☯ 001 [video]
[The video opens on a face with a pair of blue eyes the color of the ocean, or the blue of a masterfully-cut sapphire, or the blue of the heavens around her, but with a much hotter, more exotic flame ablaze. She looks neutral for a second, and it almost seems like she's going to start yelling
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She unwinds from him slowly after a while, but doesn't let go completely, her hands sliding down his arms to reach his and stopping reluctantly, instead offering a comforting weight as a sort of parting gift. And when she speaks, she returns to her default mood -- all brilliant smile and triumphant tone of voice and positively radiating confidence.]
Well, now that we have that all cleared up, you need to tell me about the rest of this. What'd you say about our Pokemon being kidnapped, and... something about having to worship?
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worshiping.
well.
something in his expression shifts, though it's hard to tell what. it's not that he's embarrassed, after all he's had sex before and, admittedly, still doesn't get what the big deal is, but for some reason it seemed to be...different when it was a person you cared about sharing in the conversation with you.
oh well. here goes nothing.]
As your letter said, we are in Zodion. Truthfully, I know nothing of this world other than it is governed by the twelve and this worshiping they speak of is actually sexual intercourse. By doing as they ask, we are apparently strengthening them, thus assisting in their cosmos-saving endeavors.
[welp!!! N is always forward and honest, now is no different. he seems unbothered by the weight of his words.]
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And then everything comes crashing to a halt, and she feels herself turn about twenty different shades of red.
Great.]
...What?
[It comes out as more of a pathetic squeak than she'd intended, but the shock is the same. She opens her mouth to further ask "why?!", but then... he said why, or the pretense of why he'd been given. That would be stupid.]
I-- hell no!! That's, I...
[...But what comes out instead at first is decidedly stupider, she thinks.]
And just-- we have to do it with anyone?! But that's not--
[Right? No duh, it's not right. She clenches her jaw and hangs her head in defeat, mortified. It seems she can't win today. When she glances back up, she sounds quite unsettled, and a little humiliated at having to confess what comes next.]
Can't we just... not do that? I was kinda saving it...
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Is it truly that important? I didn't find it terribly bothersome one way or the other, personally. A little time-consuming and invasive, yes, but nothing impossible.
[N tilts his head slightly, and now it's his turn to look at touko like she's part hydreigon.]
I suppose the option to not participate is there if you wish to keep whatever it is you are saving intact, but the gods have shown themselves to be very persuasive.
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[Her face falls momentarily before she catches herself.]
Well -- ugh.
[She means that groan from the bottom of her heart, judging by the uncomfortable emphasis on her words. Suddenly she feels overcome by the urge to to reduce something to shreds to reassure herself.]
...It is important. To me, it is. I don't know, it's... there's always such a big stigma on it wherever you go, isn't there? No one can ever talk about it so openly. It's something really private and personal, and all that touching is supposed to be really intimate, and--
[Touko shudders with a wave of sudden nausea and pulls self-consciously on the brim of her cap. She has an inexplicably bad feeling about this...]
--It's stupid. If I ever did something like that, I liked to think it would be something important. Because I trusted that person, because I loved them enough to give them that last piece of myself. Not something I had to do because someone thought my life was fragile enough to force me into it.
[In an effort not to sound so ( ... )
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Yes. Twice, actually.
[he can't quite grasp why such news would afflict her mood for even a split-second but N has learned over time not to question why when it came to the capricious hero-- it was probably no different with touko.
N tries to take her words in but it's all black and white to him-- sex is just a means to produce eggs, or in the case of humans, babies, and that was all there was to it, right? and since their goal wasn't to produce babies or eggs here, there was little purpose backing the act and it seemed to just be a very sloppy series of formulas brought about between two humans.
very glamorous. it's safe to assume N just doesn't understand, having never been exposed to these stigmas or appraises regarding sex. he truly has no opinion on it thus far one way or the other.]I suppose I can understand why it would be important to some, but I myself bear little interest or attachment to most ideas regarding sex. It's just a biological process to me, so I am afraid there is little I can say or do other than ( ... )
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Oh, she thinks dimly, that's where that feeling in the pit of my stomach is coming from...
