(Private)About a suit

[Seraphina]

Chuckling, “Whatever you say.” She says with a smirk. “That used to be a problem for me, not being able to say no when someone needed something. But, I’ve learned to say no and not let people take advantage. So you’re fine.” A small nod.

“See, when I was in there with Rhodes, it was different. We started in the ocean or a lake, with someone drowning. Then we followed the poison to a house on fire, with someone screaming from inside the house. Then underground, with a grave, and finally, the hospital room. With the bodies,” her voice growing soft and distant, “wrapped up and struggling to breathe.” Pain in her voice as she remembers. Then shaking her head, “Then the Huntsman came in. So maybe you guys were able to pick it back up from the hospital. It’s interesting.” Taking a moment to think about it. “But I believe you’re right, direct conflict won’t win us this fight, not with this guy. We need to out think it.” And she thinks they can.

“It’s hard to know the correct path in these matters. Being direct has some merit, but it hasn’t worked. Taking our time and stalking him and taking out his holds one by one could work. We haven’t tried it, so we don’t know. But I think it’s the smartest plan of action. Hunt it from the shadows and the Dreamscape. Picking it apart piece by piece. We have the power there.” Between those who could work the Dreams and those who could gather intel on the ground.

As she listens, her hand absently began to sketch out a male form in a suit. Nothing added to the suit, just a base.

Then a smile, “No need to apologize, I enjoy hearing what ones Court means to them. It’s always fascinated me as no two answer the same.” Putting the pencil down.

“I was curious about if there were certain aspects of the Season you wanted added to the suit. With my dress, I had the moonlight of the first night of Autumn. I’m pretty sure I could design you the best-looking suit for the Coronation, but I want it to be something special for you. With pieces of the Season tied in. But only you know what those pieces are, what parts mean something. I can probably get anything from the right market. From spider silk to the first snowflakes of the winter season.” She says.

[James Turner]

It took him a second for the gears to start turning again, he’d hit a small bump in the middle of that emotional description to the point he’d even stammered over his words. He took a deep breath and then exhaled in a sigh before returning to the present, setting the empty cup down for now with a frown.

“Boundaries are good, boundaries are healthy.” He listened to her retelling of their experience intently, he wasn’t certain but he was sure the forest had been The Huntsman’s dream. His voice grew quiet, almost a whisper. “There wasn’t anyone in the hospital when we visited just red, red sheets.” A shiver running down his spine with a frown. “I don’t know what that means but I know it’s not good.

“I tried to create a trap for it in the forest dream. I shaped a snare into existence and it showed me, I don’t know, respect? Amusement? It’s hard to tell but it didn’t attack me after that like I said. It did everything in its power to bring me fear.” He mulled it over for a moment and looked over at her.

“I think people said that area felt foreboding, like a pall was draped over it. Maybe if we can uproot the fear? If we uplift the area, maybe. A thought at least.” He couldn’t disagree with her, sometimes the most direct path was the correct solution it was just one that wasn’t easy for him to take, it went against his nature.

“Thank you. I agree, we all join for our own reasons, helps put things into perspective sometimes." Though when she asked about what he wanted it made him pause, that wasn’t his forte he didn’t know what he should have it made from. “I don’t know about material, not really familiar with that. I have an idea though, maybe. If we have a record of the fallen or re-taken I wouldn’t mind incorporating something like that. Someone needs to hold that torch, keep those memories alive.”

[Seraphina]

Picking up the empty cup, she walks up to the counter, placing it in a small sink and getting a new cup. Filling it with the other cider, she brings it over and sets it in front of James, “Here you go, the regular one.” A small wink as she sits down again. Thinking over his words for a few moments, “Huh. That’s,” a pause, “unexpected. I wonder what changed." She asks no one in particular.

Taking a sip from her cup, “That’s really interesting. Almost like he expects people to run from him and maybe that bores him. You gave him a challenge, something new. We could use that.” She wasn’t sure how yet, but they had to be able to use it. “So it wants, needs, its prey to feel fear. There is something it gets from that. Denying it the fear amuses it. Very interesting.” a pause,

“Now that’s an idea. Perhaps the fear is rooted in the poison. We cleanse that, we might gain enough of an advantage to push it out. I have a feeling it uses the Dreams and the fear to get whatever it is it wants. We take that from it, and chase it to wherever it’s hiding, we could force him out. Even the playing field so to speak.” It was more than they had before.

