Room 510: Monday evening
River had hung a vole skeleton from the ceiling lamp, and now lay on the bed, watching the shadows that moved around the walls, cast by the slowly rotating thing. It felt like company. The room had seemed even more empty than usual since a certain person had left after a visit, now over a week ago, and with Buffy back in Sunnydale there was only the tentacled monster, who had been quite sleepy recently.
On the other hand, perhaps having some quiet time to herself was a good thing. The past month had been busy. There had been plenty of sparring, with Irulan, Cassandra, Lee - who had got quite beaten up, something she had promised Kerrigan not to repeat - and Mel. Oh, and she and Cassandra had later engaged in a quite different kind of sparring, one which involved walking on furniture. That girl certainly knew how to talk. And yesterday she had met Ino, who while not talking did have some mental abilities, and suspected River's. A.J. on the other hand, had no mental abilities, did not fight and while he could certainly talk she did prefer the way he expressed himself with images. Talking about mental images, Mary had mentioned the possible existence of naked sleepwalkers, something River had assumed mostly was something that lived in Jeff's mind.
Isabel had told her things that had got River a little worried about Ronan. She hadn't spoken to him since before parents' weekend, and she had to seek him out soon.
And Kerrigan, yes. They had been having conversations over coffee, which left River feeling a lot less alone and at the same time separated from others. Seeing Kerrigan was like seeing what she could become, or what she could have become. Potential or abandoned option? She wasn't sure. But watching the stars together from the Acorn there had been both closeness and distances not possible to cross.
She felt a similar feeling of understanding when meeting Anakin, and an equally similar distance too, but less of the loneliness. Perhaps having family and friends around you did make that kind of difference - unless it had to do with having met giant dancing teddy bears. River smiled to herself.
Family meant Simon, and it might be that this feeling of emptiness had something to do with him having been here and left again. The weekend had been busy; she had asked him to go and see some of her teachers, and he had got to meet a few of her friends. Including Adah. And River had got to meet Adah's mother and perhaps given a bad impression, if not a completely untrue one.
And Adah - or rather the absence of her - was probably the most important reason why the room felt empty. River had sent her a drawing, meant to let Adah see herself through River's eyes as well as ask a question. Oh, and there had been sharing of poetry, and eating of apples in libraries, which could be a lot more forbidden and tempting that one might first think. And of course there had been dancing of that particular kind, in this very room, and Adah had admitted that they did dance well together, and had later expressed a wish to have the experience repeated, which made River's cheeks grow warmer and her heart feel as if it made tiny jumps inside her chest. All would be well if it wasn't for that eel in paradise. But what was there to tempt Adah with? River was the one who brought the apples.
She rolled over to one side, turning away from the vole skeleton itself, watching only the shadows.
[Linkdrop. Open if you want, but it will have to be SP as I'm off to bed soon]
On the other hand, perhaps having some quiet time to herself was a good thing. The past month had been busy. There had been plenty of sparring, with Irulan, Cassandra, Lee - who had got quite beaten up, something she had promised Kerrigan not to repeat - and Mel. Oh, and she and Cassandra had later engaged in a quite different kind of sparring, one which involved walking on furniture. That girl certainly knew how to talk. And yesterday she had met Ino, who while not talking did have some mental abilities, and suspected River's. A.J. on the other hand, had no mental abilities, did not fight and while he could certainly talk she did prefer the way he expressed himself with images. Talking about mental images, Mary had mentioned the possible existence of naked sleepwalkers, something River had assumed mostly was something that lived in Jeff's mind.
Isabel had told her things that had got River a little worried about Ronan. She hadn't spoken to him since before parents' weekend, and she had to seek him out soon.
And Kerrigan, yes. They had been having conversations over coffee, which left River feeling a lot less alone and at the same time separated from others. Seeing Kerrigan was like seeing what she could become, or what she could have become. Potential or abandoned option? She wasn't sure. But watching the stars together from the Acorn there had been both closeness and distances not possible to cross.
She felt a similar feeling of understanding when meeting Anakin, and an equally similar distance too, but less of the loneliness. Perhaps having family and friends around you did make that kind of difference - unless it had to do with having met giant dancing teddy bears. River smiled to herself.
Family meant Simon, and it might be that this feeling of emptiness had something to do with him having been here and left again. The weekend had been busy; she had asked him to go and see some of her teachers, and he had got to meet a few of her friends. Including Adah. And River had got to meet Adah's mother and perhaps given a bad impression, if not a completely untrue one.
And Adah - or rather the absence of her - was probably the most important reason why the room felt empty. River had sent her a drawing, meant to let Adah see herself through River's eyes as well as ask a question. Oh, and there had been sharing of poetry, and eating of apples in libraries, which could be a lot more forbidden and tempting that one might first think. And of course there had been dancing of that particular kind, in this very room, and Adah had admitted that they did dance well together, and had later expressed a wish to have the experience repeated, which made River's cheeks grow warmer and her heart feel as if it made tiny jumps inside her chest. All would be well if it wasn't for that eel in paradise. But what was there to tempt Adah with? River was the one who brought the apples.
She rolled over to one side, turning away from the vole skeleton itself, watching only the shadows.
[Linkdrop. Open if you want, but it will have to be SP as I'm off to bed soon]