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rainbowfic2026-05-31 02:44 pm
paradoxcase) wrote in rainbowfic2026-05-31 02:44 pm
Realgar #11 [The Fulcrum]
Name: A Shift in Perspective
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Realgar #11: Pardon
Styles and Supplies: Silhouette, Life Drawing, Calendar Page (National Smile Day)
Word Count: 901
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali
In-Universe Date: 1912.6.1.2
Summary: Qhoroali recounts a conversation she had with Cyaru.
Early in the following week, Setsiana returned from an errand to find Qhoroali in the living room of the apartment, leaning on the side of the desk and staring pensively out the large paned window. As Setsiana tried to come up with something else she had to do and leave again, Qhoroali said, “Wait, don’t go. I wanted to talk to you, actually.”
Qhoroali came around the desk and sat on the couch, her hands clasped nervously. “I wanted to tell you… I had a conversation with Cyaru the other day. I don’t know… I think most of what he told me isn’t mine to tell you, but he had some interesting things to say, about our relationship back then.” She paused, as if unsure how to go on. “I think I might have jumped to conclusions a bit, at that time. And I think…” she looked up at Setsiana, just for a moment, before her eyes flicked off into the middle distance, “I think I can believe you now, when you say you wouldn’t want sex from me. I think I can believe it.”
She looked up again, longer this time. “If you can forgive me for what I said to you before… I’d like to take it back now, if I can. I don’t mind if you want to make those dreams a reality. I think it might be ok, this time. I think it might really be ok.”
Setsiana came to sit on the couch beside her. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I understand why you said it. I can understand why you wouldn’t trust that. And I’m sorry for tricking you with the dream, earlier. I promise it really wasn’t on purpose.”
“I’m really sure,” said Qhoroali, “and I believe you, about the dream.” She laughed a bit. “I might be close to something now… maybe even close to writing myself out of history with the last, best, thing I can do for this world. Maybe here at the end of things, I can still have something for me, too.” Her eyes searched Setsiana’s face for a minute. “If you’re still interested, that is.”
The urge to continue the never-ending argument, to tell Qhoroali that she shouldn’t destroy Sapfita, shouldn’t destroy any timelines, shouldn’t destroy herself rose and subsided. Sapfita had told her that she could not win that one yet. But maybe now, with this change, she would have more room to make a case. Maybe she would be able to speak more directly to things Qhoroali cared about on a deeper level. If Qhoroali saw a relationship between them as something she desired for herself, maybe she could be convinced that it was better not to give that up for the sake of her extreme cause.
Setsiana smiled at Qhoroali. “I am. But…” What Sapfita had told her about the removed timelines in their last conversation still weighed on her mind. “I think I might have cheated here a little,” she admitted. “Sapfita told me that She removed the timelines where this didn’t happen.” She looked searchingly at Qhoroali. “Do you feel like you were denied a choice in this? Do you think there was a different decision that you could have made, that Sapfita prevented you from making?”
“She said that?” Amusement flickered across Qhoroali’s face. “Then I guess it’s not really true that She has never removed any timelines, is it? But to your question…” She relaxed into a more contemplative expression. “I don’t think there was any other decision I could have made. After Cyaru told me what he had to tell me, there wasn’t any way I’d have done something different. I don’t know why he decided to talk to me about this now — maybe it was his Free Choice that Sapfita overruled, instead.” She quirked her mouth at Setsiana. “Let’s not tell him about that. I don’t think he would mind that, too much.”
Setsiana debated for a moment whether she should explain that she’d probably been the reason why Cyaru had talked to Qhoroali. If what Qhoroali had said was true, it was probably only Setsiana’s Free Choice that had been sacrificed, and she was fine with that, in this particular case. But then she would have to explain how she’d known to do that, and that Sapfita had talked about Qhoroali and Cyaru’s relationship as if She’d had intimate knowledge of it. Of course, Sapfita knew everything that had happened in every timeline, and even if She couldn’t read Cyaru’s mind, She could observe what he’d said to Qhoroali. There was no reason why She shouldn’t have known about that. But somehow, the idea of Sapfita being that invested in Qhoroali’s affairs felt a little wrong, and she thought that Qhoroali would not appreciate knowing about it.
Instead, she said, “I think it’s probably alright for something like this. It’s not like it was a decision that will have a big effect on his life, right?” Cautiously, she put her arm over Qhoroali’s shoulders again, just as she had in the dream, and this time Qhoroali leaned into the embrace, and leaned over to kiss Setsiana’s forehead, and this time, she laughed afterwards.
“I’m glad I get to have this, before I disappear,” she said. “There was a time when I thought I would go out in pain and misery. I’m glad that’s not how it actually happens.”
