![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ic inbox/contact
ID: Jude Mathis
journal text (handwriting sample) | action
ID: Jude Mathis
journal text (handwriting sample) | action
ID: Jude Mathis
journal text (handwriting sample) | action
ID: Jude Mathis
journal text (handwriting sample) | action
5/5...
Are you happy about that, Leia?
[He can't tell what's possible or impossible, no, but what he CAN do is change his own perspective. He can tell what he SHOULDN'T say, even if he doesn't know what the exact right words ought to sound. He can also tell the details from what's truly important, after everything that's happened ever since that fateful night when he caught sight of a striking woman walking on water towards the laboratory his professor never returned from. And what's truly important in this case is only one thing, isn't it? It's been right in front of them, all along:
Leia's feeling, without doubt.]
that was a ride LOL
Part of her wonders if there was ever any chance he even harboured feelings for her, for even just a second. This would be the only opportunity she'd probably ever find out. Again, not like such a revelation would change her mind, but it'd put some more complicated feelings to rest. However, he seems more lost trying to put the puzzle pieces together about her and Marui's relationship than anything else.
Had her words been that complicated, though? More than friends means what it means, doesn't it? Jude's dense, but he must know what such feelings are like- at the very least, didn't he have them for Milla? Or maybe he's not sure what to say about her confession. Does he not like Marui? Is he wondering why she's bothered to fall for someone here, when there's more important things to do? The latter being something she's considered herself, but it's not like she planned for this to happen. Or even wanted it. It just... happened. And she got swept up in the emotions. She's still a teenager, after all.
When Jude finally speaks, it almost startles her, and for the first time in the span of these several minutes, she looks at him, slightly confused by his question.]
Huh? W-Well, yeah. I, I am. [the next words leave her mouth before she can even think.] ... How do you feel about it?
boys are DUMB, leia
hard not to be with that sort of figure AND what she was doing, but there's also just... So Much More to Milla Maxwell that Jude can definitely shell out an entire thesis about the topic....Good thing this isn't about Milla, ahem, so back to Leia. There sure has been a lot of "looking at each other in confusion" going around today, huh,]
Then I'm glad to hear it, and I'm happy for you too.
[His answer is simple, almost innocently so, accompanied by an open and earnest smile. Leia's already been doing her own thing back home, they both decided to not stick to the medical field independently for their own reasons. Not any surprise that she's continued going her own way, she's been on her own without him knowing for 8 months too. What kind of friend would protest? Marui did seem like someone who matched Leia's wavelength from the moment Jude met him, plus Jude isn't a skeptic by nature, too trusting and everyone who knows him knows it. He's also been admittedly too busy with his research to get to know the guy better, but his impression had remained positive. So if him and Leia are "more than friends"
whatever that may mean, then of course that's fine, he'll support his childhood friend in what makes her happy and naturally wish her nothing but the best. Isn't it pretty straightforward? Makes it weird that she was so nervous, haha, what did she think he was going to say?]she never had a single doubt
But what is slowly dawning on her is that Jude really never saw her as anything more than a good friend. Truthfully, she feels foolish that she ever thought it possible that they could be more than that. Then again, she's pretty much always known that was the case, and it had become apparent when Milla came into the picture. This merely confirmed that.]
Is... is that all?
[But she's moved on. Will Jude ever move on from Milla? Or is there a chance he won't have to? She knows Jude is practically married to his research, but when it all comes to fruition, where will he be?]
no subject
...Or is she? The hesitation is palpable on her face and in her tone, but this isn't one of those gotcha traps she so enjoyed springing on him when they were children. She's not waiting for him to say something she already knows she can use against him. She's asking, because...
...
He nods solemnly, the smile he wore previously for her fading.]
This is just like when you told me you were going to become a reporter. You decided on what you wanted to do for yourself, back then, and that's why... I think you already know the answer now, too.
[Lifting his head, his earnest and serious gaze comes to fully meet hers.]
You can talk to me about anything, I'll always try to help you with whatever I can. But we understand how important it is to find our own path now, and no one else can walk it for us but ourselves.
[He never questioned it before when they were little, her "dream" of becoming a nurse to assist at the Matthis' clinic - just like how he never doubted the idea that he was going to take over after his parents, as if his path was set from the very beginning.
But then, they met Milla.]
So you should do what you want to do, and be with people who can truly make you happy.
[Leia moved to Elympios, just like him, but she didn't try to look into being a secretary or assistant, didn't follow him to the lab. Those boring sedentary jobs wouldn't suit her anyway, running about for the next big scoop really reflected her active and outgoing disposition far better.
That's why... I think you already know.
It's how he sees it, and also why whether or not he can reach Milla again in this lifetime isn't what matters most. What does is that he tries with everything he's got, and if he were to succeed, somehow, then he can simply think about what next, when that time actually comes. Wouldn't do anyone any good to get ahead of himself, Jude's too practical and cautious anyway to daydream ahead. It's matter of whether you do or don't, after all, and doing has him plenty occupied in the present, driving him ever forward.]