Kazik peers outside the window of the train, one hand on his lap and the other worrying his lip, mind alight with a slurry of thoughts he tries to quell with silent prayers and incantations. He thinks of his parents, who must be worried over him, and his little sisters who must have grown so much since he's last seen them. He was supposed to be home years ago, and only just two months ago was he even given the opportunity to attempt a return. It was hard to find work for someone who doesn't speak Norwegian or English, and he hadn't been qualified for the ones where language didn't matter.
He wonders if he's made the right choice by joining this crew, so he busies himself with thoughts of his family and thoughts of his Gods. So he almost jumps out of his skin when Kai addresses him.
"Moi," he returns. And then he takes a deep breath and states, with pauses to organize his thoughts: "I came to Finland as messenger of my Gods, but I was removed from my path by thieves. Now I will go as far east as you will take me, and return to St. Petersburg."
Kai comes off as an extrovert who spares little thought to other people, he's social, laughs a lot, easy and liberal with his charm. But that couldn't be farther from the actual mark. He's always been intuitive to a point of something magical about it. It's not as easy to spot as Grey's magic which is written all over him but Kai is sensitive and there's no denying that. He's also observant and tends to read people much better than they expect.
Kazimir is definitely a little nervous, jumpy even. He seems to have a clear path laid out before him, though. Kai studies him curiously, marking the way he sits and speaks, and yes, of course, he notices the 'my gods' which probably is capitalised in his mind. A part of him feels an urge to stand up and walk away immediately, but a bigger part of him, the fox that he is, feels an urge to stay, to pick at that thread, to see if it will unravel. He's a son of a priest, an artistic, sexually liberated bi-sexual, magically sensitive, stubborn son of a priest. Life wasn't exactly easy for him growing up. His father never punished him physically but oh, there were other ways to get his point across.
"Gods?" he asks in a soft murmur, almost as if he were delighted. "Many? I take it you're not a Christian."
He leans back in his seat and clears his throat at the question. "I suppose the easy answer is that I'm a journalist. There's a story there to write. The more complicated answer has something to do with the fact that its my homeland and my daughter has never seen it. Maybe I'm hoping to find something that tells me that she'll be able to do that one day." And if they have time, he wants to go back home, where his father and mother refused to leave Finland and see for himself what became of them. But there's a grim thought that he doesn't need to share right away.
Kazik smiles at Kai's answer, because isn't that what they all want? To go back to their homesteads, to be able to raise communities and children the way they have always done in the past. "I hope you find it," he says, though he won't be around for that leg of the journey, most likely. He doesn't have to tell Kai that; he'll just say goodbye and hope that no one asks him to stay.
"And that is a difficult thing to answer. It is a long story, but I am a practicer of dual faiths, which is a easier to reconcile than most people would believe." And really, it was what was practiced for ages-- old gods hidden away as saints, Christian holidays retrofitted over pagan ones. Christianity is a jealous spouse, but after all the purges of one faith or another, or faith altogether, it didn't improve their livelihood.
It brought them the largest calamity to the human race that it had ever seen.
"Do you have pictures of her?" he asks. "Your daughter."
"My father would have said that is blasphemous," Kai says easily with a friendly laugh. "But he was always too damn serious." He shrugs then, light and careless. "It's not that hard thing to believe. It's happened everywhere, Christianity laid neatly on top of everything old, like a new coat of paint. And the old ones would take a bit of it into their own beliefs and Christianity would shift a little bit towards the pagan practises. It's called syncretism."
He rolls his eyes a little while he glances out from the train window. "But modern people are more concerned over rules and boundaries, I find. The priests of old would have no problem going into the groves and sacred places to held their services to God. The shamans of old would use bible as one of their talismans. But these days, tell a priest you had a visitor and they would probably try to drive the demon out of you." It almost sounds as if he's talking from experience.
