[thirty nine] Ah, Paris.

[goodgrasshopper]

I've never been to Paris before.  Food, museums, art...

Thom!  Where are you?  We're going to get some culture.  And I think you need a beret.

Comments

[giftedtwin]

What on earth is a beret?

[goodgrasshopper]

It's a kind of a hat. Fabric, and a little puffy. I'll get one too. You'll see. They're cool. Where are you?

[giftedtwin]

I have no idea; this place is strange to me. [He's so lost. And probably nearly got hit by a car a couple times.] There's a tower with a golden statue on top of it.

[He's talking about the July Column.]

[goodgrasshopper]

...I should be able to find you. Where are you in relation to the tower?

[giftedtwin]

Close to it, across the... road in an avenue lined with trees. [Pause.] What are the carts? They're too fast. Are they magic?

[goodgrasshopper]

They're called cars--automobiles. They're not magic, they're technology. They run on gasoline.

[giftedtwin]

Cars. How are they made? What of? And what's gasoline?

[This kind of questioning is going to keep going through this whole port, Molly. Just so you know.]

[goodgrasshopper]

They're made in factories--usually on assembly lines--out of metal, rubber and plastic. [beat] Plastic is a man-made material, and its strength varies depending on its thickness and composition.

Gasoline is a fuel, oil-based and combustible.

[giftedtwin]

This is your world, then? How does magic fit into this?

[goodgrasshopper]

At the very least, it's similar to my world. Magic where I'm from isn't generally very public. Most people don't believe in it.

[giftedtwin]

How can they not believe in it? [Does not compute. :|]

[goodgrasshopper]

Magic isn't exactly public knowledge. Most people are content to believe that it's all just tricks ad sleight of hand--easily explained away.

[giftedtwin]

More fool them. The Gift shouldn't be something to be taken so lightly.

[goodgrasshopper]

I think it's easier for them to believe it's not real--and it's honestly easier for most of us to keep it that way. It certainly cuts down on frivolous requests for love potions or nonsense like that.

[giftedtwin]

Love potions. [Tch, some people. No respect for the Gift.]

Your world is strange. At least in mine, everyone knows. They may not like magic nor have the Gift, but there's no denying its power.

[goodgrasshopper]

I think the supernatural of my world are pretty content not to have to be constrained by human laws. It's easier if normal people don't know about them.

[giftedtwin]

Like I said, strange. We come from very different places.

[goodgrasshopper]

I think that's fair to say.