The marble doesn't go anywhere. "Objects at rest stay at rest," Amos says, then picks the marble up. He places a smooth rock at the center of the sheet, and while it's still taunt, there's a slight dip in deference to the rock's weight.
Amos spins the marble on the sheet, and it manages to orbit the rock three times before crashing into it, going still at the center with the rock.
That makes her flinch hard, but she rebounds fast enough. Sawbones looks up at him with a small frown and a huff, smacking his hand away.
"You're the expert here," she says, before returning her gaze to the sheet and considering it more seriously, "An object at rest stays at rest, but if there's an incline, it's pulled down. That little spin you gave the marble..." She struggles a little with it, frowning at the sheet, "Something in the spin and the dip caused the marble to circle the way it did?" Back up at him, not entierly sure what conclusions she's meant to draw from this.
Anyway, back to fucking marbles. Amos looks at the sheet, and spins the marble again. This time he manages four little orbits. "Why's there an incline?"
She looks back at the sheet, frowning a little more intensely as she watches the marble, "Because of the stone."
It clicks a little and the word's spill out of her: "That's what makes the divot and what pulls the marble downward. But there's also something that draws the stone down to create the divot in the first place." Her eyes snap back up to him, "That's gravity, isn't it."
"Heyyyy, nice." Which is probably weird to come from a face only faking enjoyment, but there's something behind his eyes today. It's just curiosity rather than genuine pleasure. Wheels are turning somewhere.
"That's what pulls it down here. You're a little ahead of me." He spins the marble again, only four orbits, but the orbit this time is long and elliptical, spinning right up against the far corners of the sheet.
"Marble's drawn to the rock, 'cause the rock's heavier. And there's a third rock, that's even heavier than the rock." He taps his feet on the ground. "You're not stuck to this planet 'cause it's special. It's just the heaviest thing anywhere, all the time."
She might have the time to consider his expression if he weren't saying incredible things to her. Sawbones listens intently, considering the rock on the sheet and the rock of the floor below them.
"So," She says slowly, "Gravity is when lighter things are attracted to heavier things?"
"Yeah," Amos says, "but it's kinda hard to see, since we're small and the Earth's big."
Earth. Thedas. Whatever, she can't hear the capital 'E' (maybe).
He tosses the marble upward, catching it in his other hand. "Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Another toss. The marble arcs in the air before he catches it.
"When you spin the marble, it sets it in motion. Gravity draws it down, but the stone... Stops it?" Her frown deepens as she wrestles with the abstraction of it all. "Throwing the marble is the movement, your hand catching it is the unbalanced force... But the rock isn't doing anything to stop the marble, it's just there."
"Kinda... shit." Amos realizes something suddenly. There's a reason this isn't clicking like he thought it would. "You know the Earth isn't flat, right?"
Well, that brings her whole line of thinking to a sudden and abrupt stop. She has a brief thought of Ah, that would be the unbalanced force before she blinks and says "I beg your pardon?"
"Fuck," Amos says, sitting down on one of the chairs, sitting on it backward so his giant arms can settle on the back. He grabs the nearest marble. "This was supposed to be the earth. It orbits the sun." He points to the rock (sun) before spinning the marble (Earth) again.
How the fuck is he gonna prove the curvature of the Earth to somebody afraid of boats?
Sawbones shakes her head, still trying to wrap her mind around what he's trying to explain as the yawning terror of the implications start creeping in.
"Hold on, hold on," she says, both to herself and him, reaching over to pluck up the marble, "Give me a minute, salrocka." She rolls the marble between her palms and looks at him, "That all sounds mad, you know."
"Yeah, they kinda killed the guy who came up with the idea, back home." Like, hundreds of years ago, but she doesn't need to know that. "He was right, though. I've seen it. Earth just looks like a big marble."
She can't even begin to fathom what he's said, but... "Six years ago, if someone had told me that the surface had vast bodies of water called oceans, I would have said they'd knocked their head too many times."
Sawbones sets the marble on the sheet, giving it a spin and sending it circling around the stone, "Suppose this ain't entierly different. At least you're not planning on dragging me up into space to show me."
"Sis, if I could get into space, you'd never hear from me again." He watches the marble spin, and gives it a little flick to keep it spinning when gravity. "No matter how good you look in the habit."
She looks from the spinning marble to him, eyebrows raised, "I've been told I look like a doll in it and I don't like you well enough that I won't throw this marble at you if you start on that."
