Re: Train tracks: Oliver & Gwen
She attempted to find language for his curl of lip. It was an expression unfamiliar to her, and she wasn't sure it indicated the disdain that reading and facial expression processing indicated. It was different, being in a conversation with someone, as opposed to looking at a video of someone on a screen. Emotion, it seemed, was better observed in conversation, and context cues were more critical than her studies had led her to understand. She wondered if this omission was deliberate, or if it was one of the many shortcomings of non-field laboratory work. She was totally into her time in the lab, but she felt sure that excursions (like this one) totally helped scientist be better scientists. "You think the only reason people sustain interest in something is because they didn't obtain it?" Freckles dotted her nose in the night, and she screwed her face up curiously. "I think your data might be missing pieces."
She watched him smudge, and she listened to his admission about gardens. She was a good listener, accustomed to digital lessons and her handlers talking. She didn't have any experience with people near to her own age, and she was super awful at the give and take of conversational intricacy. She thought talking was kind of like dancing, and she didn't know how to do that, either. "Where did you experience this garden?" She stopped drawing numbers and equations on the tracks, and she looked at him. "I've never seen a garden. I haven't even seen flowers outside, not beyond yours." It was winter, and there weren't any flowers to see on the walk from Area-52 to this end of Repose.
She was super confused at the look that followed his claim that he wasn't hurting anyone. She shook her head, blonde hair moving with the emphatic gesticulation. "I know you aren't hurting anyone. You're making something the elements have corroded prettier. It's creation and beautification." She smiled, dimples deeply prominent. "They should thank you. Someone. Whoever owns the town, they should totally thank you." As if towns had owners and price tags, and with the naive lack of understanding of politics to believe cities were sold on shelves.