Jigano's once-cheerful outward facade had crumbled beneath the repeated assaults of Caido's trials. He had finally had time to mourn, only for greater challenges still to face him and break him down further.
He was beginning to forget how it felt to truly smile without Rory at his side to chase the shadows from his eyes, and he could not put all the weight of his happiness on one man. It wasn't fair to his lover, and it wasn't healthy for him. 'Healthy' being something of a mythical goal he wasn't sure he would ever reach now, but he still had to try.
It said something about the Hollowed Grounds - and about himself, no doubt - that he decided to try and find some joy in playing with the recently-arrived Memory Mud. Dressed in Rory's old castoffs (rather too short in the arms and legs, in point of fact) and barefoot for a change, he was using his earth magic to try and corral a large puddle of the protesting muck into a sort of rough chute that lead down a small hill and into the Oasis. Isuma sat high on a tree branch above, watching and chortling as the contrary goop insisted on staying right where it was, reluctant to coat the slide that Jigano was in the process of making for it.
He was beginning to forget how it felt to truly smile without Rory at his side to chase the shadows from his eyes, and he could not put all the weight of his happiness on one man. It wasn't fair to his lover, and it wasn't healthy for him. 'Healthy' being something of a mythical goal he wasn't sure he would ever reach now, but he still had to try.
It said something about the Hollowed Grounds - and about himself, no doubt - that he decided to try and find some joy in playing with the recently-arrived Memory Mud. Dressed in Rory's old castoffs (rather too short in the arms and legs, in point of fact) and barefoot for a change, he was using his earth magic to try and corral a large puddle of the protesting muck into a sort of rough chute that lead down a small hill and into the Oasis. Isuma sat high on a tree branch above, watching and chortling as the contrary goop insisted on staying right where it was, reluctant to coat the slide that Jigano was in the process of making for it.
