2023-03-22: On Her Terms
- Log: 2023-03-22: On Her Terms
- Cast: Milly Ashford, Julia Ampere
- Where: A Britannian-Style Cafe
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-03-22
- Summary: Milly and Julia talk about why Julia would make such an elaborate act out of helping. They come to an agreement, but not the one either of them would have expected.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly... is kind of at a loose end. School is functionally over. She's passed. She's graduating. It's...
... led to some arguments. Milly has picked her next step, or at least, the rough shape of it, but marrying up is still the expectation. There's not a lot of carrot across from this stick, at this point, but... well, her next steps are about to get a lot more difficult.
Fortunately, a friendly acquaintance seems to have an interest in meeting up. Milly gets a break from her last-ditch effort at improving her short-term situation, in favor of a cup of tea and some biscuits at a small Britannian cafe.
... for the first time in ages, Milly isn't actually volunteering to buy the food for her conversation partner, either. She glances out the window occasionally, waiting.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Julia Ampere isn't one to forget a promise. Conveniently delay, yes, but never forget. Milly suggested they talk later, and Julia had every intention of doing so. It is now... quite a bit later, but eventually she does send a message across and arrange a time and place to meet up.
Fortunately, Milly won't be kept waiting long. Julia is impossible to miss by design, and soon enough she makes her way through the door, spots Milly, and adjusts her course to sit in the chair across from her.
"Milly, dear, it's great to see you again." Julia greets with her usual energy - which fades just slightly after, as she recalls events that had transpired since. She could, of course, glide right on past as if it never happened... but it feels like something she should at least address. "...I am sorry for what happened to you. It sounded a terrible tragedy - how goes your recovery...?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Julia," Milly starts, simply. "I'm glad to see you too." She wonders for a moment how much detail she ought to give -- but given she's going to be putting a little pressure on Julia a moment later, she decides it's not exactly horrible information to provide. Besides, she ultimately considers Julia... at least north of 'friendly acquaintance.' 'Friend' might be a little much yet, but just the same...
"I'm just about recovered for daily life now," Milly answers, "but it was pretty touch and go for a while. I got lead poisoning and had to have weekly nanotherapy right up until exams." She rubs at her forehead a little, saying, "I'm still sorting out everything else."
After taking a biscuit -- and eating it!!! -- Milly looks Julia straight-on in the eye. "I'd rather talk about what you got up to in there, though. I'm not going to ask why -- that part's obvious. I'm going to take it another step backward instead." Her expression is uncharacteristically serious as she asks, directly:
"What do you get out of adding this many steps to solving other people's problems? Doing it the normal way not exciting enough?"
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Julia nods as Milly returns her greeting, then listens as Milly explains. That's... about what she expected, from what happened to her.
"My condolences." Julia replies, resting a hand over her heart for a moment. "May everything be sorted swiftly."
And then, Milly looks her straight in the eye. Julia returns her gaze unflinchingly. There's just the slightest hint of a smile when she mentions that the 'why' is obvious. And then, the question.
"Naturally. This world exists for my entertainment, after all. If it doesn't excite me, then I'll have nothing to do with it!" Julia replies simply with a shrug and a wide smile. ...But, of course, she's not at all convinced that Milly will accept that answer as truth. She leans back in her chair a little, steepling her fingers. "Had I done it the other way, well... You're an intelligent one. Tell me - what do you think would've happened were I to forego my little game and approached you all directly, magnanimously offering a solution to your problems out of nothing but the goodness of my heart?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Thank you," Milly says -- and she does indeed feel a little warmer toward Julia, for that. The answers she gets, though... actually give her a little pause. She's had to work through the same kind of logic before -- indeed, most of what she does is her laundering actual care that she thinks won't be accepted through something else.
... it's a little messy to her, to see what lies at the end of that road. "No, I suppose they wouldn't have accepted it. There's no such thing as a free lunch, especially when an international science criminal is involved," Milly reflects. She takes a long drink of tea, trying to work her way through this.
"I guess the question, then, is why do both? It can't just be boredom. Most people would solve that with -- I don't know. Burning PT? Ambition? High-stakes chess gambling." An answer starts to nag at the corner of Milly's thought processes, but... maybe that's her projecting her own feelings of late outward.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
"As you say. And I would have been rather heartbroken, let me tell you." Julia replies, swooning back dramatically for effect. She leans forward again, hands folded in front of her once more as Milly asks a question that... actually gives her pause for a moment. 'Why', hm...? ...She can't say that anyone's ever asked - and it isn't easy for her to formulate an answer herself, either.
"I... simply chose the career path most suited to my talents." Julia explains with a shrug and a bit of hesitation. "I have never quite been one to allow myself to be beholden to the rules of another. Certainly, I would have been able to act more freely in some ways were I to choose a more... aboveboard profession. However... I daresay I would not have felt very fulfilled."
She steeples her fingers again.
"In this way, I am able to contribute however I see fit, when the mood strikes me - and, of course, I can indulge myself in whatever manner of scheme I please." She concludes. Is that really it...?
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
... this is starting to sound very familiar, even though the circumstances are much different. Milly had already started to intuit that -- but the more she thinks about it, the harder it is to grapple with. (Come to think, there are parts of her conversations with a different international woman of mystery that also kind of feel this way...)
