Virgo Campfire; Thursday Evening.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

When Cal returned to the cabin after having spent all day inside at work, he realized that he wasn't really feeling up to just killing more time in his alcove. He considered hitting up the gym, but his body made a surprisingly loud argument for something so silent, and that settled it, then. He stepped outside, set up a fire, and had himself a seat, lighting up a cigarette and taking slow drags from it. He stared into the fire, contemplating the standstill he was reaching in this endeavor. Step out for fresh air, and then pollute it straight away.

Ah, well.

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Comments

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi was passing by and was about to say hi to Cal when she noticed the cigarette. "What is that?" she asked, gawking.

In her world, smoking pretty much disappeared in the mid-21st century.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal stared at Hoshi for a moment, and then shook his head, before taking another long drag. "I still can't get over," he said, throatily, speaking as he held the smoke in his lungs for a moment before letting it out in a long exhale before continuing, "how many people around here don't know what cigarettes are. I envy you guys."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"That's a cigarette?" asked Hoshi. "Don't you know how many people died from those before they were outlawed?"

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Outlawed?

Well, technically, it was outlawed for him to have them at his age, but he wasn't going to mesh with details.

"...I'm going to guess a lot," he guessed.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"I don't know the actual number off-hand," said Hoshi, thinking. And since the fifth Geneva Convention wouldn't happen for another two decades, there was no way she was going to find the total number in this time period.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Did they outlaw cars, too?" Cal asked sardonically. "Lot of people have died from cars, too. Oh. Or how about death? I hear that's a big life-taker."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi frowned. "Are you being sarcastic?" she asked.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal pressed his lips together for a second. "Nawwww," he said, fighting against a smirk as he shook his head a little.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi looked warily at Cal and the cigarette, but she sat down anyway. "I heard on the radio that you got a job in town," she said.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal grinned a little; as Hoshi went to sit down, he politely put the cigarette out on the log he was sitting on. Carefully, too. They weren't cheap, after all, so he didn't want to ruin it. He pulled his pack out of the inside pocket of his jacket, carefully tucking what remained back in for later. He slide the pack back as he got around to responding, "Yup. At Luke's, the diner."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

The saving of the cigarette caught Hoshi's attention, but she didn't react. "Cool. I work over at the hotel on Wednesdays," she said. "I don't think I've ever been to Luke's, though. They used to have weird guy running it."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal brightened quite a bit at that. "Was his name Luke?"

...Hoshi had no idea how eagerly he'd been awaiting the chance to ask that.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"No, I think his name was Yitzhak. He had a thing for sparkly wigs," said Hoshi. "The only Luke I knew of was a student who just graduated. I took his dad's Ethics class."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"Oh." Cal's shoulders sagged a bit. The mystery, for now, would remain unsolved. His head tilted thoughtfully at Hoshi. "What's wrong with sparkly wigs?"

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"Nothing, except they were women's wigs and he'd pair them with a dress and heels," said Hoshi. "It was a little weird."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"To some people, maybe," Cal said; he was blushing a little, not because he ever had done anything like that, but he had been associated with people who did, and, clearly, Hoshi might find that a bit weird. Thankfully, he figured the evening, and the firelight probably already casting dramatic shadows on his face, hid the blush pretty well.

Figures he'd miss the crossdresser. Transexual? Either way, probably a good thing, in the long run. "Some people just feel more comfortable like that, though."

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"I guess so," said Hoshi. "I had a cousin on my dad's side of the family that liked to dress up as a geisha girl, even though he was a boy. Mama and Papa liked to pretend he didn't exist. They were that way with a lot of things."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Cal ducked his head for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck and regretting his decision to put Hoshi's comfort over his nicotine itch. The territory they were venturing into here was hitting way too close to home. Not that he ever dressed up as a geisha or anything, but this whole...embarrasment over gender displacement, gender dysphoria...Embarrassing little monsters, nonconforming freakery.

"So how are your workshops going?" he asked, oh-so-deftly.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

Thinking about workshops definitely brought a smile to Hoshi's face. "They're great," she said. "I really like the Inside Out one, and then I'm taking the foodie one and Arts & Crafts."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

Awkward topic diversion: successful. Cal grinned back at Hoshi a little. "What's Inside Out about?" The others seemed pretty self-explanatory.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"It's about discussing the differences between different worlds, since a lot of us come from different places," explained Hoshi. "Everyone's used to different foods, different weather, different economies, that sort of thing."

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

...different gender identity morales...

"Sounds pretty cool. Useful, for a place like this." He shrugged a shoulder. "So I've heard."

[intraspective]

Ino was a) freezing and b) soaking wet when she detoured to the nearest lit campfire and flung herself down in front of it.

What? Staving off a cold was totally secondary. And she felt better than she had for most of the week besides the whole wet thing.

She quirked at Cal. And at his cigarette. "Asuma-sensei does that," Ino informed him.

[not-a-mused.livejournal.com]

"You're wet," Cal informed Ino right back.

[itsjustlanguage.livejournal.com]

"Tell me about it. They don't use currency where I come from, so that led to some culture shock the first time I went shopping," said Hoshi. "I took it because I've met the professor before and I really liked her. She's also from the future."