Jigano slowed as they reached the end of the market, ducking aside and away from the Fae shopkeepers and customers behind a particularly wide and tall tree trunk. It seemed to be something of a boundary, marking off the bodega from other parts of the village, but it made a good place to wait for a moment while their companions finished their tasks and explorations. Soon they would all be heading back to the Settlement, to friends and family awaiting them there. Some, like Sam and Amalia, would have homes to return to. Killian had a bed he was borrowing, at least, in one of the clinics. Jigano didn't know what Deimos and Kiada were going back to, but they seemed to hold a connection of camaraderie deeper than two chance-met strangers would develop overnight. It drew questions to mind, ones that he had no idea if the big man would be willing to answer, but he wouldn't know until he tried.
"Ah, like Auni?" he hazarded, remembering the tiny luxere with a pang of loss that struck deep on two counts. He and Isla had sung for luxere together at the beginning of Deepfrost, the medic a friend and bright light of inspiration in the strange new world he'd found himself in. Fireflowers and luxere had drawn them together, kindling a friendship that had become an anchor to him... briefly. As he understood it, the night that Kiada had arrived in the Rathskeller with Auni was the night that Isla had died, attempting to save a small luxere from a monster in the dark. The little companion represented both a friendship's blossom and the withering of that flower, struck from the tree of life too soon and twisted into something that even Remi admitted was no longer truly the woman they had known. He was too controlled to reach for the pocket where a small metal charm lay, a luxere in copper with golden antlers, but he was acutely aware of it in that moment.
He was surprised to hear that Deimos had known Kiada for so long, but at the same time it made sense, given the closeness of their interactions at the bakery. "Did you come through to this world together, then?" he asked, keeping all but the barest hint of wistfulness from his voice. He had thought the Northhaveners were the only group brought through en masse, and so many Outlanders he had met were alone, isolated by force and circumstance. He hadn't realized there were others lucky enough to come from the same place, to share a world and a history and a sense of common ground that he could only reach after and grasp in slender straws that were almost what he knew but not quite. Caiside and he shared much in common... so long as they didn't look too closely at the details. What would it be like, he wondered, to have someone to speak to who knew without being told? Even more, someone who knew him?
Such were the things his nightmares were made of, and he pushed the thought away grimly, turning his attention outwards once more to focus on Deimos and his answers.
"Ah, like Auni?" he hazarded, remembering the tiny luxere with a pang of loss that struck deep on two counts. He and Isla had sung for luxere together at the beginning of Deepfrost, the medic a friend and bright light of inspiration in the strange new world he'd found himself in. Fireflowers and luxere had drawn them together, kindling a friendship that had become an anchor to him... briefly. As he understood it, the night that Kiada had arrived in the Rathskeller with Auni was the night that Isla had died, attempting to save a small luxere from a monster in the dark. The little companion represented both a friendship's blossom and the withering of that flower, struck from the tree of life too soon and twisted into something that even Remi admitted was no longer truly the woman they had known. He was too controlled to reach for the pocket where a small metal charm lay, a luxere in copper with golden antlers, but he was acutely aware of it in that moment.
He was surprised to hear that Deimos had known Kiada for so long, but at the same time it made sense, given the closeness of their interactions at the bakery. "Did you come through to this world together, then?" he asked, keeping all but the barest hint of wistfulness from his voice. He had thought the Northhaveners were the only group brought through en masse, and so many Outlanders he had met were alone, isolated by force and circumstance. He hadn't realized there were others lucky enough to come from the same place, to share a world and a history and a sense of common ground that he could only reach after and grasp in slender straws that were almost what he knew but not quite. Caiside and he shared much in common... so long as they didn't look too closely at the details. What would it be like, he wondered, to have someone to speak to who knew without being told? Even more, someone who knew him?
Such were the things his nightmares were made of, and he pushed the thought away grimly, turning his attention outwards once more to focus on Deimos and his answers.