Story: The Fulcrum
Colors: Realgar #11: Pardon
Styles and Supplies: Silhouette, Life Drawing, Calendar Page (National Smile Day)
Word Count: 901
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Characters: Setsiana, Qhoroali
In-Universe Date: 1912.6.1.2
Summary: Qhoroali recounts a conversation she had with Cyaru.
Early in the following week, Setsiana returned from an errand to find Qhoroali in the living room of the apartment, leaning on the side of the desk and staring pensively out the large paned window. As Setsiana tried to come up with something else she had to do and leave again, Qhoroali said, “Wait, don’t go. I wanted to talk to you, actually.”
Qhoroali came around the desk and sat on the couch, her hands clasped nervously. “I wanted to tell you… I had a conversation with Cyaru the other day. I don’t know… I think most of what he told me isn’t mine to tell you, but he had some interesting things to say, about our relationship back then.” She paused, as if unsure how to go on. “I think I might have jumped to conclusions a bit, at that time. And I think…” she looked up at Setsiana, just for a moment, before her eyes flicked off into the middle distance, “I think I can believe you now, when you say you wouldn’t want sex from me. I think I can believe it.”
She looked up again, longer this time. “If you can forgive me for what I said to you before… I’d like to take it back now, if I can. I don’t mind if you want to make those dreams a reality. I think it might be ok, this time. I think it might really be ok.”
Setsiana came to sit on the couch beside her. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I understand why you said it. I can understand why you wouldn’t trust that. And I’m sorry for tricking you with the dream, earlier. I promise it really wasn’t on purpose.”
“I’m really sure,” said Qhoroali, “and I believe you, about the dream.” She laughed a bit. “I might be close to something now… maybe even close to writing myself out of history with the last, best, thing I can do for this world. Maybe here at the end of things, I can still have something for me, too.” Her eyes searched Setsiana’s face for a minute. “If you’re still interested, that is.”
The urge to continue the never-ending argument, to tell Qhoroali that she shouldn’t destroy Sapfita, shouldn’t destroy any timelines, shouldn’t destroy herself rose and subsided. Sapfita had told her that she could not win that one yet. But maybe now, with this change, she would have more room to make a case. Maybe she would be able to speak more directly to things Qhoroali cared about on a deeper level. If Qhoroali saw a relationship between them as something she desired for herself, maybe she could be convinced that it was better not to give that up for the sake of her extreme cause.
Setsiana smiled at Qhoroali. “I am. But…” What Sapfita had told her about the removed timelines in their last conversation still weighed on her mind. “I think I might have cheated here a little,” she admitted. “Sapfita told me that She removed the timelines where this didn’t happen.” She looked searchingly at Qhoroali. “Do you feel like you were denied a choice in this? Do you think there was a different decision that you could have made, that Sapfita prevented you from making?”
“She said that?” Amusement flickered across Qhoroali’s face. “Then I guess it’s not really true that She has never removed any timelines, is it? But to your question…” She relaxed into a more contemplative expression. “I don’t think there was any other decision I could have made. After Cyaru told me what he had to tell me, there wasn’t any way I’d have done something different. I don’t know why he decided to talk to me about this now — maybe it was his Free Choice that Sapfita overruled, instead.” She quirked her mouth at Setsiana. “Let’s not tell him about that. I don’t think he would mind that, too much.”
Setsiana debated for a moment whether she should explain that she’d probably been the reason why Cyaru had talked to Qhoroali. If what Qhoroali had said was true, it was probably only Setsiana’s Free Choice that had been sacrificed, and she was fine with that, in this particular case. But then she would have to explain how she’d known to do that, and that Sapfita had talked about Qhoroali and Cyaru’s relationship as if She’d had intimate knowledge of it. Of course, Sapfita knew everything that had happened in every timeline, and even if She couldn’t read Cyaru’s mind, She could observe what he’d said to Qhoroali. There was no reason why She shouldn’t have known about that. But somehow, the idea of Sapfita being that invested in Qhoroali’s affairs felt a little wrong, and she thought that Qhoroali would not appreciate knowing about it.
Instead, she said, “I think it’s probably alright for something like this. It’s not like it was a decision that will have a big effect on his life, right?” Cautiously, she put her arm over Qhoroali’s shoulders again, just as she had in the dream, and this time Qhoroali leaned into the embrace, and leaned over to kiss Setsiana’s forehead, and this time, she laughed afterwards.
“I’m glad I get to have this, before I disappear,” she said. “There was a time when I thought I would go out in pain and misery. I’m glad that’s not how it actually happens.”