This is part of my debrief (‘betaed’ by JennS) of our encounter with RD at the 2004 MIRA conference. The debrief appeared at Rita’s AU board in its entirity, the only part that is being archived is the portion dealing with the Episode “Beyond the Pale” which has brought oh so many hours of discussion and analysis on these Boards. I thought that this should be saved for posterity, RD’s take on “Beyond the Pale.”

He sauntered into a large ball room scattered with round tables occupied by people loudly speaking in French, laughing or standing by a bar ordering drinks. A large screen projected at nauseaum the Defi Vision Race we had just enjoyed and we watched the same cars crash, slowly move or stop over and over again. I believe music was playing, I remember silver ware clinking and recall waitresses in their white and black uniforms taking orders for drinks that could only be paid in Canadian currency.

His pale yellow shirt wrinkled but pristine, his khaki colored sailing hat perched on top of his head, its brim marked by dusty fingerprints, sitting comfortably on his perfect head. His trim body, his jeans tight and covering his legs like a second skin, all eyes on the potential bulge, the perfect ass we’ve come to love, and the strut. We were not watching a Level 5 Op from the infamous Section One move with understated elegance, this was not Michael Samuelle with his ever-present mystery, this was reality, this was DA MAN. Roy Dupuis, charming, personable and the consummate entertainer entered the room and immediately became bigger than life. And still… this was a man on a mission, with a focused job to do.

By now it was late, he had driven with a blind young man around a dirt covered race track littered by disabled vehicles and posed for the endless cattle call of fans wanting their pictures taken two at a time. He had endured the flashes, the dust, the noise of engines, the mud, the people gawking, the heat and then the cold, and yet he continued with what he perceived as duty – he came to meet us all. Charming us with his perfect smile, his ever-present cigarette with the red embers creeping towards his long fingers, his mouth pursed to receive the silver smoke that raised before him, momentarily hiding his tanned face and then releasing it in a perfect breath. His previously helmet-covered silver speckled russet hair, now hidden from our eyes by the proudly worn hat. But those eyes, even masked by the brim sparkled and reminded us why we adored this man; he is aging magnificently, crow’s feet never did anyone such justice.

We were ushered to the fringes of the room, placed in a series of round tables; every table made up of 9 fans and an open space for Roy. It didn’t matter the late hour, he was going to address us all, so we sat prettily around the white cloth covered table and patiently waited for our turn to luxuriate in his presence and catch-in the rays of his light. We were in awe, practicing what to say, taking a mental inventory of what to do, for once during this long week not concerned with anyone else, just Roy.

Our table was a plethora of talent, fanfic writers who were mostly in agreement that, as Rox put it, Roy was the icing on the cake, but the cake was our meeting each other for the first time. Our new friend Patricia, Lady E and Hahcie were not writers, but avid fanfic readers and more fun than most of us; then there was Rox, KT, Jenn S, Mary, Hannah and yours truly, Loveroy. We ordered drinks, chatted with each other, laughed a lot. Hahcie is hysterical, KT’s RL awe inspiring, Rox is fascinating; we discussed Patricia’s brown wrapped Playboy featuring Peta and gawked at Jenn’s picture of her new baby girl. We all behaved, enjoyed ourselves and waited for Roy and in the meantime were entertained by the charming Simon and his life story.

Joyce had very graciously (as she does everything, amazing woman – the hostess with the mostest), made a badge for Jenn’s brand new baby girl Casey, with a picture of the baby and all; the name on the tag – Michelle Samuelle Dupuis – name we had given her since conception. We all looked pretty, a bit dusty from the race, but our exuberance and camaraderie made up for any pettiness that could possibly mar our fun. We were about to meet Roy; we had come from all over the North American Continent to meet each other and to be with Roy. Nothing anyone could do or say was going to spoil this perfect moment – friends enjoying friends.

I was across from him and was gonna get a complete view of the eyes, the hair, the mouth, sigh… The man is truly ‘Thud worthy’, his voice, his accent, his smile, his posture, his face, his body, his moves… yep, deserves our admiration. My goodness, he was moving from table to table, his mission was to meet us all. OH MY GOD, IT WAS ROY.

Finally he strutted (oh yes ladies, he does strut) over to our table and said ‘Hello’, left an instant later to go get an ashtray or bring his glass of Coke. He sat pulling in his chair, then stood and said ‘I am Roy’ and went around the table shaking our hand (nice grip) and paying strict attention as we each said our name. His incredibly vivid eyes, resting comfortably on our gaze as he listened making us feel there was no one else there.

Let me tell you ladies, he is in charge, if he doesn’t want to talk about something, you get very nicely ushered to the next topic. I was basking in his presence, taking every moment in, after this interlude he would go back to being Michael Samuelle.

Rox spoke very eloquently what we all had thought of saying - she beat us to the punch. “I want to thank you because of you I have met all these lovely women, made long lasting friendships that will last forever.” Sorry Rox if I butchered your comment.

The topic of Peta’s nude pictorial in Playboy commenced, someone tried to hand him the brown paper wrapped magazine, he said he had seen it all many times, I said, “Yes, Season One, Season Two…” and we laughed with him.

And then filling myself with an un-quenching LFN thirst and given that the Deleted Scene of the episode ‘Beyond the Pale’, had fetched an inordinate amount of money on that afternoon’s MIRA auction I dared to ask. By the way a beautiful woman bought the tape of BTP, she can describe the scene; it is her tape after all.

“Roy, I have a question about an LFN scene that has brought a lot of controversy and discussions through the years.” Alright, this may not have been my exact words, however, he was looking at me, at ME, no one else; he tends to do that, pay attention, watch you as though you were the only one in the room, as though you were awfully interesting.

He nodded his head and smiled, I continued, “But first, would you say Aerrriallll Rrrreconnaisance for me.”

He smiled, shrugged his shoulders and thought, moving slightly back on his chair, “Aerial Reconnaissance.” Perfect English, not an accent, not a rolled R, no Michael Samuelle, just Roy Dupuis. “Why?”

“Because when you would say it in LFN we all loved it, talked about it on the boards a lot.” He smiled again.

“Do you remember an episode when you and Nikita walk up to the farm, you open the wooden shutters, she slips in the snow…” I was swallowing big gulps of dry air, he was scratching his damn chin for heaven sakes.

“You mean Michael’s cabin?” He asked looking up at me, thinking, paying attention.

“Yes, yes…” Gulp… “And you two started up the stairs, almost got hit by the cable.” My voice seemed to be disappearing, I would have sworn the room got dimmer, the voices faded.

“You want to know if they had sex?”

OH MY GOD, ROY DUPUIS SAID THE WORD SEX TO ME WHILE LOOKING INTO MY EYES… OH MY GOD. I CAN DIE A HAPPY WOMAN NOW.

I don’t know if I nodded, said yes, blushed, hid under the table, or what… the room went dark, the chair spun wildly and I swooned – someone please bring me smelling salts.

“No… they didn’t have sex.”

“But Surnow said…”

His eyes half lidded, his smile wicked, he was playing with me like a ‘cat with a mouse.’ “Remember what he said that this was like the last night of their lives”. (He quoted the scene perfectly, I can’t remember the words…. Duh, this is Michael we are talking about). “This was more than sex, it was… Tender… he wouldn’t have had sex with her then.” I think he said more, I truly don’t know, I was totally lost, gone…JennS says he said “They communicated on a different level, it was much more than sex, it was tenderness.” But she was gone right along with me.