Comments | aternatopia: One rainy street looks much like another

cptn_carrot in aternatopia

One rainy street looks much like another

Aug 26, 2011 00:14

When: Friday night, August 26
Where: Coming into town along Main Street
Who: Carrot Ironfoundersson & OPEN
What: Someone's about to be very, very, very confused
Rating: Depends on who finds him! For Carrot's part, probably no higher than G

( If you could kindly direct me to the Hubwards Gate... )

abraham sapien, !open, !arrival, carrot ironfoundersson

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icthyo_taco August 26 2011, 16:31:22 UTC

This really shouldn't become a habit, Abe thought as he gathered the books he wished to take home into his side bag. Night had fallen fairly quickly outside the library's windows. It was probably because of the encroaching rain that stole the sun too early in the day. He blamed this on the fact that he had now been out of water for over 12 hours and his skin was first to give protest, tightening around his knuckles as he turned another page of another book ( ... )

Re: icon for you icthyo_taco August 27 2011, 18:28:50 UTC

"Amazing!" Abe replied to the man's genuine answer. "It is fascinating that such a similar species to that of a human, identical from the looks, would exist in a universe where the physics are so different! Though I'm sure you're having as difficult a time wrapping your head around our reality as I am around yours. It is the same awe you express that many astronauts of our dimension have at seeing the earth from afar for the first time. I understand it's a perspective that's not soon forgotten ( ... )

cptn_carrot August 28 2011, 07:37:32 UTC

"I am human," Carrot protested, looking faintly wounded. "Well, and a dwarf. By adoption."

His discomfort was fading pretty quickly. Not because the situation had changed any - he was still apparently in an unfamiliar city on a completely alien world. But there didn't seem to be very much he could do about that just now. He could worry about getting home later.

New things, modern things, new ideas had always excited him. And there was quite literally a whole world of new ideas being laid out in front of him.

"I know about gravity, it's the force that pulls everything downward. Only wouldn't the people around where the world curves start to slip? And what about the folk on the other side, do they walk about upside down? Feet on the ceiling, that sort of thing?" A round world. He wished he'd asked the wizards more about their experiment when he'd had the chance. Disc physics did not apply well to a sphere.

For instance, their whole world turned once every twenty-four hours. While a greater time than one hour, that still seemed very ( ... )

icthyo_taco August 30 2011, 00:41:00 UTC

"Oh, of course. I apologize," Abe amended ( ... )

cptn_carrot August 30 2011, 16:04:23 UTC

"Not to be rude, sir, but what species are you, if you don't mind my asking?" Had it not been for the serving woman, Carrot might have wondered if Abe was what went by the name 'human' here. So far he seemed very much like Carrot's idea of a human, barring his appearance - which was man-shaped, and seemed to be put together similarly, even if the resemblance ended there. On a round world, maybe this was what a human looked like. But then there was Pam.

He pondered the shape and nature of worlds. Gravity here pulled things on the surface toward the center of the sphere; that was why no one slipped or fell off. And he could get what Abraham was saying about the curve not being perceptible. On the other hand, he still couldn't really grasp how people on the upside-down side couldn't tell they were upside down.

...Was he on the upside-down side? He tried this idea out in his head, attempting to 'be aware' of being oriented not exactly upright to see if he would be able to sense it, but nothing changed. Maybe if he tried this experiment ( ... )

icthyo_taco August 30 2011, 19:28:03 UTC

"Oh. Dear. Well that might be a little difficult to explain," Abraham said. He pondered a little and ultimately decided, "The short answer is that I am an Icthyo Sapien--the only known one of my kind. Icthyo translates to relating to fish and sapien's root word means wise when relating to mankind. So I am most literally translated as an intelligent fish or a fish man. Quite frankly, though, I prefer Abe," he said good-naturedly ( ... )

cptn_carrot August 31 2011, 07:55:57 UTC

Abe couldn't have known about Carrot's interest in the origin and meaning of words. But he couldn't have chosen a better way to explain. Carrot brightened immediately. "From the old word sapere!" he exclaimed, surprised and pleased that their worlds should have this in common. It hadn't even occurred to him yet to wonder how it was possible they spoke the same language at all, but since they did, it made sense that it should have common origins. How that was possible, Carrot wouldn't even attempt to say. He was just glad of it. "Meaning 'to have taste' or 'to be wise'. That's a noble name for your species, sir, to be called for your wisdom." Well, and his fishiness, but that part didn't need pointing out ( ... )

icthyo_taco September 9 2011, 01:46:48 UTC

"Fascinating..." was all Abe could mumble as Carrot continued with his word history. He cocked his head as he listened and bowed it at the compliment, though he was hardly the one responsible for the label ( ... )

cptn_carrot September 24 2011, 08:43:00 UTC

At Abraham's counteroffer, Carrot sighed. The sound was part relief and part reluctant surrender. He didn't really have a choice at this point; it was either leave without paying or eating, which already felt wrong because they would already have begun to cook the food, or let his companion pay. So he could only be relieved that Abe was prepared to let Carrot pay him back in some fashion.

On the other hand, paying him back would necessitate staying here for some length of time. When he found a way to get back, he wouldn't feel right about leaving if he were still in debt. Then again, if he had got here and was able to get home again, maybe he could return at some point to pay his debt.

He would have to make it work. He didn't have a choice. He nodded, trying to mask his reluctance with gratitude. "Well. Thank you, sir. I will repay you as soon as I'm able." Almost, he could hear Nobby and Colon laughing at him. The two of them mooched off others whenever the opportunity presented itself, and Carrot didn't hold it against them; it ( ... )

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