There's no point in 'should haves'. Who can say what anyone should have done? We did what we did, and here we are. It's time to think of the present and the future, not the past. The past is painful, but the future doesn't have to be.
I think I'd like to travel on foot just so I have more time to look at it all.
[Maybe so.
But he'd gotten them all killed. They had been so willing to die for him, even though he'd never asked for that kind of loyalty. Even though he didn't think he deserved it.
"Don't let our deaths have been in vain" Dorochet had said.]
Nothing we can do would change the past. We can only move forward.
[And she can see it, too, Greed wandering the regions and seeing all there was to be seen. Meeting people, partaking of everything that was offered. She thinks it would be a good life for him.]
As best we can. But we don't have to do it alone. You'll write to me, won't you, on your travels?
[Is this what it means to be human? To be able to make these grand, ridiculous plans? A part of him wants to do it. To really, truly see the world for everything it is. He'd been to fixated on... on whatever it was, to ever truly embrace wanderlust before now.]
Think about it. It would be nice to have a familiar face along the way.
Cost shouldn't be much of an issue. Unless we want to take the train to Kanto, of course. But it might be easier to head back to New Bark Town. By then, Cedric should be fully evolved.
I don't work. France is ridiculously wealthy, he pays for everything. I'd feel badly if he didn't honestly seem to take pleasure from it.
[But it does leave her bored. She can't bring herself to care very much about battling and badges and gathering as many Pokemon as she could. It's just something to do sometimes.
Her own words come back to her. There's a great deal of world to see. She's been clinging to Envy because he's familiar and she knows he'll look after her, but she is perfectly capable of looking after herself.]
But I do have money saved up. I'll leave the travel plans to you, I've always hated puzzling that sort of thing out.
He and I might have that in common. Well, not the wealthy part. I don't have that much saved up.
[Battling passes the time, and Greed does enjoy gathering up Pokemon. He certainly has enough now that it feels strangely meaningful, even if he does have misgivings about leaving some of them inside a computer.]
My plans tend to be pretty loose. I hope you don't mind.
I think the most 'plans' I've made since coming here don't extend beyond the next day. Maybe it's silly, but I take some pleasure in having no rigid boundaries to confine my time.
I don't think I'll have any problem with that. We've earned the right to live without them. Pick a direction and we'll head in it.
[It doesn't matter where they go. It will be something new, and offer them new opportunities. She thought that was a worthy goal to pursue. General, and attainable.
It's almost surreal. She laughs again, and there's a teasing note in her voice when she speaks again.]
And to think...on my way over, I couldn't even decide if this was a date or not. Here we are planning on running away together.
Well, according to the map, the furthest we can go is Cianwood. We'll need Surf to cross and I'm not sure how to get there.
[Eventually, he'll find his way back to Goldenrod, because Goldenrod is his home. But he has to see the rest of the world. Who knows how long he'll be here.
It could be years like Envy. Or he could be gone tomorrow, never remembering he'd been here at all.
He'll live like he always has. Completely in the moment.]
We'll head as far as we can that way. And then we'll turn around, to New Bark. The ferry to Kanto docks there, I remember being told about it when I first arrived.
[His expression brightens.]
Running away together is certainly a step up from a date, isn't it?
[Simple as that. They don't need any more detailed a plan than that. She laughs again, throwing her head back.]
One or two. Why do anything halfway, hmm? As long as you don't expect singular devotion. [She can't imagine he does, even if there is anything beyond playful flirting. She almost hopes there is. If for no other reason than Greed has a way of making her feel good about herself.]
I'll be honest: I've never tried. You explain it to people and they're either fine with it or not. The ones who aren't are the ones that need more talking to before you do anything.
[Thankfully, Greed is someone who would both completely understand the need to take any opportunity given and be more likely to have misgivings if someone didn't see this the way he does.]
Some people tangle it all up with everything else. That some sort of singular commitment to one another makes it more meaningful. I don't think that's true. Sex is sex and emotions are emotions and the two aren't tied together always. If two people want to make that singular commitment, lovely for them. But it seems silly to be the standard way everyone always does it. It's...limiting.
[Lust hasn't engaged in any conventional relationships herself, but she's observed them from afar. It all seemed so messy and complicated. Especially when it came to commitments and monogamy and clinging to the idea that wanting to have more than one lover was some reflection on personal feelings rather than physical desire.]
Well of course you'd say that. I'm not sure how to judge, speculatively, but you're attractive and good to me and I enjoy our flirtations.
