Fun with Lilypads.

Cilia Frostwyght: Warm?
Archemides Fontaine looks over and breaks into a grin. "Aye. Warmer with company though."
Cilia Frostwyght fiddles with her hair, kept back into a neat little bun, chopsticks ran through for stability. "I'll not endeavour to keep the pee in, then." She dipped a toe in, sighing and shuddering as she followed it down.
Cilia Frostwyght bats at some lilies and lilypads, a smally kept smile on her features.
Archemides Fontaine: "Ah so that's what the strange taste was last time. Wondered why it was so salty."
Cilia Frostwyght: I'm simply trying to build up your immunity.
Cilia Frostwyght closes her eyes, slumping down into the still idyllic bath.
Archemides Fontaine snorts and gestures to the scars along his body. "Really?"
Archemides Fontaine: "If I were any more immune to things, I'd be Thal Himself."
Cilia Frostwyght: My urine is special, dear.
Archemides Fontaine: Does it get me high like somnus?
Cilia Frostwyght: You'll pass out.
Cilia Frostwyght: Like somnus.
Archemides Fontaine reaches his hand over and snaps a nearby lily off the stalk, letting it float amongst the small ripples made by the rain before flicking it toward Cilia. "Sounds amazing. Should bottle that shit and sell it in Pearl Lane."
Cilia Frostwyght: Hook me up like a cow to a milk pail.
Archemides Fontaine: Get a nozzle and make ya like a beer keg.
Cilia Frostwyght beckons in the flower with a little mill of her hands, sending it her way, bit by bit. She's calm, a placid smile marking her countenances.
Cilia Frostwyght: How did you sleep?
Archemides Fontaine cracks his neck and eases more into the water. "Didn't. Just got back, actually. How about you? Get your beauty rest?"
Cilia Frostwyght places a hand against her chest, a playful look of shock teases across her face. "Is it not apparent?"
Archemides Fontaine scratches his stubble, appraising the woman before him with the well-practiced eyes of someone wo had never been good at business. "Hmmm....too far away. My eyes ain't what they used to be."
Cilia Frostwyght: Stared at the sun too long, I suppose.
Cilia Frostwyght: I'll make a note to brighten my teeth less often.
Archemides Fontaine: You have teeth? I didn't even notice.
Cilia Frostwyght: Distracted by my claws?
Archemides Fontaine: Was gonna say your boobs. But sure, let's go with claws.
Cilia Frostwyght makes a disgruntled slew of noises, representing the whole spectrum of barnyard animals. She folds her arms and sinks down in the water, grumbling. "That's what I get," she curses under her breath.
Archemides Fontaine: You know you don't have to sit all the way over there. I don't bite.
Cilia Frostwyght: My butt already made an imprint in this dirt
Cilia Frostwyght: .*
Cilia Frostwyght pops up out of the dirt, resting her arms back over the embankment.
Archemides Fontaine: So now you're stuck there? Damn, you got a heavier ass than I thought.
Cilia Frostwyght: I am comfortable.
Cilia Frostwyght: You've a lithe frame.
Cilia Frostwyght: You move.
Cilia Frostwyght: ... And how heavy did you think it was?
Archemides Fontaine: A dangerous question, right there. Let me get the abacus real fast and do some number crunching.
Cilia Frostwyght: Do you like your abacus shaped to fit your head?
Cilia Frostwyght: Because it will be, after I remove your skull with it.
Archemides Fontaine chuckles, his body rumbling in the water as he kicks up some silt with his feet and stands up.
Archemides Fontaine: For that, you have to be a bit closer.
Cilia Frostwyght: Quit disturbing my imprint.
Cilia Frostwyght huffs, hopping up and down, resettling.
Archemides Fontaine: You ain't my boss. I'll disturb what I please.
Cilia Frostwyght: Disturbing my peace.
Archemides Fontaine waves off the comment with a splash of his hand. "Yeah yeah.  But if you hang out with me? 'Peace' isn't exactly something I do often."
Cilia Frostwyght: Here I was thinking a place named the Lavender Beds might be tranquil enough to soothe your animal nature.
Archemides Fontaine: Nothing can soothe that. Doubt death would either.
