(no subject)

[tragic_mask]

Arriving at the Visitor's Center, Melpomene takes a look around.

"Well, this is it. In all its touristic glory. "

Comments

[tragic_mask]

"Oh," she says, making a face. "You're asking me to make a huge sacrifice by allowing you to escort me through public areas while wearing socks and sandals. I hope you know that."

[mechanicalswans]

"I know," he says, "and I appreciate it deeply. I'll have to find some way to make it up to you--I know! We can go to the county fair."

[tragic_mask]

She shoots him a look.

"All I know about the county fair is that the food is usually good... and the Ferris wheels are never tall enough."

[mechanicalswans]

"Oh, the food," he says. "All the fried foods and sweets you could want, and many more. We must have funnel cake. Maybe sausage and pepper sandwiches, or hamburgers and fries. And cotton candy and ice cream--you're making me hungry just thinking about it."

[tragic_mask]

"Sorry," she says. "Not my intention."

[mechanicalswans]

"No need to apologize," he says. "You go for the food, or to be social, or for the rides if there are any--or if you've got an animal or a craft in the competitions."

[tragic_mask]

"Which is, in a nutshell, why I really don't see the charm in fairs."

[mechanicalswans]

"I lived in farm communities for so long that I've grown fond of them," he says. "There's a simplicity, a... a sense of marking the passage of time."

[tragic_mask]

"Though county fairs seem timeless... they never change."

[mechanicalswans]

"It's an endless loop," he says. "Every year, it's 1926 all over again, or whatever gentler, simpler year you might hope for. The music at the dances may change, but the sentiment is always the same. It's a rite of summer. We don't have many left."

[tragic_mask]

"No," she says, reflectively. "Particularly in the urban world, people pride themselves on discarding all tradition."

[mechanicalswans]

"There are holidays, of course," he says, "but they're mostly about shopping anymore. Shopping, and showing off to your friends and neighbors about how you had the best Arbor Day ever, or whichever holiday it is. No tradition but spending money."

[tragic_mask]

She shakes her head. "And don't talk to me about Christmas. So corrupted. Which, I suppose, takes us back to its original roots."

[mechanicalswans]

"Which is why my holiday will not be commercialized," he says. "I don't actually have one, but if I did, you can be sure--there would be no sales for it, no store-bought decorations."

[tragic_mask]

"Somehow, I believe you," she murmurs. "I like to think I've got a handle on the darker side of Valentine's Day. You know, the non-commercialized part, where people sit at home eating chocolates and drinking."

[mechanicalswans]

"I hope you'll let me join you for that," he says, "unless it would ruin the spirit of it. I can eat chocolates and drink with the best of them--maybe even think about ordering pizza, but get sidetracked by some awful old movie on television and by the time I get motivated to order, it's too late."

[tragic_mask]

"Hmm." She smiles. "You sound experienced with this. I think I can let you into the club."

[mechanicalswans]

"I resent the idea that we are expected to show affection only one day out of the year, and that conversely if we are alone on that one day, there is no hope for us."

[tragic_mask]

"Yes... these representative holidays are never logical. Try affection all year round. Or not at all."

[mechanicalswans]

"I prefer year round, when I do it," he says. "Nothing half-heartedly, you know? If it's worth doing, give it your all."

[tragic_mask]

"An excellent philosophy. I try to follow it, as well."

[mechanicalswans]

"The downside to it, of course, is that it can lead one to be... singleminded, shall we say."

Or stalkerish. There's that too.

[tragic_mask]

"Well, yes," she says, looking up at him. "That's rather the point. It just depends what your attention is focused on, I assume."

[mechanicalswans]

"Would you want it all focused on you?" he asks softly. "Luckily part of my attention is usually given to my work, even when I'm doing other things, or it would be... overwhelming, or so I've been told."

[tragic_mask]

"Well." She shrugs.

"I guess I wouldn't. Maybe it just reflects who I am-- not being able to focus all my attention on one person, being more focused on my work than on my love. Or so I've been told."

She gives a quick, wry smile, but there's some bitterness mixed in.