[It's perfectly possible to love more than one person at once, isn't it? Besides, he's always enjoyed being able to sleep around. So long as everyone he's sleeping with is comfortable with it, he doesn't care.
And he wouldn't sleep with someone who was uncomfortable with his lifestyle to begin with.]
It doesn't have to go anywhere, but I have no reason to rescind the offer. Door's open at any moment.
It works for some people. But isn't that what marriage is for? That sort of commitment and devotion between two people, I mean. Why live like that in casual pairings?
[But perhaps she has a unique perspective, having only ever had casual relationships that bore no resemblance to how people took up with one another.]
It's something that's been on my mind. Not just you, but taking a lover in general. One that I wanted, for my own enjoyment. I've heard a number of rumors to the effect that it is very enjoyable, when done properly. If nothing else, I should wash out the lingering taste of old alchemist.
[Because when she thinks of intimacy, that's still what she thinks of. That's in the past now and it's time to paint over those memories with more pleasant ones. In all aspects of life.]
If we spend enough time together, I imagine something will happen anyway.
You have a point. I like living in the moment, myself. I'm not exactly marriage material.
[Then again, he's never exactly tried anything like that. He'd been so caught up in being in love with someone who wouldn't have ever returned his feelings that it was something of a mystery to him.]
I have always been of the opinion that pleasure is something that should be mutual. What's pleasurable differs between people, but it's all good to me. It just depends on what an individual person wants. That's all.
I've never thought about it. Nor do I intend to, at any point in the near future. I can enjoy myself. I'd like to.
[It's high time she did, after all. Not only in sexual matters but in the casual but charged interactions between men and women.]
That's the ideal. I've never done it for my own pleasure. Not to say I find it distasteful or have shameful memories of the act, but it was work. The end I was seeking had nothing to do with my own pleasure, and the sort of men that are pompous and easily manipulated aren't the sort that give a damn about their private whore's enjoyment.
Yeah. It's certainly the best way to go about things.
[Even if he did end up with someone here and it was a vaguely monogamous thing, he doesn't think he could ever settle down completely. Greed already devoted himself to people as it was. Limiting himself to one person was just wrong.]
There are a number of stupid men out there. She never wanted any of us to have fun. More of us would have started to catch on to the ruse if she had. Companionship has always meant more to me than obtaining wealth and status.
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I want to travel. I want to see the world.
I could have done that. I should have done that. It's not like they would have minded. They were grateful I'd broken them out of their cages at all.
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[Lust frowns, thoughtfully.]
There's no point in 'should haves'. Who can say what anyone should have done? We did what we did, and here we are. It's time to think of the present and the future, not the past. The past is painful, but the future doesn't have to be.
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I think I'd like to travel on foot just so I have more time to look at it all.
[Maybe so.
But he'd gotten them all killed. They had been so willing to die for him, even though he'd never asked for that kind of loyalty. Even though he didn't think he deserved it.
"Don't let our deaths have been in vain" Dorochet had said.]
Nothing we can do would change the past. We can only move forward.
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[And she can see it, too, Greed wandering the regions and seeing all there was to be seen. Meeting people, partaking of everything that was offered. She thinks it would be a good life for him.]
As best we can. But we don't have to do it alone. You'll write to me, won't you, on your travels?
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Maybe you should come with me.
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[Lust laughs, almost surprising herself. It's honest and real and she's relatively certain this is what it is to be happy.]
I can't imagine you ever really on your own. Not for more than a day, at most. You're like a magnet for people.
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[Is this what it means to be human? To be able to make these grand, ridiculous plans? A part of him wants to do it. To really, truly see the world for everything it is. He'd been to fixated on... on whatever it was, to ever truly embrace wanderlust before now.]
Think about it. It would be nice to have a familiar face along the way.
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[She rests her chin on her hand, smiling.]
Shoes can be bought.
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[And out of trouble.]
Cost shouldn't be much of an issue. Unless we want to take the train to Kanto, of course. But it might be easier to head back to New Bark Town. By then, Cedric should be fully evolved.
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[But it does leave her bored. She can't bring herself to care very much about battling and badges and gathering as many Pokemon as she could. It's just something to do sometimes.
Her own words come back to her. There's a great deal of world to see. She's been clinging to Envy because he's familiar and she knows he'll look after her, but she is perfectly capable of looking after herself.]
But I do have money saved up. I'll leave the travel plans to you, I've always hated puzzling that sort of thing out.
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[Battling passes the time, and Greed does enjoy gathering up Pokemon. He certainly has enough now that it feels strangely meaningful, even if he does have misgivings about leaving some of them inside a computer.]
