A Spring and Winter Duet

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra has been cleaning her apartment all morning. Well, morning for her. It's mid afternoon and she's still a little sleepy given this is rather early for her. She was excited to have someone she can make some gorgeous music with that is another Lost, but having company is having company and while she loves hosting, it is draining for the introvert.

Her apartment is rather large in general for the standard in Sacramento, having a sizeable open kitchen with an island counter top lots of counter space and even two ovens. Perfect for someone who likes to host or generally bake. On her kitchen counter are the lemon lavender and vanilla macron's she'd still been putting together. And by all accounts, they look pretty good, albeit a little rushed. Cassandra liked perfection, but she knows she can't always have that.


Out on one of the counters is a standard coffee maker with a grinder. Next to it, a bag of medium vanilla coffee beans as well as another little tub of instant coffee. It is connected to her dining room which has every look of a standard dining room, complete with a china cabinet and fresh flowers center on the table. If one looks closely, it looks as if there are tiny little bite marks on a couple of the leaves.


There is a well sized cat tree, complete with a little hammock and built in scratcher, across from the kitchen against the wall next to the living room. In the hammock is a sleeping, light gray kitten who doesn't seem to have a care in the world for all of the chaos that has been going on all 'morning'.


Next to the cat tree is the living room which is like a miniature library. The library holds everything from volumes upon volumes of sheet music, labeled binders and the like, to science fiction and mystery novels. Some even delve into deep high fantasy, but nothing that alludes heavily to princesses and castles. No, those hit too close to home. Out on the coffee table is a copy of The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov.


To the left corner of the living room is a restored, vintage record player, a small box below with a decent and rather eclectic selection of records. Next to the record player is a Bluetooth stereo, which looks like it might get slightly more use currently.


There is a hallway off to the side that leads to a bathroom and further down is her bedroom. With the bathroom, she made sure to clean up a little bit extra, putting away John's tooth brush and other toiletries that might signal a second person occasionally spending extra time here.


The last space is the open room to the right as one walks in, both her crafting and practice space. There are a couple of L shaped tables against the walls with her materials, which seem to mostly be put away aside from a silk sheet over a viola-sized instrument. Out in the center of the room is a beautifully and masterfully crafted harp that has been engraved and painted to have beautiful floral designs. It is truly unique from any harp one could hope to buy on the market today. And of course, next to her work benches is her cello, packed away in its hard case, her sheet music set up on a music stand in a folder next to it.


Once Cassandra felt confident enough in her work, she gets properly dressed and then settles herself in the kitchen, making herself a cup of coffee. Her coffee, not the instant coffee. She loves John, but they both know her beans are superior. Oddly enough in general, she'd been finding herself drinking coffee more than tea recently. It was just a nice way to pep up. While she sips upon the likely too hot for most people cup of coffee, she finishes up putting together the macrons with a very light lemon curd for the lemon lavender and simple vanilla for more plain vanilla ones. You'd think the lemon might be too much with the lemon already in the lemon lavender shells, but lavender is so strong a flavor that it evens it out.


And now she waits.
Seraphina Orianna

[Seraphina]

She had been excited and happy that Cassandra had reached out! They’d talked about it a few times over the past couple months, but nothing had come of it. Well, that changed today!

One never arrives to another home without a gift of some sort. So the Nix had a container filled with the tea the Winter enjoyed. As well as some of the blue pea flower deserts. They had been such a huge hit at the shop, she had to share. And another small jar of the blue pea flower tea, in case the Winter wanted to try it as tea.

Her outfit for the day was a suede wrap skirt with a black bell sleeve top. The boots were her favorite part of the look, open toed lace up boots! A bitch to get off, but they just looked amazing! Her long hair was pulled on top of her head in a bun, small pieces of hair were left out to frame her face. A music note hair clip held the hair in place. The only jewelry she wore was her engagement ring.

Approaching the door, she knocks. All kinds of excited to spend time with the Winter.

