| Secret Newsletter |
| Summary: | Alexander brings up the need for a newspaper with Sawyer - in turn she interviews him. |
| Date: | 2.3.2041 |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
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Guest Quarters
The area here has been spiffed up for the Delegates. Bunks are kept neat as a pin, the lockers are brand new and have a beautiful shine on the fake wood. A table sits in the center with a vase of fake flowers resting in the middle. The deck has been mostly covered with a round, braided rug of multiple colors. To the back of the area, there is a private shower area. This is just one of five separate areas along Deck 3.
Alexander Aurelia sits in civilian clothing with a sucker in his mouth and a strategic look on his face. While he isn't given to many emotional outbursts he is able to calmly think things through and for right now he is having a good long think. What about? Who knows, though he is waiting for someone to arrive and he has sent a letter to one Sawyer Averies. He is currently dressed in an informal suit, so snappy casual it is.
Sawyer is punctual if not a few moments early, it's not like she has anywhere else to be at the moment. The ship is rather stuck in limbo for the time being, and it's a strange kind of purgatory. No one knows what is up and what is down, but one thing Sawyer knows for certain. She has an appointment. Dressed in slacks and a white dress shirt, Sawyer presses through the hatch with some tools of the trade slung in a satchel at her side. When she spies Alexander waiting there, her smile blooms on her features. "Mister Aurelia. A pleasure."
Alexander stands and he offers a hand to Sawyer, "Ms. Averies it is a pleasure to see you. Please, make yourself at home, I don't have much in the way of amenities but I can provide you with a sucker if you would like and I do have a cold soda or hot coffee available if you would like?" Alexander is being formal and he is keeping his manners, this is part of his Caprican upbringing as well as his time in the Entertainment industry. Alexander learned a long time ago that more flies are caught with honey than with vinegar and so the actor maintains a polite sense about himself at all times.
Sawyer clasps hands with Alexander warmly, laying her other hand over their conjoined ones for a brief moment. "No, no. I'm fine. I just came from breakfast, so I'm all set." She slips her hand out of his and motions to a chair, "May I?" The strap of her bag is slid off her shoulder. "I have to admit I'm surprised you asked to see me here. I thought you were staying over in Raptor berthings? Or has your posting been revoked considering the times?"
Alexander's handshake is courteous and professional, he is well versed either in the arts of deception or how to act in public either way he motions for Sawyer to take a seat a table in the room. "I am afraid my career as an officer has been cut short due to unforseeable events, yes. Though as they say when one door closes another one opens and I am looking through a newly opened door." There is a brief smile that comes to his face as he has an idea, a very clever one. "I would like to discuss something with you. Though it must remain off the books for now. Although I think you will like my suggestion. If you can accept what I have to say private we might be able to go into a partnership of sorts." A beat, "And I assure you there is nothing dirty about what I am about to propose."
Sawyer slips into a seat and starts rummaging for her recorder, but as he says those fated words that sound remarkeably like 'off the record', the reporter's shoulders sag slightly. "No, of course. Sorry to hear that your project was cut short. They haven't moved me out of Viper berthings yet, but I imagine it's just a matter of time." She closes her satchel and sets it aside. Seems she won't be needing it. "Alright. So…what is it you want to talk to me about? I'm all ears, my friend."
"I suggest we start a newspaper. One here on this ship. I think it would be in our best interests to do so anonymously. We might consider using nom de plume for articles. I know you know of some other reporters on this ship and perhaps they might be interested as well?" The offer is now put out in the open. It is there for Sawyer to take or deny, "I am not sure about gathering the materials we will need just yet but I am sure we can figure something out? Perhaps we could use someone from engineering to help us with a mass printer? As for paper, I'm also not sure about that yet though I'm sure if we got a small group together and put our heads together we could figure something out?" Alexander then simply studies Sawyer, for now he isn't acting like a movie star and he isn't throwing around the charm. He is being serious about this and he wants to look for any sign from her face as to how she feels about this.
The look on Sawyer's face is puzzlement. "Don't you think we're jumping the gun here? I mean, my article get circulated was a fluke. Someone nipped a printout of it and ran with it. Now, we don't even know what we're going to find when we get home. I may very well still have a magazine to write for when we get back. This is just a temporary situation, I don't see why we need to start our own paper. And besides, I have no shame in what I write, I won't use a nom de plume."
Alexander frowns for a moment, "I'm not so sure that what we will find based on what I heard over the com channels. I'm still not entirely sure what is going on but I believe the picture looks pretty bleak for now. I hope I am wrong but if I am right we might need to honestly consider forming a group to start writting the truth about things that are going on around this ship." Alexander for his part has been spinning this around in his brain over and over again and this is the best conclusion he can come up with, "Just, think about it for a while. If I am wrong then you have every right to laugh at me and I'll give you exclusive rights to a horrible embarrassing story about me that should swing your career upwardly in a stratospheric sense."
