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perceptum) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
entranceway2013-03-23 05:43 pm
perceptum) wrote in entranceway2013-03-23 05:43 pm
[001; video/action; open]
[ It's not certain at first whether the video has been switched on intentionally. There isn't any direct addressing of the network. There's just the spinning image of a hallway (the fifth floor, for those of you playing at home) the occasional glimpse of long, brown hair and the unmistakable sound of delighted laughter. It slows down, eventually, comes to a complete stop and the laughter abruptly cuts off. Instead of the walls, the feed shakes and jerks as she turns it around and River's face is visible, peering directly at the little device. ]
Curious name and curious nature. The walls have secrets and she doesn't know what they are.
[ She frowns a moment, then turns to eye a window with a clearly suspicious look. ]
They're hiding something.
[ She stares for a moment or two longer, then starts to skip off down the hallway again. It takes a while for the feed to cut out, in the end it only happens because she decides to sit down outside a door in one swift movement, and drops the little tablet thing in the process. ]
Curious name and curious nature. The walls have secrets and she doesn't know what they are.
[ She frowns a moment, then turns to eye a window with a clearly suspicious look. ]
They're hiding something.
[ She stares for a moment or two longer, then starts to skip off down the hallway again. It takes a while for the feed to cut out, in the end it only happens because she decides to sit down outside a door in one swift movement, and drops the little tablet thing in the process. ]
[Video]
[On his end of the feed he removes a red and gold tapestry from his wall, and behind it is a mirror. He taps on the glass, but it still looks ordinary to anyone who doesn't know better.]
Over there is where the Queen of Hearts lives, and so do doubles of all of us. Another you, another me - everyone's got one. They're called Mirrors and they can watch us through the glass, but we can't see them.
[That's why he'd had something covering the Mirror in his room - so no one could watch him clearly through it.]
Usually we can't hear them either, but they can hear us. So...maybe that's what you're hearing in the walls.
[Video]
[ Her reaction is a little on the excessive side of excitable, but she can't quite help herself. The problem had been quite a stressful one after all, and now that he's revealed the answer for her, well the beaming smile of relief should pretty much say everything. ]
The Queen of Hearts, the Queen of Hearts, how does one rule over Hearts? Does she steal them? Break them? Borrow them? [ All irrelevant ramblings muttered more under her breath than anything else. She stands up quickly, snatches her little device off of the floor to bring it with her and heads quickly to the nearest mirror she can find.
When she sees one, she quickly shows him before turning it back so that the feed pretty much just shows wide, curious eyes. She's holding a little close, but apparently that's not important right now. ]
They're behind here too. Everywhere. She has one too?
[Video]
Everyone does, except the Queen, I think. They look just like us, but they act like entirely different people. They're like our opposites.
[That's James' understanding of them, anyway. He hasn't met too many Mirrors, but he knows what they were up to at Christmas. He wound up stuck on the other side of the glass himself while his Mirror moved through Real Side, seeking out keys for the Queen.]
...And she probably breaks hearts, if I had to guess. She's not the nicest of Queens.
[Video]
They see us, but we can't see them. We could learn so much about ourselves but instead they get to learn about us instead. This model is flawed.
[ Of course it is, it's hardly supposed to benefit them, but she points it out anyway. She drops her hand though, attention finally coming to land solely on the one responsible for solving the mystery for her. ]
She owes a debt already and she doesn't even know his name. What's in a name? Only the most important of information. What's his?
[Video]
[It's pretty spectacular, in James' opinion. He'd love to be able to just apparate over there, but he's still not exactly sure where "there" is in relation to "here", so he hasn't tried. The last thing he wants is to wind up splinched with a mirror or something.]
His name is James Potter. What's hers?
[He's all smiles and friendliness. ...He does give one pause though.]
You know you don't really owe me any kind of debt, right?
[Video]
[ Though the more she thinks about that, the more concerned she gets. She drops her hand away quickly, almost as if she's been burned, and she takes a few rapid steps away from the mirror. It isn't until she finds the exact center of the hallway that she stops backing up, and once she's done that she looks a lot more comfortable. ]
Her name? Her name. River, flowing in name and nature. River Tam, so pleased to meet you.
[ And she genuinely is too, offering a surprisingly sweet smile. He's still listening after all of this, and that takes a lot of patience. Even she's aware of that. ]
Of course, but she owes him a favour. A debt of choice, not of obligation. She wants to give back the gift so readily offered.
[Video]
[He can't think of any other Rivers in his world, and he's never met any in Wonderland before. It's unique! Just like her.
He tilts his head at the screen a bit, like he's trying to decide if this is okay, or if he should be trying harder to discourage her. He still doesn't think he's done much. Anyone would have explained it, if they realized what she meant. But it's sort of noble of her to insist on it, and as a Gryffindor that's impressive to him.]
Well...if I can't convince you otherwise, then I suppose that's fine with me, even though you really don't need to. I'll stop arguing.
[He'll never keep track of it though, or wait around for her to pay that debt. That's just not how he is.]
[Video]
[ It's a bit late to be dissuading her now, James, she's already contemplating just what she could do in return. She doesn't know nearly enough about him to decide though, so after a moment where she peers away at his image on the screen, she shrugs. ]
What does he like? Her options are limited, she can't just visit a new planet and find something new to share with him. This place, it works differently. There's no serenity here to take her to far off stars. There's flowers, though.
[Video]
[She's certainly an interesting girl, at the very least. But a good sort of interesting, the kind that comes from meeting someone new who isn't like anyone else.
He laughs a little bit when she asks him that though. He doesn't want to give her a real answer because, well, that would make it too easy. He's the one who didn't want to be repaid at all, remember?]
I like a lot of different things, so that's a bit hard to answer! The flowers really are nice though.
[There is one thing that's piqued his interest though, which makes it a shame that it's not possible.]
...Have you really done that though? Gone to planets and far-off stars, I mean?
[Video]
[ Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it, but it's one of those things that she doesn't want to talk about. Everyone's got something, the only problem is River can't help but shove hers into peoples faces.
So instead she keeps talking, squinting a little as she shakes her head. No, flowers won't do but she'll think of something. Always had been good at giving gifts, River. Intuitive, they'd called it back then. These days people prefer the term crazy. ]
Of course, hasn't he? [ Now here's a conversation topic she clearly enjoys, the slightly dreamy smile creeping onto her face as she continues. ] Everything is so beautiful up there, even the space between one thing and the next. Especially the empty spaces. They're never really empty, you just have to look hard and care enough and a whole universe will be waiting.