[Guess he's going to be learning about coffee today when he's far more interested in the functions of his phone, but fine. Weir knows that this girl is going to take some humoring to a small degree before they ever get to the point of... anything, really. He's blunt and thoughtless with his words, but he has patience when he knows what he's getting into.]
This style is usually very sweet to contrast with the very bitter. But I've lowered the usual amount of condensed milk since you don't seem like a sweet guy to me.
[Intentional? Not? You decide!]
If the weather was hotter, I'd recommend iced since that's the popular way to drink it. But anyway it should be done filtering now. I'll just mix it up and serve it to you as is.
[The filter is removed and she takes a long spoon to stir in rapid but controlled circles. The black coffee mixes with the milk until it's smooth and creamy and the steam emits a sweet scent.
With the coffee done, she pushes the cup towards Weir and gestures for him to take a sip.]
[Of course he doesn't pick it up and sip it right away. He isn't the sort. Instead, Weir takes the cup and lifts it up, looking down to examine the liquid inside.
[Monts nods; she can do that. Weir is lucky she's teaching him with patience because she has two grandparents and everyone knows that one of life's biggest challenges is teaching the elderly how to use their phone.
He should pick up faster than them.]
Okay so let's just get to it starting with video. Think about all the buttons you're pushing as symbols. A lot of them are common across technology from my world and...
[She spends the next hour explaining, demonstrating, and stepping back for Weir to experiment with the video function. Monts also helpfully shows Weir where to delete their practice footage because in her own words, "Make it easy for yourself to look through what you've made. Everything is dated but it starts to get unwieldy when you have too much."]
[He does learn quickly. Weir might have the disadvantage of being a Ye Olde, but he's adaptive, and quick-witted, and intelligent. Something to make up for his terrible people skills. He was the one who taught himself, mostly, how to read -- memorizing all of his letters in his younger days. Just like he was the one who taught himself how to pluck out a melody on a string instrument's hollow body.
He can adapt to this device, to the technologies rife in this city. He just needs time.
And a little bit of instruction now and again. That's what Monts is for.
They manage to get through more than a few demonstrations, to the point where Weir is currently sorting through some very badly-taken selfies. Yeah, he's gonna delete these.]
These are terrible.
[Flatly. At least his criticism doesn't apply just to other people.]
[Monts is deleting pictures off of her own phone while Weir assesses his.]
Well, you don't need to be a photographer with your phone to get by at least. Just remember that it can automatically focus as long as your hands are still.
Things that are worth keeping and recording. Should I have known about this feature before now, I would have taken a "photo" of the map I found earlier, plastered up in City Hall. Instead of needing to...
[Take the phamplet and lose it in a whirlwind inside the bouncy house.]
[Ah, yes the bounce house tragedy. Monts, for once, will not twist that (plastic) knife.]
Then I guess I could give you some tips and tricks to ensure your photos are clear and crisp. You've been doing a decent job at figuring things out as you go.
[There are parts of Weir that remind her of someone else. That someone also had a survivalist mentality, suspicious of the unknown, and ready to fight for his life.]
What was your job back home if you don't mind me asking?
[His lips twist at the assessment. Not because she's wrong, but because it almost sounds like a laughable understatement.]
That name is mine. Weir Dredger, a surname granted to me, destined as I was to plumb the treacherous depths beneath my town. And that's precisely what I did.
Whoa. [Monts is sincerely listening with interest. She pauses so that the espresso beans can be ground up, otherwise, her voice would be drowned out.]
Is it one of those jobs that you did because it's kind of something no one else would do willingly? Cause usually, that's what dangerous jobs tend to fall under.
It was a job for those with nothing to their name to lose if they perished in the depths. For those who do not mind being seen as disposable, it is dangerous work, but there is always work available.
[And a Dredger that managed to survive? Multiple times over? They were taken care of... to an extent. Fed, clothed, provided basic amenities for. Found camaraderie in the company of others who faced the darkness below their world, even if Weir could still only ever feel such things... distantly.]
[Hot water is set to boil in the electric kettle. She pushes the button down and leaves it alone while absorbing his words.]
What kind of things did you encounter when you went below? Was it just monsters or were there other type of dangers?
[Maxim, when he was feeling chatty, told Monts about the monsters he and his traveling party would hunt out in the cold. Those who hunted needed to be strong to deal with the long winter in the first place. If you couldn't deal with the cold winter, you were never going to survive the beasts.
For Monts who has lived humbly, but securely with her grandparents in sunny California, it gives her perspective of how blessed she's been even in the wake of her own tragedy.]
[And if you couldn't survive the environment in the Pit, you could not survive the monsters. The concept is much the same.]
The environment itself was a danger. One wrong misstep, and you could go tumbling down an incline, break your neck on the way down.
[Obviously, it's nothing short of physically demanding work.]
And there are poisonous stretches that go on for miles. "Lakes" of gasses that would kill a man upon inhaling too much. That is where the name "Dredging" comes from.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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How sweet, exactly? And hot is fine.
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[Intentional? Not? You decide!]
If the weather was hotter, I'd recommend iced since that's the popular way to drink it. But anyway it should be done filtering now. I'll just mix it up and serve it to you as is.
[The filter is removed and she takes a long spoon to stir in rapid but controlled circles. The black coffee mixes with the milk until it's smooth and creamy and the steam emits a sweet scent.
With the coffee done, she pushes the cup towards Weir and gestures for him to take a sip.]
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And he gives it a sniff, too.]
Is this a common drink?
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Yup. There are distinctive coffee drinks from different places. This is common to the region it originates from.
It's gonna get cold the longer you stare at it. Unless you're changing your mind about the ice.
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But he does take a sip.
And it's... not bad. Sweet, but not too sweet. Goes down smoothly enough.]
It isn't terrible. I'll give you that.
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[She beams at Weir.]
Let me know if you'd like another later!
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In the meanwhile... the phone.
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[She takes out her phone and gestures to Weir to do the same for his.]
If you need me to slow down let me know.
[A beat.]
But politely if you please.
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Just assume you will have to move slowly. I've been teaching myself, but many of the functions still... elude me.
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He should pick up faster than them.]
Okay so let's just get to it starting with video. Think about all the buttons you're pushing as symbols. A lot of them are common across technology from my world and...
[She spends the next hour explaining, demonstrating, and stepping back for Weir to experiment with the video function. Monts also helpfully shows Weir where to delete their practice footage because in her own words, "Make it easy for yourself to look through what you've made. Everything is dated but it starts to get unwieldy when you have too much."]
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He can adapt to this device, to the technologies rife in this city. He just needs time.
And a little bit of instruction now and again. That's what Monts is for.
They manage to get through more than a few demonstrations, to the point where Weir is currently sorting through some very badly-taken selfies. Yeah, he's gonna delete these.]
These are terrible.
[Flatly. At least his criticism doesn't apply just to other people.]
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Well, you don't need to be a photographer with your phone to get by at least. Just remember that it can automatically focus as long as your hands are still.
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I see no reason to be abusing this feature, besides.
[He means the forward-facing camera.]
I only wish to observe and record.
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[She could explain it's about vanity but at this point, she knows what kind of remark that would get her.]
What are you going to take pictures of if you don't mind me asking?
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Things that are worth keeping and recording. Should I have known about this feature before now, I would have taken a "photo" of the map I found earlier, plastered up in City Hall. Instead of needing to...
[Take the phamplet and lose it in a whirlwind inside the bouncy house.]
Find another.
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Then I guess I could give you some tips and tricks to ensure your photos are clear and crisp. You've been doing a decent job at figuring things out as you go.
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[He says as he turns on the forward-facing camera again, holding it away and frowning at it.]
I had to be.
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What was your job back home if you don't mind me asking?
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I'm a huntsman for my village.
[The rest, after a half-moment pause, still looking at his phone screen.]
And though I doubt the label will mean anything to you, I used to be a Dredger.
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[Monts doesn't want to have idle hands so she gets to work pouring out a bag of espresso beans into the machine in front of them.]
All I can tell by that name and your usual sparkling personality is that it was probably a tough job.
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That name is mine. Weir Dredger, a surname granted to me, destined as I was to plumb the treacherous depths beneath my town. And that's precisely what I did.
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Is it one of those jobs that you did because it's kind of something no one else would do willingly? Cause usually, that's what dangerous jobs tend to fall under.
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It was a job for those with nothing to their name to lose if they perished in the depths. For those who do not mind being seen as disposable, it is dangerous work, but there is always work available.
[And a Dredger that managed to survive? Multiple times over? They were taken care of... to an extent. Fed, clothed, provided basic amenities for. Found camaraderie in the company of others who faced the darkness below their world, even if Weir could still only ever feel such things... distantly.]
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What kind of things did you encounter when you went below? Was it just monsters or were there other type of dangers?
[Maxim, when he was feeling chatty, told Monts about the monsters he and his traveling party would hunt out in the cold. Those who hunted needed to be strong to deal with the long winter in the first place. If you couldn't deal with the cold winter, you were never going to survive the beasts.
For Monts who has lived humbly, but securely with her grandparents in sunny California, it gives her perspective of how blessed she's been even in the wake of her own tragedy.]
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The environment itself was a danger. One wrong misstep, and you could go tumbling down an incline, break your neck on the way down.
[Obviously, it's nothing short of physically demanding work.]
And there are poisonous stretches that go on for miles. "Lakes" of gasses that would kill a man upon inhaling too much. That is where the name "Dredging" comes from.
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