paradisalogs | ( open ) First Night of Hanukkah

Entry tags:

( open ) First Night of Hanukkah

Who: Violet, everyone
What: HANUKKAH
When: Night of the 8th
Where: Violet's shop
Rating: PG?

[The shop floor has been cleared, tables set. A hanukiah stands in the middle of the table. At sundown, a blessing is read. Afterwards, Violet starts taking off the lids to the dishes. There are a ton of latkes as well as other fried breads and Jewish pastries. Of course there is roasts and fish, and Violet tried her hand at several different dishes.]

ooc: so I am not Jewish and just spent a long time reading about Hanukkah. If I screwed something up, I am so sorry.

Also feel free to assume there are nutcrackers around. Treat this like a party post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[she is a true Volunteer and so very much her mother's daughter... of course she would. he can't help but smile, sadly]

Yes. And... Not just because of Paradisa's peculiar caprices, though they comprise the bulk of things, a phrase which here means "mostly, everything is just plain weird".

That isn't uncommon here. [Unfortunately.]

What else is it?

I... [he glances down at his latkes, which, blessedly, are not screaming, as much as he himself might want to, and gulps.]. I don't know that it would he pleasant dinner conversation. .... I should, however, very much like to tell you. As you might guess, that puts me in a somewhat precarious social position.

I think we can bend the rules of social obligation just this once. After all, you are a friend.

I'm glad you consider me so, Violet. Though I fear that what I have to tell you may alter your kind consideration considerably.

[Martel had counseled him to wait, but keeping a necessary truth secret is like hiding a cat in your suit jacket: hairy, uncomfortable, and much better for all parties if it is carried out for as short a time as possible. that being the case, he steels himself and continues:]

For a start: your mother and I were, to use a hackneyed yet sadly appropriate phrase, childhood sweethearts.

[Well that is not at all what she was expecting. There are adjustments to being here, she has lived through that twice. But that? She does not know how to process. Should she say she is sorry? Should she avoid him? What should she say?]

Oh.

[that's the problem, isn't it? he barely even knew how to tell her, but ...]

I thought you should have a right to know. [my, his plate is interesting. he stares at it a bit more, knowing that his table manners at the moment are absolutely mortifying. but all things considered, they could be worse. he could be weeping into the honey puffs.]

We ... parted company before she married your father. After the schism. It ...

[he shakes his head, not really sure how much he should say right off, or where he should even begin.]

I was trying to find you and your siblings because ... because ...

[he has to be honest. Violet told him the truth about the Denouement, he owes her this much, just the same as he owed her poor mother...]

... There was nothing I could do to keep your mother from danger. The least I could do for her was to make sure her children were safe. But by the time I picked up your trail, you were far ahead of me ...

[She dips her head, hands in her lap. Slowly breathing through her nose, she takes this in. Violet is used to this. For the past two years, she has heard such news, have been a part of such news. Finally she looks up at him.]

It is kind of you to tell me. Though you were the taxi driver, weren't you? [Or is she only hoping that there are more people on her side?]

Thank you though. For whatever you have done. And your sister. Kit has truly tried to help us. It means a lot.

[Considering how many people have failed them.]

If I was, I'm afraid I have not been, yet. Though if a taxi turns out to be the means with which I have an oppotunity to carry you and your siblings away from all the troubles you've endured, I would gladly take the wheel. It ...

[a pause, as he composes the words properly in his mind, gets them to line up the way he's been trying to arrange them for days now. this is crucial]

... Finding you here and safe, no matter what events you've endured previously, was a bolt from the blue, Violet. And even if you are of age now, here, it would mean more than eighteen years' worth of eight days of gifts if you would let me be the guardian you should have had all along.

[Well that is a lot to take in. On one hand, she wants to argue that taking the sugar bowl was enough help, but words die on her tongue, a phrase here which means she nearly stutters from the shock of what he's said.]

You want to be my guardian? [She has to repeat it. It's been awhile since she's had one, on top of the fact that she doesn't really need one. Both being of age and providing for herself.]

I know that it is rather an extraneous request, since you are both self-sufficient and of legal age, and would be for the sake of mere vagary - a phrase that here means "just because it is possible" - but ... [his voice softens, as he fights to keep from choking on his words] ... yes, I do.

[She smiles gently, seeing how genuine he was.]

I would like that. A lot. But just to let you know, a Dr. House may or may not be interrogating you. We've been close here.

[a smile of his own finally begins to blossom - cautiously, as he still can't quite believe this is happening]

I still can't quite believe this is happening. But whoever your friend is, I would be more than happy to answer his questions.

[She took his hand then, glad he was this happy. What she knows of his life, he deserved it.]

He's a good man. I just wanted to warn you.

Warning me of a good man seems a bit of a spoonerism. [he smiles] But I appreciate it, nevertheless. ... Thank you, Violet.

[the smile seems to say "for everything".]

He's a little... standoffish. [Which is the polite way of saying he's grumpy and sometimes mean.]

I am glad to see you smiling.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( open ) First Night of Hanukkah

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject