12;

[rude_not_ginger]

[Oh, look who it is. Not bustling, not running around, not talking. Just quietly there.]

[He's been scarce on the Plane lately, his current situation making him anything but social. As it is, he's here now, staring at the post he has on the Plane, waiting for a promised letter. Feel free to interrupt.]

Comments

[chasingstars201]

[Still in scrubs, wrapped again in the doctor's coat. She feels like a kid standing next to him right now, with his serious face and his height and her tininess and what feels like pajamas and a jacket that's too big.

Never mind those stupid gray hairs. She runs her fingers over them, shakes her head, and reaches out to touch his arm.]

Doctor?

[rude_not_ginger]

[the Doctor will never admit it, but he's so very, very grateful to see Misaki. At least one person out there doesn't know what a terrible mess he's made of everything]

Hi.

[chasingstars201]

[Leaves her hand there.] Hi.

[Not sure what to say.] I suppose asking if you're all right would be rather stupid.

[rude_not_ginger]

I'm always all right.

[tries a smile] Proper doctor today?

[chasingstars201]

You and me both. [tries one of her own.] Not really, no.

[rude_not_ginger]

What happened?

[chasingstars201]

[Tokyo blew up a little.]

Tokyo... [derp] Blew up a little.

[rude_not_ginger]

[...]

How much is a little?

[chasingstars201]

[Uhhh. She tugs the coat closer around herself.] A lot?

[Sighs and rubs her forehead with one hand.]

A lot.

[rude_not_ginger]

[turns to face her fully]

Are you all right? What happened---how did it blow up?

[chasingstars201]

I'm-- [She stops, shakes her head] I'm not fine. [And neither is he, and she knows it, and she'll get to that later you can bet.]

We thought it was just... terrorists, liberators, activists, the usual. But it's not. They have designs on the whole country, starting with Tokyo and the Gate. I'm inside PANDORA--

[Gah, she can't even remember how much he knows and how much he doesn't.] I'm a prisoner, more or less.

[rude_not_ginger]

What's PANDORA?

[chasingstars201]

A research facility. It used to be, at least. It-- [BLAH. HISTORY LESSONS, WRRYY.] How much have I told you about the Gates? Have I told you anything at all?

[rude_not_ginger]

Very little.

Hold on a mo'.

[vanishes off the plane, returns with two glasses of wine---normally it would be tea, but he's having a bad day]

[chasingstars201]

[Normally she wouldn't accept, either, but misery loves company that brings wine.]

[She settles down on the Plane.] This is going to sound a bit rehearsed, probably. [A sip of wine to clear her throat and head.] Ten--well, almost eleven years ago now, the Gates appeared on earth. Heaven's Gate in South America, Hell's Gate in Tokyo, Japan. They're realms of physical impossibility. Chaos. Where the 'rules' of the natural world as we know them are turned on their heads and then pulverized.

[Another sip.] They're the subject of constant rumor, study, and curiosity, and have been since they showed up. Simultaneous to the Gates' appearance, the real stars and the moon disappeared.

[She pauses there because, ahaha... he's probably going to have questions about that.]

[rude_not_ginger]

Universal rifts. [the Doctor thinks he understands this]

And then the stars went out.