[ Claire has done her best to stay as busy as possible, very much not wanting to have idle time to think about who she's missing. It's better that way and already hard enough when she has to give in to sleep, because when she wakes up, there's that millisecond of blissful unawareness that Jamie isn't next to her.
So, she's quite busy instead.
In the main gardens, she can be found both at night and during the day. In the daytime, she does most of the harvesting and trimming, removing bugs and making sure everything's happy. At night, she waters and brings to life saplings under her fingertips.
Not far beyond the vegetables, she also encourages a garden of wildflowers, needing them for the beehives that are now complete. She was able to fashion her own hat and found suitable gloves, and now she only has to wait on the bees.
About twice a week she tries to make rounds and check on everyone's health; she'll happily get roped into holding a baby or two for babysitting and doesn't seem to mind playing with the kids. In fact, she lets the older ones chase her, but tackling is out these days. Still, she gathers her skirts and they run around for a bit, before she shoos them off and away for supper.
She can always be found out and about the faction, doing everything she can to contribute. ]
[In the gardens, during this midday hour, Henry can be found out here in the gardens — and he wonders if he should be surprised to see her, too, though perhaps not. This is similar to when he spoke to Claire last, isn’t it?
But this time, he steps forward, quietly, leaves of neatly-rowed plants brushing past his pant legs. He crouches down next to Claire, who appears to be busying herself removing bugs from the garden, and gently nudges her hand away from her newest target of interest: a tiny spider that’s hung its equally tiny, gossamer web just beneath the large cover of a wide leaf and the plant’s adjacent stem.]
Leave that one. Or let me move it.
YES COME TO ME <3 <3 this is lovely, thank you for setting it up!
[ Claire's been trying to relocate said spider, it needs to be in the tomato plants, not the potatoes. The problem is, she can't quite get to said spider, and she wants to make sure she can cup it momentarily, rather than make it flee deeper into the potatoes.
At the sound of a familiar voice, she straightens a little and turns, then smiles at her company. ]
Henry, hello. Actually, would you mind moving it? To the tomato plants.
[ It occurs to her to be more curious at his offer after the fact, although Michael spewing spiders from his mouth has changed her understanding of insects in Solvunn. ]
That's also a generous offer not many would make. You must enjoy arachnids, then?
[No one tell Henry Creel about Michael spewing spiders from his mouth. He might not ever leave him alone.
Though his face was not fully disapproving before, just a faint shadow etched across the line of his brow, Henry's features soften when she sounds amiable to the request that he relocate the spider instead. For him, that's about a task as easy as breathing, and he nods.
He turns his body at just the right angle to lean in, assessing how to approach the arachnid. It isn't a very large one, but in some ways, that makes it more difficult.]
I've had an affinity for spiders ever since I was young. When I was twelve...
[Ah, here. His hands draw closer to the little spider, cupped and slow.]
I used to collect them from underneath the floorboards of my home, and keep them in glass jars for a short while.
[ It's good then, that Claire took a vow of silence on that one. Watching as he thoughtfully seems to think through how best to get the spider, she listens with rapt attention; both because she thinks it's an interesting hobby, and because she enjoyed their last conversation in the gardens. ]
Is arachnology something you've had the opportunity to study?
[ She isn't sure how others would respond to that fact about him, but Claire grew up in an unusual way, so a passion for arachnids doesn't seem all that odd to her. At least not as he's described thus far.
When he has the small spider, she leads the way to the tomatoes, leisurely walking, in no rush if he isn't. ]
[He retrieves the spider without so much as damaging the gossamer silk it was resting upon, and the little arachnid remains in the palm of his hand as he stands and moves to follow Claire.
The question has him quirking his lips like there's a little joke in there that only he would understand.]
You mean here, or before this world?
[The tomato plants are tall and lush, their leaves swaying in the warm breeze. They brush against him as he passes.]
[ Though she remembers his mentioning he was a prisoner in his world. She didn't pry because it isn't her business, but it does make her regret her phrasing.
