Verschränkung [2c/?]
anonymous
June 8 2010, 17:06:37 UTC
Eduard shrugged again, smiling nervously. As Tino busied himself with the locks, he had a chance to glance around the apartment. It was frankly beautiful - long, bright curtains hung in the windows offsetting the deep blue upholstery of the couches and chairs arranged artfully in the living room. There were bookcases everywhere, in the same dark wood as the furniture; Scatter rugs let the way down the hallway toward the bedrooms in the in lemon-yellow and white, and black-and-white framed photographs hung on every wall. There were even flowers in a vase on the kitchen table - daffodils and tulips in the same lemon-yellow - and Eduard could smell something delicious roasting in the oven. The whole effect was like something out of a catalog: Perfectly photogenic, and yet completely livable.
“Sorry for the mess,” Tino said, coming to survey the apartment with a slight frown. “It's parent-teacher conferences this week, and I've been too exhausted to clean.” Eduard turned to stare at Tino in amazement.
“It's beautiful,” he said, and he sincerely meant it. “My apartment is barely there under all the old takeout containers and wires.”
Tino looked pleased, and looked at the apartment in a new light. “Berwald does most of the decorating - comes with the territory, I suppose - but I picked out the photos. I'm glad you like it,” he said, looking up at Eduard. Eduard fought down the urge to sweep the smaller man up into his arms and toss him down on the perfectly placed couch and instead forced a smile.
“So, um, where's the problem?” he asked. Tino clapped his hands and pointed to the living room.
“The modem is through here,” he said, leading the way. “I was in the middle of grading something and then, poof! Away went the internet, and I couldn't do anything to get it back up.”
“I'm sure it's nothing,” he said, all the while wishing Maybe it'll be some sort of catastrophic thing, like a resonance cascade that opens up a portal to a hostile dimension and I'll have to fight off alien invaders and then he'll fall in love with me and my manly crowbar and we'll live happily ever after in our own little post-apocalyptic paradise. Until I get kidnapped by the G-man and put into a seven-year sleep to wait for the sequel.
You idiot, that's the plot to Half-Life, said the little Liza voice in his head.
You're the idiot, little-Liza-in-my-head, because you actually followed what I'm talking about. That seemed to shut her up. Then he realized he'd been standing there in front of Tino, staring at the modem and having a silent argument with a voice in his head. “I-I'll take a look!” he said, feeling his cheeks flush red. Tino apparently didn't notice anything wrong.
“I hope it's fixable,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the chair closest to Eduard. “Berwald would kill me if I broke the internet.” Still blushing, Eduard made a non-committal noise and crouched down to examine the modem.
Well, it was plugged in; Eduard checked that off his list. He tested the connections and satisfied it wasn't a hardware issue, looked at the lights. Yes, a number of them were out - he followed the ethernet wires to a router a couple of feet away and checked that. Yup, the lights were blinking erratically, though the wireless seemed to be working and... He turned the router around. “I think I found your problem.”
“Really? That was so fast!” Tino leaned forward. “What's wrong?”
Eduard held up two halves of the ethernet cord connecting the router to the modem. “Something chewed through your wire.”
“Sorry for the mess,” Tino said, coming to survey the apartment with a slight frown. “It's parent-teacher conferences this week, and I've been too exhausted to clean.” Eduard turned to stare at Tino in amazement.
“It's beautiful,” he said, and he sincerely meant it. “My apartment is barely there under all the old takeout containers and wires.”
Tino looked pleased, and looked at the apartment in a new light. “Berwald does most of the decorating - comes with the territory, I suppose - but I picked out the photos. I'm glad you like it,” he said, looking up at Eduard. Eduard fought down the urge to sweep the smaller man up into his arms and toss him down on the perfectly placed couch and instead forced a smile.
“So, um, where's the problem?” he asked. Tino clapped his hands and pointed to the living room.
“The modem is through here,” he said, leading the way. “I was in the middle of grading something and then, poof! Away went the internet, and I couldn't do anything to get it back up.”
“I'm sure it's nothing,” he said, all the while wishing Maybe it'll be some sort of catastrophic thing, like a resonance cascade that opens up a portal to a hostile dimension and I'll have to fight off alien invaders and then he'll fall in love with me and my manly crowbar and we'll live happily ever after in our own little post-apocalyptic paradise. Until I get kidnapped by the G-man and put into a seven-year sleep to wait for the sequel.
You idiot, that's the plot to Half-Life, said the little Liza voice in his head.
You're the idiot, little-Liza-in-my-head, because you actually followed what I'm talking about. That seemed to shut her up. Then he realized he'd been standing there in front of Tino, staring at the modem and having a silent argument with a voice in his head. “I-I'll take a look!” he said, feeling his cheeks flush red. Tino apparently didn't notice anything wrong.
“I hope it's fixable,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the chair closest to Eduard. “Berwald would kill me if I broke the internet.” Still blushing, Eduard made a non-committal noise and crouched down to examine the modem.
Well, it was plugged in; Eduard checked that off his list. He tested the connections and satisfied it wasn't a hardware issue, looked at the lights. Yes, a number of them were out - he followed the ethernet wires to a router a couple of feet away and checked that. Yup, the lights were blinking erratically, though the wireless seemed to be working and... He turned the router around. “I think I found your problem.”
“Really? That was so fast!” Tino leaned forward. “What's wrong?”
Eduard held up two halves of the ethernet cord connecting the router to the modem. “Something chewed through your wire.”
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