Monday Night at Nell and Gladio's

[mylandmyrules]

Nell wasn't sure who, if anyone, would be coming tonight after the men's weekend getaway, but she had food stuffs ready to throw together. She'd wanted to bring home some of the daffodils, but given that they were toxic to cats she'd brought home a few sunflowers instead.

And,as usual, once everything was set she settled down with her book to relax a little.

Comments

[deathsmajesty]

"Bodies that aren't projections of your own will given form by magic," Liliana amended. "Where you could eat and sleep and...partake in other physical enjoyments, but didn't require obnoxious upkeep and maintenance and were immune to things like 'aging' and even most 'deaths' because that simply wasn't how you saw yourself."

[mylandmyrules]

"I suppose," Nell said, "Though I guess I'm one of those 'to everything there is a season' people. I could do without the aches and pains of getting old, but I don't think I would want to live forever."

[deathsmajesty]

"I suppose that is where we disagree, dear one," Liliana said. "I didn't rest until I regained my immortality. And my youth as well, because an eternity as an ancient crime didn't suit me, either."

Unlike some people, Grandmother Sengir.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell smiled at her. "Then I hope you'll remember me fondly when I'm gone."

[deathsmajesty]

There was a moment, less even than an eyeblink, where Nell could spot a deep and abiding grief within Liliana.

"Of course I will, my dear," she said. "I shall raise a glass in your honor every year. Well, most years. I've lost a few years every now and again in my work."

[mylandmyrules]

"And I shall watch over you from the other side," Nell said with a soft smile.

[deathsmajesty]

"I kicked down the barrier to heaven recently to shove a spirit in there," she said idly. "I'm sure your transmission will go more smoothly."

She still didn't really understand all of what that meant, but she'd talked to Nell enough to get that much.

[mylandmyrules]

Nell shrugged a little uncomfortably. "Not sure I'm gonna make it to heaven," she said. "Pretty sure I'm not actually."

God frowned on murder. At least Nell's god did.

[deathsmajesty]

"Why?" Liliana asked, since she didn't have much of a bar for what getting into heaven entailed anyway.

[mylandmyrules]

"He's... pretty strict on his commandments," Nell said. "And I haven't actually kept them all."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana raised an eyebrow. "Well, what are these commandments that are so all-important?" she asked.

Try and catch a god telling her what to do.

[mylandmyrules]

"There's prob'ly three of the ten," Nell said, "But the main one is the one about not murdering people."

Yes, even if the few who knew about it said it was self-defense, she wasn't so sure God cared about that.

[deathsmajesty]

Then this god was even more of an asshole than they sounded like, if anyone was unsure about Liliana's not-at-all humble opinion.

"Well, I'm out," Liliana said with a shrug. "Though, dear one, a god that sees things only in black and white with no shades of gray is hardly one worth the worship."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell sighed. "I have a difficult relationship with him anyhow, seeing what the people of God's Cloud of Glory do in his name, but still."

[deathsmajesty]

"Why does what they do in his name have anything to do with what you think of him? I have a whole cu--" Liliana stopped, blinked, frowned. Then her eyes widened fractionally and she shook her head. "People will attach themselves to anything. Who says he even knows about them?"

[mylandmyrules]

"I was brought up to believe that what the Church said was the Word of God," Nell said quietly. "But some of them are definitely not good people, so if God approves of the things they do and have done..."

She shrugged.

Especially some of the things they'd done or tried to do to her.

[deathsmajesty]

"Many people say things," Liliana said gently. "If you hadn't met these people through the Church, would you believe the things they had to say? Would you so much trust them to tell you what's good for breakfast?"

[mylandmyrules]

It's so much harder when they're family.

"They... aren't all bad." She had a hard time looking up. "But no."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana was most certainly not ready to discuss family.

"People don't have to be good or bad to be worthy or not of trust," she pointed. "Especially not trust in that they are speaking for God." Liliana laughed lightly. "My dear, I hope you don't think I'm all bad and hope even more that you wouldn't trust me to speak for a god. And you've love Gladio and the same."

She shook her head. "They have been cultivating your mind with these beliefs since before you were old enough to realize that your mind was a garden. That doesn't mean they were planting anything but weeds and noxious plants. It's your garden, little woods witch. And you can plant those things you wish and remove what it is you do not. The trick is choosing to go in and do the dirty work of removing them, rather than passively accepting their presence."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell had spent a great deal of time considering all of this and there was just too much to unpack at a dinner gathering, especially since so much of what was still uncertain in her mind, so she simply nodded. "It's a lot to consider."

[deathsmajesty]

"Indeed," Liliana said with an incline of her head. "A lengthy process, regardless."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell, who had just begun the process of wading through a book about cults and the psychological damage done by them, could only agree.

"At least weeding my actual garden is easier," Nell said, "And the weeds are real easy to pick out."

[deathsmajesty]

"I think I might make myself a greenhouse, once we finish the grounds," Liliana mused. "I raised flowers once, on Lorwyn. It would be nice to raise them here, too, now that I know I can."

[mylandmyrules]

"I'd be glad to help out in any way you need," Nell said with a smile.

[deathsmajesty]

"I will be sure to consult with you once I get that far," Liliana said. "I haven't a fairy staff to assist me this time."