meadowlarklogs | closed ✧ just passing through now

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closed ✧ just passing through now

WHO: cassian, garak, julian, & jyn
WHERE: new casablanca
WHEN: june 14
WHAT: space buddies & cookie search 2512
NOTES OR WARNINGS: talking shit about earth

--

[ new casablanca is not the same casablanca of old, though they kept the spirit of it alive. like the rest of the cities on this earth, the buildings are built very high up and very deep down, but the colors — pale blue and cream and deep crimson, jade and warm orange — make it feel like an entirely different environment. the façades feature intricate carvings and horseshoe arches, tiled in highly detailed mosaic friezes, and stepping inside for relief from the sun exposes ornamental muqarnas like colourful, man-made honeycombs.

the open air market is low and wide, a rainbow of umbrellas and flapping awnings keeping shade across the wide streets. vendors sell fruits and vegetables at fixed stalls with bowls overflowing with individual fruits and jars of preserves. there are entire meals offered from food trucks, some that seem permanent fixtures, some that seem more transient. there are clothing sellers, small household furnishings, a lot of stalls that seem small and artisanal until you go to pay and realize it's owned by one of the large department stores and simply set up to look small.

bantha shit.

presently, jyn is sat on the edge of the huge central fountain, one hand lifting from the blue and white tile to shield her eyes from the sun as she looks up at cassian, even with sunglasses on. she takes a bite of her pear, juices dripping down her palm to her wrist. despite the summer heat and the beating sun, jyn has a grey long sleeve shirt — so thin that the logo of her tank beneath is still visible — on over her shorts.

with her mouth full of pear because she is a street urchin, ] I told him to meet us here, but I doubt he'll be hard to spot.

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[ new casablanca is probably one of cassian's favorite cities. he's not sure why, but they frequent it enough, sampling all kinds of food, half in jyn's desperate attempt to find those cookies from jedha. today he's wearing a t-shirt and pants, armed with his own sunglasses and his own pear, though he's eating his much less messily as he stands beside the fountain, shifting to put jyn in his shadow. ]

[ he scans the crowd again, half out of habit, half because he's searching for this mysterious new alien jyn was very excited about. ]

Considering this planet is overrun by humans and humanoids. [ he squints. ] That might be him. Did he mention he was bringing a friend?

[He has a flowing green-and-blue tunic on, over black pants. If he was going to be going somewhere warmer like home, he was going to at least be dressed appropriately. Sure enough, the warmth embraces him as soon as he steps through the gate and once he's clear he closes his eyes for a moment to appreciate it. He needed this.]

It should be this way, [he says when he's had his too-short seconds of enjoyment, briefly glancing over to make sure Julian's with him.] I studied a map.

[He leads the way and sure enough they're in sight of a massive fountain in no time. The architecture of the place isn't quite Cardassian, but at least it feels pleasant. It's nice to not be shivering for a change.]

We're meeting Jyn and a friend, and if they don't find us we can use the implants. But the pair up there looks like they might be searching for someone.

[In a darker, cooler indigo tunic and linen colored pants and sandals, Julian stands a few inches taller than his companion. It's nice to have occasion to wear the tunic Garak so artfully crafted for him. It's soft and airy, and he must say, it's perfect for the hot and dry weather.]

You didn't have to study a map you know, [he teases gently. Eidetic memory has its benefits sometimes. It didn't escape his notice how Garak reacted once they hit New Casablanca. Julian makes a mental note to find more warm and arid environments for them to explore. They may as well if they're stuck here for now.

Julian is looking around at the architecture.]

Shame I never visited Morocco back in our universe. I'll have to put it on my list.

[He looks where Garak is--they certainly don't seem local.]

[ hmm, what jyn has to look away from her handsome husband?? UGH SHE GUESSES! considering she made this whole cookie adventure happen. she blinks herself back to reality behind her sunglasses, following cassian's gaze.

her expression lights up and she scrambles to stand on the fountain because she likes to be tall. ]

Oi! Over here!

[ as subtle as a stampede of banthas, this one.

because she's loud and her accent is sharp like a firecracker, a number of other people nearby look over as if she were addressing them but she brushes those strangers off dismissively. ] What, not you? Was I looking at you? No, shoo, go away.

