amoris | "Dainty and Inelegant" (Reply)

Title: "Dainty and Inelegant"
Author: Rissy James
Characters: Glitch and DG
Rating: PG
Summary: One-shot. Post-series. Echoes of the past speak of a lost and (almost) forgotten love, and the difference between what was and what is.

Author's Note: Written for Challenge 10-A ("It's Like Technicolor!") at

tm_challenge . Inspiration credit to

lionille .

[ Hidden Away - Seek And Ye Shall... - Dainty and Inelegant ]

Dainty and Inelegant

"That's the colour of Mother's eyes."

DG hunkered down on her heels, the hem of her lacy white dress brushing the dirty stone stairs in front of her. She reached down to finger the stiff, rough stem of the weed growing in the cracks of the palace steps. Above her loomed the great palace of Finaqua, a lonely, forgotten relic of a Golden Age.

Closer to the ground, she saw that lavender was everywhere she looked. The long, dry marsh grass that spread out as far as she could see was veiled with the pale purple buds. How hadn't she noticed these wildflowers approaching from the maze? Had she been too focused on the sight of the palace to see that the grassland around her rioted with the colour of love and safety?

With a twist of her fingers, she broke the stalk in her hand. She stood, and held her discovery up to the warmth of the double suns. Fragile veins of darker purple ran through the petals of the lavender blossoms that erupted at random from the stem. She couldn't remember a time when she'd held something so delicate and beautiful in her hands.

Mother.

She climbed the old, uneven steps to reach the grand terrace. "Isn't it, though?" She turned to Glitch, hoping for an affirmation.

Her friend was distracted by something flying out over the lake, a misplaced look of concentration hard on his features. DG cleared her throat, and Glitch's attention snapped to the princess holding a weed up to the sunslight. Spell broken. He wrinkled his nose at her as he mounted the steps, grit crunching underneath his hard-soled shoes.

"Isn't it what? A weed?" He took the slender stem from her, and plucked a lush lavender petal from one of the three flowers, turning it over in his fingers. After a moment, he opened his mouth and placed the petal on his tongue. As DG watched, he chewed it slowly, considered for a moment, and then swallowed. "Nuttallanthus canadensis."

DG frowned; she'd grown used to his odder tendencies, but sometimes... "More commonly referred to as...?" She bent down. The stone steps of the palace had long since given up to neglect, the passage of time and the ravage of nature. Shoots of lavender sprang from every crack and crevice, some stalks reaching a foot high. It was incredible, magical, how quickly life had come back to this special place.

Glitch didn't answer. He did as DG had done, raising the broken-off stem to the suns. A faint smile graced his lips, and his face softened. He plucked another petal and offered it up to the wind. She watched it fly toward the lake until the glare of the suns made her blink, and it was gone.

She looked up at Glitch. He broke off a whole blossom with a clear, quiet snap. He studied the pale flower so intently, lost somewhere that DG couldn't follow him. She'd almost decided that he'd forgotten she was there when he finally spoke.

"Do you know what this colour reminds me of?"

[ Hidden Away - Seek And Ye Shall... - Dainty and Inelegant ]