serialskiller | SAIL IC Inbox

When Murderbot comes out of its recharge cycle for the day, it'll hear a voice. Thankfully, it's a familiar voice. Sarge is sitting against the wall nearby, and appears to be... reading out loud. Not loudly, mostly to himself, but Murderbot can definitely, easily hear it.

"--the towers on his surcoat golden again instead of dust, he presented himself to Verlain of Skye. Supper in the great hall seemed a haphazard affair, with dogs wandering loose among children eating on the floor, lovers feeding each other in corners, musicians with harp and flute and lute snatching bites between songs, and long gaps of empty, sky-blue cloth between courtiers. 'Everyone left me to go to the wedding,' Verlain explained, patting the cloth beside him for Cyan to sit."

There's a kind of quiet cadence to it that suggests he's been at it for a little while, now.

There's a moment where Murderbot considers not making Sarge aware it's awake, to listen longer. But it did say it only needed a short recharge, and being still and silent too long might worry him. So it lifts its head. "What book is that?"

Not judging. No, never that. Curious, if anything.

Sarge twitches a little in surprise at the voice, then blinks over at Murderbot. "The Tower at Stony Wood." This is in fact a real book his mun pulled off her shelf. He holds up the tablet, looking a little guilty, like he's been caught at something he shouldn't. Not that Murderbot might not enjoy the utterly fantastical story, but that he's reading at all. "César lets me borrow his tablet sometimes. I'm. Trying to get better at reading."

"Then don't stop. Though maybe start at the beginning? So I can appreciate the whole story. I'll let you know if the drones spot anything we need to act on."

It manages a small smile, faint and fleeting, as it moves from lying down to sitting. "And if your voice gets tired, I can read to you, instead."

Sarge hesitates, then smiles back, kind of shy. "If you want. Sure. I didn't get too far into this one." He flicks the electronic pages back, and starts again: "She saw the knight in the mirror at sunset. He road alone down a road along a river. Where the black cloak he wore parted over his surcoat, she glimpsed towers of gold."

The story is one of towers: one in a happy kingdom with a wedding that might not be what it seems, one with a woman locked away with a mirror and a loom, one with a dragon, and one by the sea with a girl and her mother. The three disparate stories weave together in unexpected ways. Sarge, who's been having trouble turning words on a page into images in his head, actually finds himself hamming it up a little for Murderbot. Everyone gets slightly different voices and accents. He puts more tone into the feelings of people who don't exist than he usually manages for his own voice.

He gets about a third of the way through, to when one of the characters found and tamed the dragon in its tower, before he has to put it down for a minute and stretch his legs out.

It waits for him to pause before it speaks up, clearly caught up in the story.

"If you always read like this, I'm going to start asking for bedtime stories before I recharge. Or maybe you ought to be reading to Fio. She was sharing story books with me not too long ago, including one about a mouse who dances ballet. She wanted to teach me ballet, too."

"I haven't ever read... to someone before," Sarge says, looking kind of shyly pleased, a little bit. "I... don't think I haven't anyway. If I have, I don't remember it." Maybe that's the kind of skill you retain even if you don't know where it came from, like fighting. "It's nice, though. Pleasant."

Maybe even fun, but he's still working out what feels like "fun" exactly.

He gets up and stretches a little, then drifts to the counter for some water, hoping one of the ghosts anticipates his need. "I can keep going if you want. I just need something to drink, I think." He hasn't talked this much... pretty much ever. "Are you going to learn ballet? From Fio?"

"I don't think I'm going to be good at ballet." But that phrasing makes its answer clear, a bit of a smile growing on its face despite itself. "It makes her happy, to have someone to teach, though."

It looks up at Sarge. "You could join us for lessons."

That sounds... cute. Not just the idea of Rin dancing ballet (he does have a very clear picture of what ballet looks like, in his head; interesting), but the idea of a kid liking to teach, too. Sarge knows that feeling.

He finds himself smiling a little, back, and then collecting both glasses that the ghost delivers. One is clearly for Rin, so he leans down a little and offers it to it. "Sure, if Fio's okay with it. I know there's some kind of dance I know how to do. Maybe it'll be that."

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Media time, post-naps, in the back of an otherwise-empty restaurant

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