Disclaimers: Trinity Blood and its characters are property of the late Sunao Yoshida sensei. Written for the theme "calendar day" that I found on an LJ community, Abel and Seth talk about birthdays, Cain and the weather.
Trinity Blood
Theme 3
Calendar Day
The table is set before them, white crocheted cloth with fine glass cups on porcelain dishes and a tray full of Methuselah deserts. Seth has taken special care to order the sweetest tidbits from the royal kitchens because she knows that Abel will like them.
Even the entire atmosphere has been catered to that of her brother's taste, he had always loved anything even somewhat vaguely English. It seems only proper to pay such careful attention to detail when she sees him so little.
But the tea, earl grey, his favorite, and the mouth-watering goodies lie untouched as Abel watches the birds in a distant tree from beyond the windows of Seth's drawing room. Bright golden yellow beaks peck daintily while matching feathers gleam as they flutter in the dim light.
Once a common species around the world, they are now a breed unique to the Empire alone. Seth has encouraged their presence, because they bring cheer to a dark and dreary kingdom without the sun.
Neither has said a single word since the formalities have passed and Seth does not like the feeling that the day is slipping away, left fallow in their silence.
"Beautiful weather we're having don't you think?"
The look Abel gives her speaks volumes of his opinions on that matter and for a brief moment, she sees a faint shadow of the arrogant sibling that she remembers he was on the red planet so far from this earth. And then it is gone and she wonders if she might have been mistaken, but she never is.
He turns back to gaze at the grey sky, red and purples shimmer like ghostly specters, UV rays reflecting against the barrier which keeps them safe. Seth waits to see if he might speak.
"What day is it today?"
His question unbalances her with its abruptness and irrelevance. She quickly bites down on her lip to stop the what? that threatens to escape her thoughts, poker face she reminds herself, poker face.
"Monday."
"I meant in Mars terms."
Mars had followed the months and days of the original earth calendar, beginning afresh with Janus each year until they had returned to find ruin in the wake of Armageddon and the coming of the end. They had developed their own measurement of time after the war, because no one could recall how they had done it before.
"Second of January."
Pale azure irises watch her from beneath translucent silver lashes for a moment before he shakes his head.
"No, first of January."
Seth does not argue, her memory of the old days is no longer what it used to be. There are other things that require her to ponder over that are now and not of the past. But she wonders why Abel has asked.
"First of January."
The words roll off her tongue easily, and then she pauses, thinking hard. It occurs to her, at the recesses deep in the back of her mind that still knows the brilliant crimson of Lilith's hair, that there is something of great importance linked to this date that she should not have forgotten. And then it comes, memories lighted with candles and the crinkle of wrapping paper and icing sugar all over the floor and in her hair.
"Cain."
Seth stares at her brother looking for direction and finds none. She does not know why, but maybe it is because he still remembers even though she no longer does. What if it been Abel and not Cain that took the Kreznick, she wonders, or maybe her. It could have been any of them, so many endless possibilities and permutations, rather like an unsolvable mathematics equation. So why has it come down to this.
There is a bitter smile on Abel's face, with a tinge of underlying sadness. That expression no longer suits him, clashing with the ridiculous ebony priest costume and the bronze cross hanging around his neck. It had once been Lilith's.
Abel reaches for the sugar tongs and slowly starts to transfer the white shimmering cubes from their container into his cup. One, two, three……twelve thirteen. The silver spoon twirls the brown liquid round and round, mixing it to an even viscous consistency.
Seth thinks it looks vaguely disgusting, chocolate mud on rainy days, a part of her wonders if Abel would spit out the drink should she express her opinion. Lifting the cup to his lips, Abel takes a sip and gives a contented sigh as the warm sweet liquid slips down his throat.
His actions are vaguely reminiscent of that of someone much beloved who is with them no longer. There is tightness in Seth's throat and swallowing suddenly becomes a difficult task and her fingers grip the arm of her chair as she struggles to breathe evenly.
Setting down the empty cup, Abel favors his sister with a gentle smile, melancholy playing around its edges. The resemblance scares her so badly like nothing else can.
"I should be returning soon, Catherina will be wondering where I have gone."
The thick cotton of his robes rustles as he rises and easily leans over the table to place a fleeting brotherly kiss on Seth's forehead. He thinks it proper since he sees her so little. His sister on the other hand looks away, playing make-believe that this brother could be the other.
"Thank you for the tea, it was delicious."
Seth returns the small upturn of lips as she watches him leave, cloak billowing in the slight breeze. And then he is gone, the empty cup the only evidence of his presence. These short interludes of calm have never lasted for very long. They always run out of things to say somewhere along the way.
"I miss him."
It isn't until much later that she realizes that it is Abel's birthday as well.