Once she gets to the plant struggling with small pests, she kneels down and shows him, pointing it out. ]
I'm hoping this might make a better home for everyone. Plenty of aphids over here driving me mad. [ She pauses, letting him do what he will in order to relocate the small garden helper. ] And a better question might have been: what made you so curious about spiders? Only if you don't mind answering.
[That's right. Not a lot of time for study when kept in a lab; but then again, reading material was made available to him, but hardly anything that might qualify him as a true specialist in the field. It's simply by way of his fixation at a tender twelve years of age does he know so much about spiders, about handling them... And here? He's been able to follow that line of interest for months.]
I can continue my study of them here. [He says plainly, implying that he could not before.] And of course I don't mind.
[In fact, this is a subject that he could go on and on and on about. Claire might find she'll regret asking this at all.]
They're solitary and misunderstood. [He kneels down at the indicated plant, knees in the soil without much care, his focus solely on urging the spider beneath the splay of a few green leaves.] Will you laugh if I say... I related to them, in that way, when I was younger?
[ Her brow creases just a little, a flash and then gone before her gaze moves back to the spider. ]
I was an orphan at age five. I very much made friends no one else could've understood.
[ Claire hasn't told many people about that part of her past—none in Abraxas, and only Jamie and Frank in her life at home. ]
You must understand a thing or two about taking your loneliness and making something out of it. I used to make up stories about all the artifacts my uncle was digging up, and recite them at supper. Thrilling, I know. Not as fascinating as spiders, anyway.
[Henry can't say that's precisely the reply he expected. Some form of passing understanding, at least, a "oh, it's not that strange to like spiders", but Claire's taken it to a different level — she’s turned it into empathy, a sort of camaraderie in…
Well, not loneliness. A word that he would not so quickly apply to himself, too raw, too vulnerable. Instead, it’s better to think of it as a sadness in being different.
He doesn’t reply at first, instead making sure the little spider is settled before he pulls his hands away.]
Did you not feel like you could make friends the… normal way? With other children?
[Broken, his parents had called him. And perhaps his inability to connect with other children had helped keep that label plastered to him.]
[ Thinking about her answer, she wants to be truthful, even if his question makes her heart squeeze a little. His words say so much that she wants to say yes so he doesn't feel alone with that experience. Of course she won't, but that isn't to say she hasn't had her share of not fitting in. ]
I was orphaned a few days after my fifth birthday. From then on, I traveled across the world with my uncle. I rarely spoke the language of the places we went. Depending on the location, other children didn't want to play with me, or their parents wouldn't allow it. I had tutors instead of school, and plants instead of friends. Not every place was awful, and as I got older I was able to find my own fun alone.
[ By making out with random people, but that doesn't need to be part of the story. She wasn't the same as broken (not at that stage of her life, anyway), no parents hurt or shamed her. But loneliness had been her normal, making up her own stories about random objects she'd find and stuff in her pockets for later. ]
I think our experiences may have been quite different.
[ Claire stands and brushes her hands off gently. She'd like to keep talking to him if he would, and so she gestures toward a fenced-off area surrounded on three sides by a flower garden. ]
Would you like to see the bee houses I've started?
[It's some manner of loneliness, though, again, the word is one that Henry still will not humor in his own head. Pride, a degree of self-awareness he doesn't possesses, denial; maybe it's all of the above. Still, it's enough to draw a parallel, yet different enough in experiences--as she says--that still affords Henry some distant comfort.
He has no reply. He only shakes his head, though have no doubt he's considered what she's said in his head at least more than once over.
And then he stands, turning to face her and looking at where she's indicated.]
...Sure. [Why not, he supposes.] Is it a personal project, or...?
A personal project. Bees, or rather their honey, is useful medically. I'm hoping not only will we have something to trade, but an antiseptic as well. Honey contains hydrogen peroxide and it never goes bad.
[ Two perfect uses: sustenance and aid. Skirts in hand, she leads the way to the hives where the needs are buzzing in and out of the four hives she's made with Nanaue's help. ]
It will take another two months or so to see a decent production, but we could always try a little sneak preview. If you like honey, that is.
