A Clock Only Turns In One Direction

[sameoldsong]

Sean's place isn't much to look at but it'll do for now. The four-story tenement is squat compared to others on the street, low and old and not very well kept up. Someone divided the apartments up years ago to squeeze more money out of the building, so what they've got is a room and a half to themselves - a big bedroom, an okay sized bathroom, and a narrow kitchen with barely enough room for the ice box and sinks. No stove, but Sean's managed to get by without it for now, thanks to all the automats and restaurants nearby.

The bedroom's the best part of the apartment. It's got a window that looks out over the fire escape, and it's got a half-decent bed and a cot that Kyle can start out with and trade in for a real one, once they've got the money to get that sort of thing. Sean's got a small table set up in the closet and underneath it, there's a short shelf crammed full of pulp magazines with flashy and lurid covers. Most of it is crime fiction, but there's hero pulps too, and the science fiction and even a few of the romance ones tucked near the bottom of the piles.

It's a little strange getting used to having someone else in his space again, but Sean picks it up quickly. After all, he spent most of his life sharing rooms with family and falling asleep listening to the sounds of their breathing and snoring. And feeding two is as cheap as feeding one, especially when you've got two paydays to put together.

The biggest difference with Kyle is that he's got questions, and a lot of them. Sean's chosen to believe him, and it's probably good he did, because Kyle sure believes himself. It's a little funny answering questions about everything, because Kyle really doesn't know a thing about the world.

Well, that's not entirely true. He knows some things. You just can't ever be sure what he knows and what he doesn't. For one, Kyle's very handy with a gun.

It's clear he doesn't like the work they're doing but that's okay. So far they've gotten lucky and Sean's pretty sure it's just drugs they're moving, which is better than some of the other alternatives. They show up, they unload the ships in the dark, they get paid out and they take a trolly back home, just in time to get to the neighbourhood as the shops are opening up.

They get some fresh sandwiches and a few things to eat later and head back up to the apartment. It's warm, so Sean pops the window and goes out to sit on the fire escape with Kyle while they eat. The view's not the most exciting, but he still likes looking at it, just watching all the people head off to work or the kids go off to school.

"So what do people eat in the future?" Sean ends up asking, since it seems like Kyle isn't even a little picky about what food he gets.

Comments

[sameoldsong]

"Oh really? Jesus, well, we'll have to get on that sooner than later." He knows that some people take planes, but it's odd thinking about airships getting replaced. They're so big and graceful... Are plans getting bigger then? They must, he supposes. Or else maybe they get faster? Well, he'll find out. That's half the fun, isn't it?

"Skeletons, yeah! But I think they only have full ones for some of the smaller stuff. But, there's a mammoth from there, and they pulled out a woman and a dog, and I think there's one of those ancient horses, and a bunch of other animals too." At least, that's what Sean heard from Ben when they were shooting the shit at work one time. He's more fascinated (and a little disgusted) by the idea of someone finding a mammoth with flesh still on it, and the rich choosing to eat it. "Jesus, same. I wouldn't trust any meat that old. The rich just... god, they have all the money in the world, and they use it on the stupidest stuff. I don't understand it. If I had that kind of money, I'd be eating well each day, not feeding myself fish eggs or snails."

And he gestures to his sandwich, which has been reduced to a stub while chatting and eating. "I'd get this sort of thing every day, y'know? Fresh bread, fresh meat, good sauce, made right as you walk in the shop. Or I'd get a cook who could do up the stuff my ma does, only with the better cuts of meat. Or oranges, God, I'd buy crates of oranges. I can't wait until it's the season for them again. They're so big here, size of your fist and twice as juicy as you'd imagine."

[chronosoldier]

"I don't think it's going to happen right away, but it is coming." He'd just as soon it didn't, really. For almost all his life planes have been Skynet's weapons, with only a hardy handful of old military aircraft under the Resistance's control. Maybe if airships never get phased out lives could be saved, but they already have their hands full just trying to stop the rise of robotics. Adding aviation to the mix would be biting off more than they can chew, he thinks.

