027 :: voice/action

[prosopopoeia]

[The sound of a great many hens hemming and hawing away is the first sound. The chatter is so loud there is no way to distinguish the conversation at hand.

Until, above their clucking,]

Faire taire! Faire taire! Faire taire!

[And should you happen to be beneath her window at this unfortunate time, there will be hens tossed from the third floor out into the street. One by one by one. Careful not to be shat upon.]

Comments

[worldofourown]

So you've graduated from stuffed toy mutilation to animal abuse?

[ He likes it, he likes it. ]

[prosopopoeia]

You deserved every moment of it.

[By the way.]

[worldofourown]

[ His voice drops secretively, ]

And did you think about it afterward? With fondness? Perhaps a naughty tinge of excitement?

You certainly looked like you were enjoying yourself as it happened.

[prosopopoeia]

[Her own voice gets cold.]

Keep your sicknesses to yourself, Karl.

[worldofourown]

[ Temperatures are tells, Marie, ]

I'm not certain that was my sickness.

There seems to be one festering inside you, all by itself.

[prosopopoeia]

[There is. It didn't need to be planted by a spore or a song or a rig, but she can feel it.]

I take no delight in any facet of your existence.

[Killing the children will not be easy...]

[worldofourown]

But you seem to delight greatly in stomping it out when possible. [ He assumes a mock-sympathetic air, ] I can't blame you, of course. I've noticed every decision in life is dictated on grasping for a semblance of control, when in truth we [ yes, we, not me versus you ] have none.

[prosopopoeia]

[HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.]

I know what I cannot control.

[Do you really, Marie? I think not.]

[worldofourown]

Oh~?

I think not.

[ p s y c h i c ]

[prosopopoeia]

Your mind is far too tortured for anything I would deem to be thought.

[worldofourown]

And perhaps, day by day, hour by hour, you're reaching that level of liberating irrationality yourself.

[prosopopoeia]

Per'aps, per'aps not.

[SNEER.]

voice;

[onset]

[Unsure. So unsure.]

Are you all right?

voice;

[prosopopoeia]

[This lady is mad.]

My apartment is filled with hens.

[onset]

French-speaking hens.

[That was supposed to have been a question, but. It falls a bit flat.]

[prosopopoeia]

[SHE'S NOT GRINDING HER TEETH OR ANYTHING.]

Oui, c'est exact.

[onset]

Is there - [uh.] Any particular reason why your apartment has so many?

[prosopopoeia]

Zhe City 'as a poor sense of humor.

[onset]

... Yes, the City clearly has many things.

[Birds. Birds everywhere. Why so many birds.]

[prosopopoeia]

[Sigh. She's rubbing her forehead.]

Are you a recent arrival, or merely an irritant?

[onset]

I think I can only answer half of that question. [welp.] But yes, I'm a 'recent arrival'.

[prosopopoeia]

Zhen I will excuse you zhis once for asking pointless questions.

[onset]

Ah. [hm.] Merci beaucoup.

[prosopopoeia]

[Sssssnide:]

Vous êtes les bienvenus.

[onset]

Donne-moi la permission de poser d'autres questions?

[prosopopoeia]

[Oh. There's a brief pause. She wasn't really... expecting an answer. Too many people like to throw out little phrases when they hear her accent, not so often that they actually speak her language.]

Essayez de ne pas être trop ignorants.

[So: yes.]

[onset]

[with some lightness to his tone:] Bien sûr. D'où êtes-vous?

[prosopopoeia]

Quand c'est une question plus appropriée. J'étais à bord d'un vaisseau spatial dans l'année 2114

[Maybe he'd recognize the city she was born in, maybe it didn't exist in his time.]

[onset]

.. Ah. [Well.] Dans ce cas, je suis de l'année 2004.

[prosopopoeia]

Vous n'êtes pas plus que la plupart préhistorique ici.

[onset]

[He doesn't sound exactly sheepish, just mildly exasperated.]

J'ai le sentiment que je suis un peu plus en arrière que la plupart des gens d'ici.

En tout cas - mon nom est Peter Chadwick. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance.

[prosopopoeia]

Bonjour, M. Chadwick. Mon nom est Marie Delacroix. Vous rattraperez, finalement.

[Because you're stuck here.]

[onset]

Je ne crois pas avoir grand choix. Mais je l'espère.

[prosopopoeia]

Non, il n'y a pas beaucoup de choix.

[onset]

De toute façon, il est toujours bon d'entendre notre langue.

[prosopopoeia]

Il ya quelques-uns, et quelques autres qui le boucher.

[onset]

[with a little laugh,] Ah, oui, c'est vrai.