[VIDEO]; UN: [USERNAME NOT SET]

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne's gotten good enough with her Omni that the feed only wobbles a little bit when she turns it on.  That's progress!  No one's getting sea sick.  Hopefully.

She's standing on the threshold, between her building and her garden, moonlight lighting up her silhouette.  She's wearing her gold gown, clearly eager to make a good impression.  Her long hair is unbound, falling nearly to her calves in rolling waves.  It gives her the look of some kind of forest spirit (but she's not one, Maul, shut up).

Arrayed behind her is Serenity Garden.  Which would look a bit more impressive in sunlight, but Ariadne's done her best to arrange lanterns to illuminate everything.  She does, however, continually cast a concerned glance over her shoulder.  You can't trust fire, you can't turn your back on it.]

Well, it's April.  So I was planning to announce the opening of Serenity Garden to the public.  It's just meant to be a nice place where you can sit, meditate, talk with a friend, court your lover.  Just be in nature.  All are welcome, but no violence against the other guests or the trees.

...hopefully the sun will be back soon so you can enjoy seeing it in the daylight.

[But it's Trench, so that may not be a sure thing.  She can only hope.

Although, on the subject of hope:]

Also, the anniversary of my birth is at the end of the month.  Does that mean I should expect some kind of mysterious gift?  Any thoughts on what that might be?  Just so I can...prepare myself.

Comments

[democratically]

I'd like that. Perhaps I can wrangle Sabé into stopping by with me one evening.

[She doubts that it will take much to do so.]

[demonicbeauty]

[Ariadne smiles.]

It would be nice to spend some time with the two of you.

Especially outside of that...jungle.

[democratically]

[That earns a laugh.]

I fear that I may never look at board games the same way after that ordeal.

[demonicbeauty]

Me neither!

[She shakes her head.]

You know, after we escaped, I got trapped in the game again. Twice!

Strangely enough, always with people from your universe. There seems to be some kind of enchantment drawing me to you.

[democratically]

I found myself there once more, with a woman I hadn't met. Some of the events were the same, but others were completely different.

[Which yes, she had hoped to at least have the same ones show up so that it would make the game quicker.]

Oh? Who was that?

[demonicbeauty]

[Honesty. It's a mantra she has to repeat to herself every now and then.

Live honestly. Be open. Tell the truth.

It's all still so new.]

Well, there was Ezra. And the brothers, Maul and Savage.

And Luke.

[Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush.]

[democratically]

[She has met them all, under different and sometimes peculiar circumstances.]

Quite the varied group then. I hope things went well, or as well as they could, given the situation?

[demonicbeauty]

We survived. I think that's good enough.

[Never mind the maddening number of injuries.

And all the fighting.]

[democratically]

It seems that will be the case in many things here, if I am to understand correctly, that things such as this happen on a somewhat regular basis.

[demonicbeauty]

They can. But they're not often so...jarring.

[Maybe that's not the right word.]

At least, they don't often involve completely removing us from town.

[democratically]

What else has happened?

[Although she pauses.]

Not that I need to know every thing, but a few examples?

[demonicbeauty]

Well...one month, we were visited by the Chocolatier.

[Yes, that sounds strange, doesn't it? Ariadne shrugs, smiling a little.]

He traded chocolates for blood. And the chocolates had some strange effects on people. Made them happier or sadder or more eager to be friendly.

Gave some people lizard tails or fish heads.

I even got my wings back.

[democratically]

[Chocolates sound... nice?

... or not.]

Did he disclaim that the chocolates had different effects depending on the chocolate ahead of time?

[Otherwise Padmé would be less than impressed.

And what? That is not at all what Padmé might have expected. Not that she really knows what to expect.]

I- hm. They just reverted back to normal after a time then?

[demonicbeauty]

He didn't really disclaim much.

[She sighs.]

And we probably should have been on our guard. But there was something about him that was very disarming. A...a lot of us just were willing to make the trade.

[Herself included.]

It was all temporary, though. Everything went back to normal.

[democratically]

So he may have had some influence that was pushed upon others.

[Something akin to the Force.]

There is at least that. While I could probably learn to live with such alterations, it wouldn't be my first choice.

[demonicbeauty]

You'd be surprised how easy it is. To learn to live with them...

[But that's a terribly sad thought, so Ariadne just dismisses it.]

But you are right. Sometimes, there's just an influence in the air...

[democratically]

Some more so than others... If I suddenly had a fish head, I might be more than a little out of sorts.

[... a tail might be interesting. Wings... She could see an appeal there, although also the fact that it might alter plenty of things, from your clothing to how you slept at night.]

Are you aware if any repeat themselves over time?

[demonicbeauty]

I haven't seen it yet. Not exactly.

[She sucks in some air between her teeth.]

My friend Varian is a scholar. And he's been around longer than I have. He might have better notes about it.

[democratically]

It's fine. There are a few others I could ask, and perhaps do a little research as well.

[demonicbeauty]

Is that a profession you'd want to pursue?

I know you were a politician before.

[democratically]

You do some research as a politician anyway. Learn about different planets, committees and the like. What certain issues are about and just the history of whatever the senate is discussing, at least if you want to make an educated vote.

[demonicbeauty]

So it sounds like you'd be comfortable as a Scholar.

[She smiles.]

[democratically]

Although I do enjoy the more personable aspect of my job as well, of being able to meet others.

[demonicbeauty]

Well, that's the best thing about Trench in general.

Meeting people you were never supposed to know.

[democratically]

It was a little strange to learn that there were people from what I would consider the future.