( video, un: lavieenrose )

[affectueux]

[ maybe it’s insanity. more likely, it’s the combination of the sanguis cycle and his upcoming birthday making him restless and impulsive. he can usually tamp down those urges when things are normal, but he also can’t recall a moment when things have ever been normal in lunatia.

maybe that’s a contributing factor, too. either way, here’s a video of serge—like the cycles before, he’s got little bear features. paws included, even if his hands are off-screen. ]

Er, bonjour. My name is Serge… I’ve cleaned many of your tables at Salon de Marie. [ it gets harder when he’s a bear, but that’s neither here nor there. ] My birthday will be coming up soon, and I—it—

[ he frowns, searching for the words. he should have planned this better, but again. the haste. ]

In my world, I’m set to inherit my family’s estate on my 18th birthday. I’ll be expected to get married and carry on the family name, as I’m the only child of my late father. [ he realizes something, and holds up a hand in brief fluster. ] I’m not saying this to brag! It’s relevant, I promise. I bring it up because there’s—a person. Someone I love. Someone I can neither marry nor produce a child with.

…this is quite heavy, isn’t it? I’ll try to get to the point. When your heart is in conflict with both duty and the expectations of society, what are you supposed to do? What can you do?

Merci, everyone. For your attention.

Comments

[mucked]

Peggy. Peggy Carter.

[ —she gives her name in that quick, thoughtless way that makes it sound more like an aside than a correction. he’s free to continue calling her madame if he likes, she won’t force the issue, but the inequality of the conversation just now occurred to her. he’d given his name; she’d but barely given hers.

there’s no time to sit and rest on the laurels of a lovely introduction, however, given the question at hand. ]

And I won’t lie to you, Serge. You can find a great deal of bravery in choice. In choosing. [ a half-shrug. ] But I’m not convinced that an absence of bravery must always result in cowardice.

[ she inhales. ]

This is especially true for all of us kept here—lightyears or millennia or worlds away from the choices we ought to be making back home.

[ that’s the tricky thing about being captures in a place like this: the rules of engagement have all changed. ]

[affectueux]

[ she lands upon something interesting for him, in her lines about bravery and cowardice. it sounds like something karl might say, and how serge does miss karl’s even-handed responses even when he didn’t agree with something serge did. he doesn’t have time to dwell on it, however, since he’s on camera.

he nods. ]

I suppose that’s the hardest part of all. I keep tormenting myself with what I could do, and then I regret the things I should have done to find success on my path in the future. But I hate regret! It does no one any good.

[ he sighs, but it’s a little more annoyed than despairing—he clearly doesn’t want to look back. ]

I think if I could choose, I would choose. But I can’t. I only have dreams and nightmares.

[mucked]

—Is there any particular reason why you’re so convinced that your future path won’t be successful?

[ it sounds like a lofty question. or a vain one. in reality, peggy is acutely aware that some futures are more set in stone than others. just since arriving, she’s been introduced to a handful of errors that she hasn’t yet made (but will likely make in future) that she can’t even begin to fathom how to fix.

there are decades and decades of history stretching out before her. sometimes, it’s hard to believe her choices ever mattered. ]

[affectueux]

Ah, well…

[ serge doesn’t have an immediate answer, but that doesn’t mean he has no answer. this distracts him from working himself up too much; he takes her words to heart, weighing this and that until he comes to a conclusion that he hopes doesn’t make him sound like a brat. ]

…it depends on “success,” doesn’t it? Someone will lose, no matter what. [ what seems like a loss could eventually turn into a boon down the line, but serge won’t be there to witness it. that’s the nature of the choices he faces now. ] I don’t care about my aunts, or his family. But I care about the innocent people between us, caught up in it all. My cousin, our friends…

[ now he’s getting into embarrassing personal territory, and he shakes his head. he doesn’t want to gossip. she’s nice, but he can’t push his luck. ]

Non. I’m taking advantage of your willingness to listen. The story is too long, and it’s not entirely mine to tell.

[affectueux]

Well…

[ he doesn’t have a very good argument. ]

It is silly, isn’t it? And yet, I can’t change this need to be difficult about it.

[affectueux]

[ …now, that gets serge’s attention. a version of himself. ]

I don’t mean to interrupt. But about what you said—there was another version of you here before?

[noenvy]

Yes. It seems that people can come and here, and are not always matched in current events to others from their same world. My other self who was here only remembered up to a point which was a while ago compared to myself and my husband.

[mucked]

[ he’s describing something of a zero sum game—something to which peg’s no stranger. but she doesn’t push for further details. serge is waking up to his own openness throughout this conversation. and, naturally, it wouldn’t do to emphasize too much or too strongly how much satisfaction she takes from listening.

from pulling out the little, complicated threads of someone else’s life. ]

I understand.

[ —in so much as that so many of her own stories are similarly shared. there are whole parts of her life that she couldn’t explain without also explaining steve’s. happy, painful tangles. ]

But you’ve got my number, now. [ or handle or username or whatever they call it in this strange, new world tech. ] Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you feel like telling more of it.

[ polite and simple. she doesn’t stretch—she doesn’t offer any stories of her own. she wouldn’t rebuff a question, maybe, but she wouldn’t invite one either. ]

[disasdeer]

You sound like a pain, to be honest. You can't please everyone.

So do what you want for you. It's what I'd do in your situation, too.

[affectueux]

Aha… you aren’t the first person to tell me that I sound like a pain. I guess that makes your observation accurate.

