oranges

it is [summertime]<no|(click: ?no)[(replace: ?no)[(not quite, [[not yet]])]]

the air isn't quite warm enough but the days are long and you take your cardigan off in the [[garden]], where the grass is soft

you are leaving a party of friends from uni, where the goodbyes are full of stern reminders to not be away so long next time when you cross the threshold onto pavement into not-quite night air, [[you almost brush against his shoulder]]

[[(you don't. not quite)]]

you tell him. he tells you his. you shake hands, you tell him good night, and you walk the rest of the way out by yourself. when you reach the main door, [[the street lights have turned on.]]

thanks for playing this conversation xx kb

["do you know where you're going?"]<no2|(click: ?no2)[(replace: ?no2)["do you know where you're going?" ["hmm? oh."]<no3|(click: ?no3)[(replace: ?no3)["hmm? oh." [you stop and consider.]<no4|(click: ?no4)[(replace: ?no4)[you stop and consider. "april said the best way to leave was through the front gate, but--" you look around. [["I'm not so sure I know where the front gate is, now."]]]]]]]]

"how do you know april?" "oh. we performed together." [he nods.]<nod|(click: ?nod)[(replace: ?nod)[he nods. "the comedy-- ?" "the comedy, yeah." [gravel crunches underfoot.]<gravel|(click: ?gravel)[(replace: ?gravel)[gravel crunches unerfoot. "this college is fairly labyrinthine, isn't it? I'd need, like, a map. or a waypoint marker." "or a ball of string." "eugh, no minotaurs, please." [he stops when you reach the door to the main quad, and turns to you.]<turns|(click: ?turns)[(replace: ?turns)[he stops when you reach the door to the main quad, and turns to you. "just relentless applications of rote wayfinding, then?" [["my favourite."]]]]]]]]

"so, you're getting your dphil, or?" ["no, I graduated. I'm in London now."]<ah|(click: ?ah)[(replace: ?ah)["no, I graduated. I'm in London now." ["oh."]<oh|(click: ?oh)[(replace: ?oh)["oh." ["yeah. you?"]<hm|(click: ?hm)[(replace: ?hm)["yeah. you?" "computer science." "oh, neat." [he shrugs.]<and|(click: ?and)[(replace: ?and)[he shrugs. "this always happens -- I meet people after they've left." you laugh. "there's a joke there about the ball of string and tying leads to people -- I think." [then he laughs.]<laugh|(click: ?laugh)[(replace: ?laugh)[then he laughs. "I can see why you stopped doing comedy." ["you get rusty."]<rust|(click: ?rust)[(replace: ?rust)["you get rusty." [["what was your name, again?"]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

you never see him again after this. you had about thirty seconds to one minute together, and then they never happen, nor ever quite resemble happening, again. you walk to the train station and [[you go home.]]

you say it mostly for yourself, to get your bearings, but he sets his drink down. "I can show you." ["oh -- are you -- that's, uh, nice. that would be nice."]<follow|(click: ?follow)[(replace: ?follow)["oh -- are you -- that's, uh, nice. that would be nice." he shrugs and smiles and [starts walking.]<list|(click: ?list)[(replace: ?list)[starts walking. [you follow through one set of doors (glass)]<list2|(click: ?list2)[(replace: ?list2)[you follow through one set of doors (glass) [a hallway (only just)]<list3|(click: ?list3)[(replace: ?list3)[a hallway (only just) [then through another door (not glass).]<list4|(click: ?list4)[(replace: ?list4)[then through another door (not glass). everything sort of feels familiar. maybe. [[not quite.]]]]]]]]]]]]

there is the smell of wet asphalt and orange peel and lavender as [[you enter the garden]]