I'm A Lot Like You

"Mistress von Karma, your pupil has arrived. He is waiting in the foyer." The butler stood just beyond the grand doorway, his sable attire hiding him against the dark finish of the wooden framework. The study was drowned in fluorescent lights, the colored glass window overlooking the study black from nighttime. There was a solitary bright patch there where the light of a computer screen and desk lamp set an offensive glow to the pale complexion and silvered hairs of a teenage girl seated there.
"You already let him in?" She had a delicate frame, caged into perfect posture by boning and cloth. She didn't strain at all under this artificial weight as her hands flew speedily over the computer interface. "I was not expecting him to arrive so early, and am still occupied by this casework. It shall have to take precedence, and I will not see him before the appointed time."
"I could see no reason to leave Mister Gavin out in the cold." The butler waited, but the young woman didn't so much as pause or glance in his direction. It was a full minute before she responded.
"If it's so pressing," she unbreathingly commanded, "offer him a small meal or a tour of the art gallery."
"I'm afraid he has already occupied himself in the flower conserv—" The butler almost jumped as a sinew of leather arced across the chamber, leaving a wake of thunder as it wound back to the hand that cast it.
"A von Karma does not tolerate foolish intrusions upon their personal space. Or the incompetent fools who allow such." She threw her chair back as she stood up, two-inch heels knocking into the hardwood floor as she marched out of the study. "I shall have to deal with him myself."
"I believe that was his fervent wish and hope in the perpetration."
"And you shall have laundry duty come sunrise."
"You are too generous."

"Konrad Gavin!" The glass enclosures of the conservatory rang and echoed with her clarion. The teenager she addressed made no effort to hide himself, his blonde crown of hair rising from behind a set of rose bushes on the far edge, followed by a broad smile. "The conservatory is not for you to idle in as you impede upon my precious time."
"But Franziska—"
"But nothing!" Franziska stalked down an aisle, ignoring the blooms on either side of her. "I was flattered, at first, that you had requested to be my apprentice in law. This, however, does not mean you are a welcome guest in this manor. You are my student, only to come at the appointed time to the proper study hall, to see me and myself only."
"Franziska, when was the last time you were in here?" Konrad's voice was calm and unwavering even in the face of the older girl's invective. She could only scowl at the gentle, knowing look in his eyes. "Do you even say hello to the flowers any more?"
"Floristry is not my field of expertise, nor is it yours. I expect you to be in my study in five minutes." She turned to leave, coming to a halt as Konrad called once again to her.
"Well, since we still have some time, could you come here for a moment?"
"If it is so pressing." Franziska huffed and returned deeper into the conservatory, to Konrad's side. "What foolery do you intend to impart to me tonight?"
"Not foolery. Floristry." Franziska had little time to react as Konrad finally stepped out with a rose boutonnier in his hands. His deft hands pinned it to the cloth of her bodice, nestled against her breast. She stood still in the encounter, only raising her hand to slap his away when she was sure neither would be pricked.
"Foolery."
"The mauve goes with your eyes, and your hair." His tall shadow withdrew from her smaller figure, letting the dim conservatory lights put a glint in those cerulean blue irises he had spent his time accessorizing for. They locked eyes for several seconds, and Franziska turned away before he could notice the hint of a smile.
"I appreciate your taste in fashion, Konrad, but you have lessons to attend." She clutched her whip tighter than ever, holding it to herself as she walked out of the conservatory without him.

An hour later, the rose had still not left her breast, even as she continued to lecture the younger boy, whose eyes had rarely left the rose. Franziska would slap the table with her bundled whip whenever his gaze wandered. She had also done this when he suggested taking a break midsession, and again after she acquiesced. So it was between bites on a sandwich that Konrad posed the question.
"Do you know what love is?" Konrad's unceremonious chewing was the majority of their conversation as her incredulous eyes locked with his.
"Is this for another one of your little songs?"
"Actually, yes."
"Of course." She smirked. "Love is first widening my eyes a little bit and quickening my breathing a little and warming my skin and touching... "
"That's just physical stuff. I mean the abstract."
"Exactly my point."
"How's that?"
"Love is a mere chemical reaction inside our bodies meant to drive us towards the goal of reproduction and continuance of the species."
"So would you say that love is like... oxygen?"
"A necessary element for organisms on this planet, yes."
"So would love be necessary for one to live? To experience life?" Konrad licked a finger clean.
"I dislike your reasoning. Put your plate aside for the butler to gather." She patted the whip in her palm impatiently, following him towards the end of the study.
"Would you say... you're alive, Franziska?" There was a slight waver in his voice.
"Of course I'm alive. How could I be a walking corpse?" Her words were steady as stone.
"S-so if you're alive, you must love, correct?" At these words, Franziska cracked the whip against the table again.
"Konrad Gavin, I do not appreciate this roundabout line of questioning. If you are leading me towards a material point, present it now or I shall unfurl this lash."
"What happened to approaching issues with logical deduction?"
"This is not a courtroom!" Her breaths had quickened, and the fashionable bindings over her torso seemed improper. "Just tell me what you're getting at so we can resume the lesson."
"Who do you love, Franziska?" Konrad bit his lip, hips askew as he tried ever so obviously to remain cool and collected.
"What... what sort of question is that?" Franziska set her whip on the table as she pondered her answers.
"It's kind of straightforward. Who are the people in your life that you feel love for?" Konrad leaned on the table as well, just looking at the older, shorter girl with a masked eagerness.
"There is a belief that attachment causes suffering," she began slowly, "and as such I believe that one may best measure something such as love by the suffering it causes. Suffering arising from loss, fear of loss."
"...go on." Konrad inched closer when Franziska glanced off to the side. "Do you suffer?"
"Of course not. Suffering is weakness."
"What about your family?"
"You know very well what has happened to my family, Konrad Gavin. Do you see me suffering now? Pining for the loss of my dear mother? Wistfully wondering where my elder sister has disappeared to? Begging to know why father has left me here to rot? And even my little brother has turned his back on me?"
"No. No, you don't suffer at all, considering."
"Compared to your own despondence, and your brothers, over Melissa's betrayal? And she wasn't even family."
"I get the point." Konrad sighed. "So you do not suffer, because you feel no love. If you do not love you must not be alive."
"And so I am the walking dead after all. An abomination. I am perfection. I am beyond mortal ken." Franziska repeated this mantra with a magnificent bow and a glued-on smile. "Congratulations on successfully killing your teacher, Konrad Gavin."
"Th-that's not what I was getting at, not at all, Franziska!" Konrad moved off of the table, taking a step towards her.
"Again with your silly meandering. But I believe it's my turn to play this foolish game." She sidestepped him and retrieved her whip, pressing the leather into his back before he could turn around. "All these cute questions. I know you aspire to learn from me, though in the end you are but a silly teenage boy. A fool. Do you suffer?"
"Yes." He spat out his answer.
"Do you suffer for me?" Franziska leaned into him. "Do you love me?"
"Yes, damn it!" Konrad's voice lost its melodic composure ringing off the walls of the study. "I love you, Franziska."
"Konrad Gavin... do you want me to suffer?"
"O-of course not. I wouldn't—" He swallowed a sob and turned to face her. "Wait, no, that's not— I wanted to—"
"That's all I need to know. This lesson is concluded." Franziska pulled away from him, leaving the study and closing the door behind her. The bleak silence keeping Konrad company in that large, empty chamber was broken by several desperate gasps.