Archemides Fontaine: Probably punch Thal right in the face when I see him next.
Cilia Frostwyght closes her eyes, slipping down in her seat. A sigh of supreme comfort escapes her lips, fluttering in her chest. Her toes dig into the sand, clenching and unclenching. Relaxed. The very way she carried herself seemed entirely different from their encounter two days past.
Cilia Frostwyght: And then sprinkle him with Lavender.
Archemides Fontaine falls back onto the embankment with a small plop. Despite his words, there is a sense of serenity about him that would seem out of place, should one have seen him at work in the Shrouds. "Hmmm...if Thal smelt like lavender, I may actually like it down there."
Cilia Frostwyght: Your stupid is ruining my mooood.
Archemides Fontaine: Boo hoo.
Archemides Fontaine: You got good handwriting.
Archemides Fontaine: Or, uh, 'stump-writing' I guess.
Cilia Frostwyght: I was writing lines a lot, as a child.
Archemides Fontaine: OH?
Cilia Frostwyght: Very poorly behaved, y'know?
Archemides Fontaine: Hmmm. Can't see it.
Cilia Frostwyght: It was an ugly tree, anyway.
Archemides Fontaine shifts in place as he listens.
Cilia Frostwyght: Was a nice blanket.
Cilia Frostwyght shrugs.
Cilia Frostwyght: I kind of owed you.
Cilia Frostwyght: Only kind of.
Archemides Fontaine: Eh, ya don't owe me anything.
Archemides Fontaine shrugs back at her.
Cilia Frostwyght: Maybe I don't.
Cilia Frostwyght: Thank you for keeping Naga away, last night.
Archemides Fontaine looks down towards the water.
Archemides Fontaine: She means a lot to me. Don't like seeing her angry or sad.
Archemides Fontaine: Though I don't like seeing you that way either.
Cilia Frostwyght: I'm happy without her around, you know.
Cilia Frostwyght: The boot wrestling.
Cilia Frostwyght: Last night.
Cilia Frostwyght: I can be ... nice.
Cilia Frostwyght: Sometimes.
Archemides Fontaine: You two...worked hard last night.
Archemides Fontaine: Made me happy. Cori was happy too.
Cilia Frostwyght tilts her head back to take in the onrush of rain. "Yeah," she soothes.
Cilia Frostwyght: She works hardest.
Cilia Frostwyght: She doesn't deserve more when she's relaxing.
Archemides Fontaine: Would you hate me....if I said despite me calling her friend, there's a part of me that hates her? Just a bit?
Cilia Frostwyght: Corinne or Naga?
Archemides Fontaine: Cori.
Cilia Frostwyght: Some of me hates some of her.
Archemides Fontaine: Mm.
Cilia Frostwyght: It's like that with everyone.
Cilia Frostwyght: We've maintained that for a while.
Cilia Frostwyght: You can't ever have perfection. You only need to try to fix it.
Archemides Fontaine: Do you have to fix it though?
Cilia Frostwyght: Just try.
Archemides Fontaine: Maybe there's something to be said about -not- shooting for perfection.
Cilia Frostwyght: Abandon.
Archemides Fontaine: That's such an awful word.
Cilia Frostwyght: Awful meaning.
Cilia Frostwyght: I hate your lover.
Cilia Frostwyght: You hate mine.
Cilia Frostwyght: I think you're stupid.
Cilia Frostwyght: You probably think I am.
Archemides Fontaine: S'a big ball of fuck we got ourselves in.
Archemides Fontaine: But they're happy. So....
Archemides Fontaine shrugs.
Cilia Frostwyght: I shouldn't have talked to that stupid cat.
Archemides Fontaine: Guess I can be happy too.
Cilia Frostwyght: Or that stupid elezen with golden lips.
Archemides Fontaine: And I shoulda never stopped chasing.
Archemides Fontaine: And got sidetracked by desperation.
Cilia Frostwyght: She won't love you.
Cilia Frostwyght: Ever.
Archemides Fontaine: Sh does.
Cilia Frostwyght: She's a huntress. She likes a challenge.
Archemides Fontaine: Just not in the way I want.
Archemides Fontaine: Then it's a good thing I like challenge too.
