Inbox: Deer Country

[givetheslip]

"...what am I supposed to say to—"

text | voice | video | Omen

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[unphase]

[her grandmother was the crown princess, it was true, and she had a set boundary of etiquette to follow, but from what Tinya had been told and read in her grandmother's journals, she felt stifled by the rigidity of Bgztlian society and its expectations. she just had to be her]

It's...harder when a child is brought into things. After all, no one wants someone to take a grudge against the parents and hold it against the child. Fortunately, that didn't happen in my mother's case, she was always [a wry twist to her lips] exceptionally well-behaved.

[givetheslip]

Well-behaved. I see.

[Maria smiles, wrinkles her nose and shakes her head.]

I don't expect either of us have much experience with that concept.

[unphase]

[Tinya giggles co-conspiratorially at the nose wrinkle and wrinkle she own in turn]

Not one bit. What can I say, I was always born to be bad.

[givetheslip]

[The giggles are indeed contagious, though if anyone asked Maria would protest that and say that it was laughter, not giggles.]

Heavens, that must be quite a boon, to know your destiny so early.

[unphase]

[Maria's secret is safe with Tinya]

It has been. Destined to be a disappointment to my mother, but she was disappointing to me, too. We're best off when there's a galaxy between us. [and she chuckles] Sometimes even that's not enough!

[givetheslip]

[She's still smiling as she listens, though it's a bit sadder now.]

I wouldn't have guessed we had so much in common when we first talked.

[unphase]

[as is Tinya's]

Nor I. Perhaps it was fate that we'd meet?

[givetheslip]

[She shakes her head.]

No, I don't believe in fate. We make our own futures. But I can recognize a fortunate opportunity when I see one.

[unphase]

I wish I could believe that I did make my own future. Sometimes I feel like the multiverse's chewtoy! [she says with an attempt at a laugh]

[givetheslip]

That's the good thing about the future. Until you're dead, it's always there. Which means there's always another chance to make it yours.

[unphase]

That's what I'm trying to do. Try to establish myself as my own person again instead of carrying the weight of my mother's and my team's expectations. Especially my team's. [she sighs] I think I'm far too changed to fit in there again.

I feel like we can probably wind this down to a fadeout c: lovely thread

[givetheslip]

Maybe so.

[Maria imagines the same would apply to her and the Templars, should she wish to go back. Which she doesn't.]

That just means you need to find a place where you do fit. Or make one for yourself.

cool, cool, works for me! Glad you liked it!

[unphase]

I've never been good at fitting into the slots of others. I'd rather make my own.

[givetheslip]

Here's to that.

[She raises her tea in a mock toast — no, actually, quite a sincere one.]

To both of us forging our own paths.

[unphase]

[and Tinya's is absolutely serious]

Cheers! [and she tapped her teacup with Maria's carefully]