L&S anniversary!
oh heyyyyy it's been five years to the day since I started posting Tenebrism (even though fictionpress says Nov 1 because their timestamps are weird). it's also Alan and Keyd's anniversary since that's how they decided to count it, yep
So here, have a little snippet of the next Tenebrism chapter. It's just Alan and Keyd talking but I think that's a fairly popular scenario.
~~~~
I had about a million and a half questions, actual important and relevant ones, but the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “how tall are you?”
Keyd only hesitated for a second. “Nineteen and a half letghem,” he said, then frowned a little. “Does that…”
I laughed. “Nope. No fucking clue what that means.” Just like the distance thing, frequency couldn’t figure out how to translate height.
“Stand,” Keyd said, ticking his fingers up. It wasn’t an order, just a suggestion, and why not? I got up, stepped back and stood straight as I could without dropping Keyd’s arm, letting him...look at me, or whatever he wanted. And that’s what he did, just looked me up and down for a couple seconds, a thoughtful crease between his eyebrows.
“You are…perhaps, seventeen,” he said. Then, after one more glance over me, “and a half.”
“I’m five-ten in this world,” I told him, dropping back down in the chair. “I think you’re about six-six.”
“Those numbers do make very little sense,” Keyd admitted. “Frequency does have its shortcomings.”
“Yeah, but it’s pretty fucking cool.” It was so easy to forget that I was always hearing him through some kind of magic radio channel. I wondered if it changed the sound of his voice at all. Or what I sounded like to him translated through it. “Hey, can you say something? Like, out of it, I mean. I wanna hear something in...what’s your language called again?”
“Isji,” Keyd said. “Nhru anysejtakindu ro apaureja.”
“So you can just jump in and out of it, whenever you want, just like that?”
He nodded. “You could, as well, if you chose to learn. Dajtumji uhmkaret bahn, khe rohnah jaha mrit.”
“Dude, now you’re just showing off.”
“I’m no-” Keyd stopped, and then-holy shit-smiled. “You’re teasing.”
“Yeah, I do that sometimes.”
That smile was still there, not that corner-mouth thing but a real and obvious one, and it was distracting. He just looked like a whole different person when he smiled. “I’ve noticed. Or, am noticing. It can be difficult to tell with…” he gestured slightly, back and forth, “...imperfect translations.”
“I-” shit, what had he just said? Fucking focus, Alan, “-bet.”
Keyd shifted, his wrist twisting inside mine. “Are...these the things you wanted to ask me?”
“No, but I figured I’d ease into it, you know?” I hadn’t actually planned that, but it sounded good. And it seemed like it was working; Keyd was pretty relaxed and being downright talkative, for him. If I’d jumped into fucking interrogating him about touchy topics he’d’ve probably clamped himself up in that stoic shell he had going on most of the time. “So what the hell is this war about, anyway?”
Keyd looked startled for about a half a millisecond. Then, “many things.”
“All right, so, gimme a rundown.”
“I liked it better when you were easing into it,” Keyd said, and that pulled a laugh right out of me. Guy really could joke after all.
So here, have a little snippet of the next Tenebrism chapter. It's just Alan and Keyd talking but I think that's a fairly popular scenario.
~~~~
I had about a million and a half questions, actual important and relevant ones, but the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “how tall are you?”
Keyd only hesitated for a second. “Nineteen and a half letghem,” he said, then frowned a little. “Does that…”
I laughed. “Nope. No fucking clue what that means.” Just like the distance thing, frequency couldn’t figure out how to translate height.
“Stand,” Keyd said, ticking his fingers up. It wasn’t an order, just a suggestion, and why not? I got up, stepped back and stood straight as I could without dropping Keyd’s arm, letting him...look at me, or whatever he wanted. And that’s what he did, just looked me up and down for a couple seconds, a thoughtful crease between his eyebrows.
“You are…perhaps, seventeen,” he said. Then, after one more glance over me, “and a half.”
“I’m five-ten in this world,” I told him, dropping back down in the chair. “I think you’re about six-six.”
“Those numbers do make very little sense,” Keyd admitted. “Frequency does have its shortcomings.”
“Yeah, but it’s pretty fucking cool.” It was so easy to forget that I was always hearing him through some kind of magic radio channel. I wondered if it changed the sound of his voice at all. Or what I sounded like to him translated through it. “Hey, can you say something? Like, out of it, I mean. I wanna hear something in...what’s your language called again?”
“Isji,” Keyd said. “Nhru anysejtakindu ro apaureja.”
“So you can just jump in and out of it, whenever you want, just like that?”
He nodded. “You could, as well, if you chose to learn. Dajtumji uhmkaret bahn, khe rohnah jaha mrit.”
“Dude, now you’re just showing off.”
“I’m no-” Keyd stopped, and then-holy shit-smiled. “You’re teasing.”
“Yeah, I do that sometimes.”
That smile was still there, not that corner-mouth thing but a real and obvious one, and it was distracting. He just looked like a whole different person when he smiled. “I’ve noticed. Or, am noticing. It can be difficult to tell with…” he gestured slightly, back and forth, “...imperfect translations.”
“I-” shit, what had he just said? Fucking focus, Alan, “-bet.”
Keyd shifted, his wrist twisting inside mine. “Are...these the things you wanted to ask me?”
“No, but I figured I’d ease into it, you know?” I hadn’t actually planned that, but it sounded good. And it seemed like it was working; Keyd was pretty relaxed and being downright talkative, for him. If I’d jumped into fucking interrogating him about touchy topics he’d’ve probably clamped himself up in that stoic shell he had going on most of the time. “So what the hell is this war about, anyway?”
Keyd looked startled for about a half a millisecond. Then, “many things.”
“All right, so, gimme a rundown.”
“I liked it better when you were easing into it,” Keyd said, and that pulled a laugh right out of me. Guy really could joke after all.