Title: In The Future
Fandom: Pokémon XY
Rating: Teen
Length: 1,940 words
Content notes: n/a
Summary: Lysandre speaks with Malva after his meeting with Diantha. Malva doesn't say anything.

The nature of Malva's job operations meant that she was rarely in one place for any length of time. Keeping up a public face was important, she knew that more than anybody; she didn't mind the travel, and the more that she was seen in public (or broadcast), the more of an alibi she had for her presence in any particular place. Sometimes, colleagues would come to her with whispers and rumours of Team Flare; have you heard? Team Flare have their sights on Ambrette. They're planning something in Dendemille. If there's a story here, we need to be the first on the scene. She would feign shock, nod, and take their suggestions seriously. Isn't it terrible? You never know what they're going to do next.

Visits to Lysandre were infrequent. He would contact her, on occasion, with news if the situation demanded it, but that was rare. She would hear reports of Team Flare's exploits, but they were little to do with her. In the grand scheme of things, they were largely unimportant. The grunts on the field could do what they wanted, whatever they felt was important to further their own personal goals. Lysandre rarely spoke of their actions to her; such things were, she assumed, quite separate.

Those visits were infrequent, but necessary. For all that they'd made developments on the Holo Caster, Lysandre pressed the importance of being able to meet face-to-face. Even meeting monthly was unusual, but there would always be a future time at which they would reconvene and clarify any progress that had been made. A meeting of minds, and the collation of information. Not all information was safe to share in a digital - or holographic - format. Their methods of communication were, of course, encrypted, but there were still lines of thought that could only be explored in the reclusive safety of Lysandre's office.

"... I met with your colleague, today."

Such a statement seemed perilously close to small talk. Lysandre spoke, prompted by nothing that Malva could fathom; she frowned slightly, wondering what such a thing would have to do with anything. "Oh? Which one?"

"Diantha, the actress. Do you not meet with her at the Pokémon League?"

Merely the mention of Diantha's name was enough to cause Malva to stiffen - although Lysandre spoke with his back turned, facing the window, unable to see her momentary inability to control her reaction. She folded her arms and shrugged, damning her inability to remain as impassive as she might have liked. "I have a number of colleagues, it helps to be specific. ...So what did she have to say for herself?"

"I raised the subject of our ideals to her. In a roundabout fashion, of course."

"And?"

"She was fairly dismissive of the prospect. I only worded it in a general sense, of course - the desire for unchanging beauty, it would be easy to assume that she would be able to understand such a thing, being in the line of work that she follows. She simply spoke of how she wished to embrace the changes her career would bring her as she ages - as she is allowed to do, of course." Lysandre didn't look away from the window; Malva wondered if she was wrong to detect a wistful note in his tone. "It certainly seems a shame, though. Most would agree that her beauty is something to celebrate... we have the means to protect that. Eternal, unchanging beauty... she could have a place in our world, should she ever desire it. And yet it seems that she would not? I can barely understand it. ...Or at least, I can understand it. That's the most frustrating thing."

"Well, if you just say to someone 'hey, what if you never aged!', it's not unusual for them to react like that. She isn't to know of our... of our plans. She doesn't know what we're capable of."

"Of course. It seems unlikely that she would be receptive, though. She seems quite... pure, I suppose. Perhaps that is how one becomes champion of the Kalos League, by always seeing the best in others...? Almost an admirable quality, but for its foolishness. If she wishes to turn her eyes from the ugliness of the world, then that is, I'm afraid, her own business. Perhaps she could be convinced... but she has that element of determination to her. I don't see her as the kind to take on the ideas of others without question... which, again, is admirable. She is admirable."

Malva couldn't fault that, as a statement. She let silence hang in the air, knowing that any response from her own perspective was largely unneeded. As far as Lysandre knew, he had met with this actress who happened to be Malva's colleague. With that point of connection, he had raised the subject as a point of interest. The occasional point of interest could sometimes blossom into an extended discussion, but not this time. Malva barely wanted to think of Diantha in this context, let alone discuss her alongside Lysandre. She knew that her silence would be quite obvious, but she felt no need to hide it. A discussion needed two people in order to flourish.

Lysandre turned around at that point, looking to Malva and expecting agreement, or objection, or anything. "... Don't you think?"

Malva simply shrugged once more, then getting up and out of her chair. "Certainly. Her battles against trainers are something to behold. Perhaps it would be nice for her to hold our ideals, but that's the thing, isn't it? If everybody believed as we did, then we wouldn't have to go to such lengths in the first place." She pushed the chair neatly under the desk. "Was that all, or...?"

