|[ 046 ]|

[cold_dry_pieces]

|[VOICE]|

At least you're quiet.

Comments

Private

[worldofourown]

Quiet.

Or just dead?

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

No. He's alive, as far as I know.

[For now, anyway.]

Private

[worldofourown]

Has someone cut his tongue out?

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

You're a morbid sort, aren't you.

Private

[worldofourown]

Only slightly.

I take it you're a quiet sort.

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

In general.

The natural assumption, for the record, would be that he has nothing to say.

Private

[worldofourown]

But natural assumptions aren't always correct.

Are they?

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

You'd have to ask him, I don't know him well enough to venture a guess.

[It's a half-truth, at least.]

Private

[worldofourown]

An absent father?

Or a neglectful one?

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

Any reason you're playing twenty questions?

Private

[worldofourown]

Curiosity. Cats. Etcetera.

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

Last I heard cats didn't do well with that.

I think the usual term is estranged. Haven't seen him since I was three or four at best.

Private

[worldofourown]

Nine lives and all. Enough to get by.

[Who wants to live that long, anyway?]

May I inquire as to the reasons behind the estrangement.

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

I was three or four at the time. Most of my memories involve toy cars and cereal.

Private

[worldofourown]

Your mother never spoke of him?

Private

[cold_dry_pieces]

No.

[anunluckypenny]

Who's quiet? Huh?

[Look, today is a very confusing day to be uncursed and on the network. Give a girl a little more information than that.]

[cold_dry_pieces]

My father. At least, the City's impression of him.

[anunluckypenny]

The City's bringing our dads in?

[Wait. She doesn't see hers. This isn't fair.]

Impress--oh. Not the real deal.

[cold_dry_pieces]

Seems to be the case. I can't see anyone else's, so I have to assume they're not really there.

[anunluckypenny]

Then I guess there's no reason to feel too left out.

Sorry, I didn't mean to just--hi, I'm Penny. And I promise that I usually at least say hello before starting in on the questions. Sometimes. When I remember.

[cold_dry_pieces]

Hi, Penny. Don't worry about it. I'm Rudy.

[anunluckypenny]

Hey, Rudy, and it's nice to meet you, really.

[cold_dry_pieces]

The pleasure's mine.

Have you been in the City long? [Because, he could swear he's met you before.]

[anunluckypenny]

Just a few months--this time, at least. I was here before for a while, but I don't remember it.

[cold_dry_pieces]

That seems to happen a lot.

[anunluckypenny]

It's like living in a soap opera. Twins and amnesia everywhere.

[cold_dry_pieces]

Never had the former. Is it weird to say I'm kinda used to it, though?

[anunluckypenny]

Me neither, knock on wood.

That's not weird, not if you've been here for a while. I'm getting pretty used to the curses. Wake up, check the network and look outside, see if there's anything strange going on.

[cold_dry_pieces]

Pretty much. Go back to bed if you don't have thumbs, try not to get on sinking ships.

[anunluckypenny]

And take along something sturdier than an umbrella if it's raining cake, exactly!

[cold_dry_pieces]

See? You've got it down.