06-15-2019, 06:19 PM
Near finally framed an argument in a way Jude understood. He watched as the cutting board clattered to the floor. His blank, empty expression was finally transformed into something more recognizably human. Jude looked amused, perhaps even a little sly. Where he had possessed no confidence in his explanations before, he had entered an arena where he did speak some of the language, where he could meet Near on (at least some of) Near's terms. Cultural relativism, Anthro 101, Plato's Cave - Jude did not have those. But he did have something.
He crouched and picked up the cutting board. "That's not magic." Jude stood up, and held the cutting board with both hands. Opening them, he dropped it, making an even louder sound as the board rocked back and forth on the ground, before juddering to a stop. "That's gravity." He waited until the board was still, before he looked down to stare at it.
There were a few seconds of silence and nothing. It was not dissimilar from a child trying to perform a 'magic' trick from a ten cent book. But then the board, after some contemplation, leapt up from the floor, into Jude's waiting hands. Forwards, then backwards. Gravity, then magic. "That's magic."
Terribly satisfied with himself, he held the cutting board out to Near with a small smirk. It vanished as he considered Near's question. "Well. I think - I am very sure - that something terrible is going to happen, with magic. I guess it's what you'd call the end of the world." Jude, to whom the phrase 'the end of the world' was quite pedestrian, looked calmly into Near's eyes as he spoke. "So I'm seeing who can help me." He almost interjected, Not you, but he feared if he was rude to Near now, he wouldn't get to go back to sleep.
He crouched and picked up the cutting board. "That's not magic." Jude stood up, and held the cutting board with both hands. Opening them, he dropped it, making an even louder sound as the board rocked back and forth on the ground, before juddering to a stop. "That's gravity." He waited until the board was still, before he looked down to stare at it.
There were a few seconds of silence and nothing. It was not dissimilar from a child trying to perform a 'magic' trick from a ten cent book. But then the board, after some contemplation, leapt up from the floor, into Jude's waiting hands. Forwards, then backwards. Gravity, then magic. "That's magic."
Terribly satisfied with himself, he held the cutting board out to Near with a small smirk. It vanished as he considered Near's question. "Well. I think - I am very sure - that something terrible is going to happen, with magic. I guess it's what you'd call the end of the world." Jude, to whom the phrase 'the end of the world' was quite pedestrian, looked calmly into Near's eyes as he spoke. "So I'm seeing who can help me." He almost interjected, Not you, but he feared if he was rude to Near now, he wouldn't get to go back to sleep.