sidney_b

(( *sighs* Claire told them not to outsource production for those components to a developing nation, but did they listen? Nooo... bean-counters... ))

Claire sat there, staring at a blank paper notepad, twirling her blue gel pen around her fingers. Crumpled sheets littered with fragmentary notes lay on her desk, strewn in apologetic constellations. She sighed, and repeated her playlist once again, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. Strains of Etheridge floated from the speakers as the pen kissed paper.

I know I kept ribbing you about saying sorry, because you'd say it for the smallest things. I know I haven't said it much, or ever.

Claire frowned, and lifted her pen, ready to blot her words out. She hesitated, then returned tip to surface.

I'm sorry. For Saturday, when you were out saving the world against Crey, when all I did during that time was snipe at your best friend. I know I overreacted to her-

She stopped herself from writing what she really wanted to write. She wanted to say how she couldn't really stand Penny, how she'd felt besieged by Penny's words, how it was all Penny's fault, not hers.

-comments.

She tossed her pen down, and tore the leaf off the pad. She was sorry, but she wasn't sorry enough to apologize for someone else's rude behavior.

Closing her eyes, she let a moment pass; another; she tilted her hair back, listening to the lyrics of "This Moment", watching the words, the images form on the back of her eyelids, calming her. Claire sighed, and set the sheet down; she retrieved the pen and began again.

I know things have been rough for a while now. Some of it's my fault. No, a lot of it. I've kept you at arms' length, I haven't told you half the things I should.

I'm sorry.

Claire set the pen down, and tapped the mouse button, watching as the screensaver faded into the desktop. Six in the evening; she should have been home by now. Claire didn't want to walk home, though; not yet, anyway.

She flipped through a few rounds of FreeCell; she ran through a few grids of Sudoku. She browsed through a site or two, catching up on the news and her email, finally landing on flowers. She clicked past the numerous bouquets and vases of roses, alighting on an arrangement of Calla lilies, irises, and tulips.

Claire rubbed the bridge of her nose, removing her glasses. Squinting, she filled out the ordering form, requesting early delivery to the restaurant where Tera worked.

It beat heading home.

===

He pulled the lever, parking the truck by the stairs. Picking up the vase from the back, he whistled "Walking on Sunshine" to himself as he bounced down the steps. Walking along Spanky's Boardwalk, he passed the restaurants: Greasy Rich's, Fast Foo's Wok and Roll, and finally opened the door to Mom's Kitchen.

"Delivery for a Tera Summers?" He smiled as he handed the flowers over.

"Thanks..." Tera said.

"Oh, they're gorgeous! Who's it from?" Belle asked.

Tera flipped open the card. "It's Claire," she said, reading the attached note.

I'm really sorry for how I've been acting lately, and I want you to know that's going to change. I don't want to spend our time arguing, or being uncomfortable, or unhappy, or any of that. I just want to be in the moment with you, to let the world fade away...

Tera smiled, and bent to breathe in the flowers, gingerly folding the note to finish later.

(( This one, admittedly, and to my shame, is already cross-posted with the story thread I'd neglected from a while back. However, I like to think it does cast some light onto how Tera's and Claire's relationship is developing, more or less. I'd like to think.

I do like everyone else's stories, too. They're... amazing, to say the least. ))

===

Night Terrors

Tera awoke, alone. Her arm darted out to her right, finding cool emptiness where warmth should have been. She sighed, blinking a few times, and sat up. Looking over, she found the covers on the other side of the bed had been neatly straightened; it always amazed her that Claire would do such a thing before rushing off to be sick.

This had become a common occurence of late. Tera sighed, and picked up the water pitcher on the nightstand. Empty. Had they forgotten to refill it before going to sleep? She set it back down and looked over towards the bathroom, hearing some shuffling. She frowned. Tera hated how Claire would always brush away the questions, saying she was fine when it was quite apparent she wasn't; how Claire would try to hide things, how she'd lie by omission.

Claire was good at that sort of thing.

Tera pulled her knees to her chest, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She hated all... this. She'd gotten used to them, but still, they worried her. Claire wasn't getting any better, though she'd often charge herself with energy to seem healthier--a power, they were convinced, that was contributing to the whole affair.

Silence. The light remained on, but there was no shuffling, no sounds of washing up.

"Claire?"

Tera slid out of bed, not bothering to neaten up. The shadows around her feet painted a symbol on the floor: "bad luck", in Chinese characters. Claire had mentioned it as they'd passed a tattoo parlor in Monmarte the other day, laughing as she explained that it didn't really mean "fortune".

