For once Jigano had worn a red shirt instead of his more usual garb, the garment homespun but brightly dyed with plants gathered in the Greatwood. It had not been meant as funeral-wear, but it was more Edy's color than anything else he owned, even if it was mostly hidden beneath the white-and-grey furred cloak he wore, even indoors and next to the fire. He couldn't shake the chill that was growing from his skin inwards, almost as if it was seeking his bones to settle into. The fiery Launceleyn, however, would surely have offered to warm him up, with an emphasis on athletic endeavors and skin-to-skin contact.
He would never know how she might have phrased it now, but the party in her honor was a time for ribald humor and raunchy innuendo, complemented by dirty jokes and vast quantities of booze, not for mournful sighs and regretful laments, however tuneful. Instead he focused on the music she would haveloved tolerated; bright and upbeat and full of double entendres.
Or at least, he'd intended to focus on that. The party hadn't really gotten into full swing yet when he was approached by the ragged stranger from the Greatwood, and new manager of the Launceleyn manor. The man was not nearly so ragged now, his clothing neat and sober, but aside from noting his presence Jigano had told himself firmly that he would ignore the rude, insulting man, though the darkness in his blood seethed at the reminder of harsh words snarled among falling leaves. He had come to provide entertainment, not cause trouble, and keeping his mouth occupied by his flute and his music was the best way to do that and keep the corruption seeping into his soul from ruining the party.
Caido was not content with giving him the easy way out of things again so soon, however. He watched Loren's approach with wary blue eyes, skirling the song to a playful end and then setting his flute into his lap. He was steeling himself to bite his tongue against his blight-fueled temper and wondering if he would have to leave the wake before it had even truly begun, ready for the worst that could be thrown at him. To say the apology came as a surprise would be something of an understatement, the bard's silver brow rising slowly as he tried to reconcile the polite young man before him now with the sharp-tongued hooligan in the woods.
"I... appreciate that," he said slowly, as though weighing every word carefully. He had to, checking each one and the phrasing as a whole before he let it past his teeth lest his knife-edged temper burst free as it already had with Amalia and Rory. "I am glad to see that you are doing better now.Loren , isn't it?" The face had finally crystallized into familiarity, though they had never met before. The last time he had seen those features they had looked positively ghoulish, twisted into a haunting mockery of the living man.
He and Remi had killed the creature that wore that face, and Remi had buried it beneath the soil of the Labyrinth (and then unearthed it at Jigano's rather tactless request before burying it again). It was something that did not, the lorekeeper decided upon further examination, need to be brought up at Edrei's wake.
He would never know how she might have phrased it now, but the party in her honor was a time for ribald humor and raunchy innuendo, complemented by dirty jokes and vast quantities of booze, not for mournful sighs and regretful laments, however tuneful. Instead he focused on the music she would have
Or at least, he'd intended to focus on that. The party hadn't really gotten into full swing yet when he was approached by the ragged stranger from the Greatwood, and new manager of the Launceleyn manor. The man was not nearly so ragged now, his clothing neat and sober, but aside from noting his presence Jigano had told himself firmly that he would ignore the rude, insulting man, though the darkness in his blood seethed at the reminder of harsh words snarled among falling leaves. He had come to provide entertainment, not cause trouble, and keeping his mouth occupied by his flute and his music was the best way to do that and keep the corruption seeping into his soul from ruining the party.
Caido was not content with giving him the easy way out of things again so soon, however. He watched Loren's approach with wary blue eyes, skirling the song to a playful end and then setting his flute into his lap. He was steeling himself to bite his tongue against his blight-fueled temper and wondering if he would have to leave the wake before it had even truly begun, ready for the worst that could be thrown at him. To say the apology came as a surprise would be something of an understatement, the bard's silver brow rising slowly as he tried to reconcile the polite young man before him now with the sharp-tongued hooligan in the woods.
"I... appreciate that," he said slowly, as though weighing every word carefully. He had to, checking each one and the phrasing as a whole before he let it past his teeth lest his knife-edged temper burst free as it already had with Amalia and Rory. "I am glad to see that you are doing better now.
He and Remi had killed the creature that wore that face, and Remi had buried it beneath the soil of the Labyrinth (and then unearthed it at Jigano's rather tactless request before burying it again). It was something that did not, the lorekeeper decided upon further examination, need to be brought up at Edrei's wake.
