🍁 fall catchfall

[hearthwarming]

🍄 who: Oriphi & others
🍄 what: open prompts & catchall
🍄 when: fall
🍄 where: various
🍄 warnings: some nsfw


i. flower shop 💐

[ Oriphi's flower shop is now open! She has been hard at work growing flowers on her and M-21's farm, trading with townsfolk and such to put everything together. And so beginning in the fall, she spends most of her afternoons after tending to the farm in this cozy little nook in town, available for any and all floral needs... and possibly even more! There are also small gifts available in the shop, like little plushies and little crafted items, decorations, and homemade snacks.

Ori herself can usually be found fussing over some arrangements or displays, chatting with random NPCs who wander in, talking to some of the live plants inside the shop (??), or otherwise sitting at the counter enjoying some afternoon tea, ready to be bothered.

What are you waiting for? Come on in! ]

ii. on the arco lunar 🚢

[ Ori has dressed up for her date on the Arco Lunar with M-21, with her hair carefully braided in a half up, half down style.

She'll be sticking with her date for the most part, but she can easily be caught by herself now and then, looking out into the sea while leaning on the guardrails of the deck... and occasionally looking like she's not doing too well. She's doing her best not to get seasick...

If the boat rocks at any point, she might end up having to lean on someone, grabbing an arm. ]

S—Sorry! I just need... a second.

iii. teleportation!? 🌳

[ Are you foraging in the forest? Or minding your own damn business in town?

If there's a conveniently person-sized trunk of a tree nearby... You might suddenly be greeted by the sound of magic sort of... bubbling up from said tree. Then in just another moment, a magical portal appears on the trunk, through which steps a petite little tiefling, now fashionably bundled up and looking a little cozy for the fall! She has a basket hanging on one arm and a staff held in the hand of the other.

She startles when she sees she's not alone wherever she's come out (yes, even in town). ]

Oh, woops! Good day!

[ The portal seems to close and then disappear behind her, and the tree is left looking as if someone didn't just fully walk out of it. ]

I didn't startle you, did I?

iv. wildcard

( feel free to toss something else in! we can hash things out at my plotting comment if you're feeling something else! )

Comments

[pactmarshal]

[ As Ori turns to pick up a flower, Trahearne's arms loosen as he lets her go. He's, honestly, quite surprised to see her stick the flower right in his face; he goes a little cross-eyed as he tries to get a better look at it.

What she says settles in his mind. His lips purse, and he directs his attention from the poppy to her. ]

In honour of all the Pact soldiers that died fighting the dragons?

[ It's the first thing that comes to mind. In his defense, it is tangentially related. ]

[hearthwarming]

Well... I was thinking more in honor of you.

[ But... As a tribute to the rest of the Pact soldiers works, too. It could certainly be both. In the end, it's up to Trahearne to breathe meaning into the bouquet with whatever words accompany them. ]

I can't even imagine how difficult navigating all of that must have been, but... I think, for both of your sakes, you can allow yourselves to grieve the time you lost while promising to make good on the time you've been granted moving forward.

[pactmarshal]

Oh.

[ He feels his expression fall. It's...true, though. Syrlya has spent seven long years without him, mourning him. Perhaps it can be in honor of the thousands that gave their lives to everlasting peace on Tyria, but he would most certainly count as one among them.

This bouquet is for Syrlya, for them, so perhaps it's all right if he shoulders that symbolism for himself. A little piece of him in his gift to him. Maybe he wouldn't have it any other way.

And after that moment of thought, he smiles. ]

I think so, too.

[ He places a hand to Ori's holding the flower to lower it so he can look at her. ]

That is very thoughtful of you. I know stewing in my "if-only"s will sour my mood, so I genuinely hope the same.

[ His eyes dart to the bundle of flowers on the counter. ]

And I hope he likes the bouquet.

[hearthwarming]

Ah, well... If Syrlya doesn't like the bouquet, I think I'm supposed to offer you a refund or something...

[ Is that how running a business works? Who knows? She sure doesn't. ]

Or you can always blame it on me! Say it was my idea, or that I made you take a bouquet, or something...

[pactmarshal]

Oh, no. I won't be doing that. And that's not necessary.

[ A wry smile cracks over his face. ]

You are not responsible for Syrlya's reaction to the gift, nor do you need to take the blame. Your job is to help me pick the flowers, and you're doing it wonderfully so far.

[ Ah, that's right-- ]

Tell me how much I owe you.

[hearthwarming]

Oh, um...

[ She is just going to say... a random (low-balling) amount of currency. ]

Or maybe a bit of your fall harvest? What are you and Kaspar growing on your farm these days?

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne comes back with a higher amount please, Ori, ]

--And that could work, too. [ His gaze briefly darts out the window. ] The forest is relatively dark, so we have plenty of mushrooms. We also have a sizeable orchard, if you would like fruit or coffee beans.

[ They have a lot! ]

But I would rather you take that as a gift as friendship, not as payment.

[hearthwarming]

[ Okay, well... That higher amount sounds good...

But her thoughtful expression brightens considerably as soon as he mentions coffee beans. ]

Oh, but coffee beans would be perfect! M drinks coffee every morning!

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne is fishing out his money, when-- ]

Does he?

[ There's...an unreasonable amount of intrigue in his voice. She looks so...happy. His hands pause as he studies her for a minute. ]

Would you like me to bring some by for you so that you may give them to him?

