(Untitled)

[a_poor_guardian]

Archibald Craven has always been a selfish and self-indulgent man, and there have been very few willing to challenge him when he went into his darker moods since Lilias Craven died. In the days since he quarreled with Lucy Pevensie he indulged himself first by shutting himself up in his rooms and later by expressing his will rather forcibly to the

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[gonna_live]

Well, Kaylee's two for four. Batting .500.

She's got a cup of tea; when her foot accidentally catches a chair on the other side of his table, she -- accompanied by a brief and florid curse in Chinese -- has to move quickly to catch herself. A little tea slops over the side and onto the floor.

Sheepishly: "Sorry about that. Havin' a clumsy kind of day."

[a_poor_guardian]

"That is all right," Archibald says, but he says so mechanically, as if he has not seen Kaylee at all.

A moment later, when Archibald does notice her, he looks carefully at her, trying to guess whether she is dead or not. Surely, if she is with child, she must be alive? In any case, the woman's accent immediately identifies her as a woman not of his social class, so she is not going to remind him too much of Lily.

Archibald attempts a smile. "Shall I send a waiter, beg pardon, a waitrat, for more tea?"

[gonna_live]

Kaylee breaks into a smile. "That's real nice of you, xiexie ni, but -- that's okay. I guess -- sometimes you get tea more out of habit rather than actually wantin' it, you know?"

[a_poor_guardian]

"I suppose so," says Archibald. The phrase Kaylee used sounds vaguely familiar, but he can't recall where he heard it.

The young woman doesn't look like she should be standing up for very long. Belatedly, Archibald adds, "Would you like to sit down?"

[gonna_live]

Kaylee's a little surprised by the offer, and it shows -- but not displeased, or put off. "Thank you," she says, and her smile widens a little as she pulls out a chair for herself and has a seat. "I'm trippin' on things today, I guess." She carefully sits her mug down. "My name's Kaylee."

[a_poor_guardian]

Archibald is drinking a bottle of Grenache - Syrah from southern France this evening. He's just finished his first glass; he pours a second and raises it to Kaylee. "Archibald Craven, of Misselthwaite Manor, Yorkshire. Nineteen-aught-six."

Archibald places the foreign word; he heard it last week from Gabriel Tam. "May I ask if you come from the twenty-sixth century?"

[gonna_live]

"...what gave it away? -- and I guess we probably have an acquaintance or two in common, then."

[a_poor_guardian]

"Senator Gabriel Tam used some of the same words you did," explains Archibald. "I have never heard them otherwise. Have you met the Senator?"

[gonna_live]

Kaylee's expression clears, and she nods. "Once or twice." With a crooked grin. "He's my father-in-law."

[a_poor_guardian]

(Gabriel Tam, at their first meeting: I have a daughter. And a son. And because I didn't pay attention when it mattered, I lost them both.

And It's never too late. Tiān xiăodé-- for the love of God, man, go to them. Go to your children.)

"Yes," murmurs Archibald. "He mentioned he had a son." But the subject of Gabriel Tam and his children might not be an appropriate topic of conversation. Instead of asking further about the Tam family, Archibald asks, "Tell me, what do the words you said mean?"

[gonna_live]

"Oh -- " Kaylee waves a hand. "Just -- thank you. That's all." With a warm smile. "It's Chinese. Mandarin Chinese. They speak it on Earth, or they did, but -- I don't think it was ever all that widely used everywhere until a lot later."

[a_poor_guardian]

"Quite interesting."

Archibald considers the cultural implications of twenty-sixth century code-switching.

"I do not think there is anywhere in the world, in my time, where people commonly speak both Chinese and English. Of course, a few English people speak Chinese, and vice versa, as necessary for trade, but that is all. Is there a pattern? Are you more likely to say certain kinds of things in English and certain other kinds of things in Chinese?"

[gonna_live]

Kaylee considers the question.

(At least part of her is aware that Archibald Craven is not the kind of person with whom it's okay to discuss how and why cussing is so much better in Chinese.)

"It...depends. On where you are, and who you're with. And -- titles, like. Those're Chinese, too -- family relations, and relations as good as family -- like our captain, he calls me what amounts to 'little sister', and that about sums it up."

[a_poor_guardian]

Archibald might discuss foul language with a gentleman of his own age and social class, if no ladies were present. He would not, however, discuss it with young women.

"But for the most part, you hold general conversations in English, I see. Are you fluent in Chinese, or do you only know how to say terms of address and such things?"

[gonna_live]

"Oh, I'm fluent -- enough's written in both, everywhere, that everybody has to be. And we had lessons in both when I was in school. And -- I'm not able to talk about real technical stuff in it, just because where I grew up is pretty anglo, and anybody I learned anything about machines from speaks English when they talk about it."

[a_poor_guardian]

The senator who is one of the seven most powerful men in an alliance that includes a number of planets has a daughter-in-law who works with machines. Archibald wonders whether Kaylee's social status is part of whatever wedge exists between Gabriel Tam and his children.

"Curious," says Archibald.