(Untitled)

[tooktheblack]

Jon tried to spend most of his time out of doors because the inside of the Compound was stifling, in a way, and while he'd been at the Wall, he never really liked walls. It was too compact, too closed in, and it made it feel like he couldn't get out. That said, there were things in the Compound that interested him: books, the strange boxes that

Comments

[highf]

"Jon Snow, meet film reel," Kurt easily replied, breezing inside and giving him an amused tilt of his head. He knew that plenty of people on the island were disadvantaged, coming from times when such technologies weren't available, and without a manual to help guide them through it all in one fell swoop. If anything, the fact that Jon was willing to dive straight into it all regardless was something that Kurt found undeniably endearing. Carefully closing his fingers around the film reel, he glanced up at the young man, waiting for Jon to release the disc. "And film reel needs to meet projector."

To emphasize his point, he tilted his head in the direction of the projector. "Used together, both of them help to project moving images on a surface. We call them films, or movies. A story told visually, more or less."

[tooktheblack]

"Strange. It would be good, though, for those who don't know their letters to be able to see it in pictures. Is there sound too? Or just the images?"

It felt strange to be so summer-green about something but the island was a whole different world than Westeros and full of things that Jon never would have seen, much less be expected to be an expert on.

[highf]

"Should be both sound and images. Hopefully. Although silent films exist too," Kurt mused, half to himself as he turned the reel in his hands, trying to find a title etched somewhere for reference; sadly, there was nothing of the sort. Pursing his lips, he shrugged. Regardless of whether or not the film was accompanied by audio, Kurt supposed that there was no harm in playing a few minutes. Even the most potentially unsavory of films didn't usually ruin themselves until then. "In my time, this kind of technology is considered pretty antiquated. We've got flat little discs that can hold a lot more than this. But, you know, this is where it started. Once we realized that the tiniest of pictures could be stretched to fit a whole screen with a bit of well-aimed light."

With a lopsided grin, Kurt reached out for Jon's arm. "Come on, let's take a look. And, speaking of letters- are you taking any classes? To learn some of the more common languages on the island?"

[tooktheblack]

"No, I haven't yet. I can read the letters used on the notice board most often and most people seem to speak the Common tongue. I never knew Valyrian or any of the other languages in Westeros. It never really came up since all I knew was the North and the Wall."

Perhaps it would be a good idea to take up studies though, on the island. It wasn't something he'd considered when he first arrived.

"I haven't had schooling except scrapes here and there from Maester Luwin and the septas. Most of what I learned, I learned in the field."

[highf]

"If you can read the letters on the notice board, honestly, that should prove to be enough. I mean, personally, I took a few years of French in high school, mostly because it feels like a language far more beautiful than our own- blasphemous or shallow as that is to say," Kurt ponders with a grin, wondering what Valyrian might sound like, or if it serves as an equivalent to any of the languages that he better knows on Earth. "But class is pretty cool. You know, if you like to hear about history or learn any of the arts, it... expands the mind. Obviously, certain ways of living don't really require or benefit from putting a bunch of us in the same place and having regular discussions, but I find that the classes here are pretty well-organized. Casual enough that they aren't a heavy obligation, but the teachers are skilled enough that you're never quite bored

[tooktheblack]

"Popcorn? That is something else you will have to explain," Jon said, settling on the couch near Kurt. He was lucky in that Kurt seemed both knowledgeable about the subject at hand and patient about explaining it - both good things. It had served Jon well to be patient when instructing new recruits, after all, and it was nice to be on the receiving end of it here.

Somehow he suspected watching this would not really be the same as learning how to hold off multiple opponents while at a disadvantage but, in a way, all knowledge was worth having.

"Do you eat it?"

[highf]

"I am... so bad at this culture gap thing, wow," Kurt laughed, as soon as he realized his mistake. A light flush rose to his cheeks at the very thought of how Jon must have felt, with so many people on the island being familiar with concepts his world probably wouldn't touch for centuries, or even at all, considering the differences between his and Kurt's own. The fact that he had overlooked that, and not for the first time, made Kurt feel as though he needed to be more careful still. An effort that he was, fortunately, more than willing to make for such a cherished friend.

"But, yes. Popcorn is something that you eat. It's... usually served salty, really light, kind of melts partially in your mouth, but is still crunchy nonetheless." Kurt ticks each observation off on his finger. "Do you know what corn is at all? That might help give an idea of what popcorn is like."

[tooktheblack]

"We have corn in Westeros, yes. Grows down in the Riverlands, mostly."

