reach the residents

[ximilian]

● ● ● REACH THE RESIDENTS

For any questions you want to ask Viveca or Degar and receive an IC response, please direct them here. Please indicate in the subject line who you are trying to contact.

// VIVECA

Hi, what can I help you with?

// DEGAR

Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you. And by now, you should've somehow realized what you're not to do.

▶ NAV

Comments

For Viveca, post ai/commander

[singlelogbridge]

[He waits a few days for things to calm down and for word of everything to get back to them. For word to get back to her. It takes that much time to get things right anyway.

He doesn't call for her over the network like he usually does, or ask her to meet him in the training room. He doesn't seek her out for conversation at all. It shouldn't be a conversation. Not when he never should have seen it in the first place. Instead, he rolls up the piece of parchment once he's satisfied and attaches it to the door of the North Wing, only sending her a brief text message that he's left something there for her.

When Viveca retrieves the paper, it will come with a short note that says only who it's from.

Unrolling it will reveal an ink drawing, lovingly and skillfully crafted. Its subjects sit side by side on a log, a simple pose to keep the focus on the two individuals instead of anything else. His detailing of Viveca was easier to do, and her expression as she engages with the man sitting next to her isn't too unlike some of the rare fond smiles he's seen flicker across her face from time to time.

Viveca will recognize the man sitting next to her as Lathlaeril. His expression too is fond, if more reserved. It's the unfortunate product of guesswork more than reality given his limited and rather traumatizing references to work with, but he'd seen the love and affection with which the man had looked at her, and he only hopes he's done him justice. If nothing else, the picture leaves no question as to the fondness shared between its two occupants.

He doesn't know if she'll appreciate it or if it's overstepping. If she tears it in two or burns it, she'll have every right, but he hopes that the drawing will bring her some small measure of peace.]

[vivecai]

[ she retrieves the roll of parchment with curiosity — by now, she knows of what's happened, and there is a quiet unease in her, one that finds it hard to reconcile the fact that everything they'd determined not to speak of is somehow known to the crew, now.

she wonders what it is he's brought her — something from the past station?

but when she takes the roll to the north wing and opens it, slowly, carefully, it's something else entirely. it's a memory made real; a beautiful painting so well made that the subjects nearly jump out of the parchment. she focuses little on herself; quietly, she sits down, traces the features of the man she'd called her brother with a faint smile. her eyes are dry — an android does not cry, but if she could...

the painting will find its way to the sleeping quarters, above the bed she no longer uses, next to the few frames she'd been brought from e-23b. now lathlaeril smiles down at her the same as callan and yvonne do.

it is the next day that she finds him in the training room. she stops once she's inside the room, and the moment he realises there's someone else there with him, she says, ]

Thank you.

[singlelogbridge]

[Under different circumstances he would balk, wave off the gratitude or make a joke to turn attention to something else. Today, he sets down his bow and turns to her with a soft smile, the slight furrow in his brow the only tell of his lingering concern for her. There is denying a compliment, and then there is being callous about something important, and he's smart enough at least to recognize the difference.]

I'd hoped it wasn't overstepping. [He admits, voice immediately gone soft.]

I'm sorry for the intrusion, [He starts, gaze dropping] Even if seeing those memories was out of our control, it wasn't right.

But I wanted to do something for you. [A pause and then] He's the only one I saw, aside from you and Degar. I could see how much you both cared for each other.

[vivecai]

It wasn't, [ she answers quietly, not quite smiling — it wasn't overstepping, because he did it with the right intention. because he did it as a kindness. ]

Many things the orb does are not right. [ a sigh. this was the least of the wrongs it had caused.

she turns, taking a few steps over to the side, where a bow rests against the wall. ] He was like a brother to me. I... think you might understand, how you can meet someone, know them for what others might consider a short time, only a few years, but they're like family to you. Lathlaeril was... everything I'm not. Patient, always kind, unflappable. Always knew the right words to say.

[singlelogbridge]

[I... think you might understand, how you can meet someone, know them for what others might consider a short time, only a few years, but they're like family to you. He closes his eyes at the words, smiling softly at her description before he opens them again and watches her take the bow down.]

I do. [Understand.] I loved Wen Qing the same.

[He's never admitted it so bluntly before, but it doesn't feel like a revelation. He's never shied away from his affection and admiration for her when he spoke of her to others, and even if their relationship had been a short one, it was the kind that he knew his soul would remember in the next life even if his mind did not.

And it isn't just Wen Qing anymore who he's come to love like that. Not since he's been on the Ximilia. He smiles at the thought before he returns to Lathlaeril, and Viveca's words.]

You shouldn't sell yourself short though, Miss Viveca. You might be scary when you want to be, but you've only ever been kind. [He smiles at her, equal parts affectionate and teasing.]

[vivecai]

[ she shares a smile with him, one of understanding — between two people who both know what it is to find a family you never looked for, and also how it feels to lose them. to keep their memory alive in their hearts.

his following words make her huff, though. ]

Kind, maybe, but not necessarily nice. [ she is well enough trained in politics to seem so, perhaps, but her edges are far too sharp to fool anyone looking close enough. ] There's been a learning curve to all this. I am used to leading a revolution, but this is different. [ she picks up an arrow, notches it, aims at one of the targets at the back of the room. the arrow flies true. ] I can't just shoot all my problems away, [ she says with a wry, self-deprecating tone. ]

[singlelogbridge]

['Kind but not nice' is how an application for being Wei Wuxian's friend would read.

Still, he understands the sentiment.]

No. And wouldn't life be so much easier if we could? [After a pause, he pulls his own bow from where he'd set it before she came in and then notches it with an arrow. He takes aim at the target next to Viveca's, barely minding where it lands as he thinks on everything Viveca's been through.]

For what it's worth, I think you've found a good balance between revolutionary and leading this team. [he lowers his bow indicating for her to take her turn, still smiling that soft smile.]