[ if he has any opinion of jyn's announcement of their presence he doesn't show it - probably he is just used to his wife's behavior. she does not know the meaning of the word subtle, and it barely fazes him anymore. he's fine with it, he can leave her to be flashy and wave her arms about while he just watches curiously and waits. ]

[ as they get closer, cassian knows without a doubt jyn's new friend (?) brought along his own buddy. the way they're moving and interacting together is brimming with familiarity. jyn might be more outwardly excitable by alien species, but he has to admit too it's nice to see. the abundance of humans is still just weird. ]

[He's quite certain that they've found the right duo at Jyn's enthusiasm, and Garak greets the pair with a smile. They both look very human and he's a little disappointed, but at least they're not from Earth. They know space.]

Jyn, [he says with an incline of his head before gesturing at the doctor,] this is Julian. And I am Garak, [he continues with a glance at her friend.]

Julian is from Earth, but let's not hold that against him.

[Julian is surprised by the "enthusiasm", actually turning to look at other people to see if they were the target of her attention.

Apparently not.

She's cute though.]

Julian Bashir. Nice to meet you. I'm surprised Garak was so eager to hang out with another human. [He turns an amused look to his friend.]

I've been from Earth all this time and that didn't seem to stop you the past seven years from being around me.

[ WHY IS YOUR PLANET CALLED DIRT, JULIAN. jyn refrains from asking immediately because her curiosity is otherwise occupied and she is trying to contain it.

she scrambles down from the fountain, which she decides quickly was a terrible idea as she is very tiny and as such her chin tips to look up at the much taller menfolk (and thus the sun.)

why. is everyone. so karking tall.

okay, jyn, you're not three anymore, you can't just ask people about their cranial ridges... don't do it.

violently shoving down her naturally curious nature means she reaches out and sort of whacks cassian's chest to distract herself. ]

This is my partner Cassian.

[ dirt planet started out of logic but now it feels half out of spite. they named their planet! after! dirt! way to get creative! ]

[ he continues to be unfazed by jyn; even when she smacks him, he doesn't budge an inch. no handshakes though. that's one thing about this world that's changed etiquette, at least for the displaced. ]

We are humans, yes, but neither of us had heard of Earth before waking up on it. This galaxy is far from our own.

Cassian, [he repeats with a nod of his head, a little amused by the lack of reaction to the smack.]

And doctor, I never objected because what choice did I have?

[Garak looks from Bashir to the duo and continues in a tone that suggests he's confiding in them.]

Where I lived was entirely humans from Earth or Bajorans from Bajor, who dislike my people, or Ferengi and Ferengi would sell you their own mother for pocket change. A human from Earth it had to be.

[Jyn is smaller than he'd envisioned, but her age isn't entirely a surprise considering she's searching for a cookie.]

[He has to hide the small quirk of his lips at Cassian's utter indifference to his partner's physical assault.

He raises an eyebrow at Garak's claim, folding his arms in front of him.]

Funny, your reluctance was never obvious when we would meet for lunch.

[Julian rolls his eyes, something he does quite often in Garak's presence, and turns to Cassian.]

Fascinating. Not every human is from Earth where we're from, though it's where we originated. Which galaxy are you from?

[ is this... flirting? it's borderline at the minimum, a subtle undercurrent that they might not fully be aware of. he's pretending it's not relatable. ]

We are both from what is called the Outer Rim, but different planets and different sectors. It is theorized humans originated on a planet called Coruscant, but it has not been proven yet.

[ it's been thousands and thousands of years, and humans are so spread out across the galaxy. coruscant has been through so much development, it's unrecognizable from its early days. ]

It's highly disputed.

[ he says doctor the way jyn calls cassian "captain" and her eyes flicker between them briefly, blatant curiosity still clear on her expression, simply shifted somewhat. squint.

while cassian has respect and manners, jyn was raised by lions and boasts no such skills. ]

Is that how long you've been together? Seven years?

We've lived on the same space station for seven years.

[It's said very smoothly and without missing a beat. Lexa's comments had prepared him for this. It's more than likely that everyone on Deep Space 9 save Miles knew about his feelings for the doctor, but they also knew the politics that would make it too complicated. Here, of course, no one knows.]