“One second.” And she stands and grabs a jacket from behind the counter. Walking back over, she places it on the table, or hands it to James if he wants. “This one was made for me by a friend. It’s made from spider silk and the dew from the first Spring morning.” She then infuses her Glamour into it, the spider silk becoming more apparent as well as the dew, sparkling from the lights. “The spider silk is incredibly strong; it can help provide defense.” Sitting back down. “Record of the fallen?” a frown, “I don’t have the names of who was lost then Fairweather tore down the Four Seasons. And I don’t believe Sasha mentioned any names to me either. I’m not sure if there is a way to recover the names or not.” She looked a bit defeated, “But I love the idea! And I agree, someone needs to keep the memories of those we’ve lost alive. I know we lost a Spring not too long ago.” But that was the only name she had. “I would like to get a written history of the Freehold started. That way we always know the names of those we lost. Are there any Contracts to help retrieve names? Like if we visited the site of the Four Seasons.” She was clearly trying everything she could to get him what he wanted.

Her began drawing flowers on the paper. One looked like a poppy, the other was a forget me not.

But she didn’t think James wanted flowers in a suit for Winter. “Perhaps the frost from the first cold Winter’s morning?” she asks, “Or the chill of a cold Winters night?” she really was trying.

[James Turner]

He took a sip before shaking his head. “Thank you. The answer to that question is likely nothing good though.” He mulled over her words and thought back to the dreams, eyes flitting back and forth as he tried recreating the scene in his mind. “They were very nightmare-ish, that’s not a bad thought. It could be a source of power for it. Something to look into at least, or we could pursue it blindly and see what happens.

“It is the Huntsman, it makes sense that it needs to hunt.”I wonder if our resistance is just making it stronger? What’s the alternative though. “I should probably look into getting more cold iron for us at some point. Circe is probably the best point of contact to start with that I think.“ He wasn’t really sure honestly, weapons would be useful but so would the raw materials. One thing at a time James.

He set his cup down to take the jacket from her, letting his fingers run over the silk both before and after. Lightly running his nails over it after it’d been activated to check its tensile strength. “Pretty and practical.” He frowned but nodded, Fairweather must have done a number on the freehold. If Funderland had been its lair he could see why. “Abe, yes. I remember.” It sounded like he’d deserved it but he still also deserved to be remembered. He had been a member of the Freehold after all. Who was he to judge anyway?

“I don’t know, not that I’m capable of at least. Rhodes might know of one though?” Definitely a question for the Autumn King. He thought about her question and it stumped him, it truly did. He thought about it quietly for a long while as he sipped his cider. “I don’t want to do the cold of Winter, the sorrow, the isolation. What about the light or smoke from a hearth fire? Could even do the coals there in if you want a darker color. The stillness as dawn breaks the Horizon?” His mouth opened again and then shut, lips in a firm line for a moment before the cup came up again.

[Seraphina]

An absent nod as she thought over what he said. “Well, I think cold iron would depend on what we are able to gather from the Dreams. It could be a thing where driving him out of them, a place he seems to feel quite comfortable, will be enough.” Then a chuckle, “Ok, probably not, but I like to hope. Fairweather was poisoned, so we could also look at using that as well. But I say we start with the Dreams, scour them, rip the Dream poison out, and see where it leaves us.” They would know more of their enemy by that time, and know what else would need to happen. “Though it would be good to know what Circe can acquire. And if would need us all to chip in to help her.” Though she knew Circe was resourceful, sometimes extra money helped.

“It can be weaved into practically anything. Strengthening a suit jacket for example, but that’s up to the wearer. I wanted in something I could wear all the time.” Her jacket went with pretty much everything.

“I’ll check with him.” She was surprised she hadn’t thought to ask before.

“Oh! Now those are some stunning possibilities! Would you want a benefit from such materials? The dew on my jacket helps give me a leg up in a fight, get a punch in before the enemy can. Perhaps the smoke could act as cloaking or help with stealth?” her hand sketching smoke around the suit. “Those are all wonderful ideas! You’re very good at this!” she compliments. “Maybe even the strength of the first freeze for something like armor?”

[James Turner]

“It’s the nuclear deterrent. We have it to use if we need to but shouldn’t rely on it, word will spread and we’ll have other problems if we get used to having it.” He listened to the rest of her thoughts in silence, fingers steepled in front of him as he thought. “Poison. Yea? The dreams are poisoned into nightmares? What if every dream we scrubbed we replaced with courage, we emboldened the dreamer. Turn its power into its poison?” He shook his head before sighing, returning to the cup and taking a deep drink. “Just a thought though.

“I’m not well off unfortunately, but I’ll contribute what I can to the effort.” Another sip. “Yea something practical that’s multi-functional that doesn’t seem out of place if I wear It with something else maybe? I could see if Circe could add functional plating like Kevlar if I’m gonna end up in the hot seat like I have been, if I need to expand on it.” He let out a soft hmmmm, his voice a bit distant as he’d spoken the thought out loud trying to follow the chain.

His face remained placid but pale white skin turned a mottled grey as the blush spread across his cheeks. “Yea Smoke is what got me to think about that, like the contract it might be able to help keep me hidden. I don’t know about good at this but I appreciate the compliment, thank you Sera. Oh, strength of the first freeze is a good idea. I like that, should also help keep it stiff so I don’t have to iron it.” Lips curling up into a smile as he let out a long, deep laugh that didn’t quite reach his belly.

