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[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

There was something to be said for the Sensoriums. Sure, they weren't real, but they were quiet and empty of the ruins of dead (or soon-to-be) civilizations if you wanted them to be. That was more than could be said of the rest of the ship.

Here Rose could leave the worries of Stacy's mission and her own at the door, however temporarily, and after another extended stay with GLaDOS, she needed the break. Honestly, she thought the perpetual maze-running was more of a danger to her sanity/soul/whatever than the stress of interdimensional travel. Being forced to do anything never sat well with her, even in the name of mental health, so it was a relief to do as she pleased.

Which, at the moment, was nothing.

The location she had chosen positively radiated calm, silent except for the patter of raindrops. It was an old forest, the kind that took centuries to grow and was peppered with trees five metres across. One of the behemoths had been cut down, the inside eaten away by the elements to form a hollow accessible through a breach in the bark. It was here that she stretched out, eyes closed, heedless of the rain.

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[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard's not a fan of forests - too many things that could eat you out there - but he does really love the rain. So when he wanders into a Sensoriums and feels a splatter of water on the crown of his head, he can't help but start looking for who started it.

After catching some raindrops on his tongue, of course.

He sees a pair of feet inside a hollowed tree and lean over, trying to make out the shape. "Hey, you asleep in there?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose briefly toyed with the idea of saying 'yes' and seeing what his response would be to such a blatant lie, but a good bit of her residual frustration had already drained away and she was feeling good.

Blinking up at gray skies, she craned her neck to look for the source of the question. "No? Rocks and roots don't usually make good mattresses." Though the abundant leaves and moss meant that lying down wasn't a complete exercise in uncomfortableness.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"You could always be really really tired. Or narcoleptic." Howard slips off his shoes and socks and squelches some mud under his toes. Not enough rain has fallen to make suitable puddles, but he enjoys it anyway. "I haven't seen you around. You new?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose pushed herself up into sitting position. "True. And I've gotta say, slept on worse before."

She shook her head. "Been spending time running mazes. A lot. Probably should've gotten the hang of it by now..." She stopped herself before she got any more worked up about it. She paused to take a breath, pushing thoughts of retribution from her mind. "Hi. I'm Rose."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Same here. At least rocks and roots are relatively clean, right?"

Howard makes an 'ah' face. "Quest for Cakelot. I am so glad she hasn't stuck me in that thing yet. I'd lose my mind in twenty minutes, I swear."

He pushes his hands into his jacket pockets, silently signaling that he has no desire to shake hands. "I'm Howard."

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

"And flat, if you're lucky."

Rose smiled wryly. "Funny; that's the exact opposite of what they're going for. But, honestly, things'd probably go over better if she offered nothing instead of cake."

That's alright; as 'safe' as Stacy was, she liked to keep her hands free to draw if needed. "So, Howard, you enjoying your stay here?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"It's the lie that really gets to people. You get all worked up about cake and then she rips it away and it's like you slept through Christmas." With Howard's neuroses about food, he finds the fact that it's cake clear evidence that Stacy's a sadist.

"Eh. As much as you can enjoy a place where most of your time is spent having fun at work and the rest of your time is spent nearly getting eaten by dinosaurs or ghosts or whatever." He grins and squishes more mud, placing the shoes on a rock. "How about you? Aside from the whole crazy cake AI thing, which is like, the opposite of fun."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi entered the Sensoriums only to find himself in a great forest of trees, many significantly wider than he was tall. He wandered around for a little while without calling out to see who else was inside; somehow, it didn't really seem like the kind of place in which it was respectful to make much noise. Eventually, though, he came to the remains of one of the larger trees, which had apparently been cut down long ago. For lumber, perhaps. He ran a gloved hand along its rough surface, feeling the soft, rain-dampened moss growing on the old bark through the texture of the fabric. As he came around the side of the stump, he drew back slightly in surprise; he hadn't expected to find anyone inside.

The woman inside was still breathing; if anything, she seemed like she was relaxing. Or perhaps asleep. Zouichi stood outside, considering. Finally, he spoke up. "Are you all right?" She didn't seem like she was in distress, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose waved lazily, as if it were perfectly normal to be lying in the midst of a dead tree. Well, she would be the first to admit that her definition of normal was pretty screwed up. "Yep. Thank you for the concern, though."

She turned her head, opening one eye then the other to better observe him. She didn't recognize him, which wasn't much of a surprise considering the vastness of the ship. "My name's Rose." She smiled and waved again. "Hello."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, that answered his question well enough. "Zouichi," he said by way of introduction. "Pleased to meet you. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing in this tree stump? I imagine there are more comfortable places to doze."

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, too, Zouichi." Rose took care with the name, trying to get it just right; she'd always been rubbish with languages.

She shrugged and ended up with a rock digging into her shoulder, which served to reinforce his point. "It's peaceful. Being in here makes it less likely for me to get tripped over. And, since it's the Sensoriums, I can fill this with pillows if I like. Not a bad place, all in all." She gestured expansively. "There are worse places to spend the day."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi would thank you if he knew, Rose.

He blinked in surprise. "Really? Most people I talk to use it for a purpose, or dislike the idea of being here at all. I'm the former, and one of my housemates is the latter. But a forest does beat most of the rest of the ship."

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose fell rather squarely in the first camp, though she understood his housemate's view; using the Sensoriums required a certain amount of Stacy getting into your head (more so than usual, she supposed) and in the end, it was all an illusion.

