alright but full disclosure I've been smoking since like half way through the conversation with that kid to keep from losing my mind, so that's in your immediate future.
[Yeah yeah, she sure can do that. In fact, she doesn't even bother to knock when she arrives, just walks on through. He had plenty of warning, so any embarrassing shit is on him.]
Hey.
[This is chill and they're Fine. Definitely. She's almost completely convinced herself of it.]
[ There is indeed no embarrassing shit, just Ian's mp3 player streaming through a speaker he seems to have built — it isn't pretty, but it does well enough to fill his little apartment with music while he works.
He's got a set of goggles on, dark-tinted lenses that screen out the brightness of what seems like some kind of soldering iron in his hand. He pauses when she enters. Offers her a 'sup' nod without taking the goggles off. ]
[Kyna crosses the room to join him, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. It's starting to become a standard thing from her, but this time it's brief enough that he only gets a little rush of affection from the empathy bond before she pulls away.]
[ She probably gets back the equivalent of emotional static, such is the nature of conflicting emotions and marijuana. Too short to really pick up on any one specific feeling. He doesn't shy away from it, though. ]
Reinventing the wheel.
[ He sighs, looking back down at the metal plate of circuits and delicate chips. ]
Trying to recreate the-- you know how the doors and the advertisements and everything react to our implant? I'm trying to recreate that mechanism so I can understand how it works and incorporate it into shit. I wanna build things that are implant-reactive.
[She could go grab a chair, but she leans her elbow on his shoulder instead. His conflicting emotions aren't really a shock to her, although they make her feel guilty all over again. Maybe she can figure out a way to cheer him up.]
[ He sighs, lowering the soldering iron and reaching up with his other hand to tug the goggles up his forehead. They push his hair back like a headband. ]
I get the mechanical part, that's easy. I even mostly get how it... detects the implant. It's just like... wifi or bluetooth but with an extra 500 years of advancement. What I don't get is how it... translates, you know? How it takes the signal it's receiving and deciphers it into a command to respond to.
[She's not sure. She doesn't know enough of this stuff to help, really. And honestly, she's still a little anxious. What if he's still upset with her or she fucked up in a permanent way?
But she tries to shove that aside, pulls away from him to grab a chair and drag it over.]
How do you usually figure this kind of thing out? When you don't know how it works, I mean?
[ He is upset, but it isn't as simple as that either -- he's twisted up in his head about being upset, about whether or not he has the right to be, about whether or not it matters, and beyond that he's never been particularly good at coping with his own upset. He handles it like this, by getting stoned and channeling his mind into work until the feeling settles enough for him to ignore it entirely. ]
Engineering is a weird field, in that it... kind of spills over into a lot of other areas. Programming, mechanics, chemistry. You have to know a little about a lot in order to bring it all together.
[ Calm and patient, like this is a classroom. ]
And the only real way to bring it all together is by--
[ A vague gesture at the component on his desk. ]
Doing this until I understand it. All machines make sense eventually. They all have a defined, logical structure.
[ There's a comfort in knowing there are explicit answers to find, and that they're guaranteed to be found. There's a comfort in feeling confident that he'll work something out, it'll make sense, he knows the territory he's navigating even if he's never been to this particular version of it before. ]
[She says it teasingly, peering down at the bits Ian's working on. Honestly, she wonders how he would deal with magic if they were back in her world. There are so many less neat rules and so much more unpredictability.]
[So Kyna stays quiet for a bit, just letting him work and watching. She has no idea what he's really doing or what he's looking for, but it's sort of soothing.
After about ten minutes or so, though, her anxiety gets the best of her, and she nudges him gently.]
[ It's meditation for him, particularly while stoned. He goes into a kind of state of flow when he's working, a weird combination of spaced-out and focused, some really peak zen.
It startles him a little when she nudges him out of it; he pauses and nudges the goggles up again. ]
Hey.
[ He's anticipating more Feelings. No le gusta. Por que. Everyone get stoned and forget about your feelings. He should get her high. ]
[He's anticipating correctly, although she pauses first, reaching up to smooth back a lock of his hair that's sticking up awkwardly because of the goggles.]
Um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry again. I should have... you know. Been more worried about how you felt instead of...
[ The smile he offers up is tired, a little worn down at the seams. ]
It's okay. Really. I just wanna not... dwell on it.
[ Because that sucks and going around in circles in his own head just starts spiking agitation. He doesn't want to put either of them through that emotional labor.
Instead, he's gonna pleasantly and kindly veer the subject off, with a nod over at his coffee table. ]
Hey, do you wanna like... do drugs and watch a movie?
