Yeah... If you want people to listen, sometimes you have to make them. Even if they believe it, the truth isn't doing them much good if they don't care.
[ He says it in the same tone that a parent might use when describing a child's bad habit - casual and flippant, and just a little bit irritated by the entire thing - and shakes his head as he finishes. Then he lifts his cup off the table, stares down at it, then sets it back on the table without drinking from it. ]
The most important things in life rarely are. I do all I can to make those around me understand the gravity of the situation and accept the truth as it is.
[ That, in itself, isn't a whole lie, not the entire truth. He did his best to make even his stubborn boss understand her vile she actions weren't-
Her.
Though it didn't matter in the end. His begrudging respect towards her exists despite his best efforts to shake it. ]
For all its tedium, there are aspects and moments that are challenging and fulfilling. Sometimes, I think it was what I was born to do.
[ Varian can almost relate. It could be said that alchemy, or rather science, is what he was born to do. In infancy he had already far surpassed what adults would present, and yet, he has no awareness of that fact.
He cares little of that, having never thought on it, and instead cants his head curiously. Rather than press on any other question, Varian asks, ]
... How do you know? I mean, the truth is one thing, [ Which is equally arbitrary and impossible to pin down, but not quite what he's asking about here, ] But how do you know what is justice?
[ That question seems more difficult.
Varian was right. He was a rare example of justice, and he knows that to be true.
[ But it's one Akechi can say with absolute certainty. There's no hesitation in his tone, no false waver in his speech. ]
A person's justice is their own. Of course, there are standards in every society a person must adhere too, but even then -
[ A boy accused of an assault he never did. A conviction done in the shadows of society. ]
Sometimes you must go against that. Whether someone is propelled forward by law, order, revenge, love, mercy, pity - it shapes how they see the world and how justice is enacted. Right or wrong, it's what you believe in most and stand by no matter the consequences. No matter how many wish to shackle you to stop you.
Varian can breathe a little easier, just slightly, because it's near his parameters. Akechi offers him something new, and he traces idle circles on the surface of the table with his fingertips, ones that mean nothing for being philosophical, but it satisfies him.
No, he's thinking critically on this, as a person who would live and die by his own justice. He does not speak of his own justice, but nor would he apologize for it. He feels no guilt, but for his dseire for an honest opinion takes a moment before carefully asking, ]
... I see. I think you're right, [ And he does nod, certain of that much, and Varian doesn't regret a single thing he did and never will, but he does wonder, ] If harming a single person, [ And he grins sheepishly, waving a hand, ] Not killing them, just, incapacitating them, could keep an entire world from dying... Would that be just?
[ Is he looking for moral desserts in his actions...? No, because Varian does believe that he'd rather see the entire kingdom rot. He's just also honest enough that however much it had turned against him and villainzed him, he... just can't wish death on anything.
And a touch more carefully, ]
Would you ever do something that was wrong by law, if it was right and just? If... [ A longer pause as he searches for this though, because he really doesn't give a bit about the nearby kingdom, but he also does, and it's complicated, but in the end, ] ... It would save everyone?
[ This is an interesting turn to the conversation and may be what Varian was angling to ask from the get go.
And Akechi does listen. There's an intensity in his gaze that didn't exist a moment ago, every stumble and pause noted.
These are dangerous questions. Exploitable questions. There's a value in wondering, risk in considering. The question is too specific to be from a wandering thought.
Save everyone - what a delusional goal.
But they're not questions Akechi hasn't thought about before to some degree. He considered less when a gun was put in his hand. His fingers and body still entirely. A tone shifting to reflect the serious topic. ]
In this hypothetical scenario -
[ There's a facade to keep and a truth to hide. It doesn't matter what's just. ]
One has to wonder the value of a life, regardless of how you see them. How can you be certain an incapacitation will end whatever is ailing the world? Often, you can't and if you act to harm someone and it does nothing at all -
Can you live with that? Becoming a monster that harms for the sake of harming, no matter the intent you started with? Is it truly the world's salvation that guides you or a distorted sense of justice that warps you?
[ Akechi can't speak for it. Can't say for certain. ]
As for myself, it's difficult to say. I would ask myself the same question and consider the implications of harming a puppet for no reason while the true instigator remains. It's a difficult scenario to consider.
[ Varian isn't being quite honest here, but he doesn't mean to hide his thought process either, but not for any sense of shame. They're painful things, consisting of red blood and clots and black tar and so many other things, and nothing that he would casually dump on a near stranger.
Nothing he would, especially when it runs deeper, because more than anything he's trying to pieces his shattered view of the world back together. He therefore considers what's said here seriously, a sort of consideration that no scientific property could draw from him.
There's so much more he could ask. There's so much more he wants to ask, but it feels like so much and so overwhelming, and that is enough for him to chew on for now. It's difficult. It is, but he made his choice, and he doesn't regret it. He regrets failing. ]
It is.
[ He lets out a sigh. No, he isn't that sort to unload his problems onto others, but rather he more directly asks - ]
... What is "justice?" What do you think that justice is?
