Vena and Fleur argue

The Lavender Gryphon Inner Courtyard
[Chilly, cloudless, heavy breeze from the northwest, dawn]
  Surrounded by high walls, the entrance courtyard is designed to be a garden
of a more unique nature.  Flowers and trees are fenced off with stone slabs
of different sizes and shapes to help keep the stone slabbed paths clean.
Different flowers and trees have been carefully chosen in different places to
create different and intimate scenes.  A pond has been dug into the earth
along the northern wall, the water green in color and a roofed bridge of
stone leading across it.  The stone slabbed paths curve and show more
intimate scenes along the way until they eventually meet at a center, from
which one leads north, to the wall, west, to a building with wooden and
pillared awnings, to make room for a sort of small balcony, and to the south
to another building entranced by an large alcove.
In the last few months:
(The flower bloom brightly under the early summer sun. Many intimate scenes make up the garden, from the cave under the willow tree to the guiding cherry trees and flowers along the paths. This time around, the forget-me-not seems to bear a special place and meaning, planted most dominantly around.)
[ Exits: north  -south-  -west- ] [ Air exits: none ]
     A small, painted sculpture in the likeness of Saint Thea is here. (northern edge)
     A steaming copper kettle with Brenlands Lavendertea is here. (center)
     A set of lavender etched, magenta colored, drinking glasses is here. (center)
     An simple and plain iron and wood chest, marked 'Delight' is here. (center)
     A long and rectangular dining table on a single, carved leg is here. (center)
( 20)A small amount of malting barley is here. (southern edge)
( 19)A small amount of drying hops is here. (southern edge)
( 52)A loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients is here. (northwestern corner)
(  9)A thick log of common wood is here. (southern edge)
     A thick log of fine wood is here. (southern edge)
     A cluster of Vostocki snowdrops laden with hanging white blossoms peeks tentatively from its place on the ground, a demure touch of beauty. (northwestern corner)
     A fragrant, Vavardi lavender shrub bears light purple flower whorls up the length of its herbaceous stems. (northwestern corner)
     A leafy green potato plant with pale purple flowers grows here. (northwestern corner)
     A tea tree with broad green leaves grows here. (northwestern corner)
     A regal cherry tree with dark leaves and wine-red fruits rises toward the sky. (northwestern corner)
     A cluster of black trunked plum trees with purple foliage grow closely together. (northwestern corner)
     A supple, young willow tree supports branches heavy with elongated leaves. (northwestern corner)
     A low strawberry plant with small white flowers grows here. (northwestern corner)
     A forget-me-not plant with clusters of tiny blue flowers provides low ground cover over a small patch of the earth. (northwestern corner)
(  5)A thick log of common wood have been put aside by the southern house. (southern edge)
A bay horse in military barding is here.
A runtish wolf with lustrous silver fur and a cropped ear stands here.
A graceful maiden with black hair and amber eyes is here. [App: 5]
A tubori woman-at-arms with black hair and green eyes is here. [App: 5]
Miss Venamelia le Caire is here. [App: 5]
Blanchefleur has arrived.

[RPXP Gain: Low] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (bathed)
"There, this works, miss pretty." Miss Venamelia le Caire teases, stepping on in and towards the compost and some of the gardening tools. "How are you, though, Blanche? I have been a bit awkward recently, so, please apologize any strange antics from my side." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Low] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (bathed)
Blanchefleur taps her fingertips together. "I've been well." She pauses. "Actually, perhaps not quite so well. I almost got attacked by a boar just the other day. I.. I was quite foolish and I left out the North Gate, thinking that it would be fine because I heard that the Epion had gone and killed all the dangerous animals.."
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[RPXP Gain: Average] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (bathed)
Action set to:
Blanchefleur stands peering about Miss Venamelia le Caire's garden.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire gets a loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
"A boar past the north gate? Were you on your way to Wilhelm?" Miss Venamelia le Caire wonders, taking some of the gardening things to tend to some of the flowers. "One of them jumped me when I was hunting for flower seeds with Hulda. And that one did not want to let go of us and we ended up needing to kill it." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur nods. "Yes, out towards Wilhelm. I was foraging for flower seeds.. and I thought it would be okay so long as I just kept looking ahead.. But when I was foraging it came upon me and attacked."

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire gets a loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire gets a loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur claims, "...excuse me, Vena. This might be an odd question, but where or how does one obtain compost? I.. mn. I started growing a garden."

