Xaviers!

"Perhaps, but you were still brave to try. Most keep their heads down and simply do their jobs. If I'm honest, I'm more like them than like you."

"There's no shame in keeping yourself and your family safe." Jez responded. "I chose to put myself at risk for my beliefs, not everyone can or should do that. But maybe they can be subtle in their support, or welcome change."

"Having to sacrifice one's beliefs for safety is a raw deal at best. The best of bad options."

"Very true. But we put such an emphasis on speaking out and coming out, be it having an X-gene or being gay or whatever, that some people feel they need to even though they're too young to be putting themselves at risk, and feel guilty for hiding. It's a raw deal all around."

"And I've done plenty of things that felt like I was betraying myself and everyone else who wants change."

"A friend of mine who took marketing told me a little something about ethics. Well, it was business ethics, but I think it still applies. If you're not sure if what you're doing is ethical or not, you can ask yourself three questions.
One. Is what you're doing legal?
Two. Would you be okay with your family finding out about your decision six months from now?
Three. Would you be okay with the whole world finding out three years from now?"

She tapped on her controller a few times before she continued. "It's a bit wonky, since it's business and all. The legality thing is the wonkiest I think; there's lots of unjust laws. But I think you get the idea. No one would blame you for not being a trailblazer, the safety of yourself and your family comes first."

Yes. Maybe. Oh God no.

"And if I'm not ethical? What then?"

"Well, like I said, this was a business student, so it's not a one to one comparison. There's stuff I've done with partners that, while legal, I didn't want my family to know about. Or the whole world.

"And since I can't change the past, if I find that I've done something I'm not particularly proud of... then I do my best to make amends by learning from it and being a better person. And maybe doing some good that'll hopefully outweigh the bad."

"That's what I hope for. To ultimately leave the world, or at least my country, better off than I found it."

"Sounds like a decent enough plan to me."

"Thanks," he said with a slight smile, "Though whether I can remains to be seen."

"Sometimes, just trying is enough. Oh THAT'S BULLSHIT." The girl's attitude changed when a group of enemies managed to stunlock and bump her character into a bottomless pit.

"AhahaOH SHIT!" he responded as the same group swarmed his rogue and tore the low-defense character to shreds, "Fuuuck you, game."

Jez let herself fall back against the couch and laughed softly. "Not bad for a first run... I like a game that punishes me for getting cocky." She looked over at Drake.

"Thanks. For this. I didn't realize how much I needed it."

"I live to serve," he smiled with a mock bow that didn't quite work sitting down. Perhaps it worked better with a lizard face?

Jez snorted and gave Drake a very light punch to the shoulder. "That's my line."

"Okay. You can have it back," he smirked, "Being served is better."

Jez gave Drake's leg a pat before pushing herself to stand up, well one of herself anyway, who went over and popped the game out of her console, swapping it with another.

"Would I be able to borrow this from you sometime? I'd like to play it a bit more." She asked before she began to navigate the menu, setting up a 1v1 splitscreen of a certain FPS game with time-based mechanics.

"I see no problem with that," he answered, smirking, "If you beat me."

"High stakes. I like it."