touchedgod
in
damned
DAY 59: CAFETERIA
Billy surfaced into wakefulness. Sleep receded like an inky tide, and it didn't say anything to him before it was gone. His dreams had been nothing but the sensation of water, rocking him restlessly in his bottle. There seemed to be an ocean beyond his confines, but he couldn't see it and couldn't reach it. He pawed at the glass, but any progress
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Well. That made perfect sense!
Nodding along thoughtfully, it was only the slam of Chipp's fist that suddenly jogged loose a niggling little query he'd had the whole time he was listening. It was only little, of course, and it wasn't exactly out of the bounds of possibility that he'd simply not noticed, but-- well, it would have been rude not to ask for clarification.
"I don't know if I can vote on Earth, but I'll try if you want me too!" he began encouragingly. "You really seem like the kind of person who could, um. 'Get shit done'. I just have one little question." Sitting back into his chair he broke off and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. There was no easy way of asking this, but... "If the President is a she, does that mean that you're a woman? Or are you going to change once you're voted in?"
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What the hell?! "Why the hell would I have to be a woman to become President?!"
Where did that... Oh. Realizing his mistake, Chipp shook his head and held up his hands, not looking flustered at all but rather confused. Right, Erica was a girl, wasn't she? "No, no, Presidents can be guys or women! Cuz, the President I met, she was a girl and that's how she did shit, so ... you know, that's how it is!"
Seriously, what kind of question was that? Chipp didn't seem to realize that with the kind of face he was making and the harshness of his words might given anyone the impression that he was offended rather then confused.
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That said, there was enough force behind Chipp's retort that he had to cringe inwardly and wonder if he'd missed something huge. Should he have known about presidents? Had he missed something really, really obvious somehow?
Clearly, he had to plan his own response very carefully indeed.
"Sorry, sorry!" he said quickly, dropping his gaze to the table and lowering his head in humble acceptance of his failure. "I didn't... um... I know it's not an excuse, but I'm not completely familiar with the way most Earth customs work. I- I guess I can kind of understand, though?" It was a big leap, but he needed to save face here now that he already looked stupid- "That's kind of the same thing I do. Did. Sort of. And both men and women did it before me, too."
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It was still difficult for Chipp to wrap his head around though. This guy didn't look any different from anyone else here, so how could he be an alien or something like that? It didn't make sense, but how could someone from Earth be... asking questions about Earth like that?
And then he said something else interesting... like sort of being a President? Chipp was suddenly very intrigued and he really wished he could sit down so he could have a more personal conversation with this guy. It just kind of sucked that he had to hover over him like some damn bird. Damn, there was just so much he had to ask this guy!
"What do you mean? Were you the President of wherever you're from? Can you teach me about it?!" Now, chipp sounded like he was making an attempt at sounding halfway respectful. "... Please?!"
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What was it about this place that made him so chatty anyway? Just plain nerves? He'd never spoken all that much back on Kaioshinkai. Still, it wasn't as though he'd really had the choice back there, given that there was precisely one other person on the planet who already thought he was an idiot. Well. An idiot in training.
At least Chipp seemed to understand that he needed a little more respect than that! "I'm not a President, exactly," he explained cheerfully; how could he not be pleased, even after all that anxious babbling, that someone was asking for his advice? First Ritsu, now Chipp! "I'm a Kaio- ah, the guardian of the universe. Or at least I will be when I've finished my training properly." He smiled, wrapped up enough in his satisfaction that dropping a bombshell like that barely mattered. "What do you want to know?"
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This "not being able to sit down" shit was getting really annoying. Chipp wished he could have taken a seat and showed a little more respect to someone who was so highly ranked (even though he didn't really know how this shit worked - oh well, that's why he was asking, right?)
"Guardian, huh... Well, even if it's not the same, how'd you get that position? Were you voted in? How'd you do it?" Hopefully it wasn't anything too weird, but this guy seemed pretty nice and legitimate. Chipp found it hard to believe that this guy wasn't chosen for his position by others; the only kind of leaders he seemed to be familiar with were the tyrannical, ineffectual kind that no person in their right mind would willingly pick.
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