[SE] Jewels on Jewels on Jewels

Today was a day she had been looking forward to - Flora was visiting! And not just for any visit, but to help her craft some jewelry for the Ancients' festival that was coming up. Flora was young and fashionable like her mother so she knew her niece would know exactly what to make with the rubies she had found to flatter her. Red wasn't usually her color - she was more of a pink lady - but if anyone knew how to make it work for her, it would be Flora. Plus there was apparently some gossip about her hating Harper now that she had to hear. On her table she had everything they could possibly need: wire, adhesive, ribbon, string, haircombs, earring hooks - you name it, it was there. All she had to do was pick up Flora from the Skyboat drop off. So she headed that way when it was due to dock, scanning the crowd as people spilled out. Spotting her she smiled and waved. "Over here, Flora!" Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

Though the Skyboat ride from Torchline was a long one, Flora had caught up on some much-needed sleep along the way, such that she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she hopped off the boat, aqua eyes peeled for her aunt. Spying Phoebe almost immediately, the Doubletake flashes in her direction, returning her aunt's wave before throwing her arms happily around her shoulders. "Hey!" Pressing a kiss against Phoebe's cheek, Flora takes a step back in order to beam up at the Nightengale.

'Thanks for meeting me.' Though Flora probably could have made her way on her own, given how many memories she had of the Greatwood (some good, some bad, but all including Enzo), it was nice not to be left alone.

"Soooooo, this Festival, huh?" She murmurs, linking her arm around Phoebe's.

Phoebe grinned and hugged Flora back. "Of course! I wasn't just going to let you wander around looking for my house." she said with a laugh, kissing Flora's cheek. They linked arms and set out for her little cottage. It wasn't far but it would be a nice walk through town. "Yes, it's sure to be interesting." she said with a nod. "There hasn't been a festival focused on a specific people since the Ascended were around." During which Flora hadn't even been born yet so she would have no recollection. "What do you think of it all?" she asked as they arrived at her home. Inside Flora would see all the supplies on the table just waiting to be tinkered with. "So what do you think would be best for me? I had considered some kind of hair piece or circlet but I am not sure if that's too flashy for me?" she asked, unsure of herself. She might be a demigoddess but she didn't want to be presumptuous either. Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

'I mean...here's hoping no one dies?' Said with a laugh, there's still an air of seriousness in the undertones of Flora's voice. "I wonder if my dads will go." She muses, glancing in Phoebe's direction. Had the Nightengale been there when Aoife had died? It wasn't a story that was often retold and certainly not with any real detail, so she couldn't be sure.

'Oh my gods so cute!" The Doubletake remarks brightly of the demigodess's cottage. Of course, she'd expected nothing else, but still, she was utterly delighted. Looking around and becoming immediately distracted by the brilliant rubies on the table, the Doubletake makes her way over with her fingers already reaching to touch everything.

"Oooh, what if you did your hair like this.." Turning, she makes hand gestures to represent big curls tangling down toward Phoebe's shoulders. "Then you could have two braids like this.." Small braids across the top of her aunt's head like a headband, "..with a row of rubies in between? Super chic but not flashy, you know?"

Phoebe smiled a bit sadly. "Yes, here's hoping. Too many have died at Caido festivals." she said. She had been around when Aoife died. She had been one of the first babies she had tended to as midwife in Caido. But it wasn't specifically brought up so she left it there. "Somehow I doubt it. They have been reclusive since the war." she said with a sad sigh. But time to happy up! Flora was here and she approved of her home! The Nightingale grinned as the Doubletake flitted here and there, touching everything. And of course her ideas included styling too - which Phoebe was greatful for. She wasn't unfashionable but she didn't put things together quite the way Flora did. It was why she asked for her help after all. "I love it! Phoebe said with a grin. She set to the table then, grabbing pins that they could adhere rubies to. "Think these will work?" Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

'Buhhhh, tell me about it. Although, Ronin got a talking to from Safrin so he's had to be out and about more which I think has forced Remi to go along.' Flora says with a careless shrug. What they did in their spare time couldn't have mattered less to the Doubletake, so long as they showed up when she needed them. Selfish? Entitled? Sure. But given the distant parents they'd been her whole life, she thought the balance was more or less appropriate.

'Oooh, perfect!' Flora coos, nodding emphatically as she reaches for the pins. Carefully she begins to set the stones through the metal, adjusting each so that it would lay perfectly against her aunt's head.

