(Untitled)

[venus_afflicted]

Actions speak louder than words.

We've all heard this time and time again. Drilled into us by parents, teachers and mentors.

So then why do so many insist on talking things into the ground when their behavior says so much more.

And with more eloquence.

Comments

[domina_igne]

I'm sure this has nothing to do with anyone...specific.

[venus_afflicted]

*looks at Liz wide eyed and innocent*

Course not. It's a question. You know, this bored that leads to these questions? Maybe I should try meditation to fill my time.

*nods slowly*

[domina_igne]

I refrain, because I am mature and wise and also afraid of pissing off Kali, from mentioning who I think you're talking about. But, you know, it's you and I who are wrong...really. Talking constantly about truth and blah blah and then doing something else entirely is something we should all aspire to.

[venus_afflicted]

*Stays silent, listening to Liz's every word, even leaning forward. His look one of rapt attentiveness*

I see. This is what I have been missing in my life. This is the nuance I needed. Not to do what I thought right, even if I risked ridicule.

Now I see the error of my ways. Thank you.

[domina_igne]

Oh, don't thank me, it's not my idea. Although whether or not I talk too much is to be taken under consideration. I sort of like it.

[venus_afflicted]

I do. A lot. Often. But in the end? I do try hard to back up what I say.

[domina_igne]

*looks mildly concerned* You're really bothered by this, aren't you?

[venus_afflicted]

*shrugs*

Don't know. Irked? Just bored? Don't know. In the end? Just...

I've lived in a world where good and evil? Really damn clear cut. You knew whom to emulate, who to look towards for guidance. Even amongst the good guys, ya know, the heros. You knew who to listen to and who to ignore even as you nodded.

But, hey, I grew up without a Dad. So I look at the behavior of others as a sort of starting point for guiding my own life.

Men that toy with woman's emotions, those that play games and those that think of sex and intimacy of weapons to use to get what they want? Irk me.

Sorry if I'm becoming a nuisance on it, Liz.

[domina_igne]

Not a nuisance. Bit of an idiot to think you have to apologize to me for speaking your mind, but not a nuisance.

Besides, I agree with you, as well you know. But look at it this way. There is sex, and there is intimacy, and there is love. You understand the difference and also the gravity that goes along with those, I think in part because you don't have all that much experience with any of it. Treating them lightly may get you want you want temporarily, but, still...at the end of the day, that's a pretty damned empty existence.

[venus_afflicted]

Eh, my existance is about that now. But I survive. And I know I shouldn't worry about others and just focus on my own life but, really? My school doesn't really allow for that. The whole hero thing and all. Others first.

[domina_igne]

I wonder about that sometimes. I guess it's a good thing, the world needs heroes. I would be the first to say that I'm not one. Sure, I set monsters on fire for a living. But if it came down to say, Henry's life or a lot other lives? Then I stop being altruistic.

[venus_afflicted]

Maybe it's what I should do. Maybe Pyro has it right and I should follow in his footsteps. Walk out of my life and forge my own path. Which yes, I do see the irony in those two statements. But you know what I mean.

Maybe it's time to stop trying to be a hero because I keep thinking my only other path leads to prison.

[domina_igne]

I have no idea if this has anything to do with being pyrokinetic or not. But every one of us that I've met has had someone tell them "You must be this." And it never, ever works. Pyro went as far away from the X-men as he could, Charlie'll probably be running from the Shop for the rest of her life, and I spent almost 20 years leaving the Bureau and coming back and leaving and coming back and etc. I'm there now because all of that running finally let me figure out who I was and where I needed to be. But most of what did that was the monastery. Not anything I learned at the Bureau. Working there is a means to an end. I have something I need to atone for, and the Bureau lets me do that.

Will said your school gives you pretty much two options. Neither of them sound that great to me. I think it's good that there's a place to train people with power, but...I think certain types of power can't be trained, except by your own self.

[venus_afflicted]

Yeah, sounding like a reoccuring story to the whole lot of us, huh?

And that is your choices. Hero or sidekick. You get assigned. I lit up, hero track.

The don't train you so much in your powers as how and why to use them. And all powers. And... Morals and ethics and how to be a good citizen and...

Yeah. Not many choices.

[domina_igne]

See, to me, that's all just theory. You shouldn't have to be taught that stuff. Any decent human being should know how and why to use whatever they have to make the lives of others better.

Honestly? Appropos of all of that, part of me will always envy you. You lit up, hero track. I lit up...I lost pretty much everything that was ever important to me. Different worlds, different lives.

[venus_afflicted]

Yeah, seems I got the good end of things. Like Pyro was saying. Not much different we can tell between he and I. In his world, I would be a mutant. In mine, he would be on the hero track at school.