[He follows, the information registering in his mind with a lowkey kind of interest, though he never was--and never will be, let's be real--the kind of man who possesses a mind for healing. Only violence, and anger, and finding an outlet for it when the moment is right.
But for now, bees!]
I like honey well enough.
[Non-committal, but true.]
Mostly, I'm interested in seeing how their hive works. It's all very efficient, from what I hear.
[ Claire's such a nerd for these things, and she explains as the walk, launching into how the bees keep the hive cool with their wings, how they kill intruders the same way: by surrounding them and overheating them with all of their collective wing power, the flip side of their good use of power. When she's finished they've made it to four bee houses fenched in only to keep animals and small children from getting too close.
The droning sound is faint, the bees seeming to move at a near constant pace, back and forth from bright wildflowers to the hives. ]
I have four small colonies for now, but new queens will hatch and in theory if I wanted, I could keep building houses.
[ She's rather proud of herself, because she wasn't even sure if she could make the houses at all. ]
[Bees aren't spiders, but Henry is, in fact, a bit of a nerd, too. If his life had not turned out the way it had, one might say that his hobbies would have been peak nerd -- so naturally, he listens with interest.
When they approach, the droning is a low background noise, but he tracks a few bees with his eyes as they move to and fro, collecting pollen from the bright faces of wildflowers nearby.]
That's impressive. Who taught you how to do all of this? Or did you learn on your own when you arrived in Solvunn?
I've always had a keen interest in botany, so that part came easily. The bee house making was trial and error. You should see all the scrap wood that sacrificed its life for this project.
[ She smiles with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. ]
I knew the basics from learning a long, long time ago. When I was around your age, maybe. The first few houses I built didn't take, I made the space between the combs too wide, but now we're in business.
[ She doesn't have any smoke with her, so she can't calm the bees and get closer to sample the honey, but she finds that it's peaceful just to watch and listen. ]
I think I needed this project to keep my mind busy. I get lost in my head when there isn't enough to do, and this kept me occupied for a good long while.
[bees are not something that wanda necessarily puts a lot of thought into. they exist, they help with cross-pollination, and concepts that she isn’t necessarily an expert in. still, it is nice to see them in this pocket of the commune, and it is clear that claire’s garden is growing because of it—as witnessed by the wildflowers that have sprung up in pinks and whites and yellows.
she approaches claire, her curiosity clearly on the beehives.]
Aren’t you afraid they’ll sting you?
[there’s always that fear, isn’t there? of being hurt by something.]
[ Claire smiles brightly to see Wanda. There's an old-fashioned-looking oil can sitting to the side and at her question, Claire picks it up. Pressing a side button, smoke exits and fills the air in a puff. ]
I suppose it would make sense to be, wouldn't it? But the smoke makes them docile. Honeybees don't sting unless absolutely terrified and in defense mode. If you're calm, they will be too.
[ Right now, the hive is closed and there are bees flying around, moving in and out of the hive. ]
I wanted to check their progress so far to be sure they're coming along. Would you like to see?
[ She'll even give Wanda her veiled hat and gloves! ]
[truth be told, though wanda may think she knows a lot about gardening and growing an orchard and all that entails, there is no denying that claire actually knows the intricacies of this kind of life. where to start, how, and keeping something alive.
wanda's always just had the help of her magic when she finally started getting into these kinds of things.
—but, alright. staying calm. she can do that.
nodding, she steps closer to claire, accepting her invitation to see their progress.]
[ Claire takes off her hat and puts it on Wanda's head with a soft smile, then uses the smoke on the house before setting the can down. The bees that are still buzzing around are busy and don't want anything to do with either Wanda or Claire. As long as they aren't swatted at, they'll be fine.
Pulling one of the combs from the hive, it's barely filled with honey, the bees crawling around in a hot-boxed daze. ]
I hope to, yes. But it can take four or five months to fill the entire house.
[ There is some honey though, and so she breaks off a very small piece of the comb and hands it over. ]
You can eat the wax, but I tend to suck on it like candy until the honey is gone, and spit the rest. Eventually, I'd like to have enough active bee houses to use honey for trade and medical use.
