Mithar Keep & Frescot House IV: Magic babble lies within

[Gullara]

[A Visit!]

"I know, I know. I'm okay." Sakura assures them, though she has no problem taking Cessie's advice. "Yes, he's as real as any of our kids." She answers Adir. And speaking of the rose baby, maybe she should pass him off. She looks back at Cessie, but she's already occupied with Gwydion... "Cessie, could you take him for me?"

[Murkus]

((Somehow managed to unsub from this thread >_>))

[A Visit!]

Gwydion looks wide-eyed up at his aunt Cessie, seemingly able to sense her panic. The tiny boy snatches at Mrs. Mithar's dress with silly twitches of his fingers. His mouth is occupied with a pacifier, though even if it weren't, he probably wouldn't be making much noise.

"Maybe I can take one when we get to the hospital, Cessie," Adir suggests. "So..." He begins, obviously speaking to Sakura. What a mad thing they're getting themselves into. "Five kids." This is mad.

[Shadowcaller]

[A Visit!]

Cessie isn't actually wearing a dress, her current attire is a long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants. She is about to suggest that they don't have to raise the rose-child, but handing him out to adoption might not be the best idea either. She doubted these two would mind having yet another baby that much anyway, despite Adir's wording. She she just accepts the rose-baby without a word, doing her best to help.

[Gullara]

[A Visit!]

"Yeah, faster than I woulda expected too." Sakura has no problem with that many, but they're all so young... And twins last time was hard enough, this is basically the same thing again. "Let's talk about this after, okay?" She's really not feeling up to this conversation right now.

(We can probably jump ahead to after the birth now. Sound good?)

[Murkus]

[A Visit!]

"Of course," Adir says quickly. He was expecting something like that, but his mouth tends to get away from him. He drives on.

((Fine by me. Uh, not sure if Adir would be allowed to stay with her during labor, but he probably will try at any rate.))

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

The keep is oddly quiet despite the fact there are now three children living inside of it and even more servants walking about gathering cleaning up the yard. Garn has just finished helping out the two magma elementals and moves towards his next task, checking up on the babies. But as the gargoyle enters his eyes are drawn to his mistress sitting alone on the coach on the living room, staring out the window.

"Creat- Cessie? You need something?" Garn grunts in his deep voice.

She doesn't answer at first but then slowly turns at him. "No. ´Just go and check on the children, Garn." She simply orders before turning back to her window watching.

The gargoyle hesitates at first, something he doesn't usually do, but sometimes his creator made him worried. Especially after Harnel had left. Garn hadn't really understood all of it but there had been screaming loud voices and crying some time ago and then one day he had simply left. Garn didn't know why, Garn didn't want to know why since his creator had never told him. So the gargoyle had simply assumed it was for the best, yet his creator didn't seem very happy about it at all. For days now she had either kept herself in her room, just coming out occasionally to take care of the children or get food, or taken long walks without any notebooks or equipment.
So Garn was surprised to see her outside now. She looked even bleaker than usual, her eyes sunken in and her her hair and clothes unkept. This was not like his creator at all and it made him for once question if Harnel leaving had been a good thing for her.

Then again, those screams had been pretty loud...

[Gullara]

[Fall]

A short while later, Sakura walks through the portal between their homes and up to the front step. She wishes she could be here more. Cessie needs all the support she can give, but having two new babies to care for has kept Sakura busy. She puts that out of her mind as she pushes through the door. She can be here now at least.

"Oh Cessie..." Sakura hurries over to her friend the moment she catches sight of her. The dryad puts her basket down on the coffee table and sits down next to Cessie. "How are you holding up?" Sakura wraps her arms around Cessie and hugs her tight.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

"Sakura, hey..." Cessie turns to her friend but seems surprised at the hug. Was she looking that miserable? "I was just about to eat something." She explains, or force herself to. She hadn't eaten all day. "You want anything? I will probably warm something in the microwave."

