Mood Lighting [Seasonal Event]

Longnight was not a particularly complex time of year for Sam, but there was one of the traditions he wholeheartedly participated in whenever he could (and all around the year too) - candles. He loved them. Watching them burn, seeing liquid wax gather and pool then drip down the sides, changing the shape of itself over time.

He had quite the impressive collection of candles already. Some in specific colours which he brought out at specific times of year (dark blacks and blues for Deepfrost, bright oranges and greens for Longheat), some short and fat and some tall and thin. They were often centerpieces in his table, arranged along with a few books and leaves or other things he'd found outside.

When Jigano had suggested they go to buy some new ones together for the upcoming Longnight, he was thrilled. Not only was he going to get some new candles, he was going out shopping with a friend. A real friend who he could talk to and trust. Only months ago, the idea would have been absurd.

He waited at the outskirts of the market at dusk, the sky just dark enough that he did not have to wear anything special to protect himself from the sun. Most of the stalls would be shut in about an hour, but there was time to wander around and find what was needed. As he waited for Jigano, Sam looked at his own empty stall and wondered when he would find the energy or will to get back to opening it. After recent events...he had found his desire to make books slip away through his fingers.

As he saw Jigano approach he tried to take the thought out of his mind so he would not frown at him in greeting. With a smile warmer than he usually gave, he waved with his fingers shyly.

Jigano

Jigano still wasn’t sure where he would end up spending the true Long Night, but the nights had been getting longer and consequently darker, and it made studying in the Atheneum more difficult – and it had to make things harder on Sam, as well, whether he chose to read in the library or the comfort of his own home. Since they both had a similar problem that needed solving, the bard had hoped they might do so together. He enjoyed the time spent with his quiet friend. Every time they met it seemed as though the bookmaker had become a little braver, and a little more certain of himself.

Bundled up in his thick grey cloak against the cold evening air, Jigano made his way to the market with an assessing eye for the buildings he passed, keeping an eye out for the shadows. It was, however, a quiet twilight walk interrupted by nothing more than a few humming bats, and as he came in view of the outskirts he saw a familiar dark-clad ginger man awaiting him.

The little wave brought a smile to his lean face, and he returned it as he approached, flourishing his cloak in a little half-bow of greeting. ”Sam! I’m glad we found each other before it got too dark!” Isla might be able to see heat sources now, but the lorekeeper certainly couldn’t! ”I hope you haven’t been waiting long! How have you been?”

Sam smiled at Jigano's flourish of his cloak - it was fancy to him, something fitting a bard. To be greeting so enthusiastically was something that warmed his heart.

"N-No, it hasn't been too long. It's fine." He began to slowly walk up towards the stalls, past the first few (which were offering cured meats, nothing relevant to their current quest. The smell rising up from them brought thoughts of blood to him though, which settled like a stone in his stomach). He pulled at his shirt and thought before answering the question about how he was. He had no idea.

"Um...th-things have been weird. I don't know." He did not think to politely brush the question off with a fake answer - 'how are you' was not a question he was often asked. "...I-I got stuck. Under the bone bridge. In a cave."

Walking around the stalls selling cloths and undyed fabrics he spotted the candlemakers stall nearby, a couple of aisles down. Seeing no reason to hurry he snaked around down the aisle they stood in, intending to loop back around. "...It was not...great...um...how about you?"

Jigano fell in beside his friend, humming softly to himself as he glanced with interest at the stalls they passed. He came this way occasionally, but far less often than Samuel did. The sight of the cured meats brought a little smile to his face as he thought of Rory and his hunting, but Samuel's stuttering uncertainty refocused his attention on the man beside him and he raised a brow at the vague answer.

When the bookmaker continued the bard sucked in a sharp breath of concern, even though his friend had obviously survived the event. His fingers flexed, toying with the fur of his cloak as he tried to decide what to ask first, and how to ask it. Not even the cloth-sellers, who he would normally have a keen eye for, could distract him as he followed Sam's lead.

"I have been... well," he said slowly. "I've seen the luxere a few times now, with Isla. I have continued my studies in the Atheneum, and work at the Rathskeller has gone better than I expected. But... Sam, how did you end up under the Bone Bridge? What were you doing out there? And... however did you escape?"

Of course, Jigano wanted to know more about his accident under the bone bridge. Sam thought for a second to try and distract, to say something like oh, you know Isla? But he knew Jigano would bring it back to this regardless. Having friends was wonderful except when they were overly concerned about you.

"I..um. Well. D-Do you know Remi? I was with him on the bridge when...it...there was an avalanche, I think. I go for walks there a lot..." Details of that day that weren't to do with the drinking were fuzzy. "Um. Well. We fell. And we got stuck." When he actually said it out loud, it sounded rather more dramatic than he'd expected it to.

