09-01-2019, 10:40 PM
An Uneasy Relationship
Fleura House, Residence of the President of Lauchenoiria
“Good evening, Mr. President,” Josephine Alvarez greeted Alex Marwick, somewhat frostily. “So, what will our response be to this earthquake, beyond words?”
“Straight to business, then?” remarked Marwick, though he looked relieved. The two took their seats, and sipped their coffees without looking each other in the eye. They’d had an uneasy relationship since the Bloch affair, when Alvarez had publicly called out Marwick’s decision to proceed with the extradition. Whenever the topics of either Shuell or Sanctaria came up when they were in each other’s presence, the air turned noticeably colder.
“Yes. This is an urgent crisis, after all. So, I was thinking…”
“Are any of the families of the Lauchenoirians doing media appearances?”
“… I’m sorry, what?” blinked Alvarez.
“I’m thinking, we get them to do a speech saying what they want us to do, and then people will likely agree with them cause they’ll get a lot of sympathy, right? Then we can decide what to do.”
“Mr. President, I understand that you were elected on a platform of doing what the public wants, however there are some issues such as the response to natural disasters which need decisions made quickly. You’ve been told this a number of times!”
“You’re angrier with me than usual today,” Marwick commented, taking another sip.
“A reporter came up to me outside church asking for a comment based on a rumour that you were planning to authorise the extradition of the two Xiomeran journalists that we recently charged with attempted arson.”
“Since when did you go to church?”
“What?” sputtered Alvarez. “In what universe is that the relevant part of this conversation? It is the anniversary of my grandfather’s death, I go every year around this time. Do you plan to extradite more dissidents to dictatorships, Mr. President?”
“There’s no plan, we were just investigating the…”
“Stop. You realise how unpopular you are right now? Someone managed to get ‘impeachment’ trending in Costeno on social media the day after the Bloch affair. You’re getting us into trouble with our allies. What happened to you? You seemed so reasonable before you were elected, but right now, I will be blunt, Mr. President. You are out of your depth, you need to stay out of this, and in a few months’ time we will quietly repeal that extradition law and pretend none of this happened.”
“He’s not dead, the Shuellians told me…”
“Are you listening to me?” Alvarez demanded.
“You sound like Charissa Clarke, trying to control me like she did MacKenzie. Shuell has helped us, stop hating them just because they’re not a democracy.”
There was a silence, then Alvarez stood up, picking up her coffee cup and walking over to the window. When she spoke, it was quietly and slowly.
“We both suffered during the war. I saw the cuts on your face on those broadcasts, and I know you went through something though I don’t know what. But let me tell you what happened to me.”
“I don’t see how this is relevant,” Marwick snorted, leaning back in his chair.
“I was arrested in my office, only minutes after Chaher’s coup. They kept me in an interrogation room for 48 hours, and then he came by to tell me that either I recognise his government or I go to prison for life. After Sonja, I mean Jennifer, rescued me, it was only so that I would be captured by Kerlians later. Tortured, to force Jennifer to join the Council to get me free. The only reason I am free now is because the Sanctarians forced the Kerlians to let me go. So, yes, maybe I hate dictatorships more than you. I am justified in doing so. I am surprised, given what they did to you, that you don’t share my thoughts.”
“It was a car crash.”
“What?”
“The scars, we were driving through the storm and we hit a tree. Wasn’t the Clarke regime.”
“You…” Alvarez turned to stare at him incredulously, “you let everyone think you’d been beaten up or tortured by the Clarke regime. The entire country believes that. They voted for you on the back of your Resistance broadcasts because you were a fearless warrior for democracy and really you were just a kid whose friend was a bad driver?”
“Hey, I helped! Morale, yeah? The broadcasts gave people hope.”
“People gave their lives for democracy and you capitalised on that for votes. You’re a fraud, Marwick.”
“Yeah, well you only care so much about Bloch cause it upset your friends in Sanctaria who saved you from the big bad Kerlians like your war criminal wife.”
“I…” Josephine Alvarez was not often at a loss for words but she was this time.
“Are we gonna discuss the earthquake or not? We can’t send them money cause we don’t have any so what’s the point?”
“President Marwick, I would like an apology.”
“For what?” Marwick frowned, sipping his coffee.
“If you do not know, then I do not believe you are fit to hold executive office in this country. Mr. President, you are behaving like a spoiled child. You see fit to insult me and my family, to insult our allies, and to insult the laws of this nation. Since you seem unable to have a conversation like an adult, I am going to leave.”
“You’re the one storming off like in a tantrum!” Marwick laughed, the kind of laugh that reminded Alvarez of the bullies in her high school.
“Like a… Mr. President, I have some advice for you. Don’t run for re-election, if you do, you will be revealed for the fraud you are. I will send Thomas to meet with you next week.”
“You’re Prime Minister, not Thomas Averforth! You’re meant to meet with me, not your deputy!”
“I am under no obligation.”
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I am not. Read the constitution, Mr. President. Goodbye.”
Alvarez quickly exited, shutting the door behind her and hurrying off down the corridor. She blinked away a couple of tears which were threatening to fall. Talking about the whole situation with the war and Jennifer Hale tended to do that.
She didn’t know what had happened to Marwick. When they’d met during the campaign, he’d seemed like a genuinely nice, if a little naïve guy. Since his election, however, he had become rude and foolish. It was the fastest case of ‘power corrupts’ she had ever had the misfortune of seeing. She hoped – for his sake, as well as the country’s – that he would retire from politics in April.
Fleura House, Residence of the President of Lauchenoiria
“Good evening, Mr. President,” Josephine Alvarez greeted Alex Marwick, somewhat frostily. “So, what will our response be to this earthquake, beyond words?”
“Straight to business, then?” remarked Marwick, though he looked relieved. The two took their seats, and sipped their coffees without looking each other in the eye. They’d had an uneasy relationship since the Bloch affair, when Alvarez had publicly called out Marwick’s decision to proceed with the extradition. Whenever the topics of either Shuell or Sanctaria came up when they were in each other’s presence, the air turned noticeably colder.
“Yes. This is an urgent crisis, after all. So, I was thinking…”
“Are any of the families of the Lauchenoirians doing media appearances?”
“… I’m sorry, what?” blinked Alvarez.
“I’m thinking, we get them to do a speech saying what they want us to do, and then people will likely agree with them cause they’ll get a lot of sympathy, right? Then we can decide what to do.”
“Mr. President, I understand that you were elected on a platform of doing what the public wants, however there are some issues such as the response to natural disasters which need decisions made quickly. You’ve been told this a number of times!”
“You’re angrier with me than usual today,” Marwick commented, taking another sip.
“A reporter came up to me outside church asking for a comment based on a rumour that you were planning to authorise the extradition of the two Xiomeran journalists that we recently charged with attempted arson.”
“Since when did you go to church?”
“What?” sputtered Alvarez. “In what universe is that the relevant part of this conversation? It is the anniversary of my grandfather’s death, I go every year around this time. Do you plan to extradite more dissidents to dictatorships, Mr. President?”
“There’s no plan, we were just investigating the…”
“Stop. You realise how unpopular you are right now? Someone managed to get ‘impeachment’ trending in Costeno on social media the day after the Bloch affair. You’re getting us into trouble with our allies. What happened to you? You seemed so reasonable before you were elected, but right now, I will be blunt, Mr. President. You are out of your depth, you need to stay out of this, and in a few months’ time we will quietly repeal that extradition law and pretend none of this happened.”
“He’s not dead, the Shuellians told me…”
“Are you listening to me?” Alvarez demanded.
“You sound like Charissa Clarke, trying to control me like she did MacKenzie. Shuell has helped us, stop hating them just because they’re not a democracy.”
There was a silence, then Alvarez stood up, picking up her coffee cup and walking over to the window. When she spoke, it was quietly and slowly.
“We both suffered during the war. I saw the cuts on your face on those broadcasts, and I know you went through something though I don’t know what. But let me tell you what happened to me.”
“I don’t see how this is relevant,” Marwick snorted, leaning back in his chair.
“I was arrested in my office, only minutes after Chaher’s coup. They kept me in an interrogation room for 48 hours, and then he came by to tell me that either I recognise his government or I go to prison for life. After Sonja, I mean Jennifer, rescued me, it was only so that I would be captured by Kerlians later. Tortured, to force Jennifer to join the Council to get me free. The only reason I am free now is because the Sanctarians forced the Kerlians to let me go. So, yes, maybe I hate dictatorships more than you. I am justified in doing so. I am surprised, given what they did to you, that you don’t share my thoughts.”
“It was a car crash.”
“What?”
“The scars, we were driving through the storm and we hit a tree. Wasn’t the Clarke regime.”
“You…” Alvarez turned to stare at him incredulously, “you let everyone think you’d been beaten up or tortured by the Clarke regime. The entire country believes that. They voted for you on the back of your Resistance broadcasts because you were a fearless warrior for democracy and really you were just a kid whose friend was a bad driver?”
“Hey, I helped! Morale, yeah? The broadcasts gave people hope.”
“People gave their lives for democracy and you capitalised on that for votes. You’re a fraud, Marwick.”
“Yeah, well you only care so much about Bloch cause it upset your friends in Sanctaria who saved you from the big bad Kerlians like your war criminal wife.”
“I…” Josephine Alvarez was not often at a loss for words but she was this time.
“Are we gonna discuss the earthquake or not? We can’t send them money cause we don’t have any so what’s the point?”
“President Marwick, I would like an apology.”
“For what?” Marwick frowned, sipping his coffee.
“If you do not know, then I do not believe you are fit to hold executive office in this country. Mr. President, you are behaving like a spoiled child. You see fit to insult me and my family, to insult our allies, and to insult the laws of this nation. Since you seem unable to have a conversation like an adult, I am going to leave.”
“You’re the one storming off like in a tantrum!” Marwick laughed, the kind of laugh that reminded Alvarez of the bullies in her high school.
“Like a… Mr. President, I have some advice for you. Don’t run for re-election, if you do, you will be revealed for the fraud you are. I will send Thomas to meet with you next week.”
“You’re Prime Minister, not Thomas Averforth! You’re meant to meet with me, not your deputy!”
“I am under no obligation.”
“Yes, you are!”
“No, I am not. Read the constitution, Mr. President. Goodbye.”
Alvarez quickly exited, shutting the door behind her and hurrying off down the corridor. She blinked away a couple of tears which were threatening to fall. Talking about the whole situation with the war and Jennifer Hale tended to do that.
She didn’t know what had happened to Marwick. When they’d met during the campaign, he’d seemed like a genuinely nice, if a little naïve guy. Since his election, however, he had become rude and foolish. It was the fastest case of ‘power corrupts’ she had ever had the misfortune of seeing. She hoped – for his sake, as well as the country’s – that he would retire from politics in April.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax