|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:34 am
"I never said we weren't friends!" he growled, tossing the book back onto the dresser so he could stalk around the room some more, shuffling his feet and not really knowing what he wanted to do. He wanted to take out his anger on something, but there wasn't anything... He was stuck with nothing to hit and nothing to yell at and just... wanting to scream like the young, immature teenager he still was.
"Of course we're friends! And maybe I don't get it. Maybe I don't understand your desire to be treated like a... like a child! And yes, that's what you're being treated as! You can't do anything for yourself, can you?? It has to be specially approved by the Lord Chancellor,” he sneered, “and everyone else who keeps you locked up and away from your life!" he ranted, throwing his hands into the air whenever he felt the need to emphasize a word or two.
Maybe he was being a little harsh. He knew that Liesel just wanted to do what was best for his world, but there was a difference between being a good figurehead and being controlled like a puppet.
Serge turned on the spot, making his way back over to Liesel and taking hold of his shoulders, shaking him gently, although his fingers dug a bit harsher than he intended. "You're going to end up getting hurt, don't you see that??"
Hopefully he wouldn't end up doing the hurting...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:54 am
He could say with certainty that he didn’t much like being shaken. He could also say, with certainty, that he didn’t entirely fault Serge for it—a thought which probably should have concerned him, but he was much too focused on their current conversation to let things like that distract him.
After he was jerked back and forth a few times, his brain—slow as it might be in functioning sometimes—felt a bit as if it were rattling around in his head, and Liesel finally removed his hands from his lap to grab onto Serge’s wrists to pry his fingers off of his shoulders. Had Serge been anyone else, Liesel might have tried to shove him back a few steps, but he wasn’t dumb enough to think he was quite so strong as to manage it, and this was Serge. Liesel wanted to be friends. Serge wanted to be friends—or at least he’d implied that he wanted to be. One didn’t usually push their friends away.
One didn’t usually shake their friends like this either, but Liesel was just naïve enough to overlook it due to Serge’s obvious passion for the subject, as well as the fact that he didn’t believe it would do any lasting damage.
“I’m not a child,” he said. He was surprised that he managed to sound so calm. He certainly didn’t feel it. His heart was pounding and his stomach gave a nervous twist. He was terrified of saying something to ruin everything, but at the same time he couldn’t let Serge think he didn’t understand the position he’d allowed himself to be placed in. “I… I don’t think it’s such a horrible thing, being… sheltered, I suppose you would say. I… I’m not being hurt by it.”
At least, he didn’t think he was. It wasn’t as if being restricted from entering into an intimate relationship with someone distressed him at all. Well, not until now. Serge’s unwillingness to understand and accept it made it far more complicated than it had been before the topic had been broached.
“I don’t know why you would think that. Clearly I’m not being locked up,” he insisted, glancing up at his friend and chancing a look into his eyes. “I can’t be. I have too many responsibilities. It’s not as if I’m stuck in this room all the time with hardly any visitors. It hasn’t been that way since… since before my debut, and at that point I was focusing on my lessons, so… I didn’t have much time for anything else. You act as if I’m never allowed anywhere at all, when you know that isn’t true, and even if certain people do like to keep tabs on my activities… considering I’m such an important figure to my people, I don’t think that’s quite so bad as you’re making it seem…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:27 pm
Serge removed his hands once Liesel reached up to pull them away, but he frowned at him, unable to understand why his friend allowed himself to be played with like a toy by the people who were supposed to be taking care of him and protecting him.
"I know you're not a child!" he snapped again, despite how calm Liesel was remaining through his near-yelling. Although... he did seem as he were almost... scared...
It had Serge hesitating and he took a step back so he wouldn't be tempted to shake him again. It didn't help that Liesel was just adding on more reasons for him to be upset.
"'It hasn't been that way since before'-- Liesel! They might not be locking you up, but they're dictating what you can do! And you're hardly ever allowed anywhere!" he said, surprised that he managed to keep his voice moderately lowered. "You're a Senshi. You’re a Jovian, a Galilean... You can't allow people to control you... Myself included," he added, almost as an afterthought as he turned away from his friend to curse silently at himself and wish there was something he could do to just... chill out.
Obviously Liesel wasn't being hurt... and Serge had acted rather forward with the whole kissing thing... but he couldn't help but like him! He'd been his closest friend since he'd become a knight of Jupiter. And while they didn't see each other as often as he'd like, he did care for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:42 pm
Liesel took a breath in an attempt to further calm himself and let it out on a sigh. “I’m allowed to go where duty requires me to go, and seeing as I’ve visited many different worlds in the last year alone… I don’t think that limitation is doing me any harm. If I’d never been born as Sailor Ganymede, I probably never would have set foot off world.”
