[video/action]

[candothat]

[The wee hours of Friday morning find Chekov, dressed in ill-fitting but time-period-appropriate clothing, on the roof of apartment building number twelve. He's sitting cross-legged on one of the long lawn chairs recently moved up there by Charlie with papers, pencils, a ruler, and goodness-knows what else in front of him and working by the dim glow of a light that, as far as the video shows, appears to be mounted on his network device.

Well, was working. Chekov studies the papers in front of him--what's on them will remain a mystery to the network--as he addresses his device, tone rather contemplative.]

Are there stories concerning what is beyond the City's barriers? I think that there must be something; there is a curvature to the horizon, as if we are on a planet. The area we may access would take up only a small amount of room on a planet, and I wonder what may be out there.

The sky, too, is peculiar. The moon and sun and stars look as they would on any planet with a rotational period of nearly twenty-four hours, appearing in the east and disappearing in the west. I do not think that this moon's features are the same as Earth's moon, but maybe I am mistaken. The stars flicker as they do on Earth when their light passes through the atmosphere. It is hard to see unaided, but I believe the stars are different colors--hot blue stars, cool red stars. It is all very like Earth.

What is odd is that I cannot find planets. Very few stars have only one planet orbiting them. [He looks up at the sky and then back down at the paper he's holding.] I cannot find familiar constellations, either, but that is to be expected.

With a telescope, maybe, I might find distant planets.

[Chekov pushes his papers and gadgets aside to stare at the early-morning sky, as if he can make sense of all of this by staring at it long enough.]

So that is all strange, but I am posting this mostly because I am curious: why would an advanced species--or whatever the deities may be--go to the trouble of creating an Earth-like planet with a moon and a sun and stars, but not put in other planets? Or, if this planet was here already, why is it so similar to Earth and why can we access only a small part of it? If the deities have trapped us here to observe our behavior, they constructed our cage oddly.

But then, of course, it is possible that everything beyond the barriers is illusory. Even a complex hologram would be relatively simple to create, given the right technology. I think that its maintenance would be problematic, but I am not a technologically or evolutionarily superior being with a human ant farm, so what can I know?

[He reaches for the network device and turns off the light. Little remains visible but stars and the faint glow of approaching daybreak.]

Deities, you are teasing us by showing us things we cannot reach. Very rude.

[petulantly] You might have also considered equipping this City with replicators.


[ooc: Action is cool if your character is insane and awake at weird times. Comments of the regular sort are awesome, too.]

Comments

[candothat]

What a strange curse. I am glad that the effects were favorable.

Yes, please! I will be there very soon.

[likeboudica]

The curses are not always bad. It is something to keep in mind, perhaps.

[ And she's already making her way to the library's entrance. ]

[candothat]

[And on that note, Chekov sets off for the library at a jog. He beams when he catches sight of Tessa, who always looks so pretty in her odd clothes.]

Tessa, hello!

[likeboudica]

[ She isn't quite beaming, but her own smile does brighten in response to his obvious happiness. ]

Pavel. You were quite fast.

[candothat]

Running is the only physical talent I have. At the Academy, I was told that I would be most useful in a fight if I ran away and let others engage the enemy.

[He didn't break a sweat, however, and offers Tessa his arm.] Thank you for walking with me.

[likeboudica]

That does not seem a very nice thing to say. [ Pausing. With a tiny grin: ] Though perhaps it is sound tactical advice.

[ Taking his arm. ] I very much enjoy walks. Thank you for asking me.

[candothat]

Instructors are not required to be kind, and yes, I think it is good advice. It is not a tactic I have tried because the captain does not let me go down to hostile planets, but I will remember.

Do you typically walk alone?

[likeboudica]

That does not mean that they should be unkind. [ A little wide-eyed. ] Do you often see other planets?

Usually. [ She's asked Will a few times, but things between them have always been strained in the City and he's always declined. Perhaps for the best, though she is only beginning to see that. ] Though not because I prefer it.

