when will my life begin

[powershines]

In the morning, Rapunzel is not disturbed until she has had a little while to go over her coded notes from last night (letter by letter - she will learn to read this just like she learned to read printed notes, but neither task is quick) and has opened the door.

The guards posted there - they've changed in the night, she notices - tell her that she's invited to take breakfast with her parents in the dining hall.

Comments

[powershines]

"There are so many books here."

[hisowninvention]

"Yeah. Having fun?"

[powershines]

"It's kind of overwhelming, but it's also nice to have all these choices about what to read."

[hisowninvention]

"Well, maybe the overwhelmingness will go away with time."

[powershines]

"Maybe."

[hisowninvention]

"We can always hope. How'd your thinking go, last night? Is the code thing working?"

[powershines]

"The code's coming along. I came up with asking to go to a hospital, we'll see how that goes, I guess."

[hisowninvention]

"Yeah." The Smile makes a reappearance, although an unusually pensive one.

[powershines]

"What're you thinking?"

[hisowninvention]

"I like that you asked to go to a hospital. It's sweet. You're sweet. I love you. And - I'm trying to get my thoughts in order, about that. Wondering if I should talk to you more about it or leave it be." He quirks a faint smile. "What's your take?"

[powershines]

"I'm curious. But I mean - what else would I do, with healing hair, the hospital is where sick and hurt people go."

[hisowninvention]

"Most people aren't nasty, but... most people aren't necessarily nice, either. Someone who wasn't you might not think, 'I have healing hair, what can I do to help people with it?' That's specifically you, to think that way. Some people would, but not everyone."

[powershines]

"Oh."

[hisowninvention]

"So. I like it when you do things that are... you."

[powershines]

"I don't think I get it."

[hisowninvention]

"Okay. What do I need to explain?"

[powershines]

"How can you tell what things are me-things? I mean - anything I did would be a thing I would do."

[hisowninvention]

"Well... partly, I do just like it whenever you do things," he says wryly. "But there's also an aspect of - if it's something you would do that other people wouldn't or might not, or if it's something you choose to do out of some range of available options, on a level more significant than what you have for breakfast - those things are more you than, well. I was going to say 'brushing your hair', but, in fact, you brush your hair pretty uniquely. Eating breakfast, then."

[powershines]

"Oh, that makes mores sense, I guess."

[hisowninvention]

"Yeah. So - there's that. And... I don't know, do you want to hear me extensively compare myself to social norms on the subject of being in love? I have the feeling you're going to say yes."

[powershines]

"Yes."

[hisowninvention]

"How'd I guess," he says with a grin. "Okay."

[powershines]

"I do usually want to know things."

[hisowninvention]

"I've been picking up on that!" he says, settling thoughtfully into his Comfortable Library Chair.

"So... I guess the place to start is, these things come with a lot of rules and expectations in the world at large, and I don't tend to play by those. Most people, if they like someone or love someone in a marriage-and-Things sort of way, they want those things with that person - as a goal, as something they'll be upset if they don't get. When I told you what it means to me that I love you, I said that if you wanted to marry me, I'd say yes. That's still the best way to put it. You could take ten years to decide how you feel about marriage and children, and then marry somebody else at the end of it, and I'd still love you and want to be your friend in just the same way I do now. The important part, to me, is getting to be near you and help you and see you be you and be happy. That's what I'd be sad to lose." As an afterthought, he adds, "The hugs are also very nice."

[powershines]

"Okay."