Chance

[Jasmine Krisp]

For once Jasmine could see the little reasoning behind Naelona's hatred for women and 'illness', or emotions as other people would call it. It was true that people were hurt from their feelings sometimes, but only sometimes. And was it just her or did the young woman seem to know a lot about such pains of the heart? Jazz wondered about what the daughter Ezel had gone through, but now wasn't the time for exposition. If there was to be any moving forward tonight, it would take a couple more hits at Naelona's expense.

I hate playing the bully...even if it's for their own good...ugh.

"Laws without illness, or feelings as any normal being would call them, are foolish and heartless. Without it you might as well leave it up to a rock," the plum woman stepped a little closer, staring right where Naelona's eyes should be if they looked back at her. "Yes, people make foolish choices out of the wills of the heart, but those emotions also bring us happiness and light in our world. It is what makes us who we are. If you hold love for someone it is not a sin, nor is it an illness or sickness or anything of the like."

Jasmine couldn't help the fleeting image of her child, her daughter, that floated through her mind as she spoke.

"I can agree that the darker feelings are painful...but if you avoid all emotions for the sake of avoiding pain, you loose out on so much good that the heart has to offer...and that is a sin in itself, if you ask me."

Ah, and of course somehow we move to Shaehern. Instead of a quick response, the older woman shook her head. "He tells me little things, but what I speak of comes from my experience. Both of you, in my opinion, are making the same mistakes on different paths. My only question is what will happen when the paths meet..." That last sentence was said in such a hush that Naelona wouldn't hear it. Better she didn't...or anyone else that happened to be listening in.

Lord knew that man had a habit of spying.

[Naelona Ezel]

"There is nothing foolish of laws of form and conduct. Without it there would be nothing but death and chaos." Honestly, rules were not created based on emotion alone. Some were prompted by emotion, but all had a solid core of logic. A law concerning the stealing of slaves for instance - though it may stir emotions in those involved, and no doubt prompted into creation by one who suffered such a loss - there was a reasonable core to it as well. It cut down on confusion and conflict and maintained social security. It reduced instances of emotional flares. It was difficult to have any sort of working economy when the goods could be stolen without consequence.

"No, you are incorrect. Without illness there would be no need for laws. Beings would not act foolishly, cause needless trouble, or fall out of line." Were everyone reasonable and set aside those troubling nuisances a multitude of crimes would be avoided altogether. Beings would act out of reason and good sense, not childish whims and hasty tempers.

"You speak of blasphemy, Jasmine." Intense illnesses and concepts such as 'love' 'care' 'fondness' 'preference' 'favor' ..whatever one preferred to term it. When it came to slaves, all were common stumbling blocks for a disturbing number of boogies at one time or another. "Slaves are items and nothing more. Living sources for our way of life. They are not akin to us nor deserving in any way."

Looking from the side, it was about as close as she could come to meeting her opponent without becoming too disturbed by her eyes. Naelona bristled at Jasmines words, especially now. Any respective paths - metaphoric or otherwise - was not something she wanted crossing anytime soon soon and least of all during this mess. If by different paths she meant opposites, than Jasmine was quite right. However Naelona saw herself as the one being in the right. "His ways have been errant for decades. There is no hope for him now."

For opposite paths to even remotely cross, they must go in the same direction at some point. Both had been rooted in their ways for years and Naelona saw little odds in either changing. "I would consider twice anything he tells you."

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at Naelona. She’d thought the woman was smart and beautiful, and from the distance she normally kept her at Naelona was just that, but close enough to speak the woman was rubbing her the wrong way. Unlike many of the Boogies of Wonderland, Jasmine considered humans and feelings precious, that humans were not mere tools or playthings. Sometimes she would even wonder just what the line was between her kind and them. But sadly, Jazz and those like here were a dying breed in this place.

And even those who seemed to meet her eyes were fooling themselves.

“I never said there was, do not put words in my mouth, child.” The little woman sighed softly, closing her eyes and shaking her head. This was silly. “I said that rules without emotion are foolish. I am not chastising your authority, merely pointing out that you, like other foolish rulers of our past, can not make choices on order alone. There must be heart somewhere in it, or even law will fall in on itself.”

The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.

Blasphemous, was she? That caused the plum Boogie to actually laugh a little. Jasmine was the one who couldn’t believe her ears…and by a human’s stand point, it would be with her that they sided. Slaves were not items, in fact, they were not slaves.

