refining the experiment

[merryeccentricities]

Joly's test flight of his little prototype flying craft went fairly well-- he's pretty sure he's found out at least one major flaw, and he's made the acquaintance of some extremely interesting people. But the machine is up in his lab now, out of the way of curious cats and incurious beetles. He'll work on it after he's thought everything through a bit more, and done a little more research.

Which is what he's doing now, curled on the couch with a cat sleeping on his legs and a cup of coffee on the end table, watching the videos his robot-self recorded, really watching them, for the first since Cubefall ended.

He didn't show Athelstan all of them, only some of his solo flights. But now he's watching the ones he had with Legle; there's audio too, mostly wind, but some conversation gets through. He is totally watching this for science and not just smiling like a sap.

Comments

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Lesgle returns from a shift busing tables, whistling a tune he picked up somewhere-or-other, and smiles to see Joly watching videos on the couch with a cat. "Found anything good? Has someone documented a kitten opening a bottle of champagne or something along those lines?"

[merryeccentricities]

Joly looks, briefly feeling almost confused at the echo of Bossuet-voices, and starts to get up.

Then he realizes he has a cat on his legs and a handful of electronic tablet, and flails for a moment. As he twists about he says "Um--no, though I will have to look for that now, I-- um, I was actually looking at, at, some of the videos I recorded? While I--during Cubefall? You remember?"

He settles on putting the tablet down on the table and having to wait for Bossuet to meet him on the couch. Life is complicated.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"Hmmm, no, it doesn't ring any bells; I don't think I quite recall; Cubefall, Cubefall, remind me again about Cubefall? Was that the time--no, damn, it's gone, I can't remember a thing." He's perched on the arm of the couch by the time he finishes; he scoops up the tablet, paused mid-flight.

"Ohhh! Oh, do you mean the time you turned into an enormous mechanical man and we flew through the air? Why didn't you say so!"

Silly Joly. Of course he remembers Cubefall. Even in Milliways, that stood out.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly, because he is a mature adult, sticks out his tongue. He reaches out to grab Legle's waist and tug him onto the couch, hesitates a moment, and grabs the tablet again. Then he feels like an utter idiot, and grabs Bossuet anyway. Which leaves him leaning very awkwardly on the sofa with no free arm to lean on.

Well, he'd meant to pull Bossuet onto the sofa playfully, not drag him down by main force, but apparently that's what's happening now!

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Laigle yelps as he falls from his perch, then yelps again as the cat makes her escape across his shoulders. "Joly! --Have a care, Joly, unless you're trying to crack my skull so you can use your infirmary machines on it again..."

Since he's here, though, he kisses the nearest corner of Joly's forehead. "How did your experiments go today?"

[merryeccentricities]

"Sorry! sorry-- ah--" right, tablet can go there and he can-- make useless fretting gestures, right-- and the cat's gone, he can put his feet on the ground and should probably grab the coffee cup? --" sorry, I'm, I'll get a drink. What would you like?-- Anyway it went very well, actually! I mean, it was awful, the machine kept crashing, but I think I know why, some of our fellow patrons helped me figure it out. I met Ysalwen!" He's more or less standing up while he talks. He can totally stand up while he talks! Where's his cane?

...Right, there. Close at hand and underfoot. It rolls under his heel. Joly doesn't fall-- he'd really only been leaning forward-- but he does sit back down hard on the couch. He blinks for a second and starts laughing. " I --ahah--she seems very nice. How-how was your day?"

He can listen and giggle at the same time.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"I'll have whatever you're having." He retrieves the cane if needed. "--Ysalwen! Marvelous! Did you run off to the Labyrinth immediately? I did nothing so exciting today as that. A work-day, sweat of my brow, all that..."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly takes the cane with a smile, and manages to get over to their counter without falling over his own feet. Victory!

"You're the adventurer of our household, I wouldn't dream of going into the Labyrinth without you. --No, actually we talked about politics. She has a very serious interest in it; the politics of her world, I mean. I promised I'd read what I could about it, so I could better speak with her when we meet again.."

What's on hand, wine's too weak....ah! He makes his way back to the couch with a brandy bottle and two glasses. "And she made a storm by the lake.She seems a remarkable woman even apart from the magic, I think." He holds the glasses out to Legle; take one?

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

He takes a glass, swirls it comfortably. "I've spoken with her only a little about her politics; it's so hard to make out how a place works when it's so entirely foreign. But what did you talk about? --And you know you can always have my company in the Labyrinth, my dear Joly. You have only to say the word!" Which...granted, was not what Joly said at all.

