picknicking

[dark_light]

There's something unutterably pleasant about landing in a bit of woods in the middle of Nowhere, Manitoba, removing a sandwich and an apple from her backpack and having a picnic before she's ready to move on. She could eat in midair, but it makes it too likely that she'll drop something and find it unrecoverable.

Path's on her knee, and her cloudpine is propped up against the tree next to her.

Comments

[dark_light]

"Okay. I'm trying to think if there's anything else on the level of 'germ theory' that you might benefit from... not sure if the invention of electrical generators gets you much of anywhere by itself, similar problem with internal combustion and airplanes, you have to be able to do manufacturing... radios might be useful though... what are the useful ramifications of knowing what atoms are, I can't immediately think of any..."

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin grins. "Not to worry. You have a while yet to think of things - and if it becomes tiresome, I won't hold it against you if you stop. You've already been extremely helpful."

Vern trills, a little far away, looking happy and energetic. Adarin cackles a little, practically dances over to her, and scoops her up for a hug. Fluffy kagu daemon hugs. She is maybe twirled around a little before he neatly puts her back down and returns to Isabella, huge grin still on his face.

"I am," he states, "Very excited."

[dark_light]

"I'm excited too! I mean, there are parts of this world where things like this would theoretically be useful, but the reasons they aren't being put to use in those places are way more complicated than 'nobody invented germ theory yet'. I can probably accomplish more in a few days in New Kystle than I can anywhere here in the same time."

[prodigal_miser]

"Yes," he replies. "Plus this is also the first lucky break I've gotten in four years and I'm extremely pleased I picked this plane to travel to. You're extremely helpful and without you I might have just grabbed the chamomile and left and not known that there was a resource to use for fixing purposes. Thank you."

He looks kind of like he wants to hug her, but he's too polite to while Path's on her head and without her permission.

[dark_light]

"I think if you walked around in a city - in this country, at least - you'd have noticed there's serious tech around. I don't imagine you'd have gone home without trying to get your hands on some."

[prodigal_miser]

"Fair point. But I doubt any of it would have politely explained itself to me and proposed ideas for helping with my exact goal."

[dark_light]

"You might have had to hang out in a public library and read an encyclopedia, but I think you could probably have accomplished a fair bit."

[prodigal_miser]

"Okay, fine. But would an encyclopedia have summoned a truth-teller and gotten me to help with a project that involves making everyone immortal? Because I approve of that portion of this, too."

[dark_light]

"Oh, no, for that you need me personally. I'm glad you're on board."

[prodigal_miser]

"I like having the option of having several hundred years of healthy living ahead of me. Other people should get it, too. Both for the altruistic reason of not liking people dying, and also because I imagine it would get extremely lonely after a while, if no one else could stick around."

[dark_light]

"People should definitely stop dying. I'll start with my dad if I get a spell draft the alethiometer approves of."

[prodigal_miser]

"... Yeah. Yes, you should definitely start with your father," he says, very quietly.

Vern glances up, then wanders over and nudges him. She is picked up and hugged.

[dark_light]

"You okay?"

[prodigal_miser]

"Yeah, I'm fine. Things just hit me at weird times, is all," explains Adarin, still hugging Vern. "So I am all on board with making death go away. Start with your father, please."

Vern trills sadly. This gets her more cuddles.

[dark_light]

"Yeah. I will."

Pause, and: "Maybe if I do my parents will finally get divorced."

[prodigal_miser]

"Good, uh- do they not work well together?" he asks, not looking judgmental, just confused.

[dark_light]

"They're... they get along. It's not like they fight, they get along perfectly well, they should be great friends, maybe they should even date. But being married isn't that good for them. Charlie - my dad - is absolutely glued to this little town near my clan lands. He's the chief of police there and he hates traveling and never wants to move and doesn't do anything interesting in the way that Ranata - my mom - thinks things are interesting. She likes dropping everything on a whim to spend a week on another continent picking her way through a phrasebook and sampling unidentifiable food and trying to get wild animals to eat from her hand without using magic to coax them. She likes spontaneously deciding to take classes on bookbinding or knitting or obscure human religions or martial arts. They work together, but their lives do not work together. They got married young on impulse because they didn't get how deep the differences ran, I think, and they're still together because she's terrified he'll die and she'll regret not taking all the time she had, and he can't let go of her on his own initiative."

[prodigal_miser]

"Ah - I'm sorry. I hope it all works out for them. That sounds like a terrible situation to be in, and I wish I had an idea on how to fix it."

[dark_light]

"Some problems are fundamentally architected to resist the appropriate deployment of magic, even theoretical, unavailable-in-practice magic."

[prodigal_miser]

"Yes," he agrees. "If there is a 'fix everything with magic' spell I haven't found it, yet."

Awkward smile! "Maybe one day?"

[dark_light]

"When I say even theoretical unavailable magic wouldn't fix it I mean - the problem here is that these two people have incompatible personalities. Changing their personalities would be a worse thing to do than anything that is currently going on there. So it's not fixable per se, you could at best replace the problem with a worse problem."

[prodigal_miser]

"I know. I wasn't - that wasn't what I'd meant. I apologize."

[dark_light]

"It's okay. Anyway, maybe I'm wrong, maybe even if I make him immortal they'll stay together, who knows?"

[prodigal_miser]

Adarin shrugs. "Maybe. Sometimes, I suppose, people are just going to put themselves in bad situations. It's sad and depressing, but... Well. Very obviously better than taking away choice entirely."

[dark_light]

"Very obviously. Thank you for not being a badly written villain from a dystopian science fiction novel, I'd be so disappointed."