citylogs | [ closed ] out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field

[ closes his eyes. counts to ten. opens them again. ]

At least walk. [ there's a nudge there, shoulder-to-shoulder, as kaveh gives alhaitham an unfriendly bump. but the exasperation there is commonplace - you couldn't go a day without seeing it, if you lived with alhaitham. ] And point! And narrate! It's as if you're excising the last bit of fun out of this tour.

Ah, forget it. I'll look myself. [ hallway, living room. kaveh's voice floats out from behind him. ] You said yours is the left one?

You don't find my description engrossing? [In fact, Alhaitham is very entertained in this faux tour. He tilts his head back to watch Kaveh walk away.] I've given you all the relevant information you could have taken in with your own two eyes.

[Once his voice starts to echo down the hallway is when he finally turns around and follows at a leisurely pace.] That's right.

Spoilsport. You know those descriptions do nothing. The eyes perceive, but vision begins in the brain - wasn't it you who studied optics? [ the sweeping space of the hallway is, well, not quite sweeping. it has kaveh miss the sun-lit walkway of their shared house back in sumeru city, but there's a simplicity to it that begs for decorations on the walls.

more relevantly: the little nail-holes in the wall here and there that suggest there had been decorations there already. kaveh meanders down the hall, and peeks first into the right-hand bedroom, and then the left. ]

In any case, you could recite the most harrowing of tales, and it would end up sounding like a ledger of numbers. That's your special skill. Your descriptions did nothing for the sense of the rooms, the shape of the space and the potential in it.

- ah, you've picked the left-hand one because it get less lighting. Of course you did.

They provide exactly the necessary information to navigate the floor plan. If you were looking for lengthy descriptions of the angle on the archways or how to maximize the light from the windows over the course of the day, I believe that's your expertise.

[Not that he tried. Also, he just got here?]

I was originally thinking of making the right room a study. [Was. Before he knew Kaveh was in this predicament as well.

No comment on his preference for a darker bedroom. He has no need to justify that.]

[ was, alhaitham says. kaveh thinks - he wishes he had alhaitham's unflappable certainty, the kind that mere foundations of worlds were built upon. the room on the right-hand side allows in the natural lighting as befitting of a place with a northern exposure. the walls are bare, but tidy. there is a generic bed and a nightstand. there is space for wall-to-wall of bookshelves, little chests and tidy dressers, but most importantly, there is space for books.

it would be a lovely study. ]

Were there any decorations here? Other potential signs of life?

The photographs. [He gestures to the chest of drawers by the bed.] I didn't want them up, but don't throw them away.

[They don't know yet if there are clues within them that will only make sense with more information, so he intends to keep them--just, tucked away where he doesn't have to look at them.] They're in the same state as the ones you described. That's the only thing I've moved since walking in.

I knew it. Lazy.

[ kaveh's words are punctuated by the roll of his wrist - but there's perhaps something infinitely fond tucked away in its undertow, like a glimmer along the shores of a moonless sea. it's reassuring that there are things that wouldn't change, even when the world itself as upended. it's as if it were a statement of intent: alhaitham will be alhaitham regardless of circumstances.

what, then, is kaveh? the bare walls of the room unveils no real answer to that regard.

kaveh turns.

apropos of nothing: ]

Let's do dinner.

[At that, he only shrugs a shoulder. The bland furniture is perfectly servicable, and if Kaveh wants him to live in a place with color he'll have to take it into his own hands.]

I was wondering when you'd ask. You probably haven't eaten since you got here, huh?

[ kaveh, who absolutely isn't being called out here and totally hasn't been agonising over taking food from random places, scowls. ]

Yes, yes, say as you will. Have you? And have you also squirreled away a stockpile of supplies? I bet if I opened some of those lower cabinets, I'll see that they're full of the blandest things imaginable.

Of course I've eaten--I don't neglect my body's needs. Also, you're the one with the bland taste buds. [Mr. I Can't Handle Too Spicy Or Hot.

He turns to walk back out to the living room.] I did grab some supplies earlier and the spice cabinet is full, but it wasn't an exhaustive trip. If what I have isn't satisfactory we can go back to the store.

[ the empty expanse of the living room yawns. if it weren't for the sole, generic table within, kaveh would have thought it to be a rather modern jail cell. however, the wall-to-wall windows showcases the streets. the lack of curtains gives a sense that as you look out into the world, the world looks back unto you.

kaveh navigates to the kitchen. ]

Should we really still be calling them 'stores'? It feels odd; there is no exchange of commerce, or anyone to mind them. They're more like storehouses than anything else. [ he makes good on his threat of shuffling through cabinets - kaveh begins to open them at random, bottom and top and sideways. ] And have you heard that the supplies restock? But we don't know by whom, and wouldn't it be easy for the restocks to not happen? How would we know if there isn't an end to it?

[He'll find some pretty expected stables. Rice, lentils, onions, and meat, greens, and a couple overripe peaches in the fridge. The freezer remains bare. There's also a box of dense granola bars, induvidually wrapped in a box that extols the health virtues of each ingredient. Two are already missing.

His lips quirk at Kaveh's correction, but then he brings up the bigger question.] I've heard. If there is an end then I suppose we'll be in some trouble, unless you have ideas on how to turn ivy into a balanced meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

[ kaveh counts the missing granola bars. he makes a face. of course they'd be the ones missing. ]

Haha, very funny. I'm more worried about the collapse of this makeshift society. Lack of resources begets strife; this is Vahumana one-oh-one. And there are a lot of people here who are very willing to pick up arms and do something about things.

[They're convenient, they're tasty, he can read a book while eating them if he had any books.]

And what would we do about it if that was the case? The societal collapse would still be short lived once little resources become no resources. At the moment there's no natural sources to replenish a fundemental necessity: food. No amount of hoarding or violence will change that reality.

I refuse to live in that reality, the one that precedes the end or otherwise. But you bring up a good point. What can we do?

[ rice and lentils and onions. kaveh brings out small portions of each. there are two slightly-worn pans in the bottom right cabinet. there's running water in the pipes. ] Right. Seeds. The establishments here are marvelous - they're full of things I've never even considered existing. But would any of them have seeds?

[Alhaitham leans back against another section of the counter, crossing his arms as he watches Kaveh pick through the kitchen. Eating in it is.]

Rather than hope for a simple solution, look at what's in front of you. Some plants can propegate from only a cutting with adequate care, such as most root vegetables. [Like that onion.

That is, of course, if nothing interferes with growth in this place.] How well can you maintain a garden?

[ kaveh's attention shifts to the onion. it sits innocuously along the countertop like some cross between a root vegetable and a small minor miracle. right, kaveh thinks. he picks up the onion and gives it a thoughtful toss in hand. the outer layer of it crinkles in his hand, much in the way of untapped potential. ]

I've kept our mint plant alive, but that was in its pot; and it isn't like mint plants aren't hardy to begin with. [ kaveh looks. ] You're right, though. We have the ingredients for a small experiment. I'll have to obtain some flower pots and see if we can get some of these onions to grow. Now that I think about it, have you seen a single animal in this city? A bird? A fly?

Not even a fly. The plantlife is also lacking beyond the grass, trees, and some ivy in the public garden. Overall, not much of a sustainable ecosystem. But something will always find a way to thrive regardless.

[Like onions.] Even if we can't find a proper garden center, there's at least plenty of dirt and water.

And how are you with gardens?

I have no doubt in my ability to keep a simple plant alive with accurate instruction. [His plan from the start was to ask Tighnari. It's not like there are BOOKS he can reference.]

In this, you should really have more doubt. Haven't you heard of a green thumb? Or a black thumb?

One person's natural affinity to care for a living thing, or another person's lack of patience to, has no bearing on my ability.

[Where does he get this confidence from.]

Which is your way of say that you have an affinity for caring for living things, and that you've the patience to. Hah! That's a laugh. [ says kaveh, who's certainly better at taking care of things (feeds himself once every three days) and far more patient at it (tends to get jittery if someone's taking too long their turn at tcg), as he finds a chopping board. ] Tell me, what have you taken care of in your life, and is it still alive to say something about it? And do you have a knife?

[That mint plant is alive through pure tenacity alone since Alhaitham decided he wasn't going to be responsible for it.]

Drawer to your right. [A stall, in a way, as he briefly considers the answer: you, of course. A truth since Kaveh first collapsed, drunk, in the spare bedroom of his new home that both of them have carefully avoided since. Avoided every time Alhaitham drags him back from the tavern. Avoided every time he pays off Kaveh's monthly tabs at the cafe. Avoided every time there's an extra bag of fruit, to be cut fresh, among the groceries.]

I could ask you the same thing. When was the last time you watered that mint plant, anyway? Are you sure it wasn't already a husk before you left?

[ the drawer slides open. kaveh obtains a knife. he makes a noise much like a sumpterbeast being dragged into a river. ]

I knew I forgot something. It's going to be dead; it's so dead. The neighbour is going to see me take that empty pot out of the house and she's going to never let me live it down.

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