For the 2010 shitennou_ai Advent Drabblender
Part 3 of 24
Author: verisimilitude9
Characters: Mercury, Jadeite
Prompt: Holiday Decorations
The castle was draughty and dim in the wan winter sunlight, and while it lacked the ethereal grace and loveliness of the Moon palace, there was an austere dignity to it, in the weathered gray stones and the bright flags that blew so valiantly in the bitter winter wind. Mercury furrowed her brow as she walked through one of the drawing rooms, then reached forward to touch the item on the mantel.
It was a swag of pine branches, complete with fat brown cones, the needles still chilly from the outside air. It was tied together with a red velvet ribbon in a jaunty bow, and that brought a smile to her face. Venus was fond of red bows.
The next room had all sorts of greenery, more pine branches and ivy and holly, and for some strange reason, cranberries strung together like the beads of a very long necklace, winding up the pillars. The third room had an abundance of candles in silver holders engraved with strange symbols, and stars made of some shiny gold paper hung from the ceiling.
She found Jadeite in another one of the rooms, his fingers stained black with ink, a calligraphy brush resting on its stand as he waited for the painted symbol on a bright red square of paper to dry. Curiously, she walked forward for a closer look.
“It’s the character for Fortune,” Jadeite said even as he carelessly wiped his black-stained fingers on his trousers. They left sooty streaks and Mercury tried not to shake her head at him. “People hang them on doors, upside down, around this time of year in my kingdom.”
Mercury frowned. “People hang notices on doors, and upside down? Shouldn’t normal communications be sent via post, or perhaps computer transmission?”
“The word for ‘upside down’ sounds the same as the word for ‘arrival’ in that language, so in a way it’d mean ‘Fortune has arrived’,” Jadeite said. “People think it brings good luck right to their doors.” At her raised eyebrow, he laughed. “I know. It’s silly, isn’t it?”
“You think it is silly, and yet you do it anyway. Why the pine branches, or the candles? Are they also for good luck?”
“I haven’t the bloodiest clue, actually,” Jadeite shrugged and stooped down to clean up the mess of ink and red paper left over on the desk. “There are probably any number of lengthy and complicated superstitions around everything that people use to decorate their homes for the season, and for the most part I could care less.” Despite the light, casual tone, there was a warmth in his eyes and a faint smile on his face. “It keeps people happy, though. The different decorations are for the different kingdoms. You could ask Zoisite about the meanings of everything. He gets overly excited about every little aspect of this time of year, down to the shagging icicles and ridiculous mounds of snow outside. He would know and be happy and honoured to tell you all about it.”
His grin grew as her cheeks flushed the same shade of red as the paper he held in his hands. Perhaps Zoisite had already spoken to her about the holiday, and lacked his usual coherence due to the audience in question. But because he really didn’t know her all that well, and he didn’t feel much like inciting Zoisite’s psychotic levels of sulky vindictiveness quite so soon, he let it go and hung up the now-dry square of red paper, the character painted on it upside down.
“So, what is your favourite holiday decoration?” Mercury asked at length. Now, after a moment’s reflection, the rooms were more cheery-looking with their boughs of greenery and candles and red banners and so on. Perhaps there wasn’t any logic to it, but perhaps there didn’t need to be.
Now, a glint entered Jadeite’s eyes and he withdrew something from a box that looked like a bunch of short red tubes on a string. “These. We’ll set them off after the grand celebration and they’ll blow up and make very loud noises and flashes of light and it will be glorious!” A mischievous grin like a naughty little boy’s crossed his face and he laughed. “One year I set them off early, quite early in the morning. And Kunzite charged outside wearing a sleep shirt and waving a sword because he thought the castle was under attack. That’s the sort of thing that makes all this worthwhile.”
Mercury nodded, and picked up the ink brush on the table, dipped the tip into the inkwell. Her attempt at the symbol may have lacked something of technical virtuosity, but it was careful and precise and elegant. She’d always been a quick study. Now, she gave Jadeite a look as she waited for it to dry.
“Can I have this for my own door?”
