005

[madamemoiselle]

{Diva hops onto the Astral Plane, or, at least it looks like her. The hair and eyes are the same, but everything else is completely different. With a much more boyish frame, a younger face, and even being smaller in general, it seemed as if she was wearing someone else's skin.}

Ne, that girl, she must have been bad luck. After all, you brought sister with you into New York! How sad~
But it's kind of nice to see Saya again, even if she's here to kill me and my Chevalier. Ah, last time we saw each other was on that boat, after all. She's probably still angry about that.

{Her hands release what she was holding, and she scatters what seems like glittering, blood red rubies on the invisible ground. Diva crouches down to pick one up again, holding it in between her fingers with a decidedly blank expression.}

But she didn't hesitate this time. It makes sense she'd kill my Chevalier first, but...Well, I guess Karl died the way he wanted to. Ne, but it's getting more dangerous to stay at "home". Would anyone care if I just stayed here for a while? It's really getting to be troublesome to stay at home, even with my Chevalier to protect me. If she can't find me, after all, maybe sister will leave.

Comments

[didorothy]

[shakes his head] What I go back to, that's some place else. There was... I had an accident, and I ended up a long, long way away from home. From where I belong. When I go back, I go back to the Guv's home, not mine.

[madamemoiselle]

Well, if it's someone else's home, can't you just travel back to yours? If there are planes at your home, it should be easy enough. If you need money for traveling, I can give it to you.

[didorothy]

It's... a bit more complicated than that.

[madamemoiselle]

How so?

[didorothy]

I went... thirty-three years into the past. To 1973.

[madamemoiselle]

Wow...And that was because of an accident? Oh, but I guess a plane wouldn't work in that case. I'm sorry.

[didorothy]

Nothing to be sorry about. It's just... difficult. [sighs] But, uh, which one do you want to hear about? 2006, or '73?

[madamemoiselle]

Uhm...Both, if that's alright.

[didorothy]

Well, 2006 Manchester is... normal, for a pretty big city. Steel buildings and skyrises. I'm a DCI there - that's Detective Chief Inspector, highest officer who sees any fieldwork - and, uh, my mother's there... It's... it's just a normal big city. The crime rate's all right. The chippies are good. Lots of cars and mobiles and lorries, and there are some great places for food down Curry Mile... Not much to say, really. It's normal.

[madamemoiselle]

{Smiles} That makes me wonder how different our worlds are. Who knows, maybe that one is the same. It's 2006 where I am, and I was in London...only a few weeks ago. Well, and I was awake in 1973 too, but halfway across the world then!

But if I get to go to Manchester...Well, I'll have to go try some things down Curry Mile. Well, assuming curry is the big thing there. It's not my favorite, but it's something I can taste. ♥

[didorothy]

You're awake in both mytimes? That's a... nice coincidence, really.

Oh, curry mile isn't all curry. It's got a lot of South Asian restaurants, thus the nickname, but they serve all sorts of food.

[madamemoiselle]

{She nods with a soft smile} That was the year I woke up, 1973. In Vietnam, but that first year was quiet. It was 74 and 75 that were busy and violent. Then I went back to sleep right at the beginning of 1976. Ah, then 30 years later, I wake up again. So since that was last year, next year I'll go back to sleep.

Well, it wouldn't matter! I would get curry. {She nods} I'm not sure why, but I can't taste a lot of things. Amshel said that it was probably some...some...biological thing {She definitely doesn't know what biological means} to make sure that I ate what I was supposed to. So there's not a lot I can taste. But curry is one of them. But I much prefer strawberries.

[didorothy]

...Oh. Only another year?

You can taste strawberries? They don't seem... very strong.

[madamemoiselle]

Well...A year and a half. I woke up the summer of last year. It's Christmas-time right now, though. It snows almost every day, actually! So I'll have another Christmas, then I'll probably go to sleep sometime between May and July.

That one is strange, compared to other things. Alcohol, curry, strawberries, hotsauce, seaweed, and some other things that have a really strong flavour. Ah, alcohol is a little different, though. Humans really like to drink, just to get drunk, I guess, but that doesn't work for us. We can drink all we want, and it wouldn't matter at all. Solomon said that was because our bodies probably thought it was poison and got rid of it the same way it does mercury or arsenic or anything like that.

[didorothy]

That's not very long, is it? I wonder if I'll be here long enough to see Christmas...

You should challenge the Guv to a drinking contest. It'd be fun to see his reaction to losing to a woman.

[madamemoiselle]

It's never long. It always...just seems to fly by. If anything, I wish that I didn't have to go to sleep. Missing the world changing is...Well, when I wake up and everything changed, then it's weird. But I'm sure you will! Ah, if it gets close, make sure you tell me so I can get you a present.

{Laughs} You think so?

[didorothy]

There might be a way so you don't have to sleep. [smiles slightly] But does that mean I should be getting you a Christmas present now?

Yes. The Guv... doesn't have the highest opinion of women. It's always fun to see his sexism contradicted.

[madamemoiselle]

I don't really know why it even started. I kind of guessed it was because I had Amshel as my Chevalier...But I'm not sure. Before that, I didn't have to. Ah, but then, I wish I could have...{But she smiles sheepishly at the other comment, waving her hands slightly, and maybe blushed. Maybe.} Ah, no, I didn't mean that! That's not really important.

...Oh? My, the next time I talk to him, I'll have to see about that~

[didorothy]

Do you think you'd be able to look into how to undo it? [and his smile widens] What sort of present would you like, then, Diva?

Don't embarass him too badly. He is just a product of his times.

[madamemoiselle]

I have, but...Well, it's kind of hard. There's only Saya and I, after all, and we're the first ones ever...Well, the first ones that humans have ever seemed to meet. Amshel said that Saya and I were born from a fossil, so mother had been dead for a long time already.

{Her hands come up to cover her cheeks. People being thoughtful, that's more embarrassing to Diva than sitting in front of a person naked, apparently} A-Ah...Well...{Quietly} I like clothes...and jewelry.

I would never do that~

[didorothy]

Not a lot of information, then.

[smiles, because it's cute] What sorts of cloths and jewellery?

And make sure you invite me to watch when you do.

[madamemoiselle]

Right...Solomon offered to look into it around...Well, when I was awake during World War II, but I declined. Ne, it'd be nice to stop, but it's not important enough to be tested on more, you know?

Ah...That would be...I like Blumarine, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, and Yves Saint Laurent's pieces...{Diva has expensive taste}

I'll make sure to.

[didorothy]

No, getting experimented on would be... really bad. But there has to be a way... Did you have any Chevalier before Amshel?

[copper's wages aren't that high, even for a senior officer, and half of those names go right over the working-class DI's head] Uh... I meant, more, styles... Diva, I'm not... [wipes his hand down his face, somewhat embarassed]

[madamemoiselle]

No. Amshel was the first.

Oh, those are too expensive? {Huh, go figure} Well...I like blues. But anything that Sam would give would be really beautiful, I bet. Ne, it's a gift, after all, so it'd be twice as pretty. Ah, but if it were clothes...I'd guess you'd need to know that.{Pause}

My measurements are 93-58-90. Centimeters, of course.

[didorothy]

Does your sister go through that cycle, too?

Uhm, thanks. [wipes at his face again] So blues, clothing, jewellery... anything else?