ataraxion | video;

[ the feed begins in audio, and on the opposite end of the communicator, hayley chews on her bottom lip. the pause only lengthens after she clears her throat, and discovers that she's managed to find the video function. the lens remains pointed at her knee for one beat, then another- before the image is righted, and she turns an apologetic smile to the feed. ]

Sorry. I'm not really used to the. You know, [ cue the demonstrative finger wiggles ] future stuff yet.

[ a small crease appears in her brow, but softens as soon as the communicator is set on the table, so she can settle down to look into the feed directly. her shoulders hunch, and she plays with her fingers anxiously as she begins again. ]

Anyway um, so I know I should be really freaked out about the dimension hopping spaceship thing, and the mutiny thing, and I will be. Once it like, processes. And I don't mean to sound super insensitive or anything? But um, I don't suppose anybody's managed to find like, some books or anything just hanging around, have they?

I'm pretty desperate for anything at this point, especially since it's only a matter of time before we get back into the jell-o baths, you know? And I know that all you super cool space heroes are like, up to your eyeballs in shenanigans, but there's just not a whole lot of stuff for- kids around here.

The whole, no tv, no internet, no ipods thing is kindof like, [ a sheepish laugh ] hell on earth for a teenager. Or. Not earth. Since we're in. Space now.

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[ a momentary pause, and then a smile. ]

Yeah, I did say that.

What if I tell ya a short one about bunnies.

-I'd like that.

Do I get a story in return? Or - somethin'.

I could- I could try. But I mean- like fair warning I am really super awful at this creativity stuff.

If you're game.

Alright. [He shrugs there - good enough - takes a breath to gather his thoughts. It's not like he's a great storyteller or anything, so he isn't expecting a wonderful tale in return.

Time for a history lesson... about cute bunnies becoming not-so-cute.]

So this moron who likes boats decided he was gonna take over the entire damn world, right. [Grudge against England, what grudge against England.] Sent a ship full a criminals to this new land. Wanted t'get rid of 'em. Guess he thought if he sent some rabbits with 'em, it would cancel 'em out.

[Welcome to the second-most-biased history lesson ever told.]

Idiot didn't think about if there were rabbits in the new place, an' a couple got out. Took over the entire place. Ruined crops, that kinda thing. Got that so far?

Um- [ she's blinking, and shaking her head. like that might make this make more sense over all. ]

Yeah, so far so good.

[As soon as nation-grudges come in, things stop making much sense. Sadly none of the nations have realized this truth as of yet.]

Mm. Rabbits didn't have any predators, rabbits took over. Once the people noticed they had a problem they tried killing 'em all off. 'Course it didn't work - they're damn rabbits.

So they tried buildin' a fence, across the entire continent. Took six years. Guess they forgot rabbits dug holes, or somethin'. Didn't work, so the morons built a second fence.

[The next part gets gruesome, so he leans over to grab a cigarette for it, throwing a look up at her as he lights it just to make sure he's not boring her to death or something. He knows he's not too great with words, let alone spinning a captivating tale.]

[ she's staring. which is kindof close to rapt attention and is enough of a demonstration that she isn't bored at all.

even if she's somewhere between horrified, amused, and really confused about where this is going. ]

[Good enough. Now, where's his ashtray - ]

You seem like a smart kid. Tell me how the second fence worked.

[Because he heard storytellers engaged their audience or something. Also, he can't find his goddamn ashtray, so he's diving out of frame again to find it.]

[ her eyes close, brows knitting together as she reaches up to scratch her forehead with one thumb. ]

I dunno, they used wire or something? And would probably need like, patrol.

-Didn't this happen in Australia?

[Yeah, he dives right back into the frame and kind of stares at her.]

Meant how it worked out.

[Okay, fuck the "engaging the audience" part. Apparently that requires communication skills.]

It did. If you know the story I'll stop.

[ her eyes widen, blinking owlishly ]

What- no! You're not allowed to stop a story half way through that's against the rules!

Maybe where you're from.

[Huff.

Fine. He'll roll his eyes and keep going he's not sixteen he swears.]

Someone gave them a disease an' a bunch of them died. The end.

[...nope, he's sixteen.]

[ her expression falters.

and then proceeds to flicker awkwardly between variable expressions before- ]

Then-
Then what happened with all the bodies?

[Oh. If she doesn't know, it is suddenly not a waste of his time anymore and he settles back a bit. Time to talk about dead bunny bodies, or something.]

Nothin'. They rotted there, infected more rabbits I guess. [Shrug.] The virus stays in 'em after they're dead - think he said 20 days.

[In this case the "he" refers to Australia himself.]

Dude.

Fucked up, innit.

[Smoke smoke.]

Um, Netherlands?

No offense or anything, but, your friends are kinda- messed up.

He's not my friend. Is annoyin' as hell, though.

Is that one of those- he-doesn't-know-that-you-aren't-friends sort of deals?

Nah, that's America an' everyone else. Australia ain't that -

[Shrug. She can fill that in however she wants.]

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