Two For Flinching [Part Two]
anonymous
April 3 2012, 12:26:46 UTC
Kida tries to explain things about her people that Audrey does not quite understand, but which sound fascinating all the same and which Audrey is more than happy to listen to. It slowly dawns on her that Kida is ancient, old as hills and rivers it seems, and older than the use of metal. Perhaps that is why the machines here are so strange. In return, Audrey tries to explain the machines that her people use, starting from the oldest stories of the barbarians in Europe that she can barely remember Milo blathering about, using stone and then metal, and then there were Romans or something, Europe is weird, and then steam and gasoline and this new radiation thing in Europe. They try to find some shape of words that they can both understand, but even in the meantime it is fascinating.
The glow from the sky - it has always been there, Kida says, the very rocks glow - dims, and it becomes something that might actually be called night.
"Come on," Kida says, all excitement, her blue eyes lighting up as she grabs Audrey's wrist again. It's not a way that Audrey is used to allowing herself to be moved around. "I must show you the city. Come to the top, you can see the whole of what is our world now."
*
It's even more of a climb, but it is worth it. The view from the top is breathtaking. Even if their world is small, each inch of it seems to be full of something. Little bugs like fireflies - literally fireflies, perhaps, considering Kida tells her not to touch or she will burn her fingers - flit around them.
"Welcome to Atlantis," says Kida softly.
Audrey grins, looking down at a whole civilisation before her, and goes to punch Kida on the arm in loose companionship. Kida darts away, looking confused.
"Two for flinching," she says automatically, and taps the princess on the shoulder with both the jab and the cross, barely more than a touch.
Kida tilts her head and clenches her own fists. "Two for flinching?"
"It's a kinda... greeting, or celebration. Friendly punch on the arm, you know. Showing that you know someone's tough enough to take it, and you trust them enough to hit you."
"Your mole will not think I was saying hello, was he?"
Audrey thinks back to Mole, thrown sideways by Kida's fist after a comment that was bound to be inappropriate, and starts laughing. "Nah, I think he'll understand the difference."
A smile crosses Kida's face, and she lightly punches Audrey on the arm in reply, right then left. "Two for flinching," she says, as if committing it to memory.
*
Rourke is angry. When she says the only power seems to be the crystals around their necks, he starts demanding that they take them all and leave. Audrey spits out that she is not sure, and she does not understand them anyway, and they do not seem that powerful. In truth, she suspects that they could be immensely powerful, but something in her is protective.
He tries to hit her. She kicks him on the shin and then punches him, with the full weight of her body behind it, in the solar plexus. When he doubles over, eyes bulging, she grabs hold of his hair.
"Two for flinching, cabrón."
Punching him in the face feels good. Doing it twice is better, and then she turns and runs before the rest of the group can say anything, because she'll be damned if she's going to let him fuck this place over.
The glow from the sky - it has always been there, Kida says, the very rocks glow - dims, and it becomes something that might actually be called night.
"Come on," Kida says, all excitement, her blue eyes lighting up as she grabs Audrey's wrist again. It's not a way that Audrey is used to allowing herself to be moved around. "I must show you the city. Come to the top, you can see the whole of what is our world now."
*
It's even more of a climb, but it is worth it. The view from the top is breathtaking. Even if their world is small, each inch of it seems to be full of something. Little bugs like fireflies - literally fireflies, perhaps, considering Kida tells her not to touch or she will burn her fingers - flit around them.
"Welcome to Atlantis," says Kida softly.
Audrey grins, looking down at a whole civilisation before her, and goes to punch Kida on the arm in loose companionship. Kida darts away, looking confused.
"Two for flinching," she says automatically, and taps the princess on the shoulder with both the jab and the cross, barely more than a touch.
Kida tilts her head and clenches her own fists. "Two for flinching?"
"It's a kinda... greeting, or celebration. Friendly punch on the arm, you know. Showing that you know someone's tough enough to take it, and you trust them enough to hit you."
"Your mole will not think I was saying hello, was he?"
Audrey thinks back to Mole, thrown sideways by Kida's fist after a comment that was bound to be inappropriate, and starts laughing. "Nah, I think he'll understand the difference."
A smile crosses Kida's face, and she lightly punches Audrey on the arm in reply, right then left. "Two for flinching," she says, as if committing it to memory.
*
Rourke is angry. When she says the only power seems to be the crystals around their necks, he starts demanding that they take them all and leave. Audrey spits out that she is not sure, and she does not understand them anyway, and they do not seem that powerful. In truth, she suspects that they could be immensely powerful, but something in her is protective.
He tries to hit her. She kicks him on the shin and then punches him, with the full weight of her body behind it, in the solar plexus. When he doubles over, eyes bulging, she grabs hold of his hair.
"Two for flinching, cabrón."
Punching him in the face feels good. Doing it twice is better, and then she turns and runs before the rest of the group can say anything, because she'll be damned if she's going to let him fuck this place over.
And to think, she signed up for the money.
Reply
Leave a comment