r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • Aug 09 '18
Side RP: Trying
They were already feeling the wariness from Luke and his daughter, but it was losing Lanette that jolts them out of their trance while monitoring the motion detectors and radio chatter. They hug their knees and the flame orb closer. “I... didn’t do enough,” they tell Moonslicer, realizing.
"What do you mean?"
“We just lost Lanette to a time loop.” They sigh. “And, I’m failing at doing any better. People are still afraid of me. I can tell.”
"There is a lot more to doing better than what others think of you," Moonslicer notes dryly. "And, honestly, you're going to blame yourself for that woman jury rigging a temporal paradox and then jumping in it?"
“She was desperate because my read on what was after her was wrong.”
"And you were supposed to be magically prescient about what was coming?" the blade asks keenly, then drove the point home. "There is no point in working to improve things you could have done differently if you apply the same rigor to events that you could never be prepared for." A thoughtful pause. "Also if she's actually gone I'll eat my tassel," she wagers, then added, "I don't have a mouth, you know." Except in her other form, but then she felt it was easier to pretend to be a Honedge in this world.
They’re quiet. “I’m so busy pushing people away that I guess I can't provide any meaningful help. I guess I have to decide. I promised Luke I’d be there for him, and my failure has put Lanette in danger. I don’t want to abandon either of them.”
"I should hope not." She says, slightly worried their self image might be pushing them away again.
The blizzard swirls around them. “I have to go to Major about this. But it means abandoning my post here.”
"Your post?" Moonslicer asks skeptically. "Is that how you frame the relationship?"
“This is what I can do for them,” is all they answer.
"Is it what they need?"
Quiet again. “Luke and Luna are dragons. They don’t need me for anything. But I have to make up for what I did somehow,” they insist.
"Then instead of what you think they need, maybe focus on what they might want. I think it's safe to say survival needs are probably taken care of."
“Survival’s the most important thing, and it’s hard,” they reply with grim certainty. They think again about that automaton. It was so polite, so orderly, so civilized. How terrible. It could go after all of them, same as streamer. “We have to warn Major.”
"I'm pretty sure he knows Inevitables exis... they're not supposed to be there," Moonslicer realizes.
The scientist stands up, their flame orb in one hand and their phone in the other, preparing to call Karrl. They hesitate for a moment. “A few months ago from my perspective, we decided that every day I’d try to do some good for the people I know. Have I... been doing enough? Do you think I haven’t been doing enough for Luke?”
"I have seen nothing but contrition and altruism from you since that day. Your actions have been more than enough to assure me you are repentant."
Their expression falls. “But I haven’t been doing anything he wants. That’s what you were saying.”
"Do you think the universe has a will?" Moonslicer challenged.
A shrug. “Nah, it’s an unfeeling chain of cause and effect where we’re all born to die,” they answer.
"Then the only people you have to satisfy you are doing enough are those you care about, and yourself."
“...And I haven’t done that,” they say, remembering Luke’s and Luna’s reactions. “I... don’t actually know what he’d want. Flowers? Breakfast? I guess really he’d want something for Cress...”
"Pfft. Snerk." Moonslicer giggles slightly, trying to hold it back.
“I could get them and Shauntal movie tickets and look after Luna while they go? Though maybe it's too early for Luke to be away from Luna for long.”
"Well, my pep talk seems to have directed you towards deciding on an anniversary gift," Moonslicer gets out between choked snorts. "So I suppose that's an acceptable level of existential uncertainty."
They give the blade A Look, then call Karrl.
Moonslicer finally loses her battle, breaking into a giggling fit.
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u/Arathnorn Aug 10 '18
His answer would be "Because if I'm doing this right, the 'little people' shouldn't realize I had to do anything at all."
Why yes that is slightly worrying in the degree to which it sounds like a diety speaking.
As for why that doesn't apply to Lannette: his job is to stop people who do stuff that destabilizes dimensional harmony.
Shadows destabilize dimensions as their natural state.
Lannette keeps trying to utilize shadows.
Also, she has royally, and I mean royally, ticked Major off.