...Well, better groundless hope than shattered dreams. Still, isn't it sort of... sad?
No. Step through this, Touko. Stop being a jealous idiot.]
Ah... I get it, hehe.
[The small laugh at the end of her acknowledgment is followed by a big smile as she releases his hands slowly. But it starts as a practiced smile. It's the one she uses as a deception. Cheren once called her on it a long time ago, she remembered faintly, even though it fooled Bianca most of the time; as he had been her friend for years and was very perceptive, he had learned to categorize all her expressions, and filed them away for later use ( ... )
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he wishes he could understand the nuances behind the small shifts in her smile-- the droplets of yang hiding within the yin it seems, but he doesn't. he's a pisces through and through though, so while the fish might see the secret with his own eyes, he won't say a word.]
You exude confidence. That's good. Not many here have that attitude.
[although N has heard suggestions of rebellion time and time again since the beginning of his stay here-- he still wants to believe there's a way out of here.]I have ( ... )
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[She crosses her arms and grins. The warm candor is slowly returning.]
I don't know if we have to save the cosmos or not. But Samurott and I-- [a nod in his direction] --we're doing that we feel is best. That's all.
It's wrong to be keeping people here, no matter what they're being told to do. Keeping people in a pretty little container and fooling around with them for someone else's benefit...
--Well, fine. I'm in this position now, so I'll play for a while. But I dare one of these gods, or all of them at once -- try holding me down, if you can!!
[At that point, the intense, far-reaching flare in her gaze is back as it ever was, and even stronger than before -- that grin looks almost positively mad. Her words are mad, too, but she doesn't care.]
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I don't doubt you are capable of it. However...
[his expression softens.]
I have been here for quite some time myself and a few of the other people here have gone on expeditions. The gods are elusive and there doesn't appear to be an immediate way out. There aren't any leads, either.
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So?
[She sweeps one hand out in a wide gesture more symbolic than useful and grins, semi-endearingly, with a touch of mischief.]
Maybe the people here are too afraid to get in trouble with them, too afraid to get their hands a little dirty. If we can't go to them so easily because they're immaterial, we can try and make them come to us, even if it means provoking them.
[Perfectly blithely, with some bizarre twist of logic typical of her unpredictable nature:] Come on, don't be such a pessimist! I've never been wrong about this before, not once. There's always a way.
--Just keep hoping. If you think you can't, I have enough for both of us.
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[a thoughtful noise as he glances away for a moment.]
Come to think of it, I believe there are a few people whom I have not seen in quite some time. If they've disappeared, then obviously there's a way out of this place.
[but there's not much use thinking about it and he knows it. N can only soften his expression and shake his head.]
For now, it is simply a matter of waiting it out. The ruling god should be changing this month, and when he appears-- then we can ask our questions. Until then, I will believe alongside you with all my might.
[he even gives a nod to prove his conviction.]
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[A charming smile.]
You know, I knew there was a reason I liked you so much.
...But I think I should correct you on something.
[Then, the smile gains some strange, infinite understanding.]
I don't think you should be calling me a hero from now on.
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something is amiss though, and it's one secret this little fish will not dismiss so easily.]
What are you talking about? You are always a hero. Zekrom stands by you no matter what.
[right?]
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[It's useless to look unbearably sad about it. So Touko simply smiles, wryly -- how can she not, when she has that smile opposite her to chase away the doubt?]
...I let him go.
[She feels she needs to explain herself, somehow. Maybe she just takes too much comfort in the sound of her own voice, she thinks. She thinks N would understand even with just those simple words, but she follows up anyway.]I couldn't do that to Zekrom. I wanted to be his friend, like you... not his keeper. But I also couldn't just store one of my other Pokemon indefinitely in favor of him, not when we'd gone through so much, all seven of us. That would be like stabbing whoever got the box treatment in the back ( ... )
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