03-05-2014, 07:22 AM
Funny how many of these I write in response to one of Dartz's threads...
Time: Slightly after http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/topic/10549]the events described in this thread.
"Daddy?"
Noah looked up from his report and smiled at Helen. "Yes, sweetie?"
"Why are we going to Phobos?"
"I thought you wanted to visit Kohran and Makoto."
"I do! But Kohran-big-sis and Makoto-little-sis are on Deimos. Deimos is not Phobos."
Noah stifled a chuckle - Helen had picked up more than a few habits from her mother, and saying something matter-of-fact with a completely serious tone was one of them. "Well, Yayoi was busy, and we promised Kokoro that she could have some time to herself for a while, so we couldn't just fly to Deimos ourselves. We had to buy passage."
"We bought a hallway?"
"Not this time. In this case, 'buying passage' means paying somebody to take you somewhere."
"But Capt'n Garret isn't going to Deimos. He's going to Phobos."
"That's true, but Phobos is close to Deimos. We're going to meet Ms. Taliaferro at Phobos, and she'll fly us over to Deimos."
"Who's Ms. Tolliver?"
"Renée Taliaferro. She works on Odyssey, and she plays guitar with the band Bombastic Hush. Kohran asked them to play for her new show."
"Oh, wow! A real guitar player works for you!" Helen thought for a moment. "She could have come to Stellvia and gave us a ride."
Noah stifled a wince at Helen's mangling of the language. "Well, yes, she could have, but I had another reason to want to ride in this ship."
"Daddy. You're a human. You're not supposed to multitask."
"Where did you learn that word?"
"Takami-big-sis taught it to me."
"I'm not surprised. But I'm not multitasking, at least not the way Takami means it. I'm looking around this ship, trying to guess which parts Sora designed herself."
"Did Sora-big-sis make this ship?"
"Captain Garret tells me she was one of the people who made it."
"Oh." Helen looked around. "I don't see her here."
Noah carefully did not ask whether Helen was looking at the ship the way Honami was teaching her to see things. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
"Noah-daddy?"
"Yes, Helen?" Whatever she was about to ask, it was a Serious Question. She'd called him "Noah-daddy."
"Why don't I get to see Sora-big-sis very often?"
That was the most serious Serious Question she'd asked in a long time. Noah sighed. The Scotts had an agreement - Serious Questions got Serious Answers - but how could he answer this one without making Helen feel sad?
"Is it something I did?"
"No! No, Helen, you aren't the person who did something wrong."
"Was it something you did, daddy?"
Noah bit his lip. "I think Sora might say so, but I still don't think I was wrong."
"Did Sora-big-sis do something wrong?"
"She doesn't think so."
"Daddy. Did Sora-big-sis do something wrong?"
"Ask your mother."
"Mommy isn't here."
"Ask Yayoi."
"Yayoi-big-sis isn't here."
"Ask -"
"Daddy. Serious Questions Get Serious Answers."
Noah didn't think that habit of Helen's was funny any more. "I know. But I can't give you a Serious Answer. I can only tell you what I think the answer is."
"But you aren't telling me."
"That's because you need to hear what other people think, too." Seeing that Helen was getting upset, Noah quickly added, "All right, I'll tell you. My parents taught me some things that don't really make sense here in the Convention, and one of those things was that only two people marry each other."
"Sora-big-sis married uncle Mal and aunt Teena."
"That's right." Allowing for a generous definition of "marriage," but Noah didn't want to confuse Helen. It was close enough to the right term.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Did you make Sora-big-sis cry?"
"I don't know. I never saw her cry, but she doesn't tell me those things. Yayoi or Kohran might know."
"Did you make Sora-big-sis run away?"
Noah sighed deeply. "Not directly, but I think I didn't do a good job of helping her grow up, so she thought she had to leave."
"Why did Sora-big-sis run away?"
"Sweetie, that's another Serious Question that I can't answer."
"You don't know why Sora-big-sis ran away?"
"I know. But it hurts to talk about it."
"Oh. Yomiko-little-sis told us about the Boston War in school. She said it hurts a lot of people to talk about that."
"I think maybe Yomiko said Boskone, not Boston." A quick image of the Boston Tea Party mixed with handwavium flashed through Noah's mind. "She's right, and this is something that happened during the war."
"Daddy, don't hurt yourself!"
Noah smiled a bit. "I won't. But tell Kohran and Yayoi that I said it's okay to talk about who you're named after."
"Mommy says I'm named after Helen of Troy. She told me that story."
"I'm talking about your middle name."
"Oh. There's somebody else named Yoriko?"
"Ask Yayoi and Kohran."
Helen saw the look on Noah's face. "Okay."
They sat together for a moment.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I made you sad."
"No, sweetie, you only asked some questions. The sadness was inside me, waiting to come out."
