ponder things
Who: Edison and Kennedy Where: near the tournament grounds When: afternoon
Edison was doing his best to both keep Harlow and her violent attitude under control and ready for whatever lay ahead and keep an eye out for Bianca at the same time. He hated that the redhead had just left his side without thinking about the consequences, but there was little he could do about it. She was determined to think he was talking down to her, which was unfair considering that had been all she’d done to him and it hadn’t been his intention in the first place. He’d gotten Harlow settled with her gear and pushed towards the holding area to prep for the competition and he found himself a seat in the crowd, close enough to be of service to her if she needed him, but also well out of the fray of things.
Despite the craziness of the situation, he’d spent plenty of time the day before and this morning listening in on rumors, asking questions here and there, and taking in a good deal of information about the area they were in and the tournament itself. He was lost in his own mind at the moment, turning over the pieces for clues as to why they were there in the first place, but so far nothing was coming to him.
Kennedy was relaxing. She was off to the side of the tournament block, lying on the ground as she basked in the sun for a bit. Her head was cradled by her arms, and she was hoping no stray horses or people stepped on her. But if they did, she probably wouldn't actually care that much. Mostly, she was blanking out, just being there-but-not. He just barely caught her out of the corner of his eye. He’d been lost in his own thoughts, but for some reason something about her caught his attention when he glanced that way. Once he realized who it was though he abandoned his seat and headed towards her, leaning over her and blocking the sun. “You seem relaxed considering.”
“Considering what?” she asked, peeking through squinted eyes up at him. “Mr. Scientist,” she added. “Did I come up with a better nickname than that for you before? I don't remember.” She didn't get up, and shut her eyes again to continue basking, expecting he might join her, or somesuch.
“Considering where we are, what’s going on here, all of that. “And no you just called me Librarian Guy,” he said watching her settle back and eventually sitting next to her, knees up and resting his elbows on them.
“Is this weirder than the whole hotel shit?” Kennedy posed. “Or is it just a different weird bout of shit?” When he reminded her of her previous thing she grinned. “Oh yeah, Librarian Guy,” she nodded. When he sat, she motioned for him to move. “Sit like, two inches this way,” she beckoned.
“Different weird bout of shit,” Edison went with after a moment, nodding a little bit. When she asked him to move he did it, but gave her a look for it. “Why am I moving?” he asked, looking around to determine why himself.
His shadow fell over her face enough that she comfortably opened her eyes to look at him. “Because it's easier not to stare into the sun. Are you saying you don't care about my eye health? When I'm totally blind from sun gazing just to talk to you are you going to lead me around like a Seeing Eye Librarian?”
Edison chuckled a little and nodded. “No I’d rather you not go blind, though I would make for a great Seeing Eye Librarian. And wouldn’t complain about having to guide a pretty girl around. There really are worse thing in the world.”
“Would you read to me too? Because books would be pretty good. That could be one of our compromises to make living together worth it. You could still be all Librarian Guy and research n shit, but you'd have to share it with me too. Now that I'm thinking about it, that doesn't sound bad.” Kennedy told him. “But I don't know that staring into the sun actually blinds anyone. Isn't that just something you tell kids?”
“Of course I’d read to you. If you’d have to put up with me you’d want me to read to you. I’m pretty sure I’m not that interesting.” He smiled a little and nodded himself. “I don’t think it sounds like that bad of a deal.” Edison glanced towards the sun, shading his eyes for a moment then shrugged. “Not sure. Seems viable. You always see spots after you look too long right?”
“Yeah, but is that actual damage? You can get afterimages in your eyes just from looking at a bright computer screen too. That probably isn't damage, though. Just y'know. Headache-worthy.” Kennedy eyed him for a moment, though. “You're kind of a weirdo, you know that?” she asked, though it didn't sound like she was insulting him at all. More that it amused her at least a little.
“It’s probably one of those things where it does serious damage over time, but not right away. Same with listening to music too loud like our parents warned us about too.” When she said that he was weird he didn’t take it bad way, he probably wouldn’t even without her happy tone. “I do know that, but why am I one today?”
"Them silly parental types, bein right all the time," she tsked. "And I don't know, you just are, in a good way." Kennedy turned her gaze to the clouds. "So, quick," she started. "We're stuck here forever. What's your game plan?"
“Don’t tell mine I even suggested it. They’ll make me get a haircut.” He smiled a little, looking over her as she looked at the clouds. “Good weird is good I guess. I’ve been called worse. Was called worse yesterday.” At her question he thought for a moment then smiled more. “I figure out a way to keep doing my research, just you know, in the middle of it. The church, the castle, all of it. We’re in ancient histories. It’s kind of amazing.”
"What were you called yesterday?" She asked. She thought about the whole being in the middle of history thing and wound up nodding. "Yeah, I'll give you amazing. Question the second. Do you think we are in our own history? Or is this some place that never existed in our time line and it has created it's own?"
