genessia | Chance

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Chance | Log

WHO: Lydia and Takumi
WHAT: Chance meetings after disgusting anonymous flirting.
WHEN: Some time after the anonymous meme.
WHERE: Genessia Library
WARNINGS: I mean Lydia is awful no matter what, so.

Boredom came in all different forms when you had no reasons to sleep, eat, drink, or really take in the majority of pleasures that came with having an actual living body. Which had let Lydia wander into Genessia properly to go take a look at what information could be uncovered in the library itself, even if her body tugged towards the bits of suffering and strong emotions here and there among the populace as she moved. These people, just skimming off the surface, was not sustaining her as much as she was akin to. But that was to be expected, back home they had no shortage of victims and here... they remained elusive. Irritating. Almost as if she were starving and thirsty in a desert with no end in sight.

Distractions were the answer, of course. Which was absolutely her in the first place, slowly moving through the book shelves like a ghost to find something worth her time.

Until she pauses, a frown pulling to pink painted lips. Something feels... off, but she can't quite place her finger on it. Not even as she's instinctively moving towards the source.

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Why. That's all she can think of right now, why would he even bother with such a thing? She's sliding off the desk to pace the bits she can, not seeming to have a problem even in the ridiculous heels she's currently wearing. Though she seems to be lost in her thoughts for a moment.

No one had... really bothered ever saying that sort of thing to her and it's not something she knows how to really deal with. The only person she had before all of this that cared about her existence was her brother and... well.

She's finally stopping to look at him again, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Why."

Watching her carefully - a little concerned he'd end up with another person who had panic attacks, honestly - Takumi stood his ground, and waited her out. Her thoughts, her feelings, were things she'd needed to work out on her own.

At the same time, though, Takumi was ready. If ... whatever the bloodline of Kallig meant, agitating ghosts and possibly the undead ... he had to be ready for an attack. He didn't want to be, but it was only sensible to be prepared.

The question, when it came, made a lot of sense to him. His expression was still grave.

"It is one thing, perhaps a mortal thing, to expect and be prepared for death. Even I - with all of my power - am more prepared to accept it, than find ways to cheat it."

"But it's another thing, to have death or oblivion waiting for you. An unmovable fate, an inescapable cage. Something without choice - just a blade, for you to run headlong into, with a hand on your back, pushing you against it."

"We should not be caged by fate, we have our choices. No-one deserves to be imprisoned by such a thing - to be trapped here against their will, knowing that at any time, if they leave, they are gone."

Takumi's eyes sparked with passion, now. "I do not accept chains of any kind, Lydia. Either people will be free to live out their lives here - or they will be free of a death sentence when they return. Those are the only acceptable options to me."

Normally she would agree on such a thing, but she's honestly just staring at him after that before taking a seat on the desk again and rubbing a hand down her face with a small irritated noise. Ugh.

"Here's the thing, the oblivion I would face if I went home was my doing, my choice. If I went home and did not face it, then I'd be left on that plane alone and I'm not keen on doing that. I'd rather be gone forever."

What she means by that is anyone's guess right now, but her attention is flicking to the floor, teeth lightly worrying at her lip as she tries to figure out just how much to actually reveal to him right now.

"To be fair, I deserve it."

Takumi crossed his arms, listening, but not judging. Or, at least, his expression was free of censure. He waited her out.

Loneliness, and even a trace of guilt - though perhaps only trace. More of an acceptance, a realistic look at her past actions. He didn't know what she'd gone through, but through the general, broad brush of those sorts of feelings she was expressing - well, how could he not relate to them, considering his own past?

"Perhaps," He walked a little closer, and said, quieter, "This is a rare chance, for many of us. Would you invoke the same consequences, here, as you had in your own world?"

It was almost worse that he was quiet through all of her words, though as he's stepping forward, she's looking up once again to search his face for something that would make him seem anything but genuine. But she's failing that easily enough and is instead listening to his words, turning them over and seeing what could possibly be wrong with them.

