Wishy-Washy Fool

Elias

Her excitement was adorable, and contagious. "There are pink ones. I've got a few squirreled away at home. My mama's favorite pearls were pink." He explained, easily.

Shaking his head, he chuckled. "Animal product, not rocks. You'll see, if we have any luck when we go out." If she was that excited by simply learning there were more colors than just white, she'd be awed, perhaps horrified, by the manner in which one harvested pearls.

"Would you like to look for pink pearls, specifically, when we go?"

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead Pink pearls. Could anything be more perfect? She beamed in excitement, holding the jar of juice close to her chin. "Pink is my favorite color." she admitted, unable to hide her excitement over the knowledge that pink pearls existed in the world. It was a complete emotional flip from moments before, but one she was happy to have. "Can we?" she said excitedly, hoping that specifically looking for pink pearls was actually feasible.

Elias

Elias grinned. Another tidbit of information. "We can, yeah. We might not find a lot of them, but there's no harm in searching for pink ones." Even if nothing came of it, she seemed like she'd be thrilled.

"If we find enough, I can teach you to turn the pearls into jewelry." He offered. Behind the couple, the young boy in question had finally meandered his way onto the scene, a girl with him.

"Papa! We're here." As the boy pulled his date with him, the girl stared at Phoebe and murmured, under her breath, "Mōwaho, she shouldn't be here."

Elias furrowed his brow, "Told you he'd get distracted by a girl." He moved to stand, offering his hand out to Phoebe. "Wanna vacate the picnic, nani? Bring the juice, we'll need it."

---

mōwaho - outsider

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead "Yes! I'd love that!" she said excitedly. Learning to find pink pearls and make pretty jewelry out of it? Sign her up! But the excitement was short lived as Elias' son approached with a girl. Though she didn't understand some of what the other girl said, the tone was unmistakable. Now it is story time, boys and girls. Once upon a time, Phoebe was very anti-conflict. But then a lot of very not so nice things happened to Phoebe and destroyed her ability to deal with people's nonsense. In particular, she was sick of Naturals treating people like her like pests. That brings us to present day. Phoebe stood on her own, eyes narrowed slightly at the girl standing across from her. "If you have something to say to me then say it to my face." she said indignantly, standing with head high and shoulders square. "I don't belong here, was it?"

Elias

"I said you don't belong here, hālealo." The girl stood tall as well, though a bit shorter than Phoebe, "You should go back where you come from. You people are like urutā on Torchline, taking over things that been here forever. Who's gonna go to a brothel run by mōwaho?"

Elias stood back, not afraid of conflict, but simply too old to reasonably argue with a young girl. However, he spoke up, "Boy, your girl needs to calm down. Does she know we deal with the brothel?" His tone was cold, as he watched his son eat a piece of the pie, ignoring the two women entirely.

"Let'm fight." He responded, with a shrug.

---

hālealo - pale one
urutā - plague

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead Phoebe looked the girl up and down very slowly. She was used to these insults, being the outsider but with no real home to return to. "Who? For starters your little boyfriend here if he wants to know what its like to be with a real woman after all." she said, putting her hands on her hips, a stern look on her face. "Moreover, if you want to question me being here, why don't you go tell Frey all about why they were wrong to send me here." she said challengingly, tilting her head to the side. "I'm sure they would love a lecture from an entitled brat with the sexual prowess of a naked mole rat." she said with a huff before looking back at Elias and his son. "You really could do better you know. One of my girls - Miwa - much prettier, close to your age, and she can deep throat. Why don't I introduce you?" she said sweetly to the boy.

Elias

Elias was snickering, under his breath. The girl was red-faced, and shoved past the blonde, stomping right through the food Elias had laid out. "Why... you..." It seemed the girl hadn't any words for Phoebe, stomping away from the ruined picnic.

The boy glanced up, watched her go and huffed, "She wasn't very good anyway. Miwa, you say?" He was interested, and smirked as he claimed the second jar of juice. "Gladly."

Elias scoffed, shaking his head. "Well, at least she's gone. She's such a racist little brat." He offered his hand to Phoebe once again, "Now, will you please walk with me? He can clean this mess up, he made it."

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead Phoebe watched the girl storm off, clearly unimpressed. As the young man spoke, her gaze returned to him, expression having fallen from sweet to stern in a matter of seconds. Quickly she reached out and smacked him upside the head before pointing at his nose. "Now you listen here, mister - you don't go bringing home girls you are just having fun with. It gives them ideas that they are more important to you than they really are. If you're just looking to blow off some steam, that's what the brothel is for. You understand me?" she huffed at him, not letting him wholly off the hook. The Madame sighed then, taking Elias' hand. "Boys are so dumb." she mumbled under her breath.

Elias

The smack to the back of his son's head made the man chuckle, though her words were true. She claimed his hand and Elias led her away, "Hey, now. Not all boys are stupid." Elias certainly had never brought a woman home who he didn't care for; then again, his only marriage had been to a desperate prostitute, looking for a way away from a dangerous pimp.

But he had cared for her, quite a bit. Not enough to call it love, though. "So, when shall we find pearls?"

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead Phoebe raised an a brow at him, clearly skeptical of his statement. "All boys that age are dumb in some capacity." she said firmly. To varying extremes she believed this to be completely true and he would not shake her of that fact. The slight tremble of the hand holding his might be the small indication he needed about how worked up she was. "Whenever." she said with a sigh. Finding pearls seemed a backburner thought now that she was irritated.

Elias

Elias squeezed her hand, murmuring, "Mm, that's a good point." He slowed his gait, moving to curl an arm around her, hugging her. "You know, you shouldn't let that racist shit get to you." He murmured, "Some people just aren't open-minded."

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead Phoebe swallowed a lump in her throat, hands shaking at her sides as he embraced her. She didn't pull away but she didn't hug him back either. Once, not long ago, she might've cried from her frustration. But now they simply wouldn't come, lips pursed as her blood boiled. "I just don't know what people like that want me to do. It's not like I have a home I can go back to anymore. It's not like I came to Caido because I wanted to." Her voice was tight, glaring off into the distance just over his shoulder. "If she wants to be mad at someone she should be mad at the Voice."

Elias

Elias hummed softly, "They just... mmm, they're afraid of the Outlanders." He squeezed the girl tightly, murmuring, "Torchline is as much your home as it is mine."

He released her, "And anyone who tells you different is uneducated and afraid."

Nothing around here is quite as it seems,
Not sure if anything's real or a dream,
And the only thing sure from the start,
Is the song that's inside of your heart,
Don't let it leave.

Phoebe Steadman I've dropped out, burned up Fought my way back from the dead "That's a nice sentiment, Elias, but let's be honest someone like me will never really belong anywhere here." she said with a sigh, shaking her head. It would always be a point of contention. Perhaps it would fade with the years, but it would never go away completely. And so she sighed again and shook her head. "It is what it is. Nothing to brood over." she she with a shrug.