Day 28: Bus 2

[misterprince]

The group hadn't made it to the Twin Pines before the nurses started ushering them back to the buses. Sanji didn't believe the small sack dinner he was handed would make up for the meal they would have had at the restaurant, and aside from that he'd still wanted to check the place out. Now he had no way of comparing it to what they served at the

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[small_fortune]

On Barrayar, it wouldn't be considered strange for him to be mortally offended at being addressed as "Monsieur" or any other variation that wasn't his proper title; of course, he hadn't introduced himself with his title, and judging from the time Javert came from, introducing himself with a title might have added an uncomfortable extra edge to the conversation. Enough guessing at how to introduce himself in this strange place, he resolved; he was Mark, and the rest of his hard-won name and his title were details that weren't absolutely vital for every person he met to know. Particularly when it seemed more likely to alienate people around here than win them over. Mark had to admit he was a bit of a hard sell based on looks alone, he didn't need to make things harder on himself.

"I suppose I was wondering what your daily life was like. I don't mean to pry into your personal life, but I'm interested in the details that tend to be left out of history books. The individual experience that ordinary people..." Well, maybe he was asking a lot of Javert. Anyone asking Mark for a summary of the daily experience of the average person from any of the worlds where he had lived might have gotten a blank stare or a brief, sarcastic comment. These things weren't recorded well because they were hard to capture. "Never mind, if you don't care to; it's just my personal curiosity."

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert laughed shortly. "A former inspector is hardly the right man to ask for information about 'ordinary life.' You're likely to get the idea that everyone in Paris is depraved and corrupt and that it's dangerous to even look at someone the wrong way."

He had the impression that his own life had been more varied than most, but to describe it...that was difficult. At the moment, he couldn't come up with anything more descriptive than 'interesting,' and he doubted that would satisfy Mark.

"In a way, I'd imagine life in my time isn't terribly different from anyone's now. People are people, no matter the year - I expect I'd need a more specific question." He smiled slightly. "You must realize it's rather difficult to describe what's normal for me."

[small_fortune]

Mark smiled back wryly. "Yes, I suppose it's too vague a question. I apologize; if I had known I'd be interviewing someone from that time period, I might have more coherent questions for you."

Though he didn't think an inspector was a poor choice for learning about life. Even if it was the criminal life, he knew from personal experience that criminality was not always the result of depravity or corruption, and that the economic and social climate of a place could sometimes be divined simply by the types of crimes committed there.

"I imagine you're right--human nature in my time, in your time and in this place is probably generally all the same at heart." A few monsters, a few saints, and mostly people somewhere between trying to muddle along.