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rainbowfic2026-05-15 04:00 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2026-05-15 04:00 pm
Realgar #4, Warm Heart #17 [The Fulcrum]
Name: The Whole Truth
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Realgar #4: Divide, Warm Heart #17: Honesty
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing, Panorama
Word Count: 996
Rating: T
Warnings: Discussion of Sex
Characters: Setsiana, Cyaru
In-Universe Date: 1912.5.4.6
Summary: Setsiana talks to Cyaru about his relationship with Qhoroali.
There were only a few customers in the café; it must still be too early yet for the lunch rush. Setsiana let herself into the employee area using the key that Mosetai had given her after she’d become a more willing resident of the building (“Just in case you ever feel like helping out,” Mosetai had said) and made her way back to the kitchen.
Mosetai stood at one end of the kitchen by the hearth, watching and stirring a large pot of something. At the other, Cyaru stood at a large basin of water, working through a stack of dirty dishes. He looked up as Setsiana approached, and handed her a clean dish; she obligingly took the towel from the rack nearby, dried the dish, and set it aside.
They worked together for a bit in silence, while Setsiana worked up the courage to ask her question. The pile of dishes diminished. Eventually she spoke, worried that they would finish the task before she could begin.
“If you don’t mind,” she began, hesitantly, “I was just curious… what happened with you and Qhoroali, back then?”
He seemed to falter with his dish for a moment, but did not drop it. “Have you talked to her about it?”
“Yeah,” said Setsiana. “But I wanted to get your side of it, too.”
“I didn’t force her to do anything,” he said. “I didn’t— what did she tell you about it?”
“She just said that you told her that you didn’t need sex to be part of your relationship at first, and then took it back later,” said Setsiana. “I think.” Now that she thought about it, had Qhoroali put it like that in so many words? But that was what she had meant, wasn’t it?
“Yeah,” said Cyaru, “I can see why that would seem shitty. It’s true, though, I did say that.” He was silent for a moment, holding the dish in his hands still for a moment. “If you want to know the truth, I never did feel like I would need sex from her, even at the end. I said I did, once, when breaking up with her, but it wasn’t really true. If it hadn’t been for… what I mean is, I would have been happy to stay with her without it, back then.”
“If it hadn’t been for what?” Setsiana asked.
“Have you ever been made fun of for your looks?” he asked, for no reason that she could see.
Setsiana shook her head. She’d been unpopular at Taleinyo, but no one had ever said anything about her appearance.
“It was something that happened to me back in my original timeline,” he said. “The other kids in the village all called me ugly, I just… wasn’t what they thought was the right way to look, I guess. I was considered short there; they made fun of that, too. It’s a big part of the reason I didn’t want to go back there. All of those kids grew up into adults and are running the town, now.” He leaned on the basin. “Qhoroali loved me anyway, and that was great. It was wonderful, it was such a trip. But then when I learned that she wasn’t really attracted to my appearance, that she didn’t desire me, or anyone else… all that nasty stuff that people used to say to me came back up, you know? That the only reason I could find someone to love me was because it was someone who didn’t care about anyone’s appearance at all. I knew it wasn’t really like that. I knew she didn’t think I was ugly. But it ate at me all the same.”
He took a moment, and exhaled. “It’s not like that anymore. After I got together with Liselye… she very much does appreciate my appearance, and makes that clear all the time, and it’s not something I even worry about, anymore. Maybe if I’d dated them the other way around, I would have gotten over all of that and moved on by the time I dated Qhoroali and it wouldn’t have been an issue with us. But that’s not how it worked out.” He looked mournfully into the basin. “Though I don’t know if we would have worked together, anyway. I could tell she was stressing herself out so much thinking that I wanted sex from her. No matter how many times I told her I didn’t and she didn’t need to do that, she wouldn’t believe me and thought I was just saying things to make her feel better. And I knew that if I told her what was really bothering me, she’d blame that on herself, too. So I just told her I had been mistaken about not wanting sex, that I hadn’t put enough thought into it when I’d said that, and that we should break up for that reason. It was just easier that way.”
“This was all a long time ago, right?” Setsiana asked.
“Almost seven years ago, now.”
Setsiana chewed on her lip, thoughtfully. “I think you should tell her what really happened. The real reason you broke up with her.”
“Why?” He shook his head. “I don’t think it would help or change our relationship at all. I think it’s mostly water under the bridge at this point.”
“I think it would help improve her worldview on some things,” said Setsiana. “It would show her that there are other people who genuinely don’t need sex, even though they don’t hate it.”
He looked over at her directly, for the first time since she’d arrived. “And why do you care so much about that?” As Setsiana turned away, he continued, “What exactly is going on with you guys?”
Setsiana shrugged. “It’s complicated,” she said. “But if I can ask a favor of you, I’d ask you to tell her the true story.”
