The Villa Is Open

[shipwreck_light]

Zephyr had a plan. "We are gonna make you the best electric milkshake that ever was!"

"Or will be!" Pip joined in, clapping her hands over her head as she danced along before him and Roa and generally got in the way of where they were trying to walk.

This gave Zephyr plenty of excuse to pause at the end of the hall and make himself a sweeping gesture. "In the historya... ah..." one that should have ended with him banging his hand on the wall.

Except for the part where the applicable wall had disappeared and not in the usual behold the busted drywall kind of way. It was just gone. Likewise, the hallway and the entirety of Sky Plaza.

Zephyr stood on some low, sweeping stone steps. That happened to be outside, while just a moment before been /inside/ and headed to the kitchen. "OK, what the hell?"

Roa took in the sudden sky all golden up the flanks of the villa before them and held her finger to her lips in curiosity. "I don't know, actually." Then, she attempted to walk down the way they had come. This got her over the steps and almost to the spray from the fountain in the drive before it became quite apparent merely turning around wasn't going to accomplish much besides dampening her shoes. Back up she went. "This *looks* like where they held the last Court of the Manor."

"You dunno?" his next sound was an odd one, not a moan and not a laugh, and awfully feline besides. "Yeah, that's not freakin me out or nothin. Dun you know everythin?"

"Zephyyyr. Same to you."

"You guys," interjected Pip, her bare toes rapping on the stone. "Think this's kinda the same thing happened to Seb."

"Hm?" Zephyr craned himself her way, and their hands tangled together, wires all a-flash.

"Mm!"

"Mnhn."

"Nnn~."

"Well, I like your theory so far," Roa nodded. Mostly, she wasn't being silly right back at their latest ridiculous display. Mostly. "Happened to Siebenkas...?"

"Yeah, he had this dream," the elder of the two evokers almost began to explain, digits working.

Whatever he meant to coax out of the recollections between them, Pip took over, swaying as she did. "He thinks was a dream, but is totally notta dream. I know. I touched him thinkin about it an it was all wrong fora dream. Still didn't make any sense, but not the same kinda way dreams do."

"Also, Seb never dreams he's nekkid. Fun fact."

("So useful, too," Roa remarked, quite to herself.)

"But, he walked outta his bathroom an alla a sudden, he was in this bar in Old New York an there were all these other people an he was almost kinda sorta mebbe flirtin with this mob boss lady over gin an tonic and then there was this real cute muddy guy. Seb didn't think he was so cute, but I did. He got way more distracted by the other lady evoked with her eyes and the booze was good an there were pretty blond polyamourous peeps bonkin in the restroom an... an... an..."

Her not so little description might have gone on another few hours, except that Zephyr reached around with his unoccupied hand and tickled her. The way they'd tangled up together, she must have known it was coming.

Which left Roa to conclude Pip wanted tickled more than she wanted to discuss any washroom adventures. "On one hand, that sounds very much like a dream to me. On the other, if there's some sort of precedent for people in our manor suddenly disobeying all known laws of physics. And you're not playing some sort of elaborate prank."

"Hey! I had my heart set on givin you your first electric milkshake an that's not somethin I'd go back on for any money." Next thing she did know with any certainty, Zephyr had play staggered over, clutching at his shirt, "'m so disappointed it /huuurts/."

"Well, you can make it up to me when the universe goes back to normal."

Grin for the time being, too.

"It is going to go back to normal?"

"Did last time. 's why we still gotta Seb an notta portal to someplace called Dan's," said Pip.

"Alright, so why don't we...?"

"Make the besta it?"

"Yes!" Roa swung from Zephyr's grasp. He only then reached for her, trying to find that place in her moments where the best meant [concrete] he could play after and with her. As it was, he missed her as she skipped the villa steps instead, swirling her skirt in her hands and calling back after: "We're going to get company, right?"

"Woul, that'd be nice, but if not," he shrugged. "We get blitzed an watch the stars come out." A quick little sigh and a pop of his shoulder after, he followed.

Pip watched the space in the sky where the clouds should have been. The end of her nose twitched. "We're so gettin company. Can smell it, almost. Somethin's zactly not right out there." Laughing then, she blew past them both and straight through the doors.



Stuff you actually need to know available in this direction:
http://rainbowlounge.dreamwidth.org/18653.html

Have fun!

ETA: This post has not been up thirty-six hours and we officially have more than 500 comments. SO I SUPPOSE THIS ISN'T FUN AT ALL AMMIRITE? XD

ETA II: I am really, really touched that everyone wants to take care of the deceased fellow in the pool. I'm sure he appreciates it (he didn't even have a name in the story where he first appeared ;_;). But, alas, there was only one of him and he's currently being handled. He may be installed in a bedroom shortly, and should that happen, I will give him his own thread for poking purposes.

Comments

[bookblather]

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Gina told her, firmly. "You just got me thinking."

In-vitro... oh, boy. "It's... a way of having children," she said, carefully. "My wife and I obviously can't have any the usual way, so we... there are scientists who can take the part of her that makes a baby, and the part of my cousin Joseph, and then they can put it together and put it in me." She patted her belly. "That's how I got this baby."

[isana]

"I've never heard of that before," Setsuko said, quite awed. "So they take something from your wife, and then the seed from your cousin, and then they put it in your womb, correct? And there's no complications?"

Well, obviously there hadn't been, or if there were, nothing of much consequence, as Gina looked quite healthy and happy.

