[ it doesn't have to be poetic - it's perfect the way it is, actually. unconstrained by high court etiquette or politeness, brash and open and lively.
there are parts of this city car that remind taair of lightgloam city - a place he would be hard pressed to call 'home', but a place where he lives. the architecture, the food, the austere nature of many of the buildings call to mind similar structures of noble bearings, elegant, untouched towers and structures, lived in by aristocracy, with gleaming marble floors and towering, echoing ceilings: even the actual construction of the fountain in front of them. lightgloam city, for its elegance, was cold. gilded cage wrapped around a city of nobles outcast from their perches of power, vultures that smiled politely to your face and plotted your downfall with a knife behind their back.
but in this moment, standing in this little plaza hand in hand with someone dear, the cobblestone streets are as warm as the sea breeze that ruffles their hair. forget propriety. the unfiltered reaction of awe is a reminder of exactly how far away that gilded cage truly is.
(and maybe it's okay to forget. let yourself have things.)
he returns the squeeze - there's a heart-thudding familiarity to it - and finds himself smiling back before he even really thinks about it, then leads the way over to sit by the water, on the rim of the fountain. it takes a bit to fiddle around, adjusting to put the bag of sweets down within reaching distance for them both, sitting close - hesitant to let go of his hand. close feels far easier than it used to be, far more natural to sit so their knees brush.
by now, fidelio can probably tell when taair is going to shift into storytelling mode, and this is no exception as he turns his upper body just slightly, eyes drawn upwards. wonder and poignancy settles into the slow ease of his voice - a true storyteller, beginning to end. ]
What makes this fountain interesting is that it is not just an astounding work of art, but a work of preservation. Apparently, a fountain of some sort existed here for thousands and thousands of years, and it served as a hub for aqueducts, which brought running water all through the city - the best tasting and softest water in all of the nation. The technology itself was a marvel for its time, but the fountain wasn't very beautiful - merely functional.
The leader of the Church at the time wanted to make it more magnificent to symbolize its importance as a place at the center of three roads - "tre vie" - and a heartbeat of the city it existed in. He searched the entire country to find the best architect in the land, and the young man who was chosen built the new recreation over a span of thirty years. The project was abandoned when one church leader passed, then picked back up, until it was finally completed. The statues within it of the god Oceanus, Abundance, and Health are symbols of the city's old religion, a pagan one long lost in favor of the larger Church.
The fountain was built with local stone, by the people's hands. And, what could have been papered over by the smothering hand of a powerful church was instead a dedicated monument to the past - a preserved icon of the history of the people.
[ perseverance of the people. perseverance of history. both topics so precious and important to taair that he can't help but talk about it in adoration. ]
And - supposedly, there's a legend, too, that tossing coins in it can grant wishes! That's a bit sillier, but still.
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there are parts of this city car that remind taair of lightgloam city - a place he would be hard pressed to call 'home', but a place where he lives. the architecture, the food, the austere nature of many of the buildings call to mind similar structures of noble bearings, elegant, untouched towers and structures, lived in by aristocracy, with gleaming marble floors and towering, echoing ceilings: even the actual construction of the fountain in front of them. lightgloam city, for its elegance, was cold. gilded cage wrapped around a city of nobles outcast from their perches of power, vultures that smiled politely to your face and plotted your downfall with a knife behind their back.
but in this moment, standing in this little plaza hand in hand with someone dear, the cobblestone streets are as warm as the sea breeze that ruffles their hair. forget propriety. the unfiltered reaction of awe is a reminder of exactly how far away that gilded cage truly is.
(and maybe it's okay to forget. let yourself have things.)
he returns the squeeze - there's a heart-thudding familiarity to it - and finds himself smiling back before he even really thinks about it, then leads the way over to sit by the water, on the rim of the fountain. it takes a bit to fiddle around, adjusting to put the bag of sweets down within reaching distance for them both, sitting close - hesitant to let go of his hand. close feels far easier than it used to be, far more natural to sit so their knees brush.
by now, fidelio can probably tell when taair is going to shift into storytelling mode, and this is no exception as he turns his upper body just slightly, eyes drawn upwards. wonder and poignancy settles into the slow ease of his voice - a true storyteller, beginning to end. ]
What makes this fountain interesting is that it is not just an astounding work of art, but a work of preservation. Apparently, a fountain of some sort existed here for thousands and thousands of years, and it served as a hub for aqueducts, which brought running water all through the city - the best tasting and softest water in all of the nation. The technology itself was a marvel for its time, but the fountain wasn't very beautiful - merely functional.
The leader of the Church at the time wanted to make it more magnificent to symbolize its importance as a place at the center of three roads - "tre vie" - and a heartbeat of the city it existed in. He searched the entire country to find the best architect in the land, and the young man who was chosen built the new recreation over a span of thirty years. The project was abandoned when one church leader passed, then picked back up, until it was finally completed. The statues within it of the god Oceanus, Abundance, and Health are symbols of the city's old religion, a pagan one long lost in favor of the larger Church.
The fountain was built with local stone, by the people's hands. And, what could have been papered over by the smothering hand of a powerful church was instead a dedicated monument to the past - a preserved icon of the history of the people.
[ perseverance of the people. perseverance of history. both topics so precious and important to taair that he can't help but talk about it in adoration. ]
And - supposedly, there's a legend, too, that tossing coins in it can grant wishes! That's a bit sillier, but still.