» being apped at ataraxion | original character

[halves]

The other place was a little more plausible, at least.

[The dream world. Strange things happened when you were dreaming and that made it easier to handle, even if just so he didn't have to accept that he was finally trapped in his own mind.

Pause. He is probably never going to get over this.]

Really. Space?

Comments

[spacefood]

What's wrong with space?

[halves]

I couldn't say. I've never actually been to space.

[spacefood]

Well, space is awesome, frienderito! You'll love it there!

[halves]

[Frienderito. Oh dear.]

... I'd rather stay where I am. [You know.] On Earth.

[zooms]

I'm guessing you haven't been off-planet before, right?

[halves]

Not literally, at least.

[wiretap]

[ STARING. ]

Your face.

[halves]

[He arches his brows. Dryly:] It's quite a face.

[wiretap]

I've seen it before.

[ A beat. ] Twice over.

[ Another beat, longer. ] Do you have a brother?

[halves]

[There's a pause, and his expression changes into a slight, questioning frown. She sounds weirdly serious.]

Yeah? [Pause. He isn't used to talking about his brother. Assuming it's really him she's talking about.] Why?

[wiretap]

He looks like just you. The man I know.

[ It's odd, seeing Winston-Salem's face but having the tone be all wrong. She's seen other people experience this disjuncture on the Tranquility, but has never been subject to it herself. ]

He looks just like his brother, too.

[halves]

[A-ha. He exhales quickly, showing a hint of an ambiguous smile.]

That's what usually happens when you have a twin.

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen stares at the shape of the man's mouth, as if she can't quite comprehend what a smile could possibly mean. ]

Lewis. And Giles.

[halves]

[Eyes narrow softly, expression unchanged, assuming she knows who he is through his brother. Which makes him wonder how someone like him met someone like her.]

Lou. [A preference, not necessarily meant as a correction.] And who're you?

[wiretap]

Lou. [ Winston-Salem had been much the same, hadn't he? Aberdeen's attention cant's to one side as she recalls, her hands moving faintly where they hang loosely at each side, typing out search queries that otherwise would fly from her fingertips onto her computer screen. ]

Aberdeen. [ A pause. ] We're to meet. On the Tranquility.

[halves]

Aberdeen. [Lou sees to have a knack for running into women with unusual monikers. His eyes glance up and he presses his lips, taking his time.] How are things up there?

[wiretap]

[ In a word, without so much as a second thought: ] Quiet.

Normal. Abnormal. Depending on your point of reference.

[halves]

Quiet. [Beat.] Quiet can be good.

[And he's a shitty liar.]

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen's a pretty shitty liar too. Which is why she never does it. ]

I hate it.

[halves]

[That's enough to make him shut up for another while, expression relaxing into something that could be empathetic. The only reason Lou could feel for her is out of the fear that he could end up feeling the same way, though. He usually just doesn't have any fucking clue on how to react.]

... Sorry. [Which is why he goes to whatever default answer he's expected to repeat. Another pause follows. He digs into his jacket's pocket to fish out a cigarette. He needs something to do with his hands and find another distraction so he doesn't end up overthinking.] So how did you meet Giles?

[wiretap]

Don't apologize for things outside of your control, [ Aberdeen says, her tone neither defensive nor offensive. If anything, it's matter-of-fact, like she's delineating some guideline to their interaction; a rule for the exchange of words they're brokering. ]

Giles is a colleague. I know him through work. [ Her head cants very slowly to one side, the motion deliberate and drawn out. ] So is Lewis.

[halves]

[He has had that speech before -- don't apologize -- usually accompanied by sheepish smiles or eye rolls. Her manner is just... blank. It reminds him of a patient he once called his roommate.

The cigarette is between his lips by the time she's done, thumb clicking the lighter on. Lou is ready to open his mouth and ask about it; instead he's interrupted by a piece that doesn't fit.]

I don't work with Giles.

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen doesn't so much as blink. She expects this part by now, the confusion. Tommy looks like Bob, two Sherlocks neither alike. The possibility of another set of twins, identical within themselves and two one another, both named Lewis and Giles — according to some of the science it's theoretically possible. She doesn't dwell on it too long. ]

The Lewis I know does.

[halves]

[The idea that he might be sharing his identity with someone else didn't work out too well last time, Aberdeen.

