asgardeventide | oo1 ∞ video / open action

[ River can be seen wandering around the common area of Odin's Welcome Hall almost as though in a trancelike state. Her steps are light and even, ball to toe on bare feet, and her fingers trail over every object she passes even though her eyes are wandering curiously around the ceiling and the walls and the rest of the room - never to what she's touching. It might seem like she's looking for something, or even listening for something, but she doesn't seem to find it, and never once ceases her calculated footsteps. Eventually the video times out. ]

[ Some time later, the video clicks back on and River's face fills the entire feed, far too close as she tries to peer into the little jewel of her bracelet. She eventually gives up and pulls back to show brown eyes wide and curious, dark hair framing pallid skin that's ... almost gold in the scant lighting.

She's sitting in the middle of the slide, feet tucked underneath her to stop her from going down any further. Her eyes skitter around the confined space before settling back on the bracelet. She says only two words as a whisper, like if she says it any louder, it might break the spell. ]

It's quiet.

[ ooc; for those of you in Odin, feel free to run into River in either part of the post - and I do mean literally, someone should run into her in the slide. 8) edit: I totally forgot! hover for Chinese translations! thanks to Holly for teaching me that trick and Google for my butchered Chinese. |Db ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh. Hm; another unexpected semi-Mandarin speaker, like that Inara woman.]

Bùkèqi. [--thereby stretching to the outer limits of his Business Casual knowledge of Chinese.]

But I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself - my name is Itsuki Koizumi.

Koizumi.

[ She says it slowly, enunciating each syllable as though to taste the feel of it on her tongue. Suddenly, she is far more interested in him. ]

Japanese?

Yes, like quite a few here.

[He waits. Her not saying her own name is not entirely unexpected.]

[ Oh, stars in her eyes. Something so very very old, but something new. ]

None left. It's dead, like all the rest of them.

Japan is, you mean. In your universe. Yes, I had gathered that impression... It's a rather sobering thought, but the persistence of Earth is somewhat reassuring in itself.

[he nods.]

Earth is dead, too. Mankind survived.

[ Humanity is another matter altogether. She watches him a second longer before curiosity fades and she remembers there's something she was supposed to do.

Right. ]

River.

Edited 2012-09-16 03:19 (UTC)

[Ah, well, even that means he did his job (assuming that the situation is anything similar and there's any basis, which is admittedly a stretch).]

Your name is River? It's nice to meet you.

But in any event, mankind's survival is the next best thing. Given the way Earth was progressing, things were getting rather complicated anyway.

Messy.

[ She says by way of agreement, then looks around and runs her fingers idly across the back of a nearby chair. ]

Humans are messy. Couldn't clean up the mess, so they left to make a new one somewhere else.

[ Lifts her hand back to observe her fingers that yes, good, are still fingers, then drops her hand away to look back at Itsuki. ]

Complicated and simple. Still the same five hundred years later.

Yes, that certainly sounds like us. Still, one would hope that some things would have improved by five hundred years later, River-san.

[ She warms a little at the use of honorific, but it's gone a second later as she wraps her right hand around her left arm. ]

Subjective. Better - or much, much worse.

[notes that-- not that he wouldn't keep using it anyway.]

In what ways was it worse, River-san?

[ Her eyes snap to his, wide and panicked and maybe there's fear too, but she blinks once and it's gone like a slate wiped clean. She can't follow it (won't, maybe even) and once it's gone, it's gone. ]

How long have you been here?

[...One thing's for sure. As cryptic as she is, she also doesn't seem to hide anything. It just changes and flips over and rotates, like a kaleidoscope or something.]

... A few months now.

[And now--on a little hunch or test or whatever - but based on the way she answered his very first question:]

91 days and several hours, if you prefer more precision.

[ ... that is the most apt analogy ever, you are a genius.

And spot on with your hunch, Itsuki. She perks a little. Numbers and data are good, easier to understand. ]

Four hours and thirty six minutes. I saw the Grey Ones. There were more when you got here, weren't there?

There were, and allegedly even more before I came here. I suspect the dropoff has been exponential. Conditions have improved greatly. If, of course, you like color.

Can't have light without colors.

[ A beat, and then she purses her lips. She's a fan of bright, loud colors. ]

Grey is boring.

oo1 ∞ video / open action

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