"...I needed...to...to drink. I was weak." His voice grew quiet and ashamed, and he held his arms in close. "Re-Remi offered. So I did, but...." What exactly the issue had been was left blank, Sam shrugging and moving on. "Anyway. He's attuned. So we f-flew out. I can...do things. When I drink. And then I came home. So I suppose it wasn't so bad after all, ...right?"

Remi's name caused a brow to raise in a silent Oh, really? but Jigano didn't interrupt. Samuel had a tendency to let his rambling get increasingly more vague when he was upset, and the event had clearly been traumatic on some level. Getting knocked off that bridge by an avalanche and falling who-knew-how-far would definitely count, even if Sam wasn't...well... Sam.

The bard took in a slow breath, wondering if his friend had finished. He drifted to a halt between stalls, the warm meaty smells of some sort of stuffed-bread seller on one side, the whisper of dyed ribbons and scarves on the other. His patience paid off as Samuel continued to speak, but the other man was clearly guilty at what he'd done, even though it sounded as though it had been necessary - and offered willingly. The brow went back up, however, at hearing that Ascended could 'do things' when they drank. Isla hadn't mentioned that, but then... she was still learning what her new state entailed.

"That... is quite a lot to take in," Jigano said slowly, expelling the breath he'd been holding in order to keep his questions in check. "And sounds like quite an adventure. You should definitely write it down, if only for yourself." He gave a little shake of his head, a smile flitting wryly across his features. "Mostly, I'm just glad you did make it safely home again. But...there is much I want to ask." With a nod, he began walking again, though more slowly as they eased back into the flow of evening shoppers. "Firstly, I've met a Remi, yes. Once. Curly haired lad, smile that goes from sunshine to sadness faster than you can flip a coin, with wounded sea-green eyes and a penchant for nearly getting himself killed? That Remi?"

The lorekeeper snorted softly. "Well. I'm not surprised he offered you blood if you needed it. I question the boy's sense of self-preservation... but his heart is in the right place." Even if he was determined to make himself a martyr. "I suppose it's a good thing you were with him at the time... but what do you mean about 'doing things' when you, ah, drink? And how did you fly?" The bard was genuinely puzzled, trying to piece together the bits and pieces of Samuel's statements with what he'd learned from books and other people in the Settlement. At least he knew that 'attuned' were people who could shift into animals, though not a great deal more than that. And far less about the Ascended, who seemed to have very little written down about them.

Jigano took in a breath - Oh no, here it was. Sam knew the other man had to be judging him, had to be disgusted that he had given into his base instincts and drunk blood. He stayed quiet as Jigano began to speak, staring hard at a stall nearby selling trinkets and listening, waiting for the inevitable repulsion.

...But it didn't come. What did come were questions, which he was not particularly fond of either but it was still a far cry from being strung out in the town centre for drinking. The description of Remi did make him smile despite everything, though. It seemed he had a trend of putting his life on the line.

"That Remi, yes. Handsome." He added the last word quietly, carefully, as if he wasn't quite sure if he wanted Jigano to hear it. "And...when I drink I can take...a-abilities. As well as blood. Remi...I-I don't know if you know. He can be a bird."

Hopefully that didn't sound too ridiculous to Jigano. Sam wasn't even sure if he knew of the existence of Attuned. "So...I c-could be a bird too. For a little while. I didn't really like it. But I could fly out. ...Does that make sense?"

Handsome? Hmph. Well-formed, perhaps, but the pup was too uneasy in his own skin for Jigano's tastes. Give the boy some growing - a bit of spine, a large dollop of self-worth - and perhaps he might be attractive. But handsome? No, not yet. But if Samuel thought so... Jigano's lips twitched into a wry smile. The boy was a heartbreaker and he didn't want his friend to find out the hard way, but who was he to deny a fantasy? "Ahh, yes, and a lion too, I believe. Though I've only seen bits and pieces of his transformations." The control Remi could exert over the partial shifts was impressive - all the more so, since Jigano had somehow lost his own, though he'd used it so rarely as an adult that it hadn't felt particularly strange to no longer be able to. Still, why Remi could and he could not... was it something to do with the gods?

A train of thought for another time, when he didn't have a friend at his side who deserved his full attention. "I... suppose it doesn't matter if it makes 'sense'," the bard mused wryly, taking Samuel at his word with solemn trust that the bookmaker wouldn't lie to him. Not without far greater signs of it in speech and body language, at least. "It happened, so whether it's rational or not, I'll have to try and accept it. The Ascended have some truly peculiar abilities..." He raised an amused brow at his friend before glancing about the market, seeking their goal. He wasn't sure exactly where he was heading, so he gave Samuel a helpless little shrug and continued in the direction the bookmaker had been leading them before their little stop. "Is your vision enhanced as well? Or is the, ah, borrowing of abilities a skill unique to you? The fact that you could fly instinctively without having to learn it is most impressive."

