rendez-vous + APPOINTMENT POST

[tearmeanewone]

[This is an appointment post for Elizabeth at luceti.]

[When making a new thread, please mark the subject with Action/Video/Voice/Written and the date the thread takes place.]

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September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

[He tries for a laugh too, but there's no real mirth behind it, just a hint of what might be regret.]

Would you believe it if I told you that I was timid and shy before everything happened?

[Shu had been the decisive and brave one, and he'd looked up to him for it. Ironic, really, that he had become what Shu used to be while Shu became what he used to be.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

No, I would say you're lying to sound more impressive. [She laughs wetly again and pushes her forehead into Gai's just to steel herself.] But maybe not. I used to be so naive, I used to think things were simple, and that life outside of my tower would be beautiful all the time.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

And you found out it was anything but.

[That's something Gai can understand. He'd had the truth of the world drilled into him at a very young age and life had never given him the chance to forget it.]

I thought I'd escaped one fate only to find myself in the middle of something even bigger. That's just the way life goes, and we can either sit back and let it happen to us or fight to make a change.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth bites her lip harder and nods. Yes, she'd found out life wasn't so simple, and was full of suffering and hate and hardship. She'd found that out quickly, when she was thrown into the deep-end.]

But you've escaped now, haven't you? [She squeezes Gai's hand.] Shift-explosives aside, life is simpler now isn't it?

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

Yeah.

[The smile he gives her now is a genuine one, as is the squeeze he returns. As full of suffering as life may be, it still has its bright spots too, and those are what make it worth living.]

Living here has been the second-best thing that's ever happened to me.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

And the first was leaving Africa, I bet. [Elizabeth smiles back, happy to see Gai is smiling at her genuinely.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

Not even close.

The first was you.

[And he means it.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

..but... [Elizabeth looks floored. She hadn't expected to be put above escaping from a child soldier ring. Or any of the other things that had happened to help Gai down his path.]

But Gai, I haven't changed you in any monumental way, have I?

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

You have. You've shown me that despite everything I've been through, I'm still capable of loving someone else and being loved. I may be damaged, but I'm not broken, not as long as I can still feel.

You've given me something to want to keep living for, Elizabeth. Nothing in my world or any other could possibly compare to that.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

Gai... [Elizabeth sniffs and blinks away the last of her tears.] You're incredible. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect love.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

I'm not perfect. Quite the contrary. But that's exactly why I'm so grateful for what I have.

[He gives her a squeeze and brushes his lips against her forehead.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

Well, neither am I. But this-- [She squeezes him back.] It's more perfect than anything I've seen before.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

I still don't know what I did to deserve this luck.

[But he is not questioning it, not one bit.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

We'll never know if you or I did something--the universe is more random than anyone thinks it is.

[She runs her fingers through Gai's hair slowly, giving it a little thoughtful comb.] I'm going to kiss you if you don't have to tell me anything else. Otherwise I'll hold off for a moment. [She laughs a little.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

[Gai leans forward a little to press his forehead to hers, just for the contact and the reassurance. There is one more thing he really does want to tell her, one more thing that he knows will probably hurt her more than anything else he's said so far, and it's for that exact reason that he hesitates to do so.

But this is also the one thing that he absolutely doesn't want her to find out via an experiment or any other method that isn't straight from him.]

There is one other thing.

[The gravity of his tone should be self-evident.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

[She sobers as well, her smile falling into a resolved expression. Elizabeth presses back against Gai's forehead and strokes his hair again.]

Alright. Tell me.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

[And now, now that he's resolved himself to tell her... suddenly Gai can't find the words for it, doesn't know how to express it in a way that isn't brutal and awful. There really isn't a way to make it any less so.]

... I already told you that you weren't my first.

[That's an easy enough place to start...]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

Yes...? [Elizabeth sounds hesitant now, afraid of what Gai's going to tell her. But whatever he's going to say, she's going to bear it with him. She promised him that much.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

It wasn't her fault.

[He's very quick to make that much clear, as he doesn't want blame placed where it doesn't really belong.]

The virus warped her mind, even while she fought so desperately against it. Eve had one objective, and that was to select an Adam to be her mate so that they could create the new human race.

[He pauses, closing his eyes.]

She didn't like the fact that I tried to interfere.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

[Elizabeth isn't certain she's connecting the two things together. Her not being Gai's first, and 'Eve' not liking that Gai had interfered.]

She... did she force you to...? [This is the first time she's come so close to this concept, and it shows on her face.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

[His response is a single nod rather than a verbalization. He's had years to process it and deal with it, and by this point, the thought doesn't really hurt him anymore. He's come to grips with it.

But Elizabeth, on the other hand...]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

Oh my God... [Elizabeth pulls herself closer to Gai until she's wrapping her arms around him and pressing her chest flush to Gai's, hugging him tightly.]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. [She can feel tears forming in her eyes, but she doesn't let them go just yet.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

It's all right.

[It seems like a flippant thing to say, but it's all he can really think of to soothe her without going into any details or blaming anyone for it.

He does wrap his arms around her in return and just holds her tight, grateful (and touched) that she's upset, almost in tears, for his sake, even if he himself holds no anger over it.]

It was a long time ago. She was as much a victim as I was.

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[tearmeanewone]

Even so. It still hurts you. So it hurts me. [She squeezes Gai tightly again, as though she could protect him even if it was 'a long time ago'.]

I love you, my dearest, my bravest. [Elizabeth kisses his cheek firmly.]

September 26th - The Marathon... tw for all sorts of horrible child soldier things

[voidseeing]

I love you too.

[And it's with an immense sense of relief that he says these words. Not that he'd ever thought she'd leave him if she found out, but he knows how hard it must have been for her to hear-- to hear and know that it happened to him at all. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if she'd pulled away and needed some space to process it... but she didn't. Instead, she's holding him and kissing him and telling him that he's brave.

There's only one thing he can think of to do to express just how grateful he is for her support, and that's to turn his head enough to capture her lips in a deep, loving kiss.]