[a beekeeping hat on her head is not something she quite expected, especially having claire taking off her own to give to her. still, it gives her a warm feeling, and her smile is hidden away behind the mesh that will keep her from having friendly bees buzzing at her face.
she walks closer to claire, standing just a step behind, looking over the older woman’s side, her interest and curiosity picking up as one of the combs is pulled out. wanda puts out her hands, cupped, palms up, as the small piece of the comb is placed over them.]
Just like that?
[to eat something so naturally without any of the processes that it usually undergo in the modern world—well, one could say wanda should be used to it by now, here in solvunn, but one can’t take the modern twentieth century from the witch despite her being in a very medieval-like place.
and so, after a moment, she does as claire describes, sucking on the wax like it were candy, lifting the veil from the hat for a moment. her face lights up at the taste, because honey has always been sweet.]
We could make cakes with honey, too.
[as much as she could just create honey with her magic, there’s something about using an ingredient that someone has worked hard to bring to what it is. that’s one of those things that her magic can’t quite replicate, not without actively thinking about it.
the following, wanda just kind of blurts out.]
We’re moving out of the farm. Closer to the lakes to the northwest.
[ Claire says it with a bright smile, taking her own small piece before putting everything back into place. ]
Cakes, cornbread, all sorts of sweets. If sugar is ever hard to come by, we'll be alright. It never goes bad plus it's antibacterial and antifungal. So, putting it over a wound and covering it helps with healing wonderfully.
[ Honey felt almost essential, so she's glad that the bees are thriving. Sucking on the wax, she can't detect any unique flavors yet, but that's to be expected with such a young hive. She disposes of the remains of her treat by tossing it in a small bucket near the can of smoke. ]
The bees will eventually find the herbs and lavender, and none of the honey will likely taste the same twice. Especially as I add colonies, I'm excited to see what they come up with.
[ In the silence that's filled immediately, Claire's aware of how long she'd been talking, completely thrown by Wanda's statement. For a moment, she looks at the other woman, unsure of what to say. She's enjoyed being close to her, but it isn't as if Claire has a say in the matter, and she'll still be in Solvunn, besides. So, she smiles and rests a hand on Wanda's shoulder, squeezing gently. ]
Well then, I'll be here and you know where to find me. I need to be central to the community, you understand. When is this move happening, out of curiosity?
[it can be used for medicine, too, which makes sense is something that claire ultimately focuses on, too. wanda imitates claire and does the same with the remains of her own treat, finding it easy to follow her lead once she knows what to do and how to do it.
wanda nods, understanding. as a doctor, as a healer, despite magic being so common here, she is still of import, her expertise something that benefits the entire commune as a whole.]
Later this week. [it’s all sort of happening quickly.] But I won’t be gone all the time. I’ll be in the settlement as always, doing my share of chores.
[this idea of honey tasting differently gives her an idea of her own.]
When we’re done building the treehouse, maybe we can have some bee colonies there, too. The kind of honey would be different. [and that’s an exciting prospect!] You can come any time, too. We—
We want us Summoned to have a place we can feel comfortable in, if anyone needs to step away from things. I know that Steve and Eddie will want a pantry with modern chips and brand cereals, so that’s a small comfort we can provide.
[she nods, smiling, deciding to pull away at the beekeeper’s hat from her face.]
We’ll have a spare bedroom.
what the HELL this tag got lost somehow and i just happened to scroll down this page and SEE D:
[ Claire smiles softly at Wanda and takes her hands, a motherly gesture with nothing but kindness behind it. ]
I'm happy for you, and proud. You'll be alright, and it isn't as if you're going to the Free Cities another far away place. And besides that, you'll have to come visit me in my own home once that's finished being planned and built.
[ Reacing out, she hugs Wanda, making sure she knows eveything's alright. ]
It's going to be wonderful once you're all moved in. Do you need any help?
[ She asks this as she pulls back, squeezing Wanda's shoulders gently. ]
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Solvunn
So, she's quite busy instead.
In the main gardens, she can be found both at night and during the day. In the daytime, she does most of the harvesting and trimming, removing bugs and making sure everything's happy. At night, she waters and brings to life saplings under her fingertips.