Sam nodded solemnly at the mentioned of Remi's lion form, remembering his worry about it taking over. Had Jigano seen it...? Did he know if it was truly the beast Remi feared? Sam didn't know how to ask, so he didn't.

They started walking again and it wasn't long before they came to candles; this time of year was very lucrative for anyone selling them and the stalls had expanded out to two, three tables each. Sam picked up one with different mottled colours of green wax and some golden flecks - it would go well with his bedroom.

"I...I don't know. I haven't done it much. But I could see fine...a-and fly alright. I think because Remi knows how. I...hit the c-cave roof at first, though." He confessed with a sheepish laugh. "I could talk to him in my mind, too. At-attuned can do that." That particular part of the whole experience had been so odd Sam still wasn't sure if he actually believed it.

He turned the candle in his hands. "...Something else happened too, in the cave..um. Jigano...have you ever....been with someone?"

"I meant... oh, never mind," Jigano sighed, giving his head a little frustrated shake. He had been thinking of how Isla's vision had been improved by the Voice, and wondered if that was a trait all Ascended shared. Just as he had been wondering if, separately, the ability to 'borrow' abilities was something that all Ascended could do, or if Sam had a unique power not shared by his fellow 'vampires.' Getting straight answers from the bookmaker, though, was... difficult, at best. The bard honestly didn't know whether his friend was truly oblivious to what others said, or if it was his way of avoiding giving answers. He'd have to ask Isla the next time he saw her. She was, at least, more straightforward with him, with a keen mind for research and cataloguing new information, even if her Ascension was almost painfully new.

Long fingers stroked over a candle in pale blue that shaded darker towards its base, like the tail end of sunset. His lips quirked a little at hearing how Samuel had flown into a cave roof - wait, he'd been in a cave? That was new information... - but before Jigano could ask how they'd ended up falling into a cave, the bookmaker said something that had the bard's fingers stilling. Telepathy... the animal shifters were telepathic with each other? All of them? Then that meant--

He only caught the tail end of Samuel's question, but the hesitation in his voice - well, more than normal hesitation - caught the bard's attention. He glanced sideways at his friend from beneath pale lashes, taking in the verbal cues of words and voice, and drew in a slow breath. Sam... and Remi? Wasn't the pup still pining for his lost love? Or had he decided to move on?

...If he broke Samuel's heart, Jigano was going to write a very unflattering song about him and make sure everyone on Caido was singing it by the end of Deepfrost.

"You mean romantically? Or physically?" He exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts. "I have admired someone I might have fallen in loved with, though it was never... reciprocated. She was far above my station." His lips twitched in a wry smile. She had also been married at the time, to a puppet of a king, until Jigano's friend had bested the man in single combat and then slain him at the man's own request. "But if you mean sex, then... no. I had few chances in my youth, less when I... was traveling in company. And when I began my solitary wanderings I... did not have a mind or heart open enough to consider such a partner." He raised a brow, turning his head just far enough to meet Sam's gaze if the man choose to do the same. "But I take it that you would not be against young Remi, ah, pressing his suit with you?"

Sam put down the candle he had been admiring (but it was definitely in the 'possible purchases' list) and picked up another, a simple off-white colour but shaped into a spiral with a dip at the top for the wick. It was elegant, something he felt almost matched Jigano if he were into home decor; though given the man apparently lived in what Sam imagined as a hollowed-out tree, it seemed unlikely.

He wasn't sure quite what Jigano was frustrated about, but he didn't ask - if he had failed to give the correct answer once, he would likely fail again, which would be mortifying.

Sam was very surprised to learn that he and Jigano had the same amount of experience in matters of sex. He seemed so wise, old beyond his years, as if he had done everything and had a story to tell about it; Jigano's position as a pillar of stability in Sam's life slipped a little. But any more thoughts about Jigano's love life were cut short when he was asked if he wanted to..'press suits'.

He'd never heard that phrase, but Sam knew what it meant. He cleared his throat and focused very hard on the candle in his fingers. "...Well....we...almost...did. I-it was odd. We were about to die. Or at least, he was. B-but I drank and he liked it and..." He took a deep breath. "Then nothing happened, really, we..." Sam lowered his voice so the shopkeeper could not hear. "Took our shirts off. But he...didn't want to do anything else. With me. B-because I'm Ascended."

