Just... just a dialogue drabble about love. It started out as just a kind of brain dump on familial love being precious and sacred, and then it spiraled into.... well, this.
"Familial love is something sacred. It, out of all forms of love is perhaps the most sacred, and when destroyed, it is the most devastating."
"What about romantic love?"
"...I... okay....Why, then. Why is Familial love sacred, why is it the most sacred? Why is it so devastating when broken? "
"Because it is something that not only creates, but it shapes as well. Romantic love can create a child, but without familial love that child may be left to agony and pain, with fractures that can haunt them for the rest of their life. If you break up with a romantic or sexual partner, there is pain, but you may move on with little repercussions. If you are torn from your mother, your father, your guardians, your siblings, you may be shattered for the rest of your life. You can walk away from a relationship. You can run if you need to write papers to ensure distance. From a family, you have to sever chains. Slice away the umbilical cord that chokes you as it feeds you. Not everyone survives the process. Not everyone can hold their breath until they can outlast starvation, so they either cut to early and starve alone, or they choke, suffocate and die.
Those who escape, have eyes that burn darker than eyes that have seen war. They are resilient to destruction and should they find a way to find themselves from the ashes, they are vicious in all they love. They know what wrongs were committed, and if they can move past that, if they can free themselves from making the same mistakes.... Well. They're better off for it. You do not have to fight that kind of battle in a romantic relationship. Not when you are still a child."
"I don't think that's true. Abusive relationships can happen between romantic partners as well."
"But is it really romance then? It's just a twisted echo of the familial relationship, panted in reds and pinks and gold. Those flimsy colours of romance. There is one person in power, and they use it against the person who is viewed as having less. Romance is between equals. Family is not."
"Family aren't equals? What about found family? Are they not equals?"
"If you're describing a troupe of friends, then well, there's your answer they're friends. The "Family" aspect comes from how you protect and support each other. No one can have constant power. Their mood will drop sometimes, a wave of depression would overcome them or maybe they'd have an anxiety attack. The other, or others would help, but they wouldn't kiss in the way that you would a romantic relationship, they wouldn't profess their love, they would sit and talk about all the favorite things of that person who is feeling low. They would hug and tease a little, apologizing profusely if they've overstepped. They'd buy that person their favorite foods so that they have something to eat while they sob out all their problems. And then they'd buy them another when they drop it because of their hiccups and sniffles."
"but a romantic partner can do that too. They can do that and provide even more love on an even more intimate level."
"But that's just the thing isn't it? Romantic, love hinges on that more intimate level. Sure, they may not be the same all the time, but they both have that kind of basis. Romantic love has a deeper inexplicable connection that can draw a person back every time. It is built off of the fact that you've picked this person to be forever, or maybe not forever, maybe to just simply be yours for however long that'll be. Family is a bond that anticipates the separation. That you will not be together so tightly forever. That they will not be yours for however long you can hold on to them. Children will grow up and seek other partners. Siblings will have different friend groups that may estrange them. When they return to one another it is not because they choose them. It is not because they wish to have 'what is theirs' it is because Family has strings that last. They are not strengthened or weakened by whether or not you share the same bed. There is a respectful distance around each person in a family. One that can be invaded when wanted or needed but one that isn't constantly invaded."
"But surely.... Wait. Why do you focus so intently on this love?"
"Why is it worse off to be seen as a friend rather than a lover? Why is the 'friend zone' seen with such derogatory connotations? I don't want a romantic relationship. Can't I just have friends? Can't I just value that as something sacred and profound? What if I love you as a friend more than I could ever love a romantic partner? What if declaring you my friend is equitable to a romantic partner getting down on one knee and proposing? Why can't my love be valued? What if one day, I could romantically fall in love with someone, but it was only when we were friends first, and I never knew because no one wants to be friends instead of lovers?"
"I... Don't know. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault. But... It's not mine either."
"I have a kit here. From when I was a kid."
"It's one of those friendship bracelet kits. The kind with braided string and beads. I never really liked the rubber band ones."
"... I think that's the wrong question."
"Because I think that even if calling you my friend is going to be like a marriage proposal, we should have something to symbolize it. A married couple can have their wedding rings. We'll have friendship bracelets."
"I...I Love you.... Oh! Er, but not—"
"Pfft, hahaha! You don't need to tell me that!"
"Sorry, sorry. Force of habit..."