"Claire? Are you all right?"

Tera poked her head in, and gasped. Pills, scattered everywhere, Claire's arm unmoving, and-

Tera awoke, and sat bolt upright. Her arm darted to the right as Claire stirred, beside her, mumbling as she wrapped an arm around Tera's waist.

"Mrmph," she mumbled, as Tera lay back down, holding her close. One of Claire's eyes opened as she smiled slightly.

"I love ..." Tera whispered, trailing off.

"Mrmph," mumbled Claire, falling asleep again.

[ QUOTE ]
I think the singular use of “Hero” is for the Korean translation though someone with a better grasp of Korean could probably answer that one better than I.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll admit straight up that my Korean is bad--I learned it at home, and then never really used it, so it's phenomenally rusty when it comes to composing sentences (comprehension's a lot easier than generation.)

"Hero" is a loan word anyway, in Korean. (If I recall correctly, the native term is "yong.sa", which also is a word you can use for "warrior".) As far as plurals go, the nouns themselves don't change; rather, when you're counting them, the number counter serves in its place (and occasionally, the noun changes, too, but that's rarer. Also, number counters change depending on what's being counted.)

1 person == "han myung" ~ ("myung" doesn't refer to a person directly, but it's the term used to count people.)
2 people == "too myung"

Person == "saram"
People == "saramdul" ~ (But, from what I remember, this is used when there is an indefinite amount.)

There is one car == "Cha han.na it.da" ~ ( Car one is )
There are two cars == "Cha too.gae it.da" ~ ( Car two are )

===

As far as the anime-ish appearance of the video, I'm not seeing it that strongly. If anything, the characters look more Asian, but that doesn't necessarily make it Anime--which, if you're being nitpicky, refers more to Japanese animation styles rather than Korean animation styles.

Sid: Not very bright, are you?
CTab: No, I'm a CTab.
Sid: Kinda dumb?
CTab: Oh! I'm an AI.
Sid: Ah, I see. What does CTab mean?
CTab: Gender is cool. I wish I had one.
Sid: What does CTab mean?
CTab: Rock! I win!

Sidney Brewster sang quietly listening to her mp3 player and checked her mail in the elevator.

"I backed my car into a -bill- hmm... hmm... the other day...
Well he just drove off ...junkmail... hmm... ok...
I ran my ...bill... too much oh what can i say...
...something from some Russian...
And we'll all float on okay... and we'll all float on ...new Secret V's catalog..."

She opened the door to her apartment, and floated the mail onto the kitchen table. Her cat purred, and walked in between her legs.

"Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing?"

The cat then headed towards the ktichen, meowing. Sid chuckled.

"Hungry, are we?"

With just a little bit of concentration, Sid had the cabinet door open, and floated the bag of cat food out to the bowl, tipping it slightly. Using her hands, she poured herself a glass of pinot noir, which she set down next to the mail, and headed to her room to change out of her work clothes.

Unfortunately, gravity is a blunt tool, even in the hands of a capable mistress. The bag of cat food settled and changed shape slightly, and as it floated back into its cabinet, it knocked over the trash can.

The trash can fell inches away from the cat, but upset the bowl, knocking food everywhere.

And of course, the cat, in panic, leapt back and ran every which way, knocking over the wine glass.

By the time Sid finished cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, the wine had already ruined the invitation. What she could make out, however, was that some lady named Alexa Ivanov wanted to celebrate a birthday, at seven in the evening.

Sid wondered why it wasn't Alexa Ivanova, but she supposed it could all be ironed out once she phoned to RSVP. After all, it'd be nice to attend a soiree with Kelp~ and naturally, Sid hoped he wouldn't get sick this time.

Or she'd have to kill him. At least until he died from it. And then he'd have to go to the event anyway.

As soon as Lila gets wind of this, there will be an "I told you so." moment before she bursts into about five minutes of incessant giggling.

She will then be distracted by the thought, "I wonder if you can get pigs to really talk?"

sorry, i have an nvidia card...

fwiw, i've gotten it working under gentoo linux 2.6.x w/ cedega...

it's the mission right after train/faunton park.

it's not just the sings, all pets will have that problem, i think.

why wouldn't they offer an update on christmas? it'd be a fantastic present...

(let's ignore the fact that christmas is NOT ABOUT presents...)