[Private for now] Nassii/Tran/Jay

[Afanassii]

"I should say so, seeing as you didn't take your parents' money and run off with someone, forsaking your sister in the process." He paused to think about all she had said, especially her description of a mother. "Apron... children at my feet... This isn't like my mother." he paused, "Then again, all families are different.

"I believe all parents play favoritism with their children, whether they try to or not. I imagine that your step mother would be biologically and psychologically inclined to favor her own child... even if she would attempt to be fair." he sighed, "Still, that does not make up for the unbalanced discipline you two received. It is too bad she did not live to learn of her parental mistakes..."

He chuckled a moment, "Did she... this strict mother of yours... did she wear a heart-ed pink apron like you spoke of?"

[Transcendence]

Tran laughed ,"Yes, that was her. Your own mother wasn't like this?"

Tran cocked her eyebrow, this was strange indeed.

"Are not all mothers like that? I would like to be that way if I was a mother. It was the way I was raised. However, I think I would be nice and not too strict, but just the same...nice."

Tran sighed.

"How long would it take you to ask your grandmother about my visiting?"

[Afanassii]

"I don't know, it depends upon how quickly I would receive an audience with her," he responded on reaction.

"No, my mother always wears ironed gowns and keeps her hair up in an odd sort of bun," he indicated at the back of his neck. "Mother never does housework or cooking... so that's probably why there is no apron." He laughed, suddenly finding a thought funny, "I do not think she would even be caught dead in anything with hearts."

[Transcendence]

Tran sat back trying to imagine such a woman. How could there be a woman that wouldn't wear hearts and seemed to be so severe in nature so unloving.

"Does she love you?"

[Afanassii]

He scratched the back of his head and stood up. "Love is a very strange word to describe. It is like a great puzzle with many pieces coming together that make the greater definition of the word." he held his hands out before him as if looking through a wide picture frame.

"I can say my mother loves me." he dropped his hands. " because she cared for me as a child. I interacted less with her than with my father, but this is the usual for a boy in my family. She spent most her time teaching what she knew to my sisters." he chuckled again and looked down at his feet. "she would threaten to do terrible things to my brother and I when we would sneak in when she was not willing to see us. Of course, I think that it was always obvious to me that she never would hurt either of us."

His expression grew dark and he slowly sat back down, still staring off into space, focused on a distant corner of the room's floor. "My Grandmother, though... She threatens you... and you believe it."

[Transcendence]

Tran's eyes grew wide. How could a grandmother be so threatening? Nassii, must have had quite the opposite life.

Trans eyes filled with compassion, "I could not imagine a life without love Nassii, it must be a lonely life." She put her hands around Nassii's hands in a hope of making her feelings on the subject physical.

"It really is a wonderful thing. When you have it, Nassii...there is nothing like it in the world. Its one thing to experience the physical things in life, and quite another to feel the things that you cant see with your eyes."

Tran leaned in close, "I know that you can't miss something that you never had, but...does knowing love is out there and you cant have it, does that ever make you angry? Angry at your grandmother?"

[Afanassii]

Nassii gave a confused look. "If I'm angry with my grandmother for anything it is because she can be quite arrogant at times. We have our own reasons for the restriction of love, I'm lucky enough to be aware and understand it more than most."

"Believe it or not, Miss Transcendence, my family - aside from my grandmother - is actually quite lenient. My brother and I enjoy more freedoms that most men of our age do. And my grandmother's decisions are often swayed by the pressures of the rest of my progressive family. I have to say that I have things pretty good." he smiled.

"I think I understand romantic love; I've read about it many times. I can feel attachment to my friends and my family and I know that it would cause me great sadness to have any of them taken from me. Still, I do entertain the thought of having a romance of my own some day." He stood again and reached for her hand. "I'm sure you've read stories much alike the ones I have - daring knights, damsels in distress, lovers dying for their beloved.... All these things seem quite fantastic to me, especially the idea of needing someone..."

