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[demonicbeauty]

[She's not Padmé Amidala. Nor is she Jane Foster. It's just Ariadne, sitting on the wooden floor of her home, in front of an enormous, four-poster bed with a canopy of sheer, white fabric. Splashes of color occasionally hit her face and the background, as her homemade mobiles, flitting with broken pieces of colorful glass, catch whatever sunlight there is. Her long, long, long brown hair is hanging loose over her left shoulder, crinkled to show that it's just come undone from its braid.]

I...I've noticed that a lot of important holidays seem to be in the middle of the winter. And I guess it makes sense. The days are short, the nights are long, and everyone is cold and missing fresh fruits and vegetables. It raises the spirit to have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

[There's a small smile. A memory or two from her days in Valeria.]

Back home, the New Year was the most important holiday. There would be parties and feasts and masked balls. Presents. Lots of music...

[And she misses that music. But Ariadne won't let herself stay sentimental for long.]

Last year, I learned about an Earth holiday. The one where the fat man breaks into people homes and leaves them gifts, instead of stealing stuff. Christmas!

[Makes no sense, but it's a lovely sentiment.]

I was hoping to maybe learn about some other holidays from this time of year. What do your cultures celebrate? Maybe we can find a way to all celebrate together. I'm still convinced that togetherness is the only way we're going to survive this place. And I...I know I'm not alone, feeling that way.

[A small shrug.]

So let's talk to each other more. When there isn't an emergency. Talk about some of the happy things, maybe. Tell me about the good stuff.

[Ariadne doesn't really know where to go from here, so she shrugs again.]

Anyway, that's all. Sorry to interrupt anything.

Comments

[subject_013]

[The smallest of smiles, then he taps quickly on the device.]

Yes, it is I.

You know me by the name I use as a Blood Minister. a name which I gave myself when I came to this place. A new life in a new world deserves a new name.

But for some reason known only to the powers in this place, it likes to hold onto the name I had in my world and in Deerington.

[A pause, more tapping.]

'Wesker' wasn't even the name I was born with. It was given to me by a guardian of mine.

[demonicbeauty]

Wesker.

[No, wait. She's heard that one recently.]

The one that Maul...

[Gods! Why is it that the Jedi and Sith manage to team up to ruin everything? They destroy everything they touch! Fortunately, Trench is stronger.]

Well. I'm glad to see you're recovering.

[CW: Fantasy vivisection referenced]

[subject_013]

[Tapping away]

'The one whom Maul put out of his pain, after we were both captured by the Blood Crazed Zealots and our captors had cut me open. I have a high resiliency, which worked against me in that moment. I think the Zealots were testing it. Or having their fun with me.'

[He glances away, taps some more.]

'I was returned to the sea, and returned the evening of the fifth of the month. However, my speech has not returned. Yet.'

[A ragged sigh through his nostrils. Tapping.]

'Please tell me no one has harrassed Maul for his kindness to me,'

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne does a good job, maintaining a placid expression. Her training had taught her and served her well.

But there's quite a lot of disgust, roiling underneath the surface. Or maybe it's disappointment.

She was so hoping this place would be different from Deerington.]

Maul is good at making enemies. I doubt what he did pushed anyone who wasn't there over the edge.

[subject_013]

[a dry smirk, then grows serious and taps a bit.]

'And here I had hoped some might be able to see past that. If they had seen me the way I was, if they had seen the outside of me half peeled away, they might have resorted to similar means of rendering kindness.'

[He pauses, sets aside the device gets up and goes to the fireplace, adding a log to the fire. Coming back to the Eames chair, he takes up the device and taps something more.]

'You're unsettled by all this?'

[demonicbeauty]

Who wouldn't be?

[It's the kind of straightforward and honest question that Ariadne's quickly becoming famous for.]

No one deserves to be tortured and killed just to be put out of their pain.

[subject_013]

[He shifts a bit and angles his hidden gaze toward Cypher's eyes as he taps a reply.]

'For what it's worth, I let the Zealots capture me in a bid to find their secrets. However, as I should have expected, the metaphoric waves broke over my head. They got the better of me, but not without my overhearing some things when they didn't think I could hear.

'It wasn't the worst pain I've known, and it wouldn't be the first time I've died. Far from it. However, as insane as it sounds, I'm deeply grateful to Maul for his dark kindness.'

[demonicbeauty]

It's not insane.

[Just kind of sad, really. Which is not for her to say.]

I'm sorry you had to go through it, though.

[subject_013]

[A small smile, then more typing.]