“Alright,” he conceded. “I guess you’re right — after all these years, I probably should.”
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Realgar #4: Divide, Warm Heart #17: Honesty
Styles and Supplies: Life Drawing, Panorama
Word Count: 996
Rating: T
Warnings: Discussion of Sex
Characters: Setsiana, Cyaru
In-Universe Date: 1912.5.4.6
Summary: Setsiana talks to Cyaru about his relationship with Qhoroali.
There were only a few customers in the café; it must still be too early yet for the lunch rush. Setsiana let herself into the employee area using the key that Mosetai had given her after she’d become a more willing resident of the building (“Just in case you ever feel like helping out,” Mosetai had said) and made her way back to the kitchen.
Mosetai stood at one end of the kitchen by the hearth, watching and stirring a large pot of something. At the other, Cyaru stood at a large basin of water, working through a stack of dirty dishes. He looked up as Setsiana approached, and handed her a clean dish; she obligingly took the towel from the rack nearby, dried the dish, and set it aside.
They worked together for a bit in silence, while Setsiana worked up the courage to ask her question. The pile of dishes diminished. Eventually she spoke, worried that they would finish the task before she could begin.
“If you don’t mind,” she began, hesitantly, “I was just curious… what happened with you and Qhoroali, back then?”
He seemed to falter with his dish for a moment, but did not drop it. “Have you talked to her about it?”
“Yeah,” said Setsiana. “But I wanted to get your side of it, too.”
“I didn’t force her to do anything,” he said. “I didn’t— what did she tell you about it?”
“She just said that you told her that you didn’t need sex to be part of your relationship at first, and then took it back later,” said Setsiana. “I think.” Now that she thought about it, had Qhoroali put it like that in so many words? But that was what she had meant, wasn’t it?
“Yeah,” said Cyaru, “I can see why that would seem shitty. It’s true, though, I did say that.” He was silent for a moment, holding the dish in his hands still for a moment. “If you want to know the truth, I never did feel like I would need sex from her, even at the end. I said I did, once, when breaking up with her, but it wasn’t really true. If it hadn’t been for… what I mean is, I would have been happy to stay with her without it, back then.”
“If it hadn’t been for what?” Setsiana asked.
“Have you ever been made fun of for your looks?” he asked, for no reason that she could see.
Setsiana shook her head. She’d been unpopular at Taleinyo, but no one had ever said anything about her appearance.
“It was something that happened to me back in my original timeline,” he said. “The other kids in the village all called me ugly, I just… wasn’t what they thought was the right way to look, I guess. I was considered short there; they made fun of that, too. It’s a big part of the reason I didn’t want to go back there. All of those kids grew up into adults and are running the town, now.” He leaned on the basin. “Qhoroali loved me anyway, and that was great. It was wonderful, it was such a trip. But then when I learned that she wasn’t really attracted to my appearance, that she didn’t desire me, or anyone else… all that nasty stuff that people used to say to me came back up, you know? That the only reason I could find someone to love me was because it was someone who didn’t care about anyone’s appearance at all. I knew it wasn’t really like that. I knew she didn’t think I was ugly. But it ate at me all the same.”
He took a moment, and exhaled. “It’s not like that anymore. After I got together with Liselye… she very much does appreciate my appearance, and makes that clear all the time, and it’s not something I even worry about, anymore. Maybe if I’d dated them the other way around, I would have gotten over all of that and moved on by the time I dated Qhoroali and it wouldn’t have been an issue with us. But that’s not how it worked out.” He looked mournfully into the basin. “Though I don’t know if we would have worked together, anyway. I could tell she was stressing herself out so much thinking that I wanted sex from her. No matter how many times I told her I didn’t and she didn’t need to do that, she wouldn’t believe me and thought I was just saying things to make her feel better. And I knew that if I told her what was really bothering me, she’d blame that on herself, too. So I just told her I had been mistaken about not wanting sex, that I hadn’t put enough thought into it when I’d said that, and that we should break up for that reason. It was just easier that way.”
“This was all a long time ago, right?” Setsiana asked.
“Almost seven years ago, now.”
Setsiana chewed on her lip, thoughtfully. “I think you should tell her what really happened. The real reason you broke up with her.”
“Why?” He shook his head. “I don’t think it would help or change our relationship at all. I think it’s mostly water under the bridge at this point.”
“I think it would help improve her worldview on some things,” said Setsiana. “It would show her that there are other people who genuinely don’t need sex, even though they don’t hate it.”
He looked over at her directly, for the first time since she’d arrived. “And why do you care so much about that?” As Setsiana turned away, he continued, “What exactly is going on with you guys?”
Setsiana shrugged. “It’s complicated,” she said. “But if I can ask a favor of you, I’d ask you to tell her the true story.”
“Alright,” he conceded. “I guess you’re right — after all these years, I probably should.”