（ one of these days he'll actually send a real message to jasper, but apparently this ain't the day for it. still — he managed to hit on somebody from earth at least, an' a gal nice enough to take it in stride.
gene just sort of grimaces at the mistake, an' presses his forefinger an' thumb against his temples before he replies: ）
Okay, I gotta ask — what's Chicago deepdish?
（ look, it wasn't invented until '43, an' he was already overseas by then. ）
[Nile knows the feeling. At least he didn't send a message about not wearing underwear to one of his best friend's contract partners. The sooner they get the network fixed the better.
She blinks at the message for a second, and then:]
...you're kidding right? It's pizza. The best kind of pizza. Don't let anyone from New York go off and tell you otherwise.
[she won't hold it against him. At least not just yet]
[forgive her, she lives with immortals who are all pushing a millennia or two. She's made the mistake of assuming a century before.
And oh no. You see. Nile hasn't quite put together the lack of cooking ability in the 40s with modern tastebuds, as her culinary skills stop at: ability to boil water most of the time]
It really is. I'll see if I can find any of the stuff that goes in it in this place--or if there's even a recipe around.
Even if you discount everything else, this place seems just a bit to the left of wrong, you know?
（ that question actually stops him cold for a moment. he's made his peace with folks being from different times, but he'd still sort of assumed that folks would know what he was talkin' about when he mentioned things like that, an' it takes him a moment to recalibrate. ）
Ah... 1936. Just before the War.
（ there's always the implication of a capital letter when he says it. that very slight emphasis, that sense of it. the war, not just a war. ）
If'n you can describe the taste an' a rough approximation of ingredients, I reckon I could try it anyhow. Just take a few tries to get right.
（ might be a pleasant distraction. though he'd need a real kitchen, an' not whatever exists in the tiny hotel rooms in the down. ）
I do know. Full well. I share your sentiment entirely.
[she gets it. The first time she got it wrong was a headtrip. It takes her a second: dates and remembering history classes before she puts The War together]
（ they were already callin' it that by '39, he remembers reggie with a copy of time magazine readin' an article about it, jaw set, lookin' mighty unhappy about the whole mess goin' on overseas even then. but they'd never known it'd get as bad as it did. ）
[she swallows, and shoves her free hand in her pocket, glad she can't be seen, because she still hasn't quite figured out how to control her face and right now it's a little shocked. She should be used to it by now; Nicky and Joe and Andy and Booker all lived through both World Wars and a bunch of wars besides, but Nile's still young, and she's still used to a world that mostly makes sense.
Thankfully, it usually comes across these days as curiosity and a bit of wonder. The aggression she got out on Andy.]
（ he says it without any real pomp or ceremony, tone neutral. germany's been surrendered for a few months by his metric an' he's already tired of hearin' folks say thanks for your service. ）
[She offers, not in competition, but maybe something a little like commiseration. She doesn't imagine it was easy--she knows it can't have been, but she feels for anyone who's served]
But--post 9/11, so a lot less noble and a lot less--clear cut, I guess.
（ he doesn't assume combat right off — there were dames aplenty in the usmcwr back stateside, an' gene was raised by a dyed in the wool suffragette, so he doesn't really bat an eye at it. in fact, it eases that tight knot of unpleasant wariness in his chest. ）
Yeah? My brother was in the 1st Marines. Tough folk. Can't say as I know what 9/11 is, though.
[...explaining 9/11 to a man from the Second World War. Let it never be said there's a dull day in Duplicity. She struggles for a moment and then goes with the simplest version that comes to mind:]
An attack. On American soil. It lead to--kind of an endless war.
[another beat, and then:]
This can't be what you meant to talk about while hunting down Chesterfields.
（ he doesn't sound surprised. just — tired. he talks to the damn dead, he knows how these things move in cycles. that america would've made enemies willing to stage an attack is frankly the least astounding thing he's learned here.
he just exhales, slow, and digs his index finger in against one of his temples. anyone who cares one whit for human life always wants every war to be the last, but it ain't never gonna be so long as humans are what they are.
her next comment does get a wry chuckle, though. ）
Well, it wasn't what I had in mind. But I ain't findin' it all that unpleasant, truth be told. Reckon meetin' other military-minded folk is the closest thing I'll get to home for a good long while.
