Fox and Florist

[Gerrit]

Was he being too cynical? Maybe, because he couldn't wrap his head around the fact that R'lyeh struggled to find a place between those two extremes, Summer and Winter. She might just chase after what a Lost she connected with told her to connect with., he thought and chasing that thought was another thing: With that kind of attitude she won't feel at home in either Court.

He didn't voice either of those concerns. He knew how it felt to feel like an imposter in a Court, to think you don't belong. It was irrational, unreasonable.. and therefore so very much a thing a Changeling would think. So he looked at his hands, those idle, static monuments of pain, and chose his words carefully before he answered. "Winter can be about being pro-active. We can become active when trying to secure our life, we can take leaps and bounds to ensure they won't come after us." He ever so slightly furrowed his brows and looked at her, choosing to endure the pain of thoughtfulness for her benefit. "Some Winter Courtiers even take an active role in what kind of information makes it into circulation, they actively work against anyone who tries to drag them out into the light. Just because you prefer to stay hidden doesn't mean you won't do anything to remain that way." He broke the gaze and by coincidence found the floral arrangement she had been looking at before. "Just because we recognize Sorrow for what it is doesn't mean we plan to stay the victim." And wouldn't he know about that.

[Rlyeh]

"...Huh." escapes her as she listens, head tilted ears cocked. Listening to how she was wrong. Which was good! It was. She'd torn-apart-reshaped-remade-drowned-learned to Learn Things, and what was worse then not knowing something? Having an Answer to a Question that was Wrong. She feels a flinch crawl up her tail and through her spine, spitting and choking through the silent and open maw on her throat. On her working human(ish) mouth she feels her lips pull back in a snarl, tearing the label right off. She jolts, and casts a look towards Gerrit. "Sorry." Smoothing the label-wrapper and placing it on the counter.

A beat, two. Twenty.

"Information-control-hoarding?" she asks, blinking up at the Ogre, then slowly, softly. If Wrath didn't mean that you had to be angry and stay angry and lash out, did that.... did it mean, "Do...do you have to be-um-sad?"

[Gerrit]

Gerrit patiently waited as long as was necessary for R'lyeh to process the information, look for new fitting questions. Frankly, he was glad for the time too. This was the first time he so confidently talked about Winter, the first time he voiced all the thoughts he had been pondering over for months. In a way it felt like he was blindly leading the blind - but on the other hand what he said felt correct. And what kind of Winter would believe that there was only one correct truth anyway?

The Fox's signs of anxiety were acknowledged just enough to show here that he didn't mind, but not enough to make her feel self-conscious about it. It was a fine line to walk and he didn't even know if he was being successful - but the Stonebones tried to just radiate stability and sure-ness that he was looking for in the past. R'lyeh's question was something Gerrit had been wondering about a lot. "You don't have to be. The examples I was giving about Summer, about Wrath? They apply to Sorrow as well. It's not about being sad, just as is it not just about denying or conquering Sorrow." He reached for his own bottle of water, to take a sip and his Mantle made the liquid seem impossibly clear for a moment. "But we do have to acknowledge Sorrow, both of the past and of the future. Past Sorrow means learning from failures, to treasure memories and the things we have Lost. It shows us what we are living for and what could await us if we're not careful. We don't have to wallow in sadness, but to ignore it means to give it power over us." He had to stop speaking for a bit as the meaning of what he just said hit him.

2 successes

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-18 11:35:34	Gerrit rolls 8 to remain calm (Resolve 2 + Composure 3 + WP - curse) (WillPower)	5, 5, 3, 5, 10, 8, 4, 4	2 successes

Gerrits face barely moved as the rush of emotion washed trough him in a prickling burning sensation. It felt like he only started practicing what he was preaching recently - he hadn't been able to view the situation with Vivian with such a clear head. The repeated blows of losing a friend or being disappointed.. they hardened him so that he could persevere. Finally, the Onyx cleared his throat and continued.

"The Sorrow that lies in the future is a warning. We don't know what life will bring, but we can do our best to prepare for it. We can be joyful, we can enjoy our lives. But to ignore the possibility of Sorrow means to deny the possibility of losing things, it means becoming complacent and therefore inactive. Winter does not take things for granted and prepares both to keep those things.. and what to do when those things get taken from us.

I'm sorry. This has become a bit long-winded. Do you have to be sad to be a Winter? Just as much as you have to be always angry when you want to take on Summer's Mantle. It is not about being dominated by that emotion, it is understanding the emotion and its purposes."

[Rlyeh]

R'lyeh contorts herself as Gerrit's word-shallows wash over her. Hands fall into the hollow of her lap, resting now with the bottle and not tug-pull-fidgeting. She feels like herself in distant moment-memory, water-deep-deep-deep and hardly-ever-still-but-this-time-it-is and that is, scary-terrifying-exhilarating

distant-far-away-small-voiced-wind-whispers what would happen if the waters iced over?

