Week 67: Happiness and Heartache

The plague doctor laid her phone down beside her and sunk into her bed. She had sent out the invitations, booked work space for the week and organised for Anasigma's passage on the worldview. The four poster, queen sized bed was luxurious and so, so soft. Coraline's expression curled with concern and after a moment she grabbed her phone once more.

Silvia, m'lady, its Coraline.

Hope you are in much better health than the last time I saw you. Speaking of, I would very much like the delight of your company this evening. And not just because I haven't seen anyone for more than a week >< XD. Hope to see you soon darling.

Eagerly anticipating your response,

Coraline.

Silvia,

That's so good to hear, I must admit I had... misconceptions about Jerusalem. All the same, its very good, that your well. I hope everyone else is doing as better as well of course. I would like to meet you at the entrance to The Path of Planets. It's in the east wing somewhere, it shouldn't be hard to find. How does six thirty sound?

See you soon? =3
Coraline

***

The Path of Planets was an art gallery toward the front of the lower eastern decks. It was a walkway that exhibits the celestial bodies of the milky way along its paths. Some of the pieces were standard painted and sculpted works, sat neatly on plinths along the narrow-ish bridge, narrow for the world view at least. Other works, such as anti gravity scale models of the planets, made the bridge necessary as it left space above, beside and below the walk itself to accommodate the pieces. The main exhibit however, was through the door at the end of the walkway* and was one of the art world best and worst kept secrets. Best in that no one who hadn't been there knew what was inside, worst in that everyone knew it was incredible.

Coraline had arrived ten minutes early dressed in a blue, smart casual three piece suit. The shirt and jacket were both the same light blue while the trousers and waistcoat were both a deeper blue. Only the scarf around her neck was a different colour, which alternated light and deep orange and fell over the plague doctor's shoulder to about her waist. She held a small bouquet of tulips and wore long opera gloves. Coraline was leaning against the railing at the beginning of the bridge/walkway but in a refined kind of way.

* There were in fact many doors, spread over several floors at the end of that walkway. Each housing the same exhibit, so that every group would be able to see it on their own. What else could you expect from the EI?

Silvia arrived about five minutes after Coraline, looking rather overshadowed by the exhibit. She was wearing her normal ensemble of baggy trousers and plain white T-shirt, and casting an interested eye over the works of art. Once she spotted Coraline (which didn't take long), she hesitated for a moment, glancing self-consciously down at her clothing, before making her way over to the ex-EI Agent.

"Uh...hi. This place is...big," she ventured. "Some pretty good stuff in here, too."

"Hey M'lady. Looking good, if you don't mind my saying so." Considering how Silvia had looked the last time Coraline had seen her it wasn't hard to believe. The way the plague doctor's smile died, before glancing down for a moment more or less gave away that that was preying on her mind. The ex VK agent rallied immediately, grinning hugely up at the former shinjitsu agent. "You're telling me, so glad to have found time for it... with you." The fashionista coloured slightly and took Silvia's arm, sliding tenderly into the other woman's personal space. Coraline tipped her head to the walkway while keeping eye contact and said, brightly, "shall we?"

At Coraline's moment of hesitation, Silvia's own expression fell for a moment, but like Coraline, she managed to force a smile. Unlike Coraline, hers was entirely unconvincing.

"Right, certainly." She let Coraline take her arm and began walking with the other woman down the walkway, her eyes drifting to the various artworks. "You...uh...you do know that me and Hugo are...back together, right? Not that we were ever...together in the first place, but you...you know what I mean. Just...I thought I should...point it out. Because this probably shouldn't be a...a date."

"Okay, no dates." The plague doctor smiled an indulgent smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But we should catch up still, at the very least." Despite the cheer in her voice the fashionista was facing away from Silvia now and kept her eyes on the art. "And you've just told me yo started a relationship, congratulations! You just can't leave it at that M'lady, you simply can't. How is it going? Who asked who? Isn't it just so romantic?" There was a slight lilt accompanying the wistfulness in Coraline's last sentence.

Silvia was sufficiently distracted by the artwork and relieved that Coraline seemed fine with this news not to notice the tell-tale signs that she might not be as happy as she appeared. Not to mention that she was trying to work out how to answer her questions.

"Well, uh, I'm not sure either of us really asked..." she tried, hesitantly. "I mean...we just...kind of got to talking. About...all the stuff that had happened after...after we all went out. And we sort of just...worked through all that stuff, and talked about how Una fits into it all and we just sort of...decided that didn't...matter so much. I mean," she added, slightly embarrassed, "I don't think we ever even...said specifically it was a relationship."

She paused for a moment, examining a particularly good painting of the surface of Venus. When she turned back, she had a slightly confused expression on her face. "Uh...why do you keep calling me m'lady?"

Coraline kept her face turned away from Silvia as she replied, pretending to study a piece titled scrap-earth. "Mmmm, I thought it might suit you, calling everyone sweetie and darling all the time was getting bothersome I thought. I mean I like darling, don't get me wrong but I am having doubts about sweetie. And I think it does fit you quite well; refined, proper, courteous, dangerous. M'lady." Silvia could see that Coraline was grinning, even with her face turned away, her smile was that wide. The plague doctor bobbed slightly as she walked, as though to emphasize the point. "Plus, I like having something special to call my fiends by. What was Jerusalem really like, the city? I'm afraid I may have had entirely the wrong image of the place pressed upon me. Though even if what you have seen dissuades me of that notion, the things you hear about the people.... Surely they're true? I mean they burnt the Deagu genelabs, didn't they?"

Silvia seemed pleased with Coraline's description of her, smiling and lifting her head slightly higher. "Uh...well, thanks. That's...quite a compliment. Not sure I'd...quite call myself refined, though. Or even particularly dangerous, considering some of the other guys."

In response to Coraline's questions about Jerusalem, she turned her head to one side a little and thought, trying to work out how best to describe it. "The city, it was...nice. Simple. I mean...the people I saw weren't anti-tech, exactly. They just...preferred living without it. Everything was more...basic. I quite liked it, to be honest, but that might just be me. I'm kind of used to it, I guess. I was visiting some of the..uh...calmer bits, though," she hastened to add. "I mean, I was in therapy. I'm sure some of the people there are more...zealous than the ones I saw."

"We'll have to downgrade you to just deadly then, if you insist you're not that dangerous," Coraline said, gently teasing her friend. The plague doctor turned her head to face Silvia and listened with readily apparent interest, nodding when the former shinjitsu agent had finished. "Hm, it does sound peaceful. I don't really know how I would get through the day without my phone, nevermind anything more personal but that might just be me." The former VK agent sounded a little doubtful, even as she playfully echoed Silva.

Coraline glanced at Silvia, at little nervously before continuing. "At any rate we'll be arriving at Vastaag before too long and, um, well I'm going to put on a fashion show. Positron, the poor charming man, and Ace they set up a fashion company, Anasigma, and asked me to head it. We've six designs all ready to go, each characteristic of a range that'll be coming out later in the year. A good venue, "The Show" nice and cosy, so we shouldn't have any problems getting EI fashion hotshots through the doors. It ought to be a good evening... does that sound like something you would like to come to? The plague doctor's pace slowed slightly as she tripped over her words. They had already past the halfway point and just cleared a plinth, proudly displaying a mini bubblegum Jupiter which hovered in the air and even had tiny bubble moons in orbit.

"A...fashion show?" Silvia sounded rather surprised, and once again glanced down at the differences in their two outfits. "I...uh, it's not my usual thing. I mean, I'd probably feel a bit...out of place." Realising how she was sounding, she stopped for a moment and worked herself up to say something. "But...I mean, I'd love to give it a try, support you. You know, be there for you. And for...Positron." It was evidently difficult for her to say the dead Agent's name, but she still did so fairly matter-of-factly.

"That would be.... great. It would mean a lot to me." The plague doctor seemed far more sobre than Silvia had heard her [[pres+L&A pass by 3]] As they reached the door Coraline detached herself and bobbed over, going ahead of her companion.

"Now, there was one other thing about the fashion show. And I asked you if you wanted to come first because I want you to know that your invitation is in no way contingent on whether or not you agree to this next part. I'm afraid Anasigma only has one model on staff and Elody, the poor sweet thing, is rather having trouble finding any models on Vastaag who aren't all booked up for years. And I was wondering if you would like to, I mean I know it isn't really your scene, but.... I wanted to ask." The ex VK agent said, despite never actually asking a question. Before Silvia could answer Coraline opened the door and stepped to the side. She bowed as she did so and indicated with a wave of her arm that the shinjitsu agent should enter.[/color]

Silvia didn't even glance at what might be beyond the door, too busy staring in incredulity at Coraline.

"You...wha...you want...you want..." She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "You...want me to...to model for you? Me? Wh...why? I mean...I'd be terrible!" There was a definite note of panic in her voice now and her eyes were wide. "I mean...you saw me before Fenris' party...I was a mess!"

