closed post: in the eye of the beholder

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally's had a lot on her mind since the death and the wedding. Life, love, the fragility of those things--but, of course, she is who she is, so her mind comes back to what it always does: beauty.

As much as she'd judged that strange man for his disheveled robes, everyone else had looked gorgeous, and happier than she'd ever seen a room full of pretties look. Most notably, they'd all looked legitimately different from each other, in just about every way possible. That the effect was beautiful instead of overwhelming is a new experience for Tally.

Tally feels like she knows what Claudius might say about the wedding. He'd heap effusive praise on everyone, and tell her that of course he wanted everyone to be uniquely themselves. She thinks he understands the halo effect better than anyone else she knows here, but also, as a former pre-Rusty king, understands how to deal with a crowd of adult uglies. Galahad, though, has never been someone Tally could guess at the thoughts of. He'd clearly been too happily overwhelmed to really talk at the ceremony itself, so she goes to knock on his door a few days later.

Comments

[tallyyoungblood]

Right, Galahad was asking about Gideon. "Well, she's fun to hang out with. She's really funny and totally loyal and determined."

[onthewillowsthere]

He nods -- these are characteristics he's noticed in Gideon himself -- and waits to see whether she'll continue.

[tallyyoungblood]

"If we're talking about, like, how she looks, it's totally weird. At first I just liked her muscles and her gold eyes, because pretties have those things, but she kind of looks pretty to me now. Or, you know. Not ugly."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Hot," he offers.

[tallyyoungblood]

Tally laughs. "Yeah. Really hot."

[onthewillowsthere]

"I think she would like that."

[tallyyoungblood]

"To hear me say it?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes."

[tallyyoungblood]

"I'll tell her," Tally says. If she's being honest, she sometimes forgets that the way she feels about Gideon isn't obvious, or that she might need an out-loud reminder sometimes. "I do kind of think she knows. Because of all the, um, kissing."

[onthewillowsthere]

"It's different when you say it," Galahad says, a faint flush rising on his cheeks.

[tallyyoungblood]

"You make a good point," Tally says, thinking about Gideon calling her gorgeous. "But you totally get my point, right? How can this stuff be a sin? It feels good."

[onthewillowsthere]

"That's why it's a sin. It's am earthly pleasure. It leads us away from God."

[tallyyoungblood]

"And god wants you to feel bad."

[onthewillowsthere]

"God wants us to think of nothing except Him. He wants us to follow His rules."

[tallyyoungblood]

"Utter egomaniac," Tally mutters. "It isn't normal to power trip like that, you know."

[onthewillowsthere]

"God isn't normal. He's God. What is a power trip?"

[tallyyoungblood]

"Like... trying to control people just for the sake of controlling people, I guess. Being a huge dick, for sure."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad considers this. "Yes. I understand."

[tallyyoungblood]

"With my city, they're controlling us for a reason. Like, people having too much freedom might destroy the earth, if people were allowed to be as greedy as Rusties were. Maybe that's our version of this sin thing. But it has real consequences, unlike stuff like having sex and looking pretty and feeling good. Besides, I still think it's wrong to control people like that, even it is for a good reason. I don't really know what should be done instead to limit human greed, but..." Tally shrugs. "All of it is totally confusion-making."

[onthewillowsthere]

He's mildly overwhelmed himself, so he just nods -- he doesn't have an answer for those things either, but he thinks Percival might have; Percival always understood the earth and the cycle of natural things more than he can imagine doing.

[tallyyoungblood]

"At least there's not enough of us here to cause a giant overpopulation problem."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Do you think that could happen?"

[tallyyoungblood]

"It doesn't seem likely. Unless you and Claudius are about to have a billion children, or something." She smiles at him to show that she's joking.

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad's expression barely changes, but what subtle markers there are are ones of mild horror. "No."

[tallyyoungblood]

"I'm joking. I don't think you can do that without city doctors, anyway."