lydiascreams | [024. I was looking for a breath of a life]

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[024. I was looking for a breath of a life]

[Public Video]
[When Lydia shows up on the video, she's sitting in her entertainment room, her dog Prada in a Santa hat is sitting right next to her, obediently looking at the camera and she looks pretty happy. Not kinda-crazy-there's-a-flood-or-something happy, but genuinely so.]

As many of you know, and maybe some of you don't, I've been organizing events for the passengers, so we can all hang out together, get to know each other better. And also relax.

Things have been crazy lately, and it's been a couple of months since the last one. But now, with the holidays, I figured it would be the perfect time for us to have another movie night.

Like promised last time, we'll be watching Star Wars episodes 4, 5 and 6 this Sunday, the 28th.

Everyone interested let me know so I can get a common room set up and make sure we have snacks and everything we need. You can RSVP with me, or leave your name at the sign up sheet I'm leaving in the dining hall until tomorrow night.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Thank you for all the gifts, they were wonderful.

[Private video - pack + extended pack]
I don't think I have to say that your presence is required, right? Especially yours, Scott. [And yes, this is part of her master plan to see how he's acting around Kira. But also, she knows how much it means to Stiles that he actually watches these movies with him.]

[Private video - Stiles]
[Her face softens as she starts her message to him. What she wants to talk to him about isn't actually great, but she's hoping she's found a way to say it that she won't hurt his feelings or make him feel bad in any way.]
Hey, are you busy?

[Post-marathon spam - Scott]
[Scott's reaction to Kira during the movie marathon was-- subpar, at best, in Lydia's opinion. Well, no, it was actually pretty terribly awkward. She's not sure what exactly is going on with him because while at some points he was definitely looking at her like he wanted to say something, it was pretty obvious he was holding back.

She knows she'll have to give Kira her verdict soon, so she needs to figure things out for sure before she gets her hopes up even more and ends up getting her hurt because she somehow misread something. Which sounds absolutely ridiculous, but she's not going to take chances.

Which is why she sent Scott a message and asked him to come meet her up on the deck.

She's already there, sitting down on one of the chairs with Prada laying down on her lap. It's pretty quiet and she makes a mental note to come up here more often.]

[ooc: Open Spam: if you want Lydia to nudge your character into going to movie night, feel free to run into her somewhere on the ship. Can be the dining hall, or the hallways. The library, etc.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Baby steps, Lydia.]

Merlin. I will wait for you.

[And so he is, just lingering around the doors of the library and feeling vaguely worried about the fact that they're meeting here of all places to talk about things.

His experience of libraries involves being shushed a lot.]

[Merlin? He can't possibly mean-- the Merlin. Can he? She knows better than to think it's not a possibility on the Barge, though. So she's mostly prepared for, anything, pretty much?

She has a big purse with her, and Prada's head is sticking out, but he seems perfectly comfortable. She hopes Chromie won't mind, but she didn't want to leave him alone when he just got here.

It's definitely not hard to recognize Merlin as she approaches the library, though, and she's thinking that he probably does mean...]

Hey. Merlin, Right?

[He turns and smiles.]

Yes. [He hesitates - there's a lack of formality to greetings here that has him a little wrongfooted - but eventually he settles on sketching a shallow bow.] It's nice to meet you, Lydia. Thank you, for giving up your time this way.

[He doesn't stare at it, but the thing in her bag is completely peculiar. It looks more like a rodent than any dog he's ever seen.]

[She bows her head slightly in response. She can't exactly bow otherwise with the size of the dress she's wearing. She does notice him looking at Prada, though, and smiles.]

Not a problem. We can take one of the private rooms and not bother anyone else. [She figured someone who doesn't know what movies are would be more comfortable around books. So she starts her way in, and lowers her voice.]

This is my dog, Prada. He's usually pretty friendly. I just got him from home, from my best friend and I didn't wanna leave him alone.

[Merlin pulls a bemused face at her turned back as she leads him deeper in.]

....He's a dog?

[He realises belatedly that this has the potential to cause offence.]

Sorry. I've never seen anything like him before.

[She laughs quietly, not at all offended by his question. At least it's genuine innocence and not meant to be offensive.

But she waits until they're inside the room to answer him, just as she sets her purse over the table.]

My ex-boyfriend used to call him a rat. It's okay. They have dogs in all sizes where I'm from.

We only really use them for hunting. The hounds are a lot bigger.

[He assumes that 'Prada' is simply a companion, which he supposes is a fair reason to have a dog. Possibly a lame dog, given that he's living in a bag and not. Still, he knows how to treat dogs, having cared often for Arthur's, and he offers a hand to be sniffed in greeting. He glances up to Lydia as he does it.]

So, I brought the...thing. Does everyone get them?

[Lydia smiles when Prada sniffs his hand, then licks it a couple of times, then nudges his hand with his nose, to be patted.]

Everyone gets them. That's how we communicate on the Barge for the most part. It's very useful when you have a message to everyone, and it's pretty handy when we have ports. [When they actually work, anyway.]

