the sun in my disgrace [OPEN + MINGLE]

[rangerbecket]

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: 6I village, Inn
WHEN: 21 August - mid morning
OPEN TO: All + Mingle
WARNINGS: Put on your Eclipse Glasses TBD

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Raleigh had been on his way back from his normal morning routine of checking his traps and fishing for a while when he noticed the sun wasn't quite the way it normally looked - he'd caught a glance at the reflection and saw that the sun, normally perfectly round, was looking a little like a lemon that had gotten beaten up at the grocery store. Huh. An eclipse. He hasn't seen one since he was in Ranger training and he hadn't gotten a good look at that one because he hadn't been directly in the path of it (and, obviously, he'd been preoccupied).

This one, though, looks like it's just starting so Raleigh has time to go to the Inn and tell the people there that there's an eclipse starting and they should get something to try and look at it. He's not exactly sure of the science behind it but he remembers being a kid and making something with a box and earlier he'd done pretty well with the water. Maybe they can take pots outside with water and just look at the reflections? Might work. Maybe, too, one of the scientists has a better idea of how to get a look at the thing.

For his part, it's just something that's different from the norm. Raleigh hopes it's not a sign that the sun's going to start moving backward or staying up all month like it had a few months back and that it's just a perfectly normal, natural event. After earthquakes and people getting sick with some kind of crazy illness, it was good to just have something...mundane to focus on.

Comments

[bit_fairytale]

"It means, it means that it's not of this world, that it comes from somewhere else," Amy says, because without an actual physical alien in front of her, it's not like she can point to that as an exhibit. Even then, it's not like you can tell, sometimes.

After all, you would never have known about the Doctor until he started going on about bowties being cool, which had been a quick giveaway that he hadn't been right in the head. Clearly, not of this earth. She's about to open her mouth and say more when she gets taken aback.

"Your son?" she replies quietly. "I didn't know you had a son."

[the_scandal_of_italy]

"Rodrigo," she said softly. Where was he now that she was stuck here? He would be looked after and cared for, but it was difficult being away from him. She had been able to push it from her mind and pretend that he was still here, but so much of her felt empty.

"He is still very small. He isn't even walking yet." He would be soon and speaking before then. Would he even know her when she returned? His mother who suddenly disappeared. She couldn't bear it if he believed she abandoned him by choice.

"I hope he is with my brother. If I cannot be there, Cesare should be."

[bit_fairytale]

Amy tries not to let the sadness show in her eyes when she thinks about how she never got to see Melody learn to walk. She knows it's there, so she turns away from Lucrezia to look out the window, grateful when the other woman keeps speaking since it gives her a chance to swallow back the grief from her throat. "What about his father?" Amy asks, when she feels capable of it, making herself sound breezy and flippant, like she hasn't got a care in the world.

Her back to Lucrezia, peering out windows to look for eclipses, or alien ships, or something, she even feels like she might get away with it.

[the_scandal_of_italy]

Her glance outside goes without notice as Lucrezia's mind shifts firmly to Paolo, her Narcissus. The pain was still deep and fresh, being separated from him and not knowing how he was. Had he been beaten or killed? She had tried to keep those thoughts from her mind when she had fled Giovanni's home, but it never really struck her before how much of a dangerous situation she had left Paolo in. It hurt to imagine him away, even more so paying the price for their affair.

She shook her head, trying to chase away the ghosts and find something good about it all. For now, there was nothing and likely wouldn't be until she could consider it alone. "I don't know what has happened to him. My husband may have killed him."

[bit_fairytale]

Amy lets the curtains slip from her fingers to turn back, feeling like she's got the Amy Pond, Mask of Strength back in place so that it won't look like she can't handle a touchy topic just because she's got some bad personal history with it. "Wait, the father of your child wasn't your husband?" she clarifies, raising a brow as this topic gets far juicier than Amy's own life had been.

Having the TARDIS fill your baby's DNA with Time Lord genes is one thing, but this sounds like the sort of thing that could end up on a really good episode of daytime TV. "Which one did you love?"

[the_scandal_of_italy]

It seemed that no matter the time or world, it was still a shocking thought that a woman might have a child with a man that wasn't her husband. Despite her younger years, Lucrezia found herself smiling in amusement and worldly knowledge. "My husband was cruel. I'm thankful I never bore him a child."

And she had punished him for that, though felt little remorse or shame. "His name was Paolo and he was a stable boy. He was gentle and kind, when I needed someone to be." She paused before adding, "It isn't uncommon for women to be mistresses or bear bastards. My mother had several children by a man that wasn't her husband."

[bit_fairytale]

"I married the boy that I didn't know how much I loved until I got to see more of him." It's strange for Amy to admit that when she'd first started dating Rory, she hadn't been truly in love with him, but with time, she'd come to realize that she couldn't love anyone else, not like him. "Why not say screw everyone else and just marry your stable boy?"

That would've been Amy's play. She's never been very good about doing what's expected of her. If someone had told her to marry someone she didn't love, there would've been slapping and biting and plenty more involved.

[the_scandal_of_italy]

"I suppose that is the change in our times. Love and marriage have never been compatible in my experience. Women are used for alliances and the best way to form those are through marriage." A part of her envied Amy, even if the more cynical parts of her heart doubted such a marriage was possible. "I can't. My father will have other marriages in mind for me and if I wed Paolo, I'd be ruined."

And perhaps, as much as she loved him, she wanted something more for herself as well. The only security was power and she would never have that in a poor existence.