[ Most of the time, if Claire hasn't been seen around any of the settlements in a while, she's in her garden. Not inside her home shuttered away, but outside. Back in the furthest corner of the primary settlement near the woods but not too close. Anyone passing by is likely to see her out, morning or night. If it's night, you might see the moon-like glow of her hair before you see her. During the day she's pruning, weeding, checking for pests and the needed insects alike. She has one lone beehive now, her magic bees, protected and enchanted with magic to keep anything like what happened to kill off her last hives can happen again, it's been made sure of. There certainly isn't enough to harvest anything yet, but a few bees do lazily fly about, seeking out the wildflowers.

Past dark, Claire is mostly still, sitting with a cup of tea and listening to the night sounds. She can't sleep much, not since things getting chaotic have kicked off around midnight each time. She listens to her garden, to the far-off noises of animals, all while sitting with a cup of tea. Friends and strangers alike are welcome to join her.

At any point, day or night, you might catch her with her new orb, watching her daughter, the small scene of their last Christmas together. She can't stop pulling it out of her pocket to watch at random moments, even though it weighs the fabric down. She doesn't care; if this object was given to her so freely, she assumes it could also be taken from her. ]

[ It isn't something Claire does on purpose. She's simply considering when she'll be ready for more bees, thinking it's nice that she doesn't need to go out collecting them, when two or three fly close ot her face. They seem to...hover there, and she attempts to gently shoo them away. But they return, then more, until all she can see in every direction, are bees.

They don't seem to be panicked or agitated, they all simply hover there in front of her, the droning sound reminding her of high voltage. Taking a step back, the bees inch closer to her in unison, and then she narrows her eyes as an idea begins to take hold. ]

Fly up and down. [ She tells it to the bees, and they do, they all fly up in unison and then back down, this time surrounding her, like a large bee shield. ] Jesus H. Christ, I'm controlling you. [ She takes a tentative step and the bees go with her, then another, until she's calmly walking with a swarm of bees circling her. Should anyone happen by, they'll find Claire walking to the hives encircled by bees, seemingly unbothered by this turn of events. ]

Go now, all of you, into your houses.

[ She gestures, and the bees disperse, the four hives once again full to capacity. Now that she's used it, she can feel it now, this new magic nestling into place. Only now does she notice she has company, and she turns, raising an eyebrow and a shoulder. ]

Does it seem like new magic is being handed out a bit freer and faster than before, or have I just been that lucky?