bravenewworld

With everything going on, I think it goes without saying that we should be treating these new visitors with the utmost respect. The reason, however, might not be what one would immediately think of.

Yes, they come from a very different background. Their theology is very different than ours, and trust me when I say I like the idea of using Poke Balls about as much as anyone else. The machines are dangerous. A lot of us were down there, and we can attest for how much they hurt people and Pokemon alike. It seems all too convenient that they want them back and the only offer they give us is a literal display of skill.

I don't like it. I don't like it at all.

If they want their machines back, I think that they should give us something in return. Something material, something that we can use. We've been able to use the machines for good things as far as research is concerned, but it's very obvious that it's just the tip of the iceberg. What are they hiding? Why are they so tight-fisted when it comes to helping us, when it's very obvious we have something that they want?

I'll be voicing my concerns to someone who will hopefully listen in the next few days. If there are other things people want to add to the quickly growing laundry list of things that should be made apparent to the council, voice them now and I'll address them as I can.

[Filtered to friends]

I wanted to let you all know, I might be disappearing for... a while. I'm returning home, for hopefully a short amount of time, to talk to my father. He's a senior member of the council, and it's been mentioned before that they make decisions that might be viewed as... as detached. I don't know what my feelings are on Team Evolution, but I do know this: We shouldn't be giving them everything that they want. I have a feeling that that might be exactly what the council is thinking of doing, and I'm going to plead my case.

...

Wish me luck.

[Filtered to Fai, backdated to just before Team Evolution's arrival]

Fai, are you in town? I need to talk to you about something, preferably in person.

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[It seemed, at least, that she had been similarily foolish, judging by the taken aback tone. He manages to look up, smiling mostly because he doesn't quite know what to do with himself, and he's just so relieved. He doesn't have to marry her. He doesn't have to spend the rest of his life feeling bad for not loving her as he should, for wanting others that aren't her, for having to force himself even just to kiss her.]

[Savior, he could cry from it. But he'll try hard not to while she's here, or it would just be confusing for her.]

I'm glad, Lux. Because I- I love you. But I love you like a sister, I always have, and I don't want to marry you. It would make us both unhappy, so I'm glad that at least one of us actually managed to spit it out.

Thank you.

Edited 2014-02-24 05:19 (UTC)

[She wasn't sure how to react, whether she should be elated or...

He felt the same. Thank the Savior, he felt the same. That in and of itself was a battle won, and one that she should have initiated much sooner than she had.

Still...]

...How are we going to tell our parents?

[That in itself makes him wince despite still being high on relief, because it's not a pleasant thought. He can hear the accusations already, feel the guilt just waiting to add to the mountain of the stuff he's already carrying around. A failure, a smear on an otherwise untainted legacy, a curse on their family. How selfish, how very selfish, to do what he wants to do, instead of striving to put right what his birth had ruined. His uncle's anger, his father's disappointment, his mother's silent resignation...]

[But Lux is sitting right there, saying she feels the same, and he knows he's not just doing it for his own sake. It was ever just about him. He thinks of waking up next to Imogen for the first time, shame pooling hot and nasty in his stomach, because he'd known it wouldn't be the last. He thinks of that crowded moment with Feliks' breath against his lips, when he'd almost hated Lux for being in the way of kissing the other boy.

She shouldn't have to marry him. She deserved better than that.]

I don't know. But we should do it together. Show them that it's both our decision. Make it harder for them to try to make us change our mind. [He makes a soft, affectionate little sound.] We'll stand by each other. As friends.

[She lowers her head, somehow feeling relieved but at the same time worried for the future. They weren't bound by law, but by obligation. Times were changing. She didn't relish the idea of telling them, but if he was by her side during this...

Lux nods.]

Yeah...

[He knows for a fact that this is only one small problem of many solved on his side of things. Not marrying Lux will just mean that they'll try to find someone else, pressure him even harder. It means another weight of responsibility falling on Yuui, even higher expectations to be the good twin, to somehow fix things. It still doesn't mean it will be any more possible for him to be with whom he wants, if that person happens to be a boy.

Bit it's... something. Something that is right that used to be wrong.]

And they'll most likely think it's mostly my fault anyway. [His tone is teasing; he really isn't trying at all to make her feel guilty.] It'll be alright. They'll be angry, but... they're our family. They want is to be happy.

[They would see her as a failure, a disgrace. She was tasked to carry on the Flourite name, to bring the two families together, and she couldn't manage even that.

But her happiness was more important to her than keeping appearances. Let them think of her how they wanted. She had made friends, was happy with the person that she was outside of the pomp and circumstance.]

It's not your fault, I'll make sure they know that. This was a decision we both came to.

I know. And though we don't exactly have to tell them that... I'm not going to forget that you were the one who was brave enough to finally say it.

[He reaches out over the small table, taking one of her hands in both of his and giving it a small squeeze, smiling. It was... nice to be able to feel more natural around her, to just be friends and not have the unspoken inevitability hanging over them both.]

Let's tell them we both have things we want to do, that we don't want to think about marriage at all for a while. And when we do... it'll be on our own terms, with someone we chose. They won't like it, but they can't force us.

[There is a noticeable blush that crosses her cheeks. She wasn't strong--if anything, she was selfish. The things that they found in the mausoleum, that heart-racing feeling she had, that was what she wanted. Not a life locked away, forced to love someone that she truly couldn't.

She nods.]

That we want to marry for love, not anything else. That there is more to life than obligation.

[He wouldn't agree, if he only knew what she'd been thinking. She is strong to choose what she wanted over the easy thing; choosing happiness over simple complacency and resignation. He'd never properly given her credit for how strong and brave she had always been before now, and he sincerely wishes he could kick himself for it now.]

And even if... if we find love where we don't expect it, or happen to love someone so unsuitable that it turns our lives upside down, we'll still be happier that way, right?

Edited 2014-02-25 23:58 (UTC)

[Lux nods again, a little more confident this time.]

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