xvii. dictated, action

[heloise]

Paradisa
For my Giovanni. If you would be so kind.


[ Lucrezia can be found at highest roof with a wooden box inlaid with pearls at her feet. It is small and finely made, but the real (belated) gift is within: a white silk shirt fit for a little prince with golden narcissus embroidered on its sleeves. She turns away after enough time, retracing her steps back to her room. ]

Ovid once wrote, est etiam placuisse sibi quaecumque voluptas: virginibus cordi grataque forma suast.

But mirrors never turned out for good.

[ Translation goes: Besides, all women take a secret pride in being fine or else they are belied; for when the conscious maid explores her mirror and finds she's handsome, she herself adores. ]

Comments

[kryptonian]

[Kara had just been out for a flight, but there's Lucrezia, so she's going to hang out with Lucrezia. She drops out of the sky slowly, and despite the winter, wears only a hoodie and little shorts.]

Latin, huh?

[heloise]

[ Girl, what are you wearing? Lucrezia hesitates before taking off her cloak to offer it to her. At least she's all covered. ]

Yes. The language of the poets.

[kryptonian]

[She waves off the coat, not wanting to be rude, but also not wanting to take a cloak away from a human in the snow.]

It's alright, the cold doesn't bother me. But the language of poets? I can't say I know much about poetry.

[heloise]

Are you sure? [ She may not be human and all but it's cold out here! ]

The language of the learned. Though I find Dante's Italian as beautiful.

[kryptonian]

If it'll make you feel better, here--

[Kara laughs, and she flickers for a moment -- superspeeding away, and then right back again -- so it appears as though she magically changed outfits. She plops down to sit beside Lucrezia, now in jeans and a winter jacket, and a cute red hat with floppy ear-flaps.]

I'm afraid I don't know any Dante, either. I do know a bit of Italian, though. I'm really good at languages.

[heloise]

[ Oh no, that just has her gaping at her with shock. Lucrezia has seen some strange things in the castle but Kara looks so normal otherwise. She remembers to close her mouth after some minutes. That reminds her of Joshua. ]

Did you fly...?

[secondchances]

There was something about mirrors in that?

[heloise]

[ Don't ask me which part though. ]

Yes. A looking-glass. All women take pride in being beautiful; even when a virgin sees into her mirror and sees she is handsome, she herself adores.

[secondchances]

Is that a good thing?

[heloise]

Is it a bad thing to be aware of one's beauty?

[secondchances]

I don't think so. To a certain extent, anyway.

[heloise]

You should be more aware of yours.

Dictated forever

[onlyanapple]

Ahhh, but usually the conscious maid doesn't get sucked into a magical world when she gazes at herself in a mirror.

YEAH

[heloise]

Perhaps she is, figuratively. A world where she knows the reason why those eyes follow her.

[onlyanapple]

Ahhh, now we're treading the dangerous grounds of insanity.

Though given this place, it's not that far off.

[heloise]

[ She laughs. ]

Are you saying I am possibly insane, Crowley?

[onlyanapple]

I think that's true for all humans, really.

[heloise]

By a demon's standard?

[i_got_this]

Who the hell is Ovid?

[heloise]

Publius Ovidius Naso. The most romantic poet there ever lived. [ Teasing! ]

[i_got_this]

[Yeah, South didn't even understand the translation.]

Sounds more like a riddle then a poem.

[heloise]

It is about awareness of beauty. Do you know how beautiful you are, South?

[i_got_this]

[That takes her by surprise, but the question itself is easy enough to answer, with the kind of confidence that hides a measure of uncertainty. She was harsh, and scarred, and fully aware of this.]

Well, yeah. That's not a crime, is it?

[pompous_today]

You did not fall in, did you?

[heloise]

No. I did watch.

Did you?