[Gullara]

[Fall]

"Oh no, you don't have to lift a finger for me. Here, I brought something for you." Sakura pulls the cover off her basket to reveal it's full of all kinds of colourful fruit. Sakura grabs an orange and puts it in Cessie's hands. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen and see what we can do with these."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

Cessie looks down at the orange in her hand. "I'm not sure I want to cook right now Sakura..." Cessie wasn't too fond of it either. "Let just Kirin handle that when she get's back." She shakes her head, having a hard time finding a reason for all this.

[Gullara]

[Fall]

"Hey, I said you wouldn't have to lift a finger. Come on, I can make you some lunch." Sakura stands and holds her hand out to help Cessie up. "How's a fruit salad sound?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

"I've never eaten fruit salad." Cessie admits as she grabs Sakura's hand and gets up. But she really had something else on her mind entirely. "How long will you be staying? I mean, anyway?"

[Gullara]

[Fall]

Sakura hooks her arm in Cessie's, scoops up her basket, and off they go to the kitchen. "Adir has the kids all day, so I don't have any plans to leave any time soon." Sakura squeezes Cessie's arm. and lets go. She puts the basket on the counter and grabs a knife. "I figure we can spend the whole day together. We don't hang out enough anyway. It'll be nice."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

Cessie nods silently but still smiles a bit at the idea. The house felt so very empty now despite the three kids. "You don't mind if I sit down again though, don't you? I didn't sleep very well last night. I still feel tired."

[Gullara]

[Fall]

"Of course. I'm just gonna whip these up quick for us." The dryad has to search a bit to find a cutting board, but in a couple minutes she's sitting across from Cessie again. "As much as I love the kids, it's kinda nice to have a break just to sit here with you." Sakura peels a banana and slices it into a big bowl. "How've my favourite little neices and nephew doing? Jillian isn't keeping you up too late, is she?" Sakura sure understands babies keeping you up late.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

"I usually..." Cessie starts, but seem to realize mid-sentence she has no idea what to say. She simply had to get this off her chest instead of trying to pretend everything was fine. "I don't know Sakura, I hope they're okay. But they will notice he's gone... what am I gonna say Sakura? How am I possibly going to explain it all?" She asks, looking the dryad in the eyes.

[Gullara]

[Fall]

Sakura bites her lip. She hadn't forgot about the kids. "I... I don't know. It'll be hard for them, but they'll accept it eventually." She wishes she could sound more reassuring, but what can she say?

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

The sorceress sigh and falls silent for a moment. But then she asks. "Do you think I did the right thing Sakura? Maybe I should have waited... It's just so much right now with Jillian and... I feel like such a horrible person." She buries her face in her arms, feeling more vulnerable than ever.

[Gullara]

[Fall]

"Oh Cessie, don't say that." Sakura shifts over and tries to hug Cessie. "You are an amazing person. Just because things never worked out with you to doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. It's just... sometimes things don't work out..." She hugs Cessie tighter.

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

Cessie huge Sakura back, normally not particularly fond of them. But now she just needed comfort. "I honestly haven't even told my family yet. They think we're still happily married." Cessie says in a heartbroken tone. While divorce was legal in Hestopia, unlike some other city states, it was still not very common.

[Gullara]

[Fall]

"Just ease into it. One step at a time. Don't worry about them. They're your family, they'll understand." Sakura reassures her. She can't really promise that, but come on, she's got to be right. Right? "You're the strongest person I know, Cessie. I know you're going to be okay."

[Shadowcaller]

[Fall]

"I don't feel very strong right now..." Cessie replies with a quiet sigh before looking the dryad in the eyes again. "Do you know what the worst thing is? That I barely feel any difference. He wasn't around for so long that I got used to it, and now he's gone forever..."

