likesthecoat | (no subject)

It gets in your blood, I think. I missed it when I was back home.

Huh. I've never been very good with languages. I took German in high school, but I don't remember much. And I've picked up a little Latin in recent years.

Maybe someday I will.

The classic ideas are always the best.

It does, it does. It rocks you in its arms and whispers your name.

I like languages. I know a little Japanese, too, though I read and write it better than I speak it.

I'd love to bring that about, you know.

Well, then. Another item to add to our Things To Do list.

I seriously contemplated getting one of those "ocean sounds" CDs to help me sleep for a while.

I've started picking up a tiny bit of Japanese from one of our physicists. I've picked up a tiny bit of several other languages as well, though most of it is not fit for polite company.

I wish you could.

Yes, make sure you're well stocked with whipped cream. Chocolate sauce is another good one, though it's a bit messier.

They're not bad, those CDs. I used one for a while in London, to drown out the noise of the city.

*laughs* It's always the swear words first.

I must admit to doing a few Google searches now and again to see what I could find. Should I look into it in earnest?

Check. Whipped cream and chocolate sauce, and various kinds of fruits.

English is the official language of the expedition, so most people only revert to their native tongues when they're frustrated or they don't want their supervisors to understand them. Hence swearing.

For cashmere blankets? It might be nice, but it's definitely not necessary. I'd offer to bring mine, but my bed is tiny, so I doubt they'd be much good on yours.

I like the way you think.

No, not searching for blankets--for you. For your expedition.

*smiles* I should hope so, at this point.

You did a Google search for the expedition? I don't think that's going to be much help, really. God, I'd love to have you here, but...I'm not sure how much good it would do.

Fuck, though, after last night, I almost think it might be worth the sneaking around we'd have to do. But I don't want you to get into trouble. You wouldn't be able to get out here anyway, even if you did find me.

You and various names you've mentioned. I can make computers do a lot of things.

I wouldn't get into trouble. There are civilians at your base, aren't there? From many other countries? I'd just get myself assigned there somehow and we'd . . . meet. Finally.

I'm sure there's some position I could fill, some use I could be. I've worked as an archivist and researcher since graduation, that has to be worth something.

I'm pretty sure that between the two of us, we'd have no trouble getting you assigned out here. Zelenka would probably take you on in a second. But it's not a temporary assignment. Civilian recruits are required to sign a one-year blind commitment before being told where they'd be going.

I'm not saying I haven't considered it, but as I said before, it's a very big commitment to make for someone you've never met.

Let's work on getting me to Cardiff first, shall we? And once we see how that goes, maybe we can revisit this idea.

I know.

I just--I just want you so badly. I keep telling myself I nave to be mature and patient and I don't know if I can do it.

I'm sorry. Usually I'm the calm one.

It's okay. I understand. I want you too. Sometimes I try to figure out how I could get you out here, and how we could be together if you were here.

And then I tell myself that I really need to slow down and think about things a bit more.

But it's really hard some days.

Right. Taking it slow. I know it's the right thing to do, and god knows I've never really rushed into a relationship this way, but yeah. It's hard.

I think part of that is to do with this whole relationship being online. There was a real sense of anonymity to begin with, so we were probably more open with each other than we would have been in person. And that creates a bond.

And we were friends first, which makes things go a little faster as well.

I'm not usually one for rushing into relationships either. I mean, how long have we been...whatever we are? A few weeks?

I tend to think of it as "dating." There's not really another word for it.

And yeah, it's only been a few weeks.

I was going to say "together", but that was way too ironic for me.

God, I've never felt this way about someone I've only been dating for a few weeks. It seems like so much longer.

Heh. Yes. A bit ironic.

It's the intensity, I think: how often we talk and the things we talk about. Even though, of course, I don't even know the name of yours organization and you don't know much more abut mine.

I think you're probably right.

And you may not know the name of my organization (though, technically, it's the USAF), but you know more than anyone I dated when I was in Colorado, where the standard cover story is "deep space telemetry". That's right, I'm a geologist and I work with deep space telemetry.

It wasn't the most effective of covers.

. . . yes, that makes no sense whatsoever unless you're measuring meteors or something.

[ooc: dozing off. continue tomorrow?]

To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what deep space telemetry is.

[ooc: Sure thing. Sleep well.]

Deep space exploration and research, basically, like if you worked for the SETI project or NASA. Say you worked on the Voyager project: part of the telemetry would be determining its path with variations from planetary gravitation pull, for example.

Not the first place my mind goes for a geologist, but who knows what sort of samples you're getting back from the Rover missions and so on.

I suppose there are off-shoots of deep space telemetry projects that a geologist might possibly work with.

And you explained that way better than anyone who ever tried to make it comprehensible to me before.

Mostly, I just heard, "Blah blah blah SPACE blah blah research."

Sometimes I think I missed my calling as a teacher. I don't like public speaking, though--that would have made it difficult.

If it would make you feel at home: "Blah blah blah SPACE blah blah blah."

I suspect being a teacher is a bit different than public speaking. For one thing, you're talking to kids (or at least people who are presumably younger than you), and for another you're talking to the same people over and over again, so I'd guess that you'd eventually become comfortable with them. It's not exactly a room full of strangers.

You can blather on about scientific nonsense to me any time you want. Maybe if McKay were Welsh, I'd hear more than, "Blah blah blah, I'm a genius, yakkity yakkity, seriously intelligent, blah blah BLOW UP A PLANET!!?" when he talks.

Probably not though.

Hm, perhaps. But it would still involve talking to people, whether I know them well or not, which is not one of my talents in person. I can't imagine many things more agonizing than facing every day with dread because of what you do for a living.

*laughs* I think I'd enjoy McKay, for some reason.

I don't know much about science, really, except what I've picked up on the job, which wouldn't make sense to many people outside the Institute. Pick a subject, though and I may be able to blather on about it.

Definitely not on my list of things to look for in a career.

I think you might, which is a little scary to be honest. Actually, sometimes even I like him. But if you ever meet him, you're not allowed to tell him I said that.

Hmmm...~~quantum mechanics~~ String Theory?

Or maybe just the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow.