tushanshu | video.

[For someone who's just found himself the winner of a cheap turtle cruise, Scott looks pretty calm sitting in his suite with his chin propped on the palm of his hand. He's skimmed the console posts and wheedled tiny bits of information from the kedan. He knows something is up with the turtle. ]

God only knows I deserve a vacation on a tropical turtle paradise right about now, but usually when I take my days off I like them sunny, not sickly. [Here he straightens, features losing some of their humor.] I know I'm the new guy around here, but if there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

[Admittedly, this might not be his best move considering he still has no idea why or by whom he was brought here, but no one's killed him (yet) so Scott's taking that as a good sign.]

Oh, and.

[The levity's back in his voice now but it's harder, more forced, and anyone paying attention can hear the undercurrent of worry slowly rising to the surface. He's already asked Tea but she'd only been one person and this turtle place is massive. Can't hurt to ask around more.]

If anyone's seen a group of nine kids - including two fish kids and a head in a jar - I'd also like to know, thanks. You can't miss 'em. Really.

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Thaaaat was a little more vehement than the poor sea prunes probably deserved.

[Maaaybe.]

But I thought Id save you from what Atlanteans consider good cuisine. Arthur's right, I haven't quite forgiven him yet.

I've never dined with an Atlantean before, only fought with them.

[And psuedo-crushed on the same women as them but uh. That's not getting shared any time soon. Still, that elicits a look of almost morbid curiosity.]

Are they really that bad? I almost want to try one now.

Well, they're more reliable to fight beside than to trust with your tastebuds.

[She throws up her hands, absolving herself of blame for what follows.]

Okay, but don't say you weren't warned.

[Thanks for the concern, Dinah, but Scott doesn't need it.]

I went a week eating nothing but marshmallow casserole and pretzels and cheese once. Sea prunes don't sound so bad after that.

I once kept a strict diet dictated to me by my penpal who also happened to be the world's greatest assassin. I swore after that never to let anything that wasn't delicious past my li...

[Wait, what?]

For a week?

[By way of explanation:] My daughter's home ec projects.

[The sadness in his eyes doesn't match the lightness of his tone or the faint upwards quirk of his lips. Nearly a year later and he's still not even close to being over Cassie, and it takes effort for him to shake himself out of the depression he can feel moving in and move on with the conversation.]

I didn't realize assassins kept diets though. Was it really that bad?

[She sees that sadness. Don't think she doesn't. The reference to a daughter makes Dinah think of Sin, at the monastery learning to be less of a danger to other people. And then she thinks of all the families that have been torn apart by the business, and she refuses to dwell.]

Salad and twigs. For the better part of two years.

[He's grateful she doesn't linger on the subject, or try to intrude on his privacy. He thinks he'll want to talk about it one day but that day isn't today.

And really, he'd much rather be amused (and surprised) than depressed.]

I hope you don't mean actual twigs. [Because that sounds gross.]

No, thank god. But sometimes it felt like it.

[.....Gross. Which, really just begs the question of:]

And why were you doing in the first place? Some kind of bet or something?

[Brightly:] All part of training.

[Wow Dinah, you are way too chipper about twigs and training. Scott is not bright and chipper at all but actually rather hesitant about this whole thing.]

Do I wanna know what that training was for?

Edited (what is using the proper tense) 2013-07-28 23:29 (UTC)

[She takes pity on the poor guy and lowers the brightness down a notch.]

I'm not an assassin, if that's what you're worried about. She just offered to teach me a few things, and that included a diet designed to change my intake of certain nutrients. It was very low calory.

I thought low-calorie was a model thing.

[This is a guy who used to live on burgers and beer, a most nutritious diet. Scott couldn't go low-calorie if his life depended on it. Or on any diet, really.]

So...what? Now your body just processes certain nutrients more efficiently or something? I guess that's useful.

And apparently a Shiva thing.

[Shrug.] It wasn't worth it. I will never give up bacon again.

[The name doesn't mean anything to him, though he does file it away under the category of 'Never Run Into Anyone With the Following Names Ever.' The bacon, on the other hand...]

You had to give up bacon? [Cue a very heartfelt groan.] How are you still alive?

[She shakes her head sadly.]

Through the love and support of some very close friends.

I sincerely hope none of them were the type to give you a hug and then proceed to stuff their mouth with bacon and laugh in your face.

[Which, if he were to be entirely honest, sounds like something he might have done if he'd known her at the time.]

I don't want to disabuse you of that hope... but I can't think of a way of doing that without outright lying.

[Her friends, let's be honest, are terrible people.]

[There's a faint sympathy wince at that; while he's never been forced to undergo the torture of having to abstain from bacon, he can easily imagine how it must feel to have it rubbed in his face.]

The upside to all of this is that you never have to do that again. The downside is that I really want bacon now. Know a place where I can get some, or is slaughtering someone's pet pig illegal here too?

There are some places in the Earth Sector that sell the closest thing to bacon I've tried here.

I don't think it's made from actual pigs, but it's still delicious.

[Noooo Dinah why did you have to add that last sentence, now all of Scott's alarm senses are tingling.]

Please tell me that's not where all the people who disappear go.

[A shocked pause.]

No, I mean it's from a very pig-like animal that's not the same as pigs we have on Earth.

What kind of world do you come from?

[And now he's wincing because okay, that maybe have been a bit of a stretch to make.]

A perfectly normal one where things go wrong all the time. [Good enough description.] It's--It's been a long day. Week. Year.

[Something like that.]

Ah, yes. I've had days and weeks and years for a lifetime.

Let me give you the address of the place that does my favorite not-really-bacon sandwich. It might take the edge off the day you're having.

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langsyne - 2013-08-19 02:00 (UTC) - Expand

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