[ There is a bit of sternness to that question - nothing demanding, not notable at all save for it coming from such a mild mannered person. It's no different from how that intense look is not notable at all except for how flippant he tends to be even when serious, because it's something he doesn't understand. He doesn't, despite his genius, but he's aware of it, and that means it requires closer attention. ]
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no subject
[ He says it in the same tone that a parent might use when describing a child's bad habit - casual and flippant, and just a little bit irritated by the entire thing - and shakes his head as he finishes. Then he lifts his cup off the table, stares down at it, then sets it back on the table without drinking from it. ]
I'm sure it's not easy.
no subject
[ That, in itself, isn't a whole lie, not the entire truth. He did his best to make even his stubborn boss understand her vile she actions weren't-
Her.
Though it didn't matter in the end. His begrudging respect towards her exists despite his best efforts to shake it. ]
For all its tedium, there are aspects and moments that are challenging and fulfilling. Sometimes, I think it was what I was born to do.
no subject
He cares little of that, having never thought on it, and instead cants his head curiously. Rather than press on any other question, Varian asks, ]
... How do you know? I mean, the truth is one thing, [ Which is equally arbitrary and impossible to pin down, but not quite what he's asking about here, ] But how do you know what is justice?
[ That question seems more difficult.
Varian was right. He was a rare example of justice, and he knows that to be true.
But he understands it less than ever for that. ]
no subject
[ But it's one Akechi can say with absolute certainty. There's no hesitation in his tone, no false waver in his speech. ]
A person's justice is their own. Of course, there are standards in every society a person must adhere too, but even then -
[ A boy accused of an assault he never did. A conviction done in the shadows of society. ]
Sometimes you must go against that. Whether someone is propelled forward by law, order, revenge, love, mercy, pity - it shapes how they see the world and how justice is enacted. Right or wrong, it's what you believe in most and stand by no matter the consequences. No matter how many wish to shackle you to stop you.
no subject
He dislikes it, and he likes it.
Varian can breathe a little easier, just slightly, because it's near his parameters. Akechi offers him something new, and he traces idle circles on the surface of the table with his fingertips, ones that mean nothing for being philosophical, but it satisfies him.
No, he's thinking critically on this, as a person who would live and die by his own justice. He does not speak of his own justice, but nor would he apologize for it. He feels no guilt, but for his dseire for an honest opinion takes a moment before carefully asking, ]
... I see. I think you're right, [ And he does nod, certain of that much, and Varian doesn't regret a single thing he did and never will, but he does wonder, ] If harming a single person, [ And he grins sheepishly, waving a hand, ] Not killing them, just, incapacitating them, could keep an entire world from dying... Would that be just?
[ Is he looking for moral desserts in his actions...? No, because Varian does believe that he'd rather see the entire kingdom rot. He's just also honest enough that however much it had turned against him and villainzed him, he... just can't wish death on anything.
And a touch more carefully, ]
Would you ever do something that was wrong by law, if it was right and just? If... [ A longer pause as he searches for this though, because he really doesn't give a bit about the nearby kingdom, but he also does, and it's complicated, but in the end, ] ... It would save everyone?
no subject
And Akechi does listen. There's an intensity in his gaze that didn't exist a moment ago, every stumble and pause noted.
These are dangerous questions. Exploitable questions. There's a value in wondering, risk in considering. The question is too specific to be from a wandering thought.
Save everyone - what a delusional goal.
But they're not questions Akechi hasn't thought about before to some degree. He considered less when a gun was put in his hand. His fingers and body still entirely. A tone shifting to reflect the serious topic. ]
In this hypothetical scenario -
[ There's a facade to keep and a truth to hide. It doesn't matter what's just. ]
One has to wonder the value of a life, regardless of how you see them. How can you be certain an incapacitation will end whatever is ailing the world? Often, you can't and if you act to harm someone and it does nothing at all -
Can you live with that? Becoming a monster that harms for the sake of harming, no matter the intent you started with? Is it truly the world's salvation that guides you or a distorted sense of justice that warps you?
[ Akechi can't speak for it. Can't say for certain. ]
As for myself, it's difficult to say. I would ask myself the same question and consider the implications of harming a puppet for no reason while the true instigator remains. It's a difficult scenario to consider.
no subject
Nothing he would, especially when it runs deeper, because more than anything he's trying to pieces his shattered view of the world back together. He therefore considers what's said here seriously, a sort of consideration that no scientific property could draw from him.
There's so much more he could ask. There's so much more he wants to ask, but it feels like so much and so overwhelming, and that is enough for him to chew on for now. It's difficult. It is, but he made his choice, and he doesn't regret it. He regrets failing. ]
It is.
[ He lets out a sigh. No, he isn't that sort to unload his problems onto others, but rather he more directly asks - ]
... What is "justice?" What do you think that justice is?
[ There is a bit of sternness to that question - nothing demanding, not notable at all save for it coming from such a mild mannered person. It's no different from how that intense look is not notable at all except for how flippant he tends to be even when serious, because it's something he doesn't understand. He doesn't, despite his genius, but he's aware of it, and that means it requires closer attention. ]