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[sparklequeen]

@glimmer.moon | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[notathreat]

See? You already know me.

[It's not something she can tell a stranger, but a friend? Fucking sure. Absolutely.]

[sparklequeen]

Pff. Maybe I am too nice.

[notathreat]

Maybe. But I feel like if push came to shove you'd let somebody know where they stood.

[sparklequeen]

Well, yeah. I'm the queen after all.

[notathreat]

Fuck-

[Ellie laughs, a small burst of sound.]

Look, it's not that I don't believe you, because I've seen you act it, but you being royalty is still fucking nuts to wrap my head around.

[sparklequeen]

Really? Did they not have royalty where you come from?

[ This is a foreign concept to Glimmer. ]

[notathreat]

[Ellie snorts aloud before she realizes Glimmer's being serious.]

What? Hell no. There was the military -- FEDRA -- and then there were hunters. Or cults. Or rebel groups that rose up and seized power, like the WLF. And when it came down to it, it wasn't like any of them were all that different.

... I mean, there was Maria. She's the mayor, out in Jackson. A real hardass, but people listen to her. Most people.

[Ellie did not always listen to her.]

And Marlene. The leader of the Fireflies.

[... Ellie doesn't choose to elaborate on that one.]

[sparklequeen]

I mean, we have mayors...

[ Glimmer isn't quite sure what to make of this new information. ]

What do you mean, they weren't all that different?

[notathreat]

Well... mayors are like, people who lead other people because they trust them to lead, right? Maria's like that. People follow her because she's smart as fuck as she's proven herself a thousand times over. She helps people work together, gets them organized, solves disputes, makes sure everything's fair and nobody gets left behind.

... the hunters, and even the military...

[Ellie pauses, trying to figure out how to word it. Because even as she says it she knows it's not always so black and white. Nothing ever is. But it's hard, sometimes. To allow yourself to make it that complicated.]

It was always about who could control people the most, not- y'know.

Lead them.

[sparklequeen]

Right, that makes sense.

[ Murmured in reply to the first part. She pauses, uncertain. ]

That sounds a lot like the Horde.

[notathreat]

[Ellie pauses again. They've talked about a lot of dark shit tonight.]

I wanna ask, but do you wanna talk about it?

[sparklequeen]

It's... Not really? Just know that they tried to control people, too.

[ Glimmer sighs. ]

...Tell me about something fun you did recently? Or something you did that made you happy, anyway.

[notathreat]

Okay.

[Ellie says it gently. Some part of her is relieved- there's always time for them to talk about stuff from home later. It's not really that important.]

Um... I tried this stuff called boba the other day.

[sparklequeen]

Oh, yeah, boba! I've had it a couple times.

What'd you think?

[notathreat]

It was real tasty, after I figured out how to drink it without... choking to death.

[sparklequeen]

Ellie! Don't die from boba!

[ She is definitely giggling again. ]

[notathreat]

Can you imagine how fucking embarrassing that would be? Announcing that shit on the network?

Glimmer, if I ever die in a really stupid way, just- fucking make something up. Don't tell them I choked on a pudding ball.

[sparklequeen]

I'll tell them you died like parachuting off a skyscraper or something.

[notathreat]

Parachuting? That's a fucking thing here?

[Okay, goals.]

[sparklequeen]

I don't know! I had to make up something off the top of my head.

[ Ellie, no. ]

[notathreat]

[Ellie can't help but laugh.]

Have you ever done anything like that? Parachuting?

[sparklequeen]

I've definitely fallen from incredible heights and then teleported to safety before. Does that count?

[notathreat]

The hell did you fall out of?

[sparklequeen]

Uh, off cliffs. Towers. Teleported a giant robot into midair once. A castle.

[notathreat]

I feel like I could ask you to back up and tell me the story about all these, but-

I really wanna know about the robot.