He squirmed slightly as Serge stepped away. His words might be halting at times, but his voice was mostly level, which was probably about as much as he could hope for in such a tense situation. That didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous. The discomfort still remained. His hands went back to his lap as soon as he no longer had to hold his friend at bay, and though he clasped them together, he did his best not to twiddle his fingers and twist his palms against one another.
That lasted all of five seconds, before he was wringing them again.
“No one’s controlling me,” he smoothly contended. “Yes, there are laws that prevent me from partaking in certain… activities… but it’s my choice to abide by them. Just as it would be my choice to defy them if I decided I didn’t want to live this way. I could… I could kiss you… or I could… I could enter into intimate relations with one of my maids…” The very suggestion had his face burning red again. He paused a moment to collect himself, swallowing down a sudden lump of discomfort in his throat.
“There might be consequences, but… well, they couldn’t do anything too horrible given my position and the fact that they rather like having me around and aren’t of a mind to lose that bit of influence yet. It is my choice whether or not I’d like to face those consequences, whatever they are, and I’ve chosen not to,” he explained. He didn’t think he was missing all that much anyway, though he would admit he probably had no idea what he was talking about when it came to that subject. “Honestly, I don’t know what the big deal is,” he admitted. “Perhaps I’ve simply had more time to get used to the idea. You haven’t. You seem to put more stock in such physical signs of friendship, and…”
He trailed off. He didn’t know what Serge had meant by kissing him. Serge had said he liked him and Liesel assumed it was his way of demonstrating that. He thought Serge might be a bit more free with his affections when it came to his friends, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know any of the details when such actions pertained to anyone else.
Then again, Serge had admitted that he didn’t have very many other friends. If that was the case, Liesel wondered if or why he would bother going around kissing other people. If he did…
Liesel wasn’t sure he wanted to start thinking about that either.
“I’m sorry. I feel as if I’ve done something to offend you and I don’t know how to make it right.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:55 pm
Serge stared down at his friend as he tried to explain himself and excuse the way he'd been treated all his life. As Valhalla, Serge would admit to being rather spoiled. Maybe that was why he was so surprised that Liesel wasn't given the same opportunities to just... be himself and do whatever the hell he wanted, just as long as he was fulfilling his duties and taking care of his people.
He didn't like seeing Liesel under the shadow of the Lord Chancellor, or even Ganymede... Liesel was a strong young man, but he was also too kind and gentle.
Slowly, Serge took a step towards Liesel, lowering his head and eyes to the ground as he moved to reclaim his seat next to him on the bench. "Don't apologize. You haven't offended me," he insisted, although he did reach out to take hold of Liesel's hands to keep him from fidgeting so much, covering them both easily in his,.
Even though he'd been ready to throw things earlier, he found it difficult to stay angry at Liesel. He was too... innocent. Maybe that was too demeaning of a word, but he couldn't think of a better one. He just wanted to make sure that his friend wasn't being pushed too hard, being treated too roughly, being used for politics and forgetting to let him grow as an individual, as his own person.
"One day I hope you'll reconsider the inappropriateness of me kissing you," he said with a small smirk, leaning in to peck a kiss against Liesel's head, just to tease him. "You're rather cute when you blush, you know..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:06 pm
He continued to feel as if he’d somehow insulted Serge or hurt his feelings, despite the reassurances otherwise. Liesel couldn’t think of anything he’d done to make his friend feel that way—except, of course, rejecting his kiss—but it didn’t make him feel any less guilty. He didn’t like disappointing his friend. It made him feel a bit like a failure. Even as Serge calmed and came to sit beside him again, Liesel wondered if Serge might still be upset and was just pretending to let things be as they were.
A smaller part of him told him he shouldn’t worry about things like that, that he hadn’t done anything he should be ashamed of, but he was too concerned with keeping his friendship with Serge intact to listen.
He wanted to say that kissing would never not be inappropriate, but he kept his mouth firmly shut for fear the comment would only cause more tension to erupt between them. “I…” he tried to say something else, but found he really had nothing to counter the statement with. His face felt warm again, and he was rather glad Serge’s hand had only settled atop his own rather than pulling them apart to clasp one, as then he would surely feel the sweat that had broken out along his palms.
Liesel certainly wouldn’t describe his behavior has “cute.” He was sure he could be quite frustrating to someone who was used to having his way.
They were interrupted by a knock on the sitting room door. Liesel, having a pretty good idea he knew who it would be, gently pulled his hands away from Serge and spun back around on the bench to face the piano, absently pressing a few of the keys to pretend as if that’s what he’d been doing all along. Sure enough, the door opened soon after, and the Lord Chancellor, in his black robes and collar of office, stepped into the room. Liesel couldn’t see very much of him with his back mostly to the door, but he was sure the moment he stepped inside, the Lord Chancellor acquired the dispassionate, moderately disgusted look he usually had on his face whenever Serge was in his presence.