Not far beyond the vegetables, she also encourages a garden of wildflowers, needing them for the beehives that are now complete. She was able to fashion her own hat and found suitable gloves, and now she only has to wait on the bees.
About twice a week she tries to make rounds and check on everyone's health; she'll happily get roped into holding a baby or two for babysitting and doesn't seem to mind playing with the kids. In fact, she lets the older ones chase her, but tackling is out these days. Still, she gathers her skirts and they run around for a bit, before she shoos them off and away for supper.
She can always be found out and about the faction, doing everything she can to contribute. ]
I'M HERE NOW let me know if this is okay!
[In the gardens, during this midday hour, Henry can be found out here in the gardens — and he wonders if he should be surprised to see her, too, though perhaps not. This is similar to when he spoke to Claire last, isn’t it?
But this time, he steps forward, quietly, leaves of neatly-rowed plants brushing past his pant legs. He crouches down next to Claire, who appears to be busying herself removing bugs from the garden, and gently nudges her hand away from her newest target of interest: a tiny spider that’s hung its equally tiny, gossamer web just beneath the large cover of a wide leaf and the plant’s adjacent stem.]
Leave that one. Or let me move it.
YES COME TO ME <3 <3 this is lovely, thank you for setting it up!
At the sound of a familiar voice, she straightens a little and turns, then smiles at her company. ]
Henry, hello. Actually, would you mind moving it? To the tomato plants.
[ It occurs to her to be more curious at his offer after the fact, although Michael spewing spiders from his mouth has changed her understanding of insects in Solvunn. ]
That's also a generous offer not many would make. You must enjoy arachnids, then?
np, thank you for waiting on me!
Though his face was not fully disapproving before, just a faint shadow etched across the line of his brow, Henry's features soften when she sounds amiable to the request that he relocate the spider instead. For him, that's about a task as easy as breathing, and he nods.
He turns his body at just the right angle to lean in, assessing how to approach the arachnid. It isn't a very large one, but in some ways, that makes it more difficult.]
I've had an affinity for spiders ever since I was young. When I was twelve...
[Ah, here. His hands draw closer to the little spider, cupped and slow.]
I used to collect them from underneath the floorboards of my home, and keep them in glass jars for a short while.
of course!! <3
Is arachnology something you've had the opportunity to study?
[ She isn't sure how others would respond to that fact about him, but Claire grew up in an unusual way, so a passion for arachnids doesn't seem all that odd to her. At least not as he's described thus far.
When he has the small spider, she leads the way to the tomatoes, leisurely walking, in no rush if he isn't. ]
no subject
The question has him quirking his lips like there's a little joke in there that only he would understand.]
You mean here, or before this world?
[The tomato plants are tall and lush, their leaves swaying in the warm breeze. They brush against him as he passes.]
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[ Though she remembers his mentioning he was a prisoner in his world. She didn't pry because it isn't her business, but it does make her regret her phrasing.
Once she gets to the plant struggling with small pests, she kneels down and shows him, pointing it out. ]
I'm hoping this might make a better home for everyone. Plenty of aphids over here driving me mad. [ She pauses, letting him do what he will in order to relocate the small garden helper. ] And a better question might have been: what made you so curious about spiders? Only if you don't mind answering.
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I can continue my study of them here. [He says plainly, implying that he could not before.] And of course I don't mind.
[In fact, this is a subject that he could go on and on and on about. Claire might find she'll regret asking this at all.]
They're solitary and misunderstood. [He kneels down at the indicated plant, knees in the soil without much care, his focus solely on urging the spider beneath the splay of a few green leaves.] Will you laugh if I say... I related to them, in that way, when I was younger?
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[ Her brow creases just a little, a flash and then gone before her gaze moves back to the spider. ]
I was an orphan at age five. I very much made friends no one else could've understood.
