With some obvious pep in her step, Selene walks back into the cottage holding the now powered down relic in one hand. Much like her fingers, and the front of her embroidered linen apron, it is covered in dirt. In her other hand, a bouquet of freshly harvested dill fills the room with its pungent licorice smell. Before she gets too far into their new home, she pauses to take off her boots and slip on a cleaner pair of inside shoes. Best not to track mud and dirt all through the house.
"Cairos?" the girl calls out, setting the relic down on a tea towel on the kitchen table to clean off later. Lying next to the towel are several bundles of dried flora, and above the table are more bundles, although these are fresher and are still in the process of drying. Selene carefully ties the dill into its own verdant bouquet and settles it into place with the rest of the herbs. Pale hands lower to the dried herbs before she pulls it back abruptly.
"Ah," she whispers a gentle admonishment to herself, stopping in the middle of interrupting her first task with a second. Once she's set herself back on track, Selene turns to find Cairos.
While Selene has been busying herself outside, Cairos has been tending to the indoors. When it comes to maintaining a home... Well, Cairos is not without her experience. Most of the menial tasks associated with cleaning and tidying and organizing fell to her with her mother. The old hag certainly couldn't be bothered to ever sweep and if there was a spill of something or other, it was up to Cairos to clean up if she wanted to earn her keep. But what Granny Mirefang ultimately considered to be acceptable and homey was almost if not outright diametrically opposed to what Isa maintained in her own cottage. Whereas one was a clutter of books and ingredients and various keepsakes that Cairos didn't dare ask the story behind, Isa maintained something far more traditional with everything having its place.
Cairos can't claim she's accomplishing the latter, but she's certainly hellbent on avoiding the former for Selene's sake if nothing else. At least, she tells herself that it's for Selene's sake. In truth, it's a little more difficult to discern than that because on the one hand, Cairos thinks that Selene would sincerely find nothing the matter in it. Thus, there's really no need for Cairos to do anything on Selene's behalf. But on the other hand, that doesn't mean Selene would be without preference and that to some extent, her claim that anything would be acceptable would be an outright lie. And Cairos doesn't want Selene to lie. Not to her. Not to anyone. So, if it's about what Cairos wants then...?
It doesn't matter, Cairos tells herself each and every time the question arises. She's taking care of it, and that's what matters.
So, Selene finds Cairos in the middle of this process. She's standing on a stool to have better reach of the top of their bookshelf to dust as even at her stature, she can't quite reach the very back with her rag. Except she's been stopped by her progress upon the discovery of a spider as she now finds herself debating what precisely to do with it. On the one hand, she probably shouldn't allow it to continue building its web up here. On the other, Cairos doesn't mind its continued existence in their home. It will be good at keeping pests away, after all.
The approaching footsteps are a welcomed reprieve from the debate and Cairos looks down at Selene as she comes into the living room.
"Selene, you're supposed to tend to the garden, not wear it," Cairos admonishes, resting a hand on her hip.
"Hm?" Selene asks, cheerily confused as what Cairos had said. Then, with a glance down at herself, she giggled in understanding. Careful not to spill any dirt onto the ground, she pulled her apron up and over her head, then used it to wipe her hands gingerly. She'd set this with the rest of the washing for later.
Selene approached the stool Cairos stood upon, holding the relic cradles in the folded up apron in her hands. "It looks very nice in here," she complimented, looking around and moving in a slow circle. "Smells nice too!" she added, her attention lifting to the other woman once again.
"I made a friend," she announced proudly, her cheeks a gentle pink at the excitement of it all. "I used the magic box we have and I saw a person on it and we had a lovely conversation," Selene continued. Then, she paused timidly and chewed on her lower lip in thought.
"I might have, sort of, invited them to visit... and offered up our garden as a location for a gathering they were hoping to have," she admitted sheepishly, smiling up at Cairos with a timid and hopeful look on her face.
Cairos turns back to her spider as Selene begins taking in the room and making with her praise for Cairos' efforts, only offering a vague grunt of acknowledgement in return. Slowly, Cairos slides her finger toward the spider, providing half an ear to Selene as she talks about the conversation she had and her supposed new friend. Truthfully, Cairos regards any sort of "friendship" here with more than a fair share of skepticism, but far be it from her to crush Selene's hopes and dreams.
That is until Selene mentions inviting them over.
Cairos' head whips around back toward Selene so quickly that it's a wonder it doesn't begin to spin.
Selene looks away from the other woman, her lips puckered and smushed to one side. She starts tracing circles on the surface of one of the shelves, her brows furrowed.
"I...invited them?" she repeats, looking up at Cairos with her lower lip now trapped between her teeth. She's wagered Cairos might not be too happy about inviting a stranger over, but from the adventure before they'd arrived here, Selene had gathered that things might be easier for everyone if she wasn't so timid and hesitant to meet new people. At least, their team would have liked her more and Cairos might not have had to do so much work to make the team like Selene. At least, that was how she imagined it had gone.