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra hears the knock at the door She braces herself. Why is it that every time someone comes to visit, aside from John and Gerrit, a little bit of anxiety seems to sweep into her? She takes a deep breath and first walks over to Aria, giving the little grey kitten a tiny scratch on the head. The little fuzz ball gazes up at her for a moment, eyes just a little bit sleepy before nuzzling down and slowly slipping back to sleep. Give it 15 minutes, and the kitten will be ready to zoom around the apartment and get up to mischief.


After a couple of breaths, Cassandra finally makes her way to the door, putting up that more excited mask. Of course, it isn't as if she isn't happy to be socializing, particularly with another musician. She needs that kind of socialization, especially amongst her fellow lost.


She opens the door and the scent of sweet lemon and lavender wafts into the hall, "Sera!" Hair voice is gentle, but excited, "It's lovely to see you again, here, come inside." She steps to the side allowing Seraphina to enter.


"You look beautiful as always." Beautiful in a way you will never be. "That hair clip is amazing. I need one of those." Though, Cassandra could never pull off the outfit itself. It just wasn't her. She'll stick to her boho, vintage, and gothic eclectic style. And sundresses. All the sundresses. That hair clip though. She needs something like it.

[Seraphina]

Sera’s smile is genuine, “Hi Cassandra!” happy to see the Winter. “Thank you.” Moving inside, “Oh, something smells wonderful!” she gushed before holding up the gifts. “I brought you some more tea in case you were out. And some new tea, brews into a stunning blue color, butterfly pea tea! Add lemon juice to it and it changes colors, to a very eye-catching purple!” huge hit with her customers.

“Thank you so much! I love your dress, so summery and flowy! Looks perfect for the warm days.” It was important to dress for the weather. Though she was the one who wore a sheer dress to an Autumn Coronation. “What a lovely apartment! I love what you've done with it!” taking the time to look around. A translucent hand touches the hair clip. “Thanks! A really good friend gave it to me for Christmas a couple years ago. It’s been a cherished gift.” It wasn’t elaborate, but simple. And that meant the most to her. “I’m not sure where she got it, but I’m sure something could be found online. Or you could borrow it sometime if you like.” She offers.

Then a pause, “Is that a kitten?!” eyes wide, smile huge.

[Cassandra Reeding]

"It's macrons. I made some vanilla ones and some lemon lavender. I kind of have an obsession with lemon lavender right now." She's always been the biggest fan of lavender, but lemon goes so perfectly with it.


"Oh! Thank you," she could always use more supplies for tea. "I love butterfly pea powder! Have you ever seen it made into watercolor paint? It is incredible. I watched a friend work with it once. She used to do all kinds of unusual watercolor paint mixtures." She can't help but chuckle a little, "You really didn't have to, but thank you. I'll definitely send you some pictures when I have a cup next."


She looks down to her dress and smiles, fluffing it a little bit, "Thanks! I just enjoy sundresses and honestly, Sacramento never does get cold enough to really need to much of a jacket. At least, not the way Baltimore did." Though it isn't like the cold bothers her much, given her mantle.


She can't help but blush a little bit. So many compliments. But then, this is the first time Sera has been over. "It's been a work in progress for certain." Especially as bits and bits of John makes its way in. If you didn't know what to look for, you'd hardly see it, but once you knew, you could just see their life mixing together throughout the apartment.


"I'll have to shop around Etsy and see what I find. Maybe get one in a bass clef instead," Would make sense given she is a cellist, "As much as I do love the treble, bass has always been easier for me to read. Even when I took piano lessons."


Finally, she looks over to Aria, "Yes! That is Aria," she says with a happy grin, "I adopted her a couple of months ago. I've really missed having a cat and Sonnie at Christmas kind of got me to really consider it, so I went for it. She is a sweetie. And incredibly food motivated."


The noise does make the kitten perk up and she jumps down from the cat tree, graceful as can be, and makes her way towards them. Cassandra can hardly believe it. Every time John or Gerrit had been over, Aria had run and hid away. It's only been recently that Aria had begun warming up to John. But here she is now, ready to investigate Sera. She's beginning to wonder if the kitten just didn't like men.


Aria lets out a little chirpy mew and brushes up against Cassandra's leg, to which Cassandra responds by picking her up, "Oh, now you are going to be a little social one?" She gives her a kiss on the head.


"Oh, uh, why don't you set those down on the counter, I can get to putting them away in a bit. If she doesn't scurry away, you could probably get in a pet or two," You never knew with the little ball of fur. At least, Cassandra thought so. When Titania comes over eventually, will Aria act the same or is this an aura of Sera thing?

[Seraphina]

“Those sound heavenly!” she gushes, “And can’t say I’ve tried lemon lavender, but I’m looking forward to it!” she wished she could bake like Cassandra could. But it had always been a craft she could never master.

Blinking, “Wait, you can paint with it?” surprise on her face, “I didn’t know that! I’m going to have to look it up now! It’s been very popular at my coffee shop, I have many different drinks and treats made with it. And now painting? I foresee trying that!” it wasn’t too weird, tea could stain, and had been used in the past to color cloth. Shrugging, “I enjoy being able to provide fresh tea and am always happy to do it.” She never expected there to be so many in the Freehold who liked it. And it had allowed her to further her education on it.

“Sundresses are just perfect for the weather! I have a few I enjoy wearing, but I don’t have many. Maybe we could do shopping sometime? You seem to find such pretty ones.” Then a nod, “Which is a shame really, because some dresses look amazing with a leather jacket.” It was hard to balance looking good but not dying of heat.

“I really like how you’ve gone about decorating, it makes it feel very homey and welcome. It can be hard to balance them, but you’ve done it nicely.” The Nix could take some notes on it.

“Oh I love Etsy! There are just so many talented and creative people around the world, it’s great supporting them. I’ve even sold a few dresses on there.” It was giving her the confidence to open her own shop. “Piano?” a smile, “Is there an instrument you can’t play?” she asks with awe in her voice.

Kneeling down, Sera holds out a translucent hand, allowing the kitten to sniff her when she was ready, “She is just soo precious! And what a beautiful name!” watching the kitten.

“Maybe she smells the treats?” she asks with a giggle. Cassandra did say she was food motivated. But Sera did love animals. “Sonnie made me debate getting a pet, but,” a shrug, “I don’t know. I’m so busy with work, school and the Freehold, I don’t think I could give them the time they deserve.” So she lived through Sonnie and spoiled Fugly.

Setting the items down on the counter, “I hope so! She is just so cute!” but she knew animals liked who they liked. And if she didn’t like her, not much she could do. "How've you been?"

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Yes! One of my friends does tik tok with odd items, like old eyedshadows or dried flowers, and it was one of them. If I find the video of it, I'll definitely send it to you."


She smiles at the mention of shopping. She'll admit it is something she enjoys. Mostly it is just the kind of outing and getting to look at random things. Sometimes it is also just the company she keeps while doing so. "I'd definitely be down for some shopping. It's been a little while since I've gone clothes shopping particularly. Been sticking to the books and records mostly. I wish I could say my collection isn't constantly growing, but it always will. At some point I'll eventually invest in a house and make sure I've got a real library room." At the same time though, she's always loved living downtown. Thinking about that kind of domesticity in a suburb just doesn't sit right, even though she has well more than enough funds to have quite a nice house.


Again, she blushes a little bit. There are quite a few instruments she isn't very good at. "I took piano lessons as a child before I picked up the cello." And at first, she really hated the piano. The harp came much easier given the plucking. "The woodwinds and brass instruments aren't my favorite to play, but I do enjoy making them instead."


She gives a few scratches on the head and shoulders to Aria and she just stays put like a ragdoll and Cassandra can't help but laugh a little bit. "It's not impossible. She thinks all food and treats are for her. I think I'm spoiling her a bit."


