[ota, threadhopping and intermingling welcome] No, the party don't start until I walk innnn.

[tenoroftheskies]

Should the castle's residents be wandering as evening falls through the windows, they might hear the soft strains of music coming from down a hall, around a corner, behind a closed door. Regardless of where they are, or how far they are from the source of the sound, it will lead them all to the same place: a veranda high up on the castle's southern

Comments

[enzused]

He nods his head at the correct designation this time, hexagon eyes flickering with - something. He's spent the majority of time since their arrival tagging along after the ISO and User like some stray bit, and the rest exploring various nooks and crannies and filing away observations for later review. Certain things (most, even) have gone directly over his head, but he's not quite at the point to be comfortable asking the son of Flynn for clarification. But he can wait. If there's one thing he's always been, it's patient. A very marketable skill.

After one last, long look at the sun, Castor forces himself to turn his back on it, leaning against the railing and resting his elbows on it. Can't do to be leaving such a target unguarded - a lesson he's sure the Creator would espouse, especially after such recent events.

"Yes... Not exactly a tune I would have chosen, but irresistibly intriguing nonetheless." And just like that, he's back to what's since become normal. "Much the same to be said of this little soiree. Cozy and quaint, but much too terribly muted for my tastes."

[toseethesunrise]

Quorra looks out briefly at the sun (she's still not tired of it), before turning back to Castor. He's been coming and going, randomly following after she and Sam, but it some ways, the relative familiarity of who he is offsets all the weirdness of where they are. They're both programs, and that counts for something, especially given all she doesn't know right now. She's not afraid of the unknown, by any means, but it's nice to not be alone in any potential misunderstandings.

"It's like nothing I've ever seen before," she says of the castle, still not quite sure if she likes it or not. Interesting? Of course. But that doesn't make or break likability. There's something about it that keeps her on guard. "I feel we could look all over and still not know the half of it."

[enzused]

"Quite a number of things can be filed under that particular directory as of late, precious," he says with a conspiratorial wink, "don't you think?"

Castor sniffs delicately at the latter part of her statement, because honestly. "That's hardly new. So very things are as they seem." He almost adds on that she should know that better than most, but. Although he wouldn't have meant the debacle at the End of Line, it doesn't take any advanced processes to figure out that's where she'd end up going.

So instead there's just a bit of awkward silence as Castor takes in the landscape bathed in sunset streaks on the other side of the veranda. It's not very often he finds himself at a loss for what to say - and it's more than safe to presume that he doesn't like it one bit.

[toseethesunrise]

"Well, of course," she says with a nod. "Almost everything, really. But there's something about this in particular. I'm not really sure."

Pausing, Quorra almost rubs her arm--she certainly hadn't been what she seemed for a long, long time, although she's pretty sure that's not what he meant. She settles for folding her hands together and stretching out her arms, to mask the movement.

"But it's more than that here. It's not the Grid, where the unknown was still... kind of familiar."

[enzused]

"Hm. Everything did stay inside the lines back there at home sweet home, even if the design of late was rather... Unpalatable."

If-then formulas. If A, then B - all causal and linear and what the Grid was built from. Even when all the end results were less than savory, like it's been for far too long. Between that and the fact he's rather sure CLU was set to attempt blowing the club for a second time, he can't exactly say he's too homesick.

"Still - as changes of scenery go, one can do much worse than this." Or so they can possibly imagine, seeing as neither of them really know much of what a User world could be. Certainly Castor less than Quorra, with her extensive library to draw on.

[toseethesunrise]

She half smiles, looking out at the sun again. It's been her favorite part by far. "It probably could be much worse. Even if it's not where we wanted to end up..." she trails off, shaking her head. "There is a certain beauty to it all. Some parts more than others."

Glancing back at him, Quorra knows it's just as new, and while she's been wasting no time getting all the new experiences she can, she's not quite sure if he's been doing the same.

[enzused]

"Anything is better than what was on the docket," he replies vaguely, not entirely wanting to get into what he was expecting back on the Grid.

Much as Castor would say otherwise, he does want to turn back and watch the rest of the sunset, but he knows he really shouldn't turn his back on the majority of the gathering here... So he compromises. He goes to lean against a nearby column - thus afforded both protection and vantage, he joins Quorra in looking out at the slowly deepening magenta and purple splashed across the clouds.

"There is something to be found in it, I suppose." The blandness is discredited just a bit by the quiet smile that keeps twitching on his face as he keeps his eyes on the sun and off Quorra.

[toseethesunrise]

She notices him watching the sun, and for a moment, wonders what his reaction to it was the first time he saw; Quorra certainly hasn't forgotten hers. Unless maybe this was his first time seeing it? But she can't bring herself to ask.

"Have you found anything interesting?" It's a safe question. If he's seen anything she hasn't, he could share--both for her own curiosity as well as getting a better understanding of where they were.

[enzused]

"You mean aside from most everything, or just something more so than the rest?"

Castor chuckles richly at it because he's not sure about her, but there's literally nothing here that hasn't made him stop and look closer and study and wonder.

But he's not inclined to go about discussing how he's felt newly coded again, trying to understand how everything pieces together all over again, so perhaps a topic change? "And yourself? I can only imagine what you've been up to since seeing you last."

It comes out sharper than intended, and he's not entirely sorry for it. It's a legitimate question, never mind the somewhat-accidental double meaning that's being applied. A thousand cycles - she must have oodles and oodles of stories to share.