[ Claire hasn't told many people about that part of her past—none in Abraxas, and only Jamie and Frank in her life at home. ]
You must understand a thing or two about taking your loneliness and making something out of it. I used to make up stories about all the artifacts my uncle was digging up, and recite them at supper. Thrilling, I know. Not as fascinating as spiders, anyway.
no subject
Well, not loneliness. A word that he would not so quickly apply to himself, too raw, too vulnerable. Instead, it’s better to think of it as a sadness in being different.
He doesn’t reply at first, instead making sure the little spider is settled before he pulls his hands away.]
Did you not feel like you could make friends the… normal way? With other children?
[Broken, his parents had called him. And perhaps his inability to connect with other children had helped keep that label plastered to him.]
no subject
I was orphaned a few days after my fifth birthday. From then on, I traveled across the world with my uncle. I rarely spoke the language of the places we went. Depending on the location, other children didn't want to play with me, or their parents wouldn't allow it. I had tutors instead of school, and plants instead of friends. Not every place was awful, and as I got older I was able to find my own fun alone.
[ By making out with random people, but that doesn't need to be part of the story. She wasn't the same as broken (not at that stage of her life, anyway), no parents hurt or shamed her. But loneliness had been her normal, making up her own stories about random objects she'd find and stuff in her pockets for later. ]
I think our experiences may have been quite different.
[ Claire stands and brushes her hands off gently. She'd like to keep talking to him if he would, and so she gestures toward a fenced-off area surrounded on three sides by a flower garden. ]
Would you like to see the bee houses I've started?
no subject
He has no reply. He only shakes his head, though have no doubt he's considered what she's said in his head at least more than once over.
And then he stands, turning to face her and looking at where she's indicated.]
...Sure. [Why not, he supposes.] Is it a personal project, or...?
no subject
[ Two perfect uses: sustenance and aid. Skirts in hand, she leads the way to the hives where the needs are buzzing in and out of the four hives she's made with Nanaue's help. ]
It will take another two months or so to see a decent production, but we could always try a little sneak preview. If you like honey, that is.
slow crawls back in here from my hiatus
But for now, bees!]
I like honey well enough.
[Non-committal, but true.]
Mostly, I'm interested in seeing how their hive works. It's all very efficient, from what I hear.
i was also on hiatus! <3
[ Claire's such a nerd for these things, and she explains as the walk, launching into how the bees keep the hive cool with their wings, how they kill intruders the same way: by surrounding them and overheating them with all of their collective wing power, the flip side of their good use of power. When she's finished they've made it to four bee houses fenched in only to keep animals and small children from getting too close.
The droning sound is faint, the bees seeming to move at a near constant pace, back and forth from bright wildflowers to the hives. ]
I have four small colonies for now, but new queens will hatch and in theory if I wanted, I could keep building houses.
[ She's rather proud of herself, because she wasn't even sure if she could make the houses at all. ]
hi5!!
When they approach, the droning is a low background noise, but he tracks a few bees with his eyes as they move to and fro, collecting pollen from the bright faces of wildflowers nearby.]
That's impressive. Who taught you how to do all of this? Or did you learn on your own when you arrived in Solvunn?
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[ She smiles with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. ]
I knew the basics from learning a long, long time ago. When I was around your age, maybe. The first few houses I built didn't take, I made the space between the combs too wide, but now we're in business.
[ She doesn't have any smoke with her, so she can't calm the bees and get closer to sample the honey, but she finds that it's peaceful just to watch and listen. ]
I think I needed this project to keep my mind busy. I get lost in my head when there isn't enough to do, and this kept me occupied for a good long while.
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my targeted ads now think i'm a beekeeper lmao
HAHA that's very funny
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she approaches claire, her curiosity clearly on the beehives.]
Aren’t you afraid they’ll sting you?
[there’s always that fear, isn’t there? of being hurt by something.]
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I suppose it would make sense to be, wouldn't it? But the smoke makes them docile. Honeybees don't sting unless absolutely terrified and in defense mode. If you're calm, they will be too.
[ Right now, the hive is closed and there are bees flying around, moving in and out of the hive. ]
I wanted to check their progress so far to be sure they're coming along. Would you like to see?
[ She'll even give Wanda her veiled hat and gloves! ]
no subject
wanda's always just had the help of her magic when she finally started getting into these kinds of things.
