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(no subject)

Who: Leto Atreides the II
Broadcast: Video
Action: Hospitality Deck, Marsiva
When: Feb 4th

[ The video activates itself to reveal a young man staring into space. His eyes are probably the most startling thing about him. Bright, eerily blue eyes that seem to pierce the fabric of reality. You may also see brown flecks of creatures embedded into his skin, near the neck and face.

And suddenly his gaze snaps back to the camera and he is all smiles and good intentions, as if a switch had been turned on. He sits on one of the many beds on the Marsiva Deck and kicks his legs, caught between the impression of a boy and a man.

( or something much older and far more dangerous ) ]

I do not need the spiel and I'm sure you are all quite thankful for that, but I am curious to know what qualifies as entertainment for our most benevolent hosts?

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[ It's easy to be patient when you know you're going to survive until you're five hundred. Not to mention his mental age far surpasses others easily. ]

I'm sure other questions will arise, in due time. Though, perhaps I'm not used to asking questions because I'm used to having the answers.

Isn't that a mysterious thing to say.

[She gives him a searching look, maybe lingering a bit too long on his eyes - they really are remarkable, not only because they're so luminous.]

You've got a lot of education, then?

[ He meets her gaze, coolly, with hints of mischief dancing in his eyes. He seems like someone who is enjoying a long joke, at someone's expense. ]

In a way. I never went to a school, like most do and I never needed a teacher.

Now you're just taking the piss. [Her own face falls into a bit of a sulk, but it's still mostly playful.] Or having me on one way or another. I can think of a few ways that'd be possible, but is this really to be 20 questions?

Who is asking? Me? You?

[ He shrugs. ]

Why would I care?

Wh - me, of course, you're the one dropping all sorts of intriguing hints about yourself.

Although your lack of curiosity on my part truly does wound me. [No it doesn't, and her tone makes that obvious.]

[ He chuckles. ]

Why be curious over what I already know?

[That's the first thing he's said that rings as almost ominous. Coming as she does from a (brief time at a) school of psionics, she narrows her eyes, everything in her expression and tone making it clear that she's treading more carefully. The time for banter has, at least, been put on hold.]

For example?

Why?

[ Must he really prove it? How droll. But how typical of humans. ]

Well, I do think I've a right to know if someone has an all-access pass to my mind. It's hardly anything new to me, I went to a school for psionics, but - my usual safeguard doesn't function quite so well in these sorts of places.

[She's vulnerable, in other words, vulnerable where she used to be tightly guarded. Her defensiveness probably makes more sense in that context.]

[ His smile deepens with amusement, though for once, it doesn't seem like he's laughing at her expense. ]

I don't ferret out the mind. Nor can I delve in there. I can read body language, read lies in skin, words in bones but your mind is - and has always been your own. I am no telepath and for that, I am grateful.

I do, however, possess the ability to view all timelines. All possible futures. And all our futures are intrinsically linked to our pasts. I can trace them, follow them, see them as a tourist might.

But I cannot ever see them through your eyes. Though I can make some deeply educated guesses.

[Her lips press together tightly as she listens. To someone else, it might not sound all that different, but her knowledge of psionic powers allows her to see the line in the sand. Small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.]

I'd prefer if you skipped over the educated guesses and asked me directly, should something ever come up. But otherwise... I understand. And I apologise if I came on rather aggressively about it.

You're not the first. But I shall let it slide, so to speak.

Yes, well. Most people may fear what they don't understand, but sometimes understanding a thing makes it all the worse.

I appreciate that, though.

You are welcome.

[ He doesn't expect much in terms of understanding. Those who can, can, and those who cannot . . well, he's hardly going to fault them for it. ]

It is a tenuous line we walk. Well. They. I'm not really part of mankind anymore.

So you've never had to ask questions because every eventuality was already in your head. Along with the reasons for it.

[She thinks about that for a moment, then lets out a sigh.]

This is probably such an ignorant thing to say that you'll laugh in my face, and I'll deserve it, but that sounds horribly dull. As much as I'd rather have seen some of the more negative outcomes of my choices before I made them, I don't see how you'd find very much adventure in your life with that gift.

[ He shrugs loosely. It's an alien gesture, at odds with his older persona. ]

You're not telling me anything I do not already know. But the attempt must be made.

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