed this.]

Pity, I happen to be a cat person. Have you named it yet? Names are important.

[impavid]

I only know my own opinion, and you could say I'm fond of them.

Even if they're leaving me to handle petting my own dog. You may never get to know the names it goes by, they are only divulged in person.

[priorly]

What if I wake him up? I'd be the bad uncle right from the start.

[impavid]

Are you saying you don't know how to be gentle?

[priorly]

Oh I can be viciously gentle.

I'm saying I don't have a key.

[impavid]

[ Oooh! Well, luckily in John's cheap starter home they don't have fancy door mechanisms beyond turning a key -- and John doesn't shut himself in. ]

Doors unlocked, since I'm in.