The World Is Beautiful

“ Hm ? ”

She seems altogether frail , and in the hollow of her Michalis perceives too much of his own brushing with death that teeth grit within his skull and flame curdles beneath his breastbone.

And he grits , “ You could say so. What is it to you ? ”

This is not a face he knows — — nor much in the way of a face of a face he might know ( not the relative of one passed to the undertakers at the heft of his blade , nor of the mongrels under bark and command of that Altean whelp ).

“ Do not stand here only to ridicule me , ” He warns. “ I will hear none of it. ”

Sitri dusts her dress off instinctively, as if she physically needed to shake off whatever nerves had been creeping up on her. "I was simply wondering- Im sorry if it came off rudely" Maybe it wasn't to late to try to explain herself, but just based on this interaction alone she wasn't so sure on how well this would go.

a selection of headcanon questions inspired by key bones in the human body.

skull.   what memories/thoughts do they guard the most from others ?

cheekbone. what makes them smile ?

mandible / jawbone. what are they incapable of saying out loud ?

teeth. what lasting mark do they leave on others ?

hyoid / neck. who taught them to speak up, or stay silent ?

clavicle / collarbone. who/what do they lean on when they're vulnerable ?

scapula / shoulderblade. what burden do they carry on their back ?

sternum. what makes their heart pound hardest ?

ribcage. who/what are they trying to protect ?

humerus. do they use humour as a shield or a weapon ? what from/to ?

radius. who/what do they reach for first in a crisis ?

ulna. who stands by them no matter what ?

carpals. what small habits do they have ?

metacarpals. do they ask for help or clench their fists and bear it ?

phalanges. what is their relationship with touch ?

spine. when do they lose their backbone, what scares them ?

pelvis. what future or legacy are they afraid/excited to be responsible for ?

sacrum. what sacrifices have they made ?

coccyx / tailbone. what outdated beliefs do they still carry, if any ?

femur. what drives them forward ?

patella / kneecap. how compliant/obedient are they, who will they kneel for ?

tibia. who/what keeps them moving forward ?

fibula. do they ever feel overlooked ?

tarsals. what past mistakes stick with them with every step they take ?

His tongue snaked through his teeth , pondering , pondering , pondering until a jagged , crooked finger touched by that devil's darkness prodded at the dryness of his lower lip. How could he wear the cloak of a wounded man , littered from chest to fingertip with raised , desperately-healed wounds and be not a virtuous figure ?

Teeth clack , a grimace grows. The pale envelope , wax-sealed and sanctified by this holy , child-condemning establishment , is not felt under the hardness of war-touched fingers. But garnet stares at curling parchment , —— we regret to inform you . . . —— !

It is cast swiftly away and cornered under heel. Utterly ignorant ! A testament to the ignoramus of a council that sows piety like pestilence , pleading that it roots and takes into the soil of devotees.

It cannot be helped that his fingers touch at his chest —— at that site of darkness , charred pink and branching under the mantles he cloaks and silhouettes himself in.

How could one steal Starlight into their fingers , wrested from the devils , and be turned away ?

It is a lousy goddess , he can only ponder.

" What a miserable council , " He grumbles to not a soul at all , standing about the remaining awaitees. " You fools haven't any thought of those within your walls , do you? "

A declaration of incompetency is perhaps all it takes to amount to one's father. It bites his lip well enough to sting.

Surely It will.

But as the day went on, and as she kept to herself, an invite never seemed to come her way. Sitri's expression softened, having to fight the sadness that she felt about being left out.

oh well... maybe she wasn't what the people thought was "virtuous" enough, she knows that she has crossed to many lines in her life. So maybe this place SOMEHOW knows about that. Though she highly doubts it.

And the entire night didn't have to be Lene showing off her dancing skills. Lene was perfectly happy slowing it down and just chatting. 

"Oh, you're here with a date! How fun!" The dancer was curious to see what Sitri's date might look like, but she kept those questions to herself for now.

Propaganda.

He can hear so much of it fed into her words, oozing from each kindhearted syllable.

And she genuinely believed every word of it.

He... couldn't fault her for that, however. She was clearly raised to believe what she was told. It wasn't a moral failing on her part.

Just further indication of the church's sins.

And it meant he would need to take a... gentler touch. Not by much, but a little.

"I imagine it is. I have worked... not with the church, but around it for a long time. Even from those I met, there was a tight-knit feel to them. If they saw you as their family, I don't doubt for a second they meant it."

Insofar as they meant that she would be made into a pliable puppet. A marionette on their strings.

But he would help her cut herself free from the puppetmaster's sway.

In time.

He couldn't reveal the truth to her, to everyone.

He had to take this one step at a time.

"The monastery is wonderful, I would agree. Though there are some complaints I hold with it, there are many parts I can see the merit in."

The location of it was tactically sound. The foundations were solid to withstand a siege (as it had) in... less pieces than it would otherwise.

But voicing those wouldn't aid his goals.

"It accepting more people from overseas has been wonderful for learning more than just the Faerghus I knew before."

Which was a genuine compliment he held for it, mind! The intercontinental system was one he could not claim disappointed him.

...Mostly because it let him find more who did not believe the system he had put so much against.

"...Though I wish the cathedral was slightly less... gaudy, for lack of a better term. My manor's own chapel is much simpler, and I find it makes me feel closer to the Goddess than all the marble and gold in the world could. Is greed not something to be avoided in Her name, after all?"

A simpler noticing, built off of his understanding of customs. A small seed of doubt to be planted.

"I feel honored every day, Im glad you noticed how close everyone is here" She smiles, thinking back to everything shes been through before— and all the people she has met now. "Even the students! Im happy friends and family can be reunited here." Sitri admitted, gently rubbing the knuckles on her hand… why did she feel so nervous?

Wait... now she's confused. Perhaps she's mistaken him for someone else? That is possible. She doesn't know that many people, and so many partygoers look alike. Her face flushed red in pure embarrassment, but she still took the pearl charm he had handed her.

She looked away, trying to see if there was a way to return the way she came or if it was unsafe to do so. "Oh... I'm so sorry—I thought you were somebody else." Sitri clips the charm so it doesn't fall before she falls silent.

Lene smiles authentically at her. It's easy for once. And Sitri is glowing with enthusiasm. "I'm so glad to see you, too," she tells her. "I wasn't sure you'd be here." Lene's heart was gladdened with the news that Sitri was enjoying herself.

If she was honest with herself, meeting someone in a colorful cave filled with creatures and flora that no one had seen before is a good start. She couldn't think of a more interesting way to meet a person.

sitri for the reverse side of yesterday's rhea!