Her brother wasn't here, he probably never would be, and she had no control over this world. And given how high strung people had been about her kind before, was it really worth trying to continue living as she had before? No, not really.

Did she feel guilt over what she did? Not particularly, more guilt that all that had led to her choices in the first place hadn't worked and had left her in her truly dying moments in pain and by herself.

A shudder ran her spine for but a moment, hands clutching tighter to the desk edge until her knuckles were white. "No. All of the catalysts for it are gone here."

"Then, despite your past choices," Takumi pointed out, "you still have a chance, a choice, to make your own fate in a new world."

He reached forward, hand hovering by her face - not quite touching, not making that presumption. Almost, but not quite, intruding on her boundaries. Implying that he would, but awaiting permission. As he watched, prepared for a backlash, hoped one would never come.

"You do not have to take oblivion for granted, Lydia." His voice was compelling, not commanding, but still powerful. "Why not thrive, in this world, instead?"

Is his hand really near her face? She's watching that carefully before deciding that it was better to just act instead of give some sort of permission, thus she's just going to press her cheek into his hand like a gigantic nerd. Oddly enough she does have something akin to warmth that should be present with skin, but that's possibly just another part of her illusion nonsense.

"I suppose that's true. While it will be... odd... to act without my brother, I don't really have a choice in that matter." Which is absolutely true to her, not that she had been terribly interested in speaking about her brother before now for whatever odd reason.

His touch was gentle, his hands soft despite the past couple of years - after all, gloves were the usual thing. They kept his hands as smooth and unblemished as his former mistress would have required of her slaves. Takumi gently lifted her gaze, so their eyes would meet.

To attempt to gain her trust, to attempt to persuade her to have hope again, to have her listen without any touch of his abilities in the Force - it was a heady sensation. Takumi let that pride fill him, bolster his confidence.

"Your choices will lie elsewhere, my dear," he reassured her, "as difficult as it may be for us both, to act alone, without those we cared for in our own worlds."

Takumi's grey eyes were steady. "Let me know what you need - and I will do my best to help you. In return, as I try to keep you here, away from meeting oblivion - I hope you can aid me, if I have need of any of your skills."

Perhaps it was for the best that he hadn't used any of his Force abilities on her, this being something more... natural than anything else. But she's quiet as she listens, letting him turn her gaze back up to him, attention piqued and focused on him versus anything else in this damn place right now.

"I never did properly explain how liches... survive, have I?" That's at least more information than she'd given previously. "We keep our sanity based on using strong emotions, tending to be different for each lich, I've... learned to live on suffering." At least she's come clean with it for the most part. "I have a place I've recently set up to help me in such an endeavor, but so far no takers..."

Living on suffering. Takumi could only imagine what that place would involve, then, and - yes, the Wonderland. He remembered watching that video. Some reality entertainment. Part of him recoiled. His poker face, however - honed from years as surviving as the sort of slave he had been - didn't falter.

"There so much suffering here already," Takumi said, making his voice contemplative, not disapproving, or even criticizing. Like he was talking about the weather. "Yet you need more?"

Inwardly, his mind was racing. This would be like Khem Val all over again, wasn't it? Except it was easy enough to keep his companion fed, at home. Everyone seemed to throw themselves in their path to attack them, especially Force-users.

Here, in a peaceful world? Finding Lydia what she needed may be more ... challenging.

Reality entertainment, it had been something she was doing legitimately, but behind the scenes was a whole lot worse when she wasn't putting on such shows. Either way, she seems complacent enough even while he questions her need for more of it.

"It's not just for sanity's sake, either. Other than illusions, the majority of things I can create uses it as well. Thus the need for... more of it." That's not even the entire case, but it's not stopping her from trying to nuzzle further into his hand like some sort of cat. "I suppose I became dependent on a higher amount of it, Wonderland at home drew in so many people for us to use lifetime after lifetime, of course. Now it... feels as if I'm in the desert with no water to be found."

