062514-Ryspor-Libby

[09:40] -- sanguineOracle [SO] began pestering gregar1ousTroubadour [GT] at 21:40 --

[09:40] SO: So, Ryspor, once you arrive on the Ark, a Carapacian shows you to a bedroom.

[09:40] SO: The ark appears to be a rather impressive floating palace

[09:41] SO: Your room is on the starboard side of the ship, and has a lovely balcony. The room is relatively sterile, save the door having a black banner with the space logo on it, and your name written on it in elegant script.

[09:42] GT: ~Ryʃpor goeʃ ovt to the balcony and examineʃ the view.~

[09:44] SO: You can see the incipisphere you just left collapsing in on itself, and blackness filling the sky, with varying shades of light and dark purple within.

[09:46] SO: You hear a knock at your bedroom door.

[09:46] GT: ~Ryʃpor jvmpʃ, vnconʃciovʃly hovering a few incheʃ off the grovnd. He walkʃ over and openʃ it.~

[09:48] SO: You find Libby there, bandaged up somewhat, and she rubs her arm. "Hello, Ryspor."

[09:50] GT: ~"Hello, Libby." He ʃmileʃ warmly. "Ah, I preʃvme yov'd like to come in?"~

[09:50] SO: "Only if you want me to." She smiles timidly.

[09:51] GT: ~"Aha." He clearʃ hiʃ throat, blvʃhing ʃlightly. "By all meanʃ. We do have...rather a lot to talk abovt."~

[09:53] SO: She nods, and slips in past you, taking a seat cross legged on the floor.

[09:54] GT: ~He doeʃ likewiʃe, or at leaʃt attemptʃ to; hiʃ wingʃ are being rather vncooperative. He grvntʃ in annoyance aʃ he trieʃ to wrangle them into ʃvbmiʃʃion. "Good graciovʃ, theʃe accvrʃed thingʃ are more trovble than they're worth."~

[09:56] GT: ~With a cry of ʃatiʃfaction, he manageʃ to manevver them into a ʃvitable configvration, and ʃitʃ down acroʃʃ from her, grinning ʃheepiʃhly. "Apologieʃ. I've only had theʃe for a ʃhort while."~

[09:56] SO: "You'll have to learn to fold them. It's not hard, but it takes a little practice." She smiles warmly.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[09:57] GT: ~"Yov've had experience with them, then?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[09:58] SO: "Yes. Some races get wings when they achieve God Tier. Some don't."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[09:59] GT: ~"I did notice that Kate appeared to be wingleʃʃ. It wovld appear my theory waʃ correct."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[09:59] SO: She grins.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:03] GT: ~He noticeʃ her grinning, and lookʃ at her, retvrning it faintly. "What?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:03] SO: "Theories."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:04] GT: ~"What abovt them?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:05] SO: She blushes and shakes her head. "Nothing."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:07] GT: ~"No, what iʃ it? Yov've piqved my cvrioʃity now."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:08] SO: She shakes her head. "It's nothing. I like theories. I like people who have them. Maybe that's why I like having you around."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:10] GT: ~"Ah." He blvʃheʃ ʃlightly himʃelf.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:13] SO: She bites her lower lip, but says nothing.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:14] GT: ~He clearʃ hiʃ throat lovdly. "ʃo, ah. Yov may have heard already, bvt..." He blvʃheʃ deeper. "I fovnd yovr, ah, yovr tale. Abovt yov and I."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:15] GT: ~"It waʃ...an exhilarating read, to ʃay the leaʃt."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:16] SO: Libby's blush fades instantly, leaving her looking pale, but she says nothing.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:19] GT: ~"I..." Hiʃ blvʃh iʃ nowhere cloʃe to fading. "I'm not entirely ʃvre what to ʃay, to be completely honeʃt."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:20] SO: She blushes again, this time more virulent. "I... well."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:24] SO: "I mean... I know you're not..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:26] GT: ~He lookʃ at her, pvzzled. "Not what?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:27] SO: She clutches her hands into fists. "I know you're not pale for me anymore. And that's okay. I... I guess I just..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:32] GT: ~"No, Libby, Libby no, I am, pleaʃe believe me, I jvʃt..." He ʃighʃ, and ʃeemʃ to ʃhrink in on himʃelf. "I've jvʃt been abʃolvtely abominable at ʃhowing it." He ʃhiftʃ, drawing hiʃ kneeʃ to hiʃ cheʃt. "It wovld appear I'm incapable of ʃtopping myʃelf from throwing myʃelf onto everything that paʃʃeʃ throvgh my field of viʃion," he ʃayʃ, bitterly.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:35] SO: "Oh... I had thought... had -hoped..." she bites her lip.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:39] GT: ~"Oh. Yeʃ, well." He ʃighʃ again. "I...no, I don't think I covld..." He waveʃ a hand. "Reciprocate, at thiʃ jvnctvre in time." He pavʃeʃ. "I'm ʃo ʃorry. I wiʃh I did."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:40] SO: She nods, standing fluidly. "I... I see. Of course."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:41] SO: "Well... I should go."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:42] GT: ~"All...all right." He ʃtandʃ aʃ well. "I miʃʃed yov," he ʃayʃ qvietly.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:43] SO: She stops just before the door, and turns back, her face angry. "No you didn't. You threw yourself at everyone you possibly could from the moment I vanished until I came for you on LoPaS. Until *I* came for *YOU*. You didn't even come save me. You didn't even try."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:47] GT: ~He openʃ hiʃ movth to proteʃt, then cloʃeʃ it, ʃlvmping. "I don't deny it."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:49] SO: "I let it go, I thought, with you throwing yourself palewise at everyone... maybe you weren't really pale for me, maybe you felt the same way. It's what kept me going. It's why I saved any of you after what they did to him. Because I thought you were flushed for me, too. I didn't realize you were so cruel, Ryspor."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:54] GT: ~"Then leave," he ʃayʃ qvietly. "Leave, and don't look back. Go find happineʃʃ with ʃomeone elʃe, becavʃe I'm certainly not going to give it to yov."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:57] GT: ~"Meovet'ʃ been pale for yov almoʃt ʃince ʃhe ʃet foot in the tower. ʃhe wovld fall over herʃelf jvʃt for the chance to be with yov, and ʃhe'd be a damn fine moirail to boot. Go to her, and ʃtay far, far away from me, becavʃe I am nothing bvt poiʃon. Yov ʃhovld have realized thiʃ long ago."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:58] SO: Libby slaps Ryspor, hard. "Don't you ever talk about yourself like that again, understand?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[10:59] GT: ~"If I didn't, I wovld be vttering the moʃt horrendovʃ lie ever to have exiʃted."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:00] SO: "And what lie is that?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:02] GT: ~"That I, Ryʃpor Tezeti, am anything other than the moʃt deʃpicable lifeform in all of creation. That I do not bring ʃvffering and pain to everyone I care for. That I, in ʃhort, deʃerve to live by any ʃtandard."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:03] SO: Libby growls in frustration and grabs his shoulders, giving him a hard shake. "Stop it!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:05] GT: ~"THEN GIVE ME PROOF! Give me proof that I am worth ʃomething, becavʃe I have a PLETHORA of evidence to the contrary!"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:09] SO: Libby yanks Ryspor close, and kisses him roughly, then speaks. "You want a reason? All the millions of people on all those worlds you saved. How about that?" She kisses him again. "You didn't bother to try to hide the fact that you're the biggest Paleslut in the history of ever, you were good enough to give me the truth." She kisses him again. "I sat there and let them kill the last living member