Sawyer leans forward, propping her elbow on the table. "Why don't you give me one now, as a show of good faith?" Apparently she knows he'll treat the question as rhetorical or he'll out right deny her, so she just keeps on talking. "Look. If this is really the end all be all of life as we know it, it's not going to silence me. I'll keep on writing as long as there's blood in my veins, even if I have to use that blood to scrawl on the walls. I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I'm saying I can't lose faith yet. I just can't."
Alexander looks at Sawyer and she might be the devil in this deal, however, the Caprican actor takes his sucker and he puts it in his mouth. The effect is utterly serious, well, it would be if it were a cigar or a cigarette but here the Kojack effect doesn't work. "Alright, as a sign of good faith. What is it you want to know? Ask away and I'll tell you the truth." As for the end of the world, Alexander says nothing because he can't confirm or deny it beyond his own dark suspicions.
Sawyer was perhaps only half serious in her request, as she likely would have agreed to the newspaper without any juicy actor tidbits. Entertainment news was never her forte, but she's not about to waste the opportunity of a wide open door into the world of Alexander Aurelia. She's likely seen him on the silver screen enough to wonder a thing or two about the man. "You're not married." Okay, that's not really a question, but it's a lead up. "All the tabloids would just be itching to get an exclusive on your love life, but none of your leading ladies have anything but good if neutral things to say about you. How do you avoid all the gossip? Where does your heart really lie?"
Alexander looks at Sawyer for a moment and he looks reflective as he is honestly thinking about this question and he clearly isn't writting Sawyer off. Such is his devotion to his ideas that he will even answer this question as he says, "That is a good question isn't it? I am firmly commited to my roles and I've often felt it was unfair to be in a relationship with someone when once or twice a year I become this other person. To be honest I feel like it would be cheating on my girlfriend or wife to come home as this other person who may or may not be desirable." Alexander continues to think as he takes the sucker out of his mouth, "And, to be fair, I don't know if I can live up to the fantasy that is Alexander Aurelia. The man on the screen and on the camera is very different from who I am in day to day life. I'm afraid the real me is slightly boring and I would hate to shatter someone's illusion of me. As for my leading ladies, they have been kind to me as I have been kind to them. In this business it isn't a good idea to say bad things about others in the business in public. And to be fair at the end of the day I have nothing but nice things to say about my leading ladies. Though I don't think I would like to date inside of the business, I'd like someone a bit more…normal. Grounded."
Sawyer isn't writing any of this down, nor does she have a recorder going, but it stands to reason that she probably has a rather sharp memory when it comes to this. "But surely even you, Alexander Aurelia, gets that…itch of loneliness. What then?" Oh yes, she's prying, but hey. That's her job.
Alexander thinks about what he does when he has an itch, "Well, when I get an itch I am not the type to run off and scratch it." He thinks for a moment taking a second to form his words and eventually they come out, "I try to channel that energy into something positive and use it for my work. Also, to be honest, the thought of having some woman claim I made her pregnant so she can take half of everything I have ever earned is enough to keep me from scratching those itches. To many other actors have fallend down that very dangerous path. I do my best not to be one of them." Another thoughtful pause and then after a beat, "Though yes, I'm often very lonely.'
Sawyer leans back in her chair, as if she's satisfied with that answer, at least momentarily. As a journalist, it's her job to keep her opinion to herself. But it's not above her to offer something for him to think about. To pump the sensationalism. Boost the ratings. "Well. Maybe if it is really the end of the Colonies as we know them…you'll be able to finally allow yourself a modicum of selfishness."
And there it is were a camera on him this would be the shot, this would be the bit that would propel Sawyer forward because there is a distant, lonely, and utterly tired look about him as he says, "If this is the end of the Colonies as we know them then yes, I suppose I will have to allow for myself a modicum of selfishness." He takes a breath, "Then again, perhaps adding to the human race isn't such a selfish act?"
And there it is were a camera on him this would be the shot, this would be the bit that would propel Sawyer forward because there is a distant, lonely, and utterly tired look about him as Alexander says, "If this is the end of the Colonies as we know them then yes, I suppose I will have to allow for myself a modicum of selfishness." He takes a breath, "Then again, perhaps adding to the human race isn't such a selfish act?"
Sawyer's smile is a rather superficial thing, not quite meeting her eyes. If this were on camera - which Sawyer never does (at least a moving feed) - surely it would pick that up. "No. No, I suppose not. Thank you for your time, Mister Aurelia. And of course I'll surely take into consideration the idea of a newspaper, I'm sure the other fellows in the news room wouldn't mind an outlet and we'd be happy to print anything you have to say, even if it is under a different monikker."
Alexander looks at Sawyer and he stands as the interview is over and it is almost out of pure reflex since aparently the actor is used to this. His hand is extended again, "Well, it has been a pleasure to speak with you today and I thank you for taking the time to come and visit with me." Alexander looks over at Sawyer, "And if it means anything I really do hope I am wrong about this but if it comes to it please, consider what I said, Ms. Averies."
Sawyer shakes Alexander's hand amicably. "Of course, Mister Aurelia. It's a grand idea. Thank you for the invitation. Next time we'll just have tea or something. We don't have to be so formal." She slings her bag up on her shoulder again as she stands and moves to the hatch.