poly_chromatic | ( v o i c e )

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the infernal devices - tessa gray

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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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[ 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?

We will see if he thinks that it is nice of him.

It means I stay very busy. [Which, while not what Tessa was asking, is absolutely true.] Yes, mostly that is what I do... plotting courses, adjusting the ship's headings as necessary, calculating the movements of stellar bodies to be sure that we do not hit stars while in warp drive.

Not on spaceships! Replicators make very bad coffee.

If we thank him, surely he will not mind.

[ Nodding along with his explanations. It makes sense, to a point. At least she can certainly believe that he is busy. ] It sounds like very important work.

Then it is a good thing we are having coffee now, is it not?

If you thank him, maybe. [Because Tessa has clearly been exposed to a kinder, gentler side of McCoy that his coworkers seldom get to see.]

All work on a spaceship is very important. [Chekov can't entirely hide his pride in his own work, but the least he can do is not boast out loud.] It is like an old sailing ship on the ocean. If everyone does not do his or her work, the ship will never reach its destination or it will sink.

It is! Thank you, Tessa, for suggesting that we come here.

I shall. [ She'd be surprised to hear it. ]

It is still a ship, only that it travels through space instead of over the water. [ Nodding. It only makes sense. They're called spaceships for a reason, of course. ] I have only been on a ship once.

You are quite welcome. Though perhaps I should be the one thanking you. I am, after all, not paying.

You have been on a sailing ship? [Needless to say, those sorts of ships aren't relied on too heavily in the twenty-third century.] What is that like? Was it very slow?

This is true, but you thought to come here.

I went from America to England in one. It took very long. [ She smiles, a little rueful. ] I did not mind, so much. They had books on board.

I'm glad that you enjoy it.

Longer than a day? You must have had many books for company.

Yes, very much so, although I think I would have enjoyed anywhere else equally.

Far longer than a day.

[ Tessa hides a blush behind her cup of coffee, taking a long sip. ] I am glad to hear it. [ brief pause. ] Most people do not like the City very much. [ it's always nice to find someone who doesn't dislike it, just as she does. though it is likely different for pavel, considering he will go home when the weekend is over, if past experience is anything to judge from ]

I would not have had the patience to travel anywhere when you are from.

[wholly oblivious to any blushing going on] No? Maybe I would like it less if I were to spend a long time here, but I don't think so. At home, I have no one near my age to talk to.

[Because, you know... the younger officers on the Enterprise are twenty-two, and that's way older than seventeen.]

As I said: I read a lot during the journey. [ And before. And after. It hardly mattered where she was. ] Besides, it is not as though I had a choice in the matter.

Oh. Are you unusually young, then, for the work you do?

No, I suppose not.

Yes--I am the youngest commissioned officer in Starfleet. [And proud of it, thank you.]

[ nodding slowly. ] I could have remained in New York, perhaps, but then I did not know that Nate would betray me.

[ Oh. That gets a smile. ] Congratulations.

[Waitwaitwaitwait.]

Who is this, and how did he betray you?

[ Looking down and away. ] My brother. My aunt died, Nate killed her but I did not know that, and he sent tickets for England and said to meet him there, that he had found work and would provide for me.

Instead, the Dark Sisters took me and trained me.

[He pauses for a long moment, both taking this in and trying to think of a way to backtrack to less painful topics of conversation.]

These are things you would rather not remember? We should discuss something else.

[ They are things she would rather not remember, but that is not quite correct. They are things she would rather not have happened, but they did happen. However beautiful a lie it would be to pretend that these things did not happen, to deny them if even in her mind, it would be a lie nevertheless. But Pavel is correct, of course, in that they should talk of something else. She would not wish to bother him with her past. ]

Do they still have books in your time?

[It doesn't seem quite right to move on and gloss over anything unpleasant, but Tessa is still virtually a stranger. There is only so much information one can ask of a stranger.]

Books? There are paper books, yes, but they are old, mostly, and very fragile. I have seen only a few.

[He reaches for the PADD that he usually keeps on his person before remembering that personal effects didn't make it into the City.]

I read on my PADD, usually. It is like a small computer and can hold thousands of books.

Thousands of books, truly? [ Tilting her head a little, considering. She likes paperbooks, but it may well be only because they are what she is used to. The important thing, what matters most, that is the stories. ]

I am glad you still have books, in some form.

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