—but, alright. staying calm. she can do that.
nodding, she steps closer to claire, accepting her invitation to see their progress.]
Are you hoping to harvest honey from them?
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Pulling one of the combs from the hive, it's barely filled with honey, the bees crawling around in a hot-boxed daze. ]
I hope to, yes. But it can take four or five months to fill the entire house.
[ There is some honey though, and so she breaks off a very small piece of the comb and hands it over. ]
You can eat the wax, but I tend to suck on it like candy until the honey is gone, and spit the rest. Eventually, I'd like to have enough active bee houses to use honey for trade and medical use.
no subject
she walks closer to claire, standing just a step behind, looking over the older woman’s side, her interest and curiosity picking up as one of the combs is pulled out. wanda puts out her hands, cupped, palms up, as the small piece of the comb is placed over them.]
Just like that?
[to eat something so naturally without any of the processes that it usually undergo in the modern world—well, one could say wanda should be used to it by now, here in solvunn, but one can’t take the modern twentieth century from the witch despite her being in a very medieval-like place.
and so, after a moment, she does as claire describes, sucking on the wax like it were candy, lifting the veil from the hat for a moment. her face lights up at the taste, because honey has always been sweet.]
We could make cakes with honey, too.
[as much as she could just create honey with her magic, there’s something about using an ingredient that someone has worked hard to bring to what it is. that’s one of those things that her magic can’t quite replicate, not without actively thinking about it.
the following, wanda just kind of blurts out.]
We’re moving out of the farm. Closer to the lakes to the northwest.
no subject
[ Claire says it with a bright smile, taking her own small piece before putting everything back into place. ]
Cakes, cornbread, all sorts of sweets. If sugar is ever hard to come by, we'll be alright. It never goes bad plus it's antibacterial and antifungal. So, putting it over a wound and covering it helps with healing wonderfully.
[ Honey felt almost essential, so she's glad that the bees are thriving. Sucking on the wax, she can't detect any unique flavors yet, but that's to be expected with such a young hive. She disposes of the remains of her treat by tossing it in a small bucket near the can of smoke. ]
The bees will eventually find the herbs and lavender, and none of the honey will likely taste the same twice. Especially as I add colonies, I'm excited to see what they come up with.
[ In the silence that's filled immediately, Claire's aware of how long she'd been talking, completely thrown by Wanda's statement. For a moment, she looks at the other woman, unsure of what to say. She's enjoyed being close to her, but it isn't as if Claire has a say in the matter, and she'll still be in Solvunn, besides. So, she smiles and rests a hand on Wanda's shoulder, squeezing gently. ]
Well then, I'll be here and you know where to find me. I need to be central to the community, you understand. When is this move happening, out of curiosity?
no subject
wanda nods, understanding. as a doctor, as a healer, despite magic being so common here, she is still of import, her expertise something that benefits the entire commune as a whole.]
Later this week. [it’s all sort of happening quickly.] But I won’t be gone all the time. I’ll be in the settlement as always, doing my share of chores.
[this idea of honey tasting differently gives her an idea of her own.]
When we’re done building the treehouse, maybe we can have some bee colonies there, too. The kind of honey would be different. [and that’s an exciting prospect!] You can come any time, too. We—
We want us Summoned to have a place we can feel comfortable in, if anyone needs to step away from things. I know that Steve and Eddie will want a pantry with modern chips and brand cereals, so that’s a small comfort we can provide.
[she nods, smiling, deciding to pull away at the beekeeper’s hat from her face.]
We’ll have a spare bedroom.
what the HELL this tag got lost somehow and i just happened to scroll down this page and SEE D:
I'm happy for you, and proud. You'll be alright, and it isn't as if you're going to the Free Cities another far away place. And besides that, you'll have to come visit me in my own home once that's finished being planned and built.
[ Reacing out, she hugs Wanda, making sure she knows eveything's alright. ]
It's going to be wonderful once you're all moved in. Do you need any help?
[ She asks this as she pulls back, squeezing Wanda's shoulders gently. ]