003 ⌥ VIDEO -- saturday night

[femshep]

[And here's Shepard, out in the fog but you can tell she's walking briskly (presumably back toward the Flop) by the slight rhythmic sway of the camera. But she has SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO SAY, so listen up.]

If you hear this, you need to get inside and keep your door shut. There's something in this fog--the residents are all clearing the streets, and I think I saw a few putting on gas masks.

I repeat, if you hear this, you need to-... [A pause in which keeping a straight face seems difficult, and then she's busting up laughing.] You need to put on a skirt and stand on your head or something, because shit, I don't get why the hell you all listen to me, anyway. [By 'listen to' she means 'generally take orders from', and she distinctly remembers it making sense an hour ago, but now she's had an epiphany and it's fantastic.

Meanwhile, she tames the laughter down to an ecstatic grin, and in a tone that probably definitely makes you wonder what she's planning next and if you should duck and cover, she offers just two words:]

Shepard out.

[End transmission.]

Comments

[video]

[femshep]

Roger that. [And she's on her way! Feel free to spot her when she gets close.]

[video]

[thecricketer]

[the Doctor stays where he is, fingers fiddling behind his back as he waits and wonders; finally, he sees Shepard's form breaking through the mist, and he smiles as he strides forward] There you are.

[video]

[femshep]

[His smile is met with a grin.] Likewise. [Her trip's in a little bit of a lull, but trust me, it won't be that way for too long.]

[video]

[thecricketer]

It's lovely to see you again, Commander. [and it is, really, despite the circumstances] Shall I lead the way?

[video]

[femshep]

[She snorts a little.] 'Lovely', huh? Been a while since I've heard that one. [And she's gesturing vaguely forward with a hand.] Lead away, Doctor.

[video]

[thecricketer]

[as he turns, keeping her in the corner of his eye] I'll clearly need to make up for lost time.

[video]

[femshep]

[Shepard shakes her head, following.] You're something else, y'know that? People don't actually talk like that anymore. Or think like that.

[video]

[thecricketer]

[lightly, as he glances back at her] That really depends on when you are, doesn't it?

[video]

[femshep]

Alright then, when are you?

[video]

[thecricketer]

Well, most recently I was in 1961, watching the Vostok launch.

[video]

[femshep]

No shit. [Spoken with wonderment rather than cynicism. For some reason that seems so so ancient to her right now, so she's laughing again but at least this time it's quietly to herself.]

And what about before that?

[video]

[thecricketer]

[he tosses a grin over his shoulder; he always enjoys the earnest awe such revelations can bring, it can make him feel it all again himself, see the universe through fresh eyes]

Do you know, I'm not quite certain? It was an old planet, far older than Earth. I helped coordinate an uprising.

[his face falls, then; quietly] And before that - Australia, 2006.

[video]

[femshep]

...Does the name 'Ilos' ring any bells? It's a planet.[Because this may or may not sound like what she knows of the Protheans.]

[video]

[thecricketer]

[he's happy for the change of subject as he ponders the name] Ilos? No. Had its share of uprisings, I take it?

[why were we still saying video? lmao]

[femshep]

You could say that. [And she's hopping ahead a step so she has time to turn around and keep pace with him walking backward. Yep, this is how the conversation's going from now on. Unless she trips.]

[...that is a good point, i have no idea]

[thecricketer]

[he's smiling again, clearly amused] Have you been?

[femshep]

To Ilos? Once. [A head-shake.] It was too late, though. Thousands of years too late.

[thecricketer]

[his face falls, and a sudden, grim weariness flickers in his eyes] It's always difficult, to see the aftermath - to know there's absolutely nothing you can do.

[femshep]

[She shakes her head again.] It wasn't bad. Just... eerie. I guess. [Then she grins, letting out a little laugh.] 'Eerie'. Who makes up these words?

[thecricketer]

[quite earnestly] I believe it comes from the Middle English eri, actually.

[femshep]

[A laugh.] Shut up, that wasn't a real question. It was hypothetical.

[...wrong word. Under breath:] Anatomical, analytical, allegorical, rhe-- [That's the word!]

Rhetorical. It was rhetorical, or something.

[thecricketer]

[his grin is decidedly cheeky now] Yes, that's the one. Unfortunately, it's not in my own vocabulary.

[femshep]

Should be. It means you don't have to answer stupid questions.

[A beat.]

Not that I ever ask any, obviously.

[thecricketer]

[he holds up a finger] No such thing.

[femshep]

[She's reaching up to grab the finger, as if that suddenly means his point no longer exists.]

Plenty such thing.