► 001.

[culver]

[the first thing visible is just a plethora of green. if that doesn't tip you off that she's sitting in the oxygen garden, then i don't know what will. small hands are turning the comm over and over, and there are flashes of blue fabric and shoes every few seconds.

finally, it comes to settle on her face--all big blue eyes and straw-blonde bangs. there's a velvet ribbon colored gold tied up in her hair. sadly, the shot is upside-down. seeming to realize this, she flips the device over and tilts her head. long, straight hair falls over one shoulder and one tiny, white wing is visible behind her.

she suddenly seems very agitated; her brow furrows and she looks rather pleading and sad. the video post ends, and next comes text:]

jwvbfg      oynnejfi
q,fihjwa////

DIAUEKG GFJDIGJJFAifejwkaie
viafjdsae

he ine

[ooc; feel free to action it up, and/or contact me via plurk (watchet)!]

Comments

( V I D E O )

[wont]

[ Oh, she recognizes those blue eyes, that flaxen hair and that golden ribbon. She'd given it to her after all, hadn't she? Alayne make sure to use video, so that there is no question for Nill who is asking after her. ]

Nill— [ Concern shows in her expression. ] —where have you flown off to? What ever is the matter?

[doismelllikeroses]

[Oh dear. Peeta is quick to switch to video again.]


Uh, can I help you?

permavid.

[culver]

[she is clearly startled to see someone looking back at her from this strange device. but it's alayne, so she manages a smile. she even reaches up to touch the ribbon, showing that she remembers.

but she doesn't want the other girl to be worried for her. she just swivels the comm to show where she is. she's never seen so much green in her life.]

permavid.

[culver]

[oh it's a boy. talking to her. through this weird phone. and if he's talking to her through this, he probably isn't close by. nill stares for just a moment, and then gives a noncommittal shrug.]

[wont]

[ A smiling Nill is much better than an anxious one. In fact, the smile is more than enough to warrant one of Alayne's own and so she reaches up and touches a ribbon — hers eggshell blue — affixed in her own hair. Like a show of strength or camaraderie. (She knows what it is to be a little bird. The world is not kind, but Alayne means to help.) ]

Flown to the gardens, have you? Aren't they lovely? Do you like it there?

[culver]

[nill isn't sure what to make of alayne using the word "flown" to talk about her; after all, she can't fly at all. but it doesn't seem to be meant in a mean way, and so she just lets it pass. she nods, and reaches out to touch the leafy frond of a fern. she has never seen most of these plants before.]

[wont]

[ The Westerosi enjoy their talk of animals. The great houses each have one emblazoned as their sigil (all save the Tyrells, of course) and so there is talk of flying and howling and roaring. Alayne's father has the sigil of the mockingbird, a small silver affectation of which Alayne wears at all times round her throat. And so mention of birds and their songs happens often. But, as Nill gleans, it's not meant to be mean in any way. ]

Have you gone exploring? Hatter holds tea in the gardens every day. People sit about and chatter — it's all very lovely. [ A pause and Alayne lifts her eyebrows. ] Would you care for tea sometime, Nill? Perhaps, if we are lucky, we can convince Ned to make us a pie.

video;

[northerner]

[ hesitantly, because she'd shrunk away from him. perhaps it would be better like this, through the device. ]

Do you need someone to teach you how to manage your device? There is much about them that escapes me, but I have accumulated some knowledge of them while I've stayed here.

[culver]

[tea. she'd never had tea before. things like that were hard to come by in the below. she didn't even know if she'd like it. but... what could the harm be? so she nods slowly, looking thoughtful. and pie. that would be nice, too. it had been weeks since she had last baked something--fruit was also something only found sometimes.]

permavid.

[culver]

[this man again. she wants to just shut off the comm, to throw it away--but something keeps her from doing so. maybe it's those manners that bishop had drilled into her mind, or maybe it was because he wasn't there with her. but she listens to him speak, though her face is always wary, always cautious.

a short nod. someone should teach her how to use it so finding heine would be easier.]

[northerner]

Do you know your letters?

