There are quite some few of us; I shouldn't think it too strange not to see all of us often, even contained as we are.
[Claude does get a nod of acknowledgement, though, as Emet-Selch steps further into the room; he doesn't exactly stay close, but neither is he putting as much distance between them as he can, just finding a convenient place to stand to see both Claude and the stars.]
(Nothing personal and he turns his attention back to the space in front of him,)
Have you ever seen anything like this before? I mean, we've all seen the sky by now but I've never seen it from this position before. I've always been below it.
I suppose an imperial ruler would enjoy the view from up high. Why is that exactly? Is it because the sky seems within reach or because you like looking down?
(He keeps his tone light and casual as he sort of just picks at him, trying to get a read on the type of person he is exactly. It's hard to tell with some people, especially those he hasn't had much of an chance to speak with.)
[he doesn't mind the joke, at least, though he's quiet for a few moments after those questions-- looking out upon the planet, contemplating his words.]
But-- neither, I believe.
[with a gesture towards it:]
From such a distance, can you distinguish the boundaries of individual nations? The signs of their conflict? A single individual life?
One cannot help but see the whole, and nothing but the whole.
(It's Claude's turn to reflect, turning over his words and looking out at the world outside. He watches carefully, as if trying to find the exact things he'd mentioned. Borders? Strife? People? There's nothing to be seen and he contemplates how that makes him feel,)
(If he tilts his head a bit and adjusts his perspective a little,)
Everything looks the same from up here and yeah, it looks really peaceful but I can't see any of the things that make it special. I can't see the people or where they're from.
I think I'd rather be down there. (A beat,) Well, not there exactly. It looks pretty cold and I don't do to well with that.
A believer in life defining the world it occupies, are you?
[a slight tilt of his head, there, as he observes claude.]
On the whole, though, they do tend to be very much like one another. The troubles which plague one world do also plague its neighbors, and the differences in their populations do little to prevent the same cycles from occurring.
(He can feel himself being watched. He's always been pretty sensitive to it but over the years, he'd learned to pay it no mind and keep his head up and his gaze forward. There's a lack of reaction, an attempt at being as unreadable as possible that leaves some things to be interpreted,)
Things are different and the same. You can have two nations with different traditions, religions, classes, the whole nine yards. They focus so much on what makes them different, they go forever sharing the same border but never really touching. Like a cycle that keeps going and going... until the first person breaks it.
(He turns his head, looking up at him,)
And before you get the wrong idea, I'm not saying that person is me, either.
Regardless of who they may be-- you are not wrong. They are, on occasion, broken by such individuals.
[he falls silent momentarily, after that, and lets the quiet stretch for a second or two as he turns his gaze back out to space.]
And then, with time, it is forgotten. Enough distance is put between that act that the new generations no longer remember having overcome their differences; they find new ones, sometimes with others, sometimes reestablishing the same divide. Thus it all begins anew.
Well, you would not be wrong. One generation of mortals is often much the same as another-- the scenery changes, the faces change, the world itself changes, but their nature does not.
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[Claude does get a nod of acknowledgement, though, as Emet-Selch steps further into the room; he doesn't exactly stay close, but neither is he putting as much distance between them as he can, just finding a convenient place to stand to see both Claude and the stars.]
It is nothing personal, at the least.
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(Nothing personal and he turns his attention back to the space in front of him,)
Have you ever seen anything like this before? I mean, we've all seen the sky by now but I've never seen it from this position before. I've always been below it.
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[it's more peaceful this way, at a distance.]
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(He laughs at his own little joke.)
I suppose an imperial ruler would enjoy the view from up high. Why is that exactly? Is it because the sky seems within reach or because you like looking down?
(He keeps his tone light and casual as he sort of just picks at him, trying to get a read on the type of person he is exactly. It's hard to tell with some people, especially those he hasn't had much of an chance to speak with.)
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[he doesn't mind the joke, at least, though he's quiet for a few moments after those questions-- looking out upon the planet, contemplating his words.]
But-- neither, I believe.
[with a gesture towards it:]
From such a distance, can you distinguish the boundaries of individual nations? The signs of their conflict? A single individual life?
One cannot help but see the whole, and nothing but the whole.
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Doesn't it seem out of reach from here?
(A world like that?)
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[without being directly exposed to the world and its flaws, it's easier to picture such things.]
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(If he tilts his head a bit and adjusts his perspective a little,)
Everything looks the same from up here and yeah, it looks really peaceful but I can't see any of the things that make it special. I can't see the people or where they're from.
I think I'd rather be down there. (A beat,) Well, not there exactly. It looks pretty cold and I don't do to well with that.
no subject
[a slight tilt of his head, there, as he observes claude.]
On the whole, though, they do tend to be very much like one another. The troubles which plague one world do also plague its neighbors, and the differences in their populations do little to prevent the same cycles from occurring.
no subject
Things are different and the same. You can have two nations with different traditions, religions, classes, the whole nine yards. They focus so much on what makes them different, they go forever sharing the same border but never really touching. Like a cycle that keeps going and going... until the first person breaks it.
(He turns his head, looking up at him,)
And before you get the wrong idea, I'm not saying that person is me, either.
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[he falls silent momentarily, after that, and lets the quiet stretch for a second or two as he turns his gaze back out to space.]
And then, with time, it is forgotten. Enough distance is put between that act that the new generations no longer remember having overcome their differences; they find new ones, sometimes with others, sometimes reestablishing the same divide. Thus it all begins anew.
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(Age: Eternal.)
I'd ask what its like but it sounds like it gets old pretty fast.
(Hah.... see what he did there.)
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