Third Floor Common Room - Mid-Morning Tuesday

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He didn't have class for a while, since it was a Tuesday, but it had never been in his nature to sleep overly much; as such, he was in the common room. He'd originally thought of going out for a trip on the broom, but the foul weather had put that plan out of his mind quick enough. He'd seen the remainders of an old barn that'd been struck by lightning once; while he didn't know much about how it worked, he knew well enough that it wouldn't be wise to provide a closer target.

As such, he sat by the window with a book on crystology, since the television was horribly distracting (off or on). He wasn't taking notes just yet since he wanted to get a good idea of how the whole of the science worked before he started making assumptions on what might work for his invention, and it was all very interesting. So many choices he hadn't even known about, and the pictures showed so many beautiful things, some of which he remembered from the Magic Box. He'd have to pick one of those; you can't make something with parts you don't have, after all.

[open as common rooms are]

Comments

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes, apparently, it just happens. It happened to someone here," he said, not wanting to share Professor Ambrose's business. "They took his memories from him."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"Well, yeah," Chad said. "I know it sometimes happens, but..." He trailed off, realizing that he wasn't sure what he was intending to say.

He just shook his head, gesturing with his free hand over the top of it. "This stuff's like...way over my head, I think..."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"It can't be," he told him. "I understand it. And I'm well aware I'm rather dull.

"I'm probably not explaining it properly."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

"You don't sound that dull. I think I'm all stuck on the information thing," Chad admitted. "All that stuff you listed all sound like information. That you remember."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Because I was giving it as information," he said. "Memories are personal. And they're all those things and more besides."

He looked as if he was having a hard time putting it into words; it wasn't surprising, since words were never his specialty. The broom had never said 'you're going to die'. He'd just felt the memory of a scythe, of gathering, of being put to a new purpose, of falling from the ground to fly through the sky.

He'd just been little. In some ways, he still was.

Finally, he came on something.

"It's like emotion. You can't ever really tell someone how you feel exactly, can you?"

He knew he couldn't.

"Not exactly. And that's just part of a memory."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad quietly, thoughtfully chewed his cereal with the new information. "No," he finally concluded, "you probably can't, but sometimes you don't have to. Is that the difference? I mean, I don't know. I've never lost my memory. I guess I could have, but I don't remember."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

He opened his mouth once, closed it again, and then opened it when he figured that it shouldn't be too inappropriate and it was the only happy thing he could think of for the other boy. At least, he assumed. Karal had mentioned it in the list of things, after all.

"If you lost the memory of your, um, first kiss with Teddy, would it make it up to you if Teddy told you what it was like?"

Memories were, after all, personal things. That was the point.

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad looked at Liir for a second. "What if I told you that I actually don't remember that?"

Because he didn't. He'd never had a good memory; there were only few things he could remember, and a lot of them were things he didn't want to remember. His mouth shifted, into an almost apologetic expression, as he realized why he was probably failing to understant. "I have a bad memory. I forget a lot of things, so maybe that's why I don't get it. 'Cause it would make it up to me if he told me, because it's more than what I already got."

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Oh."

There wasn't anything he could say to that. He didn't even understand that.

Maybe he was insane.

"You're right, then. Sorry."

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad shrugged. "M'not saying I'm right," he said, "'cause that would mean you're wrong, an' I don't think you are. Just that it's....different. For everyone." He shoveled another handful of cereal into his mouth.

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

"Probably," he said. And for the second time in his life, felt deeply sorry for another individual.

...considering the first had been a crucified soldier at Red Windmill, that was quite an achievement.

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

And Chad, oblivious and hungry, just maintained his usual quiet and continued to quietly, thoughtfully, eat. It gave him something to do with his hands, because he realized he couldn't do what he'd usually do with them at a time like this, running his fingers over the coin he used to wear around his neck. Yeah, he didn't remember things like his first kiss with Teddy, or his first kiss at all, but he liked to think that was more because he'd rather look forward to more than bother dwelling on ones passed.