“The Martian ambassadors will be here within the hour,” he announced. He peered around the room as if searching for anything that would signal some kind of offensive transgression, but naturally found nothing. “You will want to be sure that you are presentable.”
Liesel nodded hastily and hoped he didn’t look so tense. “Yes, of course,” he said. He was quite glad his long hair currently hung loose. With his head bowed, he was able to hide the light flush in his face and the redness in the tips of his ears.
“Valhalla,” the Lord Chancellor deigned to speak to him, though he didn’t sound as if he enjoyed it much. “Perhaps you should return to your room to change into something more… fitting. We wouldn’t want the Martians to make the mistake of thinking you are somehow ours.”
It was obviously meant to be an insult. Liesel winced and hoped Serge wouldn’t rise to the occasion. He didn’t think he could handle another confrontation so soon after the previous one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:24 pm
Serge couldn't say that he liked being interrupted when he was enjoying his time with his friend. It was rare that he actually had any time to begin with, so when he was so rudely interrupted, of course he was going to be a bit peeved.
He let Liesel pull his hands away and turn to face the piano, but Serge stared ahead, unafraid of locking gazes with the Lord Chancellor when he entered the room. He thought he did a pretty good job in not making some snippy comment about how Liesel was always presentable and that the Lord Chancellor should try harassing someone else for a change. But when he decided to bring Serge into the line of near-accusations, he couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer.
"You no longer wish to associate yourself with House Jupiter? I'll be sure to let the Princess know you'd like to disaffiliate once I return home," Serge was happy to announce, although he knew he was twisting the man's words a bit. Obviously he didn't want to lose favor with Jupiter, yet he insisted on making comments about how he wasn't welcome as a Ganymedean?
The knight drew himself up from the bench to stand his full height against the older man. Although he was still young, he was growing rapidly, and over the year he had gained a couple inches both in height and in broadness. And while he'd rather not use solely brawn in a fight, he knew that he could beat the man with muscle for where he might lack in slyness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:34 pm
While it didn’t appear as if Serge’s temper had yet to reignite, Liesel couldn’t say he liked the confrontational manner in which the two men spoke to one another any better. The Lord Chancellor felt enough negativity toward Serge already without Serge talking back and making empty threats.
“That isn’t what he meant,” Liesel said quietly, turning to look between the both of them once he felt he had his blushing under control.
The Lord Chancellor didn’t look as if he’d taken Serge’s comment seriously, in any case. He continued to look down his nose at the knight, though he and Serge were more or less the same height. “Our allegiance toward House Jupiter remains as strong as ever, I assure you. I merely thought to display that solidarity to the visiting Martians by formally presenting you to them. Surely that message would be better conveyed if you were to don your uniform instead of disguising yourself beneath our frills and decorative trinkets.”
Liesel was sure that wasn’t what he’d meant either, but arguing the point wouldn’t do any of them any good.
“Serge,” he called in an attempt to distract him, “we can continue this later. We could have tea sometime this evening, or breakfast tomorrow.”
He knew the Lord Chancellor didn’t like to hear that they would be spending more time together, and the man’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but Liesel ignored it. When he glanced toward the man, it was with a calm expression and a small, accepting smile. “Would you send for Mattie, please? I’ll need help with my hair.”
“Certainly.”
Liesel expected him to leave the room to do just that, though perhaps not before casting Serge under another scornful sneer, but instead he made a quick motion to someone outside the door, and seconds later Liesel’s maid Mathilda, in her simple dress and apron, scurried into the room. She looked between the three of them curiously, and caught Liesel’s eye with an apologetic shrug. Clearly the Lord Chancellor had expected Liesel to make such a request and wasn’t of a mind to allow Serge and Liesel any more time alone.
“O-oh, thank you,” he said. He hoped he appeared neither surprised nor disappointed. “Well then… Serge, I… will you return here once you’ve changed? We can greet the Martian ambassadors together.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:26 pm
Serge continued to stare down the Lord Chancellor as he spoke back to him, his dislike for him growing by the second. In his year that he'd been away from Earth and training as a knight, he hadn't met anyone that infuriated him as much as the Lord Chancellor did. There was something about him that just made him want to haul off and punch the guy in his upturned nose.
Liesel's distraction wasn't enough to dull the bitterness he had towards the man, but for his friend's sake, he pulled his eyes away from the Lord Chancellor to look at the young Senshi instead. He gave him an exasperated look, as though he didn't want to leave this guy with him, but it seemed as though Liesel had already made up his mind.
"Very well," he almost growled under his breath, turning to head towards the door now that Liesel had dismissed him. He wasn't going to argue about it, although he would have liked some more time with the friend he rarely got to see and one he very much liked.
The problem was... it was obvious that Liesel would be rather difficult to get.
And as Serge left the bedroom and towards the entrance of the set of rooms in the suite, he couldn't help but think to himself how a chase might be fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
