iii. dictated

[heloise]

Would you leave the Castle now, if you could?

Friday was unfortunate. But for most of the year, surely it has given us a comfortable home and the most singular of friends.

And so, as for myself, I would not. I should like to tarry here a little longer, if only to relish the taste of liberty and the fruits of invention. Refrigerators are so magnificent!

[ With that, she will be in the kitchen with the fridge door open, sticking her hands into it with glee. ]

Comments

[demontobeloved]

[Have someone orbing into the kitchen to use the sink.

Cole turns around and frowns slightly.]

Careful, you're letting all the cold out. Food will spoil.

[heloise]

[ And she drops the can of soda she was holding from surprise. ]

Oh--Pardon me, I thought I was alone.

[ And did he say the food will spoil? It seems unlikely to her. ] Have humans learned how to consume metal?

[demontobeloved]

That's just packaging. The food's on the inside.

[blue_sniper]

Lucrezia, what are you doing with the refrigerator? [He is suspicious.]

[heloise]

[ She picks up the can of soda, standing up to offer it to him. ]

How does one open the package?

[heloise]

I checked to see that it is indeed colder inside. Stephanie has made me promise I would not step inside myself.

[demontobeloved]

You must be from the past, huh?

[Or a world that doesn't have carbonated beverages.

He takes the can, and slips a finger under the ringpull]

You need to be careful with these. Shake them up and it'll fizz all over.

[thwarting]

No, I don't think I should wish to leave now.

[Not when he had a rollicking waiting for him back home.]

[blue_sniper]

Yes, it is colder. If you leave it open, you'll make things spoil. And no, before you ask, I don't know how it works. I was too poor to even have one back in Brooklyn.

[assassino]

[Pause to remind himself what the hell a refrigerator is. Oh, right. And "fruits of invention". Ick.

But he'll reply as if the latter didn't bother him:]

Ideally, I imagine I'd like to stay awhile, but there are things to do back in Venezia.

[heloise]

Fizz? [ She reaches out a hand to take the can back. ] It could be like a gambling game, to open each can and see which one has been shaken.

[heloise]

Refrigerators and cars are only for the rich then? So invention has yet to make poverty obsolete.

[heloise]

If I may ask, Aziraphale, why would you choose to stay?

[heloise]

[ Wait until she learns of atomic bombs. ]

Familial duties, Ezio?

[blue_sniper]

Pretty much. They are really expensive. And when it comes to either keeping your apartment or keeping the heat on during winter, you do without one. It only keeps food if you're not going to eat it right then.

[assassino]

[Bad girl, no sticking your arms in those.]

As a matter of fact, yes.

[demontobeloved]

There's one called Soda Roulette that's like that.

[thwarting]

Oh, a number of reasons.

[Mostly, the Apocalypse That Wasn't.]

My friends are a large part of that, naturally.

[secondchances]

Right in this moment? No, but eventually. And only if my friends get to go home, too. I wouldn't want to leave them behind. It's an all or nothing sort of deal.

And remember what I said about refrigerator exploration.

[heloise]

And I thought none would need to feel the winter chill anymore in the future.

Can you keep strawberries for Fall then?

[heloise]

But you have so many friends here, Stephanie.

[ She chuckles. ] I promise not to step into it.

[blue_sniper]

Even with a refrigerator, they'd probably start to rot after a few weeks. It's not foolproof, as far as I can tell. [He's got no real idea.]

[heloise]

Does it mean we can expect little Auditores running about soon?

[heloise]

Ah, a pity. I thought we could have fresh fruits for Christmas, wouldn't that be lovely?

[heloise]

Oh, we must play that. Soda is not dangerous, is it?