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
"I see." Miss Venamelia le Caire says, now tending to some of the flowers. "But I am glad that you are fine, Blanche. And I bought a bunch of potatos and mashed them apart and turned it into compost. Could do that for you if you want, too." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire tends to a cluster of Vostocki snowdrops laden with hanging white blossoms, ensuring that it is watered and well cared for.


[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur muses, "Oh? I.. hoh. You just.. mashed potatoes up? "

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur subtly tilts her head, thinking. [Hidden]
(This emote was too short to be credited for RPxp.)

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire drops a loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Miss Venamelia le Caire drops a loamy heap of loose compost made from various ingredients.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur wonders, "But.. Vena... aren't potatoes a kind of.. food? "

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur really doesn't know much about gardening, or cooking...

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
"Yeah, you make food scraps and then proceed to turn them around into compost." Miss Venamelia le Caire supposes and shrugs. [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur blinks. "Could you show me how to do that?"

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
Blanchefleur thinks to herself, "Wow. She really is soo, soo, soo smart!"
[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)(bathed)
"Sure, I actually happen to have something on spare, by chance." Miss Venamelia le Caire supposes. [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"We should ask someone else about it...." Miss Venamelia le Caire replies, another shrug of her shoulders. "I have no idea. It just works. I am a fighter, not a gardener, I suppose?" She replies, giving the other a toothed grin. [Miss Venamelia le Caire]
  Miss Venamelia le Caire appears to be competent at herbalism.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur laughs. "Aha. Well, I suppose! Sorry, Vena. I don't know anything about it at all."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur thinks. "Would you like to hear a song I've been working on?"

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"It really is no problem." Miss Venamelia le Caire replies, sweetly. "And I absolutely would love to hear it." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur smiles warmly towards Miss Venamelia le Caire, clasping her hands in front of her. "This song is called 'a lofty flight.'" The tiny woman takes a deep breath, briefly humming a melodic note as she finds her key. And then she begins to sing. Her voice is high and sweet and clear.

"...better to flee your home than be outcast,
You soar above red sand and blue-white ice,
Bright feathers grow, your fledgling wings spread,
Glide silently through clouds without a sigh..."
  Blanchefleur appears to be proficient at singing.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
The church bells ring six times, announcing the hour of prime.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"Dreaming for the 'morrow, through weapon and the beat of a heart; for a home among the skies. Peacefully, in rest." Miss Venamelia le Caire says, her eyes 'sharpening' at the words sung by Blanchefleur, clearly loving it. For the entirety of the sing, her eyes remain on Blanchefleur's, adoring, perhaps even somewhat enchanted. "At this rate you will be making many more poems than I did and would!" [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur briefly presses a tooth into her bottom lip, dimples forming at her lips as, emboldened by Miss Venamelia le Caire's praise, she attempts another verse!
"...A dwindling world beneath your weary feet,
A dreaming bird in a dark blue midnight sky,
A voice that cries and wings that fiercely beat,
The life before you is your paradise..."
  Blanchefleur appears to be proficient at singing.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Miss Venamelia le Caire listens along, though she adds no more on to it. There is a smile to her as she listens along, seemingly loving what she hears and is listening to.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur The song grows quiet, words delicate and lilting and tender as she brings the song to its emotional heart. "Nobody sees the shining heart within,
Steel nights of silent pain; bronze days of rage.
You feel the many weary hours worn thin,
To distant mountain heights you cannot gauge..."

 And then the climax. The tiny woman's voice once more rings out clear, triumphant!
"Fly free of summer's burn and winter's bite,
Someday In a blue heaven you'll alight!"
  Blanchefleur appears to be proficient at singing.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur belts like Idina Menzel.
  Blanchefleur appears to be proficient at singing.
(This emote was too short to be credited for RPxp.)

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
WARNING: Osays exist only to clarify RP and cost 5 RPXP.

