[39: video]

[paper_knight]

Today Mark is walking up and down a snowy New York street, circa 1935 or so, knocking on doors. He's already heard from other transmissions that all of the worlds are empty, but he wants to verify it for himself. "This is the neighborhood where I grew up," he says, panning the camera over the unmarked sidewalk. "I've never seen it so empty."

Later in the day he'll make his way through the rifts to a somewhat more rural area, marked by the silhouette of a lighthouse and the sound of crashing waves. The emptiness is less eerie here--most of the homes would be locked up for the off-season anyway. Mark is poking around in the only lit building, riffling through his own filing cabinet in an attempt to determine the timeline in which this place exists. "None of this makes any sense..."

Comments

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"Terrible, actually."

But he'd been young. Falls hadn't bothered him.

"There's a rink up ahead, see?"

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Evelyn actually makes a face this time around.

"...I used to be fairly good, but this- There was a pond near our house where my brother and I would skate, and I fell through it one winter."

The fact that she almost didn't survive should be implied by the tone of her voice.

"My brother fished me out, but I've always been sort of...sort of wary of them since then."

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Evie."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

"It's nothing," she insists, "It's only natural, I suppose, with ice over water - I don't really want to trust it."

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"No. I suppose not."

He nods at the rink as they approach.

"I guess that's why they put the concrete ones in."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

"Concrete?"

What.

"You mean it's solid on the bottom?"

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

Nod nod.

"It's a little ugly in the spring. They'll put up a statue here later."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Statue? What statue? Mark, we are talking about ice-skating.

"So it's safe, then?"

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"Yes, that's the idea."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Do you...do you think we could try to skate there?

[BECAUSE IT'S SAFE NOW.]

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"If you're willing to risk it without skates."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

...the lack of equipment is a good point. Evie leans to one side and looks over at the smooth surface, deciding that she might just want to be adventurous another day.

"Perhaps...the library would be better."

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"You don't think we can make it once across the rink, between the two of us?"

He grins at her, ready to shrug it off, but equally willing to dare it.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Evelyn gazes across another snowy path towards the skating ring, expression tight and thoughtful. Then she too breaks into a smile, teasing him:

"If you don't slip and pull me with you, then yes."

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"If I don't slip?"

He strikes out towards the rink.

"Worry about yourself, Evelyn."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

"Worry about- See if I don't beat you there!"

With the determined air of a young woman who has firmly stated CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, Evie holds onto her hat and with the grace of a gazelle on the Serengeti (if it was moving in a half-foot of snow), she runs through the white powder to the rink.

Convenient pathway? What is that?

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

Assisted by slightly longer legs and a lack of skirts, Mark keeps pace, albeit less gracefully. Think aging retriever over gazelle.

At the edge of the rink he skids to a halt, panting.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Evelyn stands at the edge of the frozen slab, lingering in trepidation as a mere formality, because yes, she is actually excited now that she knows there's nothing but solid ground beneath the ice. The thought was much more intimidating without that bit of information.

Pressing the toe of a heeled shoe onto the slick surface carefully, Evie moves it around a bit before holding out her hand to Mark with another grin.

"Caught your breath?"

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

He hasn't. But he nods and takes her hand, not to be outdone.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Getting onto the ice isn't a problem. They manage that easily enough.

Staying upright and not falling over - especially for Evelyn, given her shoes - is a little harder. She clings to one of Mark's arms, but appears fully determined to face the fear of frozen surfaces.

"...how long has it been since you last did something like this, again?"

[paper-knight.livejournal.com]

"Amanda and I took Cindy once. A year or two back."

He inches along, his free arm held out for balance, sliding his feet rather than picking them up.

"If you feel like you're falling, lean forward."

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

"So-"

She recovers from a wobble quickly, following Mark's lead and balancing with her other arm.

"So is this what you did during the winters as a boy? Or-" Another wobble. "I suppose I should rephrase that: what sort of a boy were you? The mischievous type?"