Like — science. [ beat. ] When I say trick, I mean an easy— er way to do something that should be hard or complicated. It's kinda like you're cheating, but you're not really, you're just using a shortcut. Does that make sense?

[ he can't quite work her out — there's a strength to her, obviously, despite the stilted, careful replies; a quiet thoughtfulness and understanding, but then there's the rest of it — the literal way in which she took his first question, the lack of surety about what he meant by 'trick'. there could be a simple answer for it, and peter would like to think it'd be a pleasant simple answer, but how often is that the case?

(maybe for once. it does happen occasionally.) ]

—Hey, Eleven, d'you mind if I ask you a question? Do you mind if I ask where you're from? [ there's a breath of a silence after he asks, before he almost immediately continues with: ] I'm from New York — it's a city, on Earth. [ he doesn't know if the clarification's needed, but he's not going to make assumptions either way. ] We've got people from space here, [ he tells her, with a quick smile. ] I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid, [ he adds, more to himself than to her ], and people from other worlds. It can be pretty creepy at times, [ he gestures loosely at their surroundings ], because there's no sun, but that part's pretty cool.