for Kurt

[tooktheblack]

Jon was the first to admit that he did not always understand the culture of the island and since it had changed from the sultry, balmy environment he'd just gotten used to into something like a tight-packed city, he understood it even less. The clothes box wouldn't provide anything but strange clothing that was nothing like the modern garb of the island or like his leathers and mail from Westeros.

Then there had been the singing. There were specters in the streets, people who weren't really there, per se, and some of them had been going door to door and singing at night. It wasn't something that made much sense to Jon but he imagined if anyone knew anything about singing, it would be Kurt. Kurt had a fine, clear voice and the way he'd described it, he was some sort of bard or actor back in his own home.

When he managed to find Kurt in the common areas of what used to be the Compound, Jon seized his chance to ask.

"Kurt? Do you mind explaining some culture to me again? Someday I may not be so blind but today is not that day."

Comments

[likesboys]

"It's always a working process, believe me," Kurt replied easily. There weren't very many people on the island who he felt comfortable enough to strike immediate conversation with, but of his various friends, Jon had to have been near the top of the list. Ever earnest, and never judging, Kurt felt free to be entirely himself around the other man, and his further willingness to try just about anything only had Kurt endeared further in turn. If only, he occasionally thought to himself, people in Lima were half as open-minded. If only they could treat everything unfamiliar as simply a chance to learn more, rather than to get lost in their fear. He crossed his legs easily where he sat on the couch, pushing his book aside and patting the empty seat next to him.

"And as far as I've noticed, you learn remarkably fast. So, tell me. What's the question that needs explained?"

[tooktheblack]

"Why do these people persist in going door to door and singing? I thought since it had to do with music, you might know the answer."

Kurt was, by far, the most accomplished musician that Jon had ever met and had the distinction of the only musician he'd ever liked. There was a bastard from the Westerlands, boy by the name of Hill, but Jon had never liked him much.

"Is that something they do in Ohio?"

[likesboys]

Stunned for a second, Kurt broke into a light laugh, pleased that he was apparently the go-to reference on all things musical, and doubly glad that Jon was taking an interest at all. Not all of the people who landed on the island were interested in learning outside their trade or their past experience, beyond what it took to acclimate— and caroling was certainly not on the list of practices that were at all necessary to weave oneself more fully into island life. (Or Victorian life, for that matter.)

"Well... I guess first, I should say that yes, this is something that they do in Ohio. Not that it originated there, or that everyone in the area enjoys such singing," Kurt added, brow furrowing lightly as he remembered the classroom response to the glee club as they went around, singing and trying to collect donations for the needy and homeless. "But this kind of singing is called caroling. Originally, it was just a type of dance, in fact, accompanied by singers. Eventually, it got swept up with certain religious movements of the time, and that association never completely went away— in fact, today, caroling is generally associated with one of the most widely celebrated religious holidays of my time. Christmas. So prevalent that it's more of a cultural thing these days than religious, to be honest. Has anyone explained Christmas to you?"

[tooktheblack]

"Christmas? No. I guess that's the festival this whole place seems dressed up for, though."

It was a foreign concept in Westeros to celebrate a season, much less winter, when seasons could last for years at the time. Festivals back home were more in relation to tourneys or new kings being crowned, things that were more cyclical.

[likesboys]

"You've been here how long and no one's sat you down and explained Christmas?" Kurt asked, perplexed, leaning further back into the couch until he could rest his arm along the back. "I'm not even generally a very enthusiastic person about Christmas— or about any other religious holiday, actually, aside from the price drops that inevitably come afterward— and yet even I know that this is bordering on blasphemous. So... let's see. Bear in mind that I am a very biased source, and that you should probably ask someone who is actually of faith to give you another rundown. But."

Nodding to himself, Kurt allowed his hands to drop back down, crossing his arms over his abdomen. "The main idea is that many people in my world, especially in my nation, are of the opinion that there is a higher being, so to speak. God. That he is omniescent, omnipresent, and benevolent at that. And a certain fraction of the people within this group of believers think that God once sent a savior to Earth. His son, in effect. Christmas is to celebrate that son's birth and greater existence."

[tooktheblack]

"My gods don't have names or faces," Jon explained. "They keep watch in the woods. The Seven, the gods of the south, they're the Maiden, the Mother, the Stranger, the Smith, the Warrior, the Crone and the Father. I don't hold much favor in those gods, though. I'm a man of the North."

Jon frowned a bit, trying to work it out. "So this boy being born has something to do with all the greenery and the kissing?"

[likesboys]

"God doesn't really have a name or face," Kurt clarified, eyes narrowing slightly. "And Jesus, his son, has... both, but whether or not his face is accurately portrayed in modern day— given that he walked my earth, supposedly, about two thousand years before I was around myself— is under debate. Naturally, as time wears on, that picture is bound to change according to whatever our collectively perceived ideal is, but that's another matter entirely." With a wrinkle of his nose, Kurt waved his hand, trying not to get too deep into the matter of whether or not God was real, or Jesus real, or any higher entity at all. Whatever people wanted to believe in, Kurt could accept.

And so, he wouldn't push his own skepticism onto anyone else in turn.

"But, ah, so," he laughed then, finally addressing the question itself, "the rest of all of this, the evergreen and the mistletoe, these are just little traditions that have woven themselves into the celebrations. Frankly, some of them come from entirely different faiths, even if we associate them with Christmas. The overall message of Christmas, though, is one of generosity, giving, the selflessness that Jesus Christ himself exemplified. Carols are just a very noticeable and relatively inobtrusive manner of showing that."

He winced. "Relatively being the key word."

[tooktheblack]

"The singing wasn't badly done," Jon conceded. "I'm just not used to being bombarded with singing throughout the streets. It's just not done in Westeros unless a man is begging for coin."

He was learning, though, that other cultures were vastly different than the one he'd grown up with.

"Of course, their singing wasn't as fine as yours. You have a pleasing voice, Kurt. If I could even be half as good, I might sing out loud too. As it is, best we don't try that out."

[likesboys]

In spite of himself, Kurt felt his cheeks flush a deep red— and knowing his complexion and the way that any bit of a blush tended to blotch, Kurt pressed his hand quickly to his cheek, the cool surface of his palm calming the color down. "You're... being far too generous. Either that, or you haven't heard all that many singers as of late. I could show you reels or turn to radio stations with people whose voices are far, far superior than my own. I've got a lot of room to improve."

Leaning over enough to give Jon's shoulder a gentle bump, Kurt's smile widened. "That said, we should go caroling together. If you really feel that self-conscious, we can always grab a few more people to make sure that the collective voice is on pitch. Although, again, I'm pretty sure that anyone can manage certain songs well with a bit of practice. We just need to make sure we don't have you pushing your natural range."

[tooktheblack]

"I don't even know any of the carols," Jon said but his tone was still pleasant. It wasn't that he was against singing, really, it just wasn't something that was done on a regular basis in his world.

"So we will have to learn a few before I'm going to be able to sing, on pitch or not. Pitch is...what, exactly?"

[likesboys]

"Carols are easy enough to learn; I know the lyrics to at least a couple dozen of your standard Christmas fare. Or, more generally, carols about winter— which might in fact be preferable in considering the faiths of anyone other than Christians. Something that my country isn't... the greatest at," Kurt replied, wrinkling his nose momentarily at the thought of the heavy bias within the country, one that he'd lamented about at length on multiple occasions before— but to do so with Jon Snow felt unnecessary at best.

"As for pitch, that refers to how high or low your voice is. Like so." Clearing his throat, Kurt sang through an octave in C major.