0.4; video :: midnight

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

[Sleeping isn't really one of Jackie's stronger suits. Hasn't been for six or seven years and she's long since found various ways to keep herself entertained through the worsts parts of the night. And the nights are the worst parts, there's too much silence, too much space to hear her own thoughts and they are terrible tumultuous things.

She's managed to convince herself to stay in bed with Dominique for a few days in a row now, but it's too much. She gets up, wanders the house, but that's lost much of its appeal already. She goes onto the back deck of Gaius Baltar's home, looking out over the lake and the shimmer of the moon on its waters. A sprig of the vine seems to have taken up root back here, but she sees it this time, eyes it coldly before bending down to coax it up the deck railing with light fingers.

She considers the mirror in the darkness,]

What I wouldn't give for a television or a radio right now. I suppose I could make them with the magic dirt, but all I'd get on reception would be some porn and the top ten most nauseating love songs.

[She does a fairly flat and tired sounding imitation of a radio broadcaster, balancing her chin in her hand.]

So, night birds, what are you doing up so late after your bedtime?

Comments

video;

[kneebruises.livejournal.com]

[ Sleeping issues? Nocturnal lifestyle? Sleep-only-when-necessary? That would be Sasha.

She wasn't actually trying to connect the vine. It just got tangled around her ankle as she rolled a cigarette, all bundled up under a tree, far away from people. She doesn't like people, doesn't trust anyone and really does not enjoy the vine.

It's only natural that this mouse-thing jumps at the sudden voice, of course, tobacco and rolling paper* and filter all over the grass. She looks around frantically until she spots the mirror against the tree across from her (What the fuck, when did that appear?). ]

I'm, I... [ She stutters a little. Should she ignore that? She would rather ignore it. But she has already spoken. She's clearly nervous, avoids looking at the mirror as she picks up pitifully the contains of the cigarette to roll it once more with jittery hands. It's a wonder she can even manage to roll them. ] I don't, hm, sleep. Much. Yeah. [ It's almost like she's answering out of obligation. ] I'm just, you know, hm, smoking.

video;

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

I suppose you must have brought those with you.



I've been making due on coffee.

video;

[kneebruises.livejournal.com]

[ It takes a while for her to register Jackie's words, only half listening. Lazily looking up, she blinks slowly, before looking to the cigarette she's rolling. Her gaze flickers over to the backpack leaning against her. ]

Yes. [ She says with a nod, finishing the cigarette. She goes through her pockets until she finds one of those matches pack you usually find in cheap motels. She lights the cigarette and leans back, letting the carbon monoxide feel her lungs. ]

Coffee? [ She perks up a little, leaning forward. She looks at her bag again. She's meek when she says it, but she's very sure of what she's saying: ] I'll trade you a cigarette for a cup of coffee.

video;

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

All right.



There's a house on the lake, I'll meet you out front.

[contemptuous.livejournal.com]

[She's somewhere near the Orchard. It seems to be a favorite spot of hers. Her sword is laying beside her instead of propped behind her, and she is not wearing her heavy armor. She looks bored, but she often does.] There is not much to do. Scout the area, which is an exercise in futility as the barriers prevent any proper exploration. Kill game, which is poor sport. Small talk with humans, whom I have never had much need to interact with.

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

This would be the 'small talk with a human' option.

[contemptuous.livejournal.com]

[There's a flicker of a smile.] That would be correct.

And you, why are you awake at this hour? [She remembers this one from before, with the red strings. She'd said she hadn't slept then either.]

[video]

[headedforhope]

[Sleep? There's never any of that for the wicked. Or, in this case, for the troubled and restless. There's simply too much going on for Mami to even think of drifting off, so instead she's snuck outside to ponder her situation in the dark solitude of night. Her hands are cupped in her lap; a soft yellow light escapes the cracks of her fingers.

But then, she's never liked being alone, even when necessary- so when the vine besides her communicates Jackie's message, she can't help but respond.]

I suppose I was looking for something.

[video]

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

Something?

