Ryslig: IC Inbox

[alchefist]

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late august in apt 801

[alchepistol]

[ It's a quiet day for Cagliostro and Saint-Germain. The latter has rigged up a hammock of nonstick webbing in the corner, so she has somewhere to repose in the common area, and strewn it with a handful of pillows for comfort. She's leaning against some of these, reading a yellowed religious text about the Day God (one of SEVERAL titles she brought back with her from the wilderness, which have proven to be of.....varying.....pertinence.)

....But her thoughts keep wandering. ]

Cagliostro.

[ She lowers her book, her tone contemplative. Her thoughts are beginning to coalesce - she can almost see them, feel them in her legs, the web they'd make were they to be woven. But the webs are a secret art only she can decode, and she....

Girlfriends share. Those who resist oppression, in a world that wishes to isolate, share. It's a novel sensation for one who refuses to join hands with others, one used to being left behind, who shoulders burdens alone. But Cagliostro is her comrade. Her equal. And if they're going to defeat the mechanisms subjugating Ryslig, it'll be together. ]

Are you busy?

[alchefist]

[Cagliostro is trying on some outfits in the mirror...and having no reservations on getting naked and changing in front of her lover whatsoever. She's currently in the process of disrobing, when Saint-Germain addresses her.]

Not enough that I can't talk, hun! What's up?

[alchepistol]

[ Cagliostro has an uncanny ability to find new clothing that will fit around her faerie parts. Is she leaving the discards strewn about again---?

Not what Saint-Germain's here to focus on. She has some theories, some ideas, but.....but has she asked Cagliostro? No. She's assumed Cagliostro will follow her.

That's not how to be lovers. What's more, Cagliostro has spoken to different people, had different experiences. She's an excellent, trusted resource.

Yes, as long as they're together..... ]

How.....do you think Ryslig's oppression can be resisted?

[ your girlfriend is being Extremely Your Girlfriend, cagliostro ]

[alchefist]

[She's going to pick them up! She swears!

Though...she's not exactly surprised that Saint-Germain is back on this. Not after the wasteland, and Cagliostro's frenzy state. She frowns, though, before giving her answer.]

How do we resist Ryslig's oppression? Why, by living our best lives, of course! Not giving up to the depression they want us to feel!

...And you know, researching a way to go against both gods. I'm sure you've been trying to find the truth behind them all this time, right?

[alchepistol]

[ "Living our best lives" .....

How reassuring. Their research has yielded identical results. ] You've found so, too.....

[ ....Yes, if she discards this method without a proper test of reasonable duration, she's losing. Losing to Ryslig, and losing to herself, who's let Ryslig win. It may be that fighting suffering - depression - with joy is futile. But they have the time to learn that, and adjust. They can't give up at the first setback.

And......and thinking that way, about making the most of each day....is also how she was able to accept Cagliostro's feelings. She won't doubt something that led her there.

Though, the second thing Cagliostro said, that bears unpacking. Saint-Germain nods. ]

"Both gods" is thinking too small. There's something higher. Not a curse, but.....a will?

[ Ra's-Manifestations-Are-What-Is-Right-And-True Atem calls it a "game". ]

A mechanism. We have to dismantle it.

Or nothing else will be possible.

[alchefist]

...Okay, you're way beyond me right me right now. What do you mean "a will"? Like the Curse of Balal? Or a social system...?

[Are they going to do it like they had to do it in France? Is the Fog god even susceptible to guillotines?]

[alchepistol]

[ Saint-Germain fights the desire to spin Cagliostro a web. Cagliostro does not speak web. BUT IT ALL COMES TOGETHER SO NICELY IN A WEB.

....She shall make do with the itself-oppressed constraints of language. ]

Ryslig is built to produce suffering, which implies it was built with intent. Whatever designed Ryslig, and bent not only its inhabitants but the Fog and Fourth gods to its schedule - that's our enemy.

[ ATTACK AND DETHRONE MOD ]

[alchefist]

...If something could control gods, then how do we know we aren't being controlled? But I guess that's, like, totally an oldy philosophical question...

[She wants to believe they have free will...they have to...]

[alchepistol]

It's possible.

[ She doesn't want to admit that, but it's true. Saint-Germain shifts in her hammock, thinking. Accidentally opening up enough room in here for a faerie, if any faeries were so inclined. ]

Yet if we let self-doubt dictate our actions, we'll become our own oppressors. What's more - I want to believe in our spirits, which resist subjugation....

[ She'd wrest off even control she didn't know about....right....? There's no benefit, only drawbacks, to thinking otherwise. ]

[alchefist]

[That makes Cagliostro think back to the wastelands, and frown. How the two had nearly been unable to communicate, and how Ryslig had tested her in particular. It was so recent, but already a memory she wanted to put behind her.

Seeing her opening, Cagliostro full discards her partially-removed clothes and just...crawls into the hammock, laying beside Saint Germain.]

I guess we need to believe in the "song of our hearts"?

[Said with a fond smile.]

[alchepistol]

[ Saint-Germain smiles right back. ]

And in the justice our fists clench.

[ Cagliostro looks so cold. Saint-Germain'd better curl up around her, spider-legs arching protectively around the faerie. ]

[alchefist]

[Snuggling! That's just what Cagliostro wanted, as she nuzzles into Saint-Germain's touch.]

Hehehe...just think of what that Gungnir girl would think if she heard you say that...!

[alchepistol]

I don't need to.