"The storm was helpful--? It was my understanding that storms were a challenge to flighted...whatever-you-likes."

[merryeccentricities]

"Oh-- about the nature of people, and the challenge of changing society so that it actually changes and doesn't just trade one kind of oppression for another, and how to increase understanding between people-- I tell you, I nearly wanted to call everyone out for a meeting." He laughs as he says it, but it's true; he would like Ysalwen to speak to their friends. "Her world sounds very troubled; worse even than our own time. And she spoke so of wanting to help people beyond that. I hope she can find some help here. Her cause does seem desperate." He's sympathetic; how could he ever not be?

But he smiles and adds "--We talked about you, too. Your courage as an adventurer is known across the worlds, never fear." He's joking, but not insincere, and has one hand halfway out to straighten Bossuet's collar before he thinks better of it, and puts both hands on his own glass. He starts to say something, doesn't know what it is, and tries again with "--And yes, about flying things. Her idea; she was able to control the wind, you see, so we could watch the machine fall more slowly, and see where the trouble was."

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"You should have! You should have summoned us on the spot!" Lesgle laughs, because it's a delightful image: "Sending out calls on our watches: Come quick, someone is discussing human nature and societal change! We could all have had a big rowdy argument and scared her away from ever talking to any of us again. Well, no; I don't think Mlle. Ysalwen scares."

Joly is showing many signs of being flustered. Lesgle studies him, then wraps an arm around his shoulders and tugs him a little closer--mindful of the brandy glass. "Tell me about her cause?"

Someone else's cause will surely pull Joly out of whatever internal fussing is happening.

[merryeccentricities]

Joly grins, because that's exactly the image he'd had, too; a flock of mad French revolutionaries descending on poor Ysalwen, all full of theory and argument.

When Bossuet tugs him over, he freezes for a moment, then quickly downs his brandy. There, empty glass, no reason to fret, totally fine! Yes! He leans over to put the empty glass on the end table, and lets himself lean against Bossuet a bit.

"She's still sounding out first principles, I think. I don't envy her! It's much harder to invent than to improve--and that's hard enough."

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Hmm? Lesgle noticed that freeze, there. Hmmm. But Joly does settle against him, so that's all right?

"Yes, indeed. I should be quite lost if I had to invent the social contract de novo, or wander through an unearthly realm establishing truth and justice. I gather they have a collection of kingdoms, at least one with slavery.... And she, quite sensibly is reluctant to bring in Milliways' arsenal of future weapons."

He tries to keep his voice light there, but Joly can probably detect a certain edge. They've all seen photographs of what people will teach themselves how to do.

He gives Joly's shoulders a tentative squeeze?

[merryeccentricities]

He freezes again , just for an instant, and then leans into Legle's side more, shifting around until he curled tightly against him. "No-- we didn't talk about fighting, though. Just people. How to reach them, how to bring people around to trying to change things when they've never seen it-- oh, I really did want to call one of you! I can hardly argue my usual points for a world that has real magic. But at least I can try to be a better listener for her when she's here again." He sits quietly for a moment, thinking.

"And I saw Athelstan." He laughs a little. " The runaway patient."

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"Hm," hms Bossuet. Because while he doesn't want to not listen to Joly--he likes nothing better than listening to Joly! he could listen to Joly for hours!--there's all this freezing and unfreezing and general confusion. "I didn't realize he'd run away. Ah--hm--Joly--is--er--was there anything else--?"

[merryeccentricities]

Joly's first impulse isn't even to deny it, or to agree, but to wonder if there is something else. Yes? No? More brandy?

General confusion covers a lot.

So he falls back to what he had been saying in the first place. "I saw Athelstan, and we talked about the machine, and he suggested I try a little camera. And I thought, that's silly, the whole reason I've made this thing is that I had a camera, I'd been recording everything about how I flew during Cubefall. And I thought, well, that's what I've been looking at for it, and I thought, if I showed someone else, they'd see-- and I realized I hadn't shown you any of the recordings." That's not quite true. " I knew I hadn't. Or talked with you or-- anything. And I don't know why, it's not like it's some secret, you were there, but-- I mean it's been a busy summer, we've been--not ourselves, sometimes-- but still not that busy and I--should have. Anyway."

