faterecanted | [action/accidental voice] backdated to the 12th

[action/accidental voice] backdated to the 12th

[action, for Nephry only]

[This morning, there is a suspicious looking Van lurking at the rear of the grocery store. A shady meeting has been arranged, you see, to pass over some goods. He's acting a bit twitchy, though. He'd really rather not be caught in the act. He's got one hand in his pocket, tapping his foot while he looks over the produce, pretending to be interested.]

[/lovebirds]

[Around mid-morning, there will be a sight potentially very disturbing to those familiar with both people involved: Van and Nephry, strolling down the riverbank, looking rather... cozy. He's actually offered her his arm. Which she has taken, without even hesitating to think about it. It isn't some sort of formal escort situation, either - she's leaning in, just enough to be conspicuous.]

I don't see any reason to tell them. [He actually laughs.] Not yet. I'll be your dirty little secret. Doesn't every politician have a few?

[Her return laugh is brighter than any of her friends might have heard in a long time.] Secrets of the state are usually less...incriminating. I do try to be honest. I suppose...just this once isn't going to hurt anyone. [Might help - she knows a person or four who wouldn't be pleased with this new arrangement.]

[He stops and pulls her closer, leaning in in a way that should be menacing, given just who it is doing it; but his expression is soft, and when he speaks, his voice is low and gentle with good humor.] Incriminating? ...That's one word for it. But not here. Not now.

No. [Ordinarily, being this close to the man who nearly succeeded in destroying her world would be something to fear. There is no fear, or even caution, in this smile.] This is...different.

[With a sigh, he wraps both arms around her, tightly. It's perhaps a bit forward of him... but then Van has always been bad about staying in his proper place.] Perhaps 'different' is what we all need in our lives.

[Now being an excellent time for someone to interrupt them and let them know their private conversation is being broadcast. Before they do something awful, like get even cozier and more contemplative.]

(OOC: Joint post! If you have a preference for which one of these unlikely lovebirds replies, please note it in the subject line. Otherwise, there's no telling who you may get. Remember to drive carefully, now, and watch for falling threadjacks.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hod... [Yes, she was certainly of an age when Hod fell to...remember everything. That war brought Keterburg a great deal of its prosperity and recognition.]

So things...changed for you, fairly early in your childhood. Didn't they?

'Changed' is too mild a word. What were you told happened to Hod?

[He takes his arm back from her, but not for long; in the same motion he puts it around her shoulders, strangely protective considering they're discussing his pain, not hers.]

[The nature of her position and the changing world have led to some information being uncovered. She's not sure why, but Nephry chooses not to share everything she knows at this moment.]

The Score foretold Hod's destruction in conjunction with specific other events - events that would precede a war. ...The Order made it their responsibility to ensure those things took place - whether they might have on their own or not.

The Order? No. Malkuth ensured Hod was destroyed, and made no move to defend it. There wasn't a single Imperial soldier on the island when it fell.

...But that wasn't all they did. I could have excused that as simple cowardice.

[Oh, she knew her country was responsible; what she wants so desperately to add to that is in part. Clinging to the hope that they were prompted by the Order...helps. At least Emperor Peony hadn't been on the throne then.]

Malkuth, then. Yes. ...What else...did they do?

[She pulls away from his hold - but only enough so that she can see his face more clearly.]

They knew in advance. They could have evacuated people. Instead, they used the citizens as test subjects, in experiments on hyperresonance... [He meets her eyes, briefly, and glances away again.] ...and fomicry. The replica labs were empty, by the time Fabre attacked; but the hyperresonance research...

[He stops, and shakes his head.] That's why Hod fell. The Score may as well have been an excuse to them.

[Of course they knew. It was in the Score, for crying out loud - the words-in-stone that also, incidentally, ruined Nephry's chances at happiness.

Something about the way he looked at her is so, so telling. She actually stops walking.]

You were there, weren't you. ...As...an experiment.

[Fomicry. A pained look crosses her face and she looks away, eyes closed. We all know the people responsible for replication, don't we?]

[The way he isn't looking at her should be even more telling; or rather, the way he isn't looking at anything, just... staring off into the distance.]

