2015 Valentine's Shindiggery

[lucetimods]

Who: All participants!
What: Valentine's Day Event in full swing!
When: Any time between February 28th and March 6th!
Where: All over Luceti :|b
Summary: See the mod-post for details!
Rating: Standard Log Rating please and thanks!

One last love event for the road! Make it count...!

Comments

[foundafamily]

How many people help you out?

[i_am_not_cute]

A lot of people do! My manager lets me live with her, and the other Heroes look after me...

[That is probably not what Firo meant.]

[foundafamily]

[...That's all actually kind of cute. And it reminds him of his relationship with the Martillos, so he almost wavers in his jerkitude for a moment. He falls quiet, but then he's back at it.]

I was talkin' about the people you work so hard to help. What about them?

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin shakes her head, resolute.]

They don't need to help me. Heroes don't work with the expectation of being helped in return. That's why they're heroes. [She holds a hand to her chest.] I just want to see others be safe.

[Jeez, Pao-Lin, could you be any more of a do-gooder?]

[foundafamily]

Good for you.

[He shrugs. And it is good; sometimes he finds himself foolishly wishing more people were like that.]

But not everybody works that way.

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin falls into a silence, thinking. She's naive and young yet, but she's not completely ignorant about how the world works. That's why there are heroes (lowercase "h"!); if everyone were as as altruistic, then heroes wouldn't stand out. They'd just be normal people, helping each other out.]

What would it take for you to care more about helping strangers?

[It's a genuine question. She doesn't run into people like Firo too often, and if she encounters them she certainly doesn't get to have extended conversations with them.]

[foundafamily]

[That throws him off--the last thing he would have expected would be an honest attempt to work with him.

He kind of appreciates it.

...But when he tries to recover and hide his surprise, he's back to scoffing, though he's somewhat less sure in his manner now. ]

What, are you gonna try and "fix" me or somethin'? Wouldn't your time be better spent helpin' out all these poor, sufferin' idiots who can't tie their own shoelaces?

[i_am_not_cute]

[A slightly annoyed pout.]

Lots of people here can take care of themselves. There's not a lot for a Hero to do in Luceti when there's not a draft or whatever.

[Not that it stops her from continually trying to help out friends and strangers in the village. You're talking to the girl who dragged the devil out of a dream world, after all.]

[foundafamily]

[She does have a point there and it makes him grimace with the annoyance of having an argument parried.]

Good for you. But I'm sure you can find plenty a' other things to do with your time that aren't a lost cause.

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin folds her arms.]

You're the one who started talking to me first!

[Excuse her for trying to actually have a conversation with you and not dismissing you out of hand!]

[foundafamily]

All right, fine, but I'm not the one who started all this talk about heroes and stuff!

[Well, he did ask about her job...]

[i_am_not_cute]

But you asked me what my job was!

[Never mind that she was the one who brought it up in the first place.]

[foundafamily]

Yeah, well, maybe if I'd known you were a cop, I wouldn't have. What kinda police let a kid do their work, anyway?

[It seems strange to him that he never would've guessed that she was on the side of the law--usually he can smell those people a mile away.]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin tries not to think on that question too hard.]

It's not like I'm doing it by myself! [She's not a vigilante like that Lunatic lunatic! RUDE.] And anyway, what do you have against the police? They protect and help people!

[When will it occur to her that she might be talking to someone from the other side of the law...]

[foundafamily]

[The answer to that question could take days to articulate, or it could be summed up in a simple "because fuck them."

Firo sighs, as if this should be obvious. Why does he have to explain himself for disliking them? Disliking them is the normal thing!]

Because all the ones I know at home are either hypocritical assholes who live off their bribes or guys who scream about justice all day and either want to lock up or fry me and everybody in my Family.

[i_am_not_cute]

Well, not all of them are like that! Most of them aren't like that!

[Oh, dear, the two of them arguing are starting get some weird looks from other people passing by -- ]

[foundafamily]

[Firo finally notices the looks when one of the people. He glares right back at them, intent on continuing the argument. ]

Hmph. I bet they try to act all noble around you to keep you on their side. You should see 'em when they're really workin'.

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin, meanwhile, doesn't really register the passersby trying to eavesdrop. She's too invested in this conversation.]

What do you mean, when they're really working?

[foundafamily]

[He holds his hands up, shrugging.]

Harassin' the usual people, goin' around and gettin' their "fair share" of all the vice, maybe even playin' a few card games or havin' some drinks themselves. The stuff most of 'em are on the force for. That's what I mean.

[i_am_not_cute]

[Surely the police wouldn't be "harassin'" people if they didn't have a good reason! That's what Pao-Lin wants to say, but first she's confused by something.]

...what's "vice"?

[Pao-Lin you innocent child.]

[foundafamily]

Wha--?

[Woops. It's such a key part of his life that he expects everybody to know what it means.]

You know, like gamblin', illegal booze, all that stuff. The stuff that gets the preachers on Sunday all in a tizzy.

[And other stuff that Firo likes to pretend doesn't exist and wouldn't talk about to anyone, especially a little girl.]

[i_am_not_cute]

Huh?! They shouldn't be doing that while they're working! -- well, they shouldn't be doing that at all!

[She frowns.]

If I could I'd arrest them myself!

[Pao-Lin that probably would not work out well for you at all..........]

[foundafamily]

You think 'should' is gonna stop 'em?

[He won't argue with her on whether it's right or wrong at all--even he has to admit that it is illegal.]

You go arrest 'em and their buddies'll have 'em out in a second. There's no point in goin' against 'em.

[i_am_not_cute]

There has to be a way...

[She's no stranger to the idea of corrupt institutions (hello there, HeroTV), but they managed to throw out Maverick, so there's definitely hope in the world, she thinks. And even if there isn't...Pao-Lin would keep fighting anyway, because it's the right thing to do.]

[foundafamily]

There has to? Says who?

[He gives an exaggerated shrug.]

This is how people are, even the ones who try to say they're better.