“They are called ‘humans’ more commonly, Miss Ezel.” Her eyes narrowed a little when she continued. Again, for a brief second, a flash of an innocent face lit up her mind. A human child who had been everything but a slave to Jasmine…Pax, her daughter, was very much akin to her…so much so that she’d wished the poor human had been her own. That had not turned out well, for herself or for her child. Golden slits softened a little as she looked over the smaller (in age) Boogie before her.

"You are still a such a child yourself..." she mused.

Something about Naelona's word did cause her to drift off-topic. "Decades?" Jasmine blinked once, "You and dear Shaehern have know each other...how long?" It was odd how she spoke the man's name in her first tongue, adding 'dear' as if it were an honorific. Force of habit and a sign of friendship on her part. That last line did earn a soft chuckle from the plum. "I already do that at least. He weaves himself some fancy moonshines, doesn't he? But you seem to know him better than I..."

[Naelona Ezel]

Naelona kept her mouth shut at the chastisement. Anyone younger would receive a readily prepared remark to still the tongue and wound the ears. Jasmine.. was older. She was a lot older and despite her request for equal treatment, there were some things the Ezel could not disregard. She was likely ten times her age, even twenty wouldn't be absurd. Honor resided with the aged. Something the young could not forget.

"I fail to see how rules involving with emotions make them any better." Naelona murmured quietly, but it wasn't something to directly say to Jasmine granted her age. It seemed no matter how much she tried to separate herself from such nuances, the more they came into her life. If they weren't brought in by someone, stirred by the past, it was now being spoken to her. It just didn't end, did it?

Humans, slaves, a utility.. it was all the same. They lived, worked, and perpetuated their way of life. Boogies would perish if derived of them. Their fears, angers, things that made life miserable compelled the boogies existence. If slaves were not miserable, then life wasn't right. Holding them in any high regard fostered and illness of desire to not put them in such situations, but to do so was also to decrease one's quality of life and overall well being. Hence, it was blasphemy.

Finally Naelona turned fully to view Jasmine, glancing once over the small figure of fury, noting what was worth noting and answering simply. "I have known him few decades short of four-hundred years." It didn't sit well to merely toss out a number without explaining the implications behind it. Four centuries was probably a mere blink of time for this boogie. "That is, ever since we were children. We grew up together, if it assists your understanding. Our families were of close acquaintance at that time."

Naelona's expression changed slightly. Discussing history and specific individuals within it wasn't a familiar mode of conversation, however preferable to Kristopher and illnesses. "Yes, he will tell you some very tall tales if you'll allow him. He will also listen to them." Beyond that, Shae's usefulness deteriorated rapidly. "He.." The boogie paused and muted herself. There were many things she could say about Shaehern, but not all were up to her for the divulging. "He is very different now from what he used to be. You would not recognize him by behavior alone."

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine did, in fact, hear the little murmur of a response that Naelona ‘didn’t’ say at her. Instead of continuing on that subject, however, the plum woman shook her head and sighed. She needed to remember the word she lived in, didn’t she. Wonderland was not filled with open-minded people willing to listen. It was, in a rather pessimistic view, a place filled with traditions and rules nobody was ready of willing to let go off. It was odd how the oldest woman in the palace was the one keen to see things from the utilities’ point of view. Had it been her upbringing? No, she didn’t remember anything of how she was raised.

Perhaps this compassion came from being alone, like so many humans.

Placing her pale hand to rest on her chest, over her heart, fluttering like a bird. “If he is merely a tool…why do you care so much for him? Is he just…special?” That was spoken in a voice so gentle it seemed almost motherly. There was also a tone of understanding in her words. The softness was from her empathy, but to either Naelona or to another, Jazz wasn’t sure.

“Four hundred…that's...” the plum woman blanched at the words, something odd in itself as she was already snow-white. Naelona and Shaehern had known each other since childhood? A smile broke across her face, albeit a surprised one. “Oh, I had no idea! What a lovely thing, to be childhood playmates. How very…” the words of warmth died suddenly. That didn’t fit. If Naelona had known her dear fruit-basket since then, and they had been friends…then how were they so different? From what she’d seen Nae was very much the kind of person she could see Shae teasing for fun, and maybe out of friendship. But Naelona seemed so withdrawn and dark compared to him...

How in he world had they ever gotten along?

A friendship born of opposites...or am I missing something?

The smile twitched down as she wondered just when, or how, those two had even become close, if they ever had in the first place.

[Naelona Ezel]

"How much do you know?" Naelona asked, not without a bit of caution. "He was a betting child. I held special interests in his survival, nothing more." Again with her use of past tense. It was horribly complicated now. Granted getting straight answers out of Naelona was like pulling teeth, but that's how it was to speak with an Ezel. "You speak very informally for how briefly I have known you." A little too informally for her tastes.

