Yippee-ki-yay, and all that.

JEHANNE OF GUYENNE + THOMAS GREY

1. jehanne’s family sent her to an abbey near the de rune estate between the ages of 8 and 10 because they didn’t know how to handle her unhealthy and obsessive approach to religion and thought it would be a safer place for her to live. several events contributed to her unhealthy approach:

I. she was a naturally sensitive / anxious person: weather, illness, whether or not she was going to heaven or hell, losing her siblings, her mother and father, her cat ect. she worried about things to the point of making herself ill. prayer was really the only thing that could put her mind at ease.

II. she was, from a young age, fascinated with saints and their ways of devotion whether it was the way they gave away their possessions, fasted and made themselves uncomfortable in the name of God, and their dedication to it. she led by their example and people thought it was charming and admirable…until it wasn’t.

III. she had a brush with death when she was six years old after catching an illness one winter. she truly had one foot in the grave before the fever broke and she slowly recovered. a priest made the offhand comment that she was spared for a reason, and she never ever forgot it.

2. thomas is absolutely terrified of fire; flinches if flames get too close, freezes at infernos or uncontrollable blazes, and cannot sleep close to the campfire no matter how cold he might be. the feel of the heat makes him nervous. his parents perished in a barn fire when he was eight years old and he only survived because his father pushed him from a window in the hayloft before being taken by the flames himself.

as fire is one of things that can deter the rats, it is a tremors feat for him to use it as a means of survival after he watched how destructive it is.

3. jehanne survived a bout of the plague that wiped out a majority of her abbey and she cannot help but see it as something divine. the nuns had quelled her more obsessive ways of worship over the years to one of more moderation, but this causes her to revert to her old ways. she convinces herself that suffering will bring her closer to god in the end.

some of the fellow nuns (and people in the surrounding town) did look at her as some sort of saint and some would go to her for prayer or healing for the sick, especially those suffering from the bite. on the other hand, there was a nasty little rumor that she consorted with the devil himself to be spared from his evil. the truth though? she just got really, really lucky.

4. thomas is not described as being handsome by anyone, even jehanne believes him to be rather severe and hard to look at during their initial days traveling together. one side of his torso, from ribs to hip and extending downwards) is covered in burn scars, one on his lower back looks suspiciously like a hand print and he hates it. he is missing a part of his left ear due to it being bitten off in a fight with another soldier, and he has an extremely crooked nose due to it having been broken so many times. it was never able to heal correctly.

Ginger remained so deeply offended by the idea that her face shifted into careful neutrality. Law had seen that look before often when something she deeply disliked suddenly dared to show itself to her.

In this case, his request was one she hated already.

“You cannot be serious,” she began with a tilt of her mouth. “You expect me to do what exactly?”

Law’s own expression mirrored hers though he was merely annoyed that she was annoyed. In his mind, this plan required her because she could pull it off with the exact grace needed to keep Caesar preoccupied while Law went looking through the rooms of the laboratory for his notes.

“I already told you. Caesar likes the sound of his own voice. All you have to do is play along and let him talk. It’ll give me enough time to find what I need.”

Ginger pouted. “I dislike him immensely.”

“I’m aware.”

“He knows I do not like him.”

Law resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Half this island knows you hate him.”

Her brow raised at that while she narrowed her eyes at him. “Then why must you torment me by asking me to listen to him prattle on about his grand and ignorant opinions.”

He sighed through his nose while resting Kikoku against the wall by the desk. The privacy of their assigned quarters granted them this moment as he prepared himself to present an argument worthy of her. He didn’t have to, but Law understood Ginger better than most people. He always had, ever since they were children.

He fixed his stare on her before he said, “If he’s experimenting on the children here then I need to know the dosage and the effects before we can help them.” Her face softened at the mention of the children. “He’s suspicious of me already but it seems like he’s trying to impress you because you don’t grovel at his feet.”

“He is absurd and he is narcissistic. Men like that disgust me.”

His mouth threatened to quirk at her assessment. Her tone bordered on being bored which meant Law was getting somewhere.

“You know I wouldn’t force you to do something you didn’t want to.” His tone was flat but the words were true.

Ginger’s eyes softened as she reached out to adjust the collar of his coat, smoothing it down as she normally did when it was just the two of them alone. Her quiet affection always came out in ways he wasn’t wholly prepared for, but nonetheless he accepted without words.

“I know.” Her tone lowered as she wiped off specks of dust from his shoulder. “Which is why I won’t say no to your request but you should know I will complain about it afterward.”

Law raised an eyebrow at that. “When don’t you?”