Words, words, words!

[littleladyluck]

I am presently feeling seventeen different emotions all at once, I know nothing that happened last Jaunt as clearly as I'd like, and I think that a handful of the people here may need to speak to someone to work out their own feelings regarding... everything!

Because I was lucky enough to keep my Champion of Sound powers, I can help some of you, hopefully. I can completely isolate your voices while you speak so only I can hear you, or whoever you would prefer to speak to. I know, the psychic network is similar, but face to face chats are important. To me they are, at least.

Let me know if you're interested. Anyone and everyone who needs me, I'll try to be there!

Comments

[nicotinized]

In my experience, people would rather forget than talk about it.

[There's a slightly disorienting feeling coming from Toshi, because he's currently very drunk]

[littleladyluck]

I understand completely, but I can at least offer this for people who need to uncork the feelings they've bottled up before it pops like champagne.

By the way, hello again.

[nicotinized]

Champagne only pops if you shake it. [missing the point of that metaphor there, Toshi]

Might make people feel better for a bit and then they'll go right back to being fuck-ups.

[Toshi you aren't helping anything]

[littleladyluck]

I would say every jaunt provides enough shaking, no matter how mild, and who knows how much emotion will come bubbling up at any moment?

So why not assist them now and then so the they aren't buried under the pain later? Everyone makes mistakes, I might add, no matter how infallible they try to be.

Have I offended you? I mean this sincerely, no sarcasm or derision whatsoever.

[nicotinized]

[There's the impression of hopeless laughter]

Offended? No. I just doubt it's going to help anything.

[littleladyluck]

Good, I suppose. I know it won't change a thing about our collective situation, but comfort and lightheartedness in strange situations are my specialties. The more things hurt, the more happiness people try to find, and I'm wonderful at providing it.

[nicotinized]

Good luck then, I guess. I'm going to settle for getting friendly with this bottle of whisky.

[littleladyluck]

I must admit, I'm a bit jealous. Enjoy it while you can!

[nicotinized]

...What, underage or something?

[littleladyluck]

Oh, no, no, no, I'm centuries old. Age isn't an issue. Coming across something to eat or drink in general is.

[nicotinized]

In liminal space? That's pretty easy to solve.

[littleladyluck]

I haven't quite figured out how to create anything other than various flowers, sadly. I can live without eating, so it's not really urgent.

[nicotinized]

Well, if you want a drink, come find me. I've got plenty to go around.

[littleladyluck]

Hmm. I may take you up on that. I'd prefer champagne, but I shouldn't be picky in a place like this.

[nicotinized]

I can't promise a champagne that's any good [shit's for rich people with more money than sense] but the wine's okay, I think.

[littleladyluck]

[It's my national drink, you cur.] Wine works wonderfully, then! Are you certain that I can take you up on this offer?

[nicotinized]

Yeah, already got that made.

[amadine]

Talk to you? Why?

[It's more curious - and a little baffled - than belligerent.

Guess whose homeworld does not have the concept of therapy.]

[littleladyluck]

Simply to get your feelings out there. Talk through them until you can make sense of them, or feel like someone understands, or at least cares. It may help some people. It always helped me when I was with others of my kind.

Would you, by any chance, want someone to confide in?

[amadine]

There's no need. I didn't find our latest Jaunt personally troubling. I was just curious about the...intent of your offer. Most people I've known don't share such things outside of their close confidantes.

[littleladyluck]

Ah. I'm happy for you, then! I know, and I know that not everyone will take this offer. I honestly don't expect anyone to. I just think that, unless I've missed something while I was Gavriella, we're all on the same side. I could at least offer this to everyone here as a sign of good will.

[amadine]

We're all caught in the same trap. Saying we're all on the same side might be overselling things a little.

[littleladyluck]

I do my best to not be bitter about things I'm forced into, my apologies. We're all forced to walk down the same path with a heavily-armed enemy behind us, then.

[amadine]

That's just it, though, isn't it? We don't all see the same path. Or, I think, the same enemies. Even if it is easy enough to assume otherwise.

[littleladyluck]

I also understand that. You're completely right. I simply want to assist in mending any opened or reopened wounds. Better to have a network of confidantes and companions than to march alone, even if it is for or against different things.

[amadine]

That's...kind of you. I hope you can help those who avail themselves of your offer. As destructive as this Jaunt was, it was kinder than some.

[littleladyluck]

I do my best to be kind whenever possible. A bit of kindness can help to ease the sting of war. [Quite literal for nations, but she's alternating between "ease people into the Nation thing" or "just spit it out."] If people have kept things bottled up, I feel that I should provide a safe venue for them to let it all come pouring out.

[amadine]

[There's a sense of amusement there.]

Given where we tend to congregate when out in the world, I think most of us would call that sort of venue a bar. [There's a moment's pause, and she adds:] Or possibly a bar fight. But I suppose that must be familiar enough if you're a soldier.

[howexciting]

... I believe we need to talk, Ga- Genevieve.

[... hi Monaco ;;]

[littleladyluck]

[There's silence for just a moment before she "speaks" up.]

Are you in your workshop? I'll be there as soon as I can find the door.

[howexciting]

I am. But I can meet you if that would be preferable.

[littleladyluck]

It's all your choice, Leonardo. Just know that, no matter what, while the bubble is up, no one will hear you but me. You can be honest with me.