It ended with his hands around his brother's neck, in fact. Ten long years ago.]

Now I'm confused.

[wiretap]

[ Well there's a whole contingency worth of people ready and waiting to see whether or not history is willing to repeat itself somehow.

At least it's not Obi-Wan Kenobi. ]

Anomalies in space-time. Or at least that's what the astrophysicists say. It's lead to a series of strange overlaps in singularities.

I know a Lewis Puckett. He isn't you.

[halves]

[OH, BURN.]

I... see. [He hates saying that, for the record. But he's heard about those theories and brushed them aside, never even knowing he's actually witnessed them happening.

He arches his brows after another pause, realizing there's still an unlit cigarette between his fingers.] Shouldn't I know another you, then?

[wiretap]

[ Aberdeen looks at the cigarette and then at his lighter and then at Lewis again, her hand lifting to urge the lighter closer and remind him it's there in the first place. ]

Not all universes are symmetrical.

[ According to theory, anyway. After a moment's consideration: ]

Where is your brother?

[halves]

[He drops his shoulders and tips his chin after glancing at her hand, all in paced movements.

Click.]

No idea. [And the ensuing thought is amusing to no one but him.] Probably at work.

[wiretap]

[ It seems for a moment as if Aberdeen intends to pluck that cigarette from Lewis' lips and take a long exhale from it, but in the end, her hand simply drops away again. ]

Is he polite and are you preoccupied with sex?

[halves]

[It's a good thing he's exhaled the smoke. Lewis laughs half in disbelief and half in amusement, staring at her for a moment before the answer comes. He never thought it'd be so easy to sum them up.]

He is polite. [There's a level of fondness beneath those words. Sometimes he allows himself to get past the guilt for that.] But I damn well hope I don't have any reasons to be worried about sex.

[wiretap]

[ There's some of the one half of Winston-Salem that Aberdeen is familiar with. Granted, she had never really known either of them well, personally, but it was her responsibility to know all of the members of each of the Orders as well as be able to recognize their voices at first breath. Even the Puckett brothers. ]

You have a lot of it where I'm from. [ Aberdeen blinks slowly. ] You're charming.

Apparently. [ What would she know about charm? ]

[spacefood]

[ IT'S SLANG IN SPACE OKAY ]

Have you ever been to space?

[halves]

Well... no. I just told you. [are you eating too much sugar again Pongo]

[halves]

Thank you. I think. [Maybe others would be taken aback by these statements, but not him. If anything, the way Aberdeen delivers them so dispassionately just adds to the humor.

And he remembers himself again.] You smoke?

[spacefood]

[ yes ]

Exactly! You dunno if you'll like it until you try it!

[wiretap]

[ Some people find her abrasive, but it's not as though Aberdeen tries to be. That Lewis doesn't seem bothered works in his favor as far as she's concerned. Eventually: ] I do.

[zooms]

Yeah? And how does someone metaphorically get themselves off-planet then?

[halves]

Sure, just like you don't know if you'll like jumping off a bridge until you try it.

[halves]

[The pack is back in his hand by the time he finishes taking another drag, three cigarettes remaining.]

I'm guessing you don't get to do this anymore.

[halves]

I was trapped in a dream for a couple of months. [a beat.] Either that or completely fucking high.

[Both count.]

[zooms]

[ He pauses, then slowly shakes his head. ]

The literal way is a lot more fun.

[spacefood]

Huh, well, ha ha! But you get hurt if you jump off a bridge. You won't get hurt getting into space!

[halves]

[He lifts his hands, as if weighing two different ideas.]

Pretty sure both have about the same potential.

[Did I mention he isn't good with kids? Because he isn't.]

[halves]

Yeah? [a beat. He doesn't buy it, but his future trip seems to be just about inevitable right now.] Somehow I can't really think of many things to do up there.

[Then again he never had much imagination.]

[wiretap]

[ She takes a cigarette from those offered; her fingers tap absently along the length of it as she raises it to her lips and then bows forward and upwards into his personal space in expectation of having it lit for her. ]

Sometimes. There are rules. [ Sometimes, she ignores them. ]

[halves]

[He does as he's told, slipping the lighter back in his pocket after the deed is done.] Tell me.