Nineteen-Eighty
Tuesday, May 31st, 2005 09:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orange_crushedHad a fantastic weekend with a lot of delicious friends- Mr. Smoked Sausage, Mr. Barbeque Chicken, and their rather chilly friend, Ms. Pasta Salad (nee Primavera). I got into an argument and chewed off their heads; we will not being seeing any more of those characters here, I assure you. At least not until I forgive them, around 4 July.
New suitcases and maybe a new mustache, and Sirius put down the bonsai tree.
It is, literally, on the opposite side of the earth. Will it be enough distance ? He hopes so, but doesn't dare be certain. He feels like he did when he turned eleven, and woke into a strange new world that bubbled below the surface; glimmering with magic and strangeness and a language lumos, alohamora! he could not yet begin to comprehend.
The people here are kind and polite; they do not express disgust for Sirius when he spits out his first sashimi roll, but quietly replace it with paper-thin strips of fried beef and vegetables, arranged in the shape of a tidal wave. Remus can wander the city alone in the early morning, while Sirius tosses and turns. He feels that safe here, so far away. They stick out like a sore thumb, but so would a pursuer. The women in the market, handling vegetables with a delicacy nearing tenderness, stop to smile at him and speak quietly to one another behind their hands. The laugh, but it's not cruel. Remus likes the sound. For once it's only height and shaggy dirt-gold hair that make him a stranger.
He reads their newspapers and guidebooks, charmed for translation. One points out that the site of their hotel was formerly the house of a great feudal lord; a wizard who fought in many wars. Remus imagines the servants scurrying back and forth in the night, lighting the lamps, as he falls asleep.
The wizards here are more integrated than he's used to. He does not contact them, as that would be a foolish announcement; they are holding up the pretense of being muggles there on business. It's a more plausible lie here, as Sirius gawps at everything in general, and has more than once given himself away in the English-speaking world. Remus has concocted papers and a briefcase that, he admits, has rather convincingly turned him into a buyer of rare books. Sirius says that he looks like a great ruddy book himself, which helps, and then there's usually some scrapping which may or may not turn into something else.
There's a Shinto temple, where Sirius feels profoundly overcome and does not speak the entire time; and the horrors of karaoke, which takes all of Remus' deep regard for Sirius not to kill him. Sirius likes Harajuku, and the excitement of the shops and clubs- they're only beginning to get the records that he's been listening to, and he likes to watch people hear them, if only as shitty covers in a dive bar, for the first time.
It's strange for Remus to note that the wizarding community here has embraced wandless magic as being closer and more authentic to their origins. The goddess of the moon was the first to gift man with magic, they say, and she used nothing but her two pearlescent hands. He sees them in the park at night, moving gracefully through a series of complex and precise hand motions; while created gardens rise and fall around them. Most English wizards consider it a kind of barbarism; Remus thinks it's beautiful.
He wonders if they can stay here forever, slowly picking up the language, learning to fold their robes the right way, so that it doesn't mean they're ghosts. Everything has meaning here. It is odd and embarassing and extremely gratifying, for him. Nothing can be wasted. He thinks he will announce himself one of these days, quietly, to someone he trusts; and then he can join them in the park at night, while calla lilies and ivy rise around his feet.
Then the airport explodes, with a grinning green skull rising in the west; and they must run.
New suitcases and maybe a new mustache, and Sirius put down the bonsai tree.
It is, literally, on the opposite side of the earth. Will it be enough distance ? He hopes so, but doesn't dare be certain. He feels like he did when he turned eleven, and woke into a strange new world that bubbled below the surface; glimmering with magic and strangeness and a language lumos, alohamora! he could not yet begin to comprehend.
The people here are kind and polite; they do not express disgust for Sirius when he spits out his first sashimi roll, but quietly replace it with paper-thin strips of fried beef and vegetables, arranged in the shape of a tidal wave. Remus can wander the city alone in the early morning, while Sirius tosses and turns. He feels that safe here, so far away. They stick out like a sore thumb, but so would a pursuer. The women in the market, handling vegetables with a delicacy nearing tenderness, stop to smile at him and speak quietly to one another behind their hands. The laugh, but it's not cruel. Remus likes the sound. For once it's only height and shaggy dirt-gold hair that make him a stranger.
He reads their newspapers and guidebooks, charmed for translation. One points out that the site of their hotel was formerly the house of a great feudal lord; a wizard who fought in many wars. Remus imagines the servants scurrying back and forth in the night, lighting the lamps, as he falls asleep.
The wizards here are more integrated than he's used to. He does not contact them, as that would be a foolish announcement; they are holding up the pretense of being muggles there on business. It's a more plausible lie here, as Sirius gawps at everything in general, and has more than once given himself away in the English-speaking world. Remus has concocted papers and a briefcase that, he admits, has rather convincingly turned him into a buyer of rare books. Sirius says that he looks like a great ruddy book himself, which helps, and then there's usually some scrapping which may or may not turn into something else.
There's a Shinto temple, where Sirius feels profoundly overcome and does not speak the entire time; and the horrors of karaoke, which takes all of Remus' deep regard for Sirius not to kill him. Sirius likes Harajuku, and the excitement of the shops and clubs- they're only beginning to get the records that he's been listening to, and he likes to watch people hear them, if only as shitty covers in a dive bar, for the first time.
It's strange for Remus to note that the wizarding community here has embraced wandless magic as being closer and more authentic to their origins. The goddess of the moon was the first to gift man with magic, they say, and she used nothing but her two pearlescent hands. He sees them in the park at night, moving gracefully through a series of complex and precise hand motions; while created gardens rise and fall around them. Most English wizards consider it a kind of barbarism; Remus thinks it's beautiful.
He wonders if they can stay here forever, slowly picking up the language, learning to fold their robes the right way, so that it doesn't mean they're ghosts. Everything has meaning here. It is odd and embarassing and extremely gratifying, for him. Nothing can be wasted. He thinks he will announce himself one of these days, quietly, to someone he trusts; and then he can join them in the park at night, while calla lilies and ivy rise around his feet.
Then the airport explodes, with a grinning green skull rising in the west; and they must run.
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Lovely
Date: Tuesday, May 31st, 2005 10:56 am (UTC)Then the airport explodes, with a grinning green skull rising in the west; and they must run.
Congrats and good luck on your vows. I hear that if you blink, the date comes here. Since I eloped with mine, I can't say :/
Re: Lovely
Date: Wednesday, June 1st, 2005 07:09 am (UTC)And oooh, elopement ! No drunk uncles. You are a genius my friend.
no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 1st, 2005 09:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Wednesday, June 1st, 2005 03:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 10:57 am (UTC)Thanks so much.
no subject
Date: Monday, June 13th, 2005 04:40 pm (UTC)cdk
no subject
Date: Tuesday, June 14th, 2005 10:57 am (UTC)