Cilia Frostwyght: You're not a challenge, or a trophy to take home.
Cilia Frostwyght: You're easy prey, and she won't take that.
Cilia Frostwyght: She wants my Cori.
Cilia Frostwyght frowns down at the pool, shifting in her butt-imprint.
Archemides Fontaine chews his tongue a bit.
Archemides Fontaine: We're best friends now.
Cilia Frostwyght: And you're deluded.
Archemides Fontaine: Or maybe drunk.
Archemides Fontaine: What about you?
Cilia Frostwyght: What about me?
Archemides Fontaine: You gonna step away from her?
Cilia Frostwyght: We're special.
Archemides Fontaine: How so?
Cilia Frostwyght: I don't wanna talk about this anymore.
Archemides Fontaine rolls his head along the grass. "Fair enough. Tell me more about your home."
Cilia Frostwyght wrinkles her lips around, brushing back a strand of hair from her hair, pulling it back into the bun behind her head. "Ask questions, I'll give answers."
Cilia Frostwyght: Maybe.
Cilia Frostwyght wags her finger.
Archemides Fontaine smirks. "You just opened the gates."
Archemides Fontaine: "You lived in a mansion? You said you had servants."
Cilia Frostwyght returned a hand ot her face, stroking the bridge of her nose. She bowed her head forward, nodding. "Yeah, I did."
Archemides Fontaine: "Never seen the manors up North. Well, not from the inside at least. Went through an abandoned one once but it ain't the same. Was it lively?"
Cilia Frostwyght makes cautious, guarded replies. "It could be, yes."
Cilia Frostwyght: But it was contained.
Cilia Frostwyght: It was mostly courtly affairs.
Archemides Fontaine: Like balls n' stuff?
Cilia Frostwyght: The same monotonous drivel, day after day. Bow your head this way, curtsy this way.
Cilia Frostwyght laughs from the base of her belly, splitting the air.
Cilia Frostwyght bursts out laughing.
Cilia Frostwyght: No, no, I wish.
Cilia Frostwyght: No, we relaxed by slowing down.
Archemides Fontaine: How' you slow down?
Cilia Frostwyght: Ass down, feet up, head back, wine up.
Archemides Fontaine: Ahhhh.
Archemides Fontaine: You get the good stuff, I'd wager.
Archemides Fontaine: Sparkling glasses n' scotch?
Cilia Frostwyght wrinkled her lips in a kindly smile, "The sparkliest."
Cilia Frostwyght: I still remember a tour we took of Noscea.
Cilia Frostwyght: I barely knew how to sample, but I remember the broad assortment of flavours.
Cilia Frostwyght: You could get a whole meal's worth of sensation in a series of light sups.
Cilia Frostwyght: We'd all forgotten how hungry we had gotten, heh.
Archemides Fontaine: Heh.
Archemides Fontaine: Booze on an empty stomach. Dangerous. But fun.
Cilia Frostwyght: It wasn't just "booze".
Cilia Frostwyght: It was an experience.
Archemides Fontaine: Trust me, I know experiences.
Archemides Fontaine: Word's a catch-all for me.
Cilia Frostwyght: Made you appreciate the formality behind it.
Cilia Frostwyght: Helped you savor the final act in a greater brilliance.
Cilia Frostwyght: All the huffing, wafting, waving and swirling, it culminated in a rewarding experience. You could sense the effort placed into every drop.
Archemides Fontaine: And it just leaves ya craving more, but at the same time...not. Because more just lessens the experience, right?
Archemides Fontaine: That's what makes it great. Knowing it's finite.
Cilia Frostwyght: Things only hold value if they are finite.
Archemides Fontaine: Yup.
Cilia Frostwyght: Why would it matter if it went on forever?
Cilia Frostwyght: That's why life matters.
Cilia Frostwyght: Because I know I'll end.
Archemides Fontaine grins. "Aye. So make the most of it while ya can."
Cilia Frostwyght bows her head back, held to the night sky. She opens her mouth, taking in the fresh patter of rain.
Cilia Frostwyght: I'm still not moving from my butt-imprint.
Archemides Fontaine: Finally taken root?
