ic inbox

[rathercommon]

crystal | letter | cease and desist notices slipped under her door | action

Comments

[elegiaque]

Oh, fuck off with that, you and fucking Adalia both.

( it's immediate, exasperated reflex, perhaps worsened by the fact that this is a road she's tread before, and recently— )

Yes, obviously. I've spent all this time and energy trying to understand what you're talking about and explain myself because I have absolutely nothing better to do in my life than...I don't even know what the fuck punchline this is supposed to have. Isn't it funny that your thoughts matter to me? Clever joke! I'm so glad that Miss How Dare You Insult Me thinks so little of me to conclude that everything I have to say and think is worthless mockery. Thank you for that.

Oh, but you at least had the consideration to wait until we were speaking privately to insult me. Well done.

[rathercommon]

What?

[ That's unexpected enough that she really takes notice. ]

I - no. I didn't mean -

I'm not exactly someone people listen to. That's all.

[elegiaque]

Did you miss the entire part of this conversation that was all of this conversation where I was listening to you?

[rathercommon]

Well, yes, but...

[ A little noise of uncertainty. ]

You were being tolerant. Look, and it's different, listening to me versus...caring about something I care about. Especially since - you know - my beliefs are pretty absurd. Lots of people laugh at them. Nearly everyone.

[elegiaque]

I have never in my life been tolerant of anyone.

[rathercommon]

Now, that's obviously not true.

[elegiaque]

What's tolerant about going out of my way to discuss this matter with you? Arguably, my life would have been both easier and more pleasant not to have bothered. If all I meant to do was blandly tolerate something I'm indifferent to, I could have done that without paying you the slightest bit of attention and tolerated your holding some irrelevant opinion in beautiful, golden silence.

[rathercommon]

[ A noise of annoyance - ]

Fine. All right. I take it back. You care, for whatever reason.

[elegiaque]

( placidly: ) Thank you.

[rathercommon]

[ Which annoys her enough that she says - ]

Why do you care?

[elegiaque]

I have absolutely no idea.

( if she weren't already annoyed, she might have tried harder to rationalise that. )

Inexplicably, I consider you a friend.

[rathercommon]

[ Kitty's quiet a moment. ]

How long has that been true?

[elegiaque]

I would have stopped listening to you almost immediately if it hadn't felt worthwhile.

( she tunes a lot of people out. indeed, sometimes to her own detriment. )

[rathercommon]

So - what, you considered me a friend - like - immediately?

[elegiaque]

Well, no, but interesting. Intelligent, if prone to inexplicable tangents.

( is that kitty or just, her. )

I don't know, I don't think about these things that way. So specifically. On this day in the year 9:44 it occurred to me to consider you a friend, trumpets.

[rathercommon]

Oh.

[ She feels suddenly, intensely shy. She can feel her face getting hot with a blush, and thinks that she's very grateful that Gwen isn't able to see her. ]

Well, that's - erm - nice. Thank you.

oh my god i have icons again

[elegiaque]

( eurgh, emotions. why can't people just understand her motives without her having to say anything. after a beat, awkwardly: )

So. It matters to me what you care about. I understand if that isn't enough, but it's what I have. The last thing I'm going to do after all that is lie to you to sound better than I am.

[rathercommon]

Right.

[ She fidgets awkwardly with the sleeve of her shirt. Eurgh, emotions. Why can't people always talk about the big stuff. That's easier. ]

Isn't there anything that comes from you, though? Anything you care about that no one else does?

[elegiaque]

My opinions are my own. I have a lot of those.

( citation not needed, too many citations. )

[rathercommon]

I've noticed.

[ A bit dry. ]

But things you care about.

[elegiaque]

( I happen to care about my opinions is muttered, grumbling, and then— )

I care about lots of things, I don't know. What sort of 'care about' are you talking about?

[rathercommon]

I don't know. Just - something you care about, that you decided you cared about, without anyone convincing you to care about it.

[elegiaque]

( objecting immediately— ) No one exists so singularly that no other person has anything to do with what we think. I don't believe that.

( eventually, grudgingly: ) People shouldn't hurt children. And no one set out to convince me the world shouldn't end, but I don't know if I can properly take credit for that one, either, because it isn't as if I came to the Inquisition willingly, but no one gave a fuck what I thought about it so I suppose I'm going to count that one too. Actually.

[rathercommon]

All right. Those are good ones.

[ Whichv could sound condescending if Kitty weren't so consistently earnest when it comes to things like this. ]

It seems like your feelings on Orlesian politics - those grow out of your personal experience, don't they?

[elegiaque]

That they're fucking awful? That's everyone's experience.

( deflect, deflect, deflect. )