"So that's really it? Polite society didn't seem fulfilling to you, so this was the only option..." Milly has to take a little time to chew on that. She doesn't even think to fill the space with food and drink; she just sits there, looking pensive, as her tea gets colder.
"... I'm trying, but I can't find a way this actually adds up to something wrong. To be honest, you're better at keeping things contained to evacuation zones than the Britannian military is." She looks off to one side, then down... then finally at Julia. "What's the other half of the equation? It feels like you've got something you're running away from instead of just toward."
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
"Truly." Julia replies with a shrug. She watches her curiously as she takes time to process everything she said. The comment at the Britannian military... there's a slight wry smile at that. It's not question why that was the thought that came to mind.
"I suppose I would be, at that." Julia says. "I, at least, have to consider my reputation."
She notes the directions Milly's eyes travel before they eventually return to her.
What's she running away from...? Julia... looks away uncertainly for a moment. She very rarely allows herself to be fully, properly, on the back foot, but for a moment, seems unsure.
"Ah... It's... a little embarrassing to admit, I suppose." Julia starts hesitantly. She rests a hand on the table, fingers drumming gently against it. "I suppose I... simply wish to leave an impact."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly's eyes widen a little at that sudden honesty from Julia; it doesn't feel complete, but at the same time... Milly takes a little time to think about that, a little time to wonder about the urge to 'make an impact.' "I can't fault you for that. To tell you the truth, the idea of marrying some D-list noble with no prospects of his own so a future kid could rehabilitate the Ashford name and just... going into a box somewhere, doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me. Even if it's only in a small way, I do want to be part of a bigger story."
Her cheeks puff out a little -- an uncharacteristically childish look, for her. (Maybe she wants one last crack at it.) "I expected I'd be chastising you, but here I am thinking maybe you've got the better deal going on."
... her lips curl up a bit. "You know, if you had someone else coordinating the world around you so you don't have to do anything you find upsetting, you'd probably be able to present everyone else with more exciting, revealing prompts," she muses. "Of course, having an associate would mean splitting things, but the jump from one to two is usually the biggest force multiplier around."
It doesn't sound like she's kidding.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
Julia makes a face at Milly's response - and, a slight smirk when her cheeks puff out childlishly and she comments that she might has the better deal.
"That sounds positively dreadful. No, I do not at all envy your position." She replies with a sympathetic shake of her head. "And I do not blame you at all for wishing to be a part of something more. I meant it, you know, when I said you were intelligent - such a fate would be a sore use of your abilities."
She pauses, though... when Milly continues, with what seems like an offer. That seems to take her by surprise.
"Ah... you're serious?" Julia replies. "...I must admit, I hadn't considered taking on an associate before. My darling Electrocrawlers handle all the extra work for me, you see... but, the idea does hold some appeal."
She considers for a moment.
"...You understand, of course, what sort of undertaking this is. You will be making a lot of enemies... and, a lot of allies you would, perhaps, rather have nothing to do with." Julia says and considers that for a moment. "...Though, perhaps that is something you are already well familiar with."
She smiles.
"...I suggest you think on it a bit longer. As I understand it... you are graduating soon, yes? If you find yourself at loose ends after and are still interested, you know how to contact me." She concludes.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
On some level, Milly is aware she's being a little bit flattered -- but it actually doesn't feel terribly bad to be flattered, compared to the conversations she tends to have with most of the adults in her life on a regular basis. (Even if you have a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, being a supersenior does carry some connotations, too.)
"Drones can't handle everything," Milly points out. "There's some things that come up that just need a human touch, and you can't do all of them from inside a cockpit." There's a little more confidence there than there was a moment ago, too -- this isn't just someone taking the first offramp available from their crushingly tedious situation, at least.
The 'think on it' wins Julia a few more points, too; Milly is pleasantly surprised to see Julia isn't totally eager to snatch up a bright young woman. "I'll keep it in mind, then," Milly says, with a nod. "It was nice to sit down with you, but if this is the trajectory we're on, we're probably going to want to keep this one on the brief side." She doesn't immediately get up to leave, but she does finish her tea and start gathering her things.
"I can't say this went the way I expected, but I'm not displeased," she says, as she slides her phone back into her bag.
<Pose Tracker> Julia Ampere has posed.
"That is true. They're precious little dears, but, as you say... There's no replacement for the human element." Julia agrees with a nod. She can do a lot more from a cockpit than most can - but in the end, even she sometimes has to leave it. As she said... going from one to two is quite the force multiplier.
...Though this does, she realises, necessitate cleaning up headquarters on the off-chance that she does end up going along with it - something she doesn't relish. Judging an untidy workplace is also something only a person is capable of.
And indeed, Milly says, at least, that she'll keep it in mind. Julia nods back.
"Yes, that may be for the best. Still, it was nice." She agrees, and then chuckles. She stands up, resting one hand on the back of her chair. "I cannot say I expected this either - but I do appreciate such a fascinating divergence from the expected."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Well, the new school year starts in a few weeks," Milly enthuses. "We'll see if you hear back from me!" There's definitely enthusiasm there that wasn't there at the start of their conversation, too...
Collecting herself, Milly heads out. She's still a little surprised how that went -- and while she is concerned that she's flirting with doing something that'll blow up in her face...
... wouldn't it at least be nice to have something blow up in her face on her terms?