Cilia Frostwyght: Boot.
Cilia Frostwyght: Ee.
Archemides Fontaine: Rum.
Archemides Fontaine: Pus.
Cilia Frostwyght snickers, quietly. To herself.
Archemides Fontaine: So....silliest thing you did as a kid in the manor.
Archemides Fontaine: You know, the stuff that drives the servants crazy but you did it anyroads.
Cilia Frostwyght smacks her lips together. "I used to try to set the black pudding aflame."
Archemides Fontaine: Yer kidding.
Cilia Frostwyght: It looked, smelled, felt, and tasted like tar.
Cilia Frostwyght: I looked for all manner of substances that would set this stuff on.
Cilia Frostwyght: Anything!
Cilia Frostwyght cackles for a mad moment.
Archemides Fontaine: And did it work?
Cilia Frostwyght: I was at it for cycles.
Cilia Frostwyght: The chimney monkeys hated me.
Cilia Frostwyght: Every time I'd get at it and fail, I'd react by hucking the lot into the fireplace.
Archemides Fontaine chuckles. "Hey, you gave them work to do."
Cilia Frostwyght: Precisely why they hated me.
Cilia Frostwyght snickered.
Archemides Fontaine: At least they weren't bored.
Cilia Frostwyght: I tried wicks, fuses, fuels.
Cilia Frostwyght: All with varied levels of success.
Cilia Frostwyght: What -did- work, however, was sneaking in before it had a chance to dry.
Corinne Bonnette: "I know this story."
Cilia Frostwyght: With all the juicy fats and stuff coalescing and gathering - it was begging for a sp--
Archemides Fontaine looks up from Cilia. "Ah, yo Cori."
Cilia Frostwyght thrashes her feet out, making a range of delighted infant noises and gurgles.
Archemides Fontaine raises an eyebrow at Cilia.
Cilia Frostwyght claps her hands, wildly waving her in closer.
Corinne Bonnette: "This is about that black pudding, isn't it?" A lopsided smirk tugged at a corner of her lips as she waved lightly at Arch.
Cilia Frostwyght nods eagerly, beaming wide enough to expose the pink of her gums. "Uhuh, uhuh!"
Cilia Frostwyght: The time I got to it before it could dry, all juicy and fat.
Corinne Bonnette: "Heartwood's closed," she said as she jabbed her thumb at the building behind.
Archemides Fontaine blinks. "Ah. Yeah, sorry about that. Been having some strange guests come by, so we keeping the house under wraps for a bit."
Corinne Bonnette pushed her curiosity to the back of her mind, simply nodding at his words.
Cilia Frostwyght: I'd get up, but I've already formed an imprint in the silt.
Cilia Frostwyght shifts around, as if to demonstrate this.
Archemides Fontaine: She's taken root.
Archemides Fontaine: Like a lilypad.
Archemides Fontaine: A 'Cilypad', if you will.
Cilia Frostwyght wasn't even remotely offset by that. She simply beamed on, fixing her attention on the figure before her.
Corinne Bonnette: "I thought I'd walk around until I found someone to tell me about it. Didn't want to waste my walk here."
Cilia Frostwyght: Business?
Corinne Bonnette shook her head. "No, just visiting. It's been a while since I've been here."
Archemides Fontaine waves his hand in the water and plays with the pads in the water, fingers dancing across the tops of the leaves. "Eh, give it a few days and we'll open it back up. Gotta take care of some things first."
Cilia Frostwyght: It's a good time to be sodden.
Archemides Fontaine: Indeed.
Archemides Fontaine: And I actually know what that word means now!
Corinne Bonnette flaps her arms. "I am sodden."
Archemides Fontaine beams with pride. "I learned it in a book a few suns ago."
Cilia Frostwyght: I am Cilypad.
Corinne Bonnette rolled her eyes.
Archemides Fontaine takes the floating lily out of the water and plops it onto the Northerner's head.
Archemides Fontaine: -Now- you're Cilypad.
Cilia Frostwyght squeals, fidgeting madly under the pad. As the slime and stem finds its place along her back, she goes still. She has been petrified.
Corinne Bonnette: "I heard some of those have spiders hiding in."
