Spring Coming Together

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie tilted her head to one side, looking at Sera curiously. She listened to the Nix, then smiled and nodded, "Guess I misunderstood! I thought you were giving it up. Load off my mind, then! Whew!" She mimed wiping sweat off her brow. "The freehold remains safe from the machinations of the Monkey Queen for another day!"

Her humor, however, was soured by Abraham's reaction.

The Beast watched with increasing irritation as the Flowering's darker side showed itself once more. She narrowed her eyes and pulled herself into a crouching position on the table, her primal fight-or-flight instincts raising their head. She would not be cowed again.

"There he is," she growled softly.

The Knight might have calmed down after that, but Sonnie remained vigilant. Her distrust of the man had not vanished since that day, and he had just reminded her why.

She wasn't buying the war line, either, snorting derisively when Abe brought it up.

"Well, then," she said, her hackles lowering somewhat, "I guess that's that. Ingrid is confirmed gone, of her own choice, and Sera remains Queen for now. And Mr. Bree likes peanuts. Is that all?"

Her tail twitched a lot. This turn in the conversation had agitated the 'Scrambler and she felt like climbing something.

[Titania]

She was surprised that the indecisiveness hand't already swept the Court by. Here they were, three Fairest and a Beast. Two of them clearly didn't understand the meaning of the word Monarchy. It was just so British. First you ascend to the Throne! Then you work to obtain the support of whoever. Logic! But again, Americans were a strange breed, with their Constitutional Republic. And if you're in the land of the Free. When in Rome you ought to do like the Romans do.
One thing however was worthy of her contempt. For all his sanctimoniousness and assurance of the opposite, the Errant Knight was indeed a hypocrite. First he asked for their support, then once the tides had turned, he retracted it, like a child running away with the ball. But words were cheap currency. Errant Knight, maybe for good reasons.
Still, both Sera and Sonja had asked her a question, it was time to answer or see their bluff. "I will. Pending your support and guidance. Dear Queen Regent and Lady Sonja, I'll gladly assume the mantle and the burden of leadership"

[Seraphina]

She doesn’t flinch or move, “No. The guy was confused because of all the infighting he was witnessing. We had people backing out of Pledges and others making threats. I’d be confused as well, probably thought we all lost our damn minds.” Sapphires level on him as his voice and Mantle flare, her stronger Mantle rising to the challenge. The Nix not phased as her long hair dances around her.

“Not every situation ends in war and bloodshed. If one has to resort to threats to make a point, then it tells me they lack common sense. And the next time it happens, the next time a Spring is threatened in such a manner, it will be me they are dealing with. We don’t threaten each other.” Not now, not ever.

Her Mantle finally begins to settle around her.

“I’m willing to give it up when we are all able to agree on who wears it. We should not be a divided Court. Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t good, think of how it leaves us open to trouble.” Though she did think Sonnie had what it took to be Queen.

It was hard to not see how upset the Beast was, especially that tail. “Emotions are high right now, leading to tension. And that isn’t going to get anything accomplished.” She didn’t like tension.
“Did we want to setup a time to all come in and work on the Tavern? I’m really excited to see what everyone can bring to it and make it better.” Might be a safer topic.

But what Titania said was unexpected.

“I didn’t realize you desired the Crown.” Says the Nix, “Why didn’t you say something the last time we met?” she was truly curious. Her support wouldn’t be said either way yet.

[Sonnie Wu]

Hugging her knees to her chest as she continued to perch on edge of the table, Sonnie watched the Fairest make their various statements with varying degrees of... well... Fairestness. She found herself wondering where Freya was.

That her agitation seemed to put Abraham on edge brought her some satisfaction. It was good to see he wasn't underestimating her.

Titania's offer made her smile. Widely. The Telluric had a way of putting the Beast at ease. Sure, the idea of Queen Titania wasn't without merit - Sonnie had caught glimpses of a sharp mind under the charmingly flustered ditz personality - but she was comfortable with Sera keeping the crown. "It's good to know you're willing to step up, Starlight. Maybe one day you and me will have a dance off for the crown!"

With a nod, she turned to Seraphina and saluted, "Yup, I can come in and work on the place whenever you want." She slapped the tabletop like it was the roof of a used car. "This baby can fit so many Spring Courtiers in it! You'd never believe it! Also, amazing gas mileage!"

Abe's news bomb about the Summer Court imploding made her eyebrows shoot up. "Uh... okay, then. So Glass Dude was a psycho, after all. Great. Just great. Does this mean Circe is Queen again? Does this mean Cole's banishment is over?" She wasn't asking Abraham specifically, but rather just speaking her thoughts out loud. The Beast relaxed her posture, letting her legs dangle off the side of the table. "I guess we can take heart that whatever disagreements we have, we're not that bad. Right?"

She sighed, "What a shame. It was such a nice coronation, too. Great shrimp."

[Seraphina]

He was correct, she was done discussing it, and doesn’t say anything else.

Seeing the Court divided was heart breaking to her. This wasn’t how Spring was supposed to be.
Nodding, “I agree, we need some quality time together focused on a project for our Court. Do you have some ideas for the Tavern? Something you’d like to see added, something that make it more spectacular.” Maybe a place for his new hedgebeast.