Blanchefleur says OOCly, "Sorry aha couldn't help it."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur finishes her performance.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Miss Venamelia le Caire continues her smile as Blanchefleur sings, and when the other woman finishes, she praises "That is beautiful, Blanche. What inspired you to make it, I wonder now?"
  Miss Venamelia le Caire appears to be of Legendary charisma

Blanchefleur exhales, slightly breathless for a moment as she regards Miss Venamelia le Caire. "W-well, it was your birthday and.. well.." Her smile shifts, suddenly bashful as she shifts to tuck a loose curl back behind her scarf.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"You are cute, pretty." Miss Venamelia le Caire flirts a little bit, before saying more seriously "And the song, I love it. I will need to write it down sometime for my own pleasure of keeping. Rhett spent most of my birthday-day with me under the willow treet, just talking the day away. Serril, Emsa and everyone else is oddly absent. I wonder what is going on." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur blushes, deeply at being called cute. Pretty. "O-oh, aha. I didn't know you were friends with the Poet Knight, Vena." The tiny blonde flutters her eyelashes, exhaling. "I.. I too am friends with the Poet Knight.." And then she taps her fingertips together once more. Tap. Tap. Tap, tap.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"I heard that you are looking to pursue marriage with him?" Miss Venamelia le Caire asks, that smile certainly teasing and just a little smug. "I had wanted to ask on what is going on there, too, for a number of reasons and causes." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur blinks, and then she nods. "I.. Vena. That's why I can't court you." She turns her gaze to the side, her blue eyes suddenly downcast. "One of a few reasons." And then alarmed, she looks to her friend. "You.. you seem.. you're not hurt?"

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"Start at the beginning for me there, yeah? Do you have romantic affections for Rhett?" Miss Venamelia le Caire starts, asking along, she does not appear hurt nor happy about it. "Is it entirely your decision."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur blinks. "Influenced?" She squeaks. The tiny woman knits her fingers together, her pale gaze fixed on Miss Venamelia le Caire. There's no guile in her gaze as she stares up at the taller maiden, her soft lips parting. "Vena, I.. I owe you an apology for not being straight with you, previously. I am a coward. I.. I told myself that I didn't want to upset you, but I.."

She exhales. Does she have romantic affections for Rhett? "I do have romantic affections for the Poet Knight. But I.. I do not know if there is much hope there, I'm an apprentice and I--" She gulps. "It would expose us both to scandal. The Poet Knight courting an apprentice. An unskilled, drama afflicted, accident prone, danger attracting apprentice. And my family -- well. There's every risk he will not be interested in me."

Her voice lowers almost to a squeak. "But I very much do want to court him."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"Alright then, that resolves that. I honestly did not believe or anticipate for anything to come out of any affections I have for you, Blanche. So no, there is neither hurt nor pain, but you really should be careful about saying words of love to another, because people will generally take it as words of romance first, depending on the context and circumstance, yeah?" Miss Venamelia le Caire answers, simple with a brief nod. Though, whether she is hurt or not, is impossible to see with her having become a participant in the masquerade of perfect appearances. "Rhett, naturally knows about it all, as I, in simple words, spoke about it with him. I trust him, so it would be no secret between him and I and the decision it came to for me, is as we do now, my speaking to you about it to make sure things are in order and appropriate. The decision and match, must be your own to make, not your family's, even if the family's is more common overall in Lithmore."

 She pauses, eyes scanning over Blanchefleur's face. "On anything else, I will not speak for him, but I will inform him of what you told me here." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]
Blanchefleur looks to Miss Venamelia le Caire. While the taller maiden might mantain her perfect composure, Blanchefleur certainly does not. Her expression is bewildered, and she takes the slightest of half steps backwards. "Venamelia, what did you say to the Poet Knight?" she exhales, tone incredulous.

She exhales, blinking rapidly as she attempts to maintain composure. She exhales, and her shoulders slump. And finally, after a moment, she speaks. Her voice soft. Compassionate. "Oh, Venamelia. I'm.. I'm not like you. I'm not blunt or assertive. There's nothing strong about me. What did you expect me to say when you were crying and rambling about wishing you hadn't been born? Of course I love you, of course I care for you, but as a friend."

She shakes her head, raising both her hands to her lips. "Rhett told me today that he thought I might have run off with someone else."  She exhales. "I.. I have only been trying to help you, Vena. As a friend. Because I care about you. But I... I do not do things in secret." And even though her tone remains gentle, somehow, somehow the tiny little thing gives the impression of looking down at Miss Venamelia le Caire. Expression pitying.

 "There is naught the righteous need hide." (FIX ugh can't read the above)
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Action set to:
Blanchefleur is staring at Miss Venamelia le Caire with pity.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk]

"Urth does not work by what is righteous or not, Blanche." Miss Venamelia le Caire replies, tone even, smooth and eloquent. "I see that my words have also gone lost on you and I suppose you have chosen to believing that people as myself, are not right and improper, strange and different. Would your eyes of pity not be proof of such, too?"

