Now there was a complicated question that Llewellyn had largely avoided answering when all this world travelling began for him. “Mm… Well, uh-” He rubbed the side of his face thoughtfully, “It does exist in my world, but not everyone celebrates. It depends on the person and their beliefs, or situations.” The detective took a moment to think.
“I um… I didn’t really get to know much about my family, my sister left me when I was young… So I grew up in a household that did celebrate Christmas, but it wasn’t really the way most people seem to celebrate? We didn’t really have much, but the woman who took me in sometimes stuck an orange in our socks, and sweets if she could, as a surprise. The food was delicious though, she was a very good cook.” He smiled a little. That much was a nice memory. “But after she passed away, and some uh- things happened.” One of his adoptive brothers got murdered, and because of complications around the case, he and Daniel had to pretend that they didn’t know one another… Clearing his throat a little, he continued. “So I didn’t really celebrate it much after that. A colleague invited me to his celebration one year.” And then he’d also been murdered.
Humming lightly, he gestured a little. “Then I discovered shortly after that my family was actually Jewish.” He didn’t expect Ignis to know what that even was based on most people’s worlds. “There was a kind family who helped me learn more about what I’d missed growing up... In December my family would have celebrated Hanukkah, and they invited me one year.” If his sister had bothered to tell him anything about their family or heritage before she abandoned him… He at least could have grown up knowing that much already. Instead, he had to learn himself, years later, from a stranger when he recognized a Yiddish lullaby his mother used to sing…
“It’s an eight-day celebration. We light a menorah to symbolize the eight days that the oil lasted. It’s um… A multi branch candelabra?” He wasn’t sure how to describe it to someone who might not have seen it. “It has 9 candles, and every night you light one. They also make a lot of fried foods, the latkes in particular were delicious. Sometimes I wish I knew how to make them... There was a game, as well, played with a top called a dreidel. Though I’m not particularly good at games. But it was nice to learn about it and the other traditions for the holiday… Helped me feel a little more connected to my family again.”
But… then he’d lost the last family he had and gotten mixed up in a very messy case that had sent him spiraling in a bad way. “Then other things happened, and I confess I haven’t really celebrated either holiday since. Not um… the way everyone else does, anyway.” Too many things had happened, too many people dead or lost in some way… So his holiday spirits had been dashed. Then the Sphere had happened, and it was easier to focus on surviving in a strange world.
“I don’t like to bring other people’s spirits down, though. So if I’m needed somewhere I do try…? But otherwise I tend to keep busy with work.” He shrugged a little, grabbing another pretzel. “Rhy’s world doesn’t have either holiday, or anything similar, so it… worked well for us both. His world celebrates New Years, and so did mine… So we celebrated that together.” A more genuine, fond smile finally returned. “It was actually the night he proposed. So… I look forward to celebrating the new year and the anniversary of that night more than other things, I think.”
Llewellyn considered the flowers Ignis had intended to plant, and that gets a little nod. “A lovely idea. I think having things that mean something to you both in a garden is a wonderful idea. It’s why I intend to uh- take up cultivating roses for Rhy when we find a place. We should be able to find a lovely way to arrange them as well, perhaps find some things to compliment them as well.”
Apologies for the length, pls know I trimmed this a lot before posting OTL
“I um… I didn’t really get to know much about my family, my sister left me when I was young… So I grew up in a household that did celebrate Christmas, but it wasn’t really the way most people seem to celebrate? We didn’t really have much, but the woman who took me in sometimes stuck an orange in our socks, and sweets if she could, as a surprise. The food was delicious though, she was a very good cook.” He smiled a little. That much was a nice memory. “But after she passed away, and some uh- things happened.” One of his adoptive brothers got murdered, and because of complications around the case, he and Daniel had to pretend that they didn’t know one another… Clearing his throat a little, he continued. “So I didn’t really celebrate it much after that. A colleague invited me to his celebration one year.” And then he’d also been murdered.
Humming lightly, he gestured a little. “Then I discovered shortly after that my family was actually Jewish.” He didn’t expect Ignis to know what that even was based on most people’s worlds. “There was a kind family who helped me learn more about what I’d missed growing up... In December my family would have celebrated Hanukkah, and they invited me one year.” If his sister had bothered to tell him anything about their family or heritage before she abandoned him… He at least could have grown up knowing that much already. Instead, he had to learn himself, years later, from a stranger when he recognized a Yiddish lullaby his mother used to sing…
“It’s an eight-day celebration. We light a menorah to symbolize the eight days that the oil lasted. It’s um… A multi branch candelabra?” He wasn’t sure how to describe it to someone who might not have seen it. “It has 9 candles, and every night you light one. They also make a lot of fried foods, the latkes in particular were delicious. Sometimes I wish I knew how to make them... There was a game, as well, played with a top called a dreidel. Though I’m not particularly good at games. But it was nice to learn about it and the other traditions for the holiday… Helped me feel a little more connected to my family again.”
But… then he’d lost the last family he had and gotten mixed up in a very messy case that had sent him spiraling in a bad way. “Then other things happened, and I confess I haven’t really celebrated either holiday since. Not um… the way everyone else does, anyway.” Too many things had happened, too many people dead or lost in some way… So his holiday spirits had been dashed. Then the Sphere had happened, and it was easier to focus on surviving in a strange world.
“I don’t like to bring other people’s spirits down, though. So if I’m needed somewhere I do try…? But otherwise I tend to keep busy with work.” He shrugged a little, grabbing another pretzel. “Rhy’s world doesn’t have either holiday, or anything similar, so it… worked well for us both. His world celebrates New Years, and so did mine… So we celebrated that together.” A more genuine, fond smile finally returned. “It was actually the night he proposed. So… I look forward to celebrating the new year and the anniversary of that night more than other things, I think.”
Llewellyn considered the flowers Ignis had intended to plant, and that gets a little nod. “A lovely idea. I think having things that mean something to you both in a garden is a wonderful idea. It’s why I intend to uh- take up cultivating roses for Rhy when we find a place. We should be able to find a lovely way to arrange them as well, perhaps find some things to compliment them as well.”