But of course one does, and after a moment he looks up with a tolerable semblance of calm. "I wouldn't go that far, but I'll survive. You mind telling me where I am? I think I took a wrong turn."
Yeeeeah okay, riiiight. But Fletcher's got that No I'm Fine tendency himself, so instead of pressing he tucks his hands in his pockets and says, "I don't know, really. It's somewhere. I was supposed to be back on Finity's End by now, but..."
He shrugs. "It's a planet. You can tell. The horizon works right and wind is right. I dunno about the ecosystem, though, it's kind of strange." He pitches his voice casual, but steady, like talking to Jeremy when he’s bouncing off the walls.
He should, Justin tells himself wryly, be used to being managed by teenagers by this time. He runs his hands through his hair and straightens, focusing. "It is, yes. But you didn't learn that on Finity's End, I'm guessing."
Fletcher grins sheepishly, and scuffs his shoe on the grass. "No," he says, "I was born on Pell, just after the war, and it was a while before Finity's End got back to the station, because of Mazian, so I got to be in the Planetary studies program."
Fletcher stiffens. Pell was home for a long time, but the whole thing is kind of a sore spot. "Long enough," he says, short, almost snappish.
And promptly regrets it - he always tells himself he won’t do that anymore. “Long enough to pick up how a garden works,” he says, trying for something more amiable. He was the one who decided to talk to Justin, after all.
“Where’re you from?” he asks, with what is attempting to be a friendly smile.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Warrick," Fletcher says, because if a person isn't used to the formality they think it's funny, and if they are, that's good, and shakes.
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But of course one does, and after a moment he looks up with a tolerable semblance of calm. "I wouldn't go that far, but I'll survive. You mind telling me where I am? I think I took a wrong turn."
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He shrugs. "It's a planet. You can tell. The horizon works right and wind is right. I dunno about the ecosystem, though, it's kind of strange." He pitches his voice casual, but steady, like talking to Jeremy when he’s bouncing off the walls.
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And promptly regrets it - he always tells himself he won’t do that anymore. “Long enough to pick up how a garden works,” he says, trying for something more amiable. He was the one who decided to talk to Justin, after all.
“Where’re you from?” he asks, with what is attempting to be a friendly smile.
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He might blush just the smallest bit, because Catlin is pretty and very, very cool. "We talked some."
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He laughs a little. "But I guess you could guess that last part."
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He hesitates. "Can I ask you something?"
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