The Budding Metalinguist

XXXI

"How are things going?"

Lillian sighed. "Not good."

"Is that why you called? Is everything all right?" Rachel's voice was tinged with her usual empathetic concern. Lillian felt better just hearing her talk.

"Mostly. It's just..." Lillian trailed off. "My roommate found out about..."

"Oh, that," Rachel realized. "Wait, your roommate? Who?"

"Daria," Lillian explained wearily. "Daria found out."

"How?" Rachel replied in puzzlement.

"She guessed," Lillian answered simply. There was silence on the other line for a moment before Rachel spoke.

"I don't know what to say," she explained. "No, like, I literally don't know what to say. That sucks, but if I say 'that sucks' it just sounds rude and unsympathetic. I wish I could add an ellipsis over the phone."

"It's fine," Lillian responded listlessly. "Don't worry about it."

Rachel was still talking, so Lillian just waited for her to finish. When she finally realized that Lillian obviously wasn't listening and cut off, she apologized quickly before continuing the conversation.

"Have you heard from Rory?"

"I haven't checked," Lillian responded.

"Oh," Rachel responded. There was no emotion whatsoever attached to the statement. "I haven't either. I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's fine," Lillian replied vaguely. "He can take care of himself. As long as Alex says he's okay."

Rachel seemed doubtful; this behavior continued to strike Lillian as unusual. "All right," she answered dubiously.

"I have to go," Lillian lied. "I'll talk later." She hung up within seconds.

She'd thought that the conversation with Rachel would help boost her spirits, but apparently she had been wrong. Maybe she was just tired today. It had to be related to the whole fiasco with Daria, she knew. She hoped she would get over it soon.

❧☙

"Where have I seen a swinging sign?" Dakota asked, his hands held out in the peculiar gesture of confusion and curiosity. Dr. Hests nodded in understanding.

"A swinging sign? What do you mean?"

"A sign that swings," Dakota answered unhelpfully. He moved his hands vaguely in perpendicular directions, but he wasn't making his point any clearer. Dr. Hests stared.

"A sign on hinges," he explained, finally consolidating his obscure demonstrations into a gesture of his arms rotating. "It's somewhere, and I remember seeing it with you."

"A sign on hinges," Dr. Hests repeated thoughtfully. "That does sound familiar. I can't think where I would have seen it, though. Why do you ask?"

Dakota's echo interrupted with some choice profanity. He silenced it with an jerk of his head, indicating that he needed to talk to Dr. Hests.

"I'm not sure either, Samantha," Dakota confessed. "It's just been bothering me. All I know is that I've associated it with you. And that I saw someone walking past it."

"Someone walking past it?" Dr. Hests mimicked slowly. "Someone walking past a swinging sign. You're sure you don't remember what it said?"

Dakota shook his head forlornly, and Dr. Hests returned to her thoughts. "Why would someone be walking past a sign? I know I've seen that..."

After a minute, she raised her head sharply. "It's at the Gamma Ray Café in the park, isn't it?" she suggested with a smirk.

Dakota's eyebrows raised, and he nodded. "I'm pretty sure it is. Thanks so much. That was driving me crazy." He backed out of Dr. Hests' office before she had a chance to invite him to lunch again.

"The Gamma Ray Café," he said thoughtfully. "Well."

Looks like we'll have to pay a visit, his echo suggested.

❧☙

Galena swung into Diane's office, her hand catching neatly on the doorframe. "Would you mind doing me a favor?" she wondered.

"Not at all," Diane obliged graciously. "What can I do?"

Galena sighed slightly, her breath puffing out of her nose. "Could you sketch for me?"

Diane slid a sheet of paper out of the printer tray and flipped a pencil out of her ear with a smirk. "Describe," she invited.

Galena nodded and sat down in one of the JOLO-brand chairs, rolling over to Diane's desk so she could observe. She summoned up her few memories of Rolf and chose the first- when she originally met him, watching the DIAO orientation video. She focused on his face and began to describe his features in detail.

When she was done several minutes later, Diane slid the sketch in her direction. "This look about right?"

Galena scrutinized the face. "It does," she decided.

"Who is this?" Diane asked curiously. "Looks like an arrogant scaramouch to me."

Galena wasn't exactly sure how to reply to this characterization of Rolf. On the one hand, she agreed- he was not exactly the brightest nor the most humble. But she also knew that she had to respect him, especially given that he might never be seen again.

She shook herself out of her thoughts, murmured a perfunctory thanks to Diane, and slid the sketch into the copier. She was going to make as many copies as she could. It was Rolf's best chance of being saved.