001 [Good morning Baltimore]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius doesn’t quite know what he was expecting, but he certainly wasn’t expecting this.]

Well… Well.

[He stands, hands shoved in his threadbare coat, and surveys the Plane – eyes narrowed in deep thought… He doesn’t seem very scared, simply quiet and very, very tired.]

[He’s been running for a long time]

How strange, how new… I must confess; I simply expected the Dragon when I wandered into that shop – or, failing that, an actual shop. But no, that’d be far too conventional for my sort of life.

[He laughs, even if it sounds like a mockery of a laugh, and falls to regarding the Plane again.]

It’s quite terribly bright here; but not from sunlight, curious…

[He tilts his head up to regard the stars and smiles; again, it’s a very dark sort of smile]

“But in this black Receptacle
Can be no Bode of Dawn”

[A brief pause, as he keeps studying, and then his face falls]

No… No, that only makes me think of him and I must break myself of that habit; I want to die happy not-

[A deep breath and then he calms himself, lowers his head to regard the Plane again with a return of that twisted smile]

Good day to anybody else that’s been dragged here, my name is Claudia- [He pauses for a second, his face twitching, and then quickly corrects himself,] –Claudius and I must admit to finding myself mildly confused by my surroundings. Can anybody tell me where I am?

[Another pause, as he considers that, and then his face brightens to a almost shining level.]

Is this death?

[He’s so very hopeful]

Comments

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[River is eying him dubiously because whut. Dude, you have some seriously morbid tastes.] Didn't stop for Death.

[SHE CAN QUOTE EMILY DICKINSON RIGHT BACK AT YOU SIR.]

You're on a plane. There's pamphlets. [And she finds one for him and holds it out with her look like she's addressing the slow class. IT'S OKAY CLAUDIUS SHE'LL WARM UP TO YOU. She's just a brat and tends to meet a lot of people this way.]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius gives her a faintly surprised look for a few seconds, for in his experience most teenage girls know squat about Emily Dickinson (it's fun holding limited views), and then smirks slightly,] One of my favourites.

[He means to make a sarcastic comment on that, he really does... But then there's a pamphlet in his hand and, he is sorry, but he's a little busy blinking at the moment.]

...There are pamphlets?

[THEY'RE SUCH LOVELY PEOPLE~]

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[River makes one of her patented brat faces at him. YES OF COURSE SHE KNOWS EMILY DICKINSON. And she's about to surprise him a little more, maybe.]

Wěi​. (http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=yes)

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Chinese! Why on earth did he never learn Chinese? Now he's trying to cover dismay, and succeeding for the most part.]

My, aren't you a accomplished little dear?

[Sarcasm helps with everything~]

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

[River is far too intuitive about such things, sadly, and she offers him a fairly unimpressed stare.] Read your pamphlet.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius shall jsut be returning her stare, HE HAS PRACTICE YOU KNOW~] Will it actually help?

[bytwo.livejournal.com]

It's faster than asking questions.

[OH, BURN~]

[oliverplus]

[looks a little startled by that question--or just at how excited Claudius looks about the possibility] Whoa, nope, you're not dead! Welcome to the Astral Plane, Claudius. [waves as he walks over to him]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

A pity. [And he means it too, optimism is reaching new heights with Claudius!]

[He gives Oliver a brief look over as he approaches, tilts his head thoughtfully for a moment and then manages a slight smile. Don't worry, Oliver, it's not you - it's just that Claudius can be a rather miserable git these days,] The astral plane? Such a pretty name, is it common for people to randomly arrive here?

[oliverplus]

You'd rather be dead? [he can't help it; he looks Claudius in the eyes, in some degree of disbelief that he could be serious and wanting to check--if he can]

Yep! Happened to all of us at one time or another. But you can still go back home, too--if you want to. [and if Claudius really would rather be dead, Oliver wonders if he'd want to]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[Claudius simply gives a little smirk and a shrug in response; closed off emotions, woo!]

Well, at least for once I'm not alone - it's rather a novelty, I must admit. How many people are here? [Yep, he'll just be neatly sidestepping the going home statement.]

[oliverplus]

[ooc: Just checking for clarity--Oliver can't read anything of Claudius' emotions, right?]

Really? [frowns. that sounds terribly sad...] You definitely won't be alone here! There are...maybe 50-60 people that I know of.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Oh, sorry! Um, probably not - Claudius is forcing himself to have control currently <<]

[That frown touches him, just a little, but he shoves the feeling down quite forcefully - being touched won't help!] 50-60 people? My word, you'd think it'd be rather crowded here what with everybody in one place.

[collector]

You know, there are a handful of people who might be able to answer that. Are you sure your surroundings are the only things confusing you?

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

The question about death? I'm not looking for a philosophical treatise, at least not today.

Oh, I'm confused about everything - but I prefer to focus my confusion occasionally; it gives me such a sense of power.

[collector]

I wasn't offering one. I don't suppose anyone's passed you one of those brochures yet. [because even Mr Exposition gets lazy about explaining things sometimes]

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Then that can only be regarded as a good thing.

[He considers Brax for a moment, looking him over, then slowly lifts his shoulders.] Yes, actually, a girl stamped on my foot and gave me one; it was most illuminating.

...Are they actually useful?

[collector]

One would hope so. And it does save some time.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Who made them?

[He's already pulling his own, crumpled one out and looking at it contemplatively - one day information shall transfer that way, one day!]

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

It's not death. I wouldn't say "unfortunately" after that most of the time, but you seem like you wish it were.

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

...Well, sometimes death seems better than life.

Who are you?

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, but it makes other people sad, so it's better not to.

{She smiles coquettishly} I'm Diva. And who might you be? You're not the Doctor, even though you look like him, but you're not quite human, either, are you?

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I think there'd be a grand celebration if I died; it makes a wo- man feel so loved.

[He tilts his head at her smile (it's been so long since anybody smiled at him) then returns a slightly more wan version of it, such a cheerful person is he.] I've been told that I resemble him before, it also makes me feel so loved... I'm Claudius [He pauses for a moment at her deduction; then slowly lifts his shoulders - if the Dragon's servants have followed him here then he can hardly do anything about it now] no, I haven't been entirely human for a long time now.

[madamemoiselle.livejournal.com]

It's nice to meet you, Claudius. But you don't have to worry, either. A lot of people here aren't human, actually. Including the Doctor, of course.

{Lightly} Ah, but you said that funny. "Wo- man?" What did you mean by that?

[gavesomuch.livejournal.com]

[And he relaxes, a smirk coming to his lips.] Oh? That's excellent - perhaps I'll start walking around with a giant sign proclaiming 'I am a vampire," it'd certainly pass the time.

[But the relaxation doesn't last for long. He freezes up for a moment, debates simply running... Then forces himself to relax; he has to pretend that he won't get caught, he needs to] It's a unfortunate habit I'm afraid, one that I've been trying to break - surely you, beautiful as you are, have similar moments?