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

[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."