And then we arrived here mere weeks ago, shortly before the attack by monsters. I haven't even had time to officially open up a shop yet, and here I am traveling.

But in all my travels, and I've done a great deal of travel, I haven't heard of a world named Coruscant.

[There. Now they're back on safer ground.]

[Did she mean what Julian thought she meant?

He can feel his brain short circuit as he scans for an excuse or explanation or anything to deflect that line of conversation. A tinge of rose flushes his cheeks ever so slightly, perhaps enough to say that he's feeling warm from the heat.

He's had some time to consider his feelings about his friend and he's wondering how other people seem to pick up on it so easily--first Lexa and now Jyn. Meanwhile it took him the better part of seven years to realize he may care about Garak as more than a friend. He must tread carefully though--Garak is an extremely private person. Julian isn't yet sure if he would drive Garak away permanently by bringing this up.

He needs to gather more information, to even see if that's something Garak would even entertain.

In that split second, he's very grateful for Garak's quick thinking.]

I haven't traveled as much as my friend here, but I haven't heard of Coruscant either in my studies. And what of other species where you're from?

[ jyn doesn't have the social acumen to read between the lines and realize they're both fuckstruck liars but it feels so familiar that it lingers in the back of her mind.

in any case, she shrugs because coruscant ain't shit. ]

Innumerable.

[ she's wearing long sleeves and inches one of them down over her hand so she can take cassian's hand without the empathy bond glowing to life between them — she is not just a pretty face — because now that they've all met up, she wants to walk around. ]

Our galaxy has millions of habitable systems. The planet I was born has a native species, the Valltii. They were blue and furry since it was a snowy planet, but I was only a baby when we left, I don't remember them.

[ she tugs on cassian, find this girl food. ]

Edited 2020-08-30 20:04 (UTC)

[ oh hm that was a clever dodge. he knows what jyn implied, and garak answered it smoothly enough to be acceptable. cassian is very familiar with that kind of answer, and it piques his curiosity, but not enough to pester. either way, seven years living in the same space... it explains a lot about the familiarity at the very least. ]

[ he doesn't think anything of it when jyn takes his hand, taking it to simply mean it's time to find some more food. ]

It was not always as easy as hopping through a gate to travel on Earth, but being restrained to one planet is frustrating enough. Back home I have been to many a planet with many a species scattered between them. Migration is frequent, though it can be difficult depending on the system.

[He nods as they talk, reaching out to rest a hand lightly, briefly, against one of Julian's shoulderblades in companionable guidance when Jyn and Cassian start to head in a direction for something. Perhaps the cookie search has begun.]

Many of our worlds are a little more homogeneous. There are, of course, exceptions - settled colonies, vacation worlds, and also various space stations - but there's always a great deal to say for one's homeworld.

[Which he misses sorely, but that's not relevant to here.]

Transporter beam hubs are common on a vast majority of civilized worlds, step into one and rematerialize somewhere else nearly anywhere on the planet. It's quite efficient.

[In many ways, because it makes it easy to track people too.]

The gates are a start, here, though with their lack of resources in general I can't see this planet making it without extensive external help.

[The touch is so familiar that Julian hardly notices at first--back on Deep Space Nine, these brief touches were frequent between the two. Now though...

It's hard to ignore and Julian is simply glad there's a couple of layers of clothing between them. He follows Garak's lead.

He also doesn't miss Garak's comment about homeworlds. At the very least, people like Jyn and Cassian don't have to worry much about standing out, even if they're not familiar with Terran cultures. Garak is a complete fish out of water and Julian is acutely aware of it. He does his best to keep his concern under wraps, knowing Garak can take care of himself, but it's hard to ignore the target on his friend's back.]

Never a dull day on our station, of course, because of all the different people.

And yes, this version of Earth is quite different. It's missing a lot of indulgences unfortunately...

[It's been a struggle without coffee or tea.]

It's rubbish!

[ jyn, typically, is fairly self-contained and reserved, but her outburst comes with the same enthusiasm (vehemence, in this case) as when she flagged them over. maybe she is just really enthused about talking shit about earth. ]

It takes them six months to get to Mars.