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

A little before noon one day, a woman in a white cloak steps out of a beam of light to peer up at the gate. She's tall, a little over six feet and she wears an ivory color dress with a moderately low neck, no sleeves, and ends a little below her knees. She's barefoot and sports raven black hair down to her shoulders, styled to bob a little above them. She look at the gate and gives a small sigh, feeling the sadness within the Keep before she knocks gently on it and broadcasting a general psychic message. Cessie? It's Jezebel. May I come in? She asks, her mental voice sounding gentle yet concerned.

[Shadowcaller]

Entrance

Outside Jezebel can see Garn being busy with cleaning the yard, so preoccupied that he doesn't even notice her.
Jezebel? She hears Cessie's voice echo back weakly after a moment of silence. What are you doing here?

[UncleWolf]

Gate

Just here to talk if you'd like, nothing more. I heard what happened. She admits as she settles down on the ground with her back against the gate. It's in a few tabloids even, but I've made a few calls and at least got the story pulled from the few I had influence with. Sorry I couldn't get them all. Something like this shouldn't be public.

[Shadowcaller]

Door

More silence follows before the sorceress eventually replies. I appreciate that, thank you Jezebel. But you wanted to talk? I will be a little while, but I'm coming down.

As she said, Jezebel will have to wait a bit before Cessie eventually opens the door for her, dressed up in one of her finer garments with a silky black vest and longsleeve white shirt underneath it. "Come on in, I'm all alone here at the moment. Kirin is taking the children to Sakura for a bit, I just felt like I needed to be alone a while. But I'm honestly growing weary of it by now." She's surprisingly open, but right now she simply didn't feel like being quiet and closed in. Even to a relative stranger like Jezebel. She had enough of that in the last few weeks since the divorce.

[UncleWolf]

Door

Jezebel stands up, clothes devoid of any dust from the ground, and opens the gate to walk towards Cessie. Despite her taller height at the start, Jezebel seems to be merely Cessie's height by the time she gets close, having changed so the mage won't have to look upwards. "It's understandable. Thank you for letting me in." She says sincerely before heading in as asked. She doesn't say any more at the moment, instead heading over to a nearby end table to set her hands on it. There's a soft glow under one of her palms and she raises it slowly, forming a crystal vase that's eventually revealed to contain some fresh purple orchids. "There. Better." She says softly with a smile before turning towards Cessie. "Yes, I came here to talk, but only if you wish me to. Otherwise I can simply be here for a bit as company."

[Shadowcaller]

Door

Cessie smiles slightly at Jezebel. "You won't have to shrink yourself down for me Jezebel, I'm used to looking up to people and it's not like everything here is made to accommodate someone much taller." She honestly wished she was a bit taller but at least Sakura was a lot shorter than her. Probably why she hanged out with her so much.
There was a hint of bitterness there though that Jezebel probably could pick up. Cessie had moved past grief and was more bitter about Harnel than anything else.
She seem surprised at the wase though. "You won't have to do all this for me, we barely even know each other. I appreciate the gesture though, just surprised you choose to come over. We haven't talked in a year." She looks at Jezebel curiously, was she really just here to talk? It wasn't how she had pictured the other woman.

[UncleWolf]

Inside the Door

"I don't have to, no. But I want to." Jezebel admits, leaning against the end table a bit. "As for the height, it's nothing. I like looking people in the eye better than looking down anyway." She adds before taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh. "No, I don't suppose we know each other well, but I like to think we understand one another. Probably better than either of us care to admit. And you're right, it has been a while. Things have changed quite a bit. I finally achieved what I wanted, so I see no reason not to help those I'm close to."

Jezebel considers the pair of them close? Well...it's odd, but it does make a weird sort of sense.

[Shadowcaller]

Inside the Door

The sorceress takes a seat at the table near the end table Jezzy is leaning against. "Close? In the 'hold your friends close and your enemies closer' sense perhaps." Her tone is light and mirthful however, she doesn't truly consider Jezebel an enemy these days. She didn't even know what she was doing now. "But if you wanted to talk and you already seem to know all about my situation, why don't you tell me what you've been up to? I could do hearing about someone elses life than my own for a change and I have nothing else to do right now anyway."