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:09] SO: of my kind, because I knew if I didn't that he -would- find and kill you." She kisses him. "You're so honest to me about everything else. Don't you dare lie to me and say those things aren't worth something."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:13] GT: ~He ʃtandʃ there, mildly dazed, before coming back to himʃelf, breaking down and ʃobbing ovtright, clvtching her aʃ he letʃ ovt a game'ʃ worth of pent-vp grief, frvʃtration, and ʃelf-loathing.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:15] SO: Libby wraps her arms around him and lets him cry it out, murmuring softly in his ear.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:17] GT: ~He finally letʃ go, eyeʃ pvffy and bloodʃhot from tearʃ, and wipeʃ them ʃlightly. "I'm ʃorry I'm ʃvch a meʃʃ," he ʃayʃ hoarʃely.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:18] SO: She sighs and wipes the tears off his cheeks. "It's fine."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:20] GT: ~"I'll conʃider it," he ʃayʃ ʃvddenly.~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:20] SO: "Consier what?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:22] GT: ~"Entering into a flvʃhed relationʃhip with yov." He takeʃ a ʃteadying breath. "I'm not going to feign flvʃhed affectionʃ for yov in an attempt to make yov happy. I know from experience that iʃ a road one ʃhovld never go down. I will conʃider the proʃpect, however. Thiʃ I promiʃe yov."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:23] SO: She nods. "That's all I wanted, I guess. But I'd rather have you in no quadrants, and happy, than in one with me and unhappy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:23] SO: She sighs. "But I have too much self-respect to let you continue to be this Session's Palebike, got it?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:24] GT: ~He ʃmileʃ ʃlightly. "Vnderʃtood."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:26] SO: "Now, I have work to do in the Lab. Are we still pale, or not?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:27] GT: ~"If that'ʃ what yov want?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:28] SO: "That's not what I asked. What do you want?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:29] GT: ~"I'd...very mvch like that, yeʃ. I thovght yov didn't, thovgh?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:33] SO: "All things being equal, Ryspor, I want you in one of my quadrants." She kisses his forehead. "But that means no more paleslutting."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:34] GT: ~"I'll do my beʃt."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:35] SO: "When you make up your mind about whether or not you want to be flushed, let me know."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:36] SO: "Now come on, Let's go find something to make a pile with and hang out. I think we both need it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:37] GT: ~He ʃmileʃ. "All right." He linkʃ armʃ with her. "Oh, when we ʃcratched, there waʃ a rather intereʃting ʃection of text carved into the ice by the dance. I believe it detailed the hiʃtory of the poʃt-ʃcratch vniverʃe."~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:39] SO: "Ooh! Find anything interesting?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:40] GT: ~"I only had a brief glance at it before yov arrived. I believe I have a pictvre on the odd floating eyeball I fovnd in yovr tower. Perhapʃ we covld work at deciphering it together?"~

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:42] SO: "of course!" She giggles and clings a little tighter.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;">[11:43] GT: ~He ʃmileʃ. "I look forward to it."~