25 ★ v i d e o;

[kagayakashi]

[ Gracia shows up on the feed with rather curious expression. She sits by one of the cafes in the plaza, the SFC atop the table. She takes a sip of a warm vanilla milk, and with a slender finger on her lower lip, she begins to speak. A small dog can be slightly glimpsed running around behind her. It barks twice before Gracia's able to get her question out in the open. ]

Tell me something, Vatheon! What does it mean to be an "adult?" [ She leans on her elbows, and pouts. ] Is it really all about how old you are? Or is it more about how you act? That's what Father said to me once...[ Once? More like every time xD ] If that's the case, then how should an adult act?

[ Gracia sighs. This looks like something she's been pondering over for a while now. But speaking as a child at heart herself—regardless of her twenty years of age—Gracia only confused herself trying to look for an answer on her own. ] It's confusing! No matter what I do, it seems that my actions aren't those of an adult! Are adults not allowed to protect their loved ones the way they see fit?

[ Her dog, Futon, barks again. Gracia smiles and reaches down to pet him under the chin. ]

I wonder if to be an adult, I really only need to smile to become part of his strength...? I wonder if that will be enough...?

[ Her last words are no longer aimed at Vatheon's general public; they were questions aimed at herself, concerning a particular person. Her Father was always right, even if tried his best to tell Gracia otherwise. She believes in him fully, and so she wants to protect him no matter what. That was her reason for fighting—to make his dream of peace a reality. But how will she protect him now, when he gave her explicit orders not to? And that, whenever she disobeys him out of love, she is childish? Selfish, even?

Gracia is desperate for answers! (The last thing the SFC shows before she switches it off is her gulping down the rest of her milk with a satisfied and giddy smile. She sighs contentedly.) ]

Comments

[warrior_king]

[He nods.]

I never doubted that you were a learned individual.

Metamorphosed. Transformed, from an initial larval state, corresponding to what your race calls childhood, to a mature, adult form.

[Aaand Gorthan's explanation is cut off short by Gracia pushing her dog dangerously close to the human-Evronian's face. The alien narrows his eyes and lets out a small grunt, as he extends a large hand, five-fingered as opposed to his usual four, to experimentally pet the dog's head.]

What a strange creature, indeed... and Futon is the name you gave it?

[kagayakashi]

[ Yeah, she's not going to remember how to pronounce those words. Gorthan sure knew how to stretch his vocabulary! Maybe one day, she'd be as learned as him?

Her attention is focused solely on Futon and Gorthan now. Her smile is wide and inviting. ]

How is Futon strange? He's a dog! [ Gracia laughs. ] Go on, pet him some more! He likes it under the chin. [ The red head walks over to him and gently allows Gorthan to hold Futon. Or more like, forces him to. You decide how to word it out, lmao. ]

Futon is the mattress we lay down on the floor when we sleep! It's from my home, in Japan. That's his name because he's as soft as one!

[warrior_king]

[And so it is, that the most feared conqueror in the universe finds himself holding an unbelievably fluffy dog.]

You... you are right. It really is... soft...

[Somehow, he instinctively finds a way to hold Futon that is both comfortable for Gorthan himself and for Gracia's pet, and that also enables one of his hands to scratch him under the chin, as he was instructed.]

This... this is...

[And for some reason, there's now a wet gleam in Gorthan's eyes. He's been alive for centuries, perhaps millennia. But these sensations, this... warmth is entirely foreign, and it overload his senses to the point that he's now on the verge of tears.]

[kagayakashi]

[ Gracia doesn't catch the tears in his eyes, not yet. She sits back down and orders another cup of vanilla milk. As soon as she sets her gaze upon them, Gracia's expression turns anxious. She stands back up and approaches Gorthan from the other side of the table, quickly and worriedly, with jerky movements. She tries to pry Futon out of his hands, not knowing what else to do.

She's never seen him cry before. What was going on? ]

Oh, oh no! Gorthan, what did Futon do? Did he bite you? Are you allergic to his fur?

[warrior_king]

[Gorthan waves a hand to make Gracia understand that it's okay, the problem is not with Futon. In fact, Gorthan looks at the dog fondly even as a tear descends down his cheek.]

It's nothing like that, Gracia, dear, it's.... it's me.

Your planet is so full of beautiful things... And I would have destroyed them all, taken them all away. I was ready to deprive you and your people of the home you love so much... To annihilate the land for which brave and valiant warriors like your father have fought and given their all...

[He squeezes his eyes shut and instinctively holds Gracia's dog closer as he finally bursts into tears.]

I am sorry, Gracia! I am so sorry...

[kagayakashi]

[ She watches him sob, and Gracia waits for a while before she moves to do something. And when she does come closer to Gorthan, she can only smile softly at him - fondly, even - as she wraps her arms around his neck for a gentle embrace. She leans his head against her chest and soothingly pats his head, remembering all those times she would cry from her nightmares, and her father would step in to soothe her pain away. While he wasn't exactly feeling pain, Gracia figures it would have the same effect.