[Seraphina]

Nodding, “Knowing we can get it if we absolutely need it will be good. It’s always good to know what we have at our disposal. Then we can always be prepared as much as possible.” Because life loved to throw curve balls. “They could be. Dream poison is a bit tricky, and I wasn’t able to do much with it last time. But I think we can come up with a way to get rid of it. And that sounds perfect!” perking up a bit, “Wouldn’t that be something?! I think you’re on to something there.” Another nod, “Hey, thoughts help lead to actions plans.” And they needed a plan.

Tapping the pencil on the table, thinking, “Well, that could be many different things. Could be a nice leather jacket, or even something as simple as a shirt. But that’s up to you. But if it was about armor, I would lean more towards a tough leather jacket, because you’re adding onto its toughness. But, my opinion.” She would work with whatever he decided. “And it’s something that can be worn with anything, something that no one would think twice about.” Maybe she needed one.

“That’s something we can look into. And give yourself some credit, you’re better at this then you think. Hedgespinning takes the ability to craft, yes, but it requires more imagination. And you got that.” Yup. Then laughing, “Oh, now that is an added bonus! I hate ironing myself!” worst thing in the world.

“So are you wanting to do two different Hedgespun? Because that’s fine, not a problem. But I don’t see a suit as being real stealthy, though, no one would expect it.” She jokes.

[James Turner]

“Exactly my thoughts, peace of mind knowing we have it or can get it if we need it.” He nodded along to show he was listening. “I haven’t dealt with it much directly myself, this will be a first for me. If you had difficulties most of our members will too, we might need to make it a team effort instead of splitting off to cover the most ground. At least until we can weaken it a bit?” The last statement was a total shot in the dark, he didn’t know if the dream poison got weaker over time or stronger, same with quantity of poison.

“No you’re probably right, I probably can’t do both. A nice formal outfit wouldn’t make much practical sense, not for me at least. I could see many of your Court wearing something with pheromones to make themselves more enticing, especially if you need to deal with hobs. Two is probably for the best, maybe get a nice leather jacket for excursions make it a little sturdier and or use the essence of smoke or shadow to enhance the ability to hide.”

A genuine smile on his face as she complimented him again and then he thought of her. Her sweet words, her honey words. He thought about how well he’d been treated and the smile turned to a frown again, the ache in his heart returning. But for a small moment it had vanished.

“Thank you. So if we’re doing two outfits we can put the jacket on the backburner for now. I really want something special for the first Winter Coronation regardless of who’s chosen as Monarch. I just want to put my Court’s best foot forward. I don’t want to go full British white tie affair but something dapper would be nice. I don’t really own a lot of nice clothes so it’ll be special.”

[Seraphina]

“Well, the other thing is that I wasn’t able to full focus on it. Rhodes and I were more focused on finding the source and the Huntsman. I’ve improved on a few skills since then, so not sure how much more success I could have.” Looking down at her drink for a moment, “I would rather see it be a team effort, but there seems to be a divide on what direction we take with this. So if I have to go at it alone, I intend to. I don’t want to let the poison set long than we have to, and let it spread.” But, that was going to be her cross to bear.

“I mean, you could. I’ve made sketches of gowns with various pieces of armor built into them.” A small laugh, “But yeah, it’s not practical. Though it could be fun!” another laugh, “Now that would be something for Spring!” not something she would have, but it screamed Spring. Nodding, “No reason you can’t do both with it. Circe might be better, like you said, for the armor part. But I can work in an essence. Something I can pick up in a market.” A note written on the paper.

The smile was nice to see, but then the frown returned. He was a tough one.

“We can do special.” Thinking a bit, “Any particular color you were thinking? Or a color you would prefer? The sky is the limit with that. Do you prefer one type of tie over another? I ask because often the style of tie can enhance the appearance of both the suit, and the gentlemen wearing it.” Picking up her pencil she thinks, “Even doing each piece in one color can work, because we can add patterns to things like the vest, that just make it pop.”

[James Turner]

"That would do it I think. That helped lead us to it so I'd say Mission Accomplished. I think you'd be more of a help than you're giving yourself credit for. I don't know how many in our Freehold are as prepared and equipped as you and Rhodes for such an excursion. You won't have to do it alone, let me know and I'll help."


"Fun, maybe but that might be best suited to our Fairest." Another small smile playing at his lips as he nodded, definitely seemed like Spring to him too. "Two pieces is probably for the best, one practical and one for formal events like this. I trust you could do it as well as Circe, though she might be able to provide a more mundane material to work with."


When she went into color, design, and style is when his face went blank. He let out a soft grunt. "Uhhhh. I don't know. My wardrobe is just black, on black, on black. This is where you lose me, I don't know what looks good or would look good on me even. I don't really have any experience here."