Doors

[Phone call to Gemma D]
[At the work contact number Gemma had listed at the studio. Mid-morning. Ring.]

Your Majesty, I have not heard from you since Christmas. How are you faring?

There isn't anybody here who wants private ballet lessons, is there...? I'm looking to keep up my ballet practice now that the studio I was teaching at is closed.

[Phone Call: Justine S/Benji S]
Ring Ring

[Locked: Gemma D/Malcolm D/Justine S]
Hey guys.  I'm sorry I've been gone for so long.  [....] How are you two doing?

[Text: Eti/Justine S]
Eti? I really need to talk to you.

[Locked: Andrew P/Justine S]
Sorry for disappearing for so long.  Take me to see your new house?

[Locked: Batman/Justine S]
Did all of your friends and family survive the plague?

[Public]
I don't know if even a trip to the spa is enough to decompress after everything.  There's a part of me that just wants to dance until my feet fall off, but that won't help things either I don't think.  I just need something to take my mind off things.  Is anyone else in the same boat? I know there are

ETA: Does anyone have studio space I could rent for a few afternoons? I need a wide open space, preferably one with a wall of mirrors. I'm looking to practice ballet. Thank you!

[Locked: Tony S/Pepper P]
After not being through the door since their last conversation, she steps through just as the alarm goes off into her office in Stark Tower.

Where are you?

[After talking to Tony]

[Locked: Thor | Benji S/ Pepper P]
I need to speak with either of you when you have a moment.

[Locked: Gemma D/Malcolm D/Pepper P]
Mr & Ms Darcy,
I am Justine's counterpart through the door and something's come up that I need to stay here at present. She'll be in touch when she's back.
-Pepper Potts

[Text: Olive P/"Justine S"]
Emergency. Missing work. Sorry.

[Locked: Mary Jane W/Pepper P]
I hope you're doing well given the current blackout. I just wanted to let you know that, given the current circumstances, it's not necessary to report to work. Take all the time you need.

[public]

As part of yoga teacher training, I am looking for students willing to be guinea pigs for one-on-one yoga sessions. I've taken special sessions on adapting yoga for chronic injuries and other health needs. I also dance ballet and incorporate parts of ballet training into yoga. If you'd be willing to fill out evaluations after a session of instruction, you can have a private lesson for free!

So this is a real thing, is it? Not some prank or some wickedly clever tablet device made to look like a book?

Well, game on, then, I guess.

I really enjoy the company of the voice in my head. I can't be the only one, can I?

...well, she's not my voice, she's independent of me. You can't own another person, even if they don't have a physical body here. They must, somewhere.

But I don't know what to make of the idea that she was a time traveler. ...is a time traveler. I don't think that's a profession that can exist in only one tense.

[after trying to watch Kingdom of Heaven but before talking to Svetlana.]

[locked to Justine]
If I tell you where I am can you come stay with me? Some weird stuff happened, I'm alone right now and don't want to be.

[locked to Malcolm]
Where did you go? Please answer your phone.

So this is a magical book. And everyone talks to each other in it. (Don't worry, I did the background reading and paged through the conversations that have been going on for the past two weeks or so. It seemed like the sensible thing to do, and you all are so informative.) Which means all of you are real, and milling about through this city somewhere, and I will probably encounter at least some of you eventually. It also means that I'm not crazy, I'm not the only one who hears thing, and apparently, the mumbling in Latin is at least somewhat standard issue for these voices.

This is all good to know. It has done a great deal for my perspective on my own sanity. I appreciate that immensely.

So I'm Svetlana. The voice in my brain is named Katherine. We're pleased to meet you. Because this is not the world's weirdest introduction or anything, not at all.

[after Gemma arrives, sometime in the very early morning.]

Hello?

[a few minutes later, in heavy miniscule handwriting.]

Mea nomen Miles. Qui legit librum hoc?