"Just the one person, for now, just for some tea? Maybe to see if...they'd like to be here or...well I suppose then you can meet them and let me know if I've done this wrong?" she asked, giving the other woman her best unintentional approximation of 'puppy dog eyes.'
It's not the first time that Selene's given Cairos this look which is precisely why it ultimately holds no sway upon Cairos and her thought process as she tries her best to formulate an answer that won't completely crush Selene. Cairos' expression in return is unchanging as she looks down at the dhampir from where she stands, now drumming her fingertips on the top of the bookshelf rather than trying to entice the spider closer. The tips of her claws make a dull thunk through the leather of her gloves, filling the silence that follows Selene's attempts at smoothing this over.
Cairos doesn't want to discourage Selene from making friends. Gods know that Cairos isn't going to be the one making them any semblance of this world's currency any time soon and they do still need some of it. But unlike Selene who was always so comfortable with the thought of strangers entering her home since Isa was always so welcoming of anyone who might require her assistance, Cairos does not. She sees it as an intrusion at best, a violation at worst. Cairos' lips begin to curl back at the thought before... Well, she hardly relaxes. Her jaw clenches tight and her next breath is a sharp exhale.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Star Party
"Cairos?" the girl calls out, setting the relic down on a tea towel on the kitchen table to clean off later. Lying next to the towel are several bundles of dried flora, and above the table are more bundles, although these are fresher and are still in the process of drying. Selene carefully ties the dill into its own verdant bouquet and settles it into place with the rest of the herbs. Pale hands lower to the dried herbs before she pulls it back abruptly.
"Ah," she whispers a gentle admonishment to herself, stopping in the middle of interrupting her first task with a second. Once she's set herself back on track, Selene turns to find Cairos.
no subject
Cairos can't claim she's accomplishing the latter, but she's certainly hellbent on avoiding the former for Selene's sake if nothing else. At least, she tells herself that it's for Selene's sake. In truth, it's a little more difficult to discern than that because on the one hand, Cairos thinks that Selene would sincerely find nothing the matter in it. Thus, there's really no need for Cairos to do anything on Selene's behalf. But on the other hand, that doesn't mean Selene would be without preference and that to some extent, her claim that anything would be acceptable would be an outright lie. And Cairos doesn't want Selene to lie. Not to her. Not to anyone. So, if it's about what Cairos wants then...?
It doesn't matter, Cairos tells herself each and every time the question arises. She's taking care of it, and that's what matters.
So, Selene finds Cairos in the middle of this process. She's standing on a stool to have better reach of the top of their bookshelf to dust as even at her stature, she can't quite reach the very back with her rag. Except she's been stopped by her progress upon the discovery of a spider as she now finds herself debating what precisely to do with it. On the one hand, she probably shouldn't allow it to continue building its web up here. On the other, Cairos doesn't mind its continued existence in their home. It will be good at keeping pests away, after all.
The approaching footsteps are a welcomed reprieve from the debate and Cairos looks down at Selene as she comes into the living room.
"Selene, you're supposed to tend to the garden, not wear it," Cairos admonishes, resting a hand on her hip.
no subject
Selene approached the stool Cairos stood upon, holding the relic cradles in the folded up apron in her hands. "It looks very nice in here," she complimented, looking around and moving in a slow circle. "Smells nice too!" she added, her attention lifting to the other woman once again.
"I made a friend," she announced proudly, her cheeks a gentle pink at the excitement of it all. "I used the magic box we have and I saw a person on it and we had a lovely conversation," Selene continued. Then, she paused timidly and chewed on her lower lip in thought.
"I might have, sort of, invited them to visit... and offered up our garden as a location for a gathering they were hoping to have," she admitted sheepishly, smiling up at Cairos with a timid and hopeful look on her face.
no subject
That is until Selene mentions inviting them over.
Cairos' head whips around back toward Selene so quickly that it's a wonder it doesn't begin to spin.
"You what?"
no subject
"I...invited them?" she repeats, looking up at Cairos with her lower lip now trapped between her teeth. She's wagered Cairos might not be too happy about inviting a stranger over, but from the adventure before they'd arrived here, Selene had gathered that things might be easier for everyone if she wasn't so timid and hesitant to meet new people. At least, their team would have liked her more and Cairos might not have had to do so much work to make the team like Selene. At least, that was how she imagined it had gone.
"Just the one person, for now, just for some tea? Maybe to see if...they'd like to be here or...well I suppose then you can meet them and let me know if I've done this wrong?" she asked, giving the other woman her best unintentional approximation of 'puppy dog eyes.'
no subject
Cairos doesn't want to discourage Selene from making friends. Gods know that Cairos isn't going to be the one making them any semblance of this world's currency any time soon and they do still need some of it. But unlike Selene who was always so comfortable with the thought of strangers entering her home since Isa was always so welcoming of anyone who might require her assistance, Cairos does not. She sees it as an intrusion at best, a violation at worst. Cairos' lips begin to curl back at the thought before... Well, she hardly relaxes. Her jaw clenches tight and her next breath is a sharp exhale.
"When are they coming here?"