Daffodils in Bloom

[Cassandra Reeding]

It's one of the first warmer days of the end of Winter. The midday air is crisp, but the sun warms everywhere its rays touch, very similar to Cassandra's own mantle. It's almost a perfect mirror. The Winter Fairest is knelt down in front of her home, tending to the small garden she'd planted in November. The daffodils and multi-colored pansies are just beginning to come to a full bloom.


She knows she'll need to stop soon as Gerrit will soon be with her. It'll be nice to see her motleymate and catch up a bit more. Things have been tough and he's been... different. Cooler perhaps? She isn't sure, but she'd like to hope it's just the exterior. She's missed the sweet, light-hearted Gerrit she'd first met a year and a half ago. There's something she particularly wants to talk to him about though. Something only choice people know. Perhaps it'll help bring them closer again, like they used to be. She can hope.


After a little bit, she stands and wipes off her hands and dusts her skirt. Her outfit is very teachery today. A cream colored blouse with paired with a yellow skirt, her shoes a simple pair of ruby colored flats and her scarlet, waist-length hair is done in a long braid over her shoulder.


She takes one last moment to stare at the daffodils and something pulls at her heart. It'll be okay. Everything is fine.

Aeolus

[Gerrit]

Gerrit could hardly believe that it was almost time for spring again. The last half year managed to be an almost perfect stillness of Sorrow and a whirlwind of worries, growth, and change at the same time. And now? Now the Stonebones was left with the aftermath of all of this: a weird sense of equilibrium, a cold stoicism that wasn't exactly contentment, but was well past the emotional distress of Summer and Fall.

He was glad that Cassandra had asked for this meeting. Although they talked about a lot of things the last time they really took the time to catch up, it was nice to spend some more time together. Dressed in his windbreaker, a grey hoodie and sturdy jeans he arrived at her place.
Her new place. It felt like he learned to live with the fact that his two closest friends shared this relationship, that they really managed to build something for themselves and protect it from everything it has going against it. They deserved to be happy as much as people claimed he did, so he really tried to feel happy for them. Gerrit looked at the scene before him and chose to ignore the pang of jealousy somewhere in his chest.

"Those look beautiful." He waited a beat to not startle her before he continued with an even voice. "Hello Cassandra. I always suspected you had a green thumb that could rival mine." There was only a hint of a smile on his face, but hopefully that was enough to show her that he wasn't feeling threatened by her expertise.

"How are you?"

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra smiles as she hears Gerrit's voice and she can't help but chuckle a little bit, "I'm not that great, don't mistake it. I can grow some flowers, but my vegetable garden tries have been atrocious. Poor zucchini." She looks back at the flowers one last time, a small smile on her face. Still, little pangs weigh on her chest, perhaps even a hint of anxiety. Is she going to be able to talk about it today?


"Here, come on in," she says, walking toward the front door. The house itself is very cookie cutter, nothing particularly special, which is how she tended to like things. The special would be how one decorates and makes it into a home. Things were still being unpacked, particularly Cassandra's music as she tried to find a place for it all in the living room and within her crafting and music making spaces, but for the most part, it looked like a home, though not quite fully lived in yet. Then again, with how much of a neat freak she can be, that part isn't too surprising.


She walks into the kitchen and sighs a little bit, feeling strangely good even with the little pangs, "I'm doing fine though. Work has been busy. Doing a lot of donations to local schools for their orchestras and we've got a few performances coming up with the symphony. Doing a few French works, which has been fun. How about you? Oh, and would you like something to drink?" Ever the hostess, "Rooibos?" It did tend to be his tea drink of choice. As she gazes at him, she does try to get a read on him.

Read Gerrit - 1 Success

1 success

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-03-05 08:34:42	Cassandra Reeding rolls 5 to Wits + Empathy (10 Again)	2, 8, 6, 7, 2	1 success

[Gerrit]

Gerrit followed Cassandra into the house, silently taking in the possibilities and the efforts to make this a home. It was nice. He was happy for them. "That's a nice place you've got. Did you keep your other apartment?" That would be important to know - he didn't want to spill the beans on this secret if it was supposed to be one.