'Thank you for understanding. And for your kind words. For what it's worth, I endured what I did in the name of knowledge and a fuller understanding of this world and its functions.'

[demonicbeauty]

I don't doubt it.

But maybe next time you won't put yourself in that position? I realize science is very important, but there are some things that are more important than very important. And your health is probably one of them.

[subject_013]

'One can hope that I won't need to go such lengths. However, given this world's predecessor, I don't doubt that won't be the last time my life ends up on the line.

'For that matter, it wasn't the first time I became someone else's experiment. This time I chose to step into it. The prior time, which started when I was far too young to remember, everything was taken from me and my narrative rewritten to fit another's agenda.'

[demonicbeauty]

Well, that's not right. Not right at all.

[And she looks genuinely upset at the idea.]

[subject_013]

[A small, appreciative smile, then he continues tapping.]

'No, it isn't. However, one can only move forward and change the course of the story. This place helped me to realize that."

[A pause, then more tapping and something might soften in the angle of his head as he shifts a bit.]

"I appreciate the kind words."

[demonicbeauty]

[Well...the Elves have some funny ideas about time traveling to solve problems. But now isn't the time to mention it.]

You shouldn't thank me for that. I'm just being honest.

[And also, she believes that people are genuinely good and that most would say something like that.

Because it's horrible.]

[subject_013]

[Yet more tapping.]

'Honest and yet with a kind heart. You remind me a bit The Doctor.'

[A small pause. Then quickly taps something.]

'Did you know him in Sodder's Dream?'

[demonicbeauty]

[She ducks her head at that remark, looking a little awkward.]

Oh, I knew him, yes. I'm nothing like him. He's...

Well. A worldly traveler. Sophisticated. Savvy.

I'm nothing like that.

[subject_013]

'Perhaps on the surface. But where it matters most, you make me think of him.'

[A pause and more writing, slower and thoughtful.]

'I'm pleased that you knew him. He truly is a doctor. Where I come from, it can mean a teacher or a healer, someone who helps people make a better version of themself.'

[demonicbeauty]

I'm honored to be thought about in connection to him.

[And she likes to think that he's off having some wild and exciting adventure. Hopefully with Jack.

Ridiculously in love.]

He's a good man.

[subject_013]

[A pause, thoughtful yet with a fleeting smile.]

'One of the best people I have met in any world. And I say this as someone who can take some time to warm to others. He got past my defenses so deftly, I couldn't resist him. I'm relieved that I didn't try to.'

[By implication, the same applies to her.]

[demonicbeauty]

Well, we definitely have that in common.

[A pause.]

I mean...being grateful to have met him. And Jack too. His mate.

[subject_013]

[He lifts his head slightly, shaking it, a twist of a smile curling his mouth.]

'Ah, yes, the charming Captain Harkness. I crossed paths with him as well. He seemed to dislike me from the moment we met. I suspect he thought I had ill intentions toward his spouse, when it couldn't be further from the truth. The Doctor and I may not have seen things from the same angle. However, he mattered to me more than most people in Deerington. He was among the first to meet me, and he was one of the last I saw before I quit the place.'

[A pause, then he types slowly yet precisely.]

'He was here in Trench, for a short time. But the sea called him back. I wish him well in his travels. But my heart would beat easier if he had settled here.'

[demonicbeauty]

I hate to say it, but I'm glad he's gone.

[She shrugs.]

I can't imagine how painful it would be to be separated from your mate. I know my parents wouldn't have survived it.

[Alastrians are romantic by nature. They mate for life.]

[subject_013]

[He looks into the camera, breathing in and out audibly before tapping a reply.]

'Well-stated. Though if I might speak freely - even in my silent state - his absence leaves an empty place at the table in my heart.' [A pause and some very careful typing.] 'He was as a father to me. I barely knew my own and another usurped his place. The Doctor stepped in and filled the void.'

[demonicbeauty]

[She's quiet for a moment, before giving him a small dip of her head.]

Well. Being separated from a parent. That's another kind of awful pain. One that I can...

[It's not about her. She shuts her mouth a moment, before continuing.]

I'm sorry. You must be in a lot of pain. I shouldn't have said what I said before. I apologize.

[subject_013]

[Some thoughtful typing.]

'One that you know or understand too well? You have my full understanding.' [A small pause] 'And I also fully accept the apology, though you needn't worry. You couldn't have known about the dark places in my history. I keep it well-concealed, except for a few who've gotten inside my defenses.' [A small smile.] 'You're very good at that.'