The sight of him leaving a trail of dust and sand as he walked through the cafe might have been a bit irritating, given that he'd have to be the one to sweep it out later, if it weren't for the fact that it was also a bit amusing, seeing it from the outside. He'd been in very similar situations enough times himself to know how frustrating it was, so it was a bit of a surprise to find himself snorting back a small laugh that he tried to hide behind a cough. As if they probably couldn't all recognize every sound they made, anyway. But the small bit of amusement was enough, especially when it mixed with the strange sort of relief he got from seeing the other wolfing down the sandwich in such a way that he knew he had to have been living on ration bars for a while now and he'd made the right choice with the sandwich, that it was able to somewhat temper the shame he felt when he sensed the other pulling sharply back from the mental connection as he sat down in the seat across from him.
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't-...sorry, yeah. Won't do it again." So. It probably was the Vash he'd met before. "I've been trying not to do that so much, but...habits, you know? This is probably for the best, yeah." There was no way in Hell that the strained smile and laugh would fool the other as he rubbed the back of his neck, but. Habits, yes. He hadn't even been able to break them when Nicholas had still been around, and the man had been able to read him more than he could read himself. At the very least, if Sig or anyone else walked through the door, they might not realize what was happening. That was good enough. "It's easier not to just dump things on people without wanting to, like this."
He hadn't even been the only one he'd done it to, though he hadn't really been trying to connect to the next "brother" he'd met and inadvertently shoved memories and emotions at. At this rate, it was getting hard not to worry, constantly, that everywhere he went, he would end up hurting one of their kind - Vashes, Sisters in their bulbs, or otherwise.
And then the question made him pause, his hands dropping into his lap as he shook his head.
"No, it's 'Val' for now." His voice dropped low, and he made a quick glance back towards the kitchen door, but he didn't seem too terribly concerned with Signey overhearing, all things considered. "Valentinez Blue. They wanted a name when I went to get my eyes on one of those new communication devices the Terrans are bringing in, and I didn't want to give something that might get traced back to Lina or Grandma Sheryl somehow, so I just...pulled something out of my head. Think I used it once with-...well. Before."
He reached into his pocket and pulled the device in question out, dropping it onto the table for the other to see. It looked, compared to most things he was used to after so long living on the planet, not terribly unlike the small tablets they'd had on the ships when they were kids, only this was smaller. He still wasn't great about navigating its functions, but he'd managed to figure out how to access the network that it was connected to, at least. And if the familiar little red funbari figure he had hanging off of the bottom corner of the thing from a jerry-rigged string was anything to judge by, he'd found images of the way the humans liked to decorate their phones on Earth when he'd first started searching around the network, and had taken the idea and run.
"They're practically handing these things out, now. I wasn't sure how safe it was, at first, but they're hooked up to a network that can even access Earth stuff. It's a little confusing, but I figured it was worth the risk, what with the constant information feed it gives, and nobody will be looking for 'Val.' Not that it seems many of our people have them, though. Or maybe they just haven't figured out how to get information out like the Terrans can, yet."
no subject
"Sorry, sorry, I didn't-...sorry, yeah. Won't do it again." So. It probably was the Vash he'd met before. "I've been trying not to do that so much, but...habits, you know? This is probably for the best, yeah." There was no way in Hell that the strained smile and laugh would fool the other as he rubbed the back of his neck, but. Habits, yes. He hadn't even been able to break them when Nicholas had still been around, and the man had been able to read him more than he could read himself. At the very least, if Sig or anyone else walked through the door, they might not realize what was happening. That was good enough. "It's easier not to just dump things on people without wanting to, like this."
He hadn't even been the only one he'd done it to, though he hadn't really been trying to connect to the next "brother" he'd met and inadvertently shoved memories and emotions at. At this rate, it was getting hard not to worry, constantly, that everywhere he went, he would end up hurting one of their kind - Vashes, Sisters in their bulbs, or otherwise.
And then the question made him pause, his hands dropping into his lap as he shook his head.
"No, it's 'Val' for now." His voice dropped low, and he made a quick glance back towards the kitchen door, but he didn't seem too terribly concerned with Signey overhearing, all things considered. "Valentinez Blue. They wanted a name when I went to get my eyes on one of those new communication devices the Terrans are bringing in, and I didn't want to give something that might get traced back to Lina or Grandma Sheryl somehow, so I just...pulled something out of my head. Think I used it once with-...well. Before."
He reached into his pocket and pulled the device in question out, dropping it onto the table for the other to see. It looked, compared to most things he was used to after so long living on the planet, not terribly unlike the small tablets they'd had on the ships when they were kids, only this was smaller. He still wasn't great about navigating its functions, but he'd managed to figure out how to access the network that it was connected to, at least. And if the familiar little red funbari figure he had hanging off of the bottom corner of the thing from a jerry-rigged string was anything to judge by, he'd found images of the way the humans liked to decorate their phones on Earth when he'd first started searching around the network, and had taken the idea and run.
"They're practically handing these things out, now. I wasn't sure how safe it was, at first, but they're hooked up to a network that can even access Earth stuff. It's a little confusing, but I figured it was worth the risk, what with the constant information feed it gives, and nobody will be looking for 'Val.' Not that it seems many of our people have them, though. Or maybe they just haven't figured out how to get information out like the Terrans can, yet."