(no subject)

[theamazingdalet.livejournal.com]

balthazar tries to get to know cass/help him cope/bridge the gap by chatting with him about Before. after all, he feels pretty well informed; he grew up with two sets of grandparents from Before

but when he actually tries to pick a conversation topic, all his knowledge feels so…fragmented, just bits and pieces. instead, he ends up offering cass some of the portable music players he’s found but hasn’t been able to sell. he tells cass he keeps these ones up front cause they have some of the lullabies his parents sang to him

so cass plugs them in (to himself) for a listen and has a little laugh bc none of them were actually intended to be lullabies; they’re mostly pop ballads

for his own part, cass has no idea why balthazar told him he didn’t have a home; he lives in his van, therefore it’s his home, and it’s cass’ job to make it homelier

like, say, with a pet/small business mascot

balthazar really had not realized how many animals were still lurking around, given that he can’t, say, rummage through nooks and crannies lined with broken glass, or heft huge, heavy pieces of debris out of the way to check on the local feral cat colo–

“WAIT NO THAT’S A SKUNK”

“with the proper care, skunks make playful and affectionate companions,” says cass, cradling it tenderly. “although, in fairness, they generally have their scent glands removed.”

“PLEASE PUT THE SKUNK BACK PLEASE”

look, balthazar explains later, i believe you that cats or skunks or that pig you found the one time would make an adorable pet/mascot, but not living in a van. that’s no life for them, even i know that

it’s no life for a human either, cass points out

or an android, balthazar adds.

but we chose this, yes, i know it’s different. cass moves on very quickly to the next part of the conversation, but balthazar wonders, not for the first time, is it not just as wrong to be dragging cass around the country like this? shouldn’t he have a proper home, too?