Bond's Office [Wednesday]

[doubleohblonde]

So Bond might have been neglecting his office hours for a while, but with a midterm to plan for, he was making use of his pre-break time sat at his desk working on a plan.

For the record that wasn't a smirk on his face, and even if it was, it certainly wasn't an evil one.

[open!

That Rose visited is okay for broadcast, contents of her thread are NFB.]

Comments

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose looked down at her hands. "It shouldn't matter," she argued, not heatedly just as a matter of fact. "They're more important. It was his job to keep them safe and get 'em back to the Academy."

[doubleohblonde]

"Sometimes there's a difference between duty and what's right," Bond said calmly, this was a fact he acutely aware of. "And a concept of duty where a teenager's life 'shouldn't matter' isn't worth shit."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

She looked back up at him in surprise. Somewhere in the back of her head, she heard the voice of the Szelsky royal arguing that guardians should start to serve at 16, that the women should be forced to be guardians instead of making a choice.

"It's to protect the innocent," she said, still surprised at his line of thought. "My life matters, and hell if I want to die, but if that's the cost of protecting them, I'll pay it."

She wouldn't even think about it. Rose wasn't sure she could consciously think about it, and she stuffed that thought back into her head without examining it more closely.

[doubleohblonde]

Bond considered his glass thoughtfully. "I was seventeen when I joined the navy," he said. With that he'd shared more with her than many of his co-workers. "Swore to give my life for Queen and Country. So I'm not saying you're incapable of making that choice for yourself."

"I'm just not entirely sure that the kind of people who'd ask or expect it of someone your age can really be classed as innocent."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Well- " Rose made a little bit of a face. "They're not like saints or anything. But they can't defend themselves, and they have a lot of weaknesses. It'd be wrong not to protect them."

"And technically I'm not promised until graduation," she pointed out. "I'll be eighteen by then, and, yeah, kinda the same. Swearing to give my life to the Queen and Moroi."

Other than the fact she'd been trained for it since she was five, totally the same. Really.

[doubleohblonde]

Oh, completely, and that whole 'technically' totally allayed Bond's misgivings.

Yup.

"Why can't they defend themselves?" It was a genuine question.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose shrugged. "It's forbidden. Their magic is connected to life and using it for violence is considered terrible. Some are trying to change that though." She unconsciously touched the bandages on her wrists, remembering how she hadn't even thought of using Christian's magic until they were nearly desperate. "They have too many weaknesses to fight hand to hand; those that are after them would overpower them pretty much instantly without guardians to fight."

[doubleohblonde]

And other people considered raising children up to be your own personal bodyguards to be terrible. Weren't differences of opinion fun?

"Who would even go after them in the first place?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Yes, but she was right, and he just didn't understand. Really.

"Strigoi," Rose said, biting the word off. "It's - they don't have them in this world. They're a type of vampire."

[doubleohblonde]

"I assume we're not talking about the kind that show up in paranormal romances."

Look, spies travelled a lot, and not even a first-class ticket could change the contents of an airport bookstore.

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose snorted. "Only the really fucking creepy kinds."

She wouldn't normally swear in front of a teacher, but...

"Totally different, totally evil, insanely strong and fast," she shrugged. "They lose their soul and connection to the world when they become Strigoi. Doesn't make for romantic reading."

[doubleohblonde]

Bond nodded. "And they're what killed your friend?"

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

Rose nodded, more subdued. "Yeah."

[doubleohblonde]

"It was incredibly brave of you to stay behind," Bond said, because regardless of what he might think of the kind of person who would expect her too, that much was true. "And for your friend to come back for you."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Thanks," Rose said uncomfortably. It was her job. "Um - thank you for talking with me."

[doubleohblonde]

"You're welcome to any time you want or need to." Since those were two entirely different things. "Rose, I'm glad you got out of there."

[guardianborn.livejournal.com]

"Me too," she said with a little smile at him. Standing up, she put the glass on his desk since she didn't need to clutch it anymore. "And I'll come talk to you again. Before graduation at least."

[doubleohblonde]

Bond smiled. "Make sure you see me after the break," he said. "I'll need you and Kyle to assist me with the mid-term."