The tone of Jasmine's voice was unusual to her ears, but it worked strangely on her. It wasn't a tone she was accustomed to hearing and it took a moment or two to adjust to it. The subject of Kristopher was something she would bring up only with a trusted few, and to none the entire story save perhaps with Kristopher himself. Never mind the boy was incapable of understanding her. Such conversation was better spoken over drinks, if spoke of at all.

Naelona raised a thin eyebrow at Jasmine's apparent shock. "Some time, yes." Hardly a blink to someone like Jasmine, but it still held a comparable measure when aligned with most of one's entire living life. "..peculiar?" It was quite peculiar. For several moments Naelona neither spoke nor moved. She simply stood there upon the path in the night in her dark attire, watching the small woman as her aged brain tried to wrap itself around what it did not know.

To a keener eye Naelona almost seemed amused by Jasmine's confusion. It was evident to her that the old boogie was already trying to fit the pieces together into something coherent. "Do not weary yourself in consideration of it. It is an old topic not worth reviving." Naelona said dismissively. It wasn't worth the effort to view the overall picture, she could tell her that much already.

[Jasmine Krisp]

At the question of her knowledge, Jasmine shook her little plum head once. Before she could offer an answer the little Ezel was talking again, about a bet she'd made and other things, and of informality. This earned a little twitch on the older woman's face. It was strange to think that the younger Boogie would have to comment about the oldest one's maturity or formality level...seemed very backwards, didn't it? But Jasmine was a very backwards person in appearance and age and mannerisms.

As was her place in the Wonderland.

“Peculiar isn’t the word I was going for. More along the lines of ‘darling’…but then I thought about it,” gold eyes turned toward the sky, speckled with clouds and starts alike, before continuing, “And I realized that the imagery of a younger you and Shaehern more baffling than anything. You two are complete and utter opposites.” Yes, being blunt was one of Jasmine’s specialties, and now was certainly the time to demonstrate it. Looking from the sky to the older-in-manners Boogie her eyes adjusted to the dark a little more, glowing stronger, like little candles.

Of course the subject of Kristopher and Naelona’s ‘ills’ would have to be saved for later. Jasmine was far too interested in the supposed friendship or acquaintanceship or whatever it was one might call it. Taking a few more steps closer, more on her toes than on her soles, the little plum got just close enough to Naelona to peer up at her. Even to such a young woman Jasmine was a tiny thing. This irked her, but she kept her size complex well hidden under her apparently blank look of curiosity. “If you’d like, Miss Ezel, we could drop this so called ‘old topic’. But…suppose that as soon as we did I brought up the former argument about law and heart? Perhaps I asked you more ‘informal’ questions about your relationship with that blond child...would you rather that?”

A somewhat cat-like smile lit up her pale face. “Or would you prefer that I asked a few more questions on this ‘old topic’?”

Poor Naelona would need a drink if this continued at this rate. Jasmine could be a relentless little thing.

[Naelona Ezel]

.....darling? There wasn't even a look suitable enough for the befuddlement that word could conjure. 'Darling' was not a word Naelona would associate with her own life, let alone any other's, let alone in tandem. At a moment three blurs suddenly crossed the path around them vanishing in to the dark garden. A quick eye could spot they were children, save it was two boys and one girl. One figure was blurry and poorly rendered by comparison, and another considerably smaller than the other two as they silently ran by. A meager image as only Naelona could remember it.

"It was nothing we decided as children." It wasn't like they just struck a chord one way and were suddenly all buddies or something. They weren't that sort of children. All three had gone very different directions although Anolean had proven the most predictable, at least to his sister. She was sure none of them had turned out as each other's respective parent(s) every actually anticipated. A child who became a slacker, one who nothing was expected taking over much, and one who just.. vanished off the face of Wonderland only to resurface as.. something else entirely. What a misleading trio they had been.

Even despite the height differences, Naelona stood a bit straighter as Jasmine approached. The closing proximity was not a welcome one, even if respectfully kept. "Suppose then your so-called 'argument' would then be ignored." Her gray eyes narrowed at the little woman. She'd had quite enough of this Kristopher-scrutiny. The nature of the ordeal was not one up for discussion, at least not with this one.

"Snakes do run alike." Naelona muttered. Jasmine would be right. She would be needing a drink or three if this kept up in such a fashion much longer. Sighing the boogie turned away from Jasmine and continued down the path. "Inquire of the old if you will, but do not blame me if your digging only renders you buried." That of course, did not account for the dirt Nae might consider to shove in after Jasmine. Even so, the past was a million times more preferable to discuss than the present.