[howexciting]

... I cannot be anything but honest. You know I am atrocious at lying.

I will wait for you in the workshop proper.

[littleladyluck]

I think that I can see the door from here!

I know that you tell the truth, but do you tell all of it? Omission is easier than inventing other stories to cover yourself, I know this from experience.

To Action?

[howexciting]

In that case, I will be waiting.

Psychic -> Action

[littleladyluck]

[Genevieve is there as quickly as she can run, still pulling up the layers of Gavriella's dress. She steps close to Leonardo, and holds out her arms.]

I think that a hug is in order, first and foremost.

Perma-action! c:

[howexciting]

[Oh thank god, something he is excellent at. Without another word, Leonardo smiles and eagerly draws her into his arms, hugging her tight (but never too tight).]

[littleladyluck]

[Genevieve gives him a brief squeeze, enough to let him know that she's strong enough to take any hug, no matter how tight.] Leonardo, fiorellino mio, I am here for you. No one will hear a word unless you want them to. [She's strangely quiet when she speaks, even after the wrought-iron curls of the sound barrier curl around them.] You gave me the strength to let myself be weak. I want to do the same for you, if you'll let me.

[howexciting]

[He's not letting go any time soon, Genevieve. Further, when she speaks to him in Italian, he gives a weak laugh, before he squeezes her just a little tighter, for a few brief moments. When he speaks again, he speaks to her in Renaissance Italian.]

Genevieve... given how many Travelers feel the need to protect me, I am always weak. I want to be strong for just a little longer... please, let me help you, first.

[littleladyluck]

[She nuzzles her face into his shoulder. All the comfort for precious beretbuddy. She decides, thanks to how much Alcuin comforted her with a deliberate language switch, she'll swap to Renaissance Italian too.]

It's not so much your weakness as our unwillingness to see such a wonderful person get hurt, I believe. You'll always be strong. Look at what you've been through! Lesser people would not be able to bear this. I won't pry, but... my offer will stand until I fall. You and Alcuin have helped me, and I want to give back what I can.

[howexciting]

Wonderful...? Lord above, no. If anything, my time spent this month proves to me that deep down, I am...

[He pauses his words, not wishing to continue. Instead he draws away, his eyes not daring to meet Genevieve's.]

That man I inhabited, Blitzkopf. He was an awful, awful man. But he was not so different from me, in truth. And I am beginning to think it was the same with Leonard.

[littleladyluck]

Not everyone can be easily herded into black or white, Leonardo. I understand. Well, as much as someone with mostly harmless alternate selves can.

[She reluctantly lets the hug end, but... keeps a hand on his arm.]

I know nothing of Leonard, but I do know that Blitzkopf made mechanical kittens and, in the strangest possible way, saved a girl's life. Gavriella was sent away form her father, unsure if he was even alive, but helping Blitzkopf made her feel like she was helpful, and that's all she wanted. Even if he was impersonal and ambiguous in morals, he wasn't irredeemable. I can agree, he wasn't exactly pure in his ideals, but no one is completely made of heavenly purity and sculpted sugar.

Leonardo, you don't use your knowledge to harm people intentionally. You want to help others, you want to create, you want to gain as much intelligence as possible and show others what you can do. I can hardly call that awful.

[howexciting]

Leonard... he was far worse than Blitzkopf. He was not amoral, but evil, wanting nothing more than to watch the world burn. At least Blitzkopf did not care whether or not the world burned because of his actions. Leonard was intending it. He was a master manipulator, and a selfish man, and a callous scientist - just like Blitzkopf was. If it was only the one, I would believe you... but two begins to form a pattern, a pattern which worries me and makes me doubt myself.

... in the pursuit of knowledge, the only thing I have learned is that there is truly some knowledge which is not worth knowing. Such a revelation is something I had not learned at home. What if... what if, when I go back home... I end up like them? Unfeeling, egotistical, only interested in learning more, and more... dedicated only to that knowledge, unconcerned when people are hurt in the process...

[His shoulders shake, suddenly, as he draws in a breath, and his eyes begin to grow misty. He blinks away the tears before they form, but it is clear that he is still upset.]

... the Sun said we were drawn to our greatest resonances when we are Infiltrating. What if my greatest resonances truly are heartless madmen?

[littleladyluck]

[Genevieve goes up en pointe and touches her free hand to his cheek.]

If Leonard is that bad, he doesn't deserve to share your form. He doesn't deserve to share your mind or your heart, and he certainly doesn't deserve the right to make you suffer this much. Everyone makes mistakes. No one ever said the Trumps were flawless or truly all-knowing, hm? All that tethers you three together are a fondness for experimentation.

[She feels the need to make it light-hearted because she can't stand to see him cry. Fingers crossed she doesn't offend him.]

I'm thinking that resonance explanation is because there are truly few people in any world like you, and the Trumps were scrambling for a match who met the very minimum requirements and landed far off the mark with the rest. "He's a tall scientist. Close enough!"

[Back to calm. She tucks his hair behind his ear, then back to his cheek.]

I don't think you will. If you're anything like the Leonardo my brothers knew, you'll still be you. Besides, you have a colossal heart of gold. Though you're strong, it's both a curse and a blessing. You're doomed to care, no matter how these worlds try to keep you from being kind. A soft heart's the best thing you'll ever hate.