He smiled and nodded. “Of course.”
Author: verisimilitude9
Characters: Mercury, Jadeite
Prompt: Holiday Decorations
The castle was draughty and dim in the wan winter sunlight, and while it lacked the ethereal grace and loveliness of the Moon palace, there was an austere dignity to it, in the weathered gray stones and the bright flags that blew so valiantly in the bitter winter wind. Mercury furrowed her brow as she walked through one of the drawing rooms, then reached forward to touch the item on the mantel.
It was a swag of pine branches, complete with fat brown cones, the needles still chilly from the outside air. It was tied together with a red velvet ribbon in a jaunty bow, and that brought a smile to her face. Venus was fond of red bows.
The next room had all sorts of greenery, more pine branches and ivy and holly, and for some strange reason, cranberries strung together like the beads of a very long necklace, winding up the pillars. The third room had an abundance of candles in silver holders engraved with strange symbols, and stars made of some shiny gold paper hung from the ceiling.
She found Jadeite in another one of the rooms, his fingers stained black with ink, a calligraphy brush resting on its stand as he waited for the painted symbol on a bright red square of paper to dry. Curiously, she walked forward for a closer look.
“It’s the character for Fortune,” Jadeite said even as he carelessly wiped his black-stained fingers on his trousers. They left sooty streaks and Mercury tried not to shake her head at him. “People hang them on doors, upside down, around this time of year in my kingdom.”
Mercury frowned. “People hang notices on doors, and upside down? Shouldn’t normal communications be sent via post, or perhaps computer transmission?”
“The word for ‘upside down’ sounds the same as the word for ‘arrival’ in that language, so in a way it’d mean ‘Fortune has arrived’,” Jadeite said. “People think it brings good luck right to their doors.” At her raised eyebrow, he laughed. “I know. It’s silly, isn’t it?”
“You think it is silly, and yet you do it anyway. Why the pine branches, or the candles? Are they also for good luck?”
“I haven’t the bloodiest clue, actually,” Jadeite shrugged and stooped down to clean up the mess of ink and red paper left over on the desk. “There are probably any number of lengthy and complicated superstitions around everything that people use to decorate their homes for the season, and for the most part I could care less.” Despite the light, casual tone, there was a warmth in his eyes and a faint smile on his face. “It keeps people happy, though. The different decorations are for the different kingdoms. You could ask Zoisite about the meanings of everything. He gets overly excited about every little aspect of this time of year, down to the shagging icicles and ridiculous mounds of snow outside. He would know and be happy and honoured to tell you all about it.”
His grin grew as her cheeks flushed the same shade of red as the paper he held in his hands. Perhaps Zoisite had already spoken to her about the holiday, and lacked his usual coherence due to the audience in question. But because he really didn’t know her all that well, and he didn’t feel much like inciting Zoisite’s psychotic levels of sulky vindictiveness quite so soon, he let it go and hung up the now-dry square of red paper, the character painted on it upside down.
“So, what is your favourite holiday decoration?” Mercury asked at length. Now, after a moment’s reflection, the rooms were more cheery-looking with their boughs of greenery and candles and red banners and so on. Perhaps there wasn’t any logic to it, but perhaps there didn’t need to be.
Now, a glint entered Jadeite’s eyes and he withdrew something from a box that looked like a bunch of short red tubes on a string. “These. We’ll set them off after the grand celebration and they’ll blow up and make very loud noises and flashes of light and it will be glorious!” A mischievous grin like a naughty little boy’s crossed his face and he laughed. “One year I set them off early, quite early in the morning. And Kunzite charged outside wearing a sleep shirt and waving a sword because he thought the castle was under attack. That’s the sort of thing that makes all this worthwhile.”
Mercury nodded, and picked up the ink brush on the table, dipped the tip into the inkwell. Her attempt at the symbol may have lacked something of technical virtuosity, but it was careful and precise and elegant. She’d always been a quick study. Now, she gave Jadeite a look as she waited for it to dry.
“Can I have this for my own door?”
He smiled and nodded. “Of course.”