“Girly. I don’t think I’ve heard that one since high school.” He shook his head, hair falling in his eyes before focusing on her other question. He took a look around then shrugged. “It could be either. I haven’t seen anything besides us that’s out of line, so maybe our history. Thoughts?”
“...really? Why? Were you jumping up on chairs screaming about mice? Were you fixing your hair and doing your make up in the hall?” Kennedy asked. “I mean, sure, you've got a little length in your hair, but it's still clearly boy hair.” Eying him, she considered that. “I think it's an alternate timeline. Not that I've heavily studied France or it's past or anything, but I don't remember a Lavel anywhere.”
“No, just being me. Apparently I’m pretty which means girly and while I appreciate like half that compliment I’m not a fan of the rest of it.” Edison shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t remember a Lavel, but not every small kingdom was properly detailed. And if in a few years someone comes through and takes it over, burns all the good parts down, there’s no record of it.” He shrugged. “Alternate reality though, that could work. Pretty damn cool. I read somewhere once that there’s an alternate reality for every possible scenario.”
“You are pretty,” Kennedy agreed. “And suck it up. Who cares what some dumb broad said. Be secure in your manliness, pretty cheekbones and flowing hair and all.” She nodded at the last bit. “Yeah, I've heard that too. What I can't abide by is the idea that they're close to this reality. If it was true, then way back in the day when things deviated it would negate billions of people, decisions, actions, all sorts of shit. It loses me when it gets there. Like, everything is possible therefore nothing is.”
“I am sucking it up because I don’t care, but it’s harsh when I’ve been trying to impress pretty girls.” Edison smirked a little then ran his hand over the back of his neck, looking away from her as he thought about what she said. “I guess that’s the question. Is anything possible or are we on a predetermined track?”
“Has it been working?” she asked. “Or was the pretty girl the one who called you girly in the first place, and that's why it stings a bit?” She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she relaxed. “Fate versus Chaos. I have to go with chaos. Fate seems too...wish fulfillment to me. Or like, the ultimate excuse. This one time, I knew this guy. He was one of those weird religions...the girls all had to wear skirts, the guys long sleeves or something, I dunno. Anyway, he was one of them. And he like, fucking killed a dude while hunting. One of his best friends. It was an accident, but still. And he was at work like, a couple hours later, when the cops released him from questioning. Know what he said? That it was God's will. He wasn't like, even a little bit upset. Just...oh well, guess that was meant to happen, time to clock in to work. Creepiest shit I ever saw.”
“I’m not sure yet. Depends on where it goes from here.” He smiled at her then shook his head. “No. She was stunning yes, but no, not her. Would be nice, but a guy like me doesn’t actually hook up with stars from a tv show he watches. Plus she was bitchy.” Which had been the huge turn off more than anything else. He listened to her story making a pained face. “Yeah...that is creepy shit. Fate seems nice when you wind up in a nice place, but scary as hell when it goes that way. You’d be surprised at how many people over the past few centuries that have used that to justify everything. I bet you these guys here would do the same.
“Tv stars? Huh. Okay,” she said. “The bitchiest chick I met here so far I tried to convince I was a demon. I think it worked, at least for a while,” she added. “And yeah, I know. I just find it fucked up, and trust me, I don't find much fucked up. I'm pretty lax with my definition of that. But yeah, I don't know. Just seeing someone so unaffected by something so huge...creepy bastard. Makes me wonder if he wound up having the urge to kill whores and wear their skin if he would just shrug that off as something God wanted too.”
Edison chuckled a little. “I can see you doing that. Though someone believing you, that’s impressive.” He listened to her and nodded. “You know I kind of hate that? I don’t believe in one thing or another, but it’s always frustrating to see people using it as an excuse for violence.” Though all of ancient histories and religions were laced with it.
“I kind of hate excuses, period. No matter what they are. I'm a straight forward kind of girl. I'm all for people just fucking being honest. Sure, it kinda sucks sometimes, but I think it's best in the end.” Kennedy shrugged one shoulder, then stretched, and finally sat up. “So, what next, Pretty?”
“That doesn’t surprise me about you,” Edison said. “You seem like the kind who would want that much.” At her question he shrugged one of his shoulders. “I was actually going to leave that up to you. See what you were interested in.”
Pushing herself to her feet, she glanced around. “Let's go see some of the knight shit. We can take bets on whether or not we think someone'll die,” she decided, nodding for him to follow. It was something to do, and she didn't mind his company. He was nice, and interesting.
Edison too a moment to look up at her, just kind of taking her in for a long moment. Then he got up with her, holding an arm to her. “Think someone will? Seems reasonable. Also seems reasonable the knight I’m serving will kill someone.”
She arched a brow at him, then took his arm, and started leading them off. “Let's go bet against whoever that person is fighting against then,” she suggested, smiling. It was definitely a way to kill an afternoon. Off to the tournament it was.