Video 愛 un: companioning

[companioning]

[The feed flickers a few times as Inara pokes at her phone a few times. Finally it steadies and Inara shakes her head.]

Bàoqiàn. I'm sorry, I'm still attempting to get use to these communication devices.

[She settles back and offers a charming smile before briefly dipping her head.]

Nín hǎo? For those of you I've failed to meet, I'm Inara Serra and still relatively new here. [She draws in a deep breath before continuing on.] Now I know that there are a great deal of you came from Earth, and while I find that truly fascinating and would love to hear some of your stories concerning it, I'm interested in knowing just where everyone else comes from.

I ask because though my ancestors come from Earth, though, no one has lived on Earth for centuries. I was born and raised on a planet called Sihnon. I trained there as well but before coming here, I'd spent a good year traveling between the different planets and various moons of our system.

[She takes a small sip of her tea before giving a brief nod of her head. She might have borrowed a teapot and some cups.]

I can't offer much, but I've only just made a fresh pot of tea and I'd be willing to share it with anyone who wouldn't mind telling me about where they come from.


((OOC: hover over Chinese for translations))

Comments

[companioning]

[She flashes him a knowing smile. She sees what he's doing, but she's not complaining. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.]

I'm sure I don't, though I find it impolite to ask for something without offering something in return... And tea is truly such a small thing.

[Her eyebrows do lift in interest as he continues to speak.]

I can't rightly say that I've ever heard of Europa.... But, as far as we've all been told, all of humanity left Earth because it could no longer sustain us all. It is quite possible that some were left behind though.

[rosebyanyother]

Mmm.

[Peter taps his fingers against his lips, thinking.]

As far as I know, even people living on the Outer Rim are still fairly familiar with Earth and its inhabitants. [He actually knows that pretty acutely: he was born on a planet in the Outer Rim.] Differing realities, perhaps?

[He smiles again.]

In any event, Europa is one of Jupiter's moons.

[companioning]

Or perhaps different points in time where certain facts might have been forgotten.

[Seriously, she just talked to someone who was over 500 years in what would be considered the past for her.]

Our history books don't tend to focus as much on Earth history or it's surrounding solar system as much as it should.

[rosebyanyother]

[There's a little click of his tongue and a brief nod to concede her point.]

Well, yes, that's also entirely possible. We were quite a few centuries out from the first colonization of other planets but you may be further than we are. [He continues to look contemplative.] I suppose if you're not particularly familiar with Earth's solar system, then you might not have heard of - or been taught - of the war between the solar planets and those on the outer rim of the galaxy?

[It's a recent past, for Peter's world.]

[companioning]

[Inara's eyebrows draw together and she shakes her head.]

No, I can't say that I am. The only war that I know that happened outside of Earth was the Unification War but that was rather recent. What exactly happened in the war you speak of?

[rosebyanyother]

Oh, mostly foolishness.

[Which is a very glib answer for such a long, ruinous conflict. Peter's voice regains some gravity as he goes on.]

A skirmish that began on one planet that dragged the entire galaxy into chaos for two centuries. A nasty thing that only ended in the last decade.

[companioning]

[Inara's eyebrows lift as he talks.]

Wow. Thankfully it was put behind you all... Or was it something that still darkened people's thoughts?

[rosebyanyother]

I daresay it still loomed large in many minds. Ten years isn't much when it comes to rebuilding. Though the solar planets at least had an easier time of it.

[So, maybe a little bit like the Alliance planets...

He remembers not to sound too bitter about that ease. He's supposedly from one of those solar planets.]

[companioning]

[She does pick up a little of the bitterness, but it's understandable considering.]

I can understand that. There are a great many people who are still bitter over the Reunification War where I come from.