No wonder Sam was so flustered. Jigano knew the ins and outs of the mechanics of sex, and far more of the emotional impetus behind it; he was a bard, after all, and stories and songs of love were a pillar of his trade - both raunchy and romantic. Speaking of it didn't particularly bother him, nor did he find his own lack of personal experience particularly shameful or a loss. He was curious, certainly, but not enough to experiment with strangers, and frankly he'd had other concerns in his life. He had strong hands and good rhythm, so why settle for a partner who might only be adequate at best?

But what Sam was describing... "That's... possibly several different things going on at once," he said slowly, reaching out to lift a particularly thick and somewhat bulbous candle in shades of primrose and scarlet. "Surviving a dangerous situation can make people act strangely in the aftermath. Giddy... euphoric, even. Like a drug. And when they come down from it... they might be ashamed of what they did when their inhibitions were lowered." He spoke slowly, quietly, placing each word with care as he drew from his memory of things he'd read and his own personal experiences and memories. He set the rather gauche candle down, fingers trailing over the wares until he found a simple orange one, with a pattern of leaves stamped on its side. "I don't know what was going through his head at the time but... from what I have seen, Sam, you are a good and kind man, and not without courage. If Remi is unable to appreciate that because of something that was done to you years ago... because of your teeth or if he can't see past the coolness of your touch to the warmth in your heart, then he was always unworthy of you. And you deserve better than his narrow-minded pawing in the snow."

Jigano was right about inhibitions being lowered, though it appeared he didn't know the real reason. Sam himself hadn't known of the power in his teeth, the ability to effect someone so deeply - nor had he known of how delicious it would be for him. The memory of drinking from Remi had refused to leave him alone, resurfacing regularly while he was trying to read or make books and making him have to pause to stare at the wall for a while.

"He...hm. He liked it when I bit him. But then...h-he didn't like that I wasn't. Um." Sam stumbled around the word erect in his head; he wasn't entirely sure if that had been an issue or not. "As...as warm as he was, I suppose. Or that I didn't feel it...the same way." He shrugged. Since he had never had sex before his Ascension, he didn't know what it was meant to feel like anyway.

As much as Jigano's words were surprisingly harsh and Sam's initial response was to defend Remi...he actually enjoyed revelling in being petty, just for a second. He nodded in agreement with Jigano and picked the green candle back up, looking at both of the ones in his hands and comparing them.

"...Thank you. That is...kind of you to say. The...woman you said you were in l-love with. What was she like? Did you ever speak to her?"

It was, at the moment, very difficult to think of a more awkward conversation that he had ever had. The bard wasn't discomfited so much as bemused at Samuel's halting explanations, but he was unhappy for his friend's sake that Remi had treated him unkindly. Not that he had any idea that Ascended couldn't react the way a human could, so he wasn't really sure why Remi had turned Sam away after apparently taking his shirt off. Still, he would give his friend his support... even as his opinion of the pup cooled a few more degrees. Was that sweet-faced smile just a facade? Or was his head so empty that he was casually, obliviously cruel to those he hurt, even as he insisted he was helping others?

Jigano set his candles down, eyeing the ones Sami had chosen with a smile. "Get them both," he urged. "It sounds like you'll need those two and more for Long Night." It gave him a chance to gather his thoughts, lips quirking with nostalgia that was more pleasure than pain. "I didn't say I was in love," he corrected gently. "Only that, if we'd had time, I might have grown to love her. She was the consort of a... a sovereign of my land. Fierce and strong, a warrior of great honor and skill. And she had a mind so focused I was in awe of her. Her people... are not, by and large, literate, but she undertook to teach herself to read, to gather knowledge as power when she became consort so that she could reign at her husband's side. But..." He hesitated, smile fading to a sigh. "Her husband fell under the sway of... others. With their own agendas. They used drugs to turn him into a puppet and she had to hide her mind and her ambitions or they would have killed her. So she played the part of a dutiful but simple consort, concerned with her clothes and weapons and little else, while beneath it all she planned furiously and read to further her knowledge of how to bring them down." He chuckled softly, glancing over the gathered candles until he found one in dark blue and purple, drizzled in a silvery grey. "That was where we came in, and how I met her. Our desires aligned, though for different reasons. We were together some little while as we worked together to plot the coup and bring it to fruition, though never alone. She wanted her husband freed from his addictions - one way or another. For the sake of our land, our mission, and the man himself... my friend fought and killed him, at his own request. And she... ascended the throne. And I... stayed awhile, as we gathered ourselves for the final push into the Silvermount. Once I left Starfall on that ill-fated journey, I never saw her again." He smiled down at the candle in his hand, turning it to catch the gleam of the stars above and the lanterns around them, admiring the play of light on silver.

He glanced from the corner of his eye to his ginger-haired companion, voice soft and coaxing. "And you, Samuel? Have you ever been in love?"