If ever there was a wonder

You are the sun - you heal and you burn

Hotaru is accustomed to customers new and old, and though she is not on the council and only sort of part of the House of Midnight staff, she can tell when something is off in the interesting way. Equally, most of the staff are accustomed to bending her ear when they think that 'thing of interest' is up her alley.

Striding over barefoot and glowing, Hotaru perches on the stool next to the young woman she'd been directed to, swinging her legs neatly one over the other as she leans one elbow on the bar. Her smile is distinctly maternal and not at all like the come-hither glances most courtesans employed in this communal area. "Hey there. You look a little down, anything I can help with?" With the offer preceding it, she extends a hand in case the young woman cares for such things. "I'm Hotaru, by the way."

Ellyra

the Valkyrie

Ellyra

Get hot
Get too close to the flame

Ellyra was not good at this. Last time she was here it was because she came with a group of people learning new and innovative ways of healing. After that, high as she was on knowledge and excitement, did she indulge in the other side of the House of Midnight.

This time, however, she found herself hiding here. Tucked away on a skyboat all the way from Stormbreak to find some sort of comfort away from her city that was growing excruciatingly purple and away from the shadow of her missing friend. She was hoping to find that comfort, that solace, a hiding place in the arms of the one she had last time...but he was busy.

So the lioness made herself busy at the bar. That's where Hotaru found her, several drinks down.

With surprise, the nurse turned towards the woman made of sunlight. The shadows behind her eyes swept away and she plastered on a practiced smile -- which the alcohol made fuzy in the corners, crooked on the ends -- easy to see through. "It's nothing, really." Ellyra said, pulling a lock of hair behind her ear with a curved finger. "It's silly." Then the same curved finger turned into her hand waving away the worry, as if the action were enough.

Wild, open space
Talk like an open book