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[thirtybits]

"This is Judah's voicemail, no need to leave your number, I'll reply as soon as I can."



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[thirtybits]

[Initially he tenses, but that soon drains away. He shifts closer.] ...That's more most absurd reprimand I've ever received.

[depicted]

[Dorian only barely pulls away.] Probably. Do you disapprove?

[thirtybits]

...Well, no, I can't say I do. [He grows red.] That's not the point.

[depicted]

I think it is. [Dorian is very good at getting what he wants, and he happens to think kissing Judas is the way to do it.]

[thirtybits]

[Judas relents, leaning closer. If what Dorian wants is to shut Judas up, he's done a good job. It's hard to argue when preoccupied with a kiss for more reasons than one.]

[depicted]

[Dorian wants a lot, but mostly, he wants Judas to stay. He wants Judas not to die, not to kill himself, not disappear or get dragged away to anywhere Dorian can't follow. He wants Judas's promise to be true. And every kiss and touch, every careless word that accepts Judas for the self-loathing mess he is, is just another way that Dorian is trying to help him keep his promise.]

[After a minute, Dorian draws back with a self-satisfied smile.] Reprimand well-delivered, I think. Eat your lunch. [He takes a sip from his own wine.]

[thirtybits]

[Keeping his head low, Judas nods. The irony of Dorian being the one to accept the way and things Judas thinks, to offer him that half-death, means he wants those things less when with Dorian. He would feel terribly, breaking that promise and leaving Dorian alone. And besides that, he wants to stay for his own purposes too.]

Underhanded, though.

[He picks at some ful, eating almost thoughtfully.]

[depicted]

[Dorian laughs in agreement, slipping back into his place with effortless familiarity. He knows his role well and plays it as second nature.] Probably. But how much fun I have.

[thirtybits]

I'm glad you do, at least. [Implying Judas doesn't enjoy it? It might seem that way. But of course it's obvious he does.]

[depicted]

One of us has to. And I'm better at having fun anyway. You can stay treasurer. [This is totally legit, yes.]

[thirtybits]

You can't tell me mathematics aren't enjoyable. Maybe not a conventional sort of 'fun', but...it's interesting, at the very least.

[depicted]

I love mathematics. [He sighs fondly.] There is a music in numbers.

[Flatly] And none in austerity.

[thirtybits]

Heh, well, I'm sure you know how I feel about taxation and all that.

[depicted]

I have an intuition. [He nudges Judas with a toe.] Feed the poor and rob the rich? You may as well be one of Robin Hood's.

[thirtybits]

I wouldn't rob anyone! But it makes sense that those who earn more and use more resources should pay higher taxes! The poor shouldn't be punished for being poor. That only perpetuates it.

i didn't want to write this tag

[depicted]

Wouldn't argue that part of it. But the economy is too global, and wealthy people like to keep their money. Too heavy taxation, and you send all the wealth out of your country.

Dorian Gray has Bad views

[thirtybits]

Well, of course, but it should be the same way for every country. For anything to work, it really has to be the same everywhere nowadays.

[depicted]

[Dorian grins.] That explains why self-interest has won the day.

[thirtybits]

Unfortunately, yes. But really it's always been that way, so, what else is new. [Judas shrugs. Not because he doesn't care, of course, but because it really isn't any news to him.]

[depicted]

It must've been easier, though. [Dorian draws his legs up so that he can rest them on Judas and lean back against the curve of a branch.] Not in my day, I mean, we were already well on our way then. But it must have been easier, a long time ago, to get one scrap of goodness—to make one place, if only that one, better.

[thirtybits]

[He takes a sip of his wine, along with another bite of food.] In theory, yes. But without the benefit of concepts like democracy, instituting change was just as much of a battle. Even if it was only within one place. Nothing really changed with Judea, after all.

[depicted]

Nothing ever does. [He may have drank a bit more wine in that sip than necessary. As he speaks, he only slumps more, as if all will to sustain himself fades with every word.] You get so tired of it—the same wars, the same struggles, the same arguments, over and over and over and over. This world is about as good as changing its ways as I am. Possibly worse. It's exhausting.

[thirtybits]

You're telling me. That's why I have to believe someday things won't be that way. Otherwise it's just too hopeless to live.

[depicted]

[a pause

followed by a slight smile]

You and I a little past that point.

[thirtybits]

[A grin tugs at his lips.] Well, you know what I mean.