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rainbowfic2026-01-10 02:01 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2026-01-10 02:01 pm
Bittersweet #8, Warm Heart #15 [The Fulcrum]
Name: What Might Have Been
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Bittersweet #8: Missed Opportunities, Warm Heart #15: Anger
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing
Word Count: 926
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Sapfita
In-Universe Date: Night of 1912.4.4.5
Summary: Setsiana has a dream of Sapfita.
That night, Setsiana found herself in a dream of Sapfita, for the first time in about a month. So many of her dreams of late had been the strange ones instead. She was sitting on the “ground” again, and now she recognized the floating sensation that she’d experienced when she’d gone through the rip in time with Qhoroali. She turned her head to see if she could see the timeline Tree in her dream, but as in all of these dreams, it eluded her.
Maybe she should ask Sapfita about the rip they’d gone through. But… she was already quite sure that the rip had led to this place, and that Sapfita hadn’t been there, for whatever reason. She wanted to ask about the things she wasn’t sure of, instead.
“Is it true, what Qhoroali said to me?” she asked Sapfita, where She sat across from her, wreathed in the light of Time. “Do most people really love sex that much? Do they just… look at other people, and want it?”
“Yes,” said Sapfita. “Most people do.”
“Was that the real reason why Yeimicha broke up with me?”
“I can’t get into her head like that to know for sure. But I think it was very likely the reason.”
“Did You know this about me back then?” Setsiana asked. “Back when I was dating her. That I was different.”
“It’s not really in the past for me,” said Sapfita. “It’s just one of a number of simultaneous states. But… yes, I knew that when I spoke to you during that part of your life.”
Setsiana jumped to her feet, suddenly overcome with anger. “If I’d known that then— If I’d understood— I could have explained it to her. I could have made her understand. I could have saved us. And You knew, the whole time, and You didn’t tell me. You didn’t tell me.”
Sapfita sat on the ground, unmoved. “No,” She said, quite calmly. “You couldn’t have saved it. A relationship can’t work between someone like you and someone like her. Your needs are in conflict with each other. She needs a sexual relationship, and you need a non-sexual one. You can’t resolve that with a compromise. I wish I had figured that out earlier, for myself, but I can at least pass that wisdom on to you.”
“That’s not true,” said Setsiana. “It’s not. I don’t need a non-sexual relationship — I had sex with her, it was fine, I didn’t mind it. I’m not like Qhoroali. Not in that way.”
Sapfita seemed to put a hand to Her face, perhaps cupping her chin in thought, though the details were hidden within the darkness of the silhouette. “That’s really how it is?” She asked, contemplatively. “I thought I understood, but maybe…” She shook Her head. “Maybe you’re right, after all. Maybe it could have worked out with Yeimicha.” She paused, contemplative, in the darkness. “Would you prefer that I had told you, then? Would you want me to go to you in that time and do that, if I could?”
“I don’t know.” Setsiana felt the anger drain away from her, and eased herself back down to sitting again. “I would have preferred it then, but now… it feels like it was so long ago. Even if going back to Yeimicha didn’t mean going back to the priesthood and being locked in a temple for the rest of my life, I don’t think I would want to do it, anyway.” And she couldn’t deny that her feelings were focused in a different direction now. “I think if I had known then, and I had been able to repair that relationship, I would never have gone with Qhoroali, in any timeline. Not if I’d had something to hold on to, something to look forward to. And You told me that if I never went with her, something bad would happen, right?”
“Yes,” said Sapfita. “If you hadn’t gone with her in any timeline, I would not exist — well, not like this, not in this place. And there would be something else here in my place. Maybe something good, maybe not. And you would never have known me. And in all the timelines where you did decide not to go with Qhoroali, I can no longer reach you to give you that information. So… I am a little biased. Perhaps I acted out of selfishness, most of all.”
“That’s right,” said Setsiana. “We get cut off from each other in those timelines, because some critical event is no longer in my future. Is that still the case? Am I still in danger of losing You, if I make the wrong decision?”
“Oh, definitely not,” said Sapfita. “You don’t need to worry about that anymore. That event is now in your past. There is no choice you could make now that would disconnect us.”
“It is?” Setsiana tried to think of anything that had happened to her since her abduction that would have forged a bond between her and Sapfita, but came up blank.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sapfita advised, taking Setsiana’s hands in her own. “Like I said, we can no longer be disconnected. I think you will understand what happened eventually, but I cannot explain it to you now. As always, remember that I love you.”
The strange dream place that existed outside of Time began to slip away from Setsiana again, and though she tried to keep hold of Sapfita’s hands, they thinned and dissolved into nothing, and she awoke in her bed once again.