[ because if she could not speak, it would prove difficult to read her from body language alone. ]

[wont]

[ Alayne knows nothing of the world Nill has come from, so she is only left to guess. The way she moves from one mood to the next, the way she waxes thoughtful or fearful or brave — it makes her think it is not a pleasant place, for she reminds Alayne of herself from time to time. ] Tea it is then. And pie. Or perhaps lemoncakes, if he's feeling generous and there are lemons somewhere aboard to spare.

[ A pause and then Alayne asks, having seen Robb speak to Nill below. ] Are you acquainted with the King in the North?

[video]

[wolfdreamer]

[She has wings.

No, Bran thinks a second later, she cannot have wings, not truly. She must have a bird that has wings, that sits on her shoulder--like one of Alayne's birds, only more tame.]

Do you need help?

[culver]

[lemons. nill doesn't think she's had lemons in months. that would definitely be a treat. so she gives a firm nod at that; yes, tea and lemons, that would be perfect. bishop would say she was being gluttonous, but at that moment, she didn't really care.

king in the north. that was different, she shakes her head. no, she doesn't know who that is because she doesn't know him as anything but robb, the man who also had a wolf.]

[culver]

[but body language is like, half nill's entire repertoire of skills. this seems to be an honest question though, so she carefully plucks at the keyboard until:]

yes

[northerner]

Will you spell me your name with them, if you can?

[ gently, so gently, because something about him frightens her, and he's not sure what. so the wolf hides his teeth and his claws as best he can, speaks quietly and carefully and tries very hard to be harmless, a dog not a beast at all. ]

permavid.

[culver]

[he reminds her of yora, at first. his hair is just as dark, and he has a sweet face. but he's younger, and smaller. less threatening than the man who called himself robb. she offers a smile, almost shy, and nods. yes, she could use some help.

and those wings are real. they stretch out behind her, and then flap a few times. no bird here, just genetically grafted wings.]

[culver]

[it seems to work, a little. heine did the same thing around her; he was a hound with everyone else, vicious and brutal. but he always softened towards nill, held her hand, stroked her hair. the wariness doesn't disappear, but it does subside just a bit. she obliges.]

nill

[wont]

[ Tea and lemons, yes, that does sound lovely. It fills Alayne with a kind of sugary delight to to have a friend she can give ribbons to and be a girl with again. She was still Sansa when that had last been possible and that seems like ages ago now. Another life. Another girl. (Sansa is not Alayne and Alayne is not Sansa.)

Her expression warms when she speaks about the king. It is obvious and without question that she cares for him a great deal. (Why she cares is a different question.) ] The King in the North — the man who has asked if you know your letters. [ Alayne smiles. ] He is my liege and a man of honor.

He means nothing but good things for you in offering aid, and all that he extends to you, I will extend in kind.

text

[handelaar]

[Most of his time is spent tending to the oxygen gardens, but on one of his smoke breaks he checks the network to see - what the hell. He can't decide if that's a distress signal or. What.]

You okay kid

[And if he doesn't get something back in a moment... time to look around up on the second or third level.]

[culver]

[oh, that man. her face tightens just a bit. he hadn't done anything to hurt her, true, but that didn't mean she liked him. it didn't mean she had to trust him.

but alayne said that he was a man of honor. bishop talked about honor a lot. he said that it was important, that it mattered more than almost anything (anything except piety, but sometimes nill questioned the priest's own devotion, when he talked about god not liking him and things like that). good things. nill could use some good things. the nod she gives, while reluctant, is sincere. she'll trust alayne's judgement on him. the other girl seems smart and true.]

permavid & text.

[culver]

[it takes her just a few moments to figure out what this person is asking. the words are short and simple, and easy enough to discern. the reply is just as short:]

yes

[a pause, and then:]

heine ?

voice and... let's just make this as awful as possible yeah!

[handelaar]

[Huh... then what the hell was that. He thinks about asking, but she interrupts with- that guy? Texting sucks ass, so he switches to voice.]

Don't like that guy. [Pause.] German.

[wolfdreamer]

[At that, he stares--and he knows that staring will be marked as a rudeness, but he cannot help it. He means it more in awe than anything else, and that comes into his voice:]

You have wings.

[culver]

[even though children who had been spliced with animals were common in the below, those with wings were still a rare breed. so the staring doesn't really upset her at all, just makes her a bit embarrassed. her face reddens slightly, and she nods. her wings stretch out far for a moment, and then curl forward around her shoulders, almost like a shawl.]