[ Angelo is just out here, dissociating by the rose bushes. He's at least no longer explosively angry... the look he gives Hickey is unkind, but it doesn't seem that he's about to punch him again.
He even considers the cigarette for a moment, like he did the alcohol at the party, but this time too winds up shaking his head. ]
[ Angelo is silent for a moment. He said way too much back there and it's impossible to take back now. Everyone knows now, and he feels filthy for it. (He's felt filthy this whole time. The only thing washing him clean is dead and gone.)
The idea of saying any more on the matter is repulsive, but so is letting some... insinuations stand in the room. ]
I did not sell my body 'for the fun of it'.
[ The punch should have conveyed this plenty, but he hisses it out through grit teeth properly now. Then he exhales. ]
[ Though it's a customary politeness, the 'sir' finally makes Angelo drop some of the tension from his shoulders. He's not going to believe that this display of respect was genuine, but he's making positive note of the fact that it was given at all. He'd expected far worse. ]
I'm plenty fulfilled without the so-called "pleasures" of the flesh, thank you very much.
[ He sounds vaguely disgusted just saying the word 'pleasure'. ]
My work is worth more than any boastful lover could even pretend to be.
[ Huh. Shiv called him 'captain' during the trial but it seems like she was exaggerating his rank. Well, Angelo is glad to have that one cleared up, because with the loss of the Captain being an open wound, he hardly enjoys anyone else sharing his title. ]
Space, yes. It's...
[ He frowns for a moment, trying to recall the history of the Middle Ages (yes, they call it that). He barely knows anything about it, but colonists do tell stories about colonists sometimes... ]
Imagine if the people who settled America did so not out of hope, but because they were cast out. That's the situation for us spacenoids.
[ This is greatly underselling a much much more complex situation but. Moving on. ]
[ The analogy does its work to quickly catch him up to speed—mostly. Hickey's view of America is chaotic and wonderful, though he doesn't much care how it got to be that way. Maybe Angelo and his spacenoids ought to just appreciate what they've got.
But it seems unwise to say such a thing. He'd rather not get punched again. ]
I see. A difficult situation, to say the least. How are your people faring?
[ As for his cause... He turns his attention to the roses. ]
We were sent to complete a trade route in the polar sea. The Northwest Passage. A boon for England, no doubt, but not one worth dying for if you ask me.
[ For Angelo's part, that description immediately puts a lot of things into perspective and makes him decide that maybe Hickey is a bit more similar to his people than he would have previously thought possible. ]
Certainly not. But they don't care, do they? So long as it brings profit and comfort to those sitting lazily in their safe villas, they'd send the rest of us out to charter new territory and die miserable deaths without a second thought.
[ Angelo is an enemy of the British Empire just on principle. Die, England. ]
Most of those of us abandoned in space are not dying in colony construction anymore, but most is not all. There are still many who are dying in asteroid mines, left to abject poverty... and even those who live more comfortably only do so until their soldiers once again decide to vent their frustrations on us.
[ That's why it should all burn, for all Angelo cares. Purify it completely, with no regard for what is lost in the fire.
That said... Angelo is quiet for a moment and then shrugs. ]
If we had nothing in common, you would never have said any of those things to me in the first place.
[ It's something only someone who's used to nastiness can say. Angelo had been pleased to see everyone else be shocked and on his side, but the fact that they were just proves they come from a different world entirely. ]
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spotsalone) wrote2025-03-15 10:29 pm
no subject
He even considers the cigarette for a moment, like he did the alcohol at the party, but this time too winds up shaking his head. ]
... so which part are you apologizing for?
no subject
You weren't the culprit.
[ The words are a bit strangled, said with a lungful of smoke. After a moment, he exhales. ]
So it's true that you had other reasons for protecting your modesty.
no subject
The idea of saying any more on the matter is repulsive, but so is letting some... insinuations stand in the room. ]
I did not sell my body 'for the fun of it'.
[ The punch should have conveyed this plenty, but he hisses it out through grit teeth properly now. Then he exhales. ]
So I will not let anybody look at me ever again.
no subject
Understood, sir.
[ There's a beat. He sucks on his cigarette. ]
Anybody, though? Truly? That's an awfully limited life, I'd say.
no subject
I'm plenty fulfilled without the so-called "pleasures" of the flesh, thank you very much.
[ He sounds vaguely disgusted just saying the word 'pleasure'. ]
My work is worth more than any boastful lover could even pretend to be.
no subject
Well, I was thinking beyond pleasures of the flesh. It must make living in such close quarters difficult, for example.
[ His roommates have already seen more of him than they probably wanted. ]
What sort of work do you do?
no subject
I'm lieutenant in the Neo Zeon armed forced, the right hand of the Captain. We are fighting for the liberation of our people, cast out into space.
[ This is... a very flowery way of saying he's an armed militant terrorist, but. ]
no subject
[ He points up, frowning curiously. That's a new one. It's hardly more surprising than dragons or time loops, but still. ]
Where I'm from, we're having enough trouble navigating our own planet. I'm a lieutenant as well, though on a ship.
[ Look at that! They have something in common!
no they fuckin don't everyone stop believing that he's an officer]You've a better cause behind you though, from the sound of it.
no subject
Space, yes. It's...
[ He frowns for a moment, trying to recall the history of the Middle Ages (yes, they call it that). He barely knows anything about it, but colonists do tell stories about colonists sometimes... ]
Imagine if the people who settled America did so not out of hope, but because they were cast out. That's the situation for us spacenoids.
[ This is greatly underselling a much much more complex situation but. Moving on. ]
What was your cause?
no subject
But it seems unwise to say such a thing. He'd rather not get punched again. ]
I see. A difficult situation, to say the least. How are your people faring?
[ As for his cause... He turns his attention to the roses. ]
We were sent to complete a trade route in the polar sea. The Northwest Passage. A boon for England, no doubt, but not one worth dying for if you ask me.
no subject
Certainly not. But they don't care, do they? So long as it brings profit and comfort to those sitting lazily in their safe villas, they'd send the rest of us out to charter new territory and die miserable deaths without a second thought.
[ Angelo is an enemy of the British Empire just on principle. Die, England. ]
Most of those of us abandoned in space are not dying in colony construction anymore, but most is not all. There are still many who are dying in asteroid mines, left to abject poverty... and even those who live more comfortably only do so until their soldiers once again decide to vent their frustrations on us.
no subject
You know, I believe we have more in common than you may want to admit. We certainly share similar world views in that regard.
[ He flashes a smile. ]
Humanity never changes, does it?
no subject
[ That's why it should all burn, for all Angelo cares. Purify it completely, with no regard for what is lost in the fire.
That said... Angelo is quiet for a moment and then shrugs. ]
If we had nothing in common, you would never have said any of those things to me in the first place.
[ It's something only someone who's used to nastiness can say. Angelo had been pleased to see everyone else be shocked and on his side, but the fact that they were just proves they come from a different world entirely. ]