Craning his head, Kyle looks off down to the road in the direction of downtown as Sean grouses about the rich. "Maybe this will make you feel better about them: when J-Day happens, the rich were the first to go. They all fled to their private bunkers, thought they could wait it out, but what none of them counted on was Skynet controlling the life support systems in those bunkers." He smiles mirthlessly. "Something tells me they don't think too far ahead today either, but who knows, maybe fish eggs and snails are just really good." He shrugs, not even remotely grossed out by the prospect of eating either of those things. He's survived on worse.

"Is there any fruit that is in season right now?" He can't help but sound hopeful. "I haven't had any since I was a kid. I remember oranges because you had to peel them before you could eat them. Bananas too, but my favorite was apples. You didn't have to peel those, you could just sit right down and eat one." He squeezes his own sandwich, which is a stub of exactly the same length as Sean's because he's been eating in time with him, holding himself back from the gorging he did in those first few days. "Even if there's not, I'd be just as happy having these. The people who make them are good people, and the girl always puts on extra when she sees you. Is she a friend of yours?"

[sameoldsong]

Kyle does get a little snort out of Sean when he hears the rich didn't get away with things this time. "Christ, I know it's a sin to wish death on anyone, but I'm not going to cry too many tears at the thought of them abandoning the rest of us and going first because of it. Serves them right. Maybe if they'd stuck it out with us, it wouldn't have ended up that way."

Sean's not sure about fish eggs or snails, but Kyle has a point. Maybe they do taste good. Maybe he'll find out one day, if things work out for them. But that's all forgotten as Sean realizes that Kyle hasn't had fruits in years. "There is! All kinds of berries and melons! We'll get a watermelon tomorrow for sure, or a nice ripe honeydew! And absolutely a big basket of raspberries or blackberries or- or maybe we can get some strawberries. You're going to love them all, you can pop the berries right into your mouth and chew, and they're just bursting with juice. Melons have a rind on them, but it's easy to cut that off and get into the insides, and they're crunchy but still so juicy- it's wonderful, you're going to love them."

He pops the end of his sandwich into his mouth and as he chews, he laughs and shrugs. "Sorta? I'm friendly with her since she's nice, but I'm pretty sure we get extra because she's sweet on me."

[chronosoldier]

That snort relaxes Kyle, softening his smile into something a little more genuine. "That's about how I remember my dad's friend who told us feeling about them. Never met rich people 'till I came back here, but early in the war there were collaborators, people working with the machines, who got special treatment and privileges. They acted about how the rich people do now do."

The raw enthusiasm Sean works up gets more out of Kyle than a smile, it gets an honest laugh, along with a half-amused, half-bewildered look, like he's not sure where that laugh came from but enjoyed it all the same. "Don't forget, we've got to keep some of what we've got put away for the future. But I'd love to try all of those, I haven't even heard of half of them." Some of them stir old memories, buried glimpses of a childhood he had to leave behind quickly. "I think we had -- yeah, we had blackberries a few times, me and my ma. I didn't know I remembered that much, that was right before we were captured by the Luddites."

Finishing off his own sandwich, he gives Sean a bemused sidelong look, dangling his feet from the fire escape the way a kid might. "You're a good guy, not taking advantage of that. Most guys would, that's one thing that doesn't change between now and then."

[sameoldsong]

"Oh we'll have plenty of money for fruit and the future, don't worry too much about it." Sean just beams and... he's been trying not to think about it, but Kyle's got such a lovely smile. He's handsome, anyone with eyes can see that, but it's the way his face lights up that makes it shine through him. Sean wants to keep Kyle smiling. "We'll find blackberries again. And no Luddites. I'm... not sure what they are, but I feel pretty safe promising you that we won't find any here."

He also snorts a little. "Hey, hey, I've got six sisters, if I took advantage of anybody, they'd all know and come halfway across the world to scold me." Sean sighs, and shrugs. "You're right though. People are the same no matter what. But, I wouldn't do that to that girl. She's sweet. One day, she's going to make someone a wonderful wife. But, she's a protestant, so she won't be mine."