He paused and a dreamy sort of look came across his face, "If read that love can make your heart stop and it can make you dizzy. It can cause the world around you to feel like everything is slow-motion. You can feel like you could never take a breath without having that dear person near to you..." He sighed, "It sounds fantastic... in any other situation these things would be deemed negative, but when they come with love they are part of the package and every minute is sacred and enjoyable." He seemed like he was reciting all his knowledge on the subject at this point.

"Perhaps it is only my vice. I am quite the curious person, I know. This is the great mystery of life at this time, but if I want to be able to experience it and have that treasure for my own... I have to follow my family's wishes."

[Transcendence]

"I don't think it is quite as perfect as with knights and princesses, but it is wonderful just the same. I hope whom ever you fall in love with deserves you and loves you just as much as you love them. I hope you dont ever get hurt in love."


Tran closed her eyes, "Its not a good feeling either. I wouldn't want that for you, for anyone."

Tran raised her eyebrows, "How do you go about finding a wife? Do you get to choice or do you have arranged marriages?"

She furrowed her brows.

[Afanassii]

"It depends... There are all sorts of customs. My family generally allow us to do as we please, well.. just as soon as the females are married, that is." he sighed. "That is the only thing I think I would change... " He put his arms behind his back, "I would make it age-based, rather. Because... I have younger sisters." He emphasized, winking at Tran. "Therefore the marriable age varies greatly."

[Transcendence]

"I see..."

Tran's mind wandered for a moment.
"How do you age then? Do you age slowly, Nassii? I mean, when I am old will you still be young? Would you still wish to be my friend then? When I am an old lady I mean."

A sad look crossed her face. She didnt want to lose his friendship.

[Afanassii]

He laughed like what she said was silly, "Every race back home seems to age about the same, though elves are said to be longer-lived. I do not know exactly how you age here, but I doubt it is that much of a difference." He smiled, then he realized her emotions on the subject and he grew concerned. "Why do you ask?"

[Transcendence]

"I just dont want to lose your friendship is all....What if...you...become too old to marry. What if you sisters took too long marrying? Then you might never feel love at all."


Tran's eyes grew wide at the thought.

((time for bed for me))

[Afanassii]

"Well, that's just silly- " he started to respond to her first statement but then cocked an eyebrow at the second. "a-well Say, since when does my ability to marry have to do with my ability to keep friends?" he chuckled, nudging her in the shoulder.

[Transcendence]

Tran snorted, "Well, nothing. Except that you have to first be friends with someone before you can fall in love with them. Unless you talk about the sort of love that is really lust. As for being friends with me, it has nothing to do with it I suppose. "

Tran sat back straight. Nassii was implying something. She felt cornered some how, but she wasn't sure why she felt that way. So instead of looking at him Tran traced the pastern on the couch with her fingers.

She paused for a moment in thought, just tracing, before whispering, "I am sure we would never get married anyway. I promised after all, that I would keep my heart open to others."

Suddenly Tran bolted upright. Her eyes were wet, but no tears formed. She turned to Nassii, "Perhaps it is time that you talk to your grandmother."

She then went as though to head out of the room, but she hesitated. She felt sick to her stomach. She wasn't sure why she felt this way.

[Afanassii]

"Transcendence, my friend." he started, "I only ask you not wait for me because I know not what the future holds for me. It is possible that I could not be married for many more years. And, besides, you might come to find someone who is much better suited for you."

He took a few steps in her direction. "Unfortunately, I have had to have this conversation with many of my friends. Most of them have either grown tired of waiting, found someone of their own or have... just booted me from their lives entirely." He sighed. "In my own way, I am used to that kind of rejection. I can't say that I blame them... And so, I encourage you to not hold a candle for me." He finished his last few words in a barely audible whisper, "you wouldn't want to marry into my family, anyway."

"But!" he stood straight again, clicking his heels together. "If you would like me to leave now to speak to my grandmother once again, I shall do so." He gave a quick bow and then brought out his tiny metal box, beginning to push the buttons that entered the necessary coordinates.