The Blended Fruit

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

she giggled "not really. Deep down everyone wants to help other people. I'm just doing my part." She said, reflectively. She paused to take a drink of the smoothy, and was delighted by the flavor. She held it in her mouth for a little while to enjoy it before every swallow.  

[Ivan Karmanov]

Graham looked down to his smoothie, the colors of the different fruit swirled around. "I think I would have to disagree with you." His eyes then shifted from the smoothie to his wrapped hand, staring thoughtfully at has bandages.  

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

She was saddened by his response. He had seen so much pain in his lifetime, So she didn't think she could stand to convince him that all his pain was inflicted by confused, good people. She didn't think it was right to try. He deserved the right to think the way he thought. She couldn't fathom what it must be like to feel such pain. Her smile faltered for just a second. "...Okay" she said finally. It was then that she made a pact with herself. She would show this man the good in the world. She would open his eyes, not by bitching at him, or telling him he was wrong, or being officious... no. She would be there to stop the pain, and show him the good. She looked at him with determined eyes. She would succeed in this, she swore.  

[Ivan Karmanov]

After a few moments of thinking, Graham then asked, "Would you like to know why I joined the military?" His silver eyes not strayed away from the bandages on his hand, his mind flashing back to his first days at training, the first time he killed someone on the battlefield, the first time he was shot, his first regretful letter wrote home to unsuspecting parents, and his first victory. The Colonel remembered the reason he did all these things, and he felt it was the right reason.  

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

"why did you join?" She asked. She assumed it was to protect people, but this was his story. She looked up to him, and he had a reputation for being good at his job. She couldn't guess that it would be anything but the purest of intentions, despite how she felt about war.  

[Ivan Karmanov]

"I wanted to protect this country. I wanted to help preserve the peace these people have known. But in doing so, I've learned how dark people can be." Graham knew this wouldn't be something Clair would have liked to hear, but it was the truth, and the truth was written all over his body. "I've protected these people from barbarians, people who hate us for any number of worthless reasons. I'm sure there are some simply doing what they're told, but many times over I've seen senseless massacres against unarmed men, brutal torturing of POWs, innocent civilians who just so happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. People don't kill each other in war for no reason, there's always someone attacking another for their own reasons, some with more hate than others." The Colonel then took a long sip from his smoothie, feeling the cold cup through the bandages on his hands, one of very few sensations he now has.  

[Eddward Hunter]

The man silently listened to the conversation happening while he was waiting for his coffee to be delivered, He had smiled abit as he heard Claire's answer, She was definatly a rare breed of person, A true optimist who only saw the good in people, dangerous yes but a trait people rarely had this day and age.  

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

"People don't hurt 'people' in war...they hurt "the enemy". They usually don't even stop to think about the idea that the enemy could be made up of people. It has been conditioned out of them. That is the only way war could happen to begin with. You are a very good man, colonel. I'm sorry you had to go through everything you went through. You became a soldier for good reasons. So do most people. Some want to protect people. Some want to ensure freedom. Some people need the money to feed their family. War confuses people. Confused people can do bad things sometimes. That doesn't make them bad people.

(i'll edit this if it harms the dynamic)  

[Ivan Karmanov]

"That may true, but not all people who fight do fight for an honorable reason. Some barbarians, they hunt and kill for fun." Graham started to get worked up, memories and thoughts of the day he was burned swirled in his head, like a flame stiring up the air. "You say that war confuses people? How confused do you think the man who caught me, with all the bargaining rights and leverage that came with me, would tie me to the ground, covered me in oil, and smile... when he lit me on fire? I wanted a life, a safe life for a fami-" Graham caught himself before continuing. He found himself leaned onto the table, with his voice low but stone serious, and he felt his body temperature had risen. Leaning back off of the table and gulping down a portion of smoothie to cool himself down, Graham finished by saying, "There are just some people in the world who are beyond saving, and if you don't tread carefully, you will perish by their hand. Heaven knows they tried, and Heaven knows I refused."

At a different table, the young waitress walked up to the man with the cross, bearing his cup of coffee. "And here you go, sir. It's fresh from the pot!" She said as she sat the cup on the table.

(I hope Graham's last line makes sense.)  

[Eddward Hunter]

"Thank you dear." He said as he graciously took the cup and added some creme and sugar to it, it had been a while since the man had been back into town, his profession was reason for him to wander, he thought about how different things were since he came back. After finishing his cup he set it down and looked around before saying. " I'm sorry to interupt your debate about good and evil Officer but I'm abit lost, I'm looking for a place called the Highway..... ever heard of it?"  

[Ivan Karmanov]

Graham turned to look at the man who spoke to them. He looked like a preacher, with his clothes and the cross sitting next to him, which begged the question, "Why are you searching for such a place?"  

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

"Which highway are you looking for? There are lots of them, so we kinda need to know which direction you're going, silly. " She said. Though she wondered why it was hard for him to find a road that big, she didn't judge. Everyone made mistakes, after all. Though after hearing the Colonel's reaction she grew quite confused. "Obviously he wants to go somewhere silly. Why else would anyone look for a highway?"

Clairs face grew sad though, as she pondered the Colonel's words. He was a good man, and he deserved better then what fate had handed him. She stumbled over her thoughts for a while, before simply saying, "I'm sorry."  

[Ivan Karmanov]

"My dear, I think he's talking about a bar of... questionable business." Graham answered to Clair's unawareness. He turned back to the cross-carrying man, feeling very suspicious about him, and asked again, "Which still begs the question, why are you looking for it?"  

[Aria Di Blasfemia Eterna]

Clair pondered the idea for a moment, before finally saying, " OH I KNOW! like highwaymen! Is this like, where all the bad guys go to store their loot? maybe it's like, some sort of smuggling operation.... they probably have tons of really scary people in there!"  

[Eddward Hunter]

" Honestly, It's my job to cleanse people of their sin what better place to start then a known sinning hole.... wouldn't you say Officer?" He said to clair with a smile as another cup was poured for him and took a sip. " I am a man of the lord, doing his work as I roam this earth."