Thinking (open)

[dragon_dealer]

Cimorene is sitting beside the lake. She feels a bit guilty - she should be weeding the beans. But then, she should also be visiting Gareth. She should have slept more. But right now, she is watching the water and running a small, blue rubber ball through her fingers

Comments

[young_baticeer]

Beatrice has her commonplace book out once more, and is working on making a rough map of the Mansion and its grounds. This is turning out to be more difficult than she expected, and she doesn't really notice Cimorene until she's standing right next to her.

When she notices her, she hesitates, not sure what to do. She can tell something's wrong, but she doesn't really know Cimorene well enough to ask about it. In the end she just gives an awkward wave and says "Hi."

[young_baticeer]

"Device, that's the word I was looking for. Yes. It turns the sound into electrical current and that travels down a wire, and at the other end there's a thing called a speaker which turns it back into sound again. And I used to know exactly how it did it, but I'm afraid I've forgotten." She looks a little disgusted with herself at this.

[dragon_dealer]

"Hm." She considers. "So the little green men wanted one?"

[young_baticeer]

"Apparently. I don't know why."

[dragon_dealer]

She snorts. "That sort of thing is why I moved to the woods."

[young_baticeer]

"Is it quieter out there then?"

You saw nothing.

[dragon_dealer]

"I don't know if quieter is the word. Saner, maybe."

What? *innocence*

[young_baticeer]

"I'd think almost anything would be." She picks up a flat stone and examines it critically, before throwing it out across the lake. It skips once, then sinks with a faint 'plop'. "I don't mind it so much, though. The unexpected pyromania was terrible, but apart from that I think I'm starting to get used to these things. My life was pretty weird to begin with."

[dragon_dealer]

"Magic?" Wryly: "Or more devices?"

[young_baticeer]

She glances round to make sure no one's watching. "Secret organisation, actually. So conspiracies and arson and shipwrecks, but no magic."

[dragon_dealer]

"Really?" She sounds interested. "Not much boredom, I'd wager."

[young_baticeer]

"Well, there was the business letter writing class I had to take. That was incredibly boring, but it was the only way to prove my identity."

[dragon_dealer]

"How does letter writing prove your identity?"

[young_baticeer]

"It was a test. The school wasn't really a secretarial school, that was just a cover, although I think some of the students were actually there to learn letter writing. There were coded messages hidden in some of the assignments, and I had to reply to them using the same codes."

[dragon_dealer]

"If that's the closest you get to boredom, you really haven't had to deal with much of it."

[young_baticeer]

Beatrice gives a wry smile. "Fair enough, but you never met my tutor. He could have made a lion taming class sound boring."