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*The fleeting charm of Lazarus reading a list of reasons why they should have sex fades as L continues to talk, and Cesar downs some of his own glass, before taking out a fresh bag of corn chips and opening it. He offers it to L, but not before taking the top chip and putting it in his own mouth.*

*If L doesn't take the bag he'll just put it on the counter beside him, and turn to put the lasagna in the oven. The preheating timer hasn't finished, but it shouldn't make much of a difference.*

[The whiplash of the mood is a little bit much, to the point where even the socially atonal L kind of picks up on it. In a perfect world, his treatise would have been followed by seamlessly rolling into the sheets with a successfully seduced partner, but the oven is on and the half-frozen food is uneaten, and here they are standing awkwardly in the kitchen with cups of tequila.

He glances around for a conversation topic, counting on his desperation to provide one quickly. He notices an odd-looking appliance and is quickly moving to lift and examine it with the hand not holding his drink.]

This is different. I don't think I saw it the last time I was here.

*He turns back to him, eyebrows lifting.*

{It wasn't there, then. It appeared when I echoed back some memories from my Other.} *He holds out a hand, asking for it nonverbally. It's a small enough device that he can still sign and not be overly encumbered.*

{He used it to make mango smoothies, apparently.}

[Lazarus' eyes move between the appliance and Cesar's signs during the explanation, and he hands it back. His eyes are wide and trusting; he doesn't even entertain the notion that it might be some kind of weapon. Why would he?]

...D'you have any mangoes? That's something I feel like I have to see. Did he make it?

*Cesar's own expression is completely unguarded: Lazarus isn't the only one with no idea.*

{No mangos, but there are oranges. Hold on.}

*He hands the magnet back and turns to a cupboard, then a fridge. The first gives him a metal canteen, and the latter a jug of milk, ice, oranges... There's more things he could remove, but he stops here, handing L an orange. This done, he takes another and starts to peel it.*

*Oh wait Lazarus asked a question, did't he. Signing while holding something is harder than talking with your mouth full, but that's not stopping him.*

{I don't think so, but I don't know for sure. The echo didn't say.}

Edited 2015-04-16 04:49 (UTC)

[Oranges are significantly different from mangoes, but he's curious, and accepts the orange and turns it in his free hand as Cesar starts to peel another one. After a moment, he takes a quick gulp of tequila and starts to pick the skin away from his own orange.]

The last time I did this was with a screwdriver, but... that was all before we met.

[He tilts his head.]

At any rate, if it works, maybe you can infer more about where your Other was from based on its construction.

It sounds like there might be a story there, but before he can wonder too much he's moving on.*

{I agree. I've been meaning to disassemble it properly, but all I've done right now is guess.}

*His eyes flick to the buttons on its side, but he doesn't stop to manipulate them. Even with the delay from signing his hands are strong and fast, and he's nearly halfway done with his orange by now. Soon he's done, and he gets out a cutting board to slice the orange sections to something that will fit inside the canteen's mouth.*

[There's totally a story, but maybe it's better that Cesar isn't intimately familiar with the person Lazarus used to be, outside of a few old photographs glimpses of how old injuries have left existing scars.]

You're willing to take it apart? You must be pretty confident that you can put it back together. I thought you were a bit of a tinkerer, but I didn't think you were that good with it.

[He's finally finished picking the orange skin off; it's in more tiny pieces than it should be, but he's made sure that the surface of the fruit is smooth and even as he hands it over to be sliced. As he does so, his fingertips linger against the side of Cesar's hand, but are withdrawn quickly. He doesn't want to call to mind the lewd, bold advances of his doppelganger.]

*That touch... He looks, but doesn't pull away. By the time he smiles and turns to him, it's about the conversation's other topic altogether, and it's not clear what his thoughts from that moment were.*

{I'm willing to try. Whether or not I succeed or get very far will depend on what it looks like under the outer plates.}

*He feeds some orange through the canteen's nozzle, and then adds milk, ice, and something labeled 'vanilla' from a cupboard. The cap goes back on to the canteen, and he picks up the wand-like device, pointing one towards the other.*

*'Watch this' goes unsaid. Cesar's smile has grown comfortable, and he flips a pair of switches near his thumb. The canteen shivers, and tries to twist out of his grip. He lets go--and the canteen remains floating, rotating on the spot.*

[It really isn't clear, and Lazarus discreetly withdraws to be sure there's no oddness, difficulty or heartache where he's determined not to allow it this evening.]

If it's extremely different from anything we have access to technology-wise in this decade, then maybe you could use what you learn to revolutionize things that are more important than kitchen appliances.

[His eyes widen as the canteen actually levitates and spins.]

...forget "maybe"...

*The smile on his face falters briefly. L might not have the sensitivity to notice that the smile's successor is less bright than the one before, but the hesitation was fairly obvious.*

{One thing at a time.}

*The tool and canteen lift and fall when he moves the hand, though he's care not to disturb them too much. Then he beckons L's hand forward: does he want to try holding it?*

[For better or worse, there's a certain level of sensitivity that L quite simply lacks. Despite this, he does pick up on that pause. It would be nearly impossible not to.]

Yes, naturally. We can think about further applications another time.

[It's good, right? It means that they have more to work on. His extends his hand slowly, seeming nervous about taking hold of the spinning, hovering device.]

