Saving Grace

[Demeter]

"Almost thirty?" Flora ventured. "Because you sure aren't fifteen," she said with a faint laugh in her voice.

[Palladium]

Palladium laughed. "Yes, almost thirty, much to my dismay."

After a few moments, he smiled, "So, you've had the opportunity to pry into my life - thus, it is only fair if I pry into yours. Now it is your turn to tell me about your home realm - Linphea, is it not?"

[Demeter]

Flora nodded. "Mmhmm.." Now she knew why he was so skittish in their "relationship" - if you could call it that. Well... it also took the people in her home realm a long time to get married. Her mother had mentioned it was, oh, five or so years that it took her father to court her. That didn't count the time needed to plan a wedding.

[Palladium]

"Well then, tell me something about the Linpheans. What are some of your traditions? I admit, although I have traveled to many realms, I have never had the opportunity to visit yours. Therefore, I shall make it your job to tell me anything interesting about it. Go on, now." Palladium smiled, his relaxed, good mood slowly returning.

[Demeter]

Flora was thoughtful, trying to think of what to tell him. "As you can tell by my use of Winx, our powers come from nature. We're not as technology based as some of the other realms because we fear that some of those things will disrupt the very balance of our realm," she said quietly.

"Most of our jobs are nature based. For example, my mother runs a store that sells products made by hand and that only use natural ingredients. I have to admit, some of the perfume you've smelt me wearing was made by my mother. She's so skilled at what she does - she knows just what to mix to get everything smelling nice and to get it to work the way it should." She laughed merrily. "I know some of the Alfea girls would patron my mother's shop if they could - she sells tons of sleep aids that have heavenly scents, one is rose scented and that's the chief seller around exam time, and she also sells handmade makeup."

She was careful not to speak of how her people carried about relationships. It wasn't the time, never would be the time - as she assumed his heart would never let her in, nor was it the place. "I doubt you'd be interested in how we conduct relationships so I'll just skip that," she said quietly. "What else...?"

[Palladium]

Palladium smiled, "It is my opinion that much can be learned about a civilization by looking at how relationships are conducted. You see, by studying relationships, one can learn about that society's traditions, and even more, values. For example, if you looked at Athryellian courtship, you would observe that our society is a mix between traditional and modern values."

[Demeter]

"Well, since you asked..." Flora said. "We don't fall quickly in love most times. Well, the men tend to do, but the ladies are a bit more reserved. There are some exceptions, but generally, it takes years for couples to form. For example, it took my parents at least five years, if not more, to go through the courtship rituals, which include and not limited to, having a chaperone on the date with you to make sure you don't do anything that would jeopardize the woman's reputation, asking the father for his blessing before you even dream of courting his daughter, going to specific places where other couples are, no moonlit walks at night unless there are other couples going," Flora said, ticking off rules as she recalled them.

"Ah, my personal favorite, no kissing on the lips is allowed until you're well into your third year of the relationship. Hands are first year, cheeks are second year." She rolled her sightless eyes at that.

"Most couples take at least five years to court, my own father did at least five or more," she said, sighing quietly. "And we won't go into details about how long it takes the marriage proceedings to happen. Everything is written down, plotted out, down to the very last detail."

She shook her head. "Still want me to continue discussing our view on relationships or would you prefer something more enlightening?"

[Palladium]

Palladium laughed, a genuine smile crossing his face. "Athryellian courtship can be equally burdensome. Although we are fortunate in that we do not have arranged marriages, whoever we wish to court must be approved by both sets of parents. That is, if a male wished to date a female, he must be approved by her parents. In addition, his own parents must approve of the female. It doesn't sound too horrible in theory, but in reality, it can be very difficult - mainly because Athryellians value their name. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to court someone who is of the same social status as yourself. For example, I, as a middle-class Athryellian, could not court a peasant. It is simply not done."

"As for general relationships between males and females, we are not allowed to fraternize once the female has come of age." Laughing, he added, "This particular rule almost destroyed my friendship with Cora."

[Demeter]

Flora tilted her head in thought. "And what about outsiders? Suppose, in theory, someone wanted to court one? Is that not done or what's the story there? I'm... curious," she said, subtly hinting for the most part.



OOC: if you can call a sledgehammer subtle XD

[Palladium]

"Generally speaking, inter-realm courtship is not accepted, as it will create a "half-breed" race. While we do not mind people of other realms inter-marrying, we believe that this is not suitable for Athryell. As we are the only elven realm, we fear that we will taint our blood and someday, our race will no longer be recognizable. We fear that the characteristics we possess, mainly our keen elven senses, such as our intuition, will not carry if we inter-marry." Palladium smiled faintly, "However, if an Athryellian does wed someone from another realm, he or she would no longer be allowed to live in Athryell. It seems harsh, yes, but it has allowed our lineage to remain pure. Even more, we observed how the elven species on Earth died out because of inter-marriage with humans, and we do not wish the same fate to befall us."

[Demeter]

That was it, Flora thought dejectedly. The last nail in the coffin of her heart. She was glad she had her back to him so he couldn't see the tears spill down her cheeks. She was glad she learned how to cry silently, as to not alert anyone that the "overly sensitive" fairy was "crying her fool head off".

She struggled to compose herself. "I... see..." Irony notwithstanding.

[Palladium]

Palladium laughed softly, "As for me, personally, I do not much care for such silly rules. The way I view the situation, I doubt everyone would inter-marry, so the Athryellian "pure" bloodline would continue, even if inter-realm marriage wasn't outlawed. It is my opinion, however blasphemous it may be, that many of Athryell's social rules are quite ridiculous."

[Demeter]

She turned her head to look at him - well, look if she could see. "Do you really believe that?" she asked softly, not wanting to get her hopes up. She didn't want to get her hopes up again only to see them shatter on the rocks.

[Palladium]

"If I am passionate enough about the matter at hand then, yes, I will fight regardless of what the rules say. After all, I defied the rules for Cora when I thought I would no longer be able to see her because she had come of age. And, if another situation arises someday in which I stand on the verge of losing someone important to me because of social conventions I don't agree with, I will fight again." Laughing to lighten the mood he quipped, "I imagine you never pictured me as the rebellious type. I suppose I'm full of surprises, then."

[Demeter]

Flora smiled softly to herself. "You can say that again," she said gently. "I never pictured you as a rebel. I suppose that changes my whole view of you," she continued. "I viewed you as someone as who always did things by the book." She laughed quietly. "I remember thinking that you weren't interested in females because you were so skittish during my freshman year."