meadowlark | @ian.fowler

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@ian.fowler

I've put some plans together for some safehouse improvement. One of the biggest complaints was a lack of privacy & nowhere secluded to withdraw to, particularly when trying to sleep. Some people mentioned not being able to sleep whatsoever around strangers.

I'm thinking one wall of stacked sleep pods, and then the opposite wall with (fewer) sleep boxes for people who might be more claustrophobic. We should net out to having more beds than we started with thanks to the vertical space sleep pod stacking.

I know this doesn't solve the overall issue for people who don't want to be stuck in the safehouse to begin with, but I think it might make things a little easier.

Does anyone have any issue with me starting construction this week? I'll only be doing one wall at a time, so everyone currently staying there should have minimal disruption to their sleep.

A few features I plan on incorporating, in case anyone's curious about the functionality:
-interior locks & curtains
-exterior emergency release in case of fire etc
-temperature control & vented airflow
-personal lighting
-noise cancellation

I'm open to suggestions, but I may or may not be able to incorporate them in version 1.

( feel free to collaborate with anyone, but please take private threadjacks to personal contact posts for the sake of my inbox, rip. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

you're welcome
I understand the trepidation

Trepidation's a nice word for it.

But despite that, let me know if you need help with anything.

Think you can pick up my starbucks and dry cleaning?

Would you really want to trust me to not just disappear with your coffee?

no, but speaking of which, I bought some if you want some

If you're sure, I'm definitely not going to turn down coffee.

[He's only hesitant because it must've been expensive, but then again he knows Ian well enough by now to know he means the offer.]

cool, swing by & I'll hook you up or I'll have some at the safehouse but in like
a flask, so I'm not consumed with guilt when some new sad soul looks at me with doe eyes over caffeine desperation

( He does mean the offer, and he blew half his bonus on a coffee hoard. He's selectively caffeine generous right now. They sure fucking need it. )

I can stop by your place. In not-a-fair-trade-but-at-least-something, I'll bring you some desserts since even with three of us in my apartment, we shouldn't have this many laying around.

[Stress baking has been such a thing.]

did you make them

( just.... checking... for no reason... just curious... )

My incredible inability to cook is counterbalanced by my incredible ability to bake.

I don't get it either, but I promise they're edible.

well
I guess they do say cooking is an art and baking is a science
I'm gonna pretend to choose to be optimistic

If that's true then it makes even less sense for me.

Thanks, the effort is appreciated.

Just let me know whenever's convenient for you.

You're welcome.

Tonight's good, tomorrow morning's good. I'll be at the safehouse after work tomorrow evening.

Tonight works.

[Mornings are the worst and the safehouse is somehow worse than that.]

I'll see you in a little while.

[And he'll show up later as promised; he's already forgotten whatever the password was supposed to be, so Ian unfortunately won't get the fun of that.]

( SLAMS FISTS DOWN
WHY DOES NOBODY MATISYAHU
TAKE YOUR DAMN COFFEE LANCE )

[SORRY IAN BLAME THE DEPRESSION FOR HIS TERRIBLE MEMORY

Though he's in a pretty good mood today, all things considered, and he shoves a container of muffins at Ian in return for the coffee.]

Thanks. I was so not expecting coffee today.

[Or tonight? Who cares. What is a sleep schedule.]

( Lance is getting a twofer on his coffee - one already made mug, one small tin of it to take with him. Like, pathetically small compared to the ridiculous bags or plastic containers from the days of yore, but such is the nature of coffee these days. )

You're welcome. I got a bonus for this design I made. Giles Bell picked it up, and they were... really fucking hype about it. I thought about buying a tree, but the math...

( Said with distracted consternation as he ambles toward his kitchen table breakfast bar counter thing, attention on these potentially lethal muffins. What are you all about, Muffin? What secrets do you hold? )

[The tin of coffee is going to be hidden very carefully in his room, because although Lance is very generous and all that, he has limits. This will be secret coffee.

The muffins are very unassuming, and are blueberry because now that blueberries are available again, of course Lance had to use them. He's figured out how to work with the ingredients available in this world, the correct substitutions to make and that sort of thing and so the muffins genuinely are very good.

Lance follows Ian, more on autopilot than anything else.]

What did you design?