Most everything grew there in the fertile land along the forks of the Trident and it had been that land, Tully land, that had fallen first in the war.

"So what makes it pop, then? To differentiate it from regular corn?"

[highf]

"Well, good, otherwise I would have gone into describing corn, and that's... not an easy task without being able to fall upon other familiar foods and vegetables between our worlds," Kurt sighed with relief, nodding before resting his hands thoughtfully on his knees, even as the credits of the movie began to play. "Um, well. When it comes to the differences, they're pretty significant, actually. The whole point of popcorn is to remove all of the water and moisture from the kernels of corn until they make a popping noise, sometimes over a stove, at which point the inside of the kernel kind of explodes into a light and fluffy snack. It usually doesn't taste so heavily of corn by itself, so you usually take some kind of spice, or salt, or candy to cover the corn, give it some taste. Usually in my world, we use butter

[tooktheblack]

"I think I understand. Sometimes if the fields get too hot, the same thing happens in Westeros," Jon explained. "It doesn't happen very often except very far South, but I've heard tell of it enough to understand what you're talking about. I guess there isn't any of this popping corn here, though, is there?"

It seemed like a delicacy and where there were many things on the island that Jon would consider rare that were, in fact, plentiful, he felt like he would have remembered popcorn.

"It's a shame if there isn't."

[highf]

"There can be," Kurt argued, pressing his lips together as he began to nod, slowly, before picking up the speed, struck with the idea. "I mean, we've got the proper pots and pans for this sort of thing, and we've got corn around. It won't be theater-perfect, but we could also get together all of the oil, the butter, salt. Granted, it'd probably take a couple of goes before we get it right, but I'm a semi-decent chef when I put some effort into it- been cooking for my dad and me ever since my mom passed away- and I'm sure that whatever we can't handle, we could find someone else to give us advice."

Even as the credits started rolling on the screen, something that Kurt couldn't recognize as a glance, he kept on going. "So, what do you think? Make our next adventure the making of popcorn?"

[tooktheblack]

"If we do a good enough job at it, there might be trade in it," Jon said, laughing. "Though trade in what, I don't know. The island is strange in that gold doesn't mean anything. I could have my pockets laden with dragons and they mean nothing, except maybe to melt down and make jewelry out of."

He hadn't seen much of that on the island unless it was something that had come from home and he imagined there could be trade in it, if the island celebrated namedays or weddings.

[highf]

"You mean it's strange in that people are actually pretty decent around here. Makes you wonder if the whole socialist gig would have been possible with the right set of people," Kurt shook his head, lips lightly quirked in amusement as he allowed his head to loll and rest against the back of the couch. "Back in my world, no, we would never have seen people so selflessly going out for one another, we never would have found a way to have this lack of currency thing work out. But this place is... honestly, that aspect of it makes me nervous. Because what are people if not sometimes a bit selfish, right? Or so I figure

[tooktheblack]

"Clothes and food are readily provided for and should I have want of books, there is no hardship in coaxing the shelf for one. I'm afraid I'm a man of simple tastes, Kurt, and this island seems to provide everything I want."

He paused for a moment and scratched Ghost behind the ears, thinking. "The one thing I want, we can't have it here. I want snow and ice, like home, if only for a short while. I want to feel like I'm home again."

[highf]

"Well, that's... no fun at all," Kurt replied with a light raise of his brow, shaking his head in mock dismay. He could think of plenty of things that he wanted for on the island, services that he wouldn't mind accruing under his belt, that he would have provided a great amount of his labor to receive in turn. But the last thing that he wanted to do was to employ Jon Snow for his own selfish wants. "I've got a great deal that I'm in need of on the island, but- I think I may stick to an idea that a classmate and I came up with, as far as providing something to the greater island populace. One of the things that I specialize in is skincare. Making sure that people's skin doesn't get too dry, oily, what have you in this awful island humidity. And if you go about it right, treating one's skin can be a very relaxing and invigorating experience. Meanwhile, my friend is a fantastic hairdresser, so between the two of us, we'll have quite the salon set up for anyone who wants a day off to just relax

[tooktheblack]

"Skin and hair? I've never been particularly vain," Jon admitted, thinking, inanely, of Queen Cersei and Ser Jaime for a moment. "But I would be a fool not to support an endeavor like that. I guess you can use me to experiment. It's just hair, it grows back."

As hot as it was on the island, he had trouble imagining snow, but Jon liked to think that maybe that was true and in a few short weeks he'd have what he'd been missing from home.