Her mouth drops open, “Wait, what?” Fawkes tried to kill Cole?! “I,” she begins, at a loss for words, “I can’t believe this.” And she slowly sits. Her face scared as she seemed to be thinking something over. Had he tried to kill her that day? No, no way. “I never thought Fawkes would do something like that!” did she misjudge him? Trust him too much? “But yes, if I see any of them, I’ll make sure to get out of there and call. Has anyone checked Coles Hollow?” she asks, looking to Abraham.

A wide smile was offered to Sonnie, “A dance off?! I’d throw money at that!” she’d seen the Beast dance, she had some moves.

“Oh, well amazing gas mileage is very important.” A nod and smirk. “So we just have to agree on a day that works for everyone. I can make sure to bring some food,” then looks to Abraham, “unless you want to spoil us with your amazing cooking skills.” He was a good cook.

Sapphires look down, worrying the edge of the table, “I just can’t believe I misread him.” That part hurt the most.

[Sonnie Wu]

"Oh, can we put in a swimming pool? Maybe a make-your-own-taco bar?" Sonnie looked gleeful at the possibilities.

She grinned at Seraphina, "Ah, yes. I am a fantastic dancer." Debatable.

As to the matter of the Summer Elementals, the Beast could only shrug. "I dunno where Cole's Hollow is. And Fawkes was always kind of hard to read. His face, like, never moved." Her attempt to make the Queen feel better, perhaps. "You know, I always though he was creepy." She nodded, sagely. Hindsight is 20/20.

She blinked, "Wait, Lancelot cooks?"

[Seraphina]

“A swimming pool? Not sure how that would work in the Hedge, do you have an idea? Oh! How about like a hot spring?” surrounded by the Hedge. Kinda sounded nice. “And I don’t see anything wrong with a taco-bar, I think each Spring should have something that is important to them here.” And if Sonnie wanted tacos, then, well, good for her.

“I’ve been to Cole’s Hollow once, when we met to talk things over.” And now he had left the Freehold. “It sucks, I saw Cole making a lot of progress towards improving himself.” Maybe he’ll come back. “Yeah, I could never read him, but I trained with him. He never struck me as the murderous type. But, I guess you never really know someone.” A sigh.

Nodding, “He does. Makes some amazing dishes.” a smile offered to Abraham.

“Clearly I didn’t.” she agreed. “I remembering him mentioning something about that back at the Winter bonfire. It was when we decided to spar together.” He could have killed her that day, and that sent ice water through her veins. Had that been the intention and he changed his mind? Could she have exposed him sooner by letting Rhodes deal with him? “We all have traumatic baggage; some are just good at hiding it.” From her tone, it sounded like she might know a bit about that. “Tell me, if you had seen it coming, how could you have stopped it? Do you think Summer wouldn’t have rallied around each other before taking the word of another Court?” there was no malice in her voice, she was just curious. “Because I personally would defend any Spring.” She’d defend any Spring in this room. “What would you suggest in the future Abraham? I had a Pledge in place with Fawkes for training, but not everyone does that. So I’d love for us to have some plan in place.” And if he knew how to make it happen, that was great.

“Security is something we should certainly invest in. And wolf pits?” amusement was in her voice, “Are those even a thing? But yeah, lets get some more security going. As for a door, where would it lead? We have one into the park and one into the Hedge. We could find a random place that only Springs know about, kind of a quick escape.” She offers, looking around. “If no one else has an issue with Bree making his nest on the roof, I don’t have one.” It was close to Abraham, so it was important.

“A name? No, I suppose we haven’t. Did you have some names in mind?” she hadn’t put my thought into it.

“And you’re too modest.” She says, “That meal you prepared was delicious! But I wouldn’t want to put you out, and can provide food for when we work on the Tavern. It won’t be handmade by me, cause I’d burn this place down if I tried, but it should be good.”

[Sonnie Wu]

Sonnie still perched on the table, rocked from side to side. Mostly because of her inability to sit still outside of an emergency. "I just don't know why he'd want to kill Cole. Dude was already banished. Good thing T-1000s are hard to kill." A head tilt, "So Fawkes is a psychopath. Not like any of us are the picture of mental health, but we're way better off than him!"

Speak for yourself, I'm perfectly sane!

Not now!

The Beast squealed with joy at Sera's suggestion, "A hot spring! That'd be great! How do we... how do we make one of those?"

"As for the taco bar... as much as I'd love one, I'm afraid if we had one here I'd never leave the Hollow!" she giggled, "And I probably couldn't fit through the door!"

"If Mr. Bree wants to nest on the roof, that's cool!" she nodded, her monkey toes flexing in thought, "A door. Like an emergency exit? Sure, that sounds smart. It'd have to let out someplace secluded, but not too inconvenient. Like another park? Unless Sera is okay with it exiting into the backrooms at garden Grounds. We should only use this door for, like, abandon ship! moments."

She raised an eyebrow at Abraham's suggestion, "Wolf pits? That's not... very Spring. If we were a bunch of Summer Ogres, sure. Maybe some metal spikes on the walls and a gun rack behind the bar!" She laughed, "C'mon, we're the Emerald Court, right? Our security should be fashionable! Maybe, like, a pretty moat?"

Sonnie clapped her hands together in a moment of inspiration, "A moat that doubles as a hot spring! I'm a genius!"