ataraxion | voice. another time, another town, another everything

[here's a face that doesn't show itself very often. or, well. a voice, anyway. a bit tired, like most everyone is lately. (or maybe just tipsy.) and yet somehow airy and melancholic at the same time.]

..It is more than a year since I was first brought here. At that time I was not in my home world-- I had already been taken to another place. A dying city without death, where it was only ever night. Though I was only there a short time, I have seen a man die and return a week later, impaired but alive. [more quietly:] ..My last memory of the place is of having seen my friends dead, among many others, and myself leaving before I could be sure of their safety.

[and also killing someone. but that's a bag of cats he isn't touching this time. or ever.]

I was told in the City that I had been there before, yet I have no recollection of it. There are people here that I knew in the City, from my world and not, though those here do not remember being anywhere else.

What I mean to say, is.. to ask if this is a common occurrence. If there are others besides myself who have been to other places. I have wondered what powers could take us from worlds we have already been stolen to, how such a thing happens, what it might be that decides where we go next, if we are to go at all. And-- to apologize, I guess, to those I should have told this to, if it is a thing worth apologizing for.

[a hushed breath, and a moment of silence. when he speaks again, it's a little brighter, and lighter.]

There are drinks in the second floor of the gardens. Wine and honey mead, and tea. Neither will aid much in sleeping [he tried. a lot.] but may help calm the nerves, if nothing else.

[for those wishing to talk face-to-face, there is a table set up near the lift with a pot of tea, cups, a barrel of mead, and a flask of wine. legolas himself, however, seems to prefer lying on the ground looking up at the trees instead of sitting on chairs like a normal person.

(he is definitely just tipsy.)]

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It is a very poor substitute if I must leave this place to see it. [not that he hasn't seen it from the shuttle bay before.

legolas can appreciate a bit of good intentions, though, even like this. he reaches out to clasp the proffered arm and pull himself up with a somewhat resigned smile.]

I have seen these stars before. They give me little comfort, but I will go with you, for what good it will do either of us.

[ The smile is a strange one. The Legolas he knows from Arda doesn't smile much, with a weight to him that he thinks this Elf does not truly have. But that just makes it even odder, isn't it?

Aragorn looks at him for a long moment before he lets out a breath. ]

If you do not believe 'twill be of good, then there is no sense in moving. [ He doesn't let go of Legolas. Instead, his hand squeezes his friend's gently, trying to give him some comfort if only by touch alone. ]

[and the aragorn he knows is far less humble and far more.... dour. for lack of a better term. (he'll think of a better term when the wine wears off. less elvish, perhaps.)]

Just because I think it will be of no good does not mean it is not of any good. [the responding grasp is firmer-- he doesn't need much for comfort.]

We cannot so easily traipse off to see the stars whenever we wish when there is work to be done.. but Master Netherlands is not here to stop us.

[ Aragorn sobers slightly at the mention of Nederlands. It disturbs him almost as much to see Nederlands completely still and unmoving - like a corpse, he can't help but think - as it had to look at Thranduil with his eyes closed.

He lets out a breath, giving Legolas a slight smile. ]

Then let us take this chance to marvel at the stars once more.

[war will make corpses of us all. war of a different sort, a different nature. temporary corpses, temporary wars.

the thoughts slide out like water (or wine, barrels down a river) and he smiles back, a light and almost eager nudge and tug to get aragorn moving.]

So we shall! The sight will be enough until we can hear them again.

[no legolas, aragorn is a man, not an elf. he can't hear stars. and neither can you.]

[ Aragorn chuckles at the nudge, starting to move, then. ]

Aye. [ He knows that he can't hear the stars, but still- ] Will you tell me of the songs the stars of Arda sing?

They do not sing songs. [silly. as if it were common knowledge.] They sing music, like a river or a forest. A hymn in the silence of the night. Or a mother's lullaby, before you ever knew the words.

[ He looks at Legolas for a moment before he quirks his lips up. ]

If you cannot sing the songs, then will you hum it for me? Surely your voice is not ill-suited for this.

I can, I think. [he looks over, marginally more sober and still than before.] We will see if an Elf is ill-suited to sing the song of Arda.

[...and breaks into a smile again and sprints ahead, like a child who cannot wait to get to the middle-earth equivalent of a candy store. a sugar stall. or something.]

[ Aragorn blinks. Wingfoot Eomer might have named him, but it remains that he's still slow in the eyes of Elves. He shakes his head to himself slightly before he gives chase. ]

Have you abandoned your audience already, my friend? [ He sounds amused even as he runs. ]

[he looks back with a laugh that carries far better in the halls than it would in the trees, elvish but weary, in a way. it's an effort not to be too downtrodden when outside the gardens.]

Would that my audience allowed itself to be abandoned! But I have kept up with Wingfoot. Surely he is not incapable of doing the same!

'Twas urgency that drove me the last time, and even then your breath drew longer than mine had. [ A soft, breathless chuckle. ] 'Tis unfair, Legolas.

[excuses, old man.]

Then let a light heart be your breath this time, Aragorn!

[...but he does slow down a little bit.]

voice. another time, another town, another everything

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