'N.D. 2002; The one who would seize glory shall destroy the island upon which he was born, a land by the name of Hod.' ...My name isn't actually Van, you realize. It's Vandesdelca.

[...What a morbid way to find out if your date paid attention to her Ancient Ispanian lessons or not.]

[They could have a nice discussion about why you would ever name your child the same thing as recorded in a prophecy of destruction, too.

But.

Her response is to lean into him again, the intent being to comfort him with the closeness of an understanding presence.]

They knew and they forced it on you. ...And the deaths of so many.

[This is certainly one of the first times since it happened that anyone's tried to comfort him. He would have expected her to back away, but she didn't. She's not leaving.

He knew, somehow, that telling her was the right thing to do. That she wouldn't judge him for it. It's gratifying to know he was right.

He slides the arm around her shoulders down, to her waist, and reaches with his free hand for one of hers, to weave their fingers together.]

That's enough of my life for now. [His voice is a bit rough, but otherwise he seems together. Maybe a bit too together.]

[The fingers linked with his squeeze very gently. Of course that's enough, for now. They stand for a few minutes in silence.]

...It's your turn, then. To ask.

[Let's talk about something else if that will help.]

[She helps. She's here, and she's concerned about him, and she helps. This helps; standing close, holding hands in the snow. He doesn't feel better. Not really. But he doesn't feel worse, either, which is unusual when it comes to this particular subject. He doesn't feel alone.]

...Your favorite meal.

[That should be a light enough topic for now.]

I prefer simple things - chicken and vegetables, or beef stew. Things we couldn't have very often when I was growing up.

What about yours?

Mine don't matter, unless you were considering asking me to dinner latter. [Which is his coy way of suggesting that he is, in fact, considering asking her to dinner later. Where, you know. There isn't at least one roommate that wants to kill him.]

You really won't indulge my simple curiosity?

[The prospect of dinner together fills her with a kind of pleasure she hasn't felt in over a year.]

I suppose I must; I'm finding you a uniquely difficult woman to tell 'no.' [To be fair, he's not finding saying 'yes' to be anything like a hardship.]

I like rice with egg and mushroom, or maybe a curry with apple and honey. I've grown tired of chicken, though. It used to be all Asch would eat.

Curry, hm? [That's also Jade's favorite, and Nephry doesn't mind it very much either.] I'll have to keep that in mind.

[Even though it's your turn again, Van.] Oh...Asch? That's right, you've worked with him for years.

[Her "That's right" gives him pause for a moment. Perhaps he shouldn't have brought it up. He's just so used to the people he's 'friendly' with from Auldrant knowing about his and Asch's... particular relationship, he didn't even consider that she might not or what she might think of it.]

Since he was ten. He was... very important to me.

[It helps to know the story, as it were. What happened to Luke - to Asch - and the way the story went seven years later. Asch is still such a mystery of a person, even though he's done a thing or two for her and isn't ~~terribly~~ rude when they speak.]

I suspect he probably feels a similar way about you. ...After what happened.

[Somewhere in that tone is "after you changed things for him so his story ended differently than yours." Replication isn't the answer but...she feels that he tried.]

No, he thinks he's learned all he can from me. He's quite finished. And what about you, Governor? Was there a political protege in your life?

Not in that sense. There were things I was certain not to- [replicate.] ...not to repeat. Poor choices or...unpleasant and untrustworthy figures of history.

...Please, just call me Nephry.

Nephry, then. [Van glances down at their hands, fingers still entwined, and strokes his thumb over the back of hers. For the moment, he's silent. He's comfortable being silent.

He's also getting ideas.]

[Finding someone else who is comfortable with silence feels like the best kind of rare moment. The motion of his thumb makes her shiver. He'll almost certainly notice; she's not cold.]

[Oh, he definitely notices.]

Forgive me for not showing my usual subtlety, but... [He lifts their hands, slides his grip down, and presses a kiss to her gloved fingers.]

[Oh. Vandesdelca, how forward of you. Nephry looks surprised...and pleased. The hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth is very telling.

It's the opposite of impossible to just turn, and lean forward into his solid frame, without letting go of his hand.]

[action/accidental voice] backdated to the 12th

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