"OH, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE LIVING IN A PLANE ABOVE THE MATERIAL ONE CALLED THE MINDSCAPE. ANYONE IN THERE CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN BY IMAGINING THEM. FIGHTING IS WEIRD, AND SKILL MEANS BUPKIS. I GOT BEAT UP BY SOME KIDS, AS PART OF A PLAN TO GET THEM TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME. BUT THEY STILL BEAT ME UP!"
Maybe if he says it super perky it'll hide how unhappy he still is about it!
"YEAH, THE ONE THAT NEEDED TO MOVE DID HIS PART, SO IT ALL ENDED OKAY FOR ME! ...BUT JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANNA LET MY PRIDE GET IN THE WAY OF THE PLAN DIDN'T MEAN IT WASN'T KINDA HUMILIATING..."
Bill slides a drink down the bar - this one more sour, and more fizzy, than the last, a paler color.
"EH, IT'S WHATEVER. AT LEAST I NEVER HAVE TO SEE THOSE KIDS WHILE I'M HERE. GOOD OF THE ADMIRAL TO JUST BAN 'EM. MAYBE HE'LL DO PETS NEXT. BODHI'S CAT IS REALLY HOSTILE."
"Hm. Ironic, though," Trouble murmurs, and takes another sip. "One wonders
how many of our fellow passengers wouldn't be here if they'd had some
intervention a little earlier."
"OH, YOU MEAN GETTING THEM HELP AS KIDS! HAH! I THINK THIS PLACE WOULD MAKE EM WORSE! HOW MANY ACTUAL ADULTS EVEN HACK IT HERE? ONE OUT OF EIGHT, WASN'T THAT THE LAST NUMBER?"
"Sounds about right. Anyway, you're quite right, I wouldn't imagine
bringing an actual child here. Maybe there's another Barge which
caters to that sort of thing. Competently."
"Isn't that a matter of opinion?" Trouble says, mildly. They've...never
really thought very much about it, at least not enough to come to a
conclusion they're attached to.
"I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET! IT'S EITHER SOMETHING THAT'LL MAKE YOU INSTANTLY BLACK OUT FOR A COUPLE HOURS, OR IT'S JUST AN EMPTY GLASS THAT COSTS EIGHT BUCKS."
Bill doesn't need the money, but thinks the capitalistic despair goes nicely with the theme.
"ANYWAY, GOOD AND EVIL ARE ABOUT AS REAL AS A FAVORITE COLOR! THE ADMIRAL SURE HAS AN IDEA OF WHAT THEY ARE!"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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"You did, darling. I hate it."
Trouble sighs and slumps down a little at the bar.
"If it were a stage show, I'd like to know what's coming so I can rehearse my lines. This is more like gladiatoral combat for the psyche."
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It sucked. Bill hates children.
"IT'S ALL IMPROV, KID. DO YOU LIKE SOUR OR BITTER BETTER?"
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"Sour. Thank you."
They pick themselves up enough to look at him properly.
"Tell me about that?"
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Maybe if he says it super perky it'll hide how unhappy he still is about it!
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"...Did they also do what you wanted?"
Because being beat up along the way isn't so bad, if they did.
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Bill slides a drink down the bar - this one more sour, and more fizzy, than the last, a paler color.
"THERE! SEE HOW THAT ONE IS."
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"Thank you, darling."
They take a slow, considered sip.
"Oh, lovely. Much more my taste. I'm sorry about your misadventure."
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And bigger than Bill is.
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"Hm. Ironic, though," Trouble murmurs, and takes another sip. "One wonders how many of our fellow passengers wouldn't be here if they'd had some intervention a little earlier."
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Ohhh, wait.
"OH, YOU MEAN GETTING THEM HELP AS KIDS! HAH! I THINK THIS PLACE WOULD MAKE EM WORSE! HOW MANY ACTUAL ADULTS EVEN HACK IT HERE? ONE OUT OF EIGHT, WASN'T THAT THE LAST NUMBER?"
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"Sounds about right. Anyway, you're quite right, I wouldn't imagine bringing an actual child here. Maybe there's another Barge which caters to that sort of thing. Competently."
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HEY, YOU EVER THINK IT'S SCREWED UP THAT WHEN GOOD PEOPLE DIE THEY'RE JUST GONE FOREVER? HAH!"
The choice to die as a good person sure is a fucking terrible one.
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"Isn't that a matter of opinion?" Trouble says, mildly. They've...never really thought very much about it, at least not enough to come to a conclusion they're attached to.
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Bill thinks for a moment, then scribbles on a notepad behind the bar labeled COOL DRINK NAMES
"a void... of... nothing... ness..."
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"Both. Either. What would a void of nothingness taste like?" they wonder.
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Bill doesn't need the money, but thinks the capitalistic despair goes nicely with the theme.
"ANYWAY, GOOD AND EVIL ARE ABOUT AS REAL AS A FAVORITE COLOR! THE ADMIRAL SURE HAS AN IDEA OF WHAT THEY ARE!"