+ The True Moral +

[pig_and_pepper]

[ Grey ruffles obscure the broadcast, until the Duchess takes a step aside. She has taken her head off whole, and placed it carefully on a scale. She watches the numbers rise... rise... rise, until the scale beeps, and stops just at 39.9 pounds. The Duchess sighs, pleased, and picks her head back up. ]

Heavy is the head that knows the truth, make sure 'tis not too much to bear!

[ A long silence follows.

After a while it occurs to her that her audience may be with her still. ]

'Tis all I shall tell you today. If you wish to dig, dig yourself, what good is any truth if it lies buried with you? [ She taps her lip. ] Cremated, I suppose, that would be more accurate.

[ The Duchess primly sets her head straight in her lap. ]

Now, shall we bake a cake to help us through these frightful times? [ She clears her throat. ] You will need two eggs, two tablespoons cocoa, half a cup shortening, one and a half cups white sugar, one teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one cup buttermilk, two and a half cups all-purpose flour, sifted of course, one and a half teaspoons baking soda....

[ This will go on for some time. Feel free to bake along. ]

Comments

[pig_and_pepper]

Then your truths are still too kind. If they had teeth, you'd know. [ She reaches around to her forehead, and taps it with a finger. ] You'd know where to aim, by now. You don't know the price yet.

[ The Duchess smiles, grimacing. ]

Shall we speak about my cake again? I wrote a lovely story to go with the recipe...

[thisismadfreaky]

The price for the truth? It shouldn't cost anything, but I guess nothing's really ever for free, is it?

[He won't comment about the cake. He's not interested. Sorry, Duchess.]

[pig_and_pepper]

[ The Duchess grimaces, no longer smiling. ]

Your tedious jabbering certainly seems to be, unless I made a dreadful purchase I no longer recall.

[ Her eyes stare at the screen intently. ]

What truth is on your mind, that you are so desperate to cling to the subject?

[thisismadfreaky]

[That little turn of tables makes him tense. It's less that he's lying outright about anything in particular, than it is he hasn't told every detail to even the closest of people to him, but--]

Nothing. Everybody already knows what I did and by now it's old news.

[pig_and_pepper]

Then you're rather persistent about nothing, aren't you? Ah, suppose that is what you meant before, nothing is free. Free and abundant, young man, but old news are stale news. You will need something fresh, eventually.

[thisismadfreaky]

Or not. [He spreads his hands.] I'm pretty good with not being the news.

[pig_and_pepper]

Well, I offered you cake, ungrateful boy, but that was not good enough for you, was it? You can either look away from the truth, or you can face it. You cannot squint at it with one eye open, and hope all goes well.

[thisismadfreaky]

People tell half-truths all the time. Just saying. In fact, you locals are pretty good at those yourselves, sometimes.

[pig_and_pepper]

[ Her eye twitches. Possibly more twitches, as well. She holds her head by her hair now, there is quite the surface to cover. ]

And what is your half-truth? That you only meant well when you nearly destroyed everything, when you brought them all so much misery? It was only one little garden, you only wanted to be more like Her, is that what you tell them now?

[thisismadfreaky]

[Even in video format, it's easy to see the way he shrinks back and curls in on himself a little. It's not so much the yelling as it is what she's saying. He has missteps about everything that happened in May still, but mostly his days are better. Ish. But it being so blatantly thrown at him? That's a "move 5 spaces backwards" kind of card.

But it doesn't stop him from saying:]

I made a mistake. I trusted the wrong people. But I owned it. What else am I supposed to do?