bywiseguidance

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[Johto, have an intensely displeased (one might even say pissed off) and rumpled looking woman (is that a piece of ceiling tile caught in her hair...?)--glaring daggers at the door that has just been slammed in her face, because that's what you do.

She hadn't even finished asking her questions. Rude, not!Mom. Very rude. At least the strange-looking creature that had been shoved out the door with her was helpful enough to find in the spilled contents of her backpack and hand her this device that looks a lot like a very odd cell phone. It's already on and everything, not that Ziva's noticed, wound up as she is. Her voice is slightly hysterical when she speaks--and definitely agitated, because dammit she has a lot to be agitated about.]

This is absurd! I would think that this was a dream, that I hit my head in the explosion and for some reason I imagine this place instead of somewhere that would make sense...!

[Yup, too agitated to speak English properly it would seem. At least, that doesn't sound like a complete sentence, more like she trailed off mid-thought.]

I cannot believe this. And you...

[She glances down at the Pokemon by her side--though in confusion and not in anger, that seems to have mostly blown out of her.]

You look like something from one of McGee's computer games. [To herself:] Oh...I hope that he is all right.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Acknowledging headtilt. THAT'S WHAT SHE DOES.]

NCIS.

[Do you recognize the acronym or does she have to explain again? She's used to that.]

[Well, he'd recognize it if he were from 1992 or later; ALAS, y'all were using a different name back in 1989, so the acronym earns her a curious furrowing of his brow.]

NCIS.

[Okay, he'll hazard a guess.]

Department of the Navy?

[Darn you changing names.]

Correct. Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

[Seriously, y'all have changed it like SIX TIMES, what even.]

Damn, they've gone and changed it again. Guess that's one way of staying undercover — change the name so damn often nobody can keep up with which agency you are.

[There's a bit of humor in her voice. One thing working with Tony ensured is the ability to crack jokes under pressure.]

I assure you, I was not consulted for any previous name changes. And it is common for people to mistake the name anyway.

I'll have to remember to keep the old letterhead. It'll probably be worth something someday.

So that makes you Agent...?

Ziva David.

[She inclines her head in greeting.]

And you are...?

[She's pretty sure you also go by Agent. Just a hunch.]

[At this point, his eyebrows are up and he's not bothering to hide it — between the name, the accent, and the way she was mangling her English earlier, his curiosity is officially piqued. But while he is indeed blunt, he's not so egregiously blockheaded as to storm right into the obvious remark of "nothing about you sounds stereotypically American".]

Albert Rosenfield. FBI. Forensic pathologist.

[That about covers it in a neat little package.]

[Good call on that one, she's definitely not stereotypically American. Did you catch the Star of David necklace she wears while you were zoomed in, too?]

A pleasure. I have worked alongside some very skilled men in the FBI.

[She's also run from the FBI, at least at one point. Oops. At least one person here should be trustworthy. Good to know.]

[Of course he did, because noticing details and drawing conclusions from them is what he does. Voicing his conclusions in a way that doesn't make people want to immediately punch him in the mouth, on the other hand, takes a fair amount more effort.]

Is NCIS the only place you've worked?

[THERE, presumably she can pick up the implication from that.]

It is not.

[She looks impressed, and somewhat amused.]

Am I that obvious?

To ninety-five percent of the idiots you'll encounter around here? No. To the five percent who take the time to look for what's right in front of their face? Maybe.

[He shrugs.]

My conclusion is Middle East, probably Israel. It's up to you whether you want to disclose if I'm right.

[Smile. Right in one.]

You are right. I am hardly ashamed of my homeland.

[Very proud of it in fact.]

I've heard it's not exactly a prime vacation spot.

[It's 1989, the State of Palestine just proclaimed political identity a few months back, and peace talks are still a year or two off yet. And you don't have to be ashamed of your homeland to recognize that it isn't always the prettiest of places — but given the kinds of things agents like them see, what nation is?]

Did you come over for school and decide to stick around after graduation?

We have our troubles. They are more...violent than most.

['Troubles' in this definition involve Shit Blowing The Fuck Up on a regular basis.

also lol peace talks.]

No, I came as...a favor to an old friend.

[Well, that's the reason she came and stayed, anyway.]

You've seen your fair share of them.

[It's not a question, just a remark. Tact isn't something he practices frequently, as a general rule, but it's not entirely foreign to him, either.]

How long have you been in the States?

We all have.

[She doesn't have the best grasp of it either sometimes. You can be lack-of-tact buddies too!]

It has been...seven years.

[Or so.]

[Already this is shaping up into an excellent camaraderie.]

That's a pretty long-term favor.

[:|b awesome.]

That is how it started, however I realized that my own interests were best served by staying.

[She's hardly that altruistic.]

Local charm won you over, huh? Can't say I blame you.

[I mean, considering the alternative. >> ]

Something like that, yes. I had made a number of friends that I found I would rather not leave.

[If by 'local charm' you mean 'not sent on suicide missions' yeah that part's pretty awesome.]

Considering it is practically a cultural taboo for an Israeli to emigrate, it was not a decision made lightly.

[Yes, well done, Ziva, that is in fact exactly what he was insinuating.]

Well, this time your emigration's a little more like exile. You're stuck here for the duration, and as yet nobody's come up with a way of getting back where we all belong. If they had, you can bet I wouldn't be here talking to you right now.

Until then, we must get along it would seem.

[She frowns slightly. She's not used to relying on other things to fight for her.]

What else is there to be done, besides train these...creatures?

I tell you one thing, you get real used to the background music.

[And possibly slightly dependent on earplugs and aspirin, but that's beside the point.]

That's just it. There's nothing else to be done, not as far as the cosmic scheme of things is concerned. The jobs are mundane and entry-level at best, there's no system of government, no judiciary, no social structure. The whole damn place revolves around what you're carrying on your belt. Everything else is whatever anybody decides to make of it on their own.

...that is ridiculous.

[HUMANITY LIVING WITHOUT A SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT? NO SOCIAL STRUCTURE? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS AND HOW HAS IT NOT EXPLODED INTO ANARCHY.]

...I will just have to 'make something of it.' I do not appreciate being idle for long.

[There's vacation and then there's 'hey you're going camping in the woods and doing nothing more than telling this bizarre monster what to do in order to fight for you' and while she appreciates a bit of the former...]

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