She's staring at Gerrit now, an echo of a predator-scavenger in her gaze, "Sorrow-behind is...scar tissue...?" she think-asks aloud, "Sorrow-forward is....yes there is a wound to come, and...Winter-now is...mitigating-preparing. Information control-hoarding, go bags, field kits and first aid. Boltholes and a wary eye....." Bringing her bottle to her mouth, the moment seems like something volatile, explosive compared to water-deep-stillness.

"Winters lives hard...hold tight....because they-you are not Spring-denial....you'll hurt, and it will scar...but. But you'll get ready for the hurt again. Because there's always an again. But, you can make it hurt less....if you prepare for it....dose...is that....right?" she blinks, coming back to herself. This time pulling back and trying to hide behind the dripping curtain of her crude-oil hair. It smears on her face, but she only blinks.

[Gerrit]

If R'lyeh's movement and behaviour gave Gerrit reason to worry he didn't let it show. He watched the Fox with interest though - in case her distress got worse or he needed to do damage control. Was she just processing the information or did he trigger an old trauma of her past somehow?

"Uhm.. yes, that sums it up pretty well." It was a pretty pessimistic way of seeing things but he knew that the Elemental was right: there is always going to be a next time to get hurt. "We can make it hurt less. And sometimes we can prevent it all-together. That is why we keep working, why we keep our eyes and ears open and don't just hide."

He stopped himself from monologing again and just waited for R'lyeh to ask what else she needed or come to her own conclusions. He still wasn't entirely sure what fruit this conversation would bear.

[Rlyeh]

"That's why we keep working, why we keep our eyes and ears open and don't just hide." she repeats under her breath, head cocked and ears twitching "Huh. That's." back tot he bottle, thumb nail at the ready but frowns when she doesn't meet the label. Eyes scanning up and around before settling on where she set it. "Oh. Right. Yeah."


"Thank you. This is a lot-very-much to think about." she says after another moment. "I can leave now. If. You want me to." she says, legs moving to uncross, but she hasn't hopped down, nor scurried out the door.

[Gerrit]

Gerrit didn't exactly know what to make of this right now. His guest seemed more agitated than last time, but that didn't have to mean anything. Would choosing between the Summer and the Winter Court lead to the Fox freezing up, to not make any decision at all?
Either way, he felt like he did what he could do to help her with that decision - and frankly, talking about this has made things clearer for him as well. He felt that those ideas that others had tried to convey to him were fully grasped now that they were forged in the cold fire of Sorrow and passed on as lessons of sorts. "You are free to leave or stay for a while longer as you please. I've enjoyed this - uh, your company - very much."

And then, because he felt like he needed to stress that part for the anxious Elemental: "And you'll be welcome here anytime, no matter what Mantle you decide to take on. If you want to do that at all." Because after all she might deem it best to remain Courtless, to embrace being in between those two extremes rather than feeling as if she was compromising either part of her.

If you have nothing else to add I'm fine wrapping things up. Thank you for the awesome scene!

[Rlyeh]

She gets up. Gerrit had said, explicitly, to not-leave-stay. But also. You are free to go. Conflicting. So. She gets up, squinting at him, but the palette of violence is...distracting. And also. Faces. Eyes, smile-lines. It's a foreign language she once knew. Very-good-well (maybe, she had friends and people and crowds, but maybe she didn't know anything at all and was just a pretend-make-believe-memory-lie(s)) but she doesn't remember the way it works now. It was easier with ears and fangs and water. Not better, but easier.

So. Getting up, and leaving. Because. Easier. But she stops and looks at the Ogre, Winter stark and bloody-bruised-broken-flash-frozen,

"Thank you. For - " talking-being here-being nice-not-prank-mean-lies-letting me stay-talk-come back, it's a lot, so she just says, [COLOR="#8C5695"]"Thank you."[/color] and hopes he knows what she means. Maybe he's better at the familiar-foreign language then she is.

Taking her water, but leaving the label she scurries to the door, and to her bike and leaves.

This was super fun! Thanks for the scene!

failure

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2022-06-24 14:07:52	Rlyeh rolls 2 to motive? (wits 3 + Empathy-1unskilled)	4, 2	failure

[Gerrit]

Gerrit by now had come to terms with the idea that R'lyeh - and maybe all Elementals - would remain a riddle to him. Was she becoming more at ease with him or more intimidated, afraid to have the rug pulled out from under her any second? Was she moved in either direction of Summer or Winter due to his sermon or driven away?

"You're welcome. See you around." With the speed she was leaving she might not have heard the last part. But he was fine with that.

If Sorrow had taught him anything, it was to keep a healthy emotional distance and patience.