“Well, it’s not exactly that,” he admitted with a shrug. “Because they’re not so formal as that, where these tattoos come from. But it’s like — well,” he said, realizing he needed to back up and explain what the horizontal patterns actually were before he could explain what they meant. “This section in the middle are descriptors of who you are. And the patterns are pretty standard — they mean the same things. But everyone has a different combination of them, a different way that they build on each other. So this one I earned when —” he started, but stopped. He hadn’t ever told Zelda about that bit, and he wasn’t sure how she would react, so maybe now wasn’t the time.
“Well, it’s — it’s like a term for a fighter, or a warrior,” he explained. The mark he’d indicated had a horizontal line at the base, then a series of diagonal hatches across that made it look like a series of x’s; it was meant to symbolize crossed spears, which was the weapon of choice in the tribe’s conflicts with their neighbors. Reaching down, he brushed his fingers against the corresponding mark he’d given her with ink. It had the same base pattern as his, though it might not have been immediately evident, because in hers the x’s built up to a row of shaded triangles, with stylized points.
“Yours is — hm, what’s the word?” he wondered aloud. He didn’t often have to think about the English terms for the tattoo symbols he remembered from the tribe, and nothing very fitting was coming to mind. “It’s like… a strategist, sort of, but more active than that. It’s the person who can be in the middle of a fight and still see the way through it. It’s — say you were ambushed in the jungle, and you still won. That’s the sort of thing that would earn you this one,” he continued, wondering if this was making any sense to her at all. Of course, he hadn’t chosen it for her because of any literal battles, and he didn’t think she was particularly likely to get ambushed in the jungle any time soon. It still seemed fitting, though — everything from forging ahead with the courtship last year, which had been her idea, to the stunning spell with Jo this afternoon. She saw a way through things when all he could think to do was give up.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
“Well, it’s — it’s like a term for a fighter, or a warrior,” he explained. The mark he’d indicated had a horizontal line at the base, then a series of diagonal hatches across that made it look like a series of x’s; it was meant to symbolize crossed spears, which was the weapon of choice in the tribe’s conflicts with their neighbors. Reaching down, he brushed his fingers against the corresponding mark he’d given her with ink. It had the same base pattern as his, though it might not have been immediately evident, because in hers the x’s built up to a row of shaded triangles, with stylized points.
“Yours is — hm, what’s the word?” he wondered aloud. He didn’t often have to think about the English terms for the tattoo symbols he remembered from the tribe, and nothing very fitting was coming to mind. “It’s like… a strategist, sort of, but more active than that. It’s the person who can be in the middle of a fight and still see the way through it. It’s — say you were ambushed in the jungle, and you still won. That’s the sort of thing that would earn you this one,” he continued, wondering if this was making any sense to her at all. Of course, he hadn’t chosen it for her because of any literal battles, and he didn’t think she was particularly likely to get ambushed in the jungle any time soon. It still seemed fitting, though — everything from forging ahead with the courtship last year, which had been her idea, to the stunning spell with Jo this afternoon. She saw a way through things when all he could think to do was give up.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER