oo2 ∞ video

[thoughts]

No. No, no, no.

[ the video is sideways, giving a slanted view of river nearby on the floor of her room. there are scraps of paper all over the floor; colourful, bright. childish drawings torn apart.

she wraps around her knees, hands covering her head. river hasn't slept in three years and this week alone, she slept for three days. three days of silence, three days of bliss. she wanted the dreams and they came to her. it was so easy to let go, wasn't it? ]

Wake up. Please wake up. They can't - they tell you to lay down and you do. You stay because they said it, it's in you and -

[ she shakes her head, rocks back and forth, muttering 'oh God, no' under her breath. she told derek. told and tried to stay awake, but sometimes she just gets so tired of holding on. the sun goes dark and chaos is come again. ]

They don't get up again. The skeletons stay and they don't lie down. It's the Pa - no - it's her. It's in the air and it won't stop. It wants to keep you, it wants to keep you, she wants you and you're hers.

[ she screams 'please wake up' one last time just as she grabs her device and throws it as far away from her as she can.

not very far. there's nowhere to run. ]

Comments

[leaps]

[ oh shit. ]

River, don't--

[ don't what? her words twist up something in his get and sulu doesn't know what to do about it. ]

[thoughts]

[ oh no. no, no, not hikaru with k that likes to remain silent, 'don't call me that.' ]

No.

[ it's a whine, something small and desperate and curled away from the device. ]

Don't take him too. You have to wake up. Yuàn shàngdì bāngzhù wǒ, wake up.

voice; private

[oftwoworlds]

Lieutenant, are you familiar with this girl?

[voice; private; encrypted 100%; forever]

[ryuuzaki]

[He sounds sedate and reasonable; he wants her to become as calm as she can be, although that's not necessarily something that will happen. Here, at this moment, there are things that may be interesting, but nothing to be upset about--that's the message he tries to convey with his measured tones.]

River, please pick up the device. I can't talk to you if you don't.

[If he weren't curious, he wouldn't try to engage with her at all right now.]

[voice; private; encrypted 100%;]

[thoughts]

[ river knows what his eyes are like, the ones that watch and wait and wonder. they are critical of the world and she tries to remember that, tries to grasp for to constant in his name, but everything moving too fast. ]

Can't. I - did you think it was a gift? A nice neat package to start you off new. It's still theirs, oh God, why didn't I see?

[majestyofthethrone]

What happened? What happened?

let's guess like, an hour later to find coherency!

[thoughts]

He told us to sleep well.

[became]

River?

[ plenty of urgency, there.

( also yo, cryptic shit they should start a union. ) ]

[thoughts]

Neal.

[ they will be makes no sense anonymous. there will be cookies and tea. ]

I didn't look. I promise I didn't look, it found me instead. They found me.

video.

[throwsdown]

River...? What's wrong?

Everything's okay; I'll make sure it is, me and Hoi Hoi. What's wrong?

video.

[thoughts]

Oh no, no, they'll take you too. Pied Piper lead all the lemmings to the cliff, just close your eyes and you'll dream of flying. Hoi Hoi -

[ she laughs and it's crying. they made her all wrong. ]

- its not safe. Not for either.

voice;

[oftwoworlds]

Are you in need of medical assistance?

voice;

[thoughts]

[ medicine? 8( ]

No! No, please, I don't want to go to sleep again. Simon said - it's time to wake up. I don't want to go back.

video;

[bribed]

[ well they were past-due for some River crazy ]

We ain't nobody's, girl. Stop throwin' things.

video;

[thoughts]

Aren't you always? Muscle for hire, they'll pay you to go die.

[ she doesn't mean him, not really; all of them were paid in something. ]

video;

[inafadingcrown]

[She doesn't know this girl, but this is very hard to ignore. Her voice goes soft and calm, very much the tone of a mother trying to comfort a small child.]

Calm yourself, little one. Breathe deeply and then tell us what ails you.

video;

[thoughts]

[ river hasn't heard such a tone in a very, very long time. not that there aren't people that don't try, voices that don't shush and placate when she's having one of her 'episodes,' but the voice of a mother - even lost children know to stop and listen. ]

It's -

[ but even then, it isnt easy, and panic surges as it always does. she tries to swallow it down; ]

- it's in the air. They put it in the air to go in you. He said to sleep well.

video;

[workout]

Hey, it's okay— [ the reassurance is instinctive, though he realizes as soon as he says it that it's probably grossly inaccurate. scott's voice is almost calm, but there's an urgent edge despite his best efforts. kind of hard to play it cool when he can actually hear her heartbeat through the device. ]

Where are you?

video;

[thoughts]

[ she can hear herself through him if she listens hard enough, and it's something hysterical that bubbles up like laughter from a spring that isn't flowing anymore. one of her first dreams was of the pack - derek's pack, the one that isn't really his because the ship changes things and scott just wants to keep people safe. but it's not. ]

I'm in tranquility. [ what is a uselessly vague answer, bob? ] I'm in her and she's in me too. Didn't you feel it? It's not okay.

[servant]

River, can you hear me? Everything's going to be alright.

[It's another one of those promises. But the more he makes, the more he cares about you.]

Can you take a couple of deep breaths?

[thoughts]

Saying it again doesn't make it true. I can't trust words that have no meaning or air that says too much. I told you they were coming.

[action]

[doc_pompous]

[ALREADY HERE. ALREADY KNOCKIN ON THE DOOR.

Moving upstairs was a good idea.]

River? River, it's me, open up.

[action]

[thoughts]

[ YOU SO FAST BROTHER thank god. ]

Little pig, little pig.

[ Don't mind her if she is still running around tearing up her drawings and distinctly not opening the door. ]

Don't go. Don't go. Don't breathe in deep, it'll blow you down. Don't go.

voice, auggielocked;

[altercate]

Do you need me to come get you?

[ because everyone else can deal with the questions, derek made a promise here. ]

voice, auggielocked;

[thoughts]

Where do we go?

[ he said they weren't running and he said to listen, so she'll follow. walking dumb and blind with eyes that see too much. ]

[voice]

[yardbird]

["It wants to keep you"... Where has he heard something like that before? It's enough that Murphy isn't even remiss to talk to the girl who stabbed him one time -- same, different girl. She probably doesn't even remember it, anyway. No hard feelings.

[He takes his time before he says anything, anyway. There's chaos here. A lot of it. And Murphy waits until that chaos has died down for the most part.

[Hopefully.]

D'you think there's somethin' wrong with the dreams?

[He's been sleeping in a lot lately. He wouldn't have noticed if Anne hadn't noticed. That alone gets him worried that something isn't right.

["It's not a gift."]

[voice]

[thoughts]

[ sorry, bro. stabbings are a thing that happen, you'll understand, right? ]

It's not with the dreams.

[ the dreams are perfect, wonderful, calm. things river hasn't seen in years, may never see again no matter how many different ways simon tries to treat her.

tranquility isn't trying to help her. ]

With the dreaming.

[thatsaflaregun]

I'm not gonna let that happen, sistah.

[It's rather... optimistic and Desmond could probably try to ask for a translation for some of that, but he's been very familiar with sleep and nice dreams and things he needs to get back to here lately and the only thing it's given him is clarity.]

[thoughts]

It's not letting anything, you don't let your lungs breathe. They don't ask for permission.

[ same problem, different 'they.' river could beg and pray for clarity but sleep is not her friend and she's having difficulty remembering who is on this ship. ]