IC Contact

[cargojet]

You've reached Senator Nathan Petrelli. If I'm not answering your call please leave me a message, and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can.

Comments

[favouring]

Arya Stark is among those affected. I received a message from her which I sent to her brother.

( and now to nathan )

[cargojet]

Dear God. It's happening. It's really happening.

[ Oh and that just fills everyone with confidence, thank you Nathan. ]

[favouring]

One foot in front of the other, Nathan.

[cargojet]

People have done this before, gone into the ship after their loved ones, people that shouldn't be here, people that are dead.

Matine went into the ship after her dead mother, stepped through a doorway made of light that wasn't there before and was gone.

It was the end for her.

[favouring]

Knowledge and experience you didn't have, I wager, when it happened.

You are being looked to and you know it full well. Rail to me of the unfairness and the hopelessness and the fear if you must, but your experience and your clarity are what are valuable right now to all of the people on this ship who listen when you speak.

Make sure you have both.

[cargojet]

[ He loves you right now, Nuala. The insight he appreciates, as well as the words of confidence in him. ]

It would have been difficult to stop her--she wasn't one of us.

No unfairness. No hopelessness or fear. Just understanding, at last. This feels like a turning point, one we've been moving toward for a long time, but it isn't creeping in like a thief in the night. We've lost all of Shepard's crew; now these disappearances as well. This is the first wave of what could be a very long, painful fight.

Even battle hardened Wellington, mounted on the hill above Waterloo with an army behind him, must have felt a moment of apprehension before the storm of musketfire began.

[favouring]

( war forged nuala into the woman that she is - soft, and kind, and utterly ruthless in the pursuit of a true and right cause. her hands are gentle and her stomach is stronger than she's given credit for.

she knows what she's talking about. )

It is a fight.

( not a slaughter. they aren't just accepting that this ship is beyond their comprehension - it is. right now. but they are going to fight, because they must. )

Those without fear have nothing to fight for - but you are not carrying only your own fear. You chose to take up that of others. They need to see certainty.

[cargojet]

I'll show it to them. I'm sorry if I unsettled you before. You brought me the last piece of the puzzle regarding what's happening to these people. I should have counted to ten before I pressed 'send'.

[ She makes sense. This has been his choice all along, with all the responsibilities that come with it; taking on this role isn't just the action of a man looking for power, his ability to lead needs to be demonstrated. People are looking to him, they're afraid, and he has to be their strength and their guidance--otherwise what good is he? ]

But I'm ready, Princess. I've been ready for a long time.

[favouring]

Not unsettled; worried for you.

( it had seemed obvious, reading his message, what she should say. she hadn't hesitated, or considered whether or not it was her place to do so. she usually doesn't, which - well, it's not a virtue, but she tends to skate away from making it visibly a flaw. )

It's the dreams, isn't it? I've had them. I doubt I'm the only one.



( the last part she almost doesn't send. then, finally: )

I am the last of my family and my dynasty. I've no desire to attempt to assert any kind of authority here, but my title is queen regnant by right of blade.

( the fact that she died while killing the last king of bethmoora is irrelevant now that she's the only one left alive. )

[cargojet]

I think the dreams are a part of it, yes. I've been seeing my son, and from what I've heard other people have seen people close to them, people who have power over them in many ways. I know I'd risk my life to find my son if he was here. Arya's attachment to her mother, Robb--I'd bet you money he was dreaming of his dead father. It has something on all of us, and now it's finally using that power to achieve whatever ends it set out for.

All this effort to make us homesick, the punishmenet of sleeplessness and reward of sweet dreams filed with our loved ones. It's been a manipulation all along.

If you have a preference for what I should call you, I'll stick to it. [ Nothing if not courteous. ]

[favouring]

It's been building this past jump cycle - longer, even. I see.

Severus, I've noticed, makes a point of correcting use of my formerly held title. I thought to save him the trouble. ( if wryness translates at all through text-- it's probably understandable if her feelings on the subject are complex. )

[cargojet]

[ He might be laughing briefly on his end. ]

Stark insisted on calling me Congressman up until the day he left. He thought it was funny. I prefer names, personally. We may not all be on the same level at home, but we're trapped here just the same as each other. We eat the same food, we sleep in identical beds. It's just easier that way.

[favouring]

I use yours; I've no objection to you using mine.

[cargojet]

In that case I'll only call you 'Queen Nuala' when I'm trying to impress upon you how valuable I find your advice. And you can stick to calling me Senator when it's for my own good. Sound fair?

[favouring]

( and now it's nuala who laughs, abruptly, above her own device. )

Oh, you should call me your grace only when I'm being especially queenly, and I shall call you Senator only when you're especially exasperating.

[cargojet]

I always thought that was what the word 'flyboy' was for.

[favouring]

If you've a preference for the term--!

[cargojet]

As an insult it's got a charming ring to it.

[favouring]

Then I will of course defer to your greater experience.

( guys focus. )

[cargojet]

Always good to know.

[ Never! ]