But I also understand this is a complicated situation. But what fight? What happened with the three of us? Or is this another fight that I don't know about? Why did you not try to speak to Ashton so there wouldn't be any more fighting?
Also...why did you not decide to walk away yourself? Or...explain what was going on? It wasn't obvious to me what was happening. I didn't have context.
Ashton attacked me when we first met, because she wanted to project her issues with vampires onto a random stranger.
[In some ways, it's all a very long fight and one where 'talking' isn't involved. Ashton started it.]
Why should I have walked away? [He wasn't doing anything wrong, and he wasn't going to do anything that might be taken otherwise.] You have met vampires. [No context is needed for an extremely normal vampire thing!]
Okay. So...she had a fight with you...because you're a vampire.
[She gives Armand a long look. And she slowly blinks.]
I have met vampires. But not all vampires are alike. Not all vampire needs are alike. You're also a person. Who does not need to engage when someone else is being petty or hostile.
So...is that what you're going to go with? Because what I'm getting is...you're doing this because you like fighting with Ashton.
[It's true that not all vampires are alike. Some of them are weird. Unlike Armand and - as distasteful as it is to admit that they share something in any way, even if it's just being normal vampires - Ashton. And, importantly:]
Ashton attacked me because of some sort of mental construct of who I am, based off her own 'issues'.
[So of course he has to engage. What is he if not how he's seen?]
[Armand takes a couple of moments, because it's so clear that trying to explain it breaks down into the nonsensical. That he's willing to try is proof that he's far more generous than some people have implied. Or said directly.]
When you meet someone you form an impression of them, yes?
Your impression shapes how you respond to them. Sometimes that perception shifts with time. Sometimes it does not. Why should I interfere with the perception of someone with whom I share a mutual dislike?
[He says this with the confidence of someone who's made a point that is not just reasonable but extremely logical.]
[Usually that's because there is someone else to blame, if you know where to look. You can still get hurt - even if someone else is at fault - but it's generally safer.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-16 08:15 pm (UTC)Also...why did you not decide to walk away yourself? Or...explain what was going on? It wasn't obvious to me what was happening. I didn't have context.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-16 08:22 pm (UTC)[In some ways, it's all a very long fight and one where 'talking' isn't involved. Ashton started it.]
Why should I have walked away? [He wasn't doing anything wrong, and he wasn't going to do anything that might be taken otherwise.] You have met vampires. [No context is needed for an extremely normal vampire thing!]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-16 08:28 pm (UTC)[She gives Armand a long look. And she slowly blinks.]
I have met vampires. But not all vampires are alike. Not all vampire needs are alike. You're also a person. Who does not need to engage when someone else is being petty or hostile.
So...is that what you're going to go with? Because what I'm getting is...you're doing this because you like fighting with Ashton.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-16 08:35 pm (UTC)Ashton attacked me because of some sort of mental construct of who I am, based off her own 'issues'.
[So of course he has to engage. What is he if not how he's seen?]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:22 am (UTC)Please explain.
[She's gonna get a headache. She can tell.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:24 am (UTC)[He more or less likes Sokie some of the time, but she does lack a grasp on the obvious.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:30 am (UTC)I'm sorry Armand but...I meant, how, or what is it that you're meaning?
I don't want to assume here.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:33 am (UTC)When you meet someone you form an impression of them, yes?
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:42 am (UTC)Yes?
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:46 am (UTC)[He says this with the confidence of someone who's made a point that is not just reasonable but extremely logical.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:53 am (UTC)She says nothing at first. But she does lean in to offer him a light kiss on the mouth.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:56 am (UTC)But it's not as if he has any objections to kissing her, no matter the reason.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:59 am (UTC)That's not a mental construct. That's just how you're presenting yourself to Ashton, and however else you decide to to the rest of the world.
Are you ever allowed to be wrong?
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 06:01 am (UTC)What does that have to do with being wrong?
[He is allowed to be wrong if that's how he's seen, though of course that requires being the right sort of wrong...]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 06:10 am (UTC)Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 06:15 am (UTC)Almost never.
[Usually that's because there is someone else to blame, if you know where to look. You can still get hurt - even if someone else is at fault - but it's generally safer.]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 02:47 pm (UTC)Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 05:13 pm (UTC)[He's not putting enough emotion into this to be annoyed, but he's precise with his word choice!]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 09:14 pm (UTC)[She pats his cheek gently.]
I'm pretty certain you're wrong more often than not. That's me too.
This is concerning.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 09:19 pm (UTC)Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 09:22 pm (UTC)But it is a problem, Armand. A big one. Your problem if you can't pull your head out of your ass.
You get that?
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 09:24 pm (UTC)Even if it was my problem, it is not yours.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 10:18 pm (UTC)You sound annoyed.
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-17 10:23 pm (UTC)Why engage in an endeavor that's both pointless and without profit?
[One or another is understandable, but both?]
Re: After Pairing Annoucement
Date: 2026-02-18 01:17 am (UTC)Are you certain that it is either one? Or do you not want to consider it because it means you would have to do something you don't like?
[She tilts her head, considering him.]
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