~

" look again at that dot. that's here. that's home. that's us. on it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. the aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. "

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“Shall I call you that, then?”

“I think I’d appreciate that, actually.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“Then hit me with that new name you’d want.”

“I did have a fascination with the name Killian as a child. I thought it sounded badass.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“Now, what do you prefer?”

“. . . Honestly? Another name entirely. But really, Wil is fine, makes me sound less like an old man.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“You got that right. Name’s Victoire, by the way. In case you’re wondering.”

“Wilbur, but most people just call me Wil.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“Girls are definitely harder to boss around than boys, I’ll give you that.”

“We do have soft spots for our mums. But how could we not? They’re the first and only women that ever puts up with our shit.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“I tell him that it’s fun. We’ve been going on hikes for years now.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. I don’t think my daughter would believe me if I said that, though.” he chuckled.

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“Ouch. My skin feels burned just hearing that word.”

“Alright, alright. We lather you up in the sunscreen every fifteen minutes and you’ll be fine.”

“Okay, you’ve got a deal.” Wilbur chuckled, though he still remained apprehensive about the idea. “Another thing, how are you able to convince your kid to go on a full hike with you? All mine does is climb trees.”

[wilburinspace]

victoiremorejon‌:

“That might be wise, white boy,” Victoire joked. “No, no, we do have sunscreen. You could handle it.”

“Not just white,” he said. “Irish. Which is worse. But if you’re sure. . . I’ll try not to have to sue you for damages.”

[victoiremorejon]

“Alright, alright. Did you want to go on a hike with my son and me? Just some of the hills right off the beach.”

[wilburinspace]

“A hike? I’m afraid I might evaporate if I’m out in the sun for that long.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“Oh, no. You need to get out more often, then.”

“Well, I might have a reason to now.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“I can promise it won’t be very exciting.”  Noëlle noted the nervous smile but didn’t find the need to comment on it.

“Nonsense. This conversation has been the most thrill I’ve had in weeks, I’m more than excited to see what happens when we’re on caffeine.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“You know, we should get coffee sometime.”

“We, uh, certainly should.” he wore an anxious smile, scarcely remembering the last time he’d been invited to coffee. “I’m curious to know you more.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“I guess a scientist has a good stand on what’s good enough or not.”

“I would hope so, but hey, maybe praying mantis is just pretentious enough to work after all.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“It wasn’t that good, Wil.”

“It’s good to me! Is that not enough?” he said jokingly.

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“Thank you. I’d like to think it was pretty creative.”

“It was, you should speak with a few etymologists about changing the word altogether.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“Then I’m doing a good job. I forgot the word for praying mantis earlier. Honestly kept saying murder bug over and over.”

“Hah! Honestly, English speakers do that all the time. And murder bug is much more fitting anyway, if you ask me.”

[wilburinspace]

noellevandepoelt‌:

“Definitely not fluent. I’m trying my damned best, but I’m still bad.”

“Really? You’ve had me fooled this entire time.”