"We must be cautious, my dear," Takumi pointed out, though it was said with a hint of apology, rather than with the hint of admonishment that he was actually thinking. "There are many people here, as you have likely seen, who would object to the suffering of innocents."

And there was the key, wasn't it? Because what the litch was suggesting was basically torture, and he wouldn't abide by innocent people suffering. Not if he could help prevent it. Still, she was just trying to survive, and he refused to bind and chain her, enslave her, to make her comply, either.

Regret in his tone, "We may need to help you wean down, until your present Wonderland acquires more interest."

Then, contemplative, "And, perhaps, we can retool the Wonderland to fit more in line with the ... shall we say ... values of the powerful in this world."

Caution was never really her forte, but she's frowning immediately at the comment on innocents. "The way it was, is, designed is that it only attracts the attention of those greedy enough to want whatever their hearts could desire. Thus I would never call them innocents." She's not completely in accurate in the end there, of course.

Nor does she seem terribly keen on the idea of weaning herself from the amount she was used to, a small, annoyed sigh slipping past her lips but not more than that. "I suppose so, darling, but it's a hard thing to do when you've survived like that for centuries. And if it leads to my grasp on sanity being shaky..." She's trailing off immediately there, letting him speak further without any extra comment from there.

She's really not sure how that would work out, but what choice does she really have?

"I understand," the Sith soothed, even if, being on the light, it was only an intellectual understanding. "But we need to be mindful of where we are. I wouldn't want you to meet oblivion here, or worse, considering people apparently do not die in Genessia."

Takumi stressed, "I'm thinking of your survival, and your sanity as well. I don't want to think if the Guardians arrest you, deprive you of what you need, what that could do to you."

"How are you doing now?" and this question had genuine concern.

The fact he's not wrong is what's getting under her skin, not really wanting to confront that sort of thing. But if they found out about what she'd been doing, it wouldn't matter if they were innocent or not, would it? Just the fact that she'd done what she had and there was no excuse for that or whatever other ridiculous human morality could be pressed upon it.

Once he's asking that question, that tone, she's frowning at him once more. "Like I said, it feels like I'm in the desert and can't find water. I'm still... sane, but other than that it'd be comparable to exhaustion."

Mind going round and round - considering the resources, and tools, and people Takumi had at his disposal - he kept coming upon one thing. Currently, after all, he didn't have much. He'd perhaps gained a tentative ally of Captain Andor, or at least he didn't gain his suspicion. Same went with Captain Solo. He'd gained a close friend in Prompto, but there, he could have nothing for the litch. He refused.

So, when he came right down to the bare bones of it, the only thing he had was himself.

... It would have to be enough.

"I think I have a ... temporary solution, my dear Lydia." He drew his hand away, letting the fingertips trail across her cheek as he did. To keep her attention drawn to him. "But I believe the suffering you require invites a more ... private venue, shall we say."

His eyebrow raised, and he said, teasing, "My place or yours?"

As should be expected, she was immediately letting out a complaining little whine as he pulled his hand away, attention predictably still focused on him. Her hands have moved to rest gently in her lap, a brow raised as she listens to those words of his.

A private venue? A temporary solution? At this point she'd take anything to sate her thirst.

Until that last comment and she's fighting back the pink crawling to her cheeks, rude. "All I have is Wonderland, darling, but it's at least a building and situated away from everyone else. But it's your choice..."

The little whine, the blush, were gratifying to see. After all, that kind of charm was how he managed to survive the first twenty years of his life. Clearly it hadn't gone to waste.

Takumi gestured toward the door. "My place, then. If you'll follow me."

For the sake of surrounding eyes, he softened his pose, again, and so - he seemed smaller somehow, once more. The green turtleneck suited him like that, all soft corners and blunted edges.

But she knew, and his tone hadn't changed, for her ears only. "You'll need to forgive my present accommodations. I'm in the Commons yet, so it's perhaps ... not to my usual standards."

Of course, he was happy living out of his ship, but she didn't know that.

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