She sat up and twisted around to give him her full attention. "But isn't relaxing useful, in its own way? I mean, I could fill this place with mean things full of big teeth, arm myself, and go--which I have done. But what's the point of working all the time?"

[bonnypiperlad]

From time to time a man could use a bit of peace and quiet - especially given how things often tend to go on the ship. The Sensoriums were a good place for it, and having gotten a bit of free time, Jamie had opted to go down and see if he couldn't find some of it for himself.

The forest wasn't what he had been expecting, but the rain was comforting, familiar in a way. And the forest was as well, despite its vast age. Content enough to wander through it, he very nearly went right past the hollowed out tree without realising it was occupied. Only a chance glimpse down at just the right moment caused him to stop and retrace his steps to take a second look. The woman inside was hard to make out, but seemed familiar. In fact, it almost looked like...

"Rose?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Now there was a voice Rose hadn't heard in a while. Granted, it felt like ages since she'd heard anyone but herself and that maddening AI, but that didn't stop her from greeting him with a wide smile.

"Last time I checked, yeah." She held up a hand as if to double-check. "Yep, still me. Hello, Jamie. Fancy meeting you in a place like this."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, well," he replied a touch dryly, "There's worse places to be, aren't there?" He looked around him at the forest for a long moment. This one, in particular, was a good one. When he turned to look at her again, it was with a smile.

"It's good to see ye, Rose. Have ye been awake again long, or were ye just running mazes for GLaDOS?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I can think of a few." The ones that came to mind tended to be dark enclosed spaces, abandoned tunnels or impossible mines. It was part of the reason she'd chosen this scene: sky overhead, barely touched by man, nature at its finest.

"It's good to be seen." Her joyful grin was replaced with a smile, more subdued but just as genuine. "I was paying my dues with GLaDOS. Not sure if that's better or worse than a repeat of the slimy goop, but I suppose less tentacles are a good thing."

"How've you been these past..." She trailed off, not sure she actually wanted to know how long she'd been out or if he could even tell in the first place--time being all wobbly on Stacy. "Anything exciting happen?"

[bonnypiperlad]

"I suppose they are, at that." Not too many people are likely to argue that less tentacles are a bad thing, in his opinion - although he supposes there could be the odd alien who would disagree there.

Fortunately, the only thing resembling tentacles at the moment might be the odd bit of plant growth, and that's not going to bother him any. He settles down nearby, adjusting his kilt as he does so. Depending on the last thing she remembers, trying to explain 'anything exciting' could take a fair amount of time. No sense in standing around to do it.

"There's been quite a few things, depending on your definition of the word. Do ye want the battles or which Doctors are awake to start with?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose had half-expected the first; after all, they had been recruited as soldiers in this. But the second half had her head snapping up to stare at him. All sorts of questions bubbled up--when were the battles, against whom, how well they'd fared, etc.--but the only thing that managed to escape her throat was "Doctors?"

The word ended up half an octave higher than it had started. She mentally kicked herself for sounding so much like a schoolgirl who'd just heard that the pretty boy had asked about her. "Did your Doctor wake up?"

[battorch]

Tim, though he is out of costume and therefore technically off duty, wasn't sure that the thought of literally sitting and doing nothing would ever sit right with him. But the Sensoriums were always an interesting insight into the other crew members, and so it was worth it to check the simulations out, if nothing else, even if he wasn't a big fan.

Seeing the blonde resting, though he didn't recognise her, he tried for a faint smile, and asked softly, "This is yours, I take it?"

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose's mind had wandered to random topics, currently pondering how something with no nose could breathe, when a voice interrupted. Its owner was male, American if she wasn't mistaken (though, with Stacy's automatic translation of things, she very well could have been), and kind enough to keep his voice down. She was glad for the consideration; a sudden start likely would've undone all the decompression she'd been aimming for.

She opened her eyes to watch him, returning his smile with one of her own. "I think technically this belongs to the people of Earth--one of 'em, anyway--but I'm the one that called it up, yeah. Do you like it?"

[battorch]

"Yeah, that's what I meant-- I thought I recognised the scene itself," Tim nodded to that, with a half smile. He straightens up, and his voice raises back to normal levels now that she was obviously alert. "It's nice, though, yeah. Peaceful, I guess is the word for it."

He paused, then said, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

"Oh..." Rose propped herself up in a more vertical position, her eyes curious. "A fellow Earthling, or just well-traveled?"

"Not a thing; I would've put up a sign or something otherwise." She imagined one of those hotel 'Do Not Disturb' signs balanced against the stump and laughed. "It's the Sensoriums, after all. Everyone's free to use it, except those afraid of trees, I guess."

[battorch]

"A bit of both," Tim replied easily. "But my travelling was more domestic than this," he explained, gesturing around them, indicating the ship. As Robin he'd seen other worlds-- as Tim he'd just seen the world.

"Fair enough," he laughed, and moved a little closer. "That would kind of be a problem." He paused, then said, "Tim Drake, by the way," and extended a hand.

[burntlikethesun.livejournal.com]

Rose nodded, her lips quirked up in a secretive smile. "I think that's true for most; squishy spaceship travel just isn't that common." She half-shrugged. "Though it seems like every other person I've met is from Earth or knows of it. A bit odd, that."

She stood to shake his hand, discovering that she was only a little shorter than the teen. "A pleasure. Rose Tyler."