a cruel romance [night 8]

[worldchampofmartialarts]

[Death never has a meaning, but if we so choose to seek out patterns in a desperate attempt to imbue meaning into the twisted charades and senseless loss of life, we might come to the natural conclusion that love has no place here. That no matter how close a relationship may become, we can never know anyone else as intimately as we know ourselves.

Ultimately, we are all entirely alone, unable to truly understand anything beyond our deeply limited perspectives.

It's pointless even pretending any of us, alive or dead, are people deserving or capable of love.

Well, to hell with that.

We can always put in the effort.

Even when the circumstances get worse, we can always be better.

So let's give it a try.]

Comments

[neverstudied]

[His voice takes on a far more chipper quality. It doesn't sound forced, but it's clearly an attempt to lighten the mood- maybe even get her to laugh.]

Now, see, there's part of your problem- Bow of Darkness. That just doesn't sound right. This baby needs a new name, a new paint job, maybe we can take a sander or something to some of the little design details, add our own-

I dunno, I mean, I've never tried to design a bow. As long as it doesn't screw up the weight and make you shoot at a wrong angle it should be fine if we bedazzle the shit out of it, right?

[rangerslayer]

It should be fine. As long as it doesn't get too wild. I never went fancy, when I made my own. We kind of had to take what we could get. Rebels in a war, all that.

[ It's a smile--a small one, but it's something. ]

...I never named it that, you know. That guy... He's a total asshole.

[neverstudied]

Yeah- I kinda guessed. Both that he named it and the fact that he's an asshole.

But now it's your bow, not his. And we're gonna make it beautiful, damnit.

[If Kim doesn't stop him this bow is gonna look like a hot mess- he was only partially kidding about bedazzling it. But maybe that's what it needs to be.

But probably not. Here's hoping she has some eye for design.]

[rangerslayer]

It is, isn't it?

[ Now, this may be strange. But, Kim walks forward and...actually hugs Venkman. ]

Thank you.

[neverstudied]

[There's a moment where Venkman almost tenses up, purely from shock. Not just because he's not expecting Kim to be a hugger, either. He's... Ok, obviously he's been hugged before, plenty of times, but the list of living beings who willingly hug him on a regular basis is an incredibly shallow pool- three of them are romantic partners, one is a ghost made of slime...

The point is, he's definitely not expecting it, but he's not at all going to reject it. Venkman tentatively puts his arms around her, relaxing after a moment or two.]

[rangerslayer]

[ It doesn't last very long. Kimberly's...well, she hasn't been a hugger, not for a long time. However, Tanya and Ari...and the rest of the Rangers under her care, they've been chipping away at those walls she's put up.

And honestly, sometimes it's very, very tiring to keep them like that.

So, she'll pull away, after a few long moments. ]

...This means a lot to me.