forget your troubles, happy days are here again / you better chase all your troubles away

[highf]

So here's what you missed on Glee:

After getting slushied in the face for years and dealing with Karofsky's bullying, Kurt's decided to take a few defense lessons from the Black Widow herself - ( "I... just wanted to say thank you, again, for letting me participate in this course, and how much I'm looking forward to future lessons. You kind of blew

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[vestalstone]

Though she was comfortable with her skin as it was, and even cherished her uncanny resemblance to her mother, there were many a time where Pierrette wished she could converse with a person without having to stretch her neck or gaze passively at a man's midsection. She hummed a little, the stranger a young man of favorable appearance and raised her head to meet his face. He was handsome, in a way that was less refined and polished than most of the patrons of the bar. She found herself reminded of home, of boys like Marcus Bertram.

"Kurt," she answered simply. "I am afraid I don't know much of anyone here other than him." Her nose crinkled, a smile hidden at the edges. "He has certainly made many friends in his short time here."

But that's what he was like and Pierrette found that quality of his to be charming. Regardless of the place or the time or the person, he had a way of making it seem they were long time friends finally sitting down to catch up. It was something she had never seen in a person before, and in a way she was nearly envious.

[tooktheblack]

"I'm Jon Snow," Jon offered, bowing slightly. He had no idea if she was noble or not and the island didn't seem to recognize titles but it only seemed proper to afford the lady that courtesy. "So now you know two people, our friend Kurt and me."

He tilted his head slightly and gave her a smile, warmer than he was used to. "May I have your name, esteemed lady?"

[vestalstone]

There were very few men on the island who bowed in greeting, and while the polite pleasantries had been a thing of daily routine with Anselm in his keep, it was still a thing to stop and appraise when it was directed at herself. Pierrette's head tilted to the left and offered a shallow bow in return, her hands clasped tightly together before her.

"Jon Snow," she noted softly, her smile a gentle curve. "While flattered, I am afraid I am far from an esteemed lady. Rather the daughter of a fisherman and grove owner. It was rare for one to have a family name in my village, so the only name I have to give you is Pierrette. I pray you find it well."

[tooktheblack]

"I do find it well, Pierrette," Jon said and gave her a gentle smile. "I have no family name either. Snow's simply the name they give bastards in the North of Westeros and I suppose I only have that because my father was a nobleman."

Both his parents were, actually, but years of thinking Ned Stark had fathered him were hard to break and no matter what, Ned was still his father.

"Have you been here long?"

[vestalstone]

Pierrette listened with inquisitive ears, her eyes round and light. It seemed a cruel practice if anything at all, more a brand than a name. Bastards were a common daily thing, something that was easily expected even in a Christian village. To brand each child would ostracize, leaving them unable to leave such a thing behind no matter where they traveled. She felt an odd kinship with him for this, as no matter what she accomplished or did for the gens of Citharista, she would never be Pierrette, the oliver's daughter. She could only be the pagan girl borne by the witch Elen.

"Many months, but far from a year." She acknowledged. "I feel as though I should remark on this practice you speak of, but words would not carry what I feel. I will not question the customs of your people, only say I have never heard of such a thing." Which was an impressive feat, considering how many decades she had studied the histories of the known world in Anselm's timeless keep.

[tooktheblack]

"It's something that's been done in Westeros for as long as there's been Seven Kingdoms," Jon explained. He didn't know if he could really explain it to someone not Westerosi, but he tried, because this girl seemed like she came from a place more similar to Westeros than not.

"Makes it easier to keep track of all of us, I suppose, if we're not going and changing our names. Do you like the island, then, Pierrette?"

[vestalstone]

"I find it a dream." She mused, the question familiar to her after so long. "At first I was afraid it was a curse, or a test brought upon me by my goddess. Then I thought it was a blessing of sorts. Now I can only think it is a challenge to grow and learn from until it is my time to disappear back through the veil of time and place."