My plans tend to be pretty loose. I hope you don't mind.
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[It's a bit exciting, really. She laughs.]
I think the most 'plans' I've made since coming here don't extend beyond the next day. Maybe it's silly, but I take some pleasure in having no rigid boundaries to confine my time.
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[They should start soon. They have plenty of time now, but he's not entirely sure he wants to go backpacking around Kanto in winter.
Still, even if it came to that, it wouldn't be so bad. Before the strange day last month, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen snow.]
I prefer living without boundaries.
[...which explains a whole lot.]
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[It doesn't matter where they go. It will be something new, and offer them new opportunities. She thought that was a worthy goal to pursue. General, and attainable.
It's almost surreal. She laughs again, and there's a teasing note in her voice when she speaks again.]
And to think...on my way over, I couldn't even decide if this was a date or not. Here we are planning on running away together.
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[Eventually, he'll find his way back to Goldenrod, because Goldenrod is his home. But he has to see the rest of the world. Who knows how long he'll be here.
It could be years like Envy. Or he could be gone tomorrow, never remembering he'd been here at all.
He'll live like he always has. Completely in the moment.]
We'll head as far as we can that way. And then we'll turn around, to New Bark. The ferry to Kanto docks there, I remember being told about it when I first arrived.
[His expression brightens.]
Running away together is certainly a step up from a date, isn't it?
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[Simple as that. They don't need any more detailed a plan than that. She laughs again, throwing her head back.]
One or two. Why do anything halfway, hmm? As long as you don't expect singular devotion. [She can't imagine he does, even if there is anything beyond playful flirting. She almost hopes there is. If for no other reason than Greed has a way of making her feel good about herself.]
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[He smirks, resting his head in his hands.]
Nah. Can't see myself ever expecting something like that. I like being open to opportunities, personally.
But I am interested in you right now.
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[As he said, she'd prefer to be open to opportunities. She had a chance to take them, for once.]
But I have to admit the interest is mutual. I've thought about you, in that capacity. As a lover, I mean.
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[Thankfully, Greed is someone who would both completely understand the need to take any opportunity given and be more likely to have misgivings if someone didn't see this the way he does.]
I'd say I'm a pretty good lover.
[Arrogant as always.]
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[Lust hasn't engaged in any conventional relationships herself, but she's observed them from afar. It all seemed so messy and complicated. Especially when it came to commitments and monogamy and clinging to the idea that wanting to have more than one lover was some reflection on personal feelings rather than physical desire.]
Well of course you'd say that. I'm not sure how to judge, speculatively, but you're attractive and good to me and I enjoy our flirtations.
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[It's perfectly possible to love more than one person at once, isn't it? Besides, he's always enjoyed being able to sleep around. So long as everyone he's sleeping with is comfortable with it, he doesn't care.
And he wouldn't sleep with someone who was uncomfortable with his lifestyle to begin with.]
It doesn't have to go anywhere, but I have no reason to rescind the offer. Door's open at any moment.
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[But perhaps she has a unique perspective, having only ever had casual relationships that bore no resemblance to how people took up with one another.]
It's something that's been on my mind. Not just you, but taking a lover in general. One that I wanted, for my own enjoyment. I've heard a number of rumors to the effect that it is very enjoyable, when done properly. If nothing else, I should wash out the lingering taste of old alchemist.
[Because when she thinks of intimacy, that's still what she thinks of. That's in the past now and it's time to paint over those memories with more pleasant ones. In all aspects of life.]
If we spend enough time together, I imagine something will happen anyway.
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[Then again, he's never exactly tried anything like that. He'd been so caught up in being in love with someone who wouldn't have ever returned his feelings that it was something of a mystery to him.]
I have always been of the opinion that pleasure is something that should be mutual. What's pleasurable differs between people, but it's all good to me. It just depends on what an individual person wants. That's all.
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[It's high time she did, after all. Not only in sexual matters but in the casual but charged interactions between men and women.]
That's the ideal. I've never done it for my own pleasure. Not to say I find it distasteful or have shameful memories of the act, but it was work. The end I was seeking had nothing to do with my own pleasure, and the sort of men that are pompous and easily manipulated aren't the sort that give a damn about their private whore's enjoyment.
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[Even if he did end up with someone here and it was a vaguely monogamous thing, he doesn't think he could ever settle down completely. Greed already devoted himself to people as it was. Limiting himself to one person was just wrong.]
There are a number of stupid men out there. She never wanted any of us to have fun. More of us would have started to catch on to the ruse if she had. Companionship has always meant more to me than obtaining wealth and status.
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