Serenade for String Orchestra in E Major

[collector]

[Braxiatel walks through the rain with an umbrella in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. He is taking more care in keeping the rain out of his tea than he is in keeping it away from his clothes, and for a moment he even sticks his head out from under his umbrella to look up at the clouds. When he speaks, he is speaking to himself, his voice like smoothed glass.]

That's an awful lot of oil going to waste. And in such a way. [His smile is made of irony, and he looks down at the stars still under their feet despite the rain.] How the old symbols are reformed.

[With the skill of the absurdly well-balanced, he switches his cup to the hand holding the umbrella, opens the library door, and steps inside.]

[After a moment, he pops his head back out again.]

Oh, one thing: have there been any odd deaths lately? I'd be interested to know.

[Then it's back in out of the rain.]

Comments

[collector]

Rain is a symbol. Baptism, death, and rebirth. The washing away of old sins and the resurrection of a new person. This particular rainfall certainly doesn't shy away from its association with death.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[softly] How would you know unless you've experienced it, Cardinal Braxiatel? And don't think I don't know what that tea means. I've died here, too.

[collector]

[mildly] Well there are all those centuries I've spent studying symbolism in fiction, and I do have something of a personal obsession with tea. It isn't a bad inference, but it's not quite solid.

You're right, of course. But I'd still have to deduct marks for the gaps in reasoning.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[lineface] It's a good thing I'm not a student, then. But let me fill in the gaps; if you're anything like your brother, you likely used the literature excuse to distract people from discovering the truth and worrying about you. [not that he's worried, or anything >_>]

[collector]

People do tend to overreact to death, even our own kind. And there's something so excessively tiring about having to assuage other people's unfounded concerns.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[nods] I suppose there's no sense in brooding over it. Of course, that won't stop the Doctor when he finds out.

[collector]

I don't intend on telling him. Any of him, in fact. It is my hope that you'll respect that.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

...I can promise that I won't tell him unless he asks me directly. But don't ask me to lie to him. The Doctor is one of the few people I trust, and I won't betray that.

[collector]

[Brax almost smiles] Of course not. But I would ask for discretion. He is . . . family. My only family left, in many ways. And so this is a family matter between us.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[Damon returns the almost-smile] I understand...in more ways than one. I know what happens to Gallifrey.

[collector]

[Brax lifts his eyebrows, surprised by what seems to him to be a subject change.] I know nine fates for nine Gallifreys, and I know there are numberless more. Of the three overlapping aspects of time, the future is the quickest to break promises.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[bows his head] I know the fate in which the Doctor and the Master are the last of our kind.

[collector]

[and at that, Brax makes a grimace of distaste] And all those poor Presidents must be rolling in their graves. Don't concern yourself with it, Damon. It is a future, not the future. I was involved in the outskirts of one of our wars which we managed to avoid having courtesy of pre-emptive gestures. Don't get me wrong: it is very real for them, and should be treated as such. But for us, it is a possibility.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

It is still real for us, even if it is only a possibility. But I'm not concerned about how it may affect me. [rather awkwardly] It's the Doctor I'm concerned for. He's...important to me.

[collector]

[with the same sort of dry disinterest that one imagines he must have given Benny when she said she had 'shaken hands' with the Doctor] Is he? How wonderful for you. Do send me an invitation to the happy occasion.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[Damon just gives him a blank look] Happy occasion?

[collector]

I worry for him, constantly. But I assure you that the Doctor will endure and cope with this.

[doctorsfanboy.livejournal.com]

[so lost] I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood me before. But I do agree -- he is very strong. It's one of the things I admire about him.

[collector]

Please, no odes to his greatness. I get enough of that in the archaeological relics I come across. There's always something so unsettling about finding an ancient carving, carefully preserved through the ages, and then realizing that it's all about your errant relation.