"Sounds like a great idea."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." It was dark in the living room except for the bloom of light from the television, and when Hawk and Vlad spoke, it was above the noise of the video game and the clicking of the controller buttons. Vlad continued, "I've been saying for years that the Assembly probably wouldn't talk so much shit on offworlders if they knew people could hear them, for one thing. A lot of the Assembly members are real old bastards, but they're also cowards."

He gave a little exclamation then, followed immediately by a noise and then a loud 'GAME!' from the TV.

"Dammit!" Hawk sat back, sighing, as Vlad smirked to himself. Hawk sat on the floor with his back against the arm of the couch and his wings loosely furled to either side of him, his wrists resting on his bent knees. Vlad lay along the length of the couch, propped up on one elbow. A little tray table sat between him, laden with drinks and popcorn and an ashtray. "Aw, I fuckin' suck at this."

"Don't be mad, hon," Vlad told him cheerfully, "I've been playing video games since you were in diapers."

He reached forward and plucked a lit joint from the table, taking a drag from it. Hawk gave him a sideways look.

"...You ain't worried that this radio thing won't make for more propaganda an' shit?" he asked.

"Nah," Vlad said, exhaling a plume of smoke as he did. "I mean, it might eventually. But I don't think it'll happen the same as it did here, or on Earth. For one thing, the people that would spout that shit also hate anything to do with offworlders as it is. That'll include 'radio'."