It didn't surprise him that they ended up in the kitchen, and neither did Cassandra's hosting qualities. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you." He returned her look openly, bloodshot eyes meeting the shifting colors of hers. He was almost used to her inquiring about his well-being by now, whether she asked directly or just tried to read it in his features. The Ogre has stopped hiding things from her since before the Winter Coronation. It felt wrong to deceive her.. and he was feeling 'okay' enough to be able to tell her exactly that.
Cassandra can see a neutral weariness in the Ogre's face. Like a barren landscape of fresh and old aches.

But this time Gerrit also tried to get a read on the Fairest - because this time he was not so busy with himself to forget about his friend.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-03-05 15:09:31	Gerrit rolls 4 to get a read on Cassandra (Wits 3 + Empathy 2 - Polychromatic 1) (10 Again)	8, 8, 1, 7	2 successes

"That does sound busy. But seems like you've got everything under control." His voice raised ever so slightly by the end of his last sentence, giving it the semblance of a question. "How is John?" Except notably absent. Hopefully he was all right too. "I've been okay. Did a lot of thinking, been working a lot on our Garden. You know, the one on the other side." And had he been trying to force a different Kith onto himself, just like Rhodes claimed was possible? Maybe. "Business is going steady, not spectacularly but I've got a few returning customers by now."
He shrugged. There was so little and so much going on in his life at the same time. "Has your cat claimed its territory yet?"

[Cassandra Reeding]

Cassandra gives another smile, "Thanks. I always wanted simple, something easy to come home to. We are still getting everything situated, but it's been nice. But yes, both of us have kept our old places. It makes it easier to cover. I'm surprised we've made it this long with no one else seeming the wiser." Immediately, she get started on tea, heating the water in the kettle.


The polychromatic seems fine for the most part. By all accounts, she is quite happy. She has just found a sense of normalcy where she never thought she'd really find it again. At the same time, there does seem to be something that is nagging at her.


"John is doing all right. School is still quite hard on him, but he's hanging in there. I'm proud of everything he's accomplishing. Right now, he is out running some errands. Surprising given that it's rather early for him. After all, he quite dislikes the evil day star." She can't help with chuckle a little bit of that. "As for Aria, she's around here somewhere. She has gotten so big in the last couple of months, practically full grown. If I had to guess, she is sleeping in a pile of laundry somewhere."


The kettle begins to sound and Cassandra walks over to finish fixing the tea. She brings Gerrit his cup and she holds her own in her other hand. "I'm glad you're doing well enough though. You have me worried sometimes." She takes a moment to blow on her lemon ginger tea before taking a sip and then makes a little bit of a face. It's a little bit zingier than she expected it to be. "I'm glad the business is doing well. I really do need to stop in at some point and get an arrangement or two for a friend. But what's your thoughts about our Garden? Think we should be planting something different?"


She walks into the living room across from the kitchen and sets herself down, expecting Gerrit to follow as they continue their conversation.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit shrugged slightly. "Frankly, I'm not really surprised. People seem to be focused on themselves in this Freehold. Doesn't have to be a bad thing it's just.. a thing." Because I saw how John and Cassandra interacted. They were not close to slipping up.. yet. "But don't let that be a reason to become careless." He didn't have to tell her that, of course. But he told her - because that's what she would want.

Maybe it was because it was in a similar situation a few months ago, but he could tell that something was bothering Cassandra. With how his mind worked the thoughts immediately went to John and their relationship.. only that that didn't feel right. John was just being busy.
"Okay, so I'll know what to say in front of others then. Good to know." No judgement in his voice. "I'm glad to hear that.. Aria is doing well." Still not a huge fan of cats, but the critter obviously meant something to Cassandra. Gerrit accepted the tea with a nod and a half-smile, then looked for some mild in the fridge to make it just the way it was tradition. The sentimental value of this blend of tea was almost forgotten, buried under sheets of ice and pragmatism.

