milliways_bar | (no subject)

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the...stable? There was...not much of anything going on, really. Javert has been sleeping out here for the last couple of weeks, and tonight will be no different. Cheval has been nosing around for his next bottle, so he fetches it from Bar, trying not to yawn too obviously where anyone can see. He also considers another blanket, but it seems indulgent, so does not.

Bar also produces a gift, which he stares at for a moment. This again? But then, he supposes it is the season. He asks the bar to keep them for now, and walks back through the snow to the foal. It may be Christmas night, but it the same as any other to him and he is sure it will stay that way.

Valjean, watching this exchange, follows him out.

[OOC: Merry Christmas, everyone! This post open through New Year. If you want to chuck random animals etc in, go ahead. The more cracktastic the better, say I. If not, no worries - he's taggable at the bar too. Also, I will be tagging up everything I owe as soon as I've wrapped the last few presents over here. <3333 you all!

ETA: I completely forgot to set this up the way I planned. Ah well. Valjean, when I tag him in, is also entirely taggable by anyone. And will probably be in a far more festive mood, lets be honest. Also, feel free to tag each other if you want to be all 'wtf I'm in a stable' to someone else! I'm allgood with that. <3]

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He is fine with that also. And to her remarks, says, 'Christmas is something imposed on us, year on year. It means little to me. I would rather be here, and tomorrow I shall work.'

He must also put her right on another point.

'He is not my horse. He belongs to Teja's people. You probably have more claim on him than I do. Still, your...partner seems intent on bestowing lessons, so here I am.'

"I kinda have a bad history with religion, so I'm not that big on Christmas. I'll be doing the same stuff I always do, but I still do presents even if I don't do parties."

That's what she normally does: makes things.

"Teja's people are nice, but they're not my people. What kind of lessons is he giving you? Raising and training horses?"

He snorts quietly.

'He would be welcome to attempt such a lesson.'

He does not think he needs much instruction on that front, but Teja might not know that.

'No. He seems to think I need to learn how to care about things, so that is why I am here with this creature. He took me to his old home to fetch it.'

"That's... I love him and I'm sure he's got his reasons, but that must be one of those things where his people have really different ways from mine."

To her, it seems like one of those assignments parents give their kids to prove they can handle having a dog, not homework to give a grown man.

"Do you like it?"

'He thinks he is being helpful.'

Javert's tone says that he does not believe it is helpful.

'Even though I do not want his help, at all. What are you asking me if I like? The horse? It is a horse, that is all.'

Though not a bad horse, as these creatures go. Quite a fine example of one, as it happens.

"Being given things to do," she says. "Me, I don't like being bored; I always need something to work on. If it's not work, it's knitting, or drawing, or something. Idle hands, and all."

She's got a lot of nervous energy, and making things is preferable to just fidgeting.

"Do you like the work you have here? Need more, or want something different?"

'Yes. I must work.'

Without that, he is nothing. And has shown an alarming tendency to veer into madness, since coming here.

'I do not mind what I do. I work at the forge. I file papers in the office, though that is nearly finished. I have a job to do on another world for a few days. But now, I will care for this young horse.'

When the temporary jobs are finished, he does not know what he will do. But something will present itself, he hopes.

"I'm looking to open a business here--just need to talk to the people I need to talk to about getting a room for it--and when I do, it'll probably need a lot of work to get it all set up right. If you'd want to help out with that."

Probably a fairly short-term job, but easier to have help than do it all herself. Jack would help, but he's limited, only having one hand and all. Makes carpentry difficult.

'What do you do? I would have thought with-'

He waves a hand towards the baby. Surely that would keep her busy enough?

'If you need work done, I would do it. If I am able.'

"I do all kinds of art," she says. "My family has a... a fashion house, sorta, and I'd like to get into that here. But I know other people here do clothing too, so it's not enough to set me apart, and I want to be able to pay my own way."

Teja tells her not to worry about money, but she likes some independence.

"So I want to open a tattoo studio, and it needs to be set up a certain way so I can keep up the proper hygiene. It needs to be easy to keep clean."

His eyebrows raise slowly.

'Tattoos? No.'

He does not need to think about this.

'Absolutely not.'

"That's fair," she says with a light shrug. "They're really big where I come from, most people have at least one. But that's only been in the past decade or two, and some people are still opposed. I like them, I've got a lot of them, but I know they're not for everybody."

Hers are all covered right now. Well, except the permanent eyeliner, but most people don't notice that.

'They are the mark of a bohemian, and the heathen. They are dangerous, and subversive, and should be stopped.'

He is very clear on this in his mind.

"My father called them the mark of the beast," she says. "God created our bodies in His image, and to alter our bodies is to reject His supreme authority over our entire selves, body and mind, heart and soul. And he can feel that way for himself, but not for me."

She doesn't agree with her father on many things, least of all doctrine.

"For me it's not about rejecting divine authority, but asserting my own. This is my body. People can give me scars, but I don't have to carry them. I can reshape them into something beautiful."

'Rejecting any authority is-'

He stops, and turns his face away so it is half-hidden. The idea of tattoos offends him, because they are not something any decent person has. They disgust him, because of where he came from. And the notion that scars could be thought of as beautiful, as if they were not the lesson they are supposed to be - no, this girl's mind is subverted, and he will never be able to work for her.

'Do as you will. But leave me alone.'

"I like when people don't agree with me. Makes me think about why I believe the things I believe."

She shakes her head. "Look, I want you to know I'm on your side whether you want me there or not. Teja said people have been giving you a hard time, telling you who you should be now, what you should think and feel and believe. They've been doing that to me my whole life, probably telling me to do different things than they're telling you, but either way they have no right."

He does not know what to make of that, so after looking at her for a moment or two, he then averts his eyes. Cheval finishes his milk and fusses his hooves through the straw; Javert watches him instead, and puts his hands in his pockets.

Eventually, he mutters, 'leave me, please.'

It is not that he does not appreciate the sentiment, even if it is from a girl who approves of tattoos; even if he does not need anyone to be 'on his side' - it is simply that no one has ever said that to him before, and he does not know what to do. It is easier to think on it with no one else around.

"Come find me sometime, if you want," she says quietly.

And leaves it at that. People don't generally like when other people get pushy with them, and anyway that's never been her style. It's more Fina's thing.

"That sounds like Teja--you have a good night. And stay warm, okay?"