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no subject
gene just sort of grimaces at the mistake, an' presses his forefinger an' thumb against his temples before he replies: ）
Okay, I gotta ask — what's Chicago deepdish?
（ look, it wasn't invented until '43, an' he was already overseas by then. ）
no subject
She blinks at the message for a second, and then:]
...you're kidding right?
It's pizza. The best kind of pizza. Don't let anyone from New York go off and tell you otherwise.
[she won't hold it against him. At least not just yet]
no subject
（ he was always a hotdog kinda guy, an' there weren't nothin' like the food that reggie's ma made from back home in trinidad. ）
It's really that good? I'm a fair hand in the kitchen, if'n you gave me some pointers I bet I could recreate it.
（ don't listen to him nile he absolutely could not, this man is from the forties and he still thinks vinegar pie is a delicacy. ）
no subject
[forgive her, she lives with immortals who are all pushing a millennia or two. She's made the mistake of assuming a century before.
And oh no. You see. Nile hasn't quite put together the lack of cooking ability in the 40s with modern tastebuds, as her culinary skills stop at: ability to boil water most of the time]
It really is. I'll see if I can find any of the stuff that goes in it in this place--or if there's even a recipe around.
Even if you discount everything else, this place seems just a bit to the left of wrong, you know?
no subject
Ah... 1936. Just before the War.
（ there's always the implication of a capital letter when he says it. that very slight emphasis, that sense of it. the war, not just a war. ）
If'n you can describe the taste an' a rough approximation of ingredients, I reckon I could try it anyhow. Just take a few tries to get right.
（ might be a pleasant distraction. though he'd need a real kitchen, an' not whatever exists in the tiny hotel rooms in the down. ）
I do know. Full well. I share your sentiment entirely.
no subject
World War II?
no subject
（ they were already callin' it that by '39, he remembers reggie with a copy of time magazine readin' an article about it, jaw set, lookin' mighty unhappy about the whole mess goin' on overseas even then. but they'd never known it'd get as bad as it did. ）
no subject
[she swallows, and shoves her free hand in her pocket, glad she can't be seen, because she still hasn't quite figured out how to control her face and right now it's a little shocked. She should be used to it by now; Nicky and Joe and Andy and Booker all lived through both World Wars and a bunch of wars besides, but Nile's still young, and she's still used to a world that mostly makes sense.
Thankfully, it usually comes across these days as curiosity and a bit of wonder. The aggression she got out on Andy.]
Did you serve?
no subject
（ he says it without any real pomp or ceremony, tone neutral. germany's been surrendered for a few months by his metric an' he's already tired of hearin' folks say thanks for your service. ）
no subject
Marines, here.
[She offers, not in competition, but maybe something a little like commiseration. She doesn't imagine it was easy--she knows it can't have been, but she feels for anyone who's served]
But--post 9/11, so a lot less noble and a lot less--clear cut, I guess.
no subject
Yeah? My brother was in the 1st Marines. Tough folk. Can't say as I know what 9/11 is, though.
no subject
An attack. On American soil. It lead to--kind of an endless war.
[another beat, and then:]
This can't be what you meant to talk about while hunting down Chesterfields.
no subject
（ he doesn't sound surprised. just — tired. he talks to the damn dead, he knows how these things move in cycles. that america would've made enemies willing to stage an attack is frankly the least astounding thing he's learned here.
he just exhales, slow, and digs his index finger in against one of his temples. anyone who cares one whit for human life always wants every war to be the last, but it ain't never gonna be so long as humans are what they are.
her next comment does get a wry chuckle, though. ）
Well, it wasn't what I had in mind. But I ain't findin' it all that unpleasant, truth be told. Reckon meetin' other military-minded folk is the closest thing I'll get to home for a good long while.