He followed her into the living room and sat down, thinking about how much he was going to share today. "I think, in retrospective I gave you plenty of reason to be worried. I'm sorry about that. I'm doing better, really." But that just left whatever was bothering her. "I, uh, haven't really thought about changing things up for now. Having access to healing in need seems like the most reasonable approach." Good thing his voice always sounded that neutral - he was just saying things to her all the while thinking what it could be that was on her mind.

Maybe it was right to cut the small talk. "Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" He looked at Cassandra with open interest, his Mantle flaring up ever so briefly to starken the contrasts around him. Boil things down to their basics.

[Cassandra Reeding]

Hearing Gerrit give her that piece of advice about not to be careless does give her some kind of reassurance. She does know what she's doing and so does John. They've managed to hide their relationship for over a year now. Though, that is about the time when people would begin messing up. Still, she nods.


She notes that pause before Gerrit says Aria's name. It's clear he isn't a big fan of cats. But then, who couldn't be a fan of her precious little floof? Aria is the closest thing to a child she's allowed to have. Perhaps that's why she's so attached.


Waving off Gerrit's apology for how he's been, "No worries. I'm just glad you're doing better."


As she settles then on the couch, he becomes very direct. She wasn't expecting it. In fact, she was hoping to be able to ease into it. But they're here, so how the heck does she begin?


"Well, I guess..." She pauses, trying to think of the words. Some kind of way to get started. "You had a family, right? From your time before?" Perhaps a little direct, but then, so was he.

[Gerrit]

There was a lot of pleasantries and mutual reassurance going on - which was nice - but Gerrit knew his hunch was right when Cassandra really has to think about how she puts things, not relying on her Fairest-given charms to navigate her through this.

And when she found the words, it made him pause. The mere mention of his old life might have stung a little, but that was in the past. There was no going back for him. "Yes, I did. Why?" It caught him off-guard, he couldn't think of a direction this conversation was going to steer to.

[Cassandra Reeding]

She wonders for a brief moment how this is going to affect him. Is talking about it going to be too much? No, she sticks to her guns. She wants to talk about this and have something deeper to bring them both together. Or is that her being selfish? She wants someone else to know what she went through. Is this really just her bringing up his hurt for her own gain?


The Winter purses her lips then, again, unsure how to continue from there. Breathe. And she does take a breath. "I hate lemon ginger tea. It's tart and always too spicy for me." An odd way to start, but she keeps going. "But I always drink it in February and March. Just like now, I try to plant daffodils in the Fall so that I can see them around the same time."


"I have certain rituals I do because it gives me a sense of relief when I think about it. At least, I think it does. Drinking the tea centers me when I remember that I'm missing her birthday or to remind me that I did what I had to do to protect her. Still, it stings every year and I don't know that it'll ever stop stinging. I imagine it is much the same for you." Somehow, she's managed not to begin to tear. But then, perhaps that's another reason she drinks the tea. It makes it hard to cry.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit waited patiently for her to go at this in her own pace. He knew that some topics needed to be tackled with a few detours and this apparently was something big, something she hadn't dared telling him for some time. That counted out problems with John.. was this about her life before?

He could relate to her stance on traditions and rituals - maybe that was generally a Winter thing after all. But Cassandra's story remained vague and for a moment he suspected that he missed something. Her Birthday? When he spoke his voice was soft and he looked at her directly, but not in a pushy way. "I'm sure you did. Something has happened to us there and that has made everything that was before - and frankly everything that came afterwards - really complicated. There is no telling what is right, but if you wanted to protect her it probably was." At least that was what he had told himself every time he regretted his decisions. It was probably the only thing one could believe to remain sane.

After a short pause he did some more light prodding. "Was she family?"