[ There's only one thing Tachibana Hibiki would say, after all, and that makes speculation moot.

......She has to ask one other thing, though. Saint-Germain is coming to understand that part of being Cagliostro's girlfriend involves clothing (on either or both parties) becoming increasingly optional in private. As long as they remain sanitary, she doesn't mind, but.... ]

....Are you comfortable?

[ IS THE HAMMOCK TO YOUR LIKING. ARE YOU AN APPROPRIATE TEMPERATURE. IS SHE PROVIDING SUFFICIENT ADDITIONAL BODY HEAT. ARE YOU EVEN STILL WARM-BLOODED ]

[alchefist]

[Cagliostro blinks at the question, before giggling.]

Of course! I'm comfy-womfy! The hammock is soft, and you're nice and toasty...!

[alchepistol]

[ "Toasty"?

As long as cagliostro called her web "soft"!!! she's not uncomfortable...... ]

Very well, then.

[ This is pleasant. Saint-Germain is still thinking over their new mission here in Ryslig, but it seems - less of a burden, with Cagliostro here. Because that burden is now shared? Because demonstrating their feelings for each other is what combats oppression, as they've just discussed?

Perhaps both.... ]


.....Thank you.

[alchefist]

[Cagliostro giggles. Her thoughts may be simpler, but they're no less important. She loves what she has with Saint-Germain now. Because it's true, because it allows herself to be candid and open with herself as well as her lover.

She reaches forth and takes one of Saint-Germain's hands.]

You don't have to thank me. I'm here for you. I always will be.

[alchepistol]

Cagliostro....

[ Her girlfriend is curled up naked next to her but it's holding hands that brings a little blush to Saint-Germain's face. Taking hands...comrades. United, a common purpose. A common ideal.

She's not alone.

As long as Saint-Germain can hold Cagliostro's hand like this, gaze into Cagliostro's eyes like this - as long as she has the memory of doing so - she feels she can withstand and overcome any oppression....... ]

.....late september in apt 801.

[alchepistol]

The great catastrophe has been averted! Saint-Germain's library book was returned on the 21st, and she spent the next few days deliberately taking it easy to limit the side effects of the suffering she nearly endured.

Still, the wheels of revolution will never turn without someone to push them forward. Saint-Germain comes home from a very satisfactory organization session at the Lighthouse, only to discover......

"....You haven't moved," she observes to Cagliostro, more surprised than anything else. In the Illuminati, tracking down Cagliostro had sometimes been the difficult part. Now, it seems Saint-Germain is out more than her partner. "Are you feeling unwell?"

[alchefist]

Cagliostro just let out a giggle as she lay in bed, stretching her arms and kicking her legs a little.

"It's just...kind of a lazy day!" she said, smiling provocatively. "Besides, I just want to be here, where I know you'll come back to me~!"

That was meant to sound romantic, but Cagliostro didn't consider the implications.

[alchepistol]

"....Is that so."

If Cagliostro's happy, that's probably all right, and yet....

There's still this unease. This mysterious sense of offness, coiled in her stomach. Disturbed, Saint-Germain pursues it. "Have I given you reason to doubt I would?"

[alchefist]

"Huh?" Cagliostro replied, surprised that her line didn't work. She sat up and crossed her legs, looking at Saint-Germain curiously.

"I'm just saying, you're all I need! Is there anything wrong with that?"

1/2

[alchepistol]

...A-all.....?

Saint-Germain flushes. She can't deny being treasured so dearly by Cagliostro, knowing she makes Cagliostro happy, makes her happy in return, but at the same time, all she needs......?

Oh, this isn't good. It's her responsibility. She has to clear up this misunderstanding, before it hurts Cagliostro!

2/2

[alchepistol]

"It won't free Ryslig from oppression," Saint-Germain replies. "And it puts me above you. I don't want that. Besides....."

If she's going to take Cagliostro to task for not treating her like an equal, as they'd agreed, Saint-Germain needs to do the same thing herself. She's been having a struggle of her own, hasn't she? And it's something Cagliostro is good at.

Something she thinks....Cagliostro needs, too.

"I'd like your help."

Re: 2/2

[alchefist]

"Huh?" Cagliostro said, tilting her head. Puts Saint-Germain...above her? How had what she said done that? She couldn't fathom, but...she knew that this would be important to their relationship, so she decided to listen.

Frowning, she looked up and nodded.

"Okay? Whatever it is, I'll try to do my best..."

[alchepistol]

"You have a skill I don't."

Saint-Germain has to look away for this, as she's a little embarrassed. "I've told you before. That we'll need power from beyond Ryslig to liberate it. If possible, I'd like to seize the ability to import that power on behalf of mankind, but as a first step, we can purchase alchemy. With our monthly coins."

She's staring at nothing. Today she'd gone to a cafe with a book on how to socialize, but many of the tips had made no sense for her situation; there is no point, for example, in asking "is this seat taken" when one's anatomy precludes the use of chairs. The book was written for humans! A fatal error.

"We earn coins by interacting with others. I'm - attempting, but....."

"Hey! You! Why are you staring?!"
"I was debating how to begin a conversation."
"What a creep!"
"She sooooo wanted to eat you....."
"We're not scared of bugs!"
"No, I-"
"Ma'am, you're disrupting the other customers."

Saint-Germain grimaces without realizing it. Is it possible....that she.....she, who has lived untold centuries.....

.....has drifted so far from the typical human experience.....

........that she's bad at interacting?