There was a short comfortable silence and Pierrette leveled him with a soft look, her pale lips curving into a faint smile. "And you, Jon Snow? How long have you been with us, and away from your seven kingdoms?"

[tooktheblack]

"Two months, give or take," Jon said, mulling it over. He still didn't know how he felt about the island, though, other than as a place of relative safety between his former life and the next. He knew people could disappear, after all, but he wasn't certain there was anything left for him in Westeros.

"I find it well, considering. I still haven't grown used to the idea of some of the more modern things but I have family here, a brother and a sister, and I will take this place over not being able to see them again."

[vestalstone]

"That is quite fortunate." Pierrette remarked, genuinely surprised. "It seems so rare to have any sort of family here, that you may have both a sister and a brother is remarkable." She would have given up anything, be it an arm or a leg to have Marie with her in the safety of the island community. Even her father Gilles, the cowardly drunk that he was, would have been a welcome sight.

"I must also say I understand what you mean about the modern turn on life. In Citharista life was so much simpler. Odd things like the science of electricity would never have been accepted and likely called witchcraft." Among other things.

[tooktheblack]

"The same in Westeros," Jon said, laughing easily at that. It was so comforting to find someone else for whom the lights in the Compound or even the ovens would be strange and incomprehensible.

"Tell me about your homeland and I shall tell you about mine? I'll get us drinks to help us along. I don't know about you but I'm a dour sort of man if I don't have a few cups of wine in me first."

[vestalstone]

The smile that lifted was warm and for a moment she felt more than Pierrette or the girl who was once Piers, she was a woman having drinks and conversation with an interesting man. She tried to think of what Marie would say to see her in such a way, or P'er Otho seeing the child he had once taught to read discussing incredible things like electricity. It was exceptional, and the budding kinship she felt with Jon was a welcome thing.

"I would greatly enjoy that," she enthused softly. "Our eccentric host has requested I refrain from wine this night due to being some months too young for it, but if it would please you, I would gladly accept anything in its place."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm sure we can find something without breaking the laws of Kurt's homeland," Jon promised, smirking slightly. "In Westeros, you can drink so long as you can keep it down. I've been drinking at least a little since I was seven or so but as I understand it, other cultures on the island seem to think one should be older before making bad decisions under the influence of wine. I think they may be onto something."

[vestalstone]

"Citharista is very similar." Pierrette agreed, amused. "I can remember pouring my father's wine when I was hardly knee high to him, and him sitting me on his lap to sip from his cup." Wine was a safe option, cleaner and sweeter than the waters of the wells and streams. She was happy to oblige by Kurt's rules, but honestly she found his request rather amusing if anything at all.

"Perhaps you are right. But maybe the adults would hold it better had they drank when they were younger." Her tone was teasing, and it was easy to look to the dance floor and see guests who while on their arrival had been pressed and polished, now danced with sloppy abandon.

[tooktheblack]

"Maybe they would," Jon said, extending a hand to her. "I cannot promise to be very good at it but would you honor me with a dance, Pierrette? I think I can manage without stepping on your feet overly much."

She was a dainty woman, after all, and Jon was a good deal taller than her. He would have to be excessively careful.

[vestalstone]

For all her skill at observation and perception, Pierrette had not been anticipating that. For a moment she is startled, her eyes wide and her mouth a small 'o' of surprise. But as the heat stains her cheeks a flattering pink, she finds herself shaking free of the shock that bound her and felt both honored and self conscious by the request.

"Of course." She managed, and cursing the blush that warmed her face she slipped her smaller hand into his. "You will have to forgive me though, it may be me who steps on your feet. I have never danced with a partner before."

[tooktheblack]

"Never? Surely we must change that," Jon said, squeezing her hand. "Every girl has to have the chance to dance once in a while. Even if it does have to wait until one shows up on a magical island."

Jon wasn't entirely sure how dancing went on the island and he hadn't thought to ask Kurt but he hoped Pierrette, at least, was more accustomed to his style of dancing. He opened with a bow.

"May I have the pleasure, my lady?"