Ned tries to remember if Italy was fascist by the 20s, or whenever it would have been that Charlie still lived there. He really would have paid more attention in his world history class, if he'd known he was going to end up socializing with men from almost a century ago. "I don't know much about it. Not really good at keeping up with world news."
Now that the drink is doing its bit, Charlie's increased agitation doesn't frighten Ned, the way it might have a few minutes earlier. Charlie is, it's becoming clear to Ned, a very mercurial sort, but there's something refreshing in that. He, too, has intense emotional reactions that turn on a hairpin. The only difference is, he's used to hiding - or trying to hide - those shifts in himself. Charlie clearly has no interest in doing so. Ned tops up his drink.
"It didn't repair itself." Ned knows that to Charlie, a videocamera that size probably seems incomprehensible future technology capable of many things. "One of them came in and fixed it. At least that's what I heard happens. They must've done it when you were out of the house, or when you were asleep."
He drinks another few gulps of whiskey, and the burn is good. It's an physical echo of the anger, always there, just beneath the surface, at being locked away in this place.
"They would've loved a setup like this if they could get away with it, where I went to school. They had to spy on us the old-fashioned way. Very inefficient."
no subject
Now that the drink is doing its bit, Charlie's increased agitation doesn't frighten Ned, the way it might have a few minutes earlier. Charlie is, it's becoming clear to Ned, a very mercurial sort, but there's something refreshing in that. He, too, has intense emotional reactions that turn on a hairpin. The only difference is, he's used to hiding - or trying to hide - those shifts in himself. Charlie clearly has no interest in doing so. Ned tops up his drink.
"It didn't repair itself." Ned knows that to Charlie, a videocamera that size probably seems incomprehensible future technology capable of many things. "One of them came in and fixed it. At least that's what I heard happens. They must've done it when you were out of the house, or when you were asleep."
He drinks another few gulps of whiskey, and the burn is good. It's an physical echo of the anger, always there, just beneath the surface, at being locked away in this place.
"They would've loved a setup like this if they could get away with it, where I went to school. They had to spy on us the old-fashioned way. Very inefficient."