ataraxion | oo1

[The video turns on to a rather up close view of someone's face.]

Is it on? How do I tell if it's... Oh, no, I think I got it!

[She brings the camera away to reveal more than just her nose, then. She's sitting on the bed with a nervous grin, trying not to show just how frightened she is about being here.]

Hi! Um, my name's Ahiru, and I just got here a little while ago. I still don't understand everything about this place, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me when I first showed up. My head feels a lot better!

[She giggles before continuing on, though it's halfhearted.]

Um, anyways, I know we haven't found a way out yet, but I want to help in any way I can. So, if anybody has an idea on what I could do to be able to get us all home faster, I'd be really grateful. I'm not very good at very many things, but Miles said I might be able to help take care of some of the little kids here, reading to them and stuff.

B-But, if there's anything more important I could do, I'd definitely be willing! I mean, I have to go home soon, it's really more important than anything else to me, so I would do almost anything if it meant there was a chance we could leave faster, because this place really isn't where I need to be, and I won't know what to do if—

[And then she gets overexcited, leaning forward so far that she promptly tips off her bed, falling to the ground with a thud. The communicator hits the ground, too, switching off.]

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[She gasps, planting her chin in her hands and leaning even farther forward.]

A girl? What's her name? What's she like? How'd you meet? How long have you known her?

[He laughs quietly.]

Katherine. She's-- uh, she's great. She's gorgeous, first off, but she's real smart, and she works for a newspaper, and she's real . . . she don't take nothin' from nobody. Real sharp, you know? And I've known her for . . . oh, must be four, five months now. We met-- a friend o' mine owns this theater, right? So I hang around there lots, and one night she were there, and I said hullo, and it took off from there.

[Dreamily:]

Wow. So are you gonna get married? I mean, once you go back home.

I-- er-- I don't know. I mean, maybe. Someday. I think-- well. I dunno if she'd want to, actually, but.

Why wouldn't she want to? I mean, if you're together and everything!

Ah, well, I'm poor and she's from a rich family, so.

[She pauses, her expression filling with concern.]

What? But that shouldn't matter if you both love each other!

Yeah, right? But it does. I can't give her what she's used to, and-- you know-- that's the end o' it. I mean, we're happy! Don't get this wrong, right, we're all happy. Just-- you know-- not everythin' ends like fairy tales.

But if she's happy with you, why doesn't she want to marry you? I mean, love is more important than living a certain way, isn't it?

Yeah. I mean, yeah, but . . . it's hard, kid. I mean, when somebody's as poor as I am, and she's an heiress, and--

[Why is he confessing his romantic worries to this titchy kid. Jack wrinkles his nose.]

Anyway. It don't matter. We wouldn't've gotten married for a few years anyway.

Well... Maybe in a few years, things will have changed!

Yeah, probably. What about you, huh? Got all the guys chasin' you?

[And, predictably, she immediately flushes.]

W-W-What? No, I mean, that's - no! I wouldn't... No, more like they wouldn't! None of us would, I mean, that's not something that would really - no!

You sure?

Of course it's true! I mean, there's no reason it wouldn't be true! No reason at all! So you don't even really have to ask whether or not it's true! A-A-And you don't have to look at me like that, either, because there's no way I would lie about something like this! I'm not really a person who lies a lot, anyways, so I'm definitely telling the truth! Um, no boys or anything like that, especially not any that would chase me! That'd be really weird, so it really isn't happening!

[Don't mind her wild gesticulating during all of this, Jack, or the fact that the entire thing was said on one long breath...]

[His eyebrows rose at around whether or not it's true and haven't fallen yet. He lets a few seconds of silence pass, just so Ahiru can catch her breath, before saying:]

Someday I'll give you lyin' lessons, kid, because that was just pathetic.

I would only need lying lessons if I was lying, and I'm not lying, so I don't need any lessons at all because I'm already really good at telling the truth!

Shh.

[Gently he pats her head.]

Stop.

...Okay.

[Deep breath.]

Right. All right. You calm?

I think so.

All right. Next time you wanna lie, just say it once, okay? No flailin', no talkin'-- just real simple, real straightforward. Like--

I'm a girl. See? See how I said that all calm?

[Weakly:]

But I wasn't lying!

Yeah, yeah, I heard. Just-- a tip for the future, okay?

But I don't want to lie to people in the future, either! A-And you shouldn't tell people how, you know!

oo1 | video.

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i'll have you know i just snorted really loud, thanks for that

HAHA yessss

i blame you

you love it don't lie

never!!!

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