meritocracy | appointments

Neither do I. This one happens every year- people are forced to- [....B-blush. He's trying to hide it, but... it's been awkward.] ...Temporarily... fall in love.

[GREAT SCOTT SHE DROPS HER TEA SPOON. EXCEPT NOT REALLY SHE JUST SORT OF OPENS HER MOUTH LIKE WHOA. ]

...Oh..my.

Yeah. So you should be careful. [SO VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. After four years he's been through enough of these to be wary.]

..I'll keep it in mind.
[she flushes a bit more delicately]
Goodness..this place really is beyond words.

...Yeah. You have to be careful about who you talk to this week. Avoid Van and Sync, especially.

[He can't imagine the awkwardness if- ...ugh.]

...[she just stares at him as her face sort of blanches, walking towards him with a cup of tea. yes, it smells good. look she has to not kill people while living here okay. ]

But you'll be unaffected since you're going on a mission, correct?

...I assume that's the case. [And if it's not, then he's screwed, because he'll be stuck in love with either robots, their captors, or an enemy... none of those are acceptable options.]

..I'm glad to hear that. I'd like you to be spared at least. [so honestly said, as she smiles a little, staring down at her teacup]

...I hope they'll leave you alone as well. [If someone screws around with her feelings, he'll be awfully peeved.]

Either way, I'll be fine. I won't allow myself to be used too deeply even if I were. [she offers him a reassuring smile]

How much time do you have until you must leave?

[Oh, Natalia. Strong as ever. He has to duck his head to hide the slight smile.]

A few hours at most.

..Would you mind spending some of that time here? I'd like to hear how you've been.

[she folds her hands together]
It's been a while since we've spoken like this.

...Alright. [When she's asking with that look on her face, he can't really say no, can he?] I don't have anywhere else I need to go.

[You certainly can't. She just smiles. ]

Then I suppose I'm fortunate today. [she tilts her head]
What have you been up to?

Very little. [Trying to figure out how to deal with a dying replica.] It's... been a while. [Since he saw her, anyway.]

..It has. [she glances down at her hands briefly, before she looks up.]
I'm sorry for that. I--I think I needed some time to adjust.

There's nothing to apologize, Natalia. I was- [-Dead-] ...gone. It was expected.

...I shouldn't have wasted time like that. [she furrows her eyebrows]
I..--[a helpless smile twitches at her mouth as her hand goes to the side of her face, smiling down at her teacup. ]
I didn't mean to make you feel--uncomfortable. I'm sorry for that, as well.

I told you, don't apologize. [The last thing he wants her to do is worry about something so pointless.] Just forget it, Natalia.

..You're right. [she glances up at him with a serious look on her face]
Asch. There's something..I'd like to ask you, if that would be alright.

[He hesitates - briefly - then glances over at her, his expression a mixture of wariness and curiosity. Why so serious all of a sudden?]

What is it?

[she bites her lip before she looks up seriously]
Asch. Would it be alright if--[a pause. a silence.]
If we try again? I realize..I did a great wrong to you--back on Auldrant. Not seeing who you were until it was..far too late. I never told you that I had acknowledged the path you had chosen. There were so many things--that I didn't know.

You watched over me. You supported me when I doubted myself, and in turn I held you back with a promise that..no longer was valid, didn't I? It was cruel of me. It..must have caused you pain. I am sorry. I was so thankful to you--I kept thinking I had time to say what I wanted but--in the end I was afraid. [she swallows.]

And that was how..we said goodbye. Both of us are different people now. --[she won't cry. instead she just looks up with a hopeful, almost helpless smile.]

We can't go back to that promise or that future that we dreamed of as children. But that doesn't mean..that I don't want to meet the person in front of me, just as he is.

..Can I get to know you once more?

[Asch watches her for a moment, cautious, surprised, then looks away. That... is a lot to take in. And a lot that, in his memory, happened a long time ago now. It's been years since he was in Auldrant, years since that awful conversation she'd had to witness between he and Luke in Grand Chokmah. For a long time after his initial arrival here, after he'd died - or nearly died, close enough for it to count - he'd thought back to the snappish words of that day and felt regret. There were a lot of reasons for him to regret the paths he'd chosen in his life, and a lot of time to do so.

He'd been wrong. But she'd been wrong, too, and maybe a part of him had resented her for it. Her continual insistence that he was still "Luke", that she knew him, that he hadn't changed- it had hurt, hearing that. As if the seven years he'd gone through, all that he'd suffered, meant nothing to her. That all she wanted from him was the childish promise of a boy who would be her king. He'd hated that, hearing her say that, and it had driven a wedge between them, one he hadn't really known how to deal with.

They can never go back to that. He's changed too much, and he knows that she's changed, too. Their lives have gone in separate directions, and they both need to learn to live with that.

She understands that, now. He can see it. In her voice, in her words... in that sad, longing smile. She knows, and... she's waiting for an answer.

He looks back in her once more, his gaze focused, intense, though not critical or judgmental, more... uncertain. He's no good at this anymore- he'd been much better with words, polite behaviour, the treatment of a princess, as a child. Years in Daath had changed all the social grace he'd earned in Fabre Manor, like a diamond reversing itself into an unpolished stone. But he'll try. For her, he'll try, because that honest confession deserves something.

He reaches a hand out to her, tilted halfway between an offer to shake hers, or take it, as a lady might with a real gentleman. Laughable, perhaps, but it's her choice.]

I'm Asch.

[Simple, quietly spoken. He doesn't really know what else to say, but... he doesn't really know her anymore, either.

It's time. They have time. And he can try.]

[Natalia hadn't expected him to reach for her at all. She had expected her words to somehow once again, push a wedge. But once again--here they were. And he was reaching for her. It was ..it was the same affect of clenching around her heart, that outstretched hand.

Natalia can feel the tears fill her eyes and she ducks her head for a minute, to let them hold back. When she lifts her head she's smiling, it's a tired, sad, happy smile. It's many emotions on one face. Her eyes are dry.

She reaches for that hand and clasps it in her own, her voice soft. ]

I'm Natalia. It's..["Just do what you can." "I didn't say that because you were a Princess." "I'm not Luke."

"Let's change this country let's--" The words are scribbled out with black in her mind, and her hand doesn't quiver, even if her heart breaks. But at the same time--]

..Good to meet you, Asch. I look forward to..getting to know you here, in Luceti. [she swallows.]

We have quite a lot of time, didn't you know?

[Well... this is a strange experience, that much is certain. But it doesn't stop him from quietly closing his fingers around hers, lips pursing. There. They've met. After more than seven years, they've finally met each other at last. Where they go from here is still a mystery, of course, but that's... something they can deal with one step at a time. So he nods, swallowing back that irritating uncertainty.]

This place doesn't seem interested in getting rid of me. There's time enough.

[It's her he's more worried about leaving, at this point- it's happened twice already, after all. But that's all the more reason to give this a shot, isn't it? Even if it might end up being pointless, he still wants to see where it takes them. He... treasures her. She's one of the few he still truly cares about, regardless of how we he knows her. His friendship may not be worth much, but if she values it, it's hers.]

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