[ Mako can't quite stifle a laugh despite dire circumstances, and she shakes her head at him. Raleigh is stubborn to a fault, obstinate and pig-headed and she can't quite help but love him anyway.
With a quiet sigh, she leans against the dresser. ]
[That's all he wants, really. He wants to be with her and not have to worry about the crown anymore. To deal with something they all know he's not capable of doing for much longer.]
[ Mako looks away, because doesn't he know what an impossible thing he's asking? It's not simple at all. To his people, to the world, Mako is going to be the woman who took him away, because such is the nature of fairytales, where the conditions of the king doesn't matter -- where he exists only to give them hope, a living fantasy of what can be.
They are both prisoners, but they have no other choice.
She makes a soft, bitter noise, but she's not angry at him, no. Rather, their circumstance. ]
And here we are, living a golden dream that hundreds of thousands would kill for.
[Wouldn't it be better to have a better king, one who actually cared about the inner workings of the state, who wanted to make it better. Raleigh cares but he doesn't like being hounded, fights it when people try to make him do anything and he has a stubborn, impulsive streak a mile wide and they all know it.
Jaz would be better suited for it. Yancy was the best for the job, but Yancy's gone and Raleigh can't wait to throw his crown to someone else.]
[ Mako tells him, because she knows that there's no convincing him otherwise once he sets his mind to things. It's something that endears and aggravates her both, and right now she's torn between the two.
She steps closer, finally, moving to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him close. ] What if you regret it? The world's not like what you know it to be -- you've always been born to luxury.
[He just smiles, a smile that almost reaches his eyes when she calls him reckless. Yeah, that's true, that's him. Once he sinks his teeth into something, he doesn't let go of it very easily. And that definitely applies to her.]
You'll just have to teach me. [Raleigh leans into her a little.]
[ She sighs, and holds him tight when he steps into her embrace, unwilling to let go even despite her reservations. It's a huge, terrifying step that he's taking, and she can't help but fear for him, and what the future may bring for them both.
The news will be splashed all over the world, and anyone who didn't know their faces sure would now -- the scandal of the century. ]
Raleigh, I'm serious. What if you regret it? What's done can never be undone. [ And what if he comes to resent her for it? ]
[Raleigh could never resent her for it. Not when it's his idea. She didn't make him fall in love with her, she didn't plant the idea of abdicating in his head. He came to this decision all on his own, that's why he told his advisers to start writing up the papers before he even told her what he was thinking.]
I never wanted to be king. That's never going to change. If anything, you are giving me the chance to escape it.
[ Mako wishes she could shake him, you know, shake some sense into him, or the Constitution that seems so hell bent on making everyone either miserable or envious.
She closes her eyes briefly, unable to keep a pained expression from flickering over her features. ]
You will escape yours, Raleigh, and trap me in mine.
[He doesn't have an immediate answer to that, looking away from her after a moment. He doesn't want the crown and he wants her, why does it have to be so complicated? Why does anyone have to suffer?]
Do you really believe that? Is being with me really like a prison?
[ Mako hesitates. No, not in that way -- she loves him so, so much; but to be together exacts such a high price from the both of them. ]
I love you. I love you very much; but there won't be a single media entity who wouldn't condemn us for what you're about to do. [ Because think about what it looks like, Raleigh; a king abandoning his throne, his people? ]
[Yeah well-- fuck the media, how about that. Raleigh's had a hate/love relationship with them his entire life, edging towards hate almost every time except for when he was this stupid eighteen year old kid and lapped up the attention.
It's definitely in the hate side of things now. And it has him rolling his eyes, and sighing and people are going to be saying shit about him, them for their entire lives, no matter what he does. That's just how it is.]
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. You can't play to win with them, at that game, because you never will.
[ It's one thing to say 'fuck the media', it's another to deal with it because never has her privacy been so thoroughly breached, never before has she been thrust so suddenly and unpleasantly under the spotlight, named as the woman who had taken their people's king away.
Others are lauding it as a fairytale of a lifetime, and Mako wishes she could tell them it isn't so. A king's love is overwhelming, terrifying -- a king's love is wonderful and sweet and everything she'd need, and yet. ]
Then what are you planning to do? Ignore them all your life?
More or less. [Raleigh shrugs. It's easier for him to say that, for that to be his plan because he's used to the camera clicks in the background, the microphones shoved in his face, and so it's nothing new. He's not really thinking about how hard it is for her though, because she's not like him, she wasn't born into this, she didn't ask for anything of this.
He sighs a moment later and reaches out to touch her cheek with the back of his knuckles.]
You can do it. I know you can. You're stronger than anyone I know.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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With a quiet sigh, she leans against the dresser. ]
What am I going to do with you, Raleigh?
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[That's all he wants, really. He wants to be with her and not have to worry about the crown anymore. To deal with something they all know he's not capable of doing for much longer.]
It's pretty simple, Mako.
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They are both prisoners, but they have no other choice.
She makes a soft, bitter noise, but she's not angry at him, no. Rather, their circumstance. ]
And here we are, living a golden dream that hundreds of thousands would kill for.
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Jaz would be better suited for it. Yancy was the best for the job, but Yancy's gone and Raleigh can't wait to throw his crown to someone else.]
All the more reason to do it then, yeah?
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[ Mako tells him, because she knows that there's no convincing him otherwise once he sets his mind to things. It's something that endears and aggravates her both, and right now she's torn between the two.
She steps closer, finally, moving to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him close. ] What if you regret it? The world's not like what you know it to be -- you've always been born to luxury.
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You'll just have to teach me. [Raleigh leans into her a little.]
If you can handle it.
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The news will be splashed all over the world, and anyone who didn't know their faces sure would now -- the scandal of the century. ]
Raleigh, I'm serious. What if you regret it? What's done can never be undone. [ And what if he comes to resent her for it? ]
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I never wanted to be king. That's never going to change. If anything, you are giving me the chance to escape it.
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She closes her eyes briefly, unable to keep a pained expression from flickering over her features. ]
You will escape yours, Raleigh, and trap me in mine.
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Do you really believe that? Is being with me really like a prison?
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I love you. I love you very much; but there won't be a single media entity who wouldn't condemn us for what you're about to do. [ Because think about what it looks like, Raleigh; a king abandoning his throne, his people? ]
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It's definitely in the hate side of things now. And it has him rolling his eyes, and sighing and people are going to be saying shit about him, them for their entire lives, no matter what he does. That's just how it is.]
Damned if we do, damned if we don't. You can't play to win with them, at that game, because you never will.
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Others are lauding it as a fairytale of a lifetime, and Mako wishes she could tell them it isn't so. A king's love is overwhelming, terrifying -- a king's love is wonderful and sweet and everything she'd need, and yet. ]
Then what are you planning to do? Ignore them all your life?
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He sighs a moment later and reaches out to touch her cheek with the back of his knuckles.]
You can do it. I know you can. You're stronger than anyone I know.