[candothat]

It is not so bad. [Chekov looks mildly displeased.] I see them from the viewscreen, yes. I have been on very few away missions.

That is unfortunate. Walks are much better with company. [He's back to smiling.] If you ever do not want to walk alone, I would be happy to walk with you.

[likeboudica]

But you have not been in space very long, so perhaps you will still get to visit more of them. [ At least she remembers McCoy telling her that they'd only just started. ]

They are. Walking alone can be pleasant as well, though I like company better. [ Hand tightening very briefly on his arm. ] I would like that.

[candothat]

That is true. I worry, sometimes, that the captain thinks I am too immature for missions, but you may be right.

And company is best when it is good company. [Tessa, clearly, is good company.]

[likeboudica]

You do not seem immature to me. [ Frowning a little. ] Even if the captain thinks that perhaps you are, surely you will get opportunities to prove him wrong.

That is certainly true.

[candothat]

Maybe so. [He isn't sure what he can do to prove himself. It would be hard to top that maneuver with the transporter... but that is something to worry about some other time.]

Tessa. I asked you before to tell me about you. Would you tell me more? [quickly] Something not so sad.

[likeboudica]

Yes, of course. [ Something not so sad. She thinks on it for a moment. ] I suppose— the Shadowhunters found me, before the Dark Sisters could wed me to the Magister as they had planned, and they let me stay with them at the Institute. They are good people. I already told you of Henry, but his wife Charlotte, she is the one who runs the Institute. It is remarkable, truly, because women do not do such things and even though it is less strange for the Shadowhunters, she still has to fight very hard.

[candothat]

You have to fight very hard as well. [It's almost a question.] How many times have people attempted to have you married? And do you have no say in this?

[likeboudica]

It is only the Magister who wishes to marry me, and I would sooner die than do so. [ She didn't mean to tell him that (again) but it holds true and likely always will. ]

[candothat]

[He's quiet for a long moment, not entirely sure how the conversation became unhappy so quickly and clueless as to what to say.] There is a way out of every situation that does not require dying.

[Except for the ones where that's not true, but...]

[likeboudica]

You said so before, when you were here last. I truly wish to believe so, and I will not needlessly kill myself. I am not [ what is that word. ] suicidal. But I will not let a man use me as he wishes to.

[candothat]

[Oh. Er. That's not easy to reply to, that. He pats Tessa's hand and hopes he isn't repeating himself too much.]

I hope it does not come to that.

[likeboudica]

I hope so as well. [ Deep breath. ] I am sorry, Pavel. It is hardly pleasant conversation.

[candothat]

No, it is something you must worry about. [Although he would really rather keep things like that in their own compartments and far away from casual conversations.] It is like at home, when we know we are going to do something dangerous.

[likeboudica]

Still, I apologise. [ She does not like bothering people with her past. The trouble is that so much has happened to her in such a short span of time and most of it was bad — and that which wasn't was somehow tainted by the bad things, like her first kiss with Will which she cannot think of without also remembering how he pushed her away, how cruel he was later on. ]

Are you very often about to do something dangerous?

[candothat]

I did ask to know about you. You should not apologize for answering truthfully. [And as much as Chekov dislikes thinking about unpleasant things, he has learned from personal experience that not talking about them can be more painful than saying them out loud. Tessa clearly has unpleasant things on her mind that are bothering her.]

Personally, not so much. There are battles and explosions, sometimes, but the captain prefers to handle dangerous situations himself.

[likeboudica]

I did not mean to bother you with it. [ Looking down and away. She should not have brought it up, even though he asked. Now he is no longer smiling. ]

Is that wise of him?

[candothat]

I am not bothered. [Which is a lie. Kind of. The reality of Tessa's life in her homeworld is much more bothersome than hearing about it.]

No, it is very stupid. [said with all due respect] Also very heroic. The two are not mutually exclusive.