Post by journeycat on May 12, 2011 3:15:07 GMT 10
Title: A True Conté
Rating: PG
Word Count: 355
Pairing: Team Temptation (Jon/Kel)
Round/Fight: 3/A
Summary: Lianokami questions who her best friend, Keely of Mindelan, is.
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Who is she to me?
Lianokami often asked that question growing up, before she was conscious of the skeletons in her family’s wardrobes and before she realized that such questions were offensive. Keely didn’t seem to mind, though; Liano thought that maybe she didn’t know who she was, either.
Just be kind to her, Grandmother Thayet had sighed. She had said no more, but her eyes seemed brighter than usual and she looked so sad that Liano had vowed to never bring Kee up to her again. And after that, she realized that Kee and Thayet were never in the same room as each other.
She’s the daughter of a harlot, Aunt Lianne said disdainfully, her cold face full of so much contempt that Liano was taken aback. It made her mad, too, because Aunt Lianne didn’t know Kee and she obviously didn’t know Lady Kel, either, if she was going to call her a harlot—whatever that was. She just knew it was something bad, and Lady Kel was one of the truest people Liano knew.
She is my sister, Father said frankly. That made Kee her aunt, but Kee was three years her junior and Liano could hardly call her Aunt. He and Mama were the few that treated Kee not just kindly, but affectionately. Whatever it was that barred Kee from being able to firmly assimilate into Liano’s family did not affect her parents.
It was Alanna the Lioness who knelt before her and poked her hard in the chest. What is she to you? she repeated. No one else can answer that except you, Liano. Do you think of her as your best friend? Then that’s who she is, and nothing less. Forget whatever you learn about her parentage, because the past is in the past. She’s still Keely.
Liano asked others the same question—who exactly is Keely?—but Alanna’s answer was the one that stuck. And later as adolescents, when she realized that Kee looked far more like a Conté than Liano herself, with her Yamani mother and half-K’miri father, she tried not to hold it against her.
QC: by Cassandra
Rating: PG
Word Count: 355
Pairing: Team Temptation (Jon/Kel)
Round/Fight: 3/A
Summary: Lianokami questions who her best friend, Keely of Mindelan, is.
-----
Who is she to me?
Lianokami often asked that question growing up, before she was conscious of the skeletons in her family’s wardrobes and before she realized that such questions were offensive. Keely didn’t seem to mind, though; Liano thought that maybe she didn’t know who she was, either.
Just be kind to her, Grandmother Thayet had sighed. She had said no more, but her eyes seemed brighter than usual and she looked so sad that Liano had vowed to never bring Kee up to her again. And after that, she realized that Kee and Thayet were never in the same room as each other.
She’s the daughter of a harlot, Aunt Lianne said disdainfully, her cold face full of so much contempt that Liano was taken aback. It made her mad, too, because Aunt Lianne didn’t know Kee and she obviously didn’t know Lady Kel, either, if she was going to call her a harlot—whatever that was. She just knew it was something bad, and Lady Kel was one of the truest people Liano knew.
She is my sister, Father said frankly. That made Kee her aunt, but Kee was three years her junior and Liano could hardly call her Aunt. He and Mama were the few that treated Kee not just kindly, but affectionately. Whatever it was that barred Kee from being able to firmly assimilate into Liano’s family did not affect her parents.
It was Alanna the Lioness who knelt before her and poked her hard in the chest. What is she to you? she repeated. No one else can answer that except you, Liano. Do you think of her as your best friend? Then that’s who she is, and nothing less. Forget whatever you learn about her parentage, because the past is in the past. She’s still Keely.
Liano asked others the same question—who exactly is Keely?—but Alanna’s answer was the one that stuck. And later as adolescents, when she realized that Kee looked far more like a Conté than Liano herself, with her Yamani mother and half-K’miri father, she tried not to hold it against her.
QC: by Cassandra