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On the top floors of this resort, in the conference rooms and penthouse suites, even now the politicians and diplomats are discussing whether or not they'd like to go gallivanting around our universes, and we aren't allowed even a cursory peep at what they're talking about, much less a formal seat at the table.

[Small grenade of political discontent lobbed, Narvin switches topic.]

Also, I want to make it known preemptively that yes, I am a technician and computer specialist, but no, I will not fix your personal computer, communicator, speeder, spawner, or whatever else you brought with you. I'm a researcher, not a common mechanic. [Actually, he might fix your computer, if he likes you. But Narvin doesn't like many people as a general rule. ~~He also might offer to repair it if he thinks that you might have interesting files on your files that he might hack, but that's another matter.~~]

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Quite a crowded world. I'm surprised that various races haven't slaughtered each other into extinction in competition for resources. [Narvin doesn't have a cheerful view of ~~human~~ life form nature.]

[She twists her lips into a humorless smile and inclines her head in agreement.] Some certainly have tried. Most however cling to what is theirs with tenacity. And others, such as my people, dwindle to make way for the rise of others.

And your people just accept that? They don't resent being replaced by upstarts?

[That earns him a conflicted look. It is clear that it does bother and sadden her, but at the same time her expression turns a little hopeful as well.]

It was foretold that our time would come to an end in order for the race of man to rise up and take their place in the world. In return for diminishing, we are allowed to travel to the Undying Lands. A place where we may live out our long years free of sorrow until the end of times. Many of my people are wary of the suffering that has befallen them, but some, are not yet ready to venture beyond. I am one such person. I am not yet ready to fade from the world. That is why I am here now. This may not be my home but I am not required to fade quietly into the night.

[And then she realizes that she more or less just word vomited at him after a simple question. She glances back to him, feeling sheepish.]

Sorry, you asked a simple question and I gave you a speech.

No need to apologize. It's just like home. [Time Lords have a penchant for making speeches.]

It is difficult being of the eldest race, surrounded by...newcomers. The young races think they have all the answers. They're so sure of themselves, believe they don't need guidance or restraint.

My people used to be powerful, the pinnacle of civilization and the foremost Temporal Power in the cosmos. Now my civilization is being slowly torn down, piece by piece.

[Her words make her blush a little, though she does her best not to show it. Her race may be old beyond counting, but she is young and reckless and impulsive and exhibits some of those traits he spoke of.]

I can't imagine living in the shadow of your greater days is easy for you. For me, the days of the past are stories only. I care little for them. I only desire to remain and to explore what my more jaded kin take for granted.

[Narvin is a young and restless member of an old race, too. But he politically sided with the old and the conservative and the traditional. As a result, hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance have become second nature. What he says and what he does don't always correlate.]

Your people's past, their tradition and cultural memory is important. You shouldn't dismiss it so quickly. Those stories are the foundation of who you are.

[Thankfully she does not have that problem.]

I do not dismiss it. Instead I merely wish to live in the here and now and not cling to things thousands of years gone by. I do understand that for many it is their past which make sit all the harder to let go.

There is no here and now without the past. Events of the past define the present; they are all part of one continuity. Our history is always with us, whether we want it or not. There is no letting go of it, not for any of us.

Even if it perpetuates old and pointless hatreds? Thing better left in the past for all the ill they generate?

[ She shook her head no, her look fiercely determined to disbelieve that no matter what he said.]

I will not cling to it or to old ways that do more harm than good.

Are they truly pointless? Sometimes if there is widespread suspicion of another race, it's for a good reason. Forgetting the lessons of the past just gives a dangerous and immature species a fresh opportunity to stab you in the back.

Should a whole race be declared deviant for the actions of a few? I have come to think that some of the lessons exist only because of bias and hatred of those who are too afraid to move on. How can any world change if we are forever afraid of repeating the past?

[She is thinking of her King and his hatred of the Dwarves when she speaks and so her words seem no longer directed at Narvin.]

[Narvin suddenly feels that it's like talking to President Romana. It makes him both annoyed...and a little homesick.]

It only takes a few to wreck terrible destruction. Better to keep them all at a safe distance than take that risk.

[And he is reminding her too much of King Thranduil.]

That may be, but then also I have never known a side to be completely blameless in the actions that led to war and strife.

Not so. Sometimes immature and violent races will invade without cause. Because they believe conquest is honourable, or because they are greedy for the resources they believe you possess, or simply because they are envious and wish to tear you down out of spite.

The universe has more than its share of vile, brutal people and species. True, there are some good people as well, but they either get taken advantage of or they learn to defend themselves.

[Years have made Narvin very pessimistic about and suspicious of other people.]

You might call my people one of these "good people" for we stand against evil but it is as you said, we have learned to defend ourselves and do not allow others to take advantage of our good will. I think you would do well within an elven court. You sound much like my King.

[He doesn't know much about her race, or her King, but...]

I'll take that as a compliment. Your King must be a wise man.

Some might call him wise yes. He has lived for thousands of yeas and guided his people for nearly as long, but he is also jaded and cares little for the state of the world beyond his kingdom. I hope that you will not suffer a similar fate.

[Narvin's demeanour changes in an instant, the previous Time Lord casual arrogance draining away and replaced with something a bit tense, and sad, and bitter.]

I don't think that will be a problem I shall have to face.

[She winces, hoping not to have offended him.]

I'm sorry if my word were out of line. I sometimes speak without thinking.

[He shakes off the thought.]

No, your words simply reminded me of something unpleasant. Nothing you could have known about.

That was not my intent, I assure you.

[She really has no idea how to make things better now.]

[He takes a deep breath. Part of him wants to snap back, lash out. But it wasn't her fault she stepped on a land mine, and he's become a bit better at calming himself in the last year.]

Forgive me for my reaction. You...hit upon a delicate personal matter. But I accept that you meant no offense and none is taken by me.

[Having grown up with Thranduil, she was used to looking for the early warning signs that bespoke of a temper being held in check.]

That is a talent of mine, one I had hoped to grow out of here in this place.

[Her words cool Narvin's ire considerably. He's been on the mouth end of saying just the wrong thing at the wrong moment a considerable number of times himself. And it was more the universe he was angry at than her anyway. She just had the misfortune of saying something that reminded him of his troubles.

So he chooses to take the conversation in an entirely new direction. Or at least in an apparently new direction.]

How old are you?

[It doesn't occur to him that in some cultures, this is a rude question.]

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I apologize for Narvin's xenophobia.

XD this is okay

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