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine blinked a few times as the trio of blurred and silhouetted figures ran across the path. She had no doubt that they were a figment of Naelona’s talent and possibly her memory. There were three children, two boys and one little girl…a set of shadowy twins and their close-at-the-time friend. Gold eyes took the scene as a somewhat innocent and somewhat sad recollection. Nae didn’t know how lucky she was to even just remember those precious moments. Jasmine would have given anything to remember her childhood…even the not-so-nice parts.

There was only silence at the next statement. Even if they hadn’t been playmates by choice, somehow they kept returning to find one another in this big twisted world. They couldn't stay apart, even if they wanted to.

Wasn’t that something?

The plum woman stepped back with a softer smile as the much younger Boogie turned and continued to walk. Jasmine politely, for once, waited so a little distance could come between them before she followed after, hands behind her back and hair flowing behind her. “I prefer ‘birds of a feather flock together’, but that does work too.” So Naelona was not going to run her off into the dusk. That was a good sign, even if the relationship was still strained. Either way she was talking with the woman. “Would you mind telling me when you first met? Judging from those shapes...”

She looked back for a second, only a second.

"...you seemed to be very little."

[Naelona Ezel]

So the woman did have some better senses in her aged and obstinate mind after all. With the respected distance Nae's posture relaxed a bit. She didn't let her back slip or slouch, and her head was held just as high before but less rigid and tensely as she tended to do when in a state of unease. It would be much simpler to converse in a clear and concise manner versus constantly checking distance and trying to adjust accordingly.

Naelona made a nameless note as she walked but didn't answer right away. Instead she took a few moments just watching the plants along the path in passing. That was a long time ago to consider, and at first and even second thought nothing distinct came to mind. Did she even recall anything of so long ago? Gradually bits and pieces of the memory took form in the forefront of her mind.

"As we were, in those times." Very little indeed. There was always a peculiar sort of effort needed when required to recollect things long unthought of and mostly forgotten. "We weren't even out of our first century at that time. And your.. friend.. was hardly partway through his." Shaehern had been so little compared to the twins at the time. Forty years difference in age was only truly notable when compared amidst children. It quickly lost it's notability when nearing one's twentieth decade.. sometimes sooner.

"I do not recall the exact circumstances that warranted our introductions, merely that they lived nearby. It was mostly a byproduct of my father's political connections." Social could've been used instead, but nearly everything 'social' had some political aspect contained within it to one degree or another. Part of one's success did hinge to a degree on who one knew, or who knew of them.

"Your friend was very small, perhaps about.. yey-high at that age." Naelona paused briefly to indicate with her hand the approximate height as best she could determine from memory and comparative physical knowledge. "I recall a quiet a child. Wide-eyed and easily startled. He hid behind skirts then about as often as he wears them now. Not that there were many to hide behind at the time." Naelona added as an afterthought. She was sure slaves and children didn't count in such a tally.

"..but that was nearly thirty-five decades ago. Do not take my memory as law upon the matter."

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine was good at several things, if she would care to admit. She was a fair singer, was light on her toes, and had a good sense of humor. But one of her best traits was her ability to listen…and to understand. With little ballet-steps the plum woman followed after Naelona, looking her over as she spoke. She tried to picture it again: the face of a cheerful little Nae and a young Shae, as well as Naelona’s twin whom she’d only seen once at the ball. The image was a little difficult to place. She knew Shaehern now, but she’d didn’t know Shaehern then, and she hardly knew Naelona at all.

Pieces were missing from the image in her head.

The very idea of being so little brought a gentle glow about the older Boogie’s features. “You were so very young. Those days are very precious, you know.” That odd voice from before, the mature and somewhat maternal one, slipped through her lips once more. “Even if you don’t remember completely, be thankful that you remember a little.”

Jazz giggled at the idea of such a small and shy Shaehern. “Easily startled…goodness I’m amazed he turned out the way he did. Might I ask how well you two got along? Or three, if you would tell me about your brother.” With one hand the woman tucked a lock of lavender behind her ear, her golden eyes never leaving the shadow rose before her. She was curious to know how such opposites attracted, and still somehow continued to in their own ways, even if it appeared more of a repulsion.

[Naelona Ezel]

"Precious to some, perhaps." Some memories were, but others certainly were not. Naelona slowed her pace across the stone steps, pausing in her walk as one 'stone' got up and scuttled away into some bushes. 'Precious' and similar concepts easily tied with matters she didn't consider anymore save as invalid and problematic tendencies.

