trailblazers | 001 » with my legs up on the dashboard

Yeah.

[He's feeling a bit lazy so he just calls Caelus instead with a video chat as he rolls onto his side and props his phone up on the pillow next to him. He's cleaned up a bit since the last video he's sent, tugged his underwear back on. His cheek against the pillow, he looks at the phone blearily.

Like this, he seems almost less threatening, the brightness of his eyes dimmed with how satiated he is, like a cat that's got the cream.]

Feels good. Just what I needed after an annoying day.

[ When Caelus answers, the camera is a little too close to his face at first. His hand moves to adjust his phone; he takes a screenshot before anything else. Just wants to keep the image of Aventurine like this, spent and sleepy with his lashes lowered and his eyes narrowed into catlike slits. Caelus wants to kiss him.

Pictures, videos, screenshots, gifts. He really can't get enough of Aventurine. Is there such a thing as being your own boyfriend's devoted stalker? Vaguely, Caelus wonders if he's insane or if this is just a normal part of being in love.

After a pause, he adjusts his phone and sets it back on its little tripod so that he can look at Aventurine on his side, too. ]

You had an annoying day?

[ To be fair, maybe Aventurine has a lot of annoying days. But. ]

What happened?

[It's cute, the way Caelus fumbles around his phone. Aventurine can't help but to smile a bit as he watches him set it up and rest down. Like this, it's almost like they're really next to one another - like if he reaches his hand over, he'll find warm skin instead of just the blankets.]

Same as usual... justifying my vision of the future to a bunch of small-minded executives who can't see past the profit margin for next quarter.

[He shrugs.]

Sometimes you have to lose in order to better position yourself to win. The IPC doesn't understand that - Preservation is about maintaining the status quo, not making drastic plays. So our visions don't often align.

...Sometimes I don't think the IPC really understands what Preservation is.

[ A funny look passes across Caelus's face when he says that, but he closes his eyes after he's said it, as if the thought of it stresses him out too much for him to properly articulate it. It's almost blasphemous to say this; after all, everything the IPC does is theoretically under Qlipoth's name, and indeed, one of Qlipoth's Emanators purportedly leads the corporation.

And yet — when Caelus thinks about the feeling that seized him when he pulled Alisa Rand's spear from the cosmos — he just feels that it's not right. That the money, the all-consuming greed — that's not Preservation. But then, it's true that Preservation doesn't have a heart or a conscience. So Caelus wonders.

His lips quirk into a small smile after a moment. ]

But... I guess it doesn't surprise me to hear that you're a bit of a gambler when it comes to business, too.

Edited 2024-03-19 01:38 (UTC)

Hm.

[It's an interesting thought, and one that makes his eyes flick up, more awake than he had been before, like it brings something up in the back of my mind... but he doesn't know if he has it in him to share it.

Instead, he thinks about something else, about his other colleagues, the other ways that the IPC has said one thing and done another - preservation, profit margins, ruthless capitalism for the good of all mankind. He plays by their rules, gets things done on their orders, but that doesn't mean he agrees with it.

Just the opposite, really. It's all a means to an end for him.]

The IPC has saved - oh, a dozen billion lives through uplifting backwater planets sentenced to environmental death, among other things. We have a counter in the main office, actually. [He smiles, flashing teeth.] It's tacky.

Still, I wonder if the Nameless hold such a record. I wonder still, how many lives have been lost to IPC intervention.

[The smile doesn't fade, but it does grow sharper, faker.]

No counter for that one, I'm afraid.

Of course there wouldn't be.

[ Caelus's voice is low, soft. When Aventurine's smile is sharp like that, it's not like he's any happier. He knows that, but it's hard to respond to it besides growing smaller, quieter. ]

If we're talking numbers... the Nameless probably don't even compare. But it's not really about saving people... so much as making connections.

[ He shakes his head, looking directly into the camera. ]

We're not necessarily supposed to save lives, even though we usually do. We're just trying to make sure that they're lives worth living.

[ A slight flattening of the lips. ]

I guess that's the difference.

I guess the IPC can't put a number on that kind of thing.

I guess not.

[But he doesn't say anything else. Not right now, not when there's still so much to do and Caelus is still in a position to intervene in his plans. Aventurine sighs and lets his eyes droop, less serious now than he had been a moment ago.]

I heard about what you did on Jarilo-VI - or rather, I read Topaz's report. If you cared about giving those people the best chance of survival, you'd have convinced them to agree to her terms. Instead, you prioritized their freedom.

[He shrugs, flopping onto to his back and stretching, rotating his shoulder, getting comfortable. The camera bounces a bit with the mattress and catches his side profile as he looks up toward the ceiling.]

You've proven your principles to me already, is what I'm saying. I don't think the Express is hypocritical, and I can respect that.

[ This is a serious conversation. He should really be paying attention. He doesn't want to be the kind of lover who can be accused of not really listening to his partner or only caring about his partner's looks.

He takes another screenshot of Aventurine anyway, because the man knows he's hot but probably doesn't know how hot he looks right now, and, anyway, Caelus swears he's still listening. It's just. Well. Look. He's stupid.

He tries to pass off his movements as a slight adjustment of his own camera as he continues: ]

...Glad we've got your approval.

[ He is curious, though, about one thing: ]

Do you think we were foolish? For choosing freedom over survival.

[If he notices that Caelus is taking more pictures of him, he doesn't say anything. Aventurine sighs at the question, opening his eyes to look up at the ceiling. Freedom or survival?]

...no. But I wouldn't have done it by appealing to Topaz's good nature.

[His mouth curls into a little smile and he glances back toward his phone screen toward the other man, bland and unassuming. There's nothing behind his smile - not joy, not pain.]

It doesn't have to be one or the other. You just have to be willing to make sacrifices. If they rebelled against the contract, the IPC could steamroll Jarilo-VI with barely a dent in our resources, but it's not in their best interest to stand over an uninhabitable rock. What do they want? How do you threaten those interests so severely that it's better for them to leave you alone than invest resources into fighting you over it?

[ Caelus falls silent. It's not as though he disagrees, on principle, with what Aventurine is saying. It's just that sometimes he's not sure what move he's supposed to make when Aventurine smiles like that, like it's a mechanical reflex rather than anything felt. ]

Mm.

[ His eyes flick away for a moment, and then back at the screen. ]

Sorry. I guess I just don't know what to say. It's not like I don't get it, it's just — a lot of things were happening at the time. And technically, we're not in charge of Belobog, so it was like...

[ A brief pause, as he tries to come up with words that will express how he feels, but in the end, Caelus just shakes his head. ]

It is what it is, I guess.

001 » with my legs up on the dashboard

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thank god i can now reply to this tag ty 2.1

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