caughtinanetwork | 25 ★ v i d e o;

[ 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.) ]

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[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.

Edited 2012-07-04 19:43 (UTC)

[ 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.

[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.

[ 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!

25 ★ v i d e o;

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OH THIS IS SO LATE i'm so sorry

It's okayyy!

TOO KIND