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?"
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?"
