Shades of Blue - Short Affair 14th Dec

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Prompt Word - Snarl
Prompt Colour - Powder Blue
Word Count - 633

"Alright. So. What have we learned today, tovarisch?"

"That you do not look at women's faces. Oh, no. Wait. I was aware of that already."

"Mmm. I was thinking more something along the lines of 'When the police are trying to talk to you, you, be polite. Don't snarl at them'."

"It was hardly a snarl. I merely suggested, in what I will admit was a forthright manner, that they should move out of my way as I was currently pursuing - "

" - the wrong woman."

"Something I was unaware of at the time, and the blame for which can be laid solely at your shoes."

"Feet."

"Which are in your shoes."

"You know, I really don't see why you're blaming me for you inadequa - "

" - excuse me?" - "

" - Inadequacies. I gave you a perfectly fine description."

"A brunette. In a blue dress. There were several women who matched that description in the vicinity."

"A powder blue dress, I think you'll find is what I actually said. And if you hadn't spent so much time arguing - "

" - It was an entirely inadequate description. There are many different powders that could be blue. For example, oxidised zinc, in powder form, would be a sort of blue, as would cobalt. They both look very different. And, come to think of it, dried paint could become powder, and that could come in any shade of blue you like."

"Yes. But if I'd meant oxidised zinc or cobalt or 'any shade of blue you like' that's what I would have said. I meant powder blue."

"But you did not state what sort of powder."

"The sort of powder that's coloured powder blue!"

"A statement which is so reductionist as to be absurd."

"Illya. Powder blue is a particular shade of blue."

"I appreciate that, however my point is that as I am clearly unaware of just what shade that might be, your description was useless. Perhaps if you had been able to describe the woman's face, instead of having been so obviously fixated on her powder blue swathed figure, we might not now be in our current predicament."

"I'm sure you would have managed to uncover a whole different predicament for us to enjoy."

"What would you wish me to do? Memorise the entire colour chart with their idiosyncratic names?"

"It would be a start. There are more colours than black, you know."

"Black is not a colour. And what do I look like to you? A fashion designer?"

"Hardly. But you know what? Go ahead and memorise that colour chart. Your evaluation is coming up at the end of the month, and as your direct supervisor - "

" - you would not."

"Just try me, pal."

"..."

"..."

"And to think, all this could have been avoided, if you had only said she was wearing a sky blue dress."

"But she wasn't. It was powder blue."

"Did you know, that the ancient Greeks had no word for blue? They distinguished colours by whether they were light or dark. Their word for dark blue could also mean dark green or brown. So at times it would seem as though someone's hair was being described as blue, or the sky as brown. It makes you wonder whether they did, in fact, see the colours in the same way as we? Language can do much to shape our way of perceiving the world around us."

"..."

"..."

"...so.....are you saying you didn't see the same colour dress as me?"

"No. It is simply interesting."

"You know, every now and then, I start to wonder whether your sole purpose is to torment me."

"Here comes the police officer again. Now, what colour would you say his uniform is?"

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Oh shades of that recent on-line dress color controversy...was it blue or black? lol. Great use of the prompts and I loved this rather prophetic line (if you adhere to the reunion movie)

"And what do I look like to you? A fashion designer?"

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Most excellent dialogue. I love the fashion designer reference, and the chemical and classical world lectures, and...

Great last line, too. Of course, so are all the others.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, it did remind me of that when I was writing it! Really, this was mostly because I had to look up what colour powder blue actually was. Y'know, apart from being blue. And I don't care for the reunion film overmuch, but yes, that line was supposed to echo it, so thank you. :)

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you liked it - Napoleon is definitely having to put up with a few too many lectures there.

[ssclassof56.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of conversations at my house. Apparently I see colors that don't really exist.

Enjoyable as always. Love pedantic Illya. I also quite liked the line about Napoleon not looking at women's faces. :)

[jkkitty.livejournal.com]

Leave it to Illya to find a way to put it back on Napoleon Love this

such fun

[jackie blain (from livejournal.com)]

Another wonderful bit of dialogue! I adore these little moments that you write so well. Bravo!

[lindafishes8.livejournal.com]

"Something I was unaware of at the time, and the blame for which can be laid solely at your shoes."

"Feet."

"Which are in your shoes."

A delightful bit of dialogue! Thanks for giving me a smile.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

To say that this is one of those 'eye of the beholder' situations is an obvious understatement. Illya is delightfully annoying here, all with absolutely undeniable credentials to be such. I don't know that Napoleon will ever win one of these.

[jantojones.livejournal.com]

There have been a lot of studies lately on how we see colour. It seems that we all perceive it differently depending on the number of cones and rods we have in our eyes.

Anyway, I love this story and the argument over the various shades of blue. There really isn't a lot of difference between powder and sky.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Apparently the average woman sees more colours - or rather shades of colour - than the average man, but there are outliers in both genders who see whole ranges others don't. So there we go. Think it's fine as long as you're not seeing octarine.

Thank you! I rather like Illya being pedantic...always seems defensively passive aggressive to me.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, he's not exactly fair, is he?

Re: such fun

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Thank you, so pleased you like it. It's fun writing little dialoguey scenes.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks - I like to think that neither of them are generally inclined to concede an inch, even when they're wrong.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Napoleon can be annoying, but I'm not sure he can match Illya for sheer infuriating-ness, lol. Thanks for commenting.

[otherhawk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've read some of them - or, rather, read the results in simplified, popular science versions. :) It was something that always bothered me as a kid, how any two people know that the colour they refer to as blue actually looks the same.

Oh, and I'd agree with you over powder blue and sky blue, but apparently there are those to whom it makes a difference. Thanks!