fallasleep: (viewless arrows of his thoughts)
roy walker (there are no bandits here). ([personal profile] fallasleep) wrote in [community profile] ataraxion2013-07-21 02:03 pm

first story » video

[ When the feed switches on, Roy is sitting, as always, in his bed in the medbay. His tablet is seated on the table in front of him, and Roy has his arms folded neatly on his lap. ]

You know, I think life on a spaceship in space should be the least thing from boring. [ He pauses, and chuckles, a bitter sound. ] But then again, there's never anything to do for a guy who can't walk. It's a good thing I'm so good at entertaining myself.

[ He cracks a smile. It's an ugly expression. ]

I've been reading. Useful things, these tablets, the way they store so many books so you don't have to bug anyone else to try to bring you some while you're stuck in bed. [ Dramatic pause. ]

There's this book I read about a young man named Werther. He falls in love with a girl named Lotte, and she has the most beautiful black eyes. [ His smile softens at the edges. ] He's passionately, deeply in love with her, and he would have married her, but from their very first meeting she tells him that she's already engaged to another man, named Albert.

Werther tries, oh he tries, to be a good friend to both of them. But he loves Lotte too much, so eventually he has to go away to somewhere else. But he can't stay away for long, so he goes back to Lotte and Albert and realises they have gone and gotten themselves married. [ At this point of his narration, Roy laughs, and he turns away from the camera, looking off to the distance. ] Lotte tells Werther that she can't see him much anymore, because she's married now, you see.

"Life's blossoms are only appearances. So many pass and leave not a trace, so few of their fruits set, so few of those ripen." Or so Werther says. There's nowhere left for him to go. He can't have her; he can't kill Albert so he can have her; he can't stop loving her either. There's only one thing he can do. So Werther shoots himself in the head. [ He looks back to the camera, looks beyond it, and takes a glass of water and sips at it. ]

It's the best possible thing that could've happened to him. [ Is Roy talking about Werther anymore? He doesn't even know himself. ] If he didn't shoot himself, he'll be constantly reminded of what he can't have, everything he has lost. You see, there's nothing quite so painful than to have to keep breathing when every breath turns out to be... [ he makes a gesture in the air ] hollow.

[ A pause, and he smiles again. Changes the subject. ]

On the subject of books, I'm looking for a poem by a man named Keats. Something about a nightingale? Does anyone know it? [ He tilts his head, and gives another hollow smile. ] It won't stop bugging me.
skindeep: (pic#)

video

[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-24 12:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it does. First love is powerful, we have nothing to compare it to. When it ends, it feels like the world ends with it.

It doesn't, of course. But no amount of telling someone that will convince them.
skindeep: <lj comm=mion_pictiur> (and make it ok)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-25 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I can't take credit for it. That knowledge came straight from a fortune cookie.
skindeep: (pic#)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-26 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Noah isn't entirely sure if that's a don't know what that is headtilt or judging you headtilt. Maybe both.]

Not a fan of Chinese food?
skindeep: <lj user=yorkshirewench> (pic#4363641)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-27 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Where I'm from, Chinese food comes with a fortune cookie at the end. No taste whatsoever. But they all have little slips of paper inside that tell you how bright your future is or how your smile lights up a room. That sort of thing.
skindeep: (pic#)

Re: video

[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-28 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think it's ever useless to reach out to someone. Especially under circumstances such as these.
skindeep: (pic#4372662)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-28 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
We've all been taken from our homes, none of us knows what's going to happen tomorrow. All that we have is each other.
skindeep: spacebug @ ij (pic#5709907)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-29 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
No, unfortunately. That came from nearly a year of being here.
skindeep: <lj comm=mion_pictiur> (and make it ok)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-30 03:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Do you know a way of doing that? Please, I'm all ears.
skindeep: (But when you're with me)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-07-31 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
But there's no guarantees with that. What if I just float to an alien planet? They might even put me in a zoo. Petting, preferably.
skindeep: (pic#)

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[personal profile] skindeep 2013-08-01 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds unpleasant. I think I'll wait a bit longer, if it's all the same.