theweakhavepurpose | Hadriel Inbox

A movie theater with real, old movies would be great. There are so many old movies I've seen as holos, but to see them as they were meant to be shown? On a big screen with popcorn and soda and sugary treats? That would be amazing.

Oh there's no movies in the future? Or are they all streaming so you can watch them in your own home?

I'm not sure if that's better, popcorn from the microwave is shitty compared to what you get at the theater.

Everything's--I guess streaming's the best way to put it. And sure, it's possible to get big holo screens, but nothing like what I've heard the old movie theaters had.

I wouldn't know, I've never had popcorn from either.

Have you had popcorn at all?

Remember the bonfire we had? Fingon showed me how to make it with a pan, we could make some. You gotta have popcorn.

No, I haven't. I've smelled it before, being made by street vendors on Terra, but mother always pulled me away from [she makes air quotes] frivolous pursuits.

He did? We can? Let's go for it!

How is popcorn a frivolous pursuit? It's food. What can you only eat precisely portioned meals that obey the food pyramid?

Right now?

[He hesitates, and then.. well...]

I guess we're not doing anything else huh?

Yes. Mother was very intent on me receiving proper nutrition and staying fit.

Yeah!

[she looks at him expectantly]

No, we're not. So let's go!

Wow. She sounds like a nightmare the more you tell me about her.

We need a fire. I guess we can start one somewhere outside, it's not like the jungle will catch since it's so wet.

[she sighs] Mother was . . . she made the "mistake" of marrying young. Instead of marrying the high society Bgztlian her parents wanted her to marry, she eloped with a Terran and had a child. Me. [a pause] The marriage didn't last, but [a forced laugh] it's not like she could get rid of the kid, right?

Yeah, that's true. Will we have enough dry wood?

That doesn't sound great at all. No wonder she's so weird. I don't know shit about class stuff, there's not really any rich people in my county who would want their kids to go to, I dunno, Yale or something and marry a lawyer.

We should. Only need to cook it for a few minutes. Lemme grab a pan.

It's--mother loves me. I know she does. It's just that what she wants for me and what I want for me are two entirely different things. So she's cold, she threatens disinheritance, she yells at me. She questions everything I do and feel and think and say and it's all because she doesn't want me to make the same "mistake" she did.

Okay, I can wait.

[He gathers some things into his arms, motioning her to follow as he heads out.]

Sounds like she doesn't get that she's not you. Is being here and away from her kinda nice?

[she follows along trustingly]

It . . . is. I don't have to worry about her hounding my every thought and feeling and deed. It's. A nice change of pace.

Silver lining.

I'm running out on my car payments, so I guess there's that.

[He heads towards the jungle, trying to find a place where he won't start a popcorn based forest fire.]

[a forced laugh] Yeah. Guess so.

That's okay. What would you do with a car here?

[she follows along, phasing through roots and fallen branches]

Spin donuts back on the ice planet? I don't know. But man, my car was great. Candy red pygmillian with a racing stripe. It's probably been blown up or smashed by now. Or has cult symbols all over it.

[He finds a decent enough spot, setting down the supplies and pulling some vines and brush aside to make a clearing.]

I wonder if I'm still pulling my paycheck. Direct deposit and all. I bet I have a shit ton of money in my account.

[she makes a face]

Personally, if I had something like your car? I'd much rather have it blown up or smashed. It would still be yours. Having cult symbols all over it would make it theirs.

[her contribution is finding a decent sized branch and pulling it over to give them somewhere to sit]

You might be? I don't really know how time's supposed to work outside of here. We could all be stuck in a moment for eternity. [a pause] I don't like the thought of that.

That's what Kate said, that when she went home no time had passed at all. Like the world was frozen.

I hope that's not it. I don't want to go back right where I was, I want to have fucking vanished and have Jacob wondering forever how I got out and where I went.

[He makes a small pile of kindling, getting it started with a silver lighter from one of his pockets and blowing on it gently to get it to catch.]

But you're right. I don't want them to have anything of mine. Maybe the resistance has it. I don't know. Likely won't ever find out either.

[she shivers a little] I. . . really don't like the sound of that.

You will. You'll be long gone from there and Jacob will have to stew on it forever, wondering where you went. And he'll never know.

[she watches curiously as he builds and sets the fire. she's been in manors with grand fireplaces before, but she's never seen them actually being used]

...probably not. So might as well hope for the good option?

Yeah. And you know me, full of hope and optimism.

[At least he's self aware enough to realize he's a miserable mess.]

Here, pour those corn kernels into the pan and set it down on this rock. It'll heat up and they'll start popping.

[she gives him an affectionate smile at his self-assessment. she knows that he's doing better than he was when he first arrived]

It's that easy? Okay. [she does as she's instructed and it's not long before the popcorn's popping] Look at that! [she sounds delighted]

Yeah it's pretty easy. I didn't know either, I always made it in a microwave.

[He smiles almost contentedly, sitting down nearby.]

We just let it do that for a few minutes and then it should be nice and puffy and ready for eating. Ideally you want salt and butter for this, but I don't have butter so we're gonna make do. It was pretty good last time without it.

[she gives him an innocent look] A what? [then dissolves into laughter] Kidding! Kidding! I've heard of microwaves before.

[she watches it continue to pop contentedly] I'm sure that it'll be fine. Better than fine. Salt and butter aren't good for you anyway.

Of course not, that's what makes them delicious. No one drinks kale smoothies for fun, because health food is disgusting.

[He picks one out to taste it, licking his fingers after because that's still really hot.]

How do you cook food in the future?

If you don't like kale smoothies, obviously they haven't added enough kiwi.

[she plucks one out as well, popping it into her mouth, chewing, and swallowing] It's good!

[a sheepish smile] To be honest? I don't cook. I've always had servants or gone out to restaurants or had something catered. Even in the Legion, we had a cook.

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