(Closed)

[getoutofmytemple]

Who: Abelas (getoutofmytemple) & Angela Ziegler (valcurie)
What: A friendly spar with his One Friend
When: a week after this conversation.
Where: outskirts of the city
Warning(s): none atm


[As much as the walk through the city had not been unpleasant, Abelas was relieved to get into an open, less populated areas of the city. From there it wasn't difficult to find a suitable place for their little spar. Somewhere open, but with enough debris to make for suitable cover. Even if he was still dressed in what he considered his casual "civilian clothes", such meant a very different thing to one of a society as advanced as his. Gold trim offset the dark fabric of the finely crafted ensemble, and it likely looked too nice for one to be sparring with, but not to him. These may as well have been hand-me-downs to the ancient elf.

Finally satisfied he took a deep breath, and drew his staff with a little flourish to gather magic to it. He closed his eyes and just revelled in the familiar feeling. Even if it was not a true fight, it was familiar, and he would take such gifts whenever he could find them. After he let out a slow exhale he straightened up, holding the staff upright like it were a simply walking stick, despite the shimmer of flame and magic weaving about it.]

This seems to be a suitable enough place to me. What of you Lady Ziegler?

Comments

[getoutofmytemple]

[He listened, truly trying to wrap his head around what she was saying. In a way it made sense- at least from what he could imagine as her perspective. She was mortal, having children was a staple of their culture, it had to be if the species was to survive. He also had to think back to his youth, the years he had almost forgotten. Years when he thought he might have a future for himself to make with someone... it was a very narrow vision.]

Tis a pleasant enough act, however among immortals overpopulation was always a looming risk. While many would eventually go into uthenera, it was not enough to compensate for careless procreation. After a few hundred years, it loses some of the romanticism. Tis little different from eating, it can be done for survival but also for pleasure. I would imagine that mortals hold it to a different standard?

[He looked down at his lap thinking again on the topic of children, and the "Far off possibilities" he once had for a future that was never to be. He was not sure if he was lucky, how much would a child of his had suffered? Would they have been slaves of the Evanuris? Killed in their wars? Or perhaps they would have wound up under the heel of Tevinter.

Or they would have continued to live the life he had.

None of those were options he would wish for his child.]

A human child would be in their natural state. They are mortal, have always been mortal. To see an Elvhen child, cut off from what they are and going through life never whole. I do not think I could bring a child into the world missing so much of themselves.

[He tilted his head at her last remark. This was not a matter regarding all of humanity, he was not shy that no, on a whole he did not care for them, but as an individual he considered her a friend, and therefore did not associate her with the mass of her kind.]

You are an honorable and intelligent woman whom I trust and respect. Beyond that, I do not see what matters.

[valcurie]

It's not simple, actually. ( A sigh. Not directed at him, but trying to explain the state of the human population before the world ended? There're a lot of different factors and facets to the answer, some of them complex, and it's a complexity compounded even further by their interactions with other issues. She runs a hand through her hair, down her scalp to he nape of her neck where some of the sweat from earlier has dried. Overall, she's feeling almost recovered now, the weirder effects of the magic having dissipated. ) Even with the recent horrific conflicts, humans are rather prolific. You think you had to worry about overpopulation? At one point, there were over ten billion of us on one planet.

( She pauses, then sighs again. ) Of course, in the end, that's not what ended up killing us all, but...maybe we were too concerned with procreation. Maybe it would have helped if we'd had an immortal's perspective on it.

( Now she withdraws her hand back to herself, looks away from him, and undoes her hair to bind it up again after she's messed it up. This time it's going into a tight bun to keep it up off her neck and out of her face. This gives her some time to consider how exactly she wants wants to address what he's telling her. Such a sensitive topic, and one that she never could truly related to, but she can't help be both sympathetic to and unsettled by his bias. If his child were a modern elf, would he be so put-off by them, he be unable to be a proper father? The thought alone leaves a vinegar-sour tang in her mouth.

Not that it mattered, of course. She chooses to share her own perspective on the matter at hand, and perhaps elucidate the relationship humans have with sex and reproduction. )

I've never wanted to bring a child into this world whom I wasn't sure would be loved and cared for as a child deserves to be. Besides my work being my priority, I lived as an orphan, and that is not a life I would ever want to subject anyone to, much less my own flesh and blood. If I had the privilege to care for a child, I would have adopted one to save someone else from having to live through that loneliness.

( After that statement, she manages to laugh, and she smiles at him. Blunt as he may be about it, it's one of the nicer compliments she's got in a long while. )

It sounds like you're describing what you want in a partner, not in a friend with benefits. ( Another laugh, accompanied with a flash of self-aware mirth in her now lucid eyes. ) It may just be a cultural difference, but you should be careful. Some people may find that utterly charming.

( And if she does or not, she stands up, and starts to walk over to where she left her staff. )

[getoutofmytemple]

[That... was quite a number. Personally he was surprised they managed to coexist well enough to make it to that point- or they were simply that efficient at proliferating. Either way he continued not to envy her.]

Perhaps you could stand to moderate themselves more, yes.

Though considering the Elvhen warred ourselves into naught but memory, I do not think we would be the wisest counsel in matters pertaining to sustaining a culture. Magic, knowledge, and copious amounts of needless leisure, however, I believe many of my people would have been able to offer insight.

[He got to his feet and followed her, pleased to see the effects of the magic dissipating, however, he did not plan on attacking her with magic again for this session. There were other skills of hers that he could harness. Her tale is an interesting one, though, and he found her insight on it to be wise. There was an understanding there was well, while he did not know her circumstances, he could still remember the day he was left to the Temple.]

That is an honorable and sensible way to consider it. Though children do not always take kindly to one replacing a role they already see as filled, it would take much time and effort to see them come to terms with it.

[Something that would no doubt tear her from her work for quite a time, even if the child was only half as troubled as he had been.

The next bit earned a tilt of his head, and his tone genuinely curious. He wondered if human's outlooks on such matters were so different from his own.]

Tis what I look for in a friend, is a partner not simply a friend that has become more?

[valcurie]

( Angela agrees with him, mostly. Their overpopulation problem on Earth had something to do with self-control issues, and a stunning lack of foresight, and perhaps even an outright disregard for the future. And he may have a point about his people having their own issues in this certain matter. Though, she does realise, it is possible that the only reason her humans hadn't warred themselves into cultural oblivion was due to overpopulation, and a lack of another race which could overtake them.

This seems like it will just lead ito deal philosophical discussion, as will their talk of children, so, as she turns around to face him, she chooses to focus instead on something more practical. And, as it is, personal. )

Of course it is unhealthy and selfish to think that your love can save someone. If someone really thinks that, then it indicates that they might have a whole host of issues I'm not qualified to deal with.

( She is a doctor of the body, not of the mind. Watching him walk closer to her, she sticks one end of her lacquered staff into the ground, cocks her head too, and gestures at him with one open hand. ) Usually the people we end up with don't start out as friends. First we approach them because we want to reproduce with them. Respect and trust follow after you've gotten to know if it's actually going to work out between you. Those things are important in a partner, sure, but there are considerations for compatibility that probably matter a bit more because of how short our lives are.

What I mean is, the things we look for in friends and partners aren't mutually exclusive, but they aren't always the same. ( She is going to finish this without a bit of sass? Obviously not. ) And, given that your assumption of proposition over courtship, it's only natural that I'd assume your interests are recreational. And there's nothing wrong with that.

For now, though, the reaction I'm interested in is another round with you.