OMG VD!

[cavedwellers]

[Gosh you guys, there must be a holiday on! One of the bigger, more well-lit caves has been decked out for a PARTY, with heart-shaped BALLOONS and also red and white STREAMERS decking the stalactites and shit. There are BUCKETS filled with LITTLE CANDY HEARTS, and there is a FOUNTAIN featuring a rosy-cheeked CUPID who is PEEING PINK LEMONADE into a basin. Also ther are CUPS in case you couldn't tell the LEMONADE was for DRINKING.

Also, everything is HEAVILY SPIKED WITH APHRODISIACS. Eating or drinking the party favors will make you want to MAKE OUT with anyone who gets IN STRIKING DISTANCE. Have fun with that!]

Comments

[onlyhonournow]

[hologram fakes a bow, still grinning]

My apologies.

[ice_and_steel]

oh, none necessary. [she salutes back, not as crisply as usual]

[still idly petting]

...so what is it that you want?

[onlyhonournow]

A world where no one has to be left behind. No suffering, no inequality. Peace. Harmony. A world where free will is celebrated, not censured.

[ice_and_steel]

I've never known a world without war. I don't even know what you would do to end it.

[onlyhonournow]

[hologram smiles again, a little wistfully]

I'm not so sure myself.

[ice_and_steel]

It seems like there will always be people who want to abuse their power, so others must know how to fight, if only to stop them from going too far.

Unless that's just a self-serving excuse because I don't know what else to do with myself besides command armies.

[onlyhonournow]

... No. You're right.

Not everyone wants the same thing. That's not necessarily bad, but it can be. But I want to believe that there's a way--a compromise. A way that doesn't require any more sacrifices.

[ice_and_steel]

There's always a sacrifice to be made. The question is what you sacrifice to get there.

[onlyhonournow]

...

[the hologram has an inscrutable expression, and his voice gets a little quiet] I ... want to believe that there's the chance of a world that doesn't require sacrifice. But I know that might not be possible.

[ice_and_steel]

[her mouth gets a wry twist to it]

Well, all you have to do is completely change human nature.

Or else be willing to be tyrant enough to enforce your views.

[onlyhonournow]

...

I don't want to think like that any more.

[ice_and_steel]

[that's a pretty clear sign of an error. She winces.] I apologize. I spoke without enough care for my words.

It is...a mindset I, too, would prefer to be able to leave behind.

[onlyhonournow]

[the hologram smiles, sincerely]

It's not easy to do. I'm still working on it.

[ice_and_steel]

...Does it get easier?

[onlyhonournow]

... Yes. It does.

[ice_and_steel]

That's....good. [she sits with her knees drawn up to her chin, balancing on her tailbone so as not to put her boots on the upholstery, which seems quite rude] I am...unaccustomed to not being extremely good at something from the outset. I suppose this is what is called a "learning experience." I think I preferred the other way.

[onlyhonournow]

[laughing mildly, with affection]

I think we all do. But as a soldier, surely you understand the value of effort proportionate to result.

[laughing again]

That's... what I tell myself, anyway.

[ice_and_steel]

[she tips her head and then laughs] Fair point, and well-put.

...I...am not glad that it is a struggle for you, but I am relieved to know that it is not necessarily a fundamental fault in myself that causes me to have difficulty with simply changing attitudes like flipping a switch.

[onlyhonournow]

No. Anyone who thinks that doing the right thing is easy is either immeasurably lucky, or a fool.

[ice_and_steel]

...thinking of those I've known who held such thoughts, I think I must agree.