Her smile still in place, she lets go briefly to look at Gorthan in the eye, uncaring of the stares they were receiving in the cafe. ]

You have nothing to be sorry for, you silly man. [ She only reassures him some more with an even brighter smile, and a warm touch to his arm. ]

The world is beautiful, and it's because you did not destroy it that it's still here! If you didn't do it, then why are you apologizing?

[ Futon barks twice after she speaks and licks at his cheek, attempting to dry his tears. ]

[warrior_king]

But I...

[He makes no move to stop, or back away from Gracia and Futon. He has never been one for contact, but... he has to admit that there is something comforting about these sensations. As if this physical closeness and warmth could chase his sorrow away...]

... I was about to, Gracia. If I hadn't realized the error of my ways at the very last moment, a simple gesture, a simple yes from me would have forever erased all that your race has always loved and held dear... How could I ever...?

[He shifts a little under Gracia's touch then, as if he were about to shrug her off, but eventually decided against it.]

I am just as despicable as your father's former Lord.

[kagayakashi]

[ Now that makes her frown indeed. Gracia steps back and looks disapprovingly at Gorthan, her hands on her hips. ]

Don't say that. You are nothing like him! [ She shakes her head. ] Lord Nobunaga was powerful, but he was also cruel, and he hurt other people without any reason. I was afraid of him for a long time. [ Gracia speaks softer. ] I saw him kill people who already surrendered.

[ She's back to looking rather stern. ]

Gorthan is Gorthan, and that is it! You're not Lord Nobunaga, and you're not like him at all. [ Gracia points at him. ] What's important is that you did realize what was wrong, and you stopped it from happening. If you were truly like Nobunaga, then you would have said "yes," just like how he ordered those who surrendered to be killed!

[warrior_king]

[Gracia may have noticed how there is absolutely no reaction from Gorthan when she describes Nobunaga's cruelty to him; it's really as if she had just remarked that the grass is green.]

It is nothing I haven't done myself.

All it took was a small, insignificant duck, Earth's Guardian... I hear his digital mentor chose him completely at random. Chance conspired to turn my heart from a ruthless conqueror, mindless of the worth of those I crushed, into...

[He looks down briefly at himself. ... He's still holding Gracia's dog. ... And ever so slightly confused by the fact that Gracia seems annoyed at him now. Neither of those things can be said to be very befitting of an Evronian...]

... whatever I am now.

OH THIS IS SO LATE i'm so sorry

[kagayakashi]

[ She shakes her head, all the details only grazing the surface of her message. She points at him, her finger extremely close to his face. ]

That's what matters! What you are now! You shouldn't feel bad. You're not like Nobunaga or Hideyoshi because you're different.

[ It seemed like a redundant thing to say, but in her own way, Gracia proves a point. What matters to her is what he has become, regardless or not if he had chosen it from the beginning. If he was no longer a ruthless, cold-blooded conqueror now, and was seeking repentance for what he did before, then Gracia failed to see the relevance of his guilt. Perhaps it's her naivete, or because she has always been one to support new and brighter beginnings...nevertheless, she knows what she says is true.

She speaks with a smile, next. Genuine and caring. Her own brand of warm sunshine. ]

Gorthan is my friend. Gorthan is also Futon's friend. And Father's friend. That's why you're not like them.

It's okayyy!

[warrior_king]

[The closeness of Gracia's fingers to Gorthan's face greatly surprises him. It's not every day that his personal space is invaded like that...

Also, her smile. Gorthan has caught himself thinking this before - Gracia's smile is absolutely contagious. Even the corners of his human mouth - which he is still not entirely sure how to use - go up a little.]

I still... do not know what friendship is. Your own definition of it, however accurate, strikes me as too simple.

But whatever it truly is, I feel that... what you, and your father... [He briefly looks at the smaller creature in his arms, still kind of bewildered that he's holding it to begin with.] ... and your dog give me is something precious and valuable the likes of which I have never known before.

[He closes his eyes gravely.]

And I am sad and tormented, that I have done nothing to deserve it.

TOO KIND

[kagayakashi]

[ Those words are too familiar for her liking. She hears them and she reacts impulsively; those are the words her Father has repeated to himself time and time again. It was as if Gorthan was not speaking at that moment, but Mitsuhide. It was as if she was suddenly transported into a scenery of gloom and darkness, one where her Father refuses to let her in, and all she can hear is the echo of his pained voice; I am sad and tormented, that I have done nothing to deserve it.

She won't have it. Gracia shakes her head in such frustration that her headband goes slightly loose. She stops pointing at him and puts her hands back on her hips. She's extremely irritated, but not at him directly. ]

Hey! Stop that! I don't like hearing those kinds of things!

[ Gracia was making a bit of a scene; most of the patrons of the cafe were already staring at their general direction. But she wasn't one to care much. ]

Gorthan will prove that he deserves it! Okay? Because you do! So stop telling yourself things like that!