tushanshu | First Apple; Video

Entry tags:

First Apple; Video

[The feed turns on, the signal coming from Robert Lutece's console - and there he is, standing in front of the camera...in what appear to be Rosalind's clothes. They're a bit too small, and his waist is cinched in...he's got a corset on. Deadpan, he addresses the camera.]

Good evening. I am Robert Lutece.

I would just like to say...I am a complete buffoon. If I weren't so busy secretly wearing my sister's clothes while she isn't home, I might actually take a moment to listen to her. She's had a hard time of things during all this, and I haven't been nearly sensitive enough. I'm a complete idiot. Here I am, telling her to be more social...just so I can lark about at home.

I am...ashamed.

[Something is...not quite right here.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Your fanny padding totally makes it look like you stand this way. What is that even for? Who does it serve?]

Your memory always was awful, wasn't it? Well, I always heard whispers whenever our aunts were over about how unladylike I was.

"Why does she want to study sciences instead of learn her scales? It's not proper behavior for a girl her age!"

[Because he's nice, he's going to baby-step towards this.]

[It's not the padding, it's the CORSET. And you like it.

Oh, he sees how this is going to be. So be it.]

THAT discussion, yes. I forget often how hard that was for you, I apologize for making you bring it up.

It's in the past.

Like how I didn't have my first kiss until I was twenty-four years old, because women thought I fancied men.

[We're not here to talk about that, we're here to talk about you being rude in a very unwarranted manner.

And he is so noticeably flustered at that last sentence. He starts pacing, hand over his mouth, trying not to slip any further into this sinkhole that Rosalind's started.]

Enough games, Rosalind. You wouldn't want me talking about your dirty secrets for everyone to see.

[Oh, he's not going to let this go. His temper is flaming by now, and it won't stop.

His expression is more than a little wicked.]

You wouldn't dare talk about it, Sister. You're not fooling anyone.

[Oh... Oh really. So this is how it's going to be. You want him to be a sadist right now. Fine, Rosa, sadist you get.]

You don't think so?

[He directs his attention from her to the network.]

I'm Rosalind Lutece. I'm a proud, accomplished physicist that has, in short, made the impossible possible. My work should be impressive but I was belittled by those my work was for. It stung, but I stayed strong through that.

To this day, the only thing that hurts my pride is knowing that my mother was disappointed in me for my pursuits. Disappointed in me for not being a lady, for not tatting and gabbing my life away until I found a nice, financially stable husband. She would be especially disappointed in me now to know that I am sterile and thus cannot have children thanks to my scientific experiments and equipment. My greatest embarrassment is that my mother has never felt pride in my achievements.

Edited 2013-09-30 06:45 (UTC)

[She both knew and didn't know that Robert would so thoroughly go for the throat - the words are like a sharp punch to the gut. He stands and watches as "Rosalind" speaks, fists clenched at his sides...and when the speech is done, he stomps forward, heels clicking against the floor. There's a barely-concealed tremble in his voice.]

Rosalind, you shouldn't speak about yourself that way.

After all, I have my own share of embarrassments. Your mother might not have believed in you, but at least someone believed enough in you to fund your research despite your sex. No one believed in my work enough to fund me - I had to build my machine bit by bit, sad and all alone.

Alone because all the women I could actually interact with were either vapid, shallow women strictly interested in my looks, or conniving little harlots sniffing around who turned tail the moment they realized that I didn't have any money.

All that beside, you are not the only one who is sterile. I could never have a child, either. I could never start a family of my own.

[He, being her, knew that her response would be strong and vicious, and it was. His life was shallow and Rosalind was the only depth. He'd had no support in what he did. His colleagues laughed at him where Comstock built a pedestal for Rosalind.

And while he would never see his mother again in the first place, the idea that he could never start a family was shameful in a way.

This would be about the time that he would turn off the feed, but hey, they're at the climax, may as well give those watching their resolution.]

I don't know why I thought spending the rest of my life with you was worth sacrificing everything I left behind for you Rosalind. You, who didn't care about condemning a young girl to live isolated only to become a monster. You, who didn't care if the world would burn as long as you had me by your side. You, who left me to do all the leg work while you watched with your nose in the air.

You have your own suite. Please leave.

[Bringing up what Rosalind's mother had thought of her had been like a punch to the gut.

For Robert to say that he, HIMSELF, did not think she was worth what he had gone through was like a knife to the heart.

Rosalind stood for a moment, shell-shocked, numbly comprehending that he had just told her to leave. The accusations echoed in her mind, and suddenly, she was a little girl in disgrace all over again. A little girl in disgrace, wearing the skin of someone who hated her.

And that someone wasn't Robert. Not technically.

He lifted his chin, eyes flashing, and struck out with a full-force punch towards Robert's face. He would leave in a moment, sure. But first things first.]

[Robert makes no attempts to evade the punch. He deserves it. Honestly he can't recall the last time he felt a pain that was physically inflicted and not an atomic level of discomfort. The sting brings new understanding that they are here, in this one place, this one moment, not all moments like they were.

One place, one time, one life.

And now it was crumbling down.

He staggers back from the force of the punch, the inside skin of his cheek tearing against his teeth. He tastes blood. Robert looks back up at her wordlessly, holding his cheek. Expectant.]

[Rosalind can see that Robert is waiting for more. Waiting to be laid into, struck again, screamed at...but it doesn't come. Not this time. Tears well up in his eyes, and he blinks them back. He looks down to his fist, the discordance of seeing HIS hand instead of hers making Rosalind reel.

Robert might have been the one hit, but blood starts to trickle from Rosalind's nose, falling against the light fabric of his jacket. He speaks, voice cold and shaking, all pretense lost. It's over.

It's all over.]

Allow me to dispense with one more truth before I leave, then.

I hate you, Rosalind. More than anyone else.

Goodbye.

[With that, he turns on his heel, shoving past and leaving the feed running as he slams the door behind him.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First Apple; Video

Action/Video;

Action/Video;

Action/Video;

Action/Video;

Action/Video; the hammer falls

Action/Video;

Action/Video; my kokoro, vin, my kokoro, do u see these tears

Action/Video; I CAN CAN YOU SEE MINE

Action/Video; tonight is a cuddles night omg i'm so sad vin look what we did

Action/Video; we need hot chocolate or tea and snuggles definitely we have done a horrible thing