"People are already wondering about the ears," Evan tells him, wry. "Anyone who's seen you has wondered about the ears. Thankfully I think we can capitalize on some assumptions, there."
For a moment the young man is antsy, shifting to a sit where his feet are curled under him and frowning. Exactly how much does he lampshade the suggestions he's going to make, here? But it doesn't take him long to decide, and he gives Mel a forthright but apologetic look. "Forgive me, but any backstory we choose is going to have to paint you as a bit odd. It's not subtle that you don't know the norms here, and I figure that it's safer to, to come up with a reason for that than to try and give you the world's densest crash course here." He grimaces sympathy. "I think it's going to have to be a lie with a couple of layers, too, but we'll try and keep it the least complicated..."
He looks down with the face of someone who's fitting the pieces together in his mind, but quickly enough looks back up. "That's the part we'll address first. I think we should say you were raised in one of the anti-technology religious sects, like some sort of fringe neo-Luddite group. That'll kill us two birds with one stone, I think; if you explain that and then sort of hint that you don't really want to talk about it most people will assume you got kicked out, or that you left because you split from the belief system." He has to grin at the idea of Mel as a luddite. "I mean, it'll become apparent quickly enough you aren't a subscriber to that particular religion, so people can put two and two together. And if they pry," he adds, pointing at Mel like he's presenting a cherry on top of the argument, "then they're rude and you can tell them to mind their own business. How's that sound for the first part of things?"
no subject
For a moment the young man is antsy, shifting to a sit where his feet are curled under him and frowning. Exactly how much does he lampshade the suggestions he's going to make, here? But it doesn't take him long to decide, and he gives Mel a forthright but apologetic look. "Forgive me, but any backstory we choose is going to have to paint you as a bit odd. It's not subtle that you don't know the norms here, and I figure that it's safer to, to come up with a reason for that than to try and give you the world's densest crash course here." He grimaces sympathy. "I think it's going to have to be a lie with a couple of layers, too, but we'll try and keep it the least complicated..."
He looks down with the face of someone who's fitting the pieces together in his mind, but quickly enough looks back up. "That's the part we'll address first. I think we should say you were raised in one of the anti-technology religious sects, like some sort of fringe neo-Luddite group. That'll kill us two birds with one stone, I think; if you explain that and then sort of hint that you don't really want to talk about it most people will assume you got kicked out, or that you left because you split from the belief system." He has to grin at the idea of Mel as a luddite. "I mean, it'll become apparent quickly enough you aren't a subscriber to that particular religion, so people can put two and two together. And if they pry," he adds, pointing at Mel like he's presenting a cherry on top of the argument, "then they're rude and you can tell them to mind their own business. How's that sound for the first part of things?"