”I don’t know,” Jigano admitted, frowning thoughtfully at the insightful questions Loren asked. ”Though Remi hasn’t caught it yet, and neither has… the person I live with.” Was there a more tactful way of saying that? Perhaps, but as the anger roiling in him drained away it left him feeling weary and too tired to pursue it. ”So, those who live physically close to the blighted aren’t catching it. It wouldn’t seem to be transferred by breath or bad air, nor skin contact or…” He cleared his throat delicately. ”Ah, close contact in general. We should make a list…” He sighed and reached up to rub a hand over his brow, wondering how to phrase it so as not to accidentally cause a panic. ”I don’t think it’s general knowledge yet, though. I had to have a god tell me that it wasn’t just a lingering effect of my Leafchange fever,” he added wryly.
”It’s an affliction that’s growing increasingly common these days,” the bard acknowledged Loren’s explanation with a bit of his own gallows humor. ”The mood swings are hell, especially when we snap at people who don’t deserve it.” In that way he could understand what had driven Loren, even if it had been stress or sickness or something other than the blight at its root. The result was the same, either way.
”Kids?” He hadn’t seen any children in his brief time in the Manor, but given Edrei’s state of… well, state at the time, that was probably for the best. ”No, at this rate we might as well wait until Flowerbirth. Those who aren’t on Zariah’s ‘Wanted’ lists will probably be fine in the Manor over Long Night. The rest of us can make do in our own homes or the Temple again.” He knew what Rory would choose, of course. He just hoped he would still be sane enough to stay with him when the time came.
Meddling in other people’s personal affairs was not one of Jigano’s better traits, but he found himself lacking the energy to do more than nod tiredly at the Launceleyn’s surge of indignant determination. ”That will do,” he said mildly. ”I’ll check in with him later, then. I suspect he needs to be doing something to help just as much as we do, though. Perhaps we’ll make a breakthrough together that we wouldn’t manage alone.” The other man had powerful magics, while the bard had… well. Not nearly as much to offer, in truth, as Deimos had driven home so bitterly. But he appreciated Remi’s reaching out and trying to keep him involved in spite of that lack.
”It’s an affliction that’s growing increasingly common these days,” the bard acknowledged Loren’s explanation with a bit of his own gallows humor. ”The mood swings are hell, especially when we snap at people who don’t deserve it.” In that way he could understand what had driven Loren, even if it had been stress or sickness or something other than the blight at its root. The result was the same, either way.
”Kids?” He hadn’t seen any children in his brief time in the Manor, but given Edrei’s state of… well, state at the time, that was probably for the best. ”No, at this rate we might as well wait until Flowerbirth. Those who aren’t on Zariah’s ‘Wanted’ lists will probably be fine in the Manor over Long Night. The rest of us can make do in our own homes or the Temple again.” He knew what Rory would choose, of course. He just hoped he would still be sane enough to stay with him when the time came.
Meddling in other people’s personal affairs was not one of Jigano’s better traits, but he found himself lacking the energy to do more than nod tiredly at the Launceleyn’s surge of indignant determination. ”That will do,” he said mildly. ”I’ll check in with him later, then. I suspect he needs to be doing something to help just as much as we do, though. Perhaps we’ll make a breakthrough together that we wouldn’t manage alone.” The other man had powerful magics, while the bard had… well. Not nearly as much to offer, in truth, as Deimos had driven home so bitterly. But he appreciated Remi’s reaching out and trying to keep him involved in spite of that lack.