He wants to curl in closer. He also feels, vaguely but surely, that Legle should have the chance to be irritated with him without having the air hugged out of him. So Joly wraps his arms around his knees, instead.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Legle is not irritated. Legle is puzzled, and rubs the back of his head, and hms again. "Have we not been ourselves? I mean, beyond, ah, the odd adventures of Milliways? I think I'm myself at the moment. And of course I'd like to see your recordings. And hear all about them, my dear fellow."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly draws back just enough to give Legle a look. "Yes, that's what I meant. Just the odd adventure of being different people for a week or so." He starts to laugh. " Just the odd little incident where I was a robot for a few days-- ah, Bossuet-- " he falls forawrd again, laughing too hard to sit up, his face half-hidden against Bossuet's collar. " Just had a little walk today with a sorceress, made up a little storm, picked up some bread!" he manages to add, in between laughing and trying to breathe.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

That's better! If he can make Joly laugh, things can't be too bad. (But then, Joly, dear fellow, would manage to laugh at--oh, a barricade, say.) He pats Joly's shoulder. "Anyway, we weren't so very direly not ourselves! Minor points like being a robot, or having out souls manifest externally as small birds, what's that in the grand scheme of things? --All right, perhaps I'm being a bit nonsensical."

He pulls away a little, to study Joly's face. "I'm myself at the moment, I'm sure," he says more seriously.

[merryeccentricities]

Super serious! But Joly's still giggling. " Nothing much, no, not at all--! You're being wonderful." He leans forward and kisses Legle, breaking away to laugh more. "You're being wonderful, and I love you--" He stops laughing and leans back a little, still smiling but a little worried now. "--Is that all right? I mean,can I say that now? Is that--?" Yes? No? are they doing that, now?

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"And I love you," Lesgle says firmly. And then probably spoils the moment by continuing: "At least, I think that's the thing one says! Some of our friends would call us too conventional there, I suppose; we should be writing poetry; let me think, what rhymes with nose...."

[merryeccentricities]

It might spoil the moment, except that it's such an entirely Bossuet thing to say. ""All right. As long as it's really you saying it." Joly grins again, and kisses him on the end of his nose. "If anyone's insisting we write poetry, I probably should, just to teach them a lesson." He leans back enough to play with the lapels of Legle's vest a little, smiling but thoughtful. After a moment, he says "--Everything has been very strange."

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"Well, it has." He scratches his head, a touch theatrically, and then slaps his knee and looks for the brandy bottle. "Probably a sign we haven't had enough to drink; it will all make better sense after a drop of brandy. --But Joly, are you all right? I know we've been, ah, stumbling about a bit lately, conducting some farcical scenes, trying to find words..."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly moves back enough to allow for the very important Acquiring of More Drink. "Um." Eloquence! He laughs at himself. "You're better at that sort of thing than me-- speeches and all, I don't know. I...listen, I was talking to this fellow Will today, while I was out, and he was telling me about his brother, who'd had tuberculosis-- well, we called it consumption in our time but that's what it is. And he, he just had some medicine from the Infirmary and--that was it, it was cured." Joly waves; poof!

"And that's wonderful, if I were at home and I'd seen that I'd think, oh, it's a miracle, because it is, and I'd tell everyone I knew, and there'd be celebrations and -- and here it doesn't even matter to anyone. Everyone just says oh, that's Milliways, and it's nothing. But it's not nothing! But no one will act like any of it matters! And, and I can't go around shouting at people that there's nothing wrong, but it's--everyone acts like everything is just normal and it's not and I--" he breaks off for a moment,and picks up his glass, and huffs out a laugh. "I don't know. There's no problem at all, and I don't know what to do about it. I don't know what I'm doing."

He turns the glass around, fretting."It does feel like there must be something wrong. I almost wish I could believe I had an imbalance of humors. I'm afraid I'll soon have to start suspecting a complex, or perhaps some sort of nervous disorder." Yes, he's smiling as he says it.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

Lesgle smiles too, but with a fair degree of mystification. "Well, we may yet find someone here from a world where humors do explain everything, and then you'll have found a kindred spirit. Er. If you were lacking one."

He rubs the back of his neck. "No, but everything here is strange, and part of the strangeness is the difficulty of putting one's finger on anything wrong. Why--I am used to feeling useless, superfluous, a generally unnecessary sort of a man; but here superfluity takes on a life of its own. --Perhaps we should start a small farm. I have the impression that farmers always have something to worry about; and then you can say Ah, we need rain, or Oh, won't this rain stop..."

This is largely nonsense, but perhaps it will provide Joly enough substance to work out his own ideas on?

[merryeccentricities]

...It's a joke, right? It's obviously a joke. It's not Bossuet's fault that he always lands so close to the mark. Joly breathes out something almost like a laugh in recognition of that, and he's mostly stll smiling as he reaches for Bossuet's hand. "--Yes, you can be a mandrake farmer. The only one at the end of the Universe, I wouldn't wonder." The mandrake still gets cranky with anyone else.

