nexus_sages | At What Price Respect

Verity in the forum? Not a strange sight. Verity without coffee? Rather less common. Verity slumping, exhausted, into a couch? Unusual. Verity covered in scrapes, bruises, and dust? Definitely strange.

"Help isn't if it's forced on someone. This is true. Someone not in possession of all of the facts cannot give fully informed consent. This is also true. But nobody can be forced to listen." Of course Verity has things on her mind. Who here doesn't? "How do you reconcile that? Is ignorance truly bliss? Or do you do what's needed to save someone despite their choices?"

((A note before you come to play with Verity: she's got a magic spell stuck in her that lets her always know when someone is lying to her. This includes sarcasm and knowing when someone believes something to be true when it isn't. This doesn't include lies of omission. She can also see through illusions. Please respect this; if your character is trying to lie to her, please make that known so she can react appropriately. [I completely understand this isn't going to be everyone's idea of fun.] Thanks.))

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"She'd tell me it can't possibly be as bad as I think. I've always been a pessimist. I just have to try harder." Verity knows this speech by heart, and it still hurts.

"She doesn't believe me. Isn't that ironic?"

"I'm sorry. That must be difficult." He fully sympathises with parents not listening, but it must be far worse when you're trying to help them. "I... guess you have to trust yourself then. Can I ask what you're trying to explain to her?"

She sighs, lifting a hand and indicating the Nexus around them. "That she'd be safer here. That 'here' exists. Things. What would you do, if your mom was in danger and wouldn't listen?"

"I... I'm not a good example of what to do. I'd probably get my sister or father to convince her, if I could convince them." Family is complicated and he'd much rather not talk about his own. "Can't you just show her? It would be a shock, but sometimes illusions need to be shattered."

And she thought her family was screwed up. "I could show her that this is a real place, but I doubt that would help convince her that she's in danger. She doesn't really believe in magic, which means she never really believes me."

He takes time to think about that before offering up another suggestion. "Talking to people about magic is... sometimes like talking to people about religion. Some people just can't bring themselves to have faith in it. So you have to make it more... more easily understood. Like talking to a child. Bring it into their understanding. Relate it to things in their world, their life. Relate it to science, to things they already know, and then assure them that giving a little bit of faith won't do any harm."

"I've been trying for ten years. I think at this point she isn't listening anymore." She sighs, then shakes her head a little. "But it's a good idea, and I appreciate it. Maybe it would have worked once."

It sounds like such a difficult situation. He watches her sympathetically, wishing he could help. "Would... Would someone else be able to convince her? It's harder to ignore something with several people saying the same thing."

He's such a sweetheart. "Maybe? I suppose it couldn't hurt to bring some reinforcements." She knows an actual Avenger. That's got to be impressive.

An answer she hasn't already tries? He tries for an encouraging smile. "If you can't think of anything else, maybe it would be worth trying."

This whole 'having people to ask for help' is new and frightening territory for her. "Thank you. It's a good idea. I think I'll try that." She manages a small smile in return.

((They are so cute when they're both trying so hard. I <3 Viatorus.))

Viatorus brightens at the thought of having helped, even if just a little. "I hope it will work. Or that someone else will think of something for you. This place has to be good for diverse ideas and opinions... Do you really want to live here? Almost everyone else is trying to get home."

((Verity is also awesome ^^ It's interesting to stumble over their own flaws.))

And there goes the smile. It's okay, Viatorus, you didn't know. "Home's... not really an option anymore. And I am more comfortable here in a lot of ways, so it's... not a bad choice for me."

((Aww, thank you!))

When her smile goes, so does his. He didn't mean to turn the conversation like that.

"Oh..." He wants to ask about her home, but it's clear that the topic is upsetting so he carefully steers himself away from it. "Uh, you... you find it more comfortable? Have you explored much?"

No, she knows that. This is the price of not telling anybody: nobody knows.

"Some? This place is so big... but I'm learning how to get around pretty reliably, and how to find all the sorts of places I'll need to visit regularly. It's a start. What about you?"

"I... I explored a bit, but then I found the library and started exploring that instead. There and the parks are where I know best."

"Nothing wrong with exploring a library. I love to read. I heard one of the librarians is an orangutan, is that true?"

He casts his mind back and his brow lifts slightly in surprise. "I've seen one around but I haven't met him, o-or her, yet. I... I didn't know that was one of the librarians..."

"He, or she, is probably great at getting to the high shelves." Verity's impatient about a lot of things, and demanding too, but there's no sign of her even noticing the stutter. He's earned the full measure of her patience.

He stops to consider and then nods. "That is true... Maybe I'll talk to him, or her, once I've gone through everything I can reach." As Viatorus is prone to stuttering, that is going to be a very good thing.

She's prone to nasty comments she can't take back, and that's harder to forgive. She needs to build up some goodwill early. "Or you could ask for some recommendations next time you're there."

The thought of socialising even more than he has already knocks some of the wind out of his sails and he fidgets. "I... I guess I could, yes."

She knows that feeling. "Would it help to go with a friend?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe." He shifts awkwardly on the spot, shrugging. "But I... I don't need to talk to him, or her, yet."

"No. Of course not." She'll back off the subject for now.

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