[voice]

[ryuuzaki]

[L sounds weary and unhappy, but isn't everyone strained right now?]

If we get through this, I'm interested in compiling explicit details of where this ship has visited since the current round of crew has been on it, and what happened there. Some of this is common knowledge, the rest less so, and I've only heard halves of stories -- individual perspectives -- and what other people, like Miss Robin, have been inclined to discuss of what they've been told. Those efforts are appreciated, but I'd like to hear more.

If you're willing to talk frankly about it, to start at the beginning without assuming any prior knowledge, please let me know.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

[He gives her a flat look: Really?]

My eyes always have circles under them. [Now, for the first time in their conversation, some whimsy creeps back into his tone.] I was probably born this way... but that was a long time ago. I really can't remember any of it.

[That's the kind of joke an exceptionally overtired person would make, and it occurs to him that Clara's poor planning -- first coffee, then a nap, wasted effort in between -- is probably the product of exhaustion. Probably, she'd only wanted company. With an air of resignation, he turns in the direction from which they've come.]

[bosswald]

[The look she gives him back says she's dead serious about this. Luckily, he seems to turn around and head back the way they've come, and she gleefully follows along. The sooner she can collapse in bed, the better.]

I think they suit you. The dark circles.

[Yep, definitely exceptionally overtired conversation happening here.]

How long ago was it? That you were born, I mean.

[That's basically the most roundabout way she's ever asked for someone's age.]

[ryuuzaki]

[His pace slows and his eyes narrow a little: it takes some thought.]

I'm in my late twenties -- twenty-eight or so.

[And just like that, his pace picks up again.]

But that other ship I was on... we went into suspension frequently, sometimes for months. I'm not sure whether or not it counts. Nobody seemed to age in suspension... it probably doesn't.

[His thoughtfulness about this may indicate that it's a legitimate philosophical question for him, but he doesn't put too much weight on the answer. The fact that he might be closer to 150 years old is more interesting to him than unsettling.]

[bosswald]

So we're the same age, give or take. Good to know.

[She a little as she says it, covering up her mouth with the back of her hand.]

And I think it counts if you want it to. The Doctor's lived for over a thousand years, but he always says he doesn't feel a day over two hundred. It can be like that for you, too. Reversed, obviously.

[They've arrived back at her room by now, and she makes her way inside, expecting him to follow. Even if he doesn't, she makes quick work out of kicking off her shoes and going to collapse in bed.]

[ryuuzaki]

[He pauses at the threshold, then shrugs and follows her into the room, eventually sitting on the edge of the bed.]

I think I'd rather be twenty-eight than a hundred and fifty. I really can't see what the use of that age is if you don't have the experience to go with it. It's not a matter of how I feel.

[He's been forty since he was ten. In some ways, he's pleased to have even reached twenty-eight; there have been times when he didn't expect to.]

[bosswald]

[Scooting over, she leaves room for him to lie next to her.]

Funny, that. 'Cause I want to live to be a thousand.

[She says it with a grin and a tone that implies she knows its whimsical but is going to try and do it anyway. She's always managed to make the impossible possible and living to be a thousand sounds perfectly in her reach.

And just in case he needs a further hint to come and lay with her, she reaches out for him, fingers waggling.]

[ryuuzaki]

[He kicks back, arms crossed behind his head, knees bent into a steeple. Continually observing Clara means going along with her whims to an extent, and his experience with other Claras makes him think that this is probably not going to result in his death or maiming.]

How did you arrive at that number? Because of The Doctor? It's a nice round one....

[bosswald]

Because it felt like the most impossible age I could think of.

[Laughing, she shifts so she can rest her head on his shoulder. He's bony, but a decent human pillow. ]

Besides, it'd get dull after a thousand years. Don't you think?

[ryuuzaki]

I think... [he stifles a yawn]... I think it depends on what happens in the course of the thousand years. A thousand years of absolute peace... that sounds like the most boring thing I can think of. A thousand years of complete chaos would just be exhausting. A thousand interesting years might not be so bad, however... maybe it also depends on what you accomplish with it.

[Her head is heavy -- he's not used to someone resting their head on him -- but not to the point where he shifts or complains.]

[bosswald]

I want to have a thousand interesting years, full of adventure.

[She isn't the sort to just settle for a thousand boring years, and would find a way to make such a long time interesting. Of course, she knows it's impossible for either of them to actually live a thousand years, but it's a nice thought. One that has her smiling as she allows her eyes to drift closed.

She switches gears then, after only being quiet for a few seconds.]

Do you think we'll make it through meeting with the Caducans alive? It might put a kink in living to a thousand, to die here.

[ryuuzaki]

[That prompts a sigh, then a brief silence, then, when he speaks again, it's sober to the point of bleakness.]

I don't know. It depends on a lot of factors. If this ship survives, and the captains survive, I wouldn't be surprised if they attempt to bring back anyone who's killed. But whether that will happen... I hope it won't be necessary.

I have to agree that dying out here would be seriously inconvenient.

[That last part might be a joke, albeit a bleak one.]