"Oh? Yeah, of course I do!" he says, brightening up immediately when his daughter is mentioned. He digs up his wallet and flips it open, drawing out a picture of a cute little 5-year-old. "Her name is Tilhi," Kai says as he offers the picture to Kazik.
He does notice that Kai seems to be talking from experience, but it's alright. They can have discussions of religion at a later time because he seems to be much happier discussing his daughter. And honestly, so is Kazik; he's found it to be mostly true what Kai says that here at least, he's not taken very seriously. And that's the nicer of the reactions.
It was honestly very quickly that he realized a missionary trip was a mistake - the people here just didn't have any place for him. And so he will return to St. Petersburg.
"Tilhi," he repeats, and takes the picture. "She's beautiful," he says, and then looks closer. "She has your eyes." He's smiling when he hands it back. "How old is she?" He'd guess 4, 5. Which means he hopes this mission isn't too long, and Kai can go home quickly to his daughter.
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ainomieli2018-07-30 04:22 am
no subject
He wonders if he's made the right choice by joining this crew, so he busies himself with thoughts of his family and thoughts of his Gods. So he almost jumps out of his skin when Kai addresses him.
"Moi," he returns. And then he takes a deep breath and states, with pauses to organize his thoughts: "I came to Finland as messenger of my Gods, but I was removed from my path by thieves. Now I will go as far east as you will take me, and return to St. Petersburg."
"Why have you come?"
no subject
Kazimir is definitely a little nervous, jumpy even. He seems to have a clear path laid out before him, though. Kai studies him curiously, marking the way he sits and speaks, and yes, of course, he notices the 'my gods' which probably is capitalised in his mind. A part of him feels an urge to stand up and walk away immediately, but a bigger part of him, the fox that he is, feels an urge to stay, to pick at that thread, to see if it will unravel. He's a son of a priest, an artistic, sexually liberated bi-sexual, magically sensitive, stubborn son of a priest. Life wasn't exactly easy for him growing up. His father never punished him physically but oh, there were other ways to get his point across.
"Gods?" he asks in a soft murmur, almost as if he were delighted. "Many? I take it you're not a Christian."
He leans back in his seat and clears his throat at the question. "I suppose the easy answer is that I'm a journalist. There's a story there to write. The more complicated answer has something to do with the fact that its my homeland and my daughter has never seen it. Maybe I'm hoping to find something that tells me that she'll be able to do that one day." And if they have time, he wants to go back home, where his father and mother refused to leave Finland and see for himself what became of them. But there's a grim thought that he doesn't need to share right away.
no subject
"And that is a difficult thing to answer. It is a long story, but I am a practicer of dual faiths, which is a easier to reconcile than most people would believe." And really, it was what was practiced for ages-- old gods hidden away as saints, Christian holidays retrofitted over pagan ones. Christianity is a jealous spouse, but after all the purges of one faith or another, or faith altogether, it didn't improve their livelihood.
It brought them the largest calamity to the human race that it had ever seen.
"Do you have pictures of her?" he asks. "Your daughter."
no subject
He rolls his eyes a little while he glances out from the train window. "But modern people are more concerned over rules and boundaries, I find. The priests of old would have no problem going into the groves and sacred places to held their services to God. The shamans of old would use bible as one of their talismans. But these days, tell a priest you had a visitor and they would probably try to drive the demon out of you." It almost sounds as if he's talking from experience.
"Oh? Yeah, of course I do!" he says, brightening up immediately when his daughter is mentioned. He digs up his wallet and flips it open, drawing out a picture of a cute little 5-year-old. "Her name is Tilhi," Kai says as he offers the picture to Kazik.
no subject
It was honestly very quickly that he realized a missionary trip was a mistake - the people here just didn't have any place for him. And so he will return to St. Petersburg.
"Tilhi," he repeats, and takes the picture. "She's beautiful," he says, and then looks closer. "She has your eyes." He's smiling when he hands it back. "How old is she?" He'd guess 4, 5. Which means he hopes this mission isn't too long, and Kai can go home quickly to his daughter.