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[It's late at night when the transmission comes across and it's coming from one of the many kitchens where Angela's seated at a table, a small plastic tupperware container in front of her. The lid's been popped off and every so often, she reaches inside for one of the miniature Reese's peanut butter cups and unwraps it before popping it into her mouth. She's clearly been here for a while with the number of empty wrappers strewn around her, but she doesn't seem likely to go back to her room any time soon. At least not before she turns to the device and whispers into it.]

Most of you guys are probably sleeping or something. Who knows what time it is here, but I'm assuming you won't hear this until later. Either way, question mostly for the people who've been here for more than a couple jumps: do you get homesick? Or are you too busy dealing with the bullshit from the ship?

[Angela pauses to finish chewing the candy, following it up with another one that she swallows as she chooses her next words carefully.]

It's not like I've never been away from home. I've lived all over the world, some places only for a week or so, but at least I had a phone or the internet. Everybody I knew was never more than just a phone call away. I'm good for picking up and going because it's Tuesday, but I never stopped checking in.

[Another candy goes down before she lifts the wrapper in mock salute.]

Thanks for the candy, Isaac.

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It helps to have people familiar to you. I think that most here would like to be home--but there are good things to being aboard this ship, and they shouldn't be forgotten.

And we will go home. We must remember that, too.

I know it would, but so far, it's just me from home. Maybe next jump.

[The longer she's on the ship, the more stories people tell her about the Tranquility, the less Angela wants to believe there are good things on this ship. Maybe the people, but so many of them seem jaded already it's hard to crack into them.]

Hopefully sooner than later. I have a problem with patience.

There are many of my family who are now here--and Summer, too--but before they were here, it was more difficult, so I had to think of ways to remind me of home. You could do the same. And the longer you are here, the more people you will meet--that will help, too. It isn't the same as being home, but it is good to have people here to trust, and all of worlds we would never have known of. That is a very good thing, I think.

[Will she ever be lucky and get her little family here? Angela doesn't know. She can't see the future (and if she could, she would have avoided this entire space trip.) Her only option is to keep hoping and keep her eyes open at every jump. How long that will last... no one knows.

Finding people to trust--or better yet, people who are willing to trust her--is the difficult part.]

Where are you from anyway?

We are of Westeros--and the Starks are of the North, and Winterfell. It was the beginning of winter when I left, so it is very strange to be in a place where there is no weather at all--and stranger still to be aboard a ship that sails among the stars.

[And a place that can turn memories of Westeros into horrible nightmares--but Bran finds that it is not so difficult to speak of Winterfell, even after the strange dreams of weeks past.]

Where are you from?

The United States of America. I lived in a state called Washington D.C. It's the capital of the country. But I was born not too far from there in another state called Maryland and then I lived in Texas, another state, for most of my life before I moved around.

[This is all probably confusing for the kid. Angela's prepared to explain.]

I've never heard of Westeros or Winterfell. It sounds pretty chilly there.

Sometimes there were summer snows--but it will be colder now that winter has come. I think it is a different world than your United States, so you would not have heard of it--no one here has, except those of Westeros.

[okay but this United States stuff what is going on there]

Are your states very much like kingdoms? Why did you move so often?

[Lots of stuff, kid. It's a long history lesson.]

Not really. I mean, each state is their own thing and some have laws that the others don't and they all have different people who run the daily show there, but there's really one head guy in charge of all the states. He's called the President.

[Angela is the worst teacher ever.]

I got bored. Mainly. That and I wanted to see the rest of the world and what it had to offer.

Edited 2012-10-17 17:37 (UTC)

Oh--Miles Edgeworth has told me of presidents. I think it is a little like our Seven Kingdoms used to be. There were wardens and liege lords in each Kingdom, so laws and customs might be different, but there was a king who all swore allegiance to.

If you lived a wanderer's life, you must have many tales of adventures. Will you move from the capital soon, too?

Well, in that case, the states are like your kingdoms. Only we have fifty instead of seven.

And you can say so on the adventures. As for moving, I don't know. [She already did, technically, to space.] I have a job there now and I've been there for a while., so I'm not thinking about moving just yet. In a few years, I probably will.

[He laughs at that thought.]

Fifty kingdoms is a great many. How does your president keep order? And you should tell me of one of your adventures, if you have had some. I am collecting stories of all the worlds, and I would have one of yours, if you would give it.

He has help. There's a ton of people that work under him and with him on things, most of the time. Poor guy can't babysit us all.

I could tell you about the time I got sawed in half by a magician.

You were sawed in half?

[in other words YES DO TELL]

Every five times a week for six months.

[She will. She's just going to dangle this story like a carrot.]

Why so often? Wasn't he content to do it once? And how did he do it, and how did you survive?

How did he do it? Magic.

[Literally.]

Do you know what a magician is?

A magician is the same as a wizard or a sorcerer--only I think his magic is less true. Maester Luwin told me that all magic is untrue, but there is much magic to this place. But how could magic heal you after you were sawed in half?

Not less true, just different. And he had a special box. What would happen is that I, as his assistant, would get inside this box and lie down. Then he would take a sword, sometimes a saw, sometimes a really big blade and cut me in the middle so it would be half my legs and then the rest of me. When he was ready to put me back together, he would push the pieces of the box together and somehow, the box would fix me. He would never tell me how it worked, but it did every time.

[She's so not going to tell him that the truth is that she just pulled her knees up to her chest and thus it was all a trick. Let the kid keep his wonder.]

It must have been a very sharp sword. [it's just an observation; he's certainly not questioning the reality of a sword that cuts through wooden boxes and bone both. it's probably a magic sword, too.] I think I would like to see that trick done, if it was no threat to you. But do you have some magic too, that you traveled with a magician?

Too bad he's not here. He could have done it for us.

Me? I don't think so. Not anymore at least. I haven't been a magician's assistant in years. Maybe I lost all my magic?

There are others with magic here. One of them might be able to do the trick. I will ask. Though if you have lost all of your magic, I think it will be harder to do, and I would not see you hurt.

If you don't travel with the magician any longer, what do you do?

You don't have to. I think I'm done with being cut in half anyway.

I'm an artist. I paint and draw for a living.

I am glad to hear it. I would not like to think of risk coming to you--especially as all magic here seems to be of different sorts. You might not heal so quickly if it were not your magician.

What do you paint?

Whatever I feel like painting. [She's also not going to tell him she draws dead people. Nope. Not going there with a kid.] Fruit, places I've been, people I see, maybe a direwolf or two...

[woah woah wait forget everything else]

Could you paint a direwolf?

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