"Oh."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Time: Slightly after http://drunkardswalkforums.yuku.com/topic/10549]the events described in this thread.
"Daddy?"
Noah looked up from his report and smiled at Helen. "Yes, sweetie?"
"Why are we going to Phobos?"
"I thought you wanted to visit Kohran and Makoto."
"I do! But Kohran-big-sis and Makoto-little-sis are on Deimos. Deimos is not Phobos."
Noah stifled a chuckle - Helen had picked up more than a few habits from her mother, and saying something matter-of-fact with a completely serious tone was one of them. "Well, Yayoi was busy, and we promised Kokoro that she could have some time to herself for a while, so we couldn't just fly to Deimos ourselves. We had to buy passage."
"We bought a hallway?"
"Not this time. In this case, 'buying passage' means paying somebody to take you somewhere."
"But Capt'n Garret isn't going to Deimos. He's going to Phobos."
"That's true, but Phobos is close to Deimos. We're going to meet Ms. Taliaferro at Phobos, and she'll fly us over to Deimos."
"Who's Ms. Tolliver?"
"Renée Taliaferro. She works on Odyssey, and she plays guitar with the band Bombastic Hush. Kohran asked them to play for her new show."
"Oh, wow! A real guitar player works for you!" Helen thought for a moment. "She could have come to Stellvia and gave us a ride."
Noah stifled a wince at Helen's mangling of the language. "Well, yes, she could have, but I had another reason to want to ride in this ship."
"Daddy. You're a human. You're not supposed to multitask."
"Where did you learn that word?"
"Takami-big-sis taught it to me."
"I'm not surprised. But I'm not multitasking, at least not the way Takami means it. I'm looking around this ship, trying to guess which parts Sora designed herself."
"Did Sora-big-sis make this ship?"
"Captain Garret tells me she was one of the people who made it."
"Oh." Helen looked around. "I don't see her here."
Noah carefully did not ask whether Helen was looking at the ship the way Honami was teaching her to see things. Neither of them said anything for a moment.
"Noah-daddy?"
"Yes, Helen?" Whatever she was about to ask, it was a Serious Question. She'd called him "Noah-daddy."
"Why don't I get to see Sora-big-sis very often?"
That was the most serious Serious Question she'd asked in a long time. Noah sighed. The Scotts had an agreement - Serious Questions got Serious Answers - but how could he answer this one without making Helen feel sad?
"Is it something I did?"
"No! No, Helen, you aren't the person who did something wrong."
"Was it something you did, daddy?"
Noah bit his lip. "I think Sora might say so, but I still don't think I was wrong."
"Did Sora-big-sis do something wrong?"
"She doesn't think so."
"Daddy. Did Sora-big-sis do something wrong?"
"Ask your mother."
"Mommy isn't here."
"Ask Yayoi."
"Yayoi-big-sis isn't here."
"Ask -"
"Daddy. Serious Questions Get Serious Answers."
Noah didn't think that habit of Helen's was funny any more. "I know. But I can't give you a Serious Answer. I can only tell you what I think the answer is."
"But you aren't telling me."
"That's because you need to hear what other people think, too." Seeing that Helen was getting upset, Noah quickly added, "All right, I'll tell you. My parents taught me some things that don't really make sense here in the Convention, and one of those things was that only two people marry each other."
"Sora-big-sis married uncle Mal and aunt Teena."
"That's right." Allowing for a generous definition of "marriage," but Noah didn't want to confuse Helen. It was close enough to the right term.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Did you make Sora-big-sis cry?"
"I don't know. I never saw her cry, but she doesn't tell me those things. Yayoi or Kohran might know."
"Did you make Sora-big-sis run away?"
Noah sighed deeply. "Not directly, but I think I didn't do a good job of helping her grow up, so she thought she had to leave."
"Why did Sora-big-sis run away?"
"Sweetie, that's another Serious Question that I can't answer."
"You don't know why Sora-big-sis ran away?"
"I know. But it hurts to talk about it."
"Oh. Yomiko-little-sis told us about the Boston War in school. She said it hurts a lot of people to talk about that."
"I think maybe Yomiko said Boskone, not Boston." A quick image of the Boston Tea Party mixed with handwavium flashed through Noah's mind. "She's right, and this is something that happened during the war."
"Daddy, don't hurt yourself!"
Noah smiled a bit. "I won't. But tell Kohran and Yayoi that I said it's okay to talk about who you're named after."
"Mommy says I'm named after Helen of Troy. She told me that story."
"I'm talking about your middle name."
"Oh. There's somebody else named Yoriko?"
"Ask Yayoi and Kohran."
Helen saw the look on Noah's face. "Okay."
They sat together for a moment.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetie?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I made you sad."
"No, sweetie, you only asked some questions. The sadness was inside me, waiting to come out."
"Oh."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012