Memory probably did go with age. In ways the Ezel had been looking forward to that. Curious to consider one of such an age would speak fondly of the ability to recall such times. Then again - it was common knowledge to her that all boogies of age were absurd and thoroughly cracked in the head and sanity. Some were just extraordinarily good at hiding their shortcomings than others.

"As children." How else did young beings get along? They squabbled and played, became subjects of comedy of occasionally made someone cry. Sidestepping the gap in the path Naelona turned to regard the short follower. "How else are youth to get along?" How was there any other way? It really wasn't like Naelona had any other relationships as a child to compare to. Slave children didn't count for much either. Anolean always seemed to make such short work of them.

Speaking of her brother, Anolean and Shaehern was a bit of a different story if she compared her brother to herself. "In earlier years he merely tagged along with us, he was too young to expect much else out of him. When he became older and more capable we would play games, or they would at least." When she wasn't sick and laid up in bed. "To be forward with you, I do not recall much of those years."

[Jasmine Krisp]

“All memories are precious, as are all friendships. It’s something you learn as you get older and regret not knowing as a child.” Jasmine said with a little chuckle and continued walking, gold eyes barely noticing the magical walking stone as it scuttled off. There were much stranger things in Wonderland than a few moving rocks…or whatever the hell that had been. “Among life's precious jewels, genuine and rare, the one that we call friendship has worth beyond compare.” Once she started to rhyme, Jazz knew she’d been spending too much time with Shae.

The plum woman let another giggle escape her as Naelona continued. “I think you misread me, Miss Ezel. I meant how well did you get along. Were you friendly?”

For some reason it interested Jasmine a little more than it should to hear Naelona talk about her brother. Perhaps it was because she’d never known her own, now she could see and hear about a pair of siblings so close…she wondered if Naelona had feelings for Anolean that once lived in herself…feelings of love toward a sibling she’d never known, and never would know. In a way she was jealous, but she wasn’t quite sure if Darion deserved those feelings, so for now it was only a splinter of envy.

“Did you ever tease the boy?” she mused, stepping lightly and just a little bit closer to the younger woman, “I imagine a little tagalong would be easy to ‘mess with’.”

[Naelona Ezel]

Rounding a turn in the path, Naelona paused to gather her skits and aside and sit down on a stone bench set into a small alcove. Walking was best left for busy times and sought escapes. She wasn't going to get anywhere fast with this small woman following her steps with her persistent questions. Might as well at least sit and let her indulge her curiosities for a short bit.

"I would not be inclined to believe such a thing, Miss." Friendships were... tedious and tricky things of a delicate nature. Naelona had little and strained knowledge of the subject, though things did not seem to go well when such a subject was investigated. Things never did with anything of that sort. Everything was all temporary and subject to sudden shift, change, or even termination. Unlike laws, there was nothing permanent nor guaranteed with fickle things like 'friendships'. "'Friendships' as you call them are fickle subjects. Anything of sensible value lasts at least a reasonable measure of time, but nothing of a relational nature."

But was she friendly?

"I acted acceptably as a child. Anolean decided what we were doing, I went with Anolean, and Shaehern was brought along with us." Pressing her palms against the cool stone of the bench Naelona 'tsked' quietly yet for the briefest moment there was a hint of a smirk. "Every day I could." Thinking back, she also recalled saving his 5th-decade hide out of trouble a few times, though it was more so to save the twins' own skin.

"Understand in the youngest of years there was a respectable gap in our ages. He was old enough to follow along, and young enough not to know any better. A perfect shadow, if you will." The boogie had to muse, even a little, even if just briefly at how easy it had been. "I had my brother's antics to grow up with and I learned accordingly. Shaehern had to learn on his own."

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine paused at the empty side of the bench, rather than sitting on it with Naelona. She brought both hands behind her back again to run her fingers through her braid. A little smile remained on her face, eyes warm as she listened. “Remember, I said you’ll learn it when you’re older. Give yourself some time and you might agree with me…if only a little.” Now she began to step closer, brushing her skirt back like a piano player would his coattails at the bench. The cold of the stone was kept away with her little black leggings.

“Some relationships do last a reasonable measure of time. Some even lead to more than friendship.” Not that she was implying anything. Really.

The image of the little trio made a bit more sense now, simply from that moment-long look on Naelona’s face. Just that little smirk showed something different about the shadowy woman, a different light if you would. Jazz grinned a little brighter herself. “Sounds like fun...for you anyway. Were you a naughty set, you and your brother?” Somehow she already knew the answer to that.

“Do you remember any mischief you pulled on the poor boy?”