Have you gotten anything else back, like this? All I have is stuff that's pretty clearly from the early 2000's.

*Cesar shakes his head, and he holds the back of L's hand to steady it. It's an unnecessary gesture, and where L's touch fled at the thought of being unwanted, Cesar's leaves reluctantly.*

{No equipment, but I have more memories.}

*He takes a second pair of cups out from a cabinet, setting them on the counter.*

{His name was Caesar Salazar.}

[L's eyes follow Cesar's hand as it leaves his spidery one, which is now successfully holding onto the device. He turns his gaze back to its rotation, still slightly wary of it.]

What memories? Aside from the name, which I do like, by the way. It suits you.

*Cesar smiles again.* {Thanks.}

{One memory is where he worked. He was a top scientist at an organization called Providence.} *His eyebrows draw slightly together.* {I can't tell yet what Providence actually was, but the glimpse I had of it looked very sterile. Perhaps even futuristic.}

[What L wouldn't give to be able to tell, instantly, what every smile means just with a glance. He knows that there are words that go unsigned and unsaid in every one of Cesar's, and it's his own language handicap, the fact that he can't quite catch them.

:)

He pushes the corners of his mouth up, wishing that it really was that simple to magically put someone at ease and give them a reason to be glad.]

I've not heard of that organization but I believe that you're getting your echoes back from a "top scientist" in the future. Do you think he had a long and bright one? His future, I mean...

[He hopes so, knowing full well that his Other died when he was younger than Lazarus is now, soaking wet.]

*Cesar hesitates, the seconds stretching on. Then he shrugs, folding his arms after his next signs.*

{I hope so. I think a stronger characteristic of his future was that it was exciting, and not entirely in a good way.}

So...

[Lazarus is a little more adept at reading trouble and trepidation. Maybe it's because he's more familiar with them as a whole.]

You think he died young?

[This isn't sexy, but to his credit, Lazarus has never been fantastic at this.]

*He holds his hands up, grimacing.*

{I don't know. My other memory has him fleeing a massive lab explosion. The next thing he did was to track some equipment down to Providence's headquarters and break in to retrieve them, facing armed soldiers on his way.}

{He survived, and he made it all look easy. That doesn't mean that next time he didn't bite off more than he could chew. I think he has to have. No one can take those kinds of risks without them catching up in the end.}

*He reaches for the tool, or perhaps more accurately L's hand. He doesn't actually hold the hand, but he squeezes part of it in thanks before letting go.*

I know just what you mean.

[Both personally as Lazarus and secondhand as L. That's one thing Lazarus has in common with his Other, the tendency to push the envelope until bad things happen. It's not that he's blithe to consequences; it's that he believes, sincerely, that there are causes worth risking them for.

It's a very dangerous way to think, but it offers him the chance to feel that small sense of kinship with Cesar for something else.]

Even if he made it look easy, it wasn't... if he had those wits and that strength, you must as well, even if it hasn't been realized to its full extent yet.

[He doesn't startle at Cesar's touch. Maybe he was expecting it this time, to at least some degree.]

Is it finished?

*The grimace is mixed in with a smile.*

{I don't know if I'd describe it in positive terms, considering what he retrieved, but thank you. Yes, it's finished.}

*He keeps his hand close, ready for but not demanding the tool.*

[Another smile, another little pang of relief. Even if it's not quite real, it might just be good enough for L.

Hell, he confirmed it, in a moment of terrifying honesty, to Cesar's doppelganger.

He hands back the device, being supremely careful not to drop it.]

What did he... retrieve?

[He wouldn't mention it if he wasn't willing to elaborate, would he? L reasons it's OK to press.]

*Another grimace.*

{A person. His own brother. There was something inside of him. One of his nanites, maybe?}

*The tool bobs as he signs, and the canteen wobbles and tilts as it spins. Cesar seems unconcerned, and turns the machine off: the canteen drops into his waiting hand. The cups are already waiting...*

*The smoothie is fairly well mixed as he fills each cup about halfway, and he pushes one towards L, lifting his own for a taste.*

*It's good. Not fantastic, but for something homemade and spur-of-the-moment it's good enough to load the last of their ingredients into the canteen. He lifts his cup in a 'cheers' to L, drinks some more, and then reaches for the tequila, adding a dash. The bottle is offered to L.*

[L reaches for his own smoothie, taking a careful sip. He's definitely had better, and he'd never consider it up to standards to serve at Espresso Yourself now that he is the owner and not a lackluster and perpetually dissatisfied employee.]

So... Chuck's preincarnate. He went back for that person. Nanites?

[He's interested. Not trying to punch holes in Cesar for all the light to escape, but just some of it, to understand.]

*The canteen is refilled, and Cesar pauses to sign.*

{They're tiny machines. Nano-sized. He didn't go back for the person; the details are fuzzy, but he had no idea his brother was there.}

*Cesar lifts the tool, and he's been pretty careless with it so far. He points it at the canteen without looking, but it slips in his hand, aiming at the wire bowl of fruit just beyond. The bowl shakes with a hellish rattle, before leaping into the air and upending bananas and apples every which way, spinning faster than the canteen.*

*Cesar immediately turns the tool off, surprise stamped across his face.*

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