expiationlogs | maybe we're just like flowers startin' down in the dirt

maybe we're just like flowers startin' down in the dirt

Who: Aloy and Beta! It's a clonesis adventure.
Where: The farmlands, stables, greenhouse... It's gonna be a full day.
What: It's time for the clones to go on an adventure to pet some horses and look at some plants.
Warnings: Nerd talk. Lots of nerd talk.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Our first trip that isn't a super important mission. And you're the expert.

[ she corrects, going to grab her bags. it's a little heavy, but she manages. she's going to need to get used to it, isn't she? ]

[Her lips quirk a bit, but since Beta doesn't look like she's going to fail, Aloy doesn't intervene. Just as she hadn't taken Rost's hand when Aloy had been training, best to lest Beta learn to handle it. That's being a good sister. Right?]

Not sure either of us count as an expert, when we've never seen horses.

So you'll be a definite expert after this.

[ HEADING FOR THE DOOR it's adventure time!

banter feels good. the sisters in Second Time Around had bantered often, conversations flowing easily. this definitely means she's doing it right. ]

Ha. I just pick things up quickly.

[Aloy doesn't even have that model to go off of. It's just vibes, what she thinks they should be acting like.

She doesn't try to take the lead today, as she heads for the door with Beta. Beta knows the simulation better - this is her time, surely.]

Apparently I'll be making a trip out to see a "cat cafe," too.

[ Luckily for them both, she had made the trip enough to have the way memorized already, stopping just before actually leaving the safety of Aldrip. So Beta takes the lead for once, taking them out the door and on their way out of the building. ]

A cafe...serving cat customers?

[Aloy doesn't necessarily expect anywhere outside to be safe, but...there's no robot t-rexes, so she is a little more relaxed than usual out there.

Besides. It feels more right than a lot of the indoors.]

It sounded like it's a cafe where cats happen to be.

Whatever a cafe is.

A cafe is a business that serves drinks meant to be enjoyed while sitting inside the business. So... You have a nice drink surrounded by cats? That sounds nice.

Oh, a business...that might be a problem. No shards.

[Like that's an afterthought. At least walking is free.]

Drinking surrounded by cats. They must be calm animals.

They are! I've read about them. They're generally quiet and calm, and they can be less obviously expressive. They're independent by nature so they're often mistaken for cold or uncaring, when they're very affectionate and companionable in reality. And they're excellent hunters.

[ as she speaks, she sends Aloy's Focus a few pictures of kitties. so many kitties. ]

They made me think of you, actually.

[She touches her Focus, and does start swiping through the images, as careless as ever about the optics of walking around apparently poking at empty air.]

They’re small.

[Hey, wait a second.]

. . .I’m not cold or uncaring.

I said mistaken for being cold and uncaring. The way they show affection isn't as obvious as it is for other companion animals, so some people think that means they don't care. But they do, they just show it differently.

[That's still implying she's not normal...]

...Thanks? I think.

What about you?

I think you're a caring person, but you're not used to showing it.

[ that's what she was asking, right? ]

[It's so weird to be the center of attention right now, how is this her life.]

I'm -

[Well okay, sure, she's not used to showing it.]

I mean if you're like a cat. Or...anything else.

Oh. I hadn't thought about it for me. I wouldn't mind being cats together.

[Uh huh...]

You wouldn't mind if people mistook you for cold and standoffish?

I wouldn't mind because we'd be together.

[If anyone wouldn’t abandon Aloy, it’d be her sister. Wouldn’t it?]

. . .Right.

Well, I think if you were a machine, you’d be a Burrower.

Really? They're adorable when they're not being dangerous and scary.

[ as they pass through the more populated areas of the city, Beta edges in closer to Aloy. she's confident Aloy could handle it if anything happens, but - still. being around so many people makes her dizzy. ]

Not that scary, I think.

[Which is as close as she'll get to commenting on the shift in Beta's posture. Just keep walking.]

Burrowers are good at finding things, too.

The squeaky sound they make is cute. I watched some on the dome in Gaia's room once. I believe their original purpose was reconnaissance, before the Derangement. They would burrow through soil and water to monitor for issues.

[ maybe one day, they could go back to their original, harmless purposes again. ]

I think being a Burrower sounds nice.

[Aloy is a well-coordinated athletic sort of woman. She is capable of hiking and staring into the middle distance.]

A lot of machine's sounds are cute. Right up until they try to stun you with some kind of sound attack.

[Which doesn't necessarily rule anything out for the clone who fed space billionaires to some robot dinosaurs.]

Edited 2025-03-01 02:00 (UTC)

What if you were a sunwing? You could fly anywhere you wanted and relax in the sun.

[ the conversation is ridiculous, but Beta seems to be having a good time, so win's a win!

they're finally starting to hit the way out of the city, the crowds thinning. ]

[The more things thin out around them, the more Aloy can relax, too. Still not the surroundings she's used to, but at least it's quieter.

Besides. As silly as it is, Beta sells a sunwing well. Oh, to be a solar powered robot pterodactyl.]

Guess you could ride on my back, sometimes.

[BECAUSE SHE THINKS ANYONE WOULD ENJOY THAT.]

[ NERVOUS...LAUGHTER.... ]

Promise not to drop me?

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