[ this should be a global embarrassment. she knows that the government hindered many scientific advancements by convincing the planet to fear ai and thus, in some ways, technology. but six months is ridiculous. it didn't take more than a couple days to go from one side of the galaxy to the other. ]

Unfortunately hyperspace travel isn't my expertise so I can't help them get better.

Interplanetary travel for us is via starship and the aforementioned hyperspace. Six months to Mars is practically inconceivable given how close it is to Earth. And as far as I can tell, the only species on Mars are humans who have been sent there from here. If there are other planets in this galaxy with life, it remains unknown.

A lot of Displaced are from another version of Earth, but this one seems to have suffered a string of crises leaving it a terrible state. [ NO CAF. he feels that deeply, julian. ]

[ jyn talks as much shit about earth as she does about terraforming jupiter. he harbors a lot of the same judgments, he's just quieter about them. ]

Travel is common for us, but homogeneity still exists. For example, the planet Ryloth is inhabited near exclusively by the Twi'lek. Homeworld displacement is just common with many thanks to the Empire too.

Six months in their own solar system, [he echoes, shaking his head and rather unimpressed.]

It would take a couple of weeks to get from my homeworld to Earth at a typical cruising speed. Ten days, if one was in a rush. I'm certain that to go from Earth to Mars is a matter of hours at most where we're from.

[He glances over at Julian in case he wants to weigh in on that.]

Has this Empire taken over homeworlds, then?

Less than. Some people commute to Mars for work from Earth everyday.

There are plenty of more homogeneous worlds as well where we're from, some planets more open to outsiders than others.

It's a shame that this version of Earth is so...bereft. It's a lot more compelling in our universe.

[He glances back at Garak. It's a look knowing that Garak could have A Lot to Say on the topic.]

The Empire — [ she chuckles, mirthless. while she is a very young woman and clearly full of curiosity and an exuberance for talking shit, the bitterness in those two words could chill an ice cap, grip on cassian's hand going too tight. ] The Empire makes a habit of it.

[ the empire can get fucked. ]

Planets that aren't hollowed out for natural resources are subjugated, oppressed, enslaved. But slowly, by bits, so no one protests until it's too far gone and the people benefitting from it can turn a blind eye.

[ especially if the planet being ruined is non-human. ]

It sounds like Earth to Mars in this universe is a long term move rather than a commute. The people there are... [ how can he phrase this? it's not like anyone has actually been there to witness. ] Largely prisoners and workers. We can only imagine the living conditions.

[ especially knowing jyn has inspired them already. that sort of gusto isn't born out of happy lives. ]

The Empire has taken over the majority of the galaxy. It is as Jyn says, there is no good end result. The way this Earth is now is very reminiscent of the way they drain all the resources and wreck a planet.

What makes this Earth different from what you know?

There's a group called the Dominion that would like to do something similar to your Empire, by the sounds of it. They would very much like to take over the galaxy and they've already conquered a significant portion of one quadrant by all accounts.

[He shakes his head, acting like his world isn't currently occupied by the Dominion and in danger. He's fine. Garak is always fine.]

But if you want a description of current Earth, I fear I have to defer to the good doctor. I've never been to the Earth of my universe.

[Garak grins.]

Or that's my story.

[Julian raises an eyebrow at Garak as he looks over at his friend. The way he talks about the Dominion is almost...flippant. He knows better though. It feels strange to be on the other side of Garak's mask, knowing for certain that he's minimizing.

Of course, he knows that Garak was mentally strained right as they came here. He understands Garak's need to not address it with other people here. It's too much, it's too complicated.

That teasing remark is Julian's opening at least to distract.]

I know for a fact you've never been to Earth, else your quarters would be full of Swiss and Belgian chocolates.

[To Cassian and Jyn:]

There are a fair few foodstuffs missing here that were critical to some a lot of cultures' food.

Oh yeah, chocolate. That's good shit, it's really expensive though.

[ if jyn weren't the type to already hate rich people, it would be the lack of chocolate because they ravaged the planet so much that it couldn't sustain... well she doesn't know how chocolate is grown. (it is like a pineapple? that would be neat.) ]

If you want coffee cheap, go to New Honolulu.

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closed ✧ just passing through now

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I'M SO SORRY