Floor 2, Room 6

[lustro]

GINGER

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Comments

[lustro]

[ He takes a sip from his mug, letting the tingle of wine draw out the words he’s searching for. ]

You’re kind despite the blood. [ From the first time they met. ] You smile despite the weight of your job. And you try, even as you think I might forget you.

Right?

[troublereduction]

[ ...

Day takes another drink of his wine too. Note to self, Ginger is more perceptive than he gives him credit for, at least some of the time. Maybe he shouldn't have asked that question that night. It gave away a little too much. ]

I guess if you'd consider making the best of things romantic, yeah.

[lustro]

It’s the hope that makes it romantic. Something… you can’t let go of.

[ Making the best of things, sure. But Ginger thinks it’s a little more than that. ]

But I don’t know. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong.

[troublereduction]

[ Funny that Ginger says that. And if Day ever were to prove him wrong, would it be a good thing or a bad thing? ]

...Did I ever tell you what my incantation is? [ He probably hasn't had the chance yet to heal Ginger after feeding Mika, given the mission happened so soon after that night. ]

[lustro]

[ He shakes his head and holds out a free hand, palm up, waiting for the incantation. This was how Tatara made him do magic, so he just figures… this is how it is when you show someone your magic. ]

[troublereduction]

[ Well. He was just going to explain, but when Ginger does that he may as well deliver, yeah? He brings out a string of prayer beads made up of five different colours, with 10 beads for each one. ]

Amor manet. [ "Love endures". A handful of sugar drops into Ginger's palm. ]

[lustro]

[ And Ginger, who understands all the earthly languages and doesn’t require a translation, quirks a smile. ]

So I was right.

[ He slips a piece into his mouth because sweet things are nice and this one is apparently - ]

… Made of love.

[troublereduction]

[ ...When Ginger puts it that way, it's a little embarrassing. ]

Took it from a bit of scripture. Just thought it was kinda funny how you were right on the money.

[lustro]

I’m keeping in mind everything you say when we talk, you know.

[ He does, genuinely, enjoy their conversations. Maaaybe even the teasing, but he can’t say for sure. It makes him feel weird in his stomach. It’s not the kind of teasing he’s used to.]

What’s the rest of it? The scripture.

[troublereduction]

[For some reason, that both warms his heart (Ginger is paying attention to him) and mildly terrifies him, bringing to mind the best and worst parts of working in the division full of socially savvy people. But at least Ginger is just one person. ]

"Once, there was a maiden…
...who fled a shadow, in the company of a friend.
They traveled through strange places, and among strange people.
'How can you trust me,' he asked, 'with such horror behind you?'
'Love endures,' she said."

[ So he said it was scripture, but it's also a poem? One which he recites from memory without hesitation. ]

[lustro]

Pretty…

[ But also complicated in the way all scriptures are. Is love the trust they share or the shadow that chases them - enduring the distance, the years? ]

So… are you the question or are you the answer?

[troublereduction]

[ That's the beauty of all the maiden poems, Day supposes. Even Sidereals get into debates about what they mean, and they're the ones working for the Maidens, with their blessing. ]

I just think it's got a good point. [ That's his honest answer. "Love endures" has been like a mantra in his heart, from the day he had to memorize it during bureau training. Ironically, he doesn't borrow much from the Pillar otherwise. ] All the constellations have a poem associated with them, though this one ain't the Ewer's.

[lustro]

It would be nice if it did - for everyone.

[ Ginger thinks love can endure for one person, but that’s terribly sad. Lonely in the worst way. ]

Is that something you hope for yourself one day?

[troublereduction]

[ It would be nice if that was true for everyone—that it isn't the case is why he has a job to do, among other reasons.

Day doesn't answer for a long moment, like he's trying to decide how to answer. Does Ginger mean whether he wants a love that endures for him, or for his love to endure? If it's the former, it's hard for him to imagine right now. Maybe one day, he might feel that way for a Sidereal colleague and it'll be reciprocated, a shared understanding of things gained from and lost to fate. But right now, he's not really hoping one way or another.

If it's the latter, it's what he's been holding onto for the past five years since that fateful day. Not something he hopes for, but something that must be pried from his cold fingers, or else... It would have been too difficult. It would still be too difficult.

Both are such lonely answers, and he doesn't want to dampen Ginger's spirits, so he says: ]

I wonder.

[lustro]

[ And still: ]

What a lonely answer from a romantic.

[ He reaches out - and after a beat where he seems to hesitate, he pushes a drop of sugar into Day’s smiling mouth. A little sweetness to curb the loneliness. ]

Tell me about the Ewer’s scripture then.

1/2

[troublereduction]

[ Day was never going to win that one, huh. When Ginger reaches out Day lets him without trying to lean away, like he's comfortable with the gesture.

And then Ginger pops the sugar into his mouth and Day makes a startled noise. ]

!

[troublereduction]

[ ...Fine, he'll suck on this sugar for a moment, then: ]

You could have warned me.

[ He'll get to the scripture in a moment, he just has to file a complaint first. ]

[lustro]

[ He laughs. ]

Whaaat, you expect me to finish all that by myself?

[ All complaints can go to their mentor who will probably throw it out. ]

[troublereduction]

You could always share. [ You know, with people besides him.

But okay, the complaint was filed, so he can now properly answer Ginger's request. ]

"Once, there was a maiden…
...who was driven from her land.
Great black stags chased after her, and their eyes shone blue.
Monsters scrambled after her through the bush, though they found her not.
Stumbling on a log, she fell, and thought to surrender and end the torment of the hunt, but then she stood, and stuck out her tongue at the dark woods behind her.
'Love is smiling at your troubles,' she said."

[lustro]

Hmm.

[ He repeats the scripture in his head as he remembers it. Why, then, was she initially driven from her home? Is she the monster called love?

Something else that stands out though: ]

“Their eyes shone blue.” Like yours, like starlight.

[troublereduction]

[ The common interpretation is that it isn't all necessarily the same maiden. That she's allegorical, even, but considering their patron goddesses are the Maidens... who knows? ]

Heh, plenty of people in the bureau get into debates about what that's supposed to mean. [ After all, blue is the colour of Venus and her Chosen, which includes Day. ] What made you say starlight, though? [ He's curious. If a bit of that connection still lingers here, he'd be gratified even if it's just part of the aesthetic. ]

[lustro]

It’s… the first thing that came to mind?

[ He tilts his head and considers Day’s eyes. ]

Almost like an ocean, but you don’t reflect the sky.

[troublereduction]

[ It gets a smile from Day, and a low, pleased laugh. ]

Still makes me glad to hear it from you. [ That he can still remind someone of the stars, but also the fact it's Ginger saying this, for some reason. He takes another sip of wine. ] First time's someone compared 'em to the ocean, too.

[lustro]

[ Oh - that’s a nice laugh. Something in Ginger takes Note. Hm. ]

Really? What do they usually say?

[troublereduction]

Like sapphires, or forget-me-nots.