(Untitled)

[river_meimei]

The door opens, and River steps into the bar. She moves in slow, dancer's steps, silent and barefoot. She's wearing the long brown duster that was Roland's once, over a purple sundress that sways around her knees in floating layers

Comments

[creator_raven]

Raven watches her, head tilted.

"It is not so bad to be careful, perhaps."

He takes a bite of sugar cookie, twirling the remains in his hand as he chews.

Only it's Earth's moon, instead.

He takes another bite.

[river_meimei]

River stares at the moon in his hand, as he lowers it. Tiny moon-fragments fall to the table; Olympus Mons is half a mountain, now, sliced neater than any volcano could manage. Her hand lifts, a little, and drops.

Her eyes flick to his shoulder, his face. He's chewing.

[creator_raven]

Raven swallows, and his hands are empty.

Then he blinks.

"You are wanting one, too, perhaps?"

He picks up another cookie, holding it out.

[river_meimei]

"It's too big," River says softly.

"Can't digest a planetary satellite."

It's still a cookie, dripping magma. The droplets hiss when they strike wood.

Beat. "I had dinner."

[thedoctorwho]

Oblivious to future canon, the Doctor is sitting nearby, sipping tea and looking through the stack of documents that Ray had left with him.

He looks over to the young girl in the dress and duster with no shoes, and sets the tea down. Something does not feel right about this.

"Hello there!" he says, cheerily enough.

[river_meimei]

River glances at him.

His tea is bubbling over, spilling onto the saucer, boiling over to the table.

"Tea," she says.

"Hi."

[thedoctorwho]

His smile wavers for a half-tick before returning.

"Tha's right, tea. Would you like some?"

[river_meimei]

"I had dinner," River informs him seriously.

The tea is still bubbling over, a never-ending fountain. The puddle's edge laps an inch from the documents, now.

[buriedmybrother]

Antigone doesn't seem to feel the silk of the petals beneath her feet.

But there is a moment of looking down, taking them in and smiling--

No there isn't.

"River."

[river_meimei]

Of course there isn't, because the daisy petals aren't there any more. They're gone, between one instant and the next, blinked out of existance, and River looks downcast for a moment. Almost bereft.

And then Antigone's voice penetrates, and she lifts her head, and smiles a little, her face warming.

"Yes."

Antigone has a handful of dirt. It drips to the floor in tiny clods.

[buriedmybrother]

She returns the smile, just slightly.

The dirt turns to rose petals as it falls-- vibrant green-- but Antigone doesn't pay this any mind.

"Are you well?"

[river_meimei]

"I'm okay," River says, and smiles a little more.

[mmquitecontrary]

Mary regards the floor as well, seriously; there might be another coffee stain, after all.

She hasn't noticed the strange hunch of her right shoulder.

[river_meimei]

"Watch," River says softly. "They're spreading."

The petals are; they drift over Mary's feet, covering the toes of her shoes.

[mmquitecontrary]

"It is only the floor," Mary says, puzzled, and glances up; the twisted shoulder gives her neck an odd angle.

"It does not get bigger."

[river_meimei]

River tosses a tiny sideways smile at her, though her eyes fix on the hunched shoulder.

"Could."

[gabriel_tam]

His manner is slightly abstracted as he walks through the door, and he's looking down at the black briefcase full of medical reports that weighs heavy in his hands-- although not as heavy as the datapad in his inner jacket pocket.

He hasn't seen her.

[river_meimei]

River watches him move, her face blank and hard to read.

The briefcase chitters and jerks in his hands.

[gabriel_tam]

As he glances around the room, he spies her, and everything about him changes in a single moment.

"River," Gabriel says, smiling. He doesn't notice the red evening jacket that forms around him like shimmering smoke.

His expression sharpens a little in concentration and concern, however, as he notices the blankness of her gaze. "Are you all right, băobèi?"

As he crosses the room towards her, the black briefcase falls forgotten from his hand. The handle transforms itself into a chain at his ankle, the rest dragging behind him like a weight as he limps along.

(His stride is hurried, but unhindered.)

[river_meimei]

River stares at the ground behind him, the briefcase like a ball and chain, and her hand lifts a little in what might be protest.

"Daddy."

It's half identification, half greeting.