A little cafe talk (for Han).

[bornstrong]

 At 7 o'clock, Iphigenia is waiting in Sophia's Cafe, waiting for someone who may just turn out to be a new friend. She's glad to talk to him, even if he's maybe a bit reluctant.

She understands, and so she's sitting quietly at a table by the window, people-watching as she waits. She's got a small chamomile tea and a chocolate croissant in front of her, though she really hasn't eaten much of it yet.

Comments

[bornstrong]

"I think it does change you, yes, but it's still--you should still treat people with respect. That's what being a good ruler is about, really."

APparently, the princess has strong opinions on leadership. Who knew?

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He wouldn't know. Unless you make it analogous to being a Captain of a ship and then suddenly he might have a lot of ideas one what it might be like.

"Can the women be rules where you're from?"

[bornstrong]

"Yes--to a point," she replies. "My mother was queen, but I don't know if she really had true power the way my father did. I suspect she wanted to, though."

Whoops. Should have said "rulers" in my last tag.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

He nods. His galaxy is pretty progressive in terms of matriarchal and patriarchal societies. There are some places ruled by men. Some places ruled by women. Some places where it doesn't matter. It still slants slightly toward men in power, though.

The far bigger problem in his galaxy tends to be Xenophobia.

"Would you have wanted to be a queen ruler?"

it's okay! :)

[bornstrong]

"Me? I never really gave it much thought," she admits, looking down briefly. "I think my mother assumed I would want what she wanted, but I never was quite certain I did."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Seems like it would be a lot of responsibility." He says trying to picture what it would be like. "If you were trying to be a good monarch, I suppose."

[bornstrong]

"Of course it is! But if you're taught from a young age--taught properly, I mean--you should do all right," she replies. "I believe that people deserve a good ruler."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I don't think I ..." Then he just stops mid-thought and shakes his head. "I guess it's just good that we're not all born kings and queens."

[bornstrong]

"Very true. I agree with that sentiment," she says, nodding. "That would be an absolute mess."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Leave it to Han to take an idea that causes him some kind of pause and spin it off into a joke.

"Nobody would know who to listen to." he says with a forced smile. "It would be so confusing."

[bornstrong]

She smiles, amused.

"Exactly! We'd all be leaders with no one to lead."

Sorry Han, this princess is a bit in her own world when it comes to class systems. Old habits die hard.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It's alright. The reason that he made light of it was because he doesn't want to talk about what might have been upsetting him. Besides, now he has the added benefit of having learned about her from it.

"Suppose you ruled here." He says raising a thoughtful brow at her. "What would be your first act as queen?"

[bornstrong]

She pauses a moment--the question has caught her off-guard.

"I think I would let women do as they wish," she says carefully.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Hrm. That also tells him something about his royal friend, doesn't it?

"Do you feel like women aren't free to do as they like here? Or is it so important that you think it needs an official proclamation?"

[bornstrong]

Oh, Han, you have no idea.

"The latter, certainly--though I do think that women are freer here than back in my land," she explains.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Any man intimidated by a woman making her own way ain't much of a man." He murmurs thoughtfully.

Considering this guy admires sassy princesses is it any wonder that he feels that way ...

[bornstrong]

"I'm glad we agree," she says, grinning. "I never used to be a bold person, but I think it's not necessarily a bad trait to have."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"No?" He says with a tilt of his head. "What were you like then? I'm trying to picture it."

As if this spaceman could form anything in his mind that resembles Earth's Ancient Greece. Damn if he doesn't try, though.

[bornstrong]

"I was a very well-behaved child," Iphigenia says with a light laugh. "Very obedient, very willing to help out if needed. Quiet. Maybe a little shy."

She pauses.

"But that changed, later on."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Change can be good and bad." He comments.

It seems like the safe answer. One that invites her to tell him more if she should want to or shut the door on the subject completely. There are so many things he'd rather not talk about he'd never begrudge someone else for wanting to avoid a touchy subject.

[bornstrong]

"Yes," she says softly, looking down a moment. "But it's the one constant in life, isn't it?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"That is true." The slight nod of consent is there too. "Life's always moving even when you're not."

[bornstrong]

"Even here, the seasons change," she notes. "But it's better to be here than back home, I think."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Hrm.

She continues the subject on vague terms, which makes him wonder if she does want to get something off of her chest, but feels like she can't ... or if she's too polite to just change topics.

"I'd have to think that a princess would have to accept everything that comes her way with 'dignity' and maybe wouldn't feel like she had many people to confide in." He murmurs. "I want you to know that you can let your hair down around me."

[bornstrong]

"And I thank you for that, but I don't think you want to know what has happened to me," she says. She wants to protect Han from the truth--that she should be dead, that she was a sacrifice, that she went willingly.

All this she thinks about, and remembers, but doesn't say.

Not yet, at least.