Sawbones hasn't gotten a proposal like that since... The last time she'd been propositioned by another Duster, actually. That relaxes her enough that the soft noise she makes is almost a laugh, "Salroka, are you asking if I wanna have sex?"
that was supposed to be LIE not LIKE im going 2 bed now jeez.
"No, you were. I'm just surprised." She hops off her chair, "And since you were clear, I'll tell you. I took a vow of chastity when I joined my order, but even if I hadn't." She stands next to him and gestures at the general height difference, "I haven't done it near enough that I'd be up for taking whatever you got, Burton."
Amos thinks about that. He could say he knows how to compensate for differing body types, or that he isn't into pain, or that he's surprised to realize anybody actually keeps vows of chastity. But he said he wouldn't mention it again, and that's more important than anything else, just then.
He keeps wrapping the sheet until it's just a spool of fabric around one arm. "Okay," he says. "Change your mind, lemme know."
He starts moving the chairs back into the place, and thinking ruefully about how you prove the curvature of the Earth without getting into Astronomy. Even if they had a telescope good enough for it, Amos finds that shit too boring to account for.
"Sure." That too reminds her a little of the handful of Dusters she's known in the past. Makes it easy to stay relaxed around him, it means she can lose herself a little in thinking about gravity and force and a round Thedas. She helps him move the chairs back, more than strong enough to compensate for the awkward height difference.
Finally she looks back up at him, "I don't think I'll like this answer, but I've been thinking. If gravity attracts smaller things to bigger things and Thedas is round, how does it circle the sun? Isn't the sun smaller?"
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Amos spins the marble on the sheet, and it manages to orbit the rock three times before crashing into it, going still at the center with the rock.
"You see that?"
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"You're the expert here," she says, before returning her gaze to the sheet and considering it more seriously, "An object at rest stays at rest, but if there's an incline, it's pulled down. That little spin you gave the marble..." She struggles a little with it, frowning at the sheet, "Something in the spin and the dip caused the marble to circle the way it did?" Back up at him, not entierly sure what conclusions she's meant to draw from this.
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Anyway, back to fucking marbles. Amos looks at the sheet, and spins the marble again. This time he manages four little orbits. "Why's there an incline?"
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It clicks a little and the word's spill out of her: "That's what makes the divot and what pulls the marble downward. But there's also something that draws the stone down to create the divot in the first place." Her eyes snap back up to him, "That's gravity, isn't it."
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"That's what pulls it down here. You're a little ahead of me." He spins the marble again, only four orbits, but the orbit this time is long and elliptical, spinning right up against the far corners of the sheet.
"Marble's drawn to the rock, 'cause the rock's heavier. And there's a third rock, that's even heavier than the rock." He taps his feet on the ground. "You're not stuck to this planet 'cause it's special. It's just the heaviest thing anywhere, all the time."
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"So," She says slowly, "Gravity is when lighter things are attracted to heavier things?"
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Earth. Thedas. Whatever, she can't hear the capital 'E' (maybe).
He tosses the marble upward, catching it in his other hand. "Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Another toss. The marble arcs in the air before he catches it.
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"When you spin the marble, it sets it in motion. Gravity draws it down, but the stone... Stops it?" Her frown deepens as she wrestles with the abstraction of it all. "Throwing the marble is the movement, your hand catching it is the unbalanced force... But the rock isn't doing anything to stop the marble, it's just there."
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How the fuck is he gonna prove the curvature of the Earth to somebody afraid of boats?
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"Hold on, hold on," she says, both to herself and him, reaching over to pluck up the marble, "Give me a minute, salrocka." She rolls the marble between her palms and looks at him, "That all sounds mad, you know."
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Sawbones sets the marble on the sheet, giving it a spin and sending it circling around the stone, "Suppose this ain't entierly different. At least you're not planning on dragging me up into space to show me."
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She looks from the spinning marble to him, eyebrows raised, "I've been told I look like a doll in it and I don't like you well enough that I won't throw this marble at you if you start on that."
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that was supposed to be LIE not LIKE im going 2 bed now jeez.
tucks u in
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He keeps wrapping the sheet until it's just a spool of fabric around one arm. "Okay," he says. "Change your mind, lemme know."
He starts moving the chairs back into the place, and thinking ruefully about how you prove the curvature of the Earth without getting into Astronomy. Even if they had a telescope good enough for it, Amos finds that shit too boring to account for.
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Finally she looks back up at him, "I don't think I'll like this answer, but I've been thinking. If gravity attracts smaller things to bigger things and Thedas is round, how does it circle the sun? Isn't the sun smaller?"
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