[ota] i am a super srs rper

[darkplace]

[hi, voyagers. there's a drunk!teleporter/telepathic/telekinetic near your pool. john young has literally never been drunk before but things happened back home and he got kicked out of the lair cause of stuff and drunkness happened, and he would like to be even more drunk tyvm.

hiiiiiii, pool. good pool.

he's basically a big, drunk puppy.]

Comments

[peacecraft]

I left behind the innocence of youth some time ago.

[ her youth, her innocence, it was lost the moment she witnessed her adoptive father's assassination. she ceased to be a child after that, moved by both that traumatic experience, the truth of her origins, and her conversation with doctor j. ]

You don't need to justify yourself to me. [ she waves it off. ] We're only human, after all. Humans have weaknesses, no matter how strong we claim to be. Sometimes, it's too much, and in order to deal with that, we have to seek out methods of coping with it that aren't just standing still with a false, impenetrable smile. It's okay to not want to deal with reality for a while, Mister Young.

[darkplace]

It sounds like you really have. No one should have to, but... it happens.

[john has seen it happen time and time again. he experienced a loss of innocence at a very young age himself, but sometimes he'll see kids stumbling into the lair, still young, still young enough to keep some of that innocence (even stephen has it still, and john doesn't want him to lose it much as he argues with him on things).

there's a tiny smile from him when she waves it off. he thinks maybe he was trying to justify himself... to himself ultimately. and he doesn't say he's not human (hasn't considered himself human since jedikiah said he was the only human who would ever accept john.)]

You're very insightful and wise. It's never been something I've been able to allow myself to do. People are counting on me. Not nearly as many as those who rely on you. Do you ever not deal with reality for awhile? [it's said with a quiet, warmth to it as he sends her a tiny smile.] You can call me John.

[peacecraft]

Yes, [ she agrees almost sadly ] yes it does. Often, to those who are undeserving of it.

[ here, she isn't thinking of herself. she's thinking of heero, who has been through god knows what while undergoing the rigorous training doctor j put him through in order to turn an innocent boy into a highly trained assassin. she's thinking of quatre winner, from a family of pacifists, who took up piloting a gundam to defend the idea of peace, because fighting was the only way to achieve that. in the past, growing up too fast and discarding their innocence was the only way. she's tired of that being the only way. the world she wants to create will have no need for such ultimatums.

as for non-humans, well, that concept may be a little hard for her to grasp at first, but it's not entirely farfetched. after all, "newtype" humans were a very real thing in her time. humans who had evolved past the expected human capacity; humans — like heero and quatre — who had the ability to master and control the zero system. and quatre, whose empathic nature made her admire his convictions even more. she couldn't imagine doing the things the gundams had to do while having that ability. ]

Wise? I wouldn't call myself that. [ though it's not the first time she's been called that. ] ...no. No, I don't suppose I do. I think the last time I stopped dealing with reality, it was two years ago. During the war. It was only a moment, but I let myself relax. But it was just a moment. All you can really do is hold on to those moments.

[ leaning against a system's console in a control room they'd snuck into while heero searched through libra's database for her brother's location. for just a moment, they were just a pair of teenagers, but the moment hadn't lasted long at all. i've found zechs... ]

John. Alright. In that case, I insist that you call me Relena.

[darkplace]

[john doesn't know what she is thinking of, but he nods his head in agreement. he's thinking about cara. he's thinking about the many people in the lair who had their innocence stolen from them, their childhood stolen from them. they're forced to go into hiding underground. they are forced to run and to never have a normal life again.

their lives are constantly in danger, and they have powers they have to try to learn how to control.]

Wise people usually don't call themselves that. They're wise enough to not make that call themselves. [there's a tiny but warm smile on his face as he shakes his head.] A moment isn't very long at all, but now you're on a magic ship to nowhere... so I think you'll be allowed to take another moment for yourself. If you want.

[he understands how it can be difficult to relax, to let oneself relax and enjoy the ship or enjoy anything.]

If you insist. [john smirks a tiny bit teasingly almost before he nods.] I can do that for you, Relena.

[peacecraft]

It is nice not to have a security detail at my heels everywhere I go.

[ she couldn't even sleep in her own bedroom without preventer agents stationed outside her door and windows. she'd grown used to moving around them like they were flesh statues, but it was really nice to be without them. the only thing she missed was that distinct feeling of being watched by something — no, someone — unseen. even when her guards were keeping the closest of watches on her, there he was, in the shadows, watching them watching her. relena was certain the only watchful eyes heero trusted were his own, but even he wasn't able to look over her here. ]

I do insist. If I'm to give myself another moment or two, then I'll need a reprieve from being Vice Minister Darlian and Miss Relena for a while.

[darkplace]

That... does sound like it would be a pain.

[even if it sounds like she needs it, like there is that much danger around her. she can have the freedom here to be whoever she wants to. if there is anything about this ship (as much as it is mysterious, as much as he can't really trust it to be safe), people really can leave their worlds and responsibilities behind here and be whoever it is that they want to be, whoever they are underneath all of that.]

Since I want to help you have another moment or two, I am very happy to oblige, Relena. No fancy titles, no expectations, just your name.