"Aria is quite a little handful, but she is sweet and keeps this place from being silent. I never realized how silent it was here until I brought her home." She does miss Noodles quite a bit some days. It was a sad day when she passed. Everything always did seem to come in threes when things went wrong.


"Oh goodness, both you and John both with school. He's been exhausted all Summer with classes. I'm lucky I did all my schooling when I got out, though I was fast tracked. Music is just different." She smiles a bit, "Really proud of him though. He deserves every exciting bit coming from it." And he did. He's been working what feels like non-stop. She can't wait till he's free of it so he can take a breather.


Aria moves a little bit to sniff Sera's hand and then moves just a little bit into petting range. The slightest bit of her feathery kitten fur touching Sera's fingers. She'd be content with some pets, which makes Cassandra smile. It's nice to see Aria wanting to socialize outside of just Cassandra in such a friendly manner.


"I've been quite well, even with the busy Summer. I've been mostly crafting in between rehearsals. Had a lot of requests for band and orchestra instruments for Title 1 schools, so I've been working some charity there. Kids deserve instruments that aren't falling apart." She cared a lot about making sure children could participate in music making. They deserve every opportunity a child who is well off has, so she does what she is able. "Speaking of which, do you have any projects you are up to? Anything I can help with?" She never does know how to not do, constantly picking up job after job. Maybe it is to fill the absent time. Once you know what it is like to not be alone again, it's hard dealing with it. Aria helps tremendously and is such a perfect part of their family now.

[Seraphina]

“That’d be great! Thanks!” sounded exciting!

“Books and records are sound investments in my opinion.” An eager nod, “I’ve been debating selling and finding a house with a larger library, or even one where I can build the library of my dreams. It’s hard to find a house with that perfect library. A lot of my books are in boxes right now, no shelf room for them, and that is quite sad.” Books belonged on shelves. “If you could have your perfect library, what would it look like?” she asks.

“Learning to play an instrument was something that was never meant for me. So I’ve always been in awe of those that could. It’s such a talent, one that can be shared with everyone, and can bring so many emotions.” She just couldn’t wrap her mind around reading music and making an instrument sound beautiful. “You mentioned making those, how is that going?” with how the Winter talked about music, Sera expected them to be stunning instruments to see.

Laughing, “As you should! All pets should be spoiled as much as possible. And look at that face, how could you not give her whatever she wanted.” Too adorable, needed all the treats.

“I could see that. Sometimes it’s the nights that are the quietest, I’m glad you have her.” Maybe she needed one.

Smirking, “Well, I’ve taken a couple semesters off. With the wedding and Freehold things, I just didn’t want to overdo it again. And I agree with you! He does deserve everything exciting coming from it. I just hope he doesn’t overdo it. I know how that can be, and it’s no way to truly live. Make sure you nag him about taking breaks. Having a friend tell you to take some time off helps.” It took her too long to realize she was doing too much.

The Nix’s face lights up as Aria moves into petting range. Her hand gently petting the fuzzy cheeks as she coos, “Such a sweetie!” but she doesn’t push the kitten, letting her walk away if she wanted, or get more pets.

Sapphires widen, “Oh that is amazing! Those kids are very lucky! Charity work is often underrepresented in not only our world, but the world in general. That’s wonderful what you are doing.” Those kids must be very grateful. “Personally, I’ve been busy with some Hedgespinning for the wedding, and my other business. And you getting me out for a visit is a huge help!” laughing. “Like, seriously, just getting out of my Hollow and hanging out is nice.”

[Cassandra Reeding]

"Oh god. It would absolutely be the library from Beauty and the Beast. I remember when it first came out, my eyes nearly bugged out of my head." Her friend, Val, had to snap in her face to get her to snap out of it. The library was like eye candy. "I think I told my friend that I'd have kept the Beast as he was if it meant that library. He could be rude too, but that library!" she laughs a bit. "What about yours?"


