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[victormakesart]

The doctor-- a proper doctor, not the Doctor-doctor-- just called Victor on the phone with the results and she told him not to say another word because she has to get Jack and so she cradles the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she texts Jack on her PINpoint: GET OVER HERE.

Comments

[victormakesart]

"Quiet?" she asks, giving him a kiss on the shoulder, as she does sometimes, a gentle expression of her strangeness-- her odd affection. "How loud is it in your century? The Doctor's never taken me near there."

[fractured_agent]

"Well combustion engines are pretty noisy, but at least automobiles stick to the streets. If you're near a spaceport, you've got ships flying overhead all the time, and not all of them are in tip-top condition. And I can really only hear one language being spoken here... in my time, there's two main trade languages, but people still stick to their native tongues too so there's a lot of different kinds of chatter." He's moving confidently down the sidewalk even though he's never been here, walking like every step is one he's walked thousands of times before.

[victormakesart]

"That's kinda awesome," she says, imagining the clutter of the streets, the humming buzz of vehicles all around. Truly the future. Sales for soundproof headphones must be through the roof. "Scary, though. I'd hate for a sky-car to lose an engine part!"

[fractured_agent]

"That doesn't happen too often," Jack says with a chuckle. "Most decent ports have a kind of force field between ground level and the above-lanes, kind of like a safety net."

[victormakesart]

"That's cool! I wouldn't've thought of that, but it makes perfect sense, to segment the different layers with a field."

[fractured_agent]

"Yeah, even in the future, sometimes accidents happen. You wouldn't want a kid with a learner's permit to crash into the local shops or anything."

[victormakesart]

"That makes sense. Are new drivers relegated to the ground?"

[fractured_agent]

"That depends on local laws and what's available. On some of the smaller colony worlds, kids need to learn as soon as possible so they can work, so it tends to be sink-or-swim. I'm not quite sure how they handled it on Earth, but it probably depends on where you are."

[victormakesart]

"Makes sense! I never would've thought it'd be based on specific local laws. During this point in time, road laws tend to be national. But I can see when we're dealing with colonies and, maybe, a less centralized government, how things could be different."

[fractured_agent]

"Well sure, there are some basics that tend to be planet-wide, especially in high traffic zones. But some stuff that makes sense on one planet doesn't necessarily carry over to the next, and some colony worlds don't have any kind of official government, so it always pays to look up the laws for where you're going before you get there. Of course, that applies to any kind of law, not just the road ones. I've had my share of trouble with the local authorities and a few angry mobs before." He flashes a grin to make it sound like a joke, although it really isn't.

[victormakesart]

Victor can see right through that charming grin-- having charming grinned a few times herself to lighten the weight of what she says. "Nothing too bad, I hope? What's the most ridiculous law you've broken on accident?"

[fractured_agent]

"Depends on what you mean by ridiculous," he says, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I got in some serious trouble on a nudist planet once because I left my wristcomp on."

[victormakesart]

She splutters, holds onto his arm a little tighter as her face goes hot. "My goodness! What's the next most ridiculous?"

[fractured_agent]

She is so easy to wind up, and she turns even redder than Rose does. That always seems so charming and old-fashioned to Jack, whose experience with modesty would fit in a thimble. "Hmm, let's see. I visited a spaceport on shoreleave once where it was illegal to touch your nose in public, no matter what the reason."

[victormakesart]

"Better not tell the Master; he'll cropdust the place with itching powder and film the results," she says, with a giggle. She rubs at her nose because just thinking about being itchy always makes you itchy. It's a fact.

[fractured_agent]

He doesn't have a clue who the Master is, but he grins when he sees her rubbing her nose. "Exactly," he says, and taps the end of her nose lightly with his free hand.

[victormakesart]

Victor laughs, and then touches his nose very gently with the pad of her pointer-finger. "I'm too fidgety. Wouldn't last a day!"

[fractured_agent]

"Any weird local laws I should look out for here?" he asks. They're nearly to the froyo place, but he's enjoying the stroll.

[victormakesart]

"Nothing too out of the box. Just the normal twenty-first century stuff. No, like, no public nudity, oh, and, um, just try to seem baseline human, is all. We've made vast strides, but people here don't take too well to anything meta. It's not a law, but it might as well be."

[fractured_agent]

"Don't I seem 'baseline'?" he asks, genuinely not sure. His behavior would be normal for where he's from, and while he's received Time Agency training on etiquette and customs in the 21st century, it differs by region so much that it's always best to scout out the territory first.

[victormakesart]

"You totally do, or else I woulda briefed you before we left home," she assures him, reaching to squeeze his hand. "It's just one of the idiosyncrasies of this particular world."

[fractured_agent]

"Even in my century, some people have issues with so-called 'impure' humans like me. They're in the minority by then."

[victormakesart]

"I can't wait 'til the day that bigots are the minority," she says, fervently.

[fractured_agent]

Jack isn't sure that bigotry will ever fall out of fashion, but he refuses to spoil the mood, and looks ahead for signs of their destination. "Is this the place?"

[victormakesart]

"Yep! Looks like!" The bright, candy-colored sign makes the nervous pit in her stomach seem kind of comical. It's one of those serve-yourself places where you pay by weight, and you can put fruit in it, or nuts, or candy, or squishy things full of juice, or marshmallows. Basically anything sweet and edible.