 There is another pause, and her tone turns more scolding. "And what I have said or have said not to Rhett, is not for someone else to know in detail. What you need to know, I have said and I have nothing to add to it. Rhett is someone I regard as a close friend and he knows just as much that I decided to converse to you about this, to ensure that this is understood and cleared up."

 It is now that her eyes settle on Blanchefleur's pitying gaze and what she returns is a look of spite, her demeanor certainly begins to show the pride she holds. "I am not a fool, ab Liande. I never believed that anything could come out of any affections for you and while I, at times, terribly mourn to be born a woman considering my preferences, that is just that, because you mainlander are wrong about it. There is nothing righteous to the mainlander's stance of it. The Farin and Vandagen murder us, secularly, not canonically and you call that rightous? Because you mainlander force for it to need be hidden from the public? Even with miss Clough, it was my hope to conceal it from the public, but not from the Order. And if this is the last of your worries that would need be concealed, there is far more that otherwise needs be, in this perfect masquerade that people expect you to wear." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]
  Miss Venamelia le Caire appears to be of Legendary charisma.


Blanchefleur stares at Miss Venamelia le Caire. And so it is that the taller maiden gets what her subtext implied (to Blanchefleur ) that she desires. Blanchefleur ceases her pitying stare. And instead, she just looks weary and sad. "The keeping of secrets is wrong, Venamelia. I have no stomach for it. You can read what you like into what I've said, but know this: I do care about you, and I hope that we can continue to be friends."

"When did I speak of murder?" She shakes her head, and exhales. "...What do you want from me, Venamelia?" The tiny woman is softly spoken, her words genuine. "You say you are not hurt, and then you come at me with grand speeches, what. So ready and eager to prove me wrong, a hypocrite, a monster? Do you want to chase me away?" She stares. "Why? I do truly care for you. But I do not wish for you to court me."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk]

Miss Venamelia le Caire briefly looks past as a messenger approaches her. She sends them away again before responding. "I am trying to make you think, Blanche. The world does not work on truth, as I myself had to learn over the past two years that I have been here. Honestly will not do you well on the conceptual thought of it all." Her eyes lower to meet Blanchefleur's. "You would have found myself to be vastly different from now, those mere two years ago." Finally, turning once towards a Tubori woman-at-arms with black hair and green eyes and a graceful maiden with black hair and amber eyes before settling back onto Blanchefleur. "And this I tell you as a friend, nothing else."

 "Finally, please stop thinking that I had any belief that courting you would be a possibility, but I see that my words remain entirely lost to you."

Blanchefleur just looks confused. Bewildered. "Right," she exhales. "That is perhaps for the best." She nods, and, deciding to cover up her discomfort, offers a rather strained smile. No dimples. Her gaze is still oh-so-sad. "So we're fine, then?" The tiny woman tilts her head, pale blue gaze once more meeting Miss Venamelia le Caire's own. "We are still friends?" There's something vulnerable in the blonde's doe-like gaze.

"You haven't.. I.." Her hands curl into fists and then back again, and then she exhales. "I appreciate how blunt and honest you are, Vena. Really. And I suppose, so inspired by your blunt honesty, I will tell you this as-a-friend-and-nothing-else: I too have shared words about you with a friend. Inquisitor Bruin Mazzo. What I said to him is between him and myself, but I just thought you should know."

Blanchefleur exhales, viewing Miss Venamelia le Caire from under those dark eyelashes. "I grow weary. I feel I shall depart, Vena. Lord bless."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
"The Inquisitor, huh?" Miss Venamelia le Caire supposes, shaking her head. "I suppose, people are trying to get me pyred for standing out. That is never good news."

 "And yes, friends. I told you, I never had any hopes up and this is exactly what I told Rhett as well. This talk serves to clear up any misunderstanding and miscommunication that there was about all of this. Not only to me but to him as well." [Miss Venamelia le Caire]

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Miss Venamelia le Caire unlocks the northern door.

[RPXP Gain: Fair] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur says, "Nobody is trying to get you 'pyred,' Vena. I just don't know how to help you."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur sighs, tucking that stray curl back in place. "Lord Bless, Venamelia."

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
The door is closed.

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Blanchefleur begins to move north.

[RPXP Gain: Good] [HP:perfect MV:enervated P:walk] (action)
Blanchefleur opens the northern door.
Blanchefleur leaves north.