theweakhavepurpose | Hadriel Inbox

[it isn't creepy to her. it's to be expected] Well, you can sleep easy because they weren't. Eager to marry their sons to me, that is. My Terran blood was enough of a deterrent.

...you think so? Because even towards the--the time I was brought here, he hadn't broken up with his girlfriend. And we were close. Really close.

Ah.

[This dude is thinking ahead, he even has a backup girlfriend just in case.]

Did the girlfriend know?

[in all fairness, people from Rimbor generally don't do committed relationships of any kind]

She sure did. Hated my guts, too. Which I guess I can understand.

I think that's normal. I feel like I'd be pissed if the girl I was seeing had a boyfriend on the side.

[Maybe. If he was getting some he might not care.]

Did he say anything about ending it with her.

I think just about anybody would. Anybody not from his home world, at least.

[...he eventually got some. but she made him wait and work for it]

He said he was going to, but I don't know for sure if he ever got around to it.

[Good. Make him suffer.]

This sounds less like 'going too fast' and more like making him choose once and for all.

[she did. she didn't actually give it up until the night before the White Triangle attacked Earth]

It's still kinda both. On Bgztl, we have long, involved courtships where you don't even think about kissing until six months in. But with Jo, everything was so--so fast, like whirlwind fast. I got so caught up in it, I didn't stop to think.

Well that sounds like torture.

[No wonder everyone is cranky and invading each other; they're all so sexually frustrated their nether regions are going to explode.]

Do you regret it? Because if you don't, then it seems like the right decision.

It's just the way things are done. My mother didn't pay attention to them and my mother paid the price.

[social ostracism and a daughter who wasn't good enough for any of the great houses of Bgztl, something that was considered essential for entry into society or politics]

...I do and I don't. I wish he'd been more clear with Spider Girl, that being with me meant he couldn't be with her. But I don't regret him.

Just cuz she regrets it doesn't mean you will. Everyone's different.

[And parents are always trying to impart shitty life lessons on you.]

Then it sounds like everything worked out? Kind of?

I guess. She's so. . . so bitter about everything. And obsessed with keeping up appearances.

[it was a little less imparting and a little more browbeating]

Yeah, but can you fall in love with someone and still be with someone else?

Only if he's also not in love with her. I don't think you can be in love with two people at once.

[Though like he said, he's never been in love, maybe you can? Movies seem to say otherwise though.]

Maybe he was waiting for you to commit to him so he could end it with her. Like keeping her as a backup.

[Sometimes guys are total douches.]

No, he's not. He says it's only physical, that she went after him.

[she believes that he's right, that you can't love two people at once, but she's a romantic at heart]

That could be it. I didn't actually [she blushes bright red] ...sleep with him until the night before the Daxamite attack. Hadn't ever done that before.

[sometimes they are, but she'd like to think this time it wasn't]

Then there shouldn't be any problem ending it with her to be with you. Just ask him.

[You know, when they're not stuck here in this place and she's back home with him. He looks away, yeah that's not.. what he wants to hear from someone he assumes is like nineteen. He feels suddenly really old.]

If he waited that long then he's in it for more than the sex.

[this is an idea that had honestly never occurred to her]

...I can do that? I mean, yeah. Yeah, I can do that!

[as soon as she gets home. whenever that will be. assuming she's still alive in the first place. she's afraid that it's a pretty big assumption]

Waiting two months is a big deal for guys?

You can absolutely do that. You're allowed to tell him how you feel. In fact I think you're supposed to.

[Mr. King of One Night Stands here isn't completely sure, but if you want to have a relationship based on anything beyond grinding your nether regions together he figures you should be able to talk to them.]

It might be? I wouldn't wait that long, but I've never been looking for a relationship before.

Okay! I can tell him what I think! Grife knows I've told him what I think about [said with thinly veiled disgust] McCauley.

[and she's never had a relationship at all. her mother kept her on too short a leash. joining the Legion got her her freedom in more than one way]

Okay, Sooooo. . . what have you been looking for?

Is that the other woman?

[He's not ashamed of his sex life, but he does feel weird talking about it with someone who's a lot younger than him.]

Now? Nothing. But back home I was just trying to have a good time.

[Meaningless sex.]

No, his boss. Jo's a superhero, too, but he's not in the Legion. He works for this shady piece of nass named McCauley. He's a weapons dealer who's into all kinds of illegal stuff, but Jo was desperate to get out of Rimbor and signed a contract to work for McCauley in exchange for his ticket to Earth. Rimbor's not in the UP, so it was really expensive and Jo has to work off the balance.

[and she sees no reason why not to talk about it, they're both adults here]

Nothing wrong with that, as long as everyone knows that's what's going on.

Ohhh. Oh okay. So he's sort of an indentured servant now? Well that's a shitty situation.

[Are they????]

I'm not leading anyone on, don't worry.

It really is. And his contract is for five years, so he's going to be stuck working off that debt for a long time. I wish there was something that could be done. If Rimbor joined the United Planets, we could try to find a way to break the contract so Jo could join the Legion.

[yes they are]

I didn't think you would. You're not that kind of guy.

That's... a long time. Is where he's from so bad that this is worth it? Because it.. really doesn't sound like it.

[Look at him grin. ]

Nah, I'm not. I don't even think I could pull that off without feeling like scum.

[Look at that. He didn't say something like 'you don't know me' or anything. Progress!]

It is. Rimbor started as a penal colony. The dregs of the galaxy were sent there. People don't have families there, they have gangs. And the turf wars are deadly. Most Rimborians live fast and die young. Too young. Like, twenty-five young. And Jo's seventeen, he's already lived through a lot of gang wars, but he had no way out until he got superpowers and caught McCauley's eye.

[she smiles back warmly]

I knew it.

[she noticed that! hooray for progress!]

Wait, is it space Australia?

[Okay that is hysterical. ]

I'm sorry, no that sounds terrible. I guess it is worth five years of hard labor to get out of that. But it still sucks that anyone was even in that situation to begin with.

[He makes a face.]

Don't tell anyone, I have an image to protect here.

[He is strong and cocksure and totally not an emotional wreck. He swears.]

[she wrinkles her nose slightly] Australia?

From what Jo's said, it was terrible. And not all planets are--are good. Not even where I come from. I was lucky to be born where I was, who I was. Even with a Terran father watering down my [slight eye roll] royal blood.

[she grins at him]

No way would I tell. You can trust me. Pinky swear.

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