"That's a very interesting way of solving any...issues of two women having children of their own. Do you suppose it works with two men? Could they have children the same way? Would men carry a baby like you do?"

[bookblather]

"Yes," Gina said. "There can be complications; sometimes the egg doesn't set, and you get a miscarriage, but with us it was fairly straightforward." She rubbed a hand over her belly again, just for the feel of it. "As far as I know it can work with two men, but they have to get a surrogate mother, a woman to carry the child to term. Men don't... they can't carry a baby."

They didn't have a uterus, for starters.

"But," she added, "they're developing something called an artificial womb. When it's finished you can just put a fertilized in one and the baby will grow to full-term there. Safer, and that way men won't need surrogates."

[isana]

"A man-made womb? What does that look like?" Setsuko asked. "Does it stay outside in the open while the baby grows, or can a man carry a baby that way?"

This was all so very intriguing! How she'd love to visit Gina's world and witness these miracles for herself.

[bookblather]

"I don't know," she said, laughing. "It's something they're still working on. I imagine it would be out in the open, in a lab somewhere, instead of inside someone's body. Less complicated."

[isana]

"That would be interesting to see if they were out in the open," Setsuko said. "I've never seen a baby grow before, but I would like to, truly. And then perhaps women who had trouble having babies could use those wombs instead, if they wanted children?"

[bookblather]

"One of the ideas behind it," Gina agreed, nodding. "In-vitro was originally developed to help women who had trouble conceiving. Right now, surrogate mothers help women who can't carry to term."

[isana]

"Do you think such things might also help women who might die in childbirth?" Setsuko asked. "In my world, that is often a problem."

[bookblather]

"Not so much in mine," Gina said, adding thank God in the privacy of her own head. "But yes, it could certainly help them."

[isana]

"I wish I could visit your world, and see all these things! Imagine, doctors for pregnant women, being able to see your baby grow, and these developing man-made wombs! It all sounds so marvelous."

[bookblather]

Gina smiled. "It certainly can be. Sonograms are... they're amazing, in so many ways."

[isana]

"Can you see the baby's hair and eye color?" Setsuko asked. "Or what kind of face he or she might have?"

[bookblather]

She shook her head. "Just the shape of the baby. It's always in black and white. But it's worth it. Color is a nice surprise." The baby shifted just a bit inside her, resettling herself. She rested a hand atop her belly for a moment. "I hope she has red hair."

[isana]

"Red hair?" Setsuko asked. "Does your wife have red hair, then? I must admit I'd never seen people with different-colored hair or eyes until I came out West. Where I come from, everyone has dark hair and dark eyes. Well, mostly everyone," she amended, remembering Minxia.

[bookblather]

"She does," Gina said. "Red hair and blue eyes. My cousin has blue eyes too, so she'll probably have those, but the red hair is a gamble." She patted her belly again. "There's a lot of different colors of hair and skin where I come from, but I gather we're more diverse."

Which made sense, given the approximate technology and social level she was guessing at.

[isana]

"Oh, I see," Setsuko said. "You know, the different skin colors reminds me of the crew on a friend's ship. Perhaps your New York is like that, with people coming from different places?"

[bookblather]

She nodded, somewhat more enthusiastically than usual. "Yes, that's it exactly! My country, America, for a long time it was seen as... as more free than a lot of other countries, so people immigrated there in waves. New York City was one of the major places for them to come to try and get into the city."

[isana]

"America..." Setsuko tried the word on for size. "What kind of country is it? How is it more free?" she asked, genuinely curious. "Are there other large cities besides New York?"

[bookblather]

"It isn't, really," Gina said, "but back then, there were... there was more space, I guess, more room for people who were oppressed where they were from to come over and get out from under that oppression. Not that it helped," she added, somewhat waspishly, "since America has the same kind of oppression, just subtler. But it was a start, and at least here you probably weren't going to be murdered by the state."

Probably. Anyway.

"There's a lot of other large cities. Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Boston, just off the top of my head." And so many others in the middle of the States; it was just that those were the only ones Gina had ever been to.

[isana]

"Ah," Setsuko nodded. "So it still has the same problems as the countries those people were trying to escape? Do people still try to go there now, or has that oppression come to light?"

[bookblather]

"Some," Gina said, thinking of illegal immigrants, still an issue years after their explosive entry onto the political scene. "And it does have the same problems, and people know about them, but... it's... they're easier to fix, I suppose." Which wasn't saying a whole lot, but was true nonetheless.

[isana]

"Oh," Setsuko said. "Well, there's something to be said for that, at least. It would be nice to go to your America for a day and see how things are, with so many different people and such an advanced culture with your 'computers,' 'phones,' and 'sonograms.'"

[bookblather]

"We'd love to have you," Gina said, sincerely. "If you ever do end up there, I mean. My wife and I would put you up in a second." And she could meet Andy, who would love her. He was in a hair-braiding phase lately-- practicing for the baby, Ivy said-- and he'd love Setsuko's long black hair.

[isana]

"Oh, my. Well, if it wouldn't inconvenience you. I'm sure if your New York is anything like this place, I would be quite confused for a while. Would that try your patience?"

[bookblather]

She shook her head. "Not at all. I like answering questions. Ivy might get a little impatient, but you could spend your time with me, and with Andy. He loves feeling smart." She smiled, a little foolishly. "Not to say that he's not smart. He's very smart, but he really likes it when he can answer people's questions."