Archemides Fontaine: What?
Archemides Fontaine goes stalk still.
Corinne Bonnette smacks her lips and nods.
Corinne Bonnette: "Waiting for an unsuspecting victim. The perfect trap."
Cilia Frostwyght feels the musculature along the back of her neck creak as she turns to face Cori. Wide-eyed and suspended in time, she looks on.
Cilia Frostwyght gives a weak shiver of her shoulders, nudging the stalk back slowly.
Archemides Fontaine eyes the lily with newfound terror, making sure to never lose track of it.
Archemides Fontaine: ...We need to choose another bathing spot.
Cilia Frostwyght squeaks.
Cilia Frostwyght: Gettitttoff.
Corinne Bonnette kicks her boots off with great effort, holding them upturned to let the water pooling within to trickle out. "Harmless spiders, you big babies."
Archemides Fontaine: There's no such thing!
Corinne Bonnette: "They only eat small birds."
Archemides Fontaine: BIRDS?!
Corinne Bonnette: "Small ones, yes."
Cilia Frostwyght scowls.
Corinne Bonnette: "Humming birds."
Cilia Frostwyght reaches back, and with one smooth gesture, she whips the pad forward by its stem. It whirls like a discus.
Corinne Bonnette tugged at the hem of her leather gloves, muttering a silent curse as she peeled them off her hands.
Corinne Bonnette: "What a beautiful day to take bathe under the sunlight."
Cilia Frostwyght: You could always, oh, say, have fun with your life.
Corinne Bonnette huffed.
Corinne Bonnette: "I have plenty of fun," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Cilia Frostwyght: When no one's around.
Cilia Frostwyght cants her head to the side, slipping from her butt-imprint.
Corinne Bonnette flashes her a defiant glare.
Archemides Fontaine chuckles as he looks between the two, still keeping an eye on the lilypads.
Cilia Frostwyght: Oh, at least dip your toes in.
Corinne Bonnette: "I broke three of them earlier today, spent hours trying to fix them. See?" She held a leg up, wiggling her toes at her. Three digits still had the discernible hue of a fading bruise to them.
Archemides Fontaine grins.
Archemides Fontaine: You make me so proud.
Archemides Fontaine: Heck, I may even wanna spar with you some day.
Cilia Frostwyght punches wildly, blindly back at Arch.
Corinne Bonnette: "I'll become a better healer than a lancer if... seriously? Spar? Me?"
Cilia Frostwyght: They're pushing you awful hard.
Archemides Fontaine catches her fist quickly before it can impact into his face. "Yup! Why not? Best way to get better besides actual fightin'."
Cilia Frostwyght flits her eyes over the injured digits.
Cilia Frostwyght wiggles her fist.
Corinne Bonnette: "An actual fighting with someone who can do hand-things? No."
Corinne Bonnette disagrees with you.
Corinne Bonnette: "Fauna gives me enough trouble."
Archemides Fontaine: No hand-things. Only fists.
Archemides Fontaine: On my end.
Corinne Bonnette: "Fists? That fixes everything," she said with a sarcastic tilt of her head and a roll of her eyes. "I so want to spar with you now."
Cilia Frostwyght attempts to jerk her hand free.
Archemides Fontaine: You can use the spear!
Corinne Bonnette: "I can't. That's why I'm training."
Archemides Fontaine still holds onto her fist, looking at Cori all the while. "Cil here can teach you a thing or two. She has a good right hook."
Cilia Frostwyght: Cori says I hit too hard.
Corinne Bonnette: "She does."
Cilia Frostwyght throws her weight forward, into the brunt of her knuckles.
Cilia Frostwyght: Or however I have to arrange it for that to make sense.))
Archemides Fontaine tilts his head to the side , her fist grazing his cheek. His retort is swift, vicious -- a flick against her nose.
Archemides Fontaine: Maybe -we- should spar again then. When was the last time? Pearl Lane?
Cilia Frostwyght: Fftah.
Cilia Frostwyght skews her nose at a gracelss angle.
Cilia Frostwyght: I've hit you many times since.
Cilia Frostwyght: Now leggo.
Archemides Fontaine grins but releases his grip. "Still, we haven't had a good session. I think it'd be fun."