( Don't worry, man. If he didn't live alone he'd have Secret Coffee too. He's kind of glad El's going to be clearing the safehouse out, he doesn't have to be quite so secretive with his thermos while he's working. )

I think I might have pitched the idea to you before, it's like... a mask, basically, using the technology that shoves those projected advertisements in your face. A hologram of someone else's face you can wear in public so you don't get recognized. Apparently default-on broadcasting like that takes licensing, but I have an opt-in prototype I can show you if you wanna check it out.

( All of it said to a muffin as he frees it from a container and unwraps the little paper.

Muffin bite.

Oh, that's surprising. )

What the fuck, Lance? How do you burn water but make perfect blueberry muffins, where is the logic in that? That makes no sense.

[That sounds vaguely familiar, now that Ian mentions it, though Lance isn't actually sure if he'd told him before or not. Doesn't really matter, and he nods in understanding as Ian describes it, as well as the idea of seeing the prototype.]

Yeah, I'd love to see it.

[And Lance is always delighted by compliments, especially ones he actually deserves, so he brightens a bit at the comment even though it's also an insult all at once. A fair insult, though, so no offense taken, and Lance gives a very dramatic shrug.]

I have no idea. I don't even have like, some ridiculous backstory of baking with grandma on the weekends as a small child and somehow developing the skill by osmosis.

[He also didn't have a grandma, but that only makes the point stand more. There's no explanation for this at all and he's just as confused as Ian.]

You should absolutely come up with something really heartbreaking to tell people.

( He says it around a mouth full of muffin, half of it abandoned in favor of walking over to his desk to pluck up a pair of small black nodes. He starts affixing one to either temple while he talks. )

So you're gonna have to... turn it on the same way you do like a TV in a bar, you know? But on the finished product it'll be on by default, and people will have to notice it's not real in order to disable it. It won't hold up under super intense scrutiny, especially if you start talking because the mouth's not gonna... move in time with whatever you're saying.

( Once Lance enables it, the projected face of one of the advertisement actors will flicker into view over his. It's a pretty selling recreation unless you get up close and see where the jaw tops matching quite right and the hairline seems odd. )

[Lance gives an amused raise of his eyebrows at the first comment, because he could really take his pick as far as heartbreaking stories that he'd only have to moderately twist into an explanation, but he won't say that. Instead he watches Ian, following him a little, nodding as he listens to the explanation and mentally looking for the option to turn it on as directed.

And... Huh. That's pretty cool. Lance is particularly sensitive to little changes in expression and so the inconsistencies become apparent soon enough, but that doesn't take anything away from the accomplishment or how impressive it is. It'll definitely work for its intended purpose, and that's amazing.]

That's so cool. It looks really good.

[And it's also coming back to him that he definitely discussed this with Ian before, specifically about the uncanny valley issue, though it seems like that was mostly avoided which is an achievement on its own.]

That'll be really useful not just for Displaced, but for other people like celebrities who just want to live their lives a little.

That was actually the basis for my pitch!

( Probably a little hilarious hearing so much enthusiasm from behind an otherwise neutral expression, particularly since the mouth doesn't move. He boops off the mask, delicately detaching the nodes. It isn't a particularly huge deal, this one's just the prototype, they're already in production. )

Well, it was more around politicians and corporate figures considering... all the shit that went down, but still. Basic premise. Not that I give a shit about them, I just wanna keep Nate from getting mugged trying to buy a hotdog.

( And by natural extension all of the rest of the displaced, but his inspiration came from a specific source. It hit him almost immediately after Nate showed up in New Amsterdam again while Ian was still riding very high on the memory of a ten year relationship. He's been working on it for... way longer than he'd like to admit, considering how casual he tried to be about the nature of their dynamic before now. )

[He can't help but smile a little at Ian's enthusiasm, even if it fades at the mention of Nate. Or, more specifically, Nate's situation.]

Yeah, definitely. He has enough to deal with.

[On so many levels. Judgemental looks and paparazzi don't need to be added in on top of everything else.

But speaking of one of the things he's dealing with, though probably on the more positive side than most of the others--]

How are um, you two doing, by the way? With everything.

[You know, 'everything'.]

( Tech kindly stowed, Ian settles back at his little kitchen island breakfast bar situation so he can live his best muffin and coffee life. God bless you, Lance, it's such a minute thing but it makes his day a little.

Probably totally the muffins and coffee that got him looking so pleased rather than his actual answer, don't look into it too much. )

Good. We're good. We, um-

( He curls fingers around his mug, not quite committing to drinking it even though when he picks it up. )

I asked him on a date, actually. And he said yes, so we... went on a date. Together. So that was cool.

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