[ his laugh is a little strained, but his feelings aren’t that hurt. ]

I do think your blunt approach is an admirable one. Has it… worked for you? In the past?

video; un: 1stQadrMargaFan

[wearingguess]

[ ...it seems like it'd be super mean to just avoid him over what happened, so titus doesn't! he can't help feeling a bit embarrassed, though. ]

Ah.
Umm...
Hello, Serge.

[affectueux]

[ well, now serge is going to melt into the ground. he immediately forgets about the question he raised, and he blushes. ]

…hello, Titus.

[wearingguess]

[ what the heck!! why is serge getting all embarrassed? ...though, of course, seeing him getting embarrassed feeds titus's own embarrassment. it's like an embarrassment wind blowing on an embarrassment wildfire over here.
(in other words, titus instantly starts blushing too.) ]

So... about the inheritance...

[affectueux]

[ serge did ask a question that is weighing heavily on his mind, but there’s also the more immediately pressing matter of the fact that he can’t look titus in the eye even over video. ]

Yes… I am worried about it. Though I don’t know what I’ll do when that birthday comes to pass here…

[wearingguess]

[ ergh... maybe he shouldn't have responded? serge definitely doesn't seem to want to talk to him... and now that titus is thinking about it, why would he?
...but he can't go back and un-respond, so. ]

Well...
Does it have... requirements on it?
That is... you said you'll be expected to marry and have children. Will you have the estate taken away if you don't, or something like that?

[affectueux]

[ it seems titus isn’t as bothered by serge as serge might have expected. at the sincere, thoughtful question, serge does manage to glance up—now a little apologetic for making it weird. ]

Not so strictly, no. But… my family name isn’t well-regarded. If I do nothing, then the Battour estate will never recover. My family will suffer because of me.

[wearingguess]

[ serge will glance up only to see titus still glancing away!! ...but what serge actually says surprises him enough (or confuses, really) that he ends up looking up, too. ]

Your... family will?
But weren't you the last one?

[affectueux]

I am my father’s only son, it’s true. But he had sisters, and I have a cousin who is precious to me.

[ he sighs; and yet, he’s surprised at how easy it is to talk to titus once he’s not thinking about their last interaction. ]

And… there are those working in my house, too, that may not be related by blood, but are family to me all the same.

[affectueux]

[ it’s not that he’s ashamed of the reality of their past together. the world knew it before serge did—it was he who fell into a web of relationships and histories that his confidence tricked him into taking on headfirst. it’s just that there’s so much to it, and truthfully, describing gilbert to anyone takes careful planning to make sure he doesn’t come out of the illustration completely hated.

gilbert cocteau is both a marvel and a devil. ]

Madame Carter… [ but he seems a little relieved; he smiles, however tired it may be. ] Allow me to take you out sometime, when I look more… presentable. It’s the least I can do.

[ he’s a little noble, with little noble inclinations. the offer to take her to a restaurant is totally innocent. ]

[mucked]

Of course. I’ll be glad to accept the invitation—whenever it comes.

[ given the tempest inside this teacup, she’d expect nothing less than innocence in his offer. he’s young; he’s got parts of his heart strung on his sleeve. the only threat peggy imagines he might pose to her is to her own sentimentality.

to that end, in a softer tone but in perfectly accented french, she adds: ]

À bientôt.

[ it’s nice—pushing past the planet’s common tongue and exercising an old muscle. ]

[affectueux]

[ oh!

serge visibly lights up at her usage of the language. he’s insistent about making sure he doesn’t lose his french here, since he knows when he isn’t speaking it, no matter how easy the native tongue of the prismals seems to come. even if peppering in french, or even the occasional german, sounds unnatural in certain places where habit would make it smooth, he wants to be heard. ]

À bientôt!

[ it’s a happy note to end on, and finally, peggy might get a glimpse of the boy he is when he isn’t being crushed under his own future: joyful and in love. ]

[wearingguess]

I see...
Why will they suffer? What is it that your estate will lose, if you cannot undo whatever damage those before you did to your family name? Or, put another way... exactly what is it that having a child will accomplish?

[disasdeer]

[ It's good thing he's pretty good at two things: both lying and keeping his cool while doing so. Otherwise, he'd be totally amused because while successful, he's...known to get a bit aggressive when he has to push too hard. So, it works because people don't usually bother messing with him. ]

It usually does, yes. But, if there's a case where it doesn't, at least it wasn't because I was trying to act a certain way for someone else.

[ Easy to say. ]

Sometimes people need someone to tell them something they need to hear, but may not like to hear.

[perspicaciously]

If a God is truly a God then they shouldn't have a say in who gets to be happy at all. After all, they're only there to watch over us, correct? I don't see why prioritizing your own happiness would be seen as a fallacy towards whatever God you believe in.

[ But here's Ozpin saying that and yet he's had his time as a pretend God for the people. But he's also met Gods too. ]

But, well, that's also for you to decided. Many people sacrifice everything they have to ensure the safety of others. It all depends on what you wish to do. I have no doubts that whatever choice you do wind up choosing that you'll see the one best for you and the one you love.

[arrowroot]

[Oh no... Oh Melandru, she botched this up. She was trying to be encouraging and went too far.

Not the first time. Probably not the last. She does feel bad, though.]

No... you don't sound pathetic. You sound like you're in a lot of pain. I can try to push someone to break out of their shells all I want but I can't fully put myself in your shoes. I'm sorry...