poly_chromatic | one echo

[One would think spending one second in a space ship and another in a zoo would rattle a person. However, when Jenny lands on the ground with a thump, she isn't necessarily rattled. No, she's excited.] Hello, what's this?

[She picks up the device next to her and studies it for a brief moment before looking up excitedly at the massive creature in front of her. An elephant, not that she knows that.] Oh hello, what are you? [Getting to her feet, she reaches out to gently pet the trunk of the beast.] Trapped here in a cage, like me? Doesn't seem fair.

[It takes her no time at all to work out the device in her hand, the video coming to life. She smiles excitedly into the screen. The elephants trunk can be seen inspecting her hair, her shoulder, her face. She doesn't seem to mind it one bit.] Excuse me. I found your cages. And while I understand the necessity of them given certain situations, I must insist that you allow the more harmless creatures their freedom. It doesn't seem ri- [The elephant's trunk pokes her in the side and she laughs and looks up to him in response.] Oh, that tickles!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've never had toys so I'm certain I wouldn't know. But it does sound interesting. I'm going to meet so many different people! I love meeting new people.

[She's genuinely excited about this. She's always excited about new things, actually. But this place sounds like it's going to be chock full of new things. Plus her dad is here. Definitely icing on the new things cake.]

Are there civilizations to rescue here? Wars to stop? Amazing places to see? What do you do?

[That is almost the most depressing thought ever. She's getting some toys.

And not only because all her excitement is making him definitely feel like he's about to disappoint her. 'I go to work and snog Rose' really doesn't hold up to stopping wars or rescuing civilizations, he thinks.]

Not... precisely. Well, amazing things if not places, per se. And you'll definitely meet a bunch of new people. Neverending rotunda of new people, really. But I'm a bit... Sedentary? Which might have been indicated by the TARDIS being a woman rather than a ship, even though I can obviously overcome obstacles like that. And without actually being sedentary, look at me, but... yeah.

[She isn't so much disappointed yet as still trying to understand everything.]

So you're trapped here? You and the TARDIS and Donna and all those people you talked about? [Trapped is trapped, no matter how you spin it.] Am I trapped here too? And the elephant?

[He makes a face as he tries to figure out a less annoying way to say 'yeah, trapped' and gradually realises there isn't one.] Basically? Everybody who is here is trapped here. Even the elephant.

[She looks a bit skeptical but then slowly begins to walk with him again. This is nothing that she could have seen coming, nothing she would have expected. As much as she had wanted to see him again, she hadn't thought she would what with his traveling through time and all. And yet, here she was and here he was. It made her happy. But the fact that her father the time traveler was stuck here countered that happiness. Her father should never be stuck. Maybe he was the one that needed saving.]

Have you met the ones in charge, then? What world is this? Is there a leadership of some sort that we can speak to? I'd like that, speaking to the leader and learning all about this place... mechanics and all.

Actually, for a pandimentional nexus built of people across time and space and realities occasionally bursting with a cursing here and there, it seems to run inordinately smoothly. There's a handful of people styling themselves as leaders, but for the most part I tend to let them. [He 'lets' them. He leaves them alone because he doesn't like the idea of them. He did note the skepticism - he was looking for disappointment, after all, and that's really just the stuff turned toward optimism - so a few paces later his hand seeks hers out while they walk.] It's called the City, which just about everybody agrees is a rubbish name, but then again when the city is the world, it's a bit overkill to name it anything else, I suppose. Bit like Main Street in a one-street town.

[Holding his hand as they walk is natural, and it makes her feel a little better about what he just told her, that he lets these other beings be in charge. He must have a good reason and she does believe that he does the wonderful things that Donna said he did when they're necessary. Maybe here they aren't necessary.]

So we're in the City and we're cursed. Cursed with what? [She doesn't really like the idea of being cursed. And for the first time she isn't smiling at all.]

[He swings their hands back and forth a little.] Well right now I don't think we are. You'll know when there's a curse. Lots of the time they're really not bad - just keep things interesting. Makes up a bit for the not-being-able-to-leave, I suppose. But you know what's really interesting? We're in the City. The both of us. [Have some shoulder nudging, because she stopped smiling and that's just not going to happen this quickly. And the following might be a sneaky way of working out what time point she's coming from, because he still doesn't know for sure.] What have you been up to?

[At the mention of their being together again and the shoulder nudge from him, her smile curls over her lips again. It really is kind of brilliant. From her perspective, at least. She'd really never thought she would see him again.

And now she's in story-telling mode, each word carrying with it the wide-eyed excitement of someone who's both lived it and wants to make it really good for the listener, her dad who she looked up to so much.] Well after I died, I woke up on the table and one of the Hath were there and Cline. A bit shocked, they were. But I decided then and there to do what you do: run about here and there, save planets, rescue civilizations, defeat evil creatures. So I hopped onto a space ship and flew away from Messaline! Just like that! Was so easy, nothing really to keep me there. But then I was here. Poor elephant. But here is you and I'm very happy with that. Thought I'd never see you again what with the time traveling and all.

[Oh, that's definitely mutual. Granted his thinking he'd never see her again was for a vastly different reason, but ultimately still the same thing. If she's here after she died though... She's far more like him than he thought. Which is amazing and scary.]

Well, most people aren't accustomed to people who have died not remaining in or around that general state. Tends to surprise them a bit. You're right though - normally I tend not to run into people more than the once. Hazard of having all of time and space to play around in. Very difficult to run into such specific coordinates by accident like that.

But a happy accident, yeah? Running into me more than once is a happy accident. I paid attention to you. I'm a person, not just an echo. I can be more.

[Vying for the acceptance of this great man who had ended a war and just happened to be her father as well? Yep. For all her bravado and all the knowledge that had been imprinted in her mind of battle tactics and weaponry, she was still so naive in more ways than not.]

Yeeeaaaah! Course it's a happy accident! Very happy accident. You haven't got anything to prove though - you've already shown you can be more.

[Yep. Her faith in him is definitely going to break either him or me. I haven't decided.]

one echo :: video

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject