You're on Fire

Diana grinned, which pulled at the edges of Denver's lips, bringing forth a smile. She had a gorgeous smile, and it was infectious. "Your own words, or someone else's?" she asked, seeming surprised by Denver's comments. However, he could not help but admire the fact that she noticed the words were beyond even his own eloquence. "Someone else's words, adopted into my own lifestyle. What about you? Do you have a motto in life, Diana?" It was a strange question to ask, and not entirely fair, since he himself did not only have one motto. However, he was curious to see what she responded with.

"We can only comprehend the things that are the size of our own lives. Anything bigger is foreign and irrelevant, and anything smaller is worthless and unnecessary. Human beings can only understand the things that affect us, sometimes, which is sad."

The expression on Diana's face quite clearly showed that she had no experience with parents like Denver's. His parents were obsessed with order and planning. Everything was ambition and success. There was no other option for them. Some of their viewpoint had rubbed off on Denver--he was more comfortable having a plan most of the time, and his ability to read other people was definitely derived from his time watching his parents in their political endeavors. However, he was a lot more open to spontaneity, and to the occasional slacking off (just so long as he was not risking anything). Diana's parents seemed to be the exact opposite. Content to float above the crowd without striving to achieve more.

Denver's parents were always reaching for more.

"My parents would be appalled by that view of the world. Everything is logical and reasonable and suits a purpose. I rather think I would like to meet your parents someday. It would be refreshing. Parents who would not slit throats to get ahead. What are your parents like?"

"Just one?" she asked, and considered for a few seconds without really considering everything because she did have a motto, sort of, sometimes, and then she had several hundred other sets of words to live by that were secondary in nature. "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy." Max Ehrmann, Desiderata. She had a handwritten copy of the poem in her trunk which had been sent to her by an adoring older brother for her tired or disappointed eyes. It was remarkably effective in, well, making her more cheerful.

"Have you ever heard of the boiled frog effect?" She asked, inspired by this response. "I read a really strange article in a muggle magazine a while back about how it can be applied to people, and why we tend to ignore really big terrifying things even when they're staring us in the face." Change was Diana's favorite, but only quick change, unimaginably quick change that you couldn't even remember happening. The slower things, the evolution of the world around her, was one of her greatest sources of anxiety.

Not that she'd admit to that out loud.

She shrugged. "Dull. They're very, very dull and traditional. It's not as nice as you might expect." It amazed Di, to this day, that her mother the forward-thinker and Salinger-devotee, who had grown up in the heyday of second-wave feminism, could hold to some of the values she did. "It's not that they don't focus on success. They do. They just define it in a really 1960s way. I'm expected to just go find a nice, easy job and a nice husband who will live with me in a nice house and have nice little pretentious children. It's like they want to be normal and exceptional at the same time, but normal wins out." Diana herself could be a little cutthroat for her parents tastes, at times. Being the person everyone else wants to be. That's the goal. Epitomizing "upper middle class."

Diana didn't know what her goals were. But that was okay with her family, because all of the cool teenagers are aimless.

Denver smiled. "That's lovely." Clearly the quote meant something to her, and although it was a bit impractical of a quote for him, it suited her very well. Denver never really got down very much--he usually got what he wanted, and he usually did not have to worry about cheering himself up. He generally was too busy of a person to be completely unhappy, although he certainly was not the happiest person. He was detached and removed. He admired those who could be willful whimsical and truly happy and high on life. That was just not something he could do.

"The boiled frog effect? I cannot say I have heard of it. What is it?" It sounded intriguing and grotesque, but based on what Diana was saying, it was probably some psychological theory.

Denver frowned. "That sounds dreadfully dull. You don't seem like you would be happy in a life like that... not that I presume to know you better than I do. But just from your expression, you seem bothered by the concept. What do you want to do in life, Diana?"