(no subject)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

You have to get up pretty early in the morning in the Wasteland settlement that's been dubbed Lacuna if you want to have a chance at opening a door with nobody else around. Fortunately, Ellen doesn't mind getting up early.

... being asked to tend the Bar as soon as she walks in from what, to her, was pre-breakfast patrol and mediation time, maybe she minds a little. But she'll deal.

Specials

Coffee
Whiskey
Vodka
Beer

I Only Just Woke Up
I'm Sorry I'm Not More Creative Than That

After some consideration, she adds:

Looking To Hire Translators For French Books To Be Rendered Into English
I Will Have To Pay You In Barter
I'm Sorry About That Too

At least she's being up-front about it. And doing her best to tend Bar properly regardless of her internal clock.

Comments

[vorpatril]

Ivan thinks he has a plan to find time with his wife, but her family is tricky and make him feel outmatched.

He enters from his apartment in uniform and goes to the Bar where he blinks at the specials, "Could I have a beer?"

Someone young with hair that color is unusual, its probably an aesthetic choice, one of the simpler ones he's seen.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Sure," says Ellen, turning to the steel fridge behind her. "Um. Do you have a preference which kind? The beer back home all tastes like it was made by the lowest bidder, but they have some nice alternatives here."

[vorpatril]

"Something light if you have it. I don't know if any of the ones I know would be there,"

He mentions a beer from Barrayar.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"They usually have a pretty good selection here. I'll look for that one," Ellen says. "Is it from Earth? I know I've seen some that weren't."

[vorpatril]

"No, its not. Its from my planet Barrayar and the South Continent,"

The label will have some cyrillic on it.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

".... I don't recognize the name, but I'll see what I can- okay, this isn't English and it isn't Chinese, so I don't know whether it's yours or not," Ellen says as she rummages through the fridge. "Does this bottle look right?"

[vorpatril]

He leans over the counter and nods, "Yes, it does."

Barrayar has its own dialects of Russian, Greek and French that are fairy distinctive.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Okay, good," Ellen says, relieved. "Did you want a glass, or is it drunk out of a bottle where you come from?"

[vorpatril]

"It depends on the company, but a glass would be perfect for now,"

Drinking out of the bottle is what he tends to do with Miles when they're fishing or with fellow soldiers after a long day.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Glass it is, then," says Ellen and gets one down. "I don't think I know you. Have you been here before, or have I just been too busy at home to meet people here lately?"

[vorpatril]

"I've been here before but not a lot. I still feel new. Captain Ivan Vorpatril of the Barrayaran Imperial Service,"

He gives her a small bow.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen returns the bow. "Good to meet you, Captain," she says. "Paladin 101 of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel. Earth, the twenty-third century AD."

If he's giving rank and title, so is she.

[vorpatril]

"I always forget the year," With a laugh, he adds a year in the 3000s.

[street_sparrow]

"I can read French", Gavroche offers. "And barter's okay, we don't really use money in my world either."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm trying to get a pre-War library's entire French language collection translated into English two or three books at a time," Ellen says. "It might take a while. We do use money in the Wasteland, but it's not very convertible to other worlds' currencies, since it's basically backed with water instead of gold or whatever."

[street_sparrow]

He nods. "Well, I'll do what I can if you like. What sort of thing do you want to trade?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen rubs at the back of her neck, thinking. "Any chance you need body armor?" she says. "Ammunition? Robot parts?"

[street_sparrow]

"Ammunition, no, and you probably need it more - but I'd take the armour or robot parts. If I can't use them, I can trade them on."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Okay," Ellen says. "I'll see what I can do about the body armor- this is pre-War combat grade stuff worn by BATDFL agents, so it's not as bulky as power armor but it's still pretty noticeable."

[street_sparrow]

"That's all right. We've got a blacksmith, i could see what he can do with it, or else it'd do to tell people not to even bother."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I don't think a blacksmith could work with it," Ellen says doubtfully. "It's mostly cerasteel plates attached to polymer webbing, and cerasteel's a composite, not actual steel. Good visual deterrent, though."

[street_sparrow]

" - yeah, I doubt Hammersmith's ever even seen things like that, now you say it. It'll still be worth having."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right," says Ellen. "I'll bring a suit and a holotape and reader- I don't have actual physical books, but I'm guessing reading things on screen should be okay?"

[street_sparrow]

"The reader's what you use to read it?" He nods. "Not a problem. What's its power source?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"We've got it running off an old fission battery, but I know that makes people uncomfortable," Ellen says. "Might be able to get it to work from a bunch of electron charge packs instead."