savetheearth | 003 — handwritten [graph paper]

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003 — handwritten [graph paper]

[ 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. ]

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

'Here'? Your place?

[ EVERYBODY DOESN'T LOVE THAT. ]

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

Not at all! I can leave now.

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

I'll see you soon!!

[ 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. ]

[ 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?

[ 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!

[ 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. ]

[ 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!

[ 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. ]

[ 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. ]

[ 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?

Yeah.

[ She gives a little nod, tucking her hands behind her back. That pause had been significant enough for her to notice. In fact, it was probably the whole reason they had tied in that game in the first place. He would have won otherwise and she knew it. And while she had considered admitting it... well, she really wanted to brush his hair, okay. So she had kept silent.

It had been between this book and a misplaced romance from where he had set it down... and it seemed like she made the right choice. ]

I thought you should have it.

[ There's weight in the significance of what she'd just so simply handed over to him, something he can't fully explain about the stunning field of red and turquoise and gold, the unicorn rearing under a banner of crescent moons. ]

I was looking for this image for a long time, even if I'm not sure what it means to me yet.

[ Which is his way of saying it was involved in this whole mess, tied up in his memory's crossfire. He shifts to hold it to his chest as he shuffles the second gift from the bag with a look that's somewhat enigmatic, soft at the edges. ]

But thank you, you found it for me.

[ She tilts her head a little as though she understands, a gentle smile replacing the more brilliant one that she had been wearing. Gentle smiles suit her better, make her features softer, match how she really is overall. ]

You're welcome. I hope it brings you good luck.

[ The second gift is really two gifts in one. The top layer is a small box while the bottom is a flat package that's roughly about the size of a normal page. Inside, he'll find a harmonica in the top one and a book on how to play in the bottom. The harmonica is a pretty thing, bright golden-brown and blue, with delicate carvings lain into the top of music notes. ]

I thought maybe we could play together! Me on my panpipes and you on this. It's a little easier than the piano.

[ It's something he doesn't quite realize he knows, deep down, just how much of a difference something as simple as the truth makes in her. Something bright in its own right, if not indirect, and easily overlooked.

Even when he's never been able to get how it feels out of his head.

Banagher meets the next gift with the same sort of fascination, if not one that plays much lighter in his eyes. Carefully he stows the empty bag and the book on the kitchen table to really get a feel for the harmonica, the crafted metal warm to the touch, almost alight when he thumbs over the carvings. ]

I wouldn't have guessed this one in a million years! It's so cool.

[ And he pretty much just has to lift it to his lips to give it a try, running through the rich notes in a single breath. ]

I saw it and thought you might like it!

[ She watches as he lifts it to his mouth and claps her hands a little when he blows, the noise crisp and pretty. ]

Oh, it sounds great! I wanted to try it myself but I thought that might be weird, since it's something you use with your mouth.

[ That gets a quick chuckle out of him. ]

I don't mind! Here.

[ Flipping it, he presents it to her. It's really just too cool not to try at least once. ]

Hopefully I can catch up to you.

It's okay! How about, when I have my panpipes, we'll swap?

And you'll catch up to me in no time. I'm not very good!

Okay, deal. If you're sure you don't want to try it now! [ He places it back in its box for now, swearing up and down he'll do what it takes to get good at it so they had an excuse to eventually swap. Regardless if it was kind of silly, since he'd failed so badly at the piano. Maybe this would be different.

And what's equally silly feeling is the kind of glow he has all over, something happy and grateful he's not trying to hold back. ]

Thanks again, for all of this.

[ That's the kind of glow he should have, anyone should have, on their birthday! Or their wedding day, or right after giving birth. ]

Hehe, you don't have to thank me. It's what friends do.

And you should have the best birthday possible.

These things mean too much to not thank you!

[ Naturally he's going to be stubborn about it, especially when normalcy was getting hard to come by. At least normalcy like this — which was a little new, but something he doesn't want to take for granted. Or go without.

Probably why he can't help the extra hug he wraps her up in. ]

Want to get going?

[ Pshhh they're both stubborn but she'll let him have his way this time. She hugs him back when he wraps her up, gladly, before nodding her head. ]

Sure! There's ice cream with our name on it.

[ They came into this world stubborn! Letting go, he moves to grab his keys from the row of pegs along the side of the kitchen wall. ]

Good! Did you have any place in mind?

[ Hitting the central streets always meant a million places to choose from. ]

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