driftfleet | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Robin!
Broadcast: Video!
Action: Not unless it gets weird!
When: About a day after his supposed murder.

[the feed crackles on to show Robin, looking very much alive and in a shirt that doesn't have a big hole in it, thank you. he's crouched somewhere on one of those Floot Loop stations, probably. he's got his back to one of those big LED displays, which means... unless you want to check every single bright, animated ad in every station within range, he's going to be kind of tricky to find.

he... waves, though he doesn't look like he's very happy to see you either, to be honest.]

Hello. I'm not dead, since I assume that rumor has spread far and wide by now.

And I would love to have a calm, rational conversation about all of this before someone tries to kill me again. What have I missed? Catch me up.

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[Dorian nods softly.]

Slavery is generally frowned upon, yes. Though, I hear murder is often just as frowned upon, depending on who you talk to.

[he... groans... a little. is that the word they've been using?]

I feel that "slavery" is a harsh term...

It is, but can be correct, depending on the situation.

What were the terms of your agreement with Nel?

Very vaguely defined, honestly.

[frankly, he still thinks of that whole time as some sort of a weird fever-dream that he'd rather pretend never happened, but... he pauses to think of where to start.]

It was a magically binding contract presented to us by the previous world we were left in... It gave people the option to become "master" and "servant" to each other in exchange for monetary gain on both of their parts. There was no obligation for him to do anything for me, nor did it give me any more right over him than anyone else.

Though it wasn't a written part of this contract, we had a mutual understanding that entering the relationship would keep Nel safe from others who might want to force him into this contract against his will.

[He curses, in something that sounds like Latin.]

I understand. Thank you for explaining. Perhaps it would be for the best if you kept any communications with Nel private for now.

Would there be any detriment to nullifying your contract? I think that might settle things.

To your first point, I'm in full agreement.

The second is... complicated. Dorian, right? [he remembers they exchanged names and spoke, briefly, but more importantly--he remembers watching the rosters being rearranged several weeks ago.] You're on Nel's crew, aren't you?

I am. I'm doing what I can for him. Things are...difficult for him, now.

[he sighs, hearing that... this isn't what he wanted at all. it was probably wrong to encourage Nel to stay in his tiny little room of a life, and he knows that. but when the alternative is to burn his room down and send him into the wild... lapdogs don't easily turn into wolves.]

The contract may have been nullified when we left that world, to be honest. My brand is still there, but the magic is gone. I haven't brought this up to Nel because I don't think he's going to take it well.

That's the other reason I started the contract with him to begin with. He's been owned since he was very young. They're called "collars", on his world, passed out as entertainment to whoever can pay their masters. Just inhumane enough enough to be illegal, and just protected enough for him to feel like he could have wound up somewhere much worse. That's the only world he's had for... over a decade, I think, in human years.

He's never known not serving someone else. His life has always been in someone else's hands. When he was without that, for the first time, I watched him... Fall apart. He doesn't know how to take care of himself. He didn't have any direction, any self-worth.

[he breaks, suddenly, in his talking, to put a hand over his eyes, push his fingers up against his eyelids. it's nice and dark, there, he can think better. keeps him from getting upset so much.]

I'm not trying to justify my keeping him, but he needs something in my place if he's going to make it. He needs something to live for, and I... Don't know what that is.

He needs to find himself. A man shouldn't need to live for any other reason than that.

[Dorian nods softly, remembering the dark days after he left his father's house, when he slipped into Alexius's patronage. It was a stepping stone, but it was when he lost that, when he was truly alone, that he found his own feet.

It was hard, he doesn't pretend that it wasn't. How badly he longed to go back to his father, to beg him for forgiveness.

At first.

And then the anger settled in, and that's when he knew he was free.]

I will see what I can do for him. For now, I would advise distance.

[he thinks, for a moment. the whole thing is painfully complicated. the reason he's giving so easily is because none of these options feel like the better one--just different shades of "hard to deal with".

Nel will try to contact him. he supposes he's already broken his heart a couple of times today. one more at least won't make him seem that much worse than he already is.]

Yes. I'll do that. [an uneasy pause.] If I... do decide that formally breaking the contract with him is the best thing to do in the short term, I will let you know.

Thank you. I will do what I can.

[He cuts the feed, a bit dissatisfied with the resolution, but knowing that there's something more important to see to- Nel.]

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