Cilia Frostwyght splashes her hand down into the water, irked and quibbling, she turns back to Cori.
Cilia Frostwyght: So you just stop by?
Corinne Bonnette: "Sometimes."
Corinne Bonnette shrugs at Cilia Frostwyght.
Cilia Frostwyght: I've really only been once or twice. Kind of ... aimless, as of late.
Corinne Bonnette: "Anyplace is good. Away from the training and the wild animals and the bruises and whatnot." Her hands move to try and rub some feeling back to her legs.
Cilia Frostwyght cannot constrain the maternal undertones that seep into her voice, "They're pushing you really hard."
Archemides Fontaine: "Have to be pushed to get good."
Archemides Fontaine lets some concern seep into his gaze. "Still...I think you'll pull through."
Cilia Frostwyght bunches her arms up into a knotted little fold, disgruntled.
Corinne Bonnette: "Doesn't help that I'm a healer, Anise can get pretty wicked knowing I could heal most of it back."
Cilia Frostwyght: Still.
Cilia Frostwyght: Stiiil.
Corinne Bonnette: "Yes mother, I'll take care." She stuck her tongue out at Cilia.
Archemides Fontaine: Mommy Cilypad....
Archemides Fontaine looks up at the sky.
Cilia Frostwyght tored a lilypad in half, chucking a damp bunch of plant in both directions.
Archemides Fontaine gets slapped in the face by the pad and sputters. "Oi!" His hand reaches for ammunition: a nice fat pad gripped between his fingers as he swings it towards Cilia.
Cilia Frostwyght raises her forearms to intercept that, catching it on the flats of her bones. A slurry of frogeggs and slime splatter into her face, to the back of her open mouth.
Archemides Fontaine blinks. "Oooooh....uh....it taste good?"
Corinne Bonnette makes a face.
Archemides Fontaine grins sheepishly.
Cilia Frostwyght keeps her mouth hanging open, face a tableau of the moment of impact. A pair of fingers venture into her mouth, plucking out clumps of egg. She holds it out, presented to Arch, maintaining that motionless face all the while.
Archemides Fontaine approaches her slowly, like an animal taking scope of a foreign pressence. His hand moves upward and pinches the eggs away from her grasp. He looks at them briefly, squeezing a bit until one sack explodes, drenching his fingers in ooze. His eyes move back to Cilia.
Archemides Fontaine: "...I'm not eating them."
Cilia Frostwyght: No.
Cilia Frostwyght: But you are sitting on the far side of the pool.
Cilia Frostwyght points where he is to move.
Archemides Fontaine looks over at the spot. "There are more flowers over there."
Cilia Frostwyght: Move.
Archemides Fontaine: But...the spiders.
Cilia Frostwyght:  -Move-.
Archemides Fontaine: My ass is stuck.
Archemides Fontaine tosses the eggs over his shoulder, where they make a cringe-worthy squick against the ground.
Archemides Fontaine: "Eh, I need to head out anyroads."
Cilia Frostwyght: I'll find a suitable toad to replace you.
Archemides Fontaine shakes his head about and frees thewater droplets from his mane. "Maybe if you kiss it, it'll become a prince."
Archemides Fontaine: Then you can burn black pudding together.
Cilia Frostwyght: I can't believe you're not gone yet.
Archemides Fontaine rolls his eyes, a chuckle escaping him. "Yeah yeah yeah. See ya around, Cilypad."
Archemides Fontaine: We'l spar sometime. Or get soshed.
Archemides Fontaine: Maybe both.
Cilia Frostwyght: I need you to forget everything I told you here.
Archemides Fontaine: Not happening.
Archemides Fontaine smirks once more. "You ain't my boss, remember?"
more. "You ain't my boss, remember?"
Archemides Fontaine: See ya.
Cilia Frostwyght harrumphs, kicking up a ball of muck for him. She crawls over, hands and knees, until she reaches a spot by Corinne, where she lounges herself out over the embankment.
Cilia Frostwyght: Don't die or anything.
Archemides Fontaine: No promises!
Corinne Bonnette: "Bye Arch."
Archemides Fontaine: Later Cor!