In which a mun cannot believe she's really doing this

[getsome_sleep]

Characters: Huo (getsome_sleep), OPEN to debaters and onlookers!
Date/Time: Evening of the 27th.
Location: Smoke's in the City Without Walls.
Rating: PG, in case of drunk debauchery err debate that's right.
Summary: Debate night down at the pub. Huo's idea of a good time is a bit special.

Comments

[sumi_eight]

The prospect of a debate was an enticing thing. While the puzzle of the sphere itself provided great mental stimulation, the added bonus of potential death at the hands of the powers-that-be made it a far less appealing pastime than a simple, lively, non-lethal debate.

When she arrived, Sumi glanced around the bar, unsure of quite what to look for. Huo had sounded quite proper, like someone noble born or at least highly educated, and his precise handwriting lead her to believe that these traits could probably be found in the man as well. After all, much information could be derived by simply looking at someone's handwriting.

Sweeping a tendril of hair behind one ear, she finally spotted a man who fit her mental list of qualifiers and drew near to his table. "Huo, I presume?" she inquired as she approached.

[getsome_sleep]

"You presume correctly." Even as he rose from his seat to greet her, bowing low, Huo sneaked an upward glance and studied this new face a bit more closely than he had the ones who came before her. For the first time, he thought that he might be able to connect writing and face, without prior knowledge of either, and it pleased him - as did the woman's neat and thoughtful appearance. He smiled at her. "Sumi, if I may presume in turn?"

He didn't stare - that would have been unforgivable - but his gaze did linger, again, briefly, on her face. Was the piece framing her eyes some unknown device, or merely an ornament? It certainly did lend a curious, exotic touch.

[sumi_eight]

While there were many things that Sumi might've called her wire-rimmed glasses, 'exotic' certainly wasn't one of them. They were entirely plain, without any extraneous color or decoration, but it hadn't occurred to her that he might be from a world where the technology to make glasses hadn't yet been developed

[getsome_sleep]

Huo had also noticed the contrast, and was equally pleased by it. Yin-Yang, suitably arranged. This bodes well. The style she dressed in was both familiar and removed from what he might have considered normal, perhaps their different worlds - the worlds of their memory-dreams - had influenced each other, in some unknown way and time. Neither of them looked very much like they belonged in the bar, either, and that pleased him as well. They were their own corner of strange harmony

[sumi_eight]

At Huo's comment, Sumi lifted her hand to her face, wondering briefly what ornament he could be talking about. Her hair was decorated with a few small accessories, but he wasn't looking at her hair. "My glasses?" she asked, touching the thin frame. Yes, that must have been what he meant, since she wasn't really wearing any other ornamentation. "Oh. Yes

[getsome_sleep]

With endless care - the glass must be fragile - Huo took the spectacles from Sumi's hand, soundlessly mouthing the new word once to try it. Such a small, simple object, but what expertise must have gone into its making! He turned them over, not touching the lenses, brought them up to his own eyes and peered through, though of course he did nothing so crude as to slip them on without her approval. Through the glass, the world was transformed, crooked and bulging. But they were meant to help her see, she said

[sumi_eight]

It was actually quite endearing to watch Huo handle her glasses with such care. Even she rarely handled them so delicately, though perhaps it was because she knew the amount of stress that they could handle and what would and wouldn't make them break. "Knowledge should be shared, and I would be glad for the opportunity to teach you in any field I'm familiar with. Granted, even I am not sure of the extent of my education, but I'm uncovering it as I go along

[getsome_sleep]

She was good at this, Huo thought with pleasure, she was articulate and sensible and making real arguments rather than relying on rhetoric. And for himself, he was rising to that challenge, as easily as he had done nothing else all his life - whatever that life might have been like once, whatever and whomever he might have been. It occurred to him that though he had no particular interest in the topic at hand - none beyond the everyday, since it was after all a subject that touched and would touch upon their current lives - he still wished to argue it strongly, to gain the upper hand. It was his first taste of an unknown but natural competitiveness since his awakening, and he liked it

[sumi_eight]

"Your argument holds merit, but how do you propose that one should test him or herself with certainty? What seems dangerous and foreign to you might seem commonplace to me." His awe at her glasses should have been enough to drive that point home. "Do not think that I mean to belittle you when I say this, of course, but it is a fact that cannot be ignored. My point is that there are times when we might present a danger to ourselves and others without even being aware that such a hazard exists; furthermore, that it might be impossible to verify or even sense the presence of such danger

[getsome_sleep]

"You speak of detainment as though it were a punishment and a shame; it is not." It was not a very important point in her argument, but he caught on it and pulled on it like on a loose thread in a fabric. Even the frayed edge of a sleeve could undo a whole garment if pulled good and hard. "Nor is it a matter for enforcement, as may be abused by those who abuse force. No; this is a matter of self-governance and reasonable expectation. The people will not leave in fear of coercion, if they are held responsible for their own actions, and punished only should they fail to act responsibly. No: given this sense of control, and understanding that in sacrifice should one be needed they display high merit, they will be driven, rather, to excel in the duty of keeping themselves from doing harm