003 — handwritten [graph paper]

[argents]

[ July 1st.

This time, Banagher's number is copied down on graph paper. What appears isn't anything handwritten, but a rough technical sketch. An empty jumpseat of some kind, crowned by three screens and what looks like an impossibly advanced panoramic HUD. The rest is left sparsely detailed — no buttons, concrete controls, or clues as to what this cockpit (what else could it be?) belongs to. Save for the odd one-on-one occasion, he's been tight-lipped about what exactly has splashed itself uninvited across his memories, never knowing for sure what to trust when it came to himself. Never quite believing he could have been this... thing's pilot.

Off to the side, around some messy notes, is a scrawled out line of text in another language: À mon seul désir. There's a poetic ring to it, nearly romantic.

It's odd, placed next to a piece of technology so futuristic. ]

It's weird. I had to wrack my brain to remember this thing enough to put it on paper, even if I can't forget it. [ A pause, possibly to tap his pencil. ] If you asked any kid when they were younger what they wanted for their birthday, a giant robot probably ranked pretty high, right? Not so much when you're 18, though. When things like this aren't even supposed to be real...

[ Let alone crazy brain powers. At least he was getting used to those. And more importantly: ]

...it could have come with a better name.

[ Which he is hoping like hell wasn't his doing. ]

Comments

[angelskills]

That counts as two! Do you really want to ask them both?

[argents]

[ He was sure he had that one! ]

Considering I haven't been anywhere else, I don't think...yes!

[angelskills]

Sitting area: hot! Front: cold!

[argents]

Last one, huh...something I touched while I was there?

[angelskills]

Mhm! Hot.

[argents]

Ah, I'm out. At least now I have an idea! Are you free?

[angelskills]

I am! Are you?

[argents]

All day! Monday's not the best day to celebrate, and my grandparents are visiting this weekend anyway. Do you want to meet up?

[angelskills]

Really? But you have to celebrate! Yes, let's meet up! I'll treat you to some birthday ice cream. How's that sound?

[argents]

Believe me, I'll have all the cake I can handle. Enough to last all the way until next year!

But today, that sounds great.

[ Psh and you're worried about getting fat. ]

[angelskills]

[ There's such a thing as fat free ice cream, right?? ]

All right! Where would you like to meet up?

[argents]

[ EVEN IF THERE IS HE'S PRETENDING THERE ISN'T.

...or would that be frozen yogurt... ]

We can meet here and decide where we want to go? Unless you have a place picked out already!

[angelskills]

[ Who doesn't love fat free frozen yogurt with no calorie sprinkles?? ]

'Here'? Your place?

[argents]

[ EVERYBODY DOESN'T LOVE THAT. ]

If it's not too much out of your way!

[angelskills]

Not at all! I can leave now.

[argents]

I'll hurry up and get ready then. See you soon!

[angelskills]

I'll see you soon!!

action

[angelskills]

[ Probably about half an hour or so later, there will be a doorbell ringing, with a certain blonde haired young lady waiting outside the front door. She's carrying a bag with two neatly wrapped gifts inside, complete with pretty bows and everything. ]

[argents]

[ It doesn't take him very long after her last text to make himself look somewhat presentable considering he's just been lazing around all morning — he's washed his face and thrown on some nice jeans and a light olive-colored t-shirt, given that the forecast was calling for mostly uninterrupted sunshine. His hair was a lost cause all the time so a quick tousle 'fixes' that, and he's just thrown on his shoes by the time the doorbell chimes.

He answers the door to the ground-level apartment fashioned out of pale red brick and dark wood, shadowed here and there by sidewalk trees. Smiling, he steps out onto the concrete stoop lined in decorative iron railing. ]

Hey, thanks for meeting me! Want to come in before we take off?

[angelskills]

[ She smiles when he steps out onto the stoop, eyes brightening instantly. Thankfully she's almost all healed up at this point, feeling much better after a few good weeks of rest, so she moves in to give him a hug. ]

Sure! That way you won't have to carry these around.

[ She lifts the bag with the wrapped gifts, a little twinkle in her eye as she does. This is exciting, okay!!! ]

Oh, and happy birthday, again!

[argents]

[ When Banagher returns the hug, it's natural, a little tighter than he had in weeks previous, and he's grateful that she'd managed to heal up so well. When he pulls away, there's enough room between them for him to accept the gifts with a little smile, then move aside to let her in. ]

Right, that's a good idea... thanks for this, even though you definitely didn't have to!

[ He holds the door open to the apartment, a small but well-loved two bedroom affair strewn with little personal touches. Light wood flooring, a cream-colored sofa piled up with throw blankets and pillows, and an old upright piano in the corner, crowned with a meter and books upon books of sheet music. ]

[angelskills]

[ She's excited and a little nervous to be going into his place for the first time. It's like a step up in the friendship! Carefully, she steps in and sweeps her gaze around, eyes stopping on the piano for a little longer than anything else. He did say that he liked the piano and that his mother played... it's so pretty. ]

I know. But I wanted to.

[ She turns her gaze back to him. ]

I think birthdays are really special. If it weren't for today, you wouldn't be here!

[argents]

[ Banagher's line of sight follows hers to settle warmly on the piano, where Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star sits open over the keys. ]

Since it happens every year, it's true that a lot of people don't think too hard about it. But you're right, that there's so much to be thankful for.

[ Probably because he'd feel the same way, if asked. So he doesn't make her wait any longer, shifting the bag up to balance in an arm and pull out the first of the wrapped gifts, minding to not mess up how much work went into the bows. ]

[angelskills]

[ Ah! She watches him as she pulls the gift out, happily, crossing her fingers that she's chosen well. Upon opening the first gift, which is square and not too heavy, he'll discover the book that had made him pause during their challenge, with the strange picture on the front.

It's only a book of paintings and images, but he seemed to like it enough that it had stopped him during their game. ]

[argents]

[ Immediately, his expression lifts in a kind of wonder once the wrapping paper is off, a kind of fixation on the image spanning over the cover of the book now cradled in his hands. Enough to hold his breath for half a second, because he hadn't even been aware that she knew which book it was out of the hundreds in the parlor. Something from his memories present in reality, in this life.

His fingertips brush over it as if they can parse those words that had appeared in his initial network post — À mon seul désir. ]

This is... really important. You knew?