You can use them for videos, that is, you talking to people as if you were face to face-- they can see you, and you can see them. Just voice, you can hear them, and they can hear you. Or by writing. You can read them, and they can read you.

Like it is in the book.

[That's fine, that makes sense. 'Video', he's still struggling with. His one experience of being able to see and speak to someone who wasn't physically there involved incredibly powerful magic; it's difficult to think of it as something everyday.]

So - 'video' and 'movies', they're the same? But 'movies' are like a play, so you can't talk back to them.

[Lydia nods when he seems to catch on fairly easily and smiles.]

Basically, yes. A movie is a story. Most of the time, it's fictional. A video, here, is usually a conversation. [She won't confuse him with the concept of youtube, for example, just yet.]

[Good call. He clicks his tongue thoughtfully. 'Video' is a means of communication in the moment; a 'movie' is when a 'video' is written down (somehow) to be reread later, like a book.]

Right.

[He pauses, then picks up his commnicator, turning it over in his hands. It's cold like something metal, but not as heavy.]

Is it possible to...

[This has the makings of a stupid question about it, so he decides to reframe slightly.]

I'm afraid I might've upset someone when I first arrived. Or - there was a misunderstanding. I know her name, but not where she lives.

[Lydia cocks her head a little as he tries to explain it. And it's not hard to get where he's going with it.

She smiles and nods.]

You'll wanna send her a private message. Or a private video, if you prefer. You have to adjust your settings like this.

[She picks up the device and shows it to him slowly, didactically.]

And then you select the name of the person you want to send it to.

[He nods, letting her demonstrate for him, trying to commit it to memory. He realises that he doesn't know how to spell Kira's name - will that matter? Surely it'll be clever enough to understand who he means.]

Thank you. [He hesitates.] Is it - more polite to use video?

[It's not as if he's particularly wed to social convention, but he wants to avoid being considered outright rude. And it strikes him that for something as an apology, it might be considered more sincere if you can see the other person's face, hear their voice. It's easier to be taken as sincere.]

[Lydia considers his question for a second then shakes her head.]

I wouldn't say more polite, but it's what most people use and personally, I think it's smart to stick to video. When you're seeing the person who is speaking and you can hear the tone in their voice, it's easier to make sure there's no miscommunication. No misunderstanding about what you meant to say.

Especially here where so many of us come from different cultures, different times. We have different backgrounds so, making sure you communicate clearly is important.

That makes sense.

[Though he can see just as much scope to be misunderstood - maybe even more, if the tone of your voice or your hand gestures might be offensive to someone else's culture. A lot of people here talk to each other in a way that a lot of people in Camelot might consider rude, but he's understanding that there's no formal class structure here so it's impossible to know who should be deferred to.]

Is there anything else you think I ought to know?

[Selfies, but.]

Well, I think that's a good start. Looks like it's a whole new technology for you, so when you get more comfortable, if you have more questions, I'll gladly answer them.

[She's not gonna let him go so easily, though.]

Just out of curiosity, where are you from, Merlin? [And when?]

[He's a smidge wary of admitting to it now, but he's not going to lie. That smacks of shame.]

...The kingdom of Camelot. The land is called Albion.

[And Lydia suddenly knows Stiles felt when he saw Peter, Steve and Bucky around the Barge. The actual Merlin. From Camelot. Yes, she knows Morgana is there but they don't really talk and-- Merlin. Although she always had a crush on Lancelot, regardless of which version of the story. But, not the point.

She won't freak him out, though, in case he doesn't know about the whole fictional thing.]

Sounds familiar. [And that's about all she's willing to say to him on the matter.]

Do you have any other questions?

Not yet.

[Not that he doesn't think he can answer himself, with some research or trial and error. Being so ignorant still makes him uncomfortable. It's something else to pretend he's an idiot.

He hesitates before going on. He doesn't want to sound like he's giving himself airs, but...]

And you're not the first to say, about the familiarity. That's - actually the least detail I've heard it in so far.

[Well, he seems curious about it, so she'll try to approach it from the easiest, but possibly most dangerous way. Because it's probably easier to hear about someone you don't get along with necessarily, than about your fictional existence. Right?]

Morgana is here, do you know her? [Poker face.]

[He nods, once. Poker face likewise.]

We spoke, on my first day here.

[And he gave her a Yule gift for reasons he doesn't understand, and they seem to have some kind of awkward ceasefire type thing going on and it's weird.]

[She nods slightly, arching an eyebrow when he doesn't add detail. She can't bring herself to ask more questions, though. It feels like fooling him.]

Are you alright?

I'm fine. [He gives her a little sidelong look.] You sound a bit like you're...tiptoeing around something, though?

[Because he knows exactly what it sounds like to talk around something rather than about it, and he doesn't like being the last to know.]

[Well... she knew he was smart. This might not have been particularly brilliant on her part.]

How much do you know about the different universes, Merlin?

[Well. From what he's pieced together so far?]

I know that most people here are from times far in advance of my own, or from entire worlds that have nothing to do with my own. And I know that there are some people here who hear my name and think of a character in a fairytale.

[024. I was looking for a breath of a life]

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