The initial question was met with a wry smile and a slight shrug. "Perhaps? I am not sure how much of their stories are mine to tell, however," he admitted. "For some I have spoken with it is a deeply personal... wound, almost, to have been changed so drastically without permission. A... violation on a spiritual level." He looked to Remi intently to see if the young man understood what he meant. "Perhaps you have met other Outlanders who have come through with their magic changed or taken from them? It is like that but... worse, in many ways." He took the patient, smiling invitation and drew in a slow breath, his guts squirming with a half dozen eels as he sought for the words he had shared with only one other person. It seemed a betrayal of his other friends to tell Remi before them and yet... how many of them had truly explored his past? Sam had tried, once, but it was before Jigano was ready. Gods above and below, but he needed to have a talk with his friend and soon.
"There were many intelligent races on my world," he began slowly, "and the nearby realms. Some looked almost human. Others... very much not. Some lived very long lives, or had abilities that set them apart. In some areas, one race or another predominated, while in others many races lived together." He tilted his head, looking past Remi's shoulder to the shop beyond him, though not seeing the shelves of bits and bobs but somewhere else entirely. "My parents moved to a country distant from their homeland, where our kind were... rare. There was already enough to set them apart, and there could be a danger in being too obvious with your... differences. But one of their race's abilities was to shapeshift into a form that appeared indistinguishable from humans." He slid his gaze cautiously back to Remi's face to judge his reactions, uncertain about continuing even now. It was so hard to tell when the alchemist was genuinely interested and when he was merely being polite...
///
Jigano raised a brow at the cautious question, something suspiciously like a surprised smile hovering at the corners of his lips at Remi's new-found circumspection. "Precious only for what I hope is inside them," the bard reassured, lifting one of the stone more towards Remi and taking care not to scrape it across the table. "And I was lucky in finding two of this size, but there should be others along that stream. I knew they might get... mm. I don't know if 'ruined' is the right word? But if they are sacrificed to learning how to work with them, it's no problem," he explained with a chuckle. "I just wasn't strong enough to bring back any more than this on my own, so I wouldn't say 'no' to future assistance - if it even proves necessary." He shrugged, his usual wry smile returning. "Though it might not even come to that. So what do you suggest as the first approach to these beauties?" A curious term for such blandly ugly rocks, but it was what was inside that Jigano hoped would sparkle. Careful of his words he tried to limit his own suggestions; mindful of the sharp honesty of their past he tried to let Remi guide the experimentation without forcing his own opinions quite so strongly onto the process.
"There were many intelligent races on my world," he began slowly, "and the nearby realms. Some looked almost human. Others... very much not. Some lived very long lives, or had abilities that set them apart. In some areas, one race or another predominated, while in others many races lived together." He tilted his head, looking past Remi's shoulder to the shop beyond him, though not seeing the shelves of bits and bobs but somewhere else entirely. "My parents moved to a country distant from their homeland, where our kind were... rare. There was already enough to set them apart, and there could be a danger in being too obvious with your... differences. But one of their race's abilities was to shapeshift into a form that appeared indistinguishable from humans." He slid his gaze cautiously back to Remi's face to judge his reactions, uncertain about continuing even now. It was so hard to tell when the alchemist was genuinely interested and when he was merely being polite...
///
Jigano raised a brow at the cautious question, something suspiciously like a surprised smile hovering at the corners of his lips at Remi's new-found circumspection. "Precious only for what I hope is inside them," the bard reassured, lifting one of the stone more towards Remi and taking care not to scrape it across the table. "And I was lucky in finding two of this size, but there should be others along that stream. I knew they might get... mm. I don't know if 'ruined' is the right word? But if they are sacrificed to learning how to work with them, it's no problem," he explained with a chuckle. "I just wasn't strong enough to bring back any more than this on my own, so I wouldn't say 'no' to future assistance - if it even proves necessary." He shrugged, his usual wry smile returning. "Though it might not even come to that. So what do you suggest as the first approach to these beauties?" A curious term for such blandly ugly rocks, but it was what was inside that Jigano hoped would sparkle. Careful of his words he tried to limit his own suggestions; mindful of the sharp honesty of their past he tried to let Remi guide the experimentation without forcing his own opinions quite so strongly onto the process.
