rattlerofthestars:

“Heh.” Jim gave a short laugh as he leaned against the rock wall and watched the two of them interact. Ping’s laugh caught him off guard for a moment. The familiar ring reminded him of a girl’s giggle. Wow, that guy had some weird pipes. Maybe he hadn’t hit puberty just yet. Odd thing to be thinking about, any how. "Uh, yeah. Guess it just depends on…how far you go. You ever been outside of China?“ He asked her. Hopefully she hadn’t ever left China to know that people do not fly around like he does. They don’t have flying blobby creatures neither.

"Tools…y’know, like…soldering guns and hammers and sonic screwdrivers? Any knuts, bolts, or moonlight fiberglass? Things that fix things really good.” Jim had started to rattle off these different tools and repair materials without really thinking. Quickly, he added- “Just forget about all that. Um, you got a soldering gun at least?”

What was a soldiering gun?  His pulse was still pounding in his ears and his throat dry from running; trying to imagine the tool Jim described only made Ping’s head spin (though of course it didn’t help that he’d misheard the spacer).  Pursing his lips, Ping shook his head at Jim and spread his hands wide in a further gesture of defeat.  "I don’t think we have most of those things in camp.  Hammers and nails, maybe.“  If there was anything they had an abundance of, it was weapons and rice - but these things seemed either impolitic or useless to mention, so Ping didn’t.

A soft coolness made Ping startle, but when he realized it was just Morph brushing against his cheek the young recruit grinned, hunching his shoulder in a ticklish way.  "I’ve never been outside of China,” he told Jim almost absently, captivated by the pink creature.  "I never even really left my home until I came here.“