[broadcast mind]

[charmprince]

[You're gardening-- pruning the roses--, and small, barely more than a toddler, looking up at your aunt-- a pinched, angry-looking middle-aged woman. She's stern, a little scary, and she's always talking about your father and mother and looking at you like you're not exactly what she wants around, but you know she loves you because why would she

Comments

Video.

[supercilious]

People fear what they do not understand.

Video.

[charmprince]

[She looks tired, and in the dim light of her room, maybe a little shamefaced. She's not sure why, though; she's got nothing to be ashamed of. Even so, her blanket's draped around her shoulders like a shawl, and she doesn't meet the eyes of his video-self.]

They don't understand much of anything at all. But neither do I, so it balances out.

Video.

[supercilious]

I think you understand quite a bit.

On their behalf, I'm sorry.

Video.

[charmprince]

Never the things that need understanding. It seems as though no matter how old you get, those are always out of reach.

Anyway, you don't need to apologize for her. It's technically true, you know, even if I didn't do anything at the time to warrant the accusation.

Video.

[supercilious]

I do. I've called someone monster because they had magic. And I was wrong.

So was she.

Video.

[charmprince]

[She actually looks at him then, head tilting.]

...Keep this up and you'll make me look like the immature one. But if she wasn't right, she wasn't wrong either. I mean...

To protect your people, sometimes you have to do monstrous things. It might not change what you are, but it changes who you are, I think. She was wrong to fear me, but she's been dead for fifty years, Arthur. She'll never learn that.

Video.

[supercilious]

Never know. Sometimes dead people show up here.

Video.

[charmprince]

If she showed up here, I would take every step to make sure she never saw me.

There are people in everyone's past who are better off not seeing them in the present. My aunt is one of those for me.

Besides, she'd never recognize me. I'm not the little girl she raised, and she only saw me as I am for about three minutes, give or take. [A resigned shrug.] I have all the family I need here.

Video.

[supercilious]

Asellus. You're strong, and kind, and gifted. I'm sure she'd be proud of you.

Video.

[charmprince]

That might be so. For sure, she would be, if I weren't what I am.

She wouldn't look at what I've done, though. She'd look at what I am. I love my aunt-- she was all I had for a long time after my parents died--, but I know what she's like. It's not something that will ever change-- she'd never look at me and see a ruler, or a general, or even a diplomat. She'd see a non-human.

It's the nature of my world. I'm not particularly torn up by it, in my personal life. [She's not lying; it hurts, sure, but she's been coping for years. Now it's barely a twinge in an ugly scar.]

Video.

[supercilious]

I believe it's possible to get past that prejudice.

[ Given his optimism when it comes to Scorched and Natives, given his own stance on magic... he kind of has to. ]

Video.

[charmprince]

Maybe for the young. But you can't teach an old dog new tricks, can you?

Video.

[supercilious]

I suppose once you reach that age it's easy to become... set in your ways.