"Okay, so." Glancing up with a crooked smile, Flora tilts her head mischievously to the side. "Where do you stand with Harper right now? Because I sort of think you should hate him too."

Phoebe laughed a little at Flora's dramatic response. "Well I am glad to hear at least one of them is getting out more. And it's true that Remi probably tags along." she said. She often saw Ronin on his own, but hopes that she might see Remi around more again made her happy. He might not like it, but social interaction was good for him. The Nightingale sat beside the Doubletake and set to the task at hand as well, fitting the jewels into the pins carefully. But when she brought up Harper, Phoebe raised a brow. "We've actually been working on rebuilding our friendship. I think it would be good for Jude." she said with a little shrug. "Why do you think I should hate him?" Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

Hoping that her aunt would just..hate her former husband on principle, Flora's lips curl into a disappointed sneer as she focuses on the gems in her hand. 'Absent fathers build character.' She muses offhandedly; Flora would know, after all.

'Uhm, because he's a dickhead for one.' Widening her eyes for emphasis, Flora sucks in a sudden breath as she pokes herself with one of the pins drawing a ruby-red bead of blood on her finger to match those she was working with. Huffing, she combs her fingers through her hair with one hand before giving her head a little shake. "He was so rude to me. In front of every one." Flora begins. "We were both up for leadership for Torchline, and he started by saying how he wasn't going to make any personal attacks at me, which is basically just a way of trying to look good while also saying that there were things to attack, and so I told him to go ahead.

And then he did!" Furious, Flora tries not to let her nostrils flare as she huffs out an annoyed breath. "Like, don't just say you're going to be the good guy and then just not?" Had she baited Harper? Okay yes, a little, but he shouldn't have taken the bait. "And he just...he shit all over my family and was mean."

Phoebe looked at Flora with a little frown at her comment. She had always thought Remi and Ronin were good parents, having seen them with Aoife. But maybe things had changed since then. The Nightingale listened quietly as Flora went on her tirade about Harper. Frankly it all sounded very out of character for him, but she supposed he had been going through a rough time lately. Noticing the blood on her fingers, Phoebe rose to fetch a bandage for her. "Politics can get ugly like that." she said with a sigh. "And if you are going to bait someone into saying bad thinga by telling them to, you have to be prepared to take it." she said with a motherly tone. She handed Flora the bandage and smiled at her wryly. "That said it sounds like he owes you an apology, and that I can get you." Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

'Uhm, no I don't." Flora argues, before smiling sunnily up at Phoebe as she offers out the bandage. "He basically accused me of being young and a kid, but then basically acted like one himself so I'm not sure why he gets to just ride around on his high horse." She adds, huffing and glaring down at the rubies in her fingers as if it was their fault she hadn't won the election.

"He absolutely does." Raising her chin and pursing out her lower lip, Flora lets her nostrils flare indignantly. 'And he deserves to trip and hit his shin on something." She adds petulantly before holding up a long and intricate braid of rubies for her aunt's approval. "How's this?"

Phoebe should have seen that one coming. Flora was headstrong and staunch in her opinions after all. But she listened to her further complaints. With a sigh and shake of her head she determined that this leadership race had indeed been ugly. "Men unfortunately have the priviledge of accusing people of unflattering things while exhibiting those same traits as well. It is an unfairness that seems pervasive in all worlds." she said with a sigh. Harper should have known better than to stoop so low, and she would tell him so. "Then I will talk to him and make sure you get the apology you deserve." she said with a small smile. Flora then presented the ruby crown and she beamed. "Oh, it's perfect Flora, just perfect!" she said. Phoebe Be gentle to all and stern with yourself

Flora

"Well, it's stupid." Flora summarizes with a huff and an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "Maybe I'll make a drink at the Tavern called the doublestandard and it'll just be the wash water from the bathrooms and I'll dedicate it to Harper." She suggests with a sly smile, grinning mischievously at her aunt before turning her attention back to the task at hand.

'Oooh, I'm so glad you like it!' Rising from her chair, Flora begins to tease Phoebe's hair into the rough shape she wanted it in before placing the ruby headband just so. "Perfect, if I do say so myself." She beams, before adjusting a long strand of the Nightengale's hair with a twirl of her finger.

"Thanks for inviting me over to do this. It's nice to have a break from work." And so the two wiled away the last of the afternoon's light with tea and cookies and loads more gossip.

~FIN