[ Aloof and easy, and he'll just settle in on that couch.
Unless she brings it up again, that's how the night will go — Ian packing a bowl, Kyna ordering food, and watching a movie while stoned very much not talking stress. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
but full disclosure I've been smoking since like half way through the conversation with that kid to keep from losing my mind, so that's in your immediate future.
no subject
give me like
20 minutes
no subject
it's not unlocked, but
you know
[ you can walk through walls and shit. ]
no subject
Hey.
[This is chill and they're Fine. Definitely. She's almost completely convinced herself of it.]
no subject
He's got a set of goggles on, dark-tinted lenses that screen out the brightness of what seems like some kind of soldering iron in his hand. He pauses when she enters. Offers her a 'sup' nod without taking the goggles off. ]
Hey, man.
no subject
What are you doing?
no subject
Reinventing the wheel.
[ He sighs, looking back down at the metal plate of circuits and delicate chips. ]
Trying to recreate the-- you know how the doors and the advertisements and everything react to our implant? I'm trying to recreate that mechanism so I can understand how it works and incorporate it into shit. I wanna build things that are implant-reactive.
no subject
[She could go grab a chair, but she leans her elbow on his shoulder instead. His conflicting emotions aren't really a shock to her, although they make her feel guilty all over again. Maybe she can figure out a way to cheer him up.]
You could use that for so much stupid shit.
no subject
[ He agrees, a faint breath of humor pushed into the word. The shenanigans are endless. ]
Except this is like... so ridiculously intricate, I only half understand how it all interacts.
no subject
[That's definitely a solid strategy for engineering, she's sure of it.]
What part don't you understand?
no subject
I get the mechanical part, that's easy. I even mostly get how it... detects the implant. It's just like... wifi or bluetooth but with an extra 500 years of advancement. What I don't get is how it... translates, you know? How it takes the signal it's receiving and deciphers it into a command to respond to.
no subject
[She's not sure. She doesn't know enough of this stuff to help, really. And honestly, she's still a little anxious. What if he's still upset with her or she fucked up in a permanent way?
But she tries to shove that aside, pulls away from him to grab a chair and drag it over.]
How do you usually figure this kind of thing out? When you don't know how it works, I mean?
no subject
Engineering is a weird field, in that it... kind of spills over into a lot of other areas. Programming, mechanics, chemistry. You have to know a little about a lot in order to bring it all together.
[ Calm and patient, like this is a classroom. ]
And the only real way to bring it all together is by--
[ A vague gesture at the component on his desk. ]
Doing this until I understand it. All machines make sense eventually. They all have a defined, logical structure.
[ There's a comfort in knowing there are explicit answers to find, and that they're guaranteed to be found. There's a comfort in feeling confident that he'll work something out, it'll make sense, he knows the territory he's navigating even if he's never been to this particular version of it before. ]
no subject
[She says it teasingly, peering down at the bits Ian's working on. Honestly, she wonders how he would deal with magic if they were back in her world. There are so many less neat rules and so much more unpredictability.]
no subject
[ He agrees with a sage nod. Thusly proclaimed, he tugs his goggles back down again. ]
no subject
After about ten minutes or so, though, her anxiety gets the best of her, and she nudges him gently.]
Hey.
no subject
It startles him a little when she nudges him out of it; he pauses and nudges the goggles up again. ]
Hey.
[ He's anticipating more Feelings. No le gusta. Por que. Everyone get stoned and forget about your feelings. He should get her high. ]
no subject
Um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry again. I should have... you know. Been more worried about how you felt instead of...
[She trails off, gesturing vaguely.]
no subject
It's okay. Really. I just wanna not... dwell on it.
[ Because that sucks and going around in circles in his own head just starts spiking agitation. He doesn't want to put either of them through that emotional labor.
Instead, he's gonna pleasantly and kindly veer the subject off, with a nod over at his coffee table. ]
Hey, do you wanna like... do drugs and watch a movie?
no subject
Oh, uh, sure. Didn't you want to work?
no subject
It wasn't really about working so much as just... having something to focus on. Movie's good for that, too.
[ He'll scoot on back from the desk and head over to the couch. ]
So you don't have to just sit there being bored watching me fuck with tiny little metal things, attaching them to other tiny little metal things.
no subject
I was really impressed by your little metal things.
[Obviously.]
Do you want me to order food or something?
no subject
[ Aloof and easy, and he'll just settle in on that couch.
Unless she brings it up again, that's how the night will go — Ian packing a bowl, Kyna ordering food, and watching a movie while stoned very much not talking stress. ]