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Bittersweet #8: Missed Opportunities, Warm Heart #15: Anger
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing
Word Count: 926
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Sapfita
In-Universe Date: Night of 1912.4.4.5
Summary: Setsiana has a dream of Sapfita.
That night, Setsiana found herself in a dream of Sapfita, for the first time in about a month. So many of her dreams of late had been the strange ones instead. She was sitting on the “ground” again, and now she recognized the floating sensation that she’d experienced when she’d gone through the rip in time with Qhoroali. She turned her head to see if she could see the timeline Tree in her dream, but as in all of these dreams, it eluded her.
Maybe she should ask Sapfita about the rip they’d gone through. But… she was already quite sure that the rip had led to this place, and that Sapfita hadn’t been there, for whatever reason. She wanted to ask about the things she wasn’t sure of, instead.
“Is it true, what Qhoroali said to me?” she asked Sapfita, where She sat across from her, wreathed in the light of Time. “Do most people really love sex that much? Do they just… look at other people, and want it?”
“Yes,” said Sapfita. “Most people do.”
“Was that the real reason why Yeimicha broke up with me?”
“I can’t get into her head like that to know for sure. But I think it was very likely the reason.”
“Did You know this about me back then?” Setsiana asked. “Back when I was dating her. That I was different.”
“It’s not really in the past for me,” said Sapfita. “It’s just one of a number of simultaneous states. But… yes, I knew that when I spoke to you during that part of your life.”
Setsiana jumped to her feet, suddenly overcome with anger. “If I’d known that then— If I’d understood— I could have explained it to her. I could have made her understand. I could have saved us. And You knew, the whole time, and You didn’t tell me. You didn’t tell me.”
Sapfita sat on the ground, unmoved. “No,” She said, quite calmly. “You couldn’t have saved it. A relationship can’t work between someone like you and someone like her. Your needs are in conflict with each other. She needs a sexual relationship, and you need a non-sexual one. You can’t resolve that with a compromise. I wish I had figured that out earlier, for myself, but I can at least pass that wisdom on to you.”
“That’s not true,” said Setsiana. “It’s not. I don’t need a non-sexual relationship — I had sex with her, it was fine, I didn’t mind it. I’m not like Qhoroali. Not in that way.”
Sapfita seemed to put a hand to Her face, perhaps cupping her chin in thought, though the details were hidden within the darkness of the silhouette. “That’s really how it is?” She asked, contemplatively. “I thought I understood, but maybe…” She shook Her head. “Maybe you’re right, after all. Maybe it could have worked out with Yeimicha.” She paused, contemplative, in the darkness. “Would you prefer that I had told you, then? Would you want me to go to you in that time and do that, if I could?”
“I don’t know.” Setsiana felt the anger drain away from her, and eased herself back down to sitting again. “I would have preferred it then, but now… it feels like it was so long ago. Even if going back to Yeimicha didn’t mean going back to the priesthood and being locked in a temple for the rest of my life, I don’t think I would want to do it, anyway.” And she couldn’t deny that her feelings were focused in a different direction now. “I think if I had known then, and I had been able to repair that relationship, I would never have gone with Qhoroali, in any timeline. Not if I’d had something to hold on to, something to look forward to. And You told me that if I never went with her, something bad would happen, right?”
“Yes,” said Sapfita. “If you hadn’t gone with her in any timeline, I would not exist — well, not like this, not in this place. And there would be something else here in my place. Maybe something good, maybe not. And you would never have known me. And in all the timelines where you did decide not to go with Qhoroali, I can no longer reach you to give you that information. So… I am a little biased. Perhaps I acted out of selfishness, most of all.”
“That’s right,” said Setsiana. “We get cut off from each other in those timelines, because some critical event is no longer in my future. Is that still the case? Am I still in danger of losing You, if I make the wrong decision?”
“Oh, definitely not,” said Sapfita. “You don’t need to worry about that anymore. That event is now in your past. There is no choice you could make now that would disconnect us.”
“It is?” Setsiana tried to think of anything that had happened to her since her abduction that would have forged a bond between her and Sapfita, but came up blank.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sapfita advised, taking Setsiana’s hands in her own. “Like I said, we can no longer be disconnected. I think you will understand what happened eventually, but I cannot explain it to you now. As always, remember that I love you.”
The strange dream place that existed outside of Time began to slip away from Setsiana again, and though she tried to keep hold of Sapfita’s hands, they thinned and dissolved into nothing, and she awoke in her bed once again.