[hearthwarming]

[ A roll of 21 in Perception, finally, has her noticing the way he's regarding her, which immediately has her reddening and pausing mid-flower arranging. Was she being too much...? ]

Ah, um... Yes, I'd appreciate that a lot, Trahearne. Plus, I think he'd appreciate it all the more knowing they were grown by you and Kaspar.

[ They're beloved neighbors, after all! ]

M, he... He leaves me flowers in the kitchen, so I think I can do something like this for him, too.

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne pauses for a second, staring at Ori in slight disbelief.

The day he met Ori, he'd suggested to M-21 that he leave Ori some flowers, even arranged them in the vase for him... Has he...been doing that ever since? Has he become an accidental wingman?

That Ori looks like she wants to reciprocate sparks something in Trahearne. He's going to play matchmaker if it's the last thing he does. He beams. ]

That would be a splendid idea. I'm sure he'd love that. [ Note to self: drop by with coffee later. ]

And I'm sure he'd appreciate it all the same knowing it just came from you. I think I speak for both of us when I say we're perfectly happy not taking credit for the gift.

[ HINT... HINT... ]

[hearthwarming]

[ HINT........? She is too preoccupied by blushing while continuing to work on Syrlya's bouquet. ]

But you both worked hard to cultivate them! Of course I'm going to give credit where it's due...

[ whoosh. ]

Though, hm... Could you drop by during the evening? He's usually working at the restaurant around then, and I kind of want it to be a surprise in the morning...

[ her hand pauses as she's trimming leaves off of a stem. Is that... too much? It this normal roommate behavior? Is that even possible given the fact that they've fooled around...!? ]

[pactmarshal]

[ Oh, no. The blush is obvious. TAKE THE HINT ORI!

And usually Trahearne's the one missing out on hints. He withers a little bit. He really doesn't mind not taking credit...

He doesn't even know if M-21 credited him for the flowers. He doesn't particularly care.

Still-- ]

I don't mind at all. Would you like me to drop by tonight?

[hearthwarming]

Sure, but—

[ Her gaze flits down to the bouquet that's taking shape in her hands. ]

When were you going to talk to Syrlya?

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne peers curiously at Ori. ]

Tomorrow morning.

[ His evening is free. He has this scheduled out. Did he schedule it wrong... ]

[hearthwarming]

Oh, I see.

[ She grabs an elastic to bundle the flowers together in their current arrangement, and then starts to go about wrapping the bouquet in brown paper, making sure that the ends of the stems peek out, so that he can let them sit in a vase of water until tomorrow morning. ]

Then, make sure you put these in water when you get home later! Anytime after sundown should be fine to drop off the coffee beans. I'll be home by then.

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne watches as Ori puts the bouquet together, and...it's gorgeous. The colors, the arrangement--they all remind him of Syrlya, in a way. He tries to keep the smile from bursting across his face, and he holds his breath, biting down on a lip.

What he can't help, though, is the faint gold flush on his cheeks. ]

All right. I'll do just that.

[ He holds out his hands... gimme. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ Wow, wait like two more seconds!? After wrapping the paper, she will adorn it with a nice ribbon.

And then she plops the bouquet into his waiting hands. ]

There you go. I hope everything works out for you both, Trahearne... Just speak from... [ wait, he doesn't have a hard. Neither of them do. ] Your soul. And speak your whole truth. Okay?

[pactmarshal]

[ Trahearne looks down at the bouquet, cradling it in his arms. That he'll give this to Syrlya--it causes his gut to flutter a bit. He's nervous. But he's ready. ]

I will. [ He looks up at her with a bright smile, undaunted and confident. ] Thank you, Ori.


[ Much later in the night, after Trahearne has properly stored his flowers, he puts together a few bags of roasted coffee beans from their orchard and makes his way to the neighboring farm. Knock, knock, Ori! Hope you're awake! ]

[hearthwarming]

[ She's awake this late at night, because of course she is... She's even sober! Things are great. And if it smells like freshly-baked lavender earl grey scones in here, it's because there are freshly-baked lavender earl grey scones cooling on the counter.

She answers the door, cute kitchen apron and oven mitts and all. ]

—Aha! Hello, neighbor!

[pactmarshal]

Hello, neighbour. Oh, it smells lovely in there.

[ He greets her with a smile, face aglow and everything, and hands her the bags of coffee beans. ]

As promised.

[hearthwarming]

[ She takes the bags in her oven mitt-clad hands and nods. ]

Thank you so much! Say, I know you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow, but do you want to stop in for a moment and taste test these scones...?

[pactmarshal]

I don't mind sparing a moment, no.

[ Once the coffee's been handed over, he steps inside, eyeing the scones. ]

Did you make these? [ STUPID QUESTION of course she did. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ what a stupid question oF COURSE SHE DID. ]

I did!

[ She even looks quite proud of them! ]

I had some leftover lavender blooms at the shop that weren't looking too great, so I wondered if I could use the flowers to make a syrup for pastries...

[pactmarshal]

[ Ooh. Trahearne wanders over to the counter and studies all of them. They smell so good! And look so good! Ori is a professional. ]

A smart and resourceful idea, Ori.

[ He plucks one from the counter and bites into it... And look at the way his expression lights up! ]

These are delicious! [ He turns to her with approval on his face. ] Smart, resourceful, and a good cook. [ ... heh ] M-21 is lucky to have you.