"Instrument making is going well. I'm currently working on a viola, but I just packaged up a flute and two trumpets yesterday. I can never seem to keep still. It feels like once I've gotten started, I just have to keep going." A common problem.


She stifles a little laugh on telling John to take breaks, "Trust me, I tell him every day." Not as bad as trying to get the man to eat though. If ever she was to be called a nag, it would be about that. Exhaustion is exhaustion, but she won't have him starving. She wonders then if she's implied too much in her relationship with John, but then, they're also motley mates.


"Isn't she the softest too? She feels like a little noodley feather." The kitten was practically liquid, especially when she just decides to allow for all the pets. Aria leans in for a little while longer, enjoying the pets being given and after a few more seconds, she decides she's had enough and wiggles in a way that tells Cassandra she wants to be put down. After a final kiss on the head, Cassandra goes to set Aria down, but she jumps out of her arms with a little chirp. Immediately, the kitten makes her way over to her daisy to get some water.


"Happy to help you get out then. Weddings are hell in a handbasket to plan and Hedgespinning along with it is difficult too. I'm an Artist, so if you need any little things crafted as you are getting toward the end, I can lend a hand. And don't forget to breathe and take breaks yourself. The day isn't supposed to be perfect, nor necessarily the happiest day of your life; it's the day you are choosing to forever bind your path with another's. Everything could go wrong, but at the end of it, you'll still have the warmth of that binding reminding you that you'll never truly be alone again." That's how she'd felt the first time. Of course, Phillip didn't want forever, they kept theirs at a year and a day. She was always upset about that in the back of her mind, but given all that has happened since, it was exactly what was meant to happen.

"Oh, I meant to ask. Do you want anything to drink? Water? Tea? I made some coffee that's still very fresh. Although, coffee isn't necessarily the best for the singing voice."

[Seraphina]

Eyes widen at the revelation, “That was such an amazing library, endless shelves of books!” then a laugh, “I think I could deal with how rude he was for that library too.” Cause it was a beautiful library. “I’ve always wanted a mutli floor one. With a spiral staircase, made of a rich mahogany, that leads up into a private reading nook overlooking the ocean. I’ve even sketched it out.” Someday. When her businesses took off and she had the money.

“I completely understand that! Once I get into an idea, I cannot stop until I’ve made it come to life. But with dresses, it tends to create a problem with storage.” A small chuckle, “But once that mood strikes, there is no stopping it.” It was nice to hear someone else experienced it.

“He strikes me as the type to be stubborn. It took me taking a trip to learn to take tome off for myself and those around me. Maybe he needs that. Winter could go on a weekend getaway! No phones, nothing. Just spending time together and having fun.” It would be great for a Court!

“Oh, she is!” gently petting the kitten with a whimsical smile on her face. The smile remaining as she watches her jump down and get water. “This is seriously making me want to visit the humanity society and adopt my own little kitten.” But did she have the time? And what would Rhodes say? “Though I did almost bring home some Hedge rabbits.” Laughing, “They were so cute.” And Rhodes didn’t sound opposed to it. She still could visit them and bring them home.

“That’s so kind and sweet of you to offer! Thank you!” and she sounded grateful. There was a nod, “It’s hard to not push for perfection. I was literally made to be perfect, and to try and accept anything less, well,” a shrug, “it’s very difficult.” Anything less than perfect brought back memories she didn’t want. Anxiety she didn’t want to deal with. “But you’re right. At the end of it, I’m marrying the love of my life, and that should be all that matters.” Should be. “Maybe I just need to keep working on and learning that it’s ok to not be perfect. Though I don't even know how to start.” But it would be hard. Her Keeper had punished anything less than perfect, and she gets a brief far away look in her eyes.

“That’d be great! And tea sounds perfect.” She says with a smile, “I love coffee, but you’re right. It can be hard on my voice.”