entranceway | [VIDEO] just one of those things

[Having somewhat recovered from the trauma of being murdered, Evelyn is acutely aware of the dearth of intellectual discourse in Wonderland outside of burgeoning conversations on everyone's respective pasts (for the sake of being better prepared when events choose to strike). It is for this reason that she has decided most avidly to endorse an activity she originally wanted to address in mid-February, but...

...well, the unmitigated carnage was a definite distraction from more trivial pursuits.]

I'm looking to start a book club!

[she announces over the communications system cheerfully, looking in considerably higher spirits than she had been a near-month ago.]

We've got this positively marvelous library and a veritable mountain of fiction; I know we're all from different places and times, but- but that might make it all the more exciting, to see the sort of literature our worlds produce.

[A beat.]

...although I'm going to have to insist on ruling out The Great Gatsby as reading material, it's terribly un-progressive.

[Attached to her broadcast is a little missive that reads:]

Please feel free to send in any book recommendations!

A satisfactory hour will be agreed upon for meetings.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow, that actually sounds...halfway normal.

[And normal is something Wash wouldn't mind getting more of around here. Plus, learning more about the places other people are from is something that catches his interest every time. A book club could be a fun distraction!]

I'd be interested. ...Though I don't really have any book suggestions.

[He isn't the first strange thing Evelyn has seen around here and he certainly won't be the last, but the disembodied voice coming from the suit of armour definitely distracts her for a long moment from the words he must be saying.

...words...yes. Books. Suggestions. An inclination toward the subject. Good enough.]

I...don't believe we've met, [Evie replies slowly, unsure if there's a man in there or if she should be expecting something less predictable.]

I'm Evelyn O'Connell.

[It's not hard to see that he's taken her by surprise. Not a rare occurrence either, since he tends to shock every other person he talks to. Maybe he should just take the helmet off whenever he uses the network, geez.]

No, I don't think we have. [Well, at least she's rolling with it? Though he's half-sure he's going to have to explain that he's not a robot or something at some point here.]

Agent Washington. But, uh, everyone just calls me Wash.

[It might be wise to remove the helmet, good sir. It isn't as though the air here is contaminated.]

Wash, [Evelyn repeats, lofting an eyebrow.] What sort of an agent are you, exactly?

[He doesn't look like a Pinkerton.]

[He doesn't think the air is contaminated, exactly, it's just...habit to wear the thing...

Nodding his head as she repeats his name, just to confirm she has it right, he finds himself feeling just a tiny bit awkward now. This isn't the conversation he'd expected, considering the original topic was supposed to be books, but...]

A soldier. I'm in a specialized and experimental military program where I'm from.

[Not a question he minds answering. But one that has given him mixed reactions.]

Oh.

[That's a language Evelyn can speak - her own husband was in the French Foreign Legion, he's regaled her with plenty of stories over the years.]

Do you like your job?

[Based on his answer, Evelyn might actually know a few books he might enjoy.]

[Surprisingly lax response. For a second, Wash just stares at the screen, like he's expecting something a bit more.]

Uhm-- Yeah. Yeah, I do.

[He nods, slowly, still...mildly shocked. But hey, it's nice when his answers are accepted so easily, right?]

What about you? I mean, uh, what do you do?

You might want to try Ernest Hemingway's All Quiet on the Western Front.

[He seems surprised. Evelyn doesn't wonder why - she's already moved on to another subject.]

I teach ancient history when I'm not funding archaeological digs in Egypt, [she replies brightly.] Not every venture is successful, of course, but more often than not we have fruitful expeditions.

Oh, yeah? I'll have to check that one out.

[He could use some reading material around here, anyway! Hence the original interest in a book club. As for the sticking with the change of topic... Well, he's plenty okay with that.]

Wow, really? That sounds pretty fascinating. So you make big, important historical discoveries?

[Of course, as far into the future as he's from, humans have discovered about all there is to find in Egypt, but it's still interesting to meet someone who made some of those discoveries!]

Erm...I like to think so?

[Evelyn ventures warily, remembering her first expedition. It was certainly eye-opening...and would have been a stellar article in the news had they not all decided to never mention the supernatural aspects again.]

We were in Philae before I came here - it's...it's a temple on an island in the Nile.

[Pointedly, she doesn't say anything about the desperate dirigible search for her son.]

[If she likes to think so, he's sure that's a yes in some capacity. Any historical discoveries are pretty important anyway, right? He nods, interested, but disappointed at the lack of further information.

Hopefully she doesn't mind questions, because he tends to ask a lot about where people come from... It's always just so cool.]

Did you find anything there? Or, were you brought here before you had the chance to?

Ah...

[Perhaps she shouldn't have so willingly and voluntarily delved into her own recent past. The only reason Evelyn was at the Temple of Philae in the first place is that she and her husband (and her brother, and their old friend of the Medjai, and Rick's acquaintance from many years back) are looking for their son, who was taken several days before.

It's a bit weighty to segue into that subject when they've only just met and should definitely be talking about books.]

Brought here, [she finally replies, fiddling with her locket.] I'm afraid we didn't find what we were looking for before Wonderland claimed me again.

[Because it sure wasn't the first time.]

Oh.

[Whoops. It seems like he stepped on something of a sensitive topic there. Pursing his lips and taking an awkward little pause, Wash glances downward, then back up at the screen.]

Oh, so... You're one of those people who's been here before, left, and then was brought back again?

[Okay, so maybe he's curious. He hasn't spoken with a lot of people who this has happened to, and... Well. The topic of her expedition or whatever seemed to have hit a rocky point. Clearly this is a less sensitive area, right?]

[It isn't all that sensitive a subject, it's just not the one she expected to be talking about today.]

A couple of times, actually, [she corrects him.] I've left twice and come back twice.

[The first time it was only a couple hours later in her own world. The second time...the second time she came back, it was nine years.]

[VIDEO] just one of those things

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