Coraline looked utterly nonplussed, this was not how things were supposed to go at all. She straightened, reaching out to place one arm gently on her companions forearm. "Silvia, it wouldn't be like that. We would be with you from start to finish, ah." The plague doctor trailed off for a moment, frowning and biting her lip. When she spoke again her voice was tentative and unsure [Pass L&A by 4]. "I should apologise to you for that, come to think of it. I made that outfit for you and then didn't show you how to wear it at all. I expected you to know what to do with it without even considering, and you can't realistically do that to someone. So, for that I'm sorry. Please believe me, it is not a mistake I'd inflict on anyone again, okay?" Coraline nodded once at the end of her apology, hoping that Silvia would mirror the motion and its meaning.

"Okay, okay," Silvia replied, mirroring the nod. "I mean, it's not your fault, I should have said something..." She hesitated again, trying to sort out the idea. "And...well, I'd be terrible at modelling, even if I knew how to wear the outfit. I mean...it needs...confidence, right? In front of people?" She still sounded scared about the idea, but for those who knew how to read her, there were the tell-tale signs that she just might be persuadable. Even if it might take some convincing.

"I can't say I know M'lady, I've never done it. At least not in front of anyone I didn't know. But primarily it is about the walk, the stance and you know poise. And if you don't mind my saying you certainly have that down pat." Coraline careful did not mention anything about keeping a straight face or moving to show off the outfit for maximum impact. [L&A pass by 11]

Coraline took her hand back and brought it up to rest her chin on. "I think you would make a good model, but I could be considered biased. Its your choice darling, and you are of course free to decline. Really I.... I asked to find out whether or not you would like to do it, even knowing it is outside your comfort zone. But I think its fairly clear that you don't want to. And if thats the case, then no more need be said about it. Honestly I don't mind." The plague doctor moved to stand beside Silvia once more and took her arm, smiling. [L&A pass by 6].

"Shall we?"

Silvia let Coraline take her arm, but didn't move, thinking over what the other woman was saying. Well...people (or at least Hugo) did think she should try and be more confident. And if Coraline thought she could do it...well, she trusted the fashionista's judgement.

"I'll do it," she said, the words coming out in a rush. "I mean...don't expect me to be any good or anything, but...I'll try it. If you need me."

[Pass L&A by 3] The plague doctor grimaced as if struck when Silvia said 'if you need me,' but recovered quickly. She nodded before speaking in a very small voice. "I think in this instance... I do. And I'll happily repay that when you need me to even if its much more... you know, Oracle." Coraline sighed deeply and gently tugged on the other woman's arm. "Let's go in now, shall we dear." It wasn't said like a question.

For a moment, Silvia closed her eyes, wondering what she'd just got herself into. Hopefully, nothing too awful, but there was a horrible feeling in her gut nonetheless.

"Right, uh, yes," she said, coming back to the present as Coraline tugged on her arm, and turning her gaze to focus on the exhibition in front of them.

Once both agents were inside the door shut behind them with a soft click. Initially the room was not lit at all, not that that impeded either agent from seeing the large rectangular room before them. Or the fact that it was empty, devoid of any object or display. Well save for the all lights embedded in all walls, floor and ceiling. All of the lights switched on at once, half powered beams emitting from pin prick sized lenses. Combined with whatever material the room was shaped out of, the effect was that to regular vision the room lost all definition and the two agents stood alone. Upon an invisible platform floating in a space, surrounded by stars, all of them so very far away.

The hologram flickered to life next, a complete, to scale model of Earth's solar system. Jupiter, somewhat larger than Coraline's torso passed overhead as the planets began their orbit. Its moon's surfaces were rendered in glorious detail, with only a faint green glow around Vastaag catering to EI's ego. The sun did not hurt to look at, allowing the audience to see the nuclear furnace churning away, bringing light and life to it's worlds. Scrolling yellow text began to appear on the floor beneath the agent's feet, growing larger and more defined as it approached the Earth. The text was a constantly updating time stamp, the current time and the names listed beneath it were not those of the artists who had made the display, but the names of the satellite's broadcasting live into the hologram generator. Coraline and Silvia stood in a living, exact model of their solar system.

Never one to be outdone, Coraline began to glow a faint light blue shrugging apologetically at Silvia. The former Shinjitsu agent could feel the hum of the lights and hologram projector through her feet and all other visions were not fooled by the illusion but, why would anyone want to see through this?

Almost absent-mindedly, Silvia turned off her various vision upgrades, one by one. This was something that should be appreciated without cybernetics. Slowly, carefully, she began to walk around the hologram, taking in as much of it as she could, a look of absorption on her face. She didn't say anything, just crouching slightly to observe some of the planets with a discerning eye.