"But-- you know you aren't, don't you? I've tried not to, to make you feel as if you're-- trapped, I mean, that's your word, I always knew-- I thought-- you'd prefer being a little less attached, or-But oh, you know you're not-- I mean, it's not up to me. But you must know you're essential." It's meant to sound a lot more definite, less like a question.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"Joly! My dear Joly. My very dear Joly. My very dearest Joly!" He breaks off and rubs the top of his head. "I take it as an article of faith that you find me moderately necessary from time to time--we all have foibles and individual tastes--some like to eat their lobsters and some like to walk them in the park--where was I going? --Ah. Yes. You are pleased to call me essential, and I rather like being essential to you. In Paris..."

Hm. He looks down at his fingertips. "I think Paris was a different place. --I know, I know, an outrageous declaration, you will tell me; you will point to the wide boulevards and narrow alleyways of the bar, the crowd of hundreds of thousands of men and women of all conditions coming and going, our proximity here to a thousand opera-houses and bookstalls and cafés, the omnipresence of one's fellow-student and his pattern of life, his mistresses and his family and his general expectation of a provincial livelihood--"

Shut up, Bossuet. "What I mean is that--although here, yes, I feel even more superfluous than usual to the world at large, I...I rather like being essential to you. We're in a different place now. We did say now and then that after Paris we would still--of course I was never quite certain of it--but--it isn't--this isn't exactly a physician's practice in Avignon, but--we--aren't we at the point now where we settle down a bit? Oh, damnation, we're talking about different things again, aren't we."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly starts grinning at Bossuet's sarcasm; he ends up beaming. "No. No, we're talking about the same thing. Entirely the same thing." " I just--I need to know what that is for you. Things have changed. I- if nothing else, I always thought we'd be three." His smile softens for a moment, and then he laughs at himself. " And I've been thinking in slightly different terms before, and-though it hardly matters, you've always been at the heart of everything anyway-- I need to, to know what that is for you. What you want that's any different from just, oh, how things have always been between us. Because we're talking about the same thing, and I want to make sure we always are."

He laughs, meaning to say something about the rather ludicrous conversation he'd been having with Bahorel about all this, and then turns thoughtful. "...I think you're talking about the same thing I am, too, about...about how things are, here. But. Hmm." He squeezes Bossuet's hand-- go on,not disagreeing, just thinking a moment.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

He touches Joly's elbow at the reference to Musichetta. Yes: Musichetta's presence would make things entirely different.

"I don't know that very much need change. Er--that is--from how things have been here. That is--erm. I haven't exactly been cultivating the company of grisettes, wandering the streets at midnight, sleeping on Grantaire's floor, hunting up demoiselles at the ball; I'll grant you that a lack of grisettes, streets, and dance-halls might have something to do with it but, erm." He clears his throat. "I've had a sort of a notion of fidelity lately. Novel thought, I know, but..."

[merryeccentricities]

Joly blinks, a little surprised, and then laughs again. "Novel ideas indeed! Well, you've always been good enough to help me with my experiments, I'm certainly willing to cooperate with yours. And, you know, it's sure to be easier than explaining--" Joly's look takes in the beetle on the wall, and the cherubs, and the general Everything about the room "-- to any new acquaintances, even for you. By all means, let's test the theory."

If he's grinning remarkably like a smitten sap, well, they'll both probably just have to get used to that.

[tire_moi_mes_bottes]

"There, you see, you make a very good point! One's ménage is of such a particular sort that it takes a particular sort of person to understand, and--and, having found a particular sort of person, why keep looking? Luck only extends so far! Er--"

He shoots Joly a sideways glance and leans in to kiss him. Luck does extend that far, yes? Sometimes a person has to make sure!

[merryeccentricities]

Right, it's always good to test a theory. There can never be too much supporting evidence. Continuing research suggests that luck does indeed extend that far--

--and also that the humans in the room are horrible neglectful tyrants who don't pay any attention to their cats ever, a fault that must be rectified by force. Joly pulls back a little, laughing, and tips a tabby from his shoulder into his lap. "All right, all right, your petitions are noted, dinner is coming." Not at top speed-- he leans in for another quick kiss, first--, but general movements in that direction can begin. "But-- mm-- but I think that's what I've been talking about, too, with--everything else. When you put it that way-- do you want to call for anything? I think we have an egg and wine here-- that, that's the thing about being here. You know?"