☩ ００８． ＶＩＤＥＯ | ＡＣＴＩＯＮ

[mansuetus]

[ Lucrezia is in one of the lounges! Sprawled on one of the sofas, fingers busy turning a pendent of gold in the shape of a sea-horse. There are no poems today, no joyful greetings, something is different. She looks more pensive than anything else but there is a shade of concern there as well as quiet annoyance.

When she speaks, her voice is devoid of any of it. Her eyes still focused on the sea-horse. ]

A riddle, Tranquility.

How to mourn for someone who does not deserve it?

If your duty demands it and you have no desire to - do all men need to be mourned for? Is it a a more grievous sin not to mourn than it is to speak false words of grievance?

[ a beat. ]

Perhaps I must fast again.

[ a moment later she puts down her necklace, smiles. ]

I would have a cup of wine with your answer, if any of you have some to spare. You will join me in the lounge.

[ and it is not a question. ]

Comments

action;

[tumbleweeds]

Kind of scowly, huh? [ She laughs a little. ] I guess my dad was like that, too.

action;

[mansuetus]

Scowly but charming. Wonderful and clever but he belongs to God, I fear.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

And he's not who you're mourning, either. [ Otherwise she thinks there would be a lot more tears. ]

action;

[mansuetus]

Not at all or else I would have perished from despair. He is dear to me.

[ she smiles. ]

Not him. There is another who I am not mourning; even though my duty demands that I shall.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

Yeah, I have one of those too. [ At least, she hopes he's still out there somewhere. ]

They say honesty's the best policy, right? If you don't mourn them, don't pretend. You can tell anyone who is mourning them that you're sorry for their loss and by sympathetic and try to understand their pain, but don't make up some of your own. That's my advice, anyway.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ she moves about and then, without waiting for permission, sprawls herself more comfortably; the crown of her head against the other woman's knee. A child of not sixteen is Lucrezia Borgia and already she has so many questions. ]

I do not know anyone who would care to mourn them.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

[ It's a surprise, but Jaye certainly doesn't mind. One hand moves, lightly stroking Lucrezia's hair, gently tucking a strand back away from her face. ]

If it's someone from home -- someone who must be a real asshole, to not have anyone to mourn them when they're dead -- then I don't think your duty really applies. You're not home, and you shouldn't have to pretend to care; not at all, but especially not here. If it's a duty that you don't want, that you don't really care to uphold... then don't do it.

[ Her duty is different. It's one she wishes she had clung to more, or at least the things Coyote had taught her, if she couldn't serve the god himself here. But she's trying now. ]

People shouldn't tell you how you're supposed to feel, you know?

action;

[mansuetus]

[ She smiles up at her, pleased by the hand in her hair. It reminds her of Cesare and of Rome and of faraway days in the gardens of the Vatican. ]

It is. Someone from home. His family will mourn him but not my own and even his servants shall not shed a tear, I knew them all before I came here. When I lived in his house. Do not say I'm wicked, Golden Jaye but I shall tell you this, he was my husband.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

Your husband?

[ There's a pause, but Jaye's hand doesn't still. ]

Good thing I made drinks, because from what I remember of what you told me about him, we should be having a party right now.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ she chuckles at that, doesn't deny it. It's inappropriate but true, terribly true. ]

He is gone, Giovanni Sforza. And I am no longer the wife of a brute.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

Good.

[ Her hand slides under Lucrezia's chin, thumb stroking her cheek. ]

We are, [ she decides abruptly, ] going to do something girly that people your age do in my world instead of worrying about asshole husbands and whether they should feel bad about them being dead.

action;

[mansuetus]

We are?

[ she smiles up, suddenly giddy. ]

Tell. What shall we do?

action;

[tumbleweeds]

We are going to have a sleepover -- in your room, I think, because mine's a mess -- and do each other's hair and try on jewelry or something and talk about boys. Maybe we'll play Truth or Dare or something, though that's more fun with more people.

action;

[mansuetus]

And shall you kiss by the end of the night?

[ she is jesting, Jaye. JESTING.

Mostly. ]

action;

[tumbleweeds]

[ She is just going to take that as a joke, because asking whether or not she's going to kiss teenage girl with a dead husband is so far out of any experience she's ever had. ]

That will depend on how much we've had to drink.

action;

[mansuetus]

[ she laughs an it's a relief, to be able to laugh without worrying for her sins and her troubles. ]

You shall tell me of your lover.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

I've had a couple of those, [ she points out, ignoring the slight pang in her chest as she thinks about Sulu, about how broken things are between them. ]

But I'll tell you.

action;

[mansuetus]

Good. Now let us walk. I would listen.

action;

[tumbleweeds]

[ She stands carefully, making sure she doesn't actually hit Lucrezia as she does so. One hand taps her side and the hellhound heals, at least until Jaye orders him off, back to the room she shares with Faith. ]

Is there anything specific you want to know?

action;

[mansuetus]

How are you not pregnant if you have a lover?

[ wow lucrezia. be more forward why won't you. ]

action;

[tumbleweeds]

[ ... that was not what she was expecting. Jaye's mouth opens and she raises a finger. Then she pauses, shuts her mouth -- opens it again, lets her hand fall, and takes a deep breath. ]

Uh. Contraceptives. Birth control. There are... several different kinds. Some of them help prevent against getting sexually transmitted diseases, too.

[ She still sounds vaguely shocked, but at least she's answering. ]

action;

[mansuetus]

Birth control? What does that mean?

[ look at your life, Jaye. ]

action;

[tumbleweeds]

[ Oh she's looking. ]

It's a type of medicine. It makes it so you can't get pregnant, or at least so that your chances of getting pregnant are really slim. It can help your... uh, "monthly visitor" be more manageable, too.