[video]

[headedforhope]

Yes, not that I've had much luck so far.

[It's not like this woman would understand anyway, she thinks.]

And yourself?

[action] oh here have my tl;dr

[aunomdedieu.livejournal.com]

[ Caprica usually sleeps fairly soundly, even though she's all by herself in Gaius's huge bed and she has never liked to sleep alone. It still feels bizarre to sleep in his bed without him in it, and sometimes when she wakes up she gropes on the other side of the bed for him, out of sheer reflex. The disappointment when he's not there, at least, has lessened somewhat.

This time, she wakes up in the middle of the night, the moonlight spilling in a silvery drape across the width of the room. For a moment she lies there awake in the dark, still and quiet. Eventually, she pushes herself up out of bed, considers going downstairs just as she is, but then remembers she has guests in the house. So she pulls on a short nightgown and a white satin robe over that, fabric draping loosely over her figure.

She pads silently downstairs, and her keen eyes catch sight of the woman standing on the deck. Of course it's Jackie; Caprica already knows about her sleeping difficulties.

For a moment she pauses in considering whether or not to bother her, but that moment doesn't linger long, and she slips out the glass door to join her, eyes flicking toward the mirror she's called up from the Vine. She pauses near the other woman, hands resting on the railing. Nearly reaches out to gently touch her hair, but stops herself at the last moment. It's not her place to do that anymore. ]

Can't sleep?

[ The question is gentle, and rather rhetorical. ]

[action] did someone say tl;dr?

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

There... are only so many hours I can spend reading.

[action]

[aunomdedieu.livejournal.com]

[ They're standing close enough together that Caprica could touch her if she wanted to. Could stroke her hair, pull her in and kiss her forehead, the same way she herself would want to be touched — not a way that Gaius ever touched her, but a way that reminds her of her sister Sixes whom she has missed so sorely.

But for now, she holds herself back. The imperative to touch is not so strong as it was when she had eaten the chocolate. She feels the absence of contact, but right now it isn't a raw, desperate ache. Right now she can ignore it.

She smiles, ruefully, and laughs softly instead. ]

I think there are only so many hours anyone can spend reading.

[ Caprica glances aside, and only then does she note the book sitting there on the deck, casually as if it were dropped there. She goes over to it, picks it up. The first indication that it isn't one of the books from the library in the Gardens is the cut corners typical of Colonial literature. The second is that she recognizes the title and the author. One of those somewhat pretentious, overdone pieces of classic fiction Gaius used to read when he could be bothered to. ]

You've been in Gaius's library.

[ Not a question, but she doesn't sound offended either. She sounds a little surprised, instead — and for that moment, she forgets that she has never mentioned her lover to Jackie. ]

[heretolookhot.livejournal.com]

Even dorky love songs is better than nothing.

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

Silence is preferable to inanity.

[heretolookhot.livejournal.com]

Don't they have music where you come from? It's totally weird without it.

voice;

[revolutionized]

[There's no video, only shuffling, and a quiet sneeze.]

Watching the stars. They're different from home.

voice;

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

That's not so surprising.

voice;

[revolutionized]

[Her voice is soft, and a little distant. Thoughtful.] The ones from home, I'm not sure...if those are the real stars, or if the ones here are. But it reminds me of home, anyway.

Why can't you sleep?

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Thinking about things.

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

Enlighten me.

[esoteric_rose.livejournal.com]

Life, death, where we are, what we're doing, whether it would be better to go home or not, dabbling in nostalgia, what the real point is to anything.

[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[Sephiroth glances into the mirror, her gaze dispassionate. Beyond her there is only darkness. It might as well be nothingness for all that one can tell where she is. Her eyes glow brightly in the dark.]

I need very little sleep. I train. I gather intelligence.

[thesamename.livejournal.com]

That sounds incredibly stimulating.

[no-hometown.livejournal.com]

[Sephiroth is no stranger to sarcasm, but her tone doesn't change in response to it.]

Would that it were. There is little to do here, especially at night.