poly_chromatic | ( v o i c e )

Entry tags:

the infernal devices - tessa gray

( v o i c e )

I must admit that the flow of visitors may be a little overwhelming, but— if there is someone from the Institute here, if only for a day or two, I should like to make my own presence known, rather than spend all day in the library.

I only ask that— [ she pauses, clearly hesitant, before her voice comes again, stronger now and quite firm ] that whoever should wish to talk to me will not be too forward.

[ it doesn't quite express what she wishes to say (please, take care not to offend my 18th century sensibilities) but it comes close enough while still remaining polite ]

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Yes, indeed. He— it was very nice, to believe him my father.

It is not as though I could complain. My time has more than chivalry, I believe. [ Look, people have been giving her feminist essays to read. ] If you are gone for three months and you return while I am still here, I will remind you.

I think he may not have minded believing himself to be your father.

But do you dislike it? I can be less chivalrous. [That may be a lie. He hopes Tessa won't test it.] If you are not here in three months, I will see if coins can be made to travel across dimensions. I doubt it's too difficult.

Perhaps not. [ she's never had a father, and McCoy really was wonderful to her. ] I hope that he didn't.

I do not mind. [ wide-eyed. ] You think you could do such a thing? [ a beat. ] You could ask Doctor McCoy to pay me back. He is from your world, after all, so paying him back would be less troublesome.

[Chekov is sure that he didn't, but the business of superiors should never become the topic of gossip... except among certain crew members, perhaps.]

If a Romulan from the future--my future, sorry--can enter a different dimension, it must be relatively simple. [With Scotty's help, maybe, and Tessa may well be onto something there.] That would take less time. I will ask.

[ Considering he said pancakes and horseback riding could happen more often and that he would still teach her how to make pancakes, chances are good he didn't mind. ]

It seems reasonable. Even if you believe it relatively simple, I should think talking to Doctor McCoy would cost less time.

[Coming from McCoy, that's practically a confession of deep, abiding love.]

Talking to the doctor would also not involve creating a black hole or any other anomaly capable of destroying the City. I think I will do that.

[ Tessa hopes so. ]

It could destroy the City? [ what. ] Under those circumstances I truly think perhaps it is better not to attempt such a thing.

[He shrugs dismissively, momentarily forgetting that he has a Tessa attached to one arm.]

That is very, very unlikely, but no, it's a bad idea. I have never destroyed a city and I would not like to start, particularly not with this city.

[ Tessa stays attached. ]

I would prefer it if you didn't, indeed. I rather like this City, after all.

[This is much appreciated.]

It isn't Leningrad, but it is nice. Fifth, maybe, on a list of cities I like.

I have only been to three cities in my life. Four, if one counts Denver, but I only spent a very short time there on my way to London and did not see much of it.

Three only? Someday, you must visit Russia. You would like parts of Moscow, I think--the buildings off the Moskva River, Tsaritsyno Park, the Bolshoi Theater, the Landau Institute.

Where is Denver? Europe?

New York, London and this one. You must have been to very many places, surely?

Is Moscow very lovely?

Yes, in England. I arrived there.

[ooc; And this is what happens when I don't look shit up. I was thinking of Dover, but wrote Denver, and ta-da, it should have been Southhampton. I FAIL, sob ;;

l-let's pretend that never happened >.> ]

Yes, but most of the places I have been are in space. On Earth, I am not so far ahead of you.

Eh, some of it is lovely. Leningrad is the most beautiful of the cities I know.

Which of your cities do you prefer?

[ooc: DON'T WORRY. It says Southhampton everywhere up there. ♥ ]

I will likely never go to space. But if I get the chance, I shall go to Leningrad. [ unlikely, since she won't remember this conversation after leaving the City, but he's right: it is nice to pretend sometime ]

I think— I think I like this one the best, though I do not believe it much to do with the city itself, in terms of buildings. More with the circumstances.

[ Nearing the café now. ]

[ooc; Yes. Absolutely. It totally does. Really. >.> ]

The circumstances? Because it is safer than your home?

[He slips away from Tessa to run ahead and get the door.]

Yes. In New York, of course, I did not know that the world contained anything like vampires or shadowhunters, anything but humans, and I had my aunt and my brother still, but — [ but the apartment in New York was cold and the window didn't close and Nate was out gambling more often than not and her aunt tried her best, but they were poor and without books, Tessa things she may have gone mad there ]

and London has not been safe for me, though it is not the city's fault at all, I suppose. Yet when I think of London it is tainted with what I've experienced there. [ It wasn't all bad, certainly, but the bad did outweigh the good. ]

Thank you. [ entering the café. ]

Then I hope that you will stay here for a very long time. [He won't ask why New York was so bad, but he'll gladly listen if Tessa volunteers more information.]

[ Tessa can only stare at him for a moment before she catches herself. He - both he and Doctor Mccoy - are so kind. The Shadowhunters had been kind to her as well, but never completely without any ulterior goal. ]

Yes. I hope so too, lie or not.

[ Looking away and settling down at a table, busying herself with arranging her skirts. ]

[He sits down across from her, either oblivious or indifferent to any staring.]

Maybe this is not a lie? Multiple dimensions exist and it is possible to go between them.

[But the physics and reality of the City are things that have yet to be determined.]

Would you like me to place your order, Tessa?

But it is not my world, and once I return I will remember nothing of this place. [ That bothers her most— she's only just learning that she's not a monster, that she has nothing to be ashamed of, and she'll lose that. ]

Yes, of course. I would like coffee, please.

[There's nothing to say to make that idea more pleasant and it's not an idea that he's keen on, either.]

Make the most of it, then, and hope that you remember it in dreams.

Coffee! Yes, one moment.

[And off he goes to retrieve coffee--a mission that is complicated by the varieties offered, not to mention the number of available sizes. Demi? Grande? Venti? But he does eventually return with two very standard, very medium coffees.]

[ Tessa smiles when he comes back with the coffee. She didn't want any of the fancy variations. ]

Thank you.

[ Waiting until he sits down again. ] What is it that you do, Pavel? In— Starfleet, is it?

Of course, and thank Doctor McCoy, as well. He will be buying until I pay him back.

[Which doesn't actually look like it's going to happen. Sorry, Doctor.]

Starfleet, yes, associated with the United Federation of Planets. Officially, I navigate. Unofficially, I also work in stellar cartography, the physics lab, and engineering. [He pauses to try the coffee.] This is made with real coffee beans?

That is very nice of him. Though I truly could have paid as well. [ Smiling a little. ]

What does that all mean? [ Stellar cartography— charting the stars? ] do you navigate the spaceship?

Yes, of course. Do you not have coffee from coffee beans in the future?

(action) (we might yet get a trek crew together *-*)

(action) (I'll start looking for bribes!)

(action) (sounds like a plan \o/)

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(action) (we might yet get a trek crew together -)