From The New World

[collector]

[Ahh, that old, familiar sight. A hard-working individual at a desk, diligently filing through paperwork.]

[Or, perhaps not.]

[Indeed, at this particular mahogany writing desk, the 'hard-worker' in question is toying with what appears to be a model planet, suspended in mid air above the surface. His fingertip is sliding a small block over the surface of the globe like a puzzle piece that doesn't quite fit in. It is, of course, all a hologram. Occasionally he mutters something vague under his breath, like:]

No, let's not build anything over Avril's caves. Heaven knows what she'll do to any poor undergraduate girls she can get her hands on.

[or perhaps:]

Could work. I'm not legally culpable if a griffin eats someone, anyway...

[Bach's Suite No 2 in B minor accompanies his musings, as does a cup of tea and a plate full of crumpets and Garibaldi biscuits. How tough it is to be Irving Braxiatel.]

Comments

[collector]

In case they need them one day. They're left like dusty old books, waiting to be used.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

That...doesn't even make sense, really. Well, I guess it does, but it's still awful, I think.

[collector]

I agree. It was stopped, after a thousand years. The generators were broken and the Emperors awoke. Which was rather awkward, as it left Draconia with fifteen old but not quite dead Emperors.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

...Ah, that would be a problem. Did they fight each other for the throne?

[collector]

I honestly don't know. Considering that the White Emperor was notoriously belligerent and domineering, one must assume, but the Red Emperor was the most recent. Whatever the arrangement, they manage the sort themselves out again by the time they make contact with humanity.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

How odd. Ne, I don't know if you can answer, but what is it like? I mean, going to all of those different...planets. I've only ever known Earth. I didn't even think there were other ones with people until I got here.

[collector]

Have you travelled much, in your time? I assume, with your involvement in wars...

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Around Earth, anyways. I've visited all of the countries in Europe, and quite a few in Asia. But I've actually lived in France, Germany, Vietnam, Russia, and America.

[collector]

Travelling the stars isn't much different from travelling across the Earth. There's more... variety, I suppose. Reaching out in every direction. You have more choice in where you can go, how you get there, with whom you go, and so on.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

I'd like to travel the stars. I've traveled a lot of the Earth, so going outside of it would be fun, I think.

[collector]

It truly is. [He is watching her careful, but his expression is distant and warmed. He doesn't feel much by way of sympathy or cruelty, but he's guided by his own peculiar sense of what is fair. And he thinks he understands enough of how she works to know what he's saying when he adds,] Very lonely, though. On Earth, it's sometimes hard to conceive. The distance between planets is great - between stars, it's greater. The distance between galaxies is even more than that. Much of the universe is just... empty distances. It's a wonder that people find one another with so much nothingness around them.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Well...The Doctor travels with people, doesn't he? So it can't be that lonely.

[collector]

There's a reason he always finds someone to travel with. The difficult thing is knowing they'll always stop travelling before you do.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Ah, that is true. You can't really make them immortal. Still, at least it's something, and lots of friends to have.

[collector]

I agree. It's a lovely life to lead. I don't think any other would be suited to him.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

I'm a little jealous, actually! I think it would be fun to live a life like that, really. I don't think staying in one place for too long is really for me.

[collector]

It's a shame you aren't from further along in Earth's history. Give it another few hundred years, and Earth would be regular contact with people from other planets. You could go anywhere. Singing would pay your way, and you wouldn't have to worry a great deal about disguising your species.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{Thoughtfully,} If I live that long. I'm not really sure if I will, because of the Plane. But I don't like to think about it, obviously.

[collector]

Why does the Plane make you doubt your longevity?

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Because I died here.

{She bites her hand before showing him the black blood}

It used to be red, of course. The Plane brought me back.

[collector]

[He looks up at her, curious, then down at the arm.] May I? [He reaches out to take her wrist gently.]

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{She lets him take it, but the wound is closed by the time he does}

I guess you're sort of new here, aren't you?

[collector]

[Curious, he traces a finger over where the cut was.]

Hm? Relatively, I suppose.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

{Tilts her head}

Oh, that's just me, not the Plane. Ah, but welcome to the Plane anyways.

[collector]

Natural regenerative properties? [He lets go of her hand and smiles up at her] Thank you.