The moment in which Lysandre could have challenged that question was quite palpable, but he let it go. He turned back towards the window, drawing a line under the conversation. "Indeed. I'll be in contact with you as soon as needs be."

"Of course. Until then."

Malva left the room quietly, the pressure of the conversation still weighing heavily upon her even as she did so.


--


The times at which Diantha was free to spend the night were few and far between, heavily dependant on both her schedule and Malva's own. Malva knew that she barely spent much time herself in her own apartment, and so time spent there together was rarer even than that. Diantha always seemed to embrace that, seeming overly attentive to the details around her - enchanted by such mundane things as the way Malva arranged her furniture, the houseplant she had growing in the corner of the room, the excellent view across the city that the balcony gave.

Malva hadn't been able to shake that feeling in the pit of her stomach since her conversation with Lysandre. For him to mention anything to Diantha at all almost felt like a betrayal, albeit one that she was sure he had no knowledge of. She knew that he meant his actions quite innocently, and that almost felt like the worst thing - he wished for beautiful things in his perfect world, Diantha was considered beautiful by the population at large, it was an easy conclusion to come to. And yet, it still felt somehow like he'd irritated a wound, one that Malva had barely been conscious enough to detect in the first place. She looked towards where Diantha stood out on the balcony, hands against the rail and entranced by the view around her, and could only think you are separate to this. This is nothing to do with you.

You don't need to know any of this.

Despite herself, Malva couldn't help but raise the question. Trying to phrase it like something natural that might just come up in any conversation, prompted by nothing, nothing to do with anything.

"... If you could live forever... is that something that you'd want to do?"

The question caused a laugh. Diantha turned around, illuminated by the light that spilt forth from the apartment, set against the dark Lumiose sky behind her. "There must be something in the air."

"What do you mean?"

"I met with the owner of Lysandre Labs recently. Monsieur Lysandre, of course. Have you ever met him? Quite an... intense fellow. I barely know how we came to the subject, but we were discussing... youth, I suppose. He admired my past work, which was of course flattering, but..." Her expression clouded somewhat. "He seemed to think that beauty could only be such if it was forever unchanging. Isn't that a strange thing to say? There isn't much in this world that can be beautiful forever. Indeed, isn't it that quality that makes it so? The manner in which things pass makes them only more dear to us." She seemed to shake that expression, then smiling again. "So I'm not sure that I would want to live forever, no. That isn't to say that I wish to die...! Only that I think that there's a natural way for things to exist. Living forever... is not something I would consider to be natural."

Again, Malva wasn't sure what could be said to counter that. She couldn't deny that, but also felt that those words came from a place of ignorance - one that was understandable, but ignorant all the same. If you only knew what we were capable of--! But to reveal that would be to reveal everything, and Malva knew that she carried too much responsibility to allow that to happen. As far as Lysandre knew, Diantha was just her occasional colleague. As far as Diantha knew, Malva was a fellow member of the Pokémon League, as well as a valuable contact in the world of journalism. Lysandre had no reason to know of the details of their relationship, and Diantha had no reason to know anything about Lysandre, about Team Flare, about any of it.

(And yet she would look at Diantha sometimes, heart aching, thinking you could be there with us, if only you would let yourself. Malva hated that Lysandre thought to set his sights on Diantha in the first place, but understood it. Of course she understood it, anybody would - it was Lysandre that didn't understand, but how could he? Certain things were designed to be, and to remain, private.)

Diantha came in from the balcony to sit beside Malva on the bed, still smiling. "Questions like that are only fiction, after all. Living forever... that's just a charming dream, isn't it? If I were to gain any sort of longevity, I would wish for it to be through my work. If my work were to endure, then... that would be the most desirable outcome, I think."

"That sort of answer suits you."

Cupping Malva's cheek, Diantha kept her smile but couldn't stop a note of indecision crossing her brow. "And that isn't like you, to ask that sort of question. Was there something playing on your mind?"

Too much I can never tell you. "... Nothing in particular."

That answer didn't seem to satisfy Diantha, but she didn't press the issue. Instead, she let her hand drop from Malva's cheek to her shoulder, then pushing her gently down against the bed. "You've always seemed so intent on living in the present moment, it's unusual to hear you speak of 'forever'..." Her lips went to the crease of Malva's neck. "I don't dislike it, though. Maybe I'd like to hear your thoughts on the future, sometime."

"Well, maybe I'll let you know them. Sometime."

"In the future?"

"Maybe."