queenofheartsrp | # video / action

[Mami is many things, not all of them good, but naive is not one of them: Anthy's voice, the courteous and yet empty tone of it, strikes a chord. Makes her hesitate, makes her gaze narrow just slightly. That is how Mami herself so often sounds, distant beneath the good manners, and...

...and there is something else about this that seems familiar. But what? The inkling of unease begins to slowly grow; Mami's smile doesn't falter.]

Oh, that's good. It has a history of being mischievous, you see, so I'm glad that it isn't giving you any trouble.

[She sounds as calm as though this was any normal face-to-face conversation, rather than face-to-unblinking eyeball.]

[As though to illustrate Mami's point, the Vine sways back in a breeze that doesn't touch Anthy's hair, and the view swoops dizzingly from her iris to her face, off-centered but clearly visible.

She is smiling; it's no wonder that wasn't obvious before, because it doesn't reach her eyes.]

Ah, I see. Thank you for your concern.

[The Vine is still moving, a little. Anthy is still.]

[Mami is about to respond with the usual platitudes, perhaps ask a few more harmless questions. Her mouth is beginning to open, perfect little white teeth slowly exposed - when the Vine sways and reveals more of the other girl. Anthy's face stops Mami dead in her tracks, for reasons that are rapidly becoming apparent.]

Ah....

[Her gold eyes widen. She can't breathe. A thousand things rush to the front of her mind - strange, unsettling memories as fresh as though they happened yesterday.

The hill. Wakaba, unconscious. Utena looking up at her with eyes full of frightened worry. Roses. A shadow. Juri, kneeling and screaming as a sword was pulled from her chest. Shiori's head snapping back, a round little hole between her eyes. A bike. The fog. A heavy rain and flashes of lightning. A church; a coffin; a little girl that was sick of living in this world where everything died. Screeching metal and the horrible, painful silence of being completely alone. The bright blue sky, a field of red roses, the pressure of a ruthless boot.

A noble, yet tired prince: She has gone ahead, where Eternity lies. Akio's voice, warm and yet dangerous, the strength in his hand more than enough to snap her wrist: You aren't a very kind girl, are you, Tomoe Mami? Anthy's bright red dress and blank green eyes, her maddeningly soft voice: We'll have a tea party, with cake.

The epiphany is instant and unkind: this is her, this is the Rose Bride. Not some figment of a nightmarish and ever-changing dream but real, here, breathing. A sick, slow burn fills Mami's chest. It's fear and dislike - it's pity and confusion - it's jealousy, wonder, and wariness.]

[There is the overwhelming urge to hold her head and sink to the ground until she's curled into a ball, so overwhelming are these memories and thoughts. But Mami merely shutters her gaze, holds it for a long moment, before opening her eyes again. They weren't warm to begin with, but they remain cold now out of a necessary restraint; she can't afford to show anything else. Her voice is purposefully, impossibly calm.]

....you're very welcome. Himemiya-san, right?

Yes.

[Anthy studies the girl's face with the distant, almost clinical interest of a child with an ant under a magnifying glass: What are you? How do you work?

No Ohtori uniform; that's clear even through the small frame of the mirror.]

Himemiya Anthy.

[Still smiling.]

Pardon me, I don't believe we've met?

[She meets that look and does not like it, not one bit. It makes her feel small and insignificant - and is she such things? In the grand scheme of the cosmos, yes.]

Tomoe Mami.

[A docile, respectful nod. Her name was not asked for, but it's given regardless.]

We haven't. [Technically.] But you know Utena-san.

[The use of that first name is, on some hidden level, almost defiant.]

[And it gives Anthy pause. She does return the nod; a moment later:]

Yes. And you ... ?

Are you Utena-sama's friend?

I regard her as one, yes, as she does me.

[Here she cants her head just so, the golden curls swaying. A pause, and then Mami admits something she isn't quite selfish enough to ignore:]

She's missed you quite a bit.

[She was intrigued; now she's off-balance. Her eyes widen a little, as though in shy surprise, and she looks down at her clasped hands.]

I'm sure she's lucky to have you as a friend.

[All else aside, this girl seems at least less likely to propel them both out the nearest open window than some of Utena's other friends.]

[Mami continues to regard her with a steady and yet cold politeness, inwardly unmoved by this display of apparent passivity; the memories of that horrible, bizarre dream are still too strong. And she was a mistrustful sort anyway.

Another respectful nod, a modest deflection of the compliment.] I think the luckier ones are those she's willing to count as friends. She's quite a kind person, isn't she?

[A kind girl in an often unkind world.]

... Yes.

[Evidently, her own hands are very fascinating to her.]

She's been -- very kind.

[Her tone isn't warm, not precisely.]

[Hidden in her lap, beneath the angle of her Vine's video feed, Mami's fingers curl into fists.]

I'm sure. [...] Well, anyway, please let me know if you have any questions about this place. I've been here for a long time - about a year, I think - so I might be able to help.

A year is a long time to be away from home.

[In some ways.]

Thank you, Tomoe-san.

One gets used to it, after awhile. People can get used to almost anything, I've found.

[A question springs unbidden to her lips and dies there: what does it mean, to revolutionize the world?]

This place is at least safe for the most part, and peaceful.

Do you think so?

[It doesn't sound like disagreement; more of a conversational reflex.]

Once you're used to it ...

# video / action

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

Re: 2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject