EXT - Victoriana Boarding House to Seiiki Temple; Callisto, day Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) strolled down to the boarding house, having previously sent a note about his impending visit. He was very clean, smelling of vetiver and pine, and no horse, no sweat, no dockwork lingering on him. And as he sauntered, in his way, he'd be singing a blues song,
"...My sister, she taught me how to read
Sister, she taught me how to read
If I don't read and soul be lost
Nobody's fault but mine..."
Lady Esher was leaning on her cane heavily today. The morning light was too bright, even through her dark smoked lenses. So she cringed slightly under the deep brim of her hat when she forced herself to step outdoors. She needed to hand off a letter to the annoyingly bright-eyed and energetic young courier waiting on the front porch of the Inn. The lad, or perhaps enterprising lass, tugged on their cap to the widow, took the few extra sterling she slipped into their free hand along with her whispered thanks to ensure the letter would be delivered expeditiously.
She really couldn't afford to waste another day. Once the missive was in the right hands, all she could do was hope and perhaps send a few inquiries by the other channels she had found.
Only once the youth scampered off did Llywellynn reach out her free hand to the nearest banister, lowering her head as she gave in to a moment of weakness. The world was slow dancing around her in a spray of light and shadow she couldn't look at without the ache growing behind her eyes. She tried to swallow carefully but the pain was still too sharp and she had to stiffen her spine to keep from shuddering from it.
This is where Lord Windgrace might discover Lady Esher, lingering tiredly at the top of the stairs of the boarding house. Only belatedly would she hear his cheerful singing, another bluesy tune to take her recollections back to a time when she could still bear the sun...When she could see the world the same as everyone else...
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) bounded up the stairs gamely, with a broad beaming smile, calling up to the fragile new potential friend in the rich urbane voice turned from it's song, "Lady Llywellynn, I hope you are ready for a fine walk, tell me you feel well enou--" He broke off because putting eyes on her, just the quicksilver pair, from his perspective, it seemed like she really might not be up for it. Finishing lamely, unaware that she saw him with a less human aspect on display, he'd still try at being cheerful, though concern coloured his tone, "--gh to tour the Seiiki?" As usual, there was no threat in him, apart from how he truly looked past the mundane world.
Dorian's voice washed over Llywelllynn like a dream of sunshine she could feel on all her senses in a world of deathly grey. His song had seemed surreal floating up to her and she hadn't been and still wasn't sure if she was in fact awake or not. The edges had been blurring too much between such states of mind in the last few days especially. She needed so desperately needed to find somewhere safe to sleep, before she collapsed completely from chronic lack of it....and the other pains she suffered from.
The lordling's actual nearness managed to snap her out of her daze at all. She lifted herself back up into her prim steel spined posture with a soft gasp, flustered from her momentary lapse of composure, especially out in public no less. Her ability to keep herself looking and acting normal was starting to slip rather alarmingly. The fact that despite being an unearthly creature defiant of death itself Dorian didn't seem to offer any threat to Llyw might make all the difference now. She had so few options left, she found herself reaching for him rather blindly with her free hand, towards the obvious concern in his tone as if it were a beacon of light. She was almost past the point of caring about the impropriety of such a gesture as she strove to lift her head enough to offer a thin but determined smile on her paler than normal face. The action appeared to pain her however, both the movement and the radiance of his true form accosting her hidden gaze. She was not sure she would ever get used to him or not. Only time would tell.
"I..I'll be fine, Lord Dorian..." She whispered even softer than before, calling him the same fashion he had called her, visibly rallying herself back together, "I am glad for your company, wherever you might want to escort me today. I really do need to find a better place..."
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) without hesitation or second thought took the hand that ventured toward him and moved to rest that hand upon his forearm that they might walk together. He was a surefooted and practiced escort for a lady, with a dancer's ease, his siblings had gifts that tended toward the mental and spiritual, his were physical, augmenting his inborn athleticism. Once he'd placed her hand there, he'd tap the sleeve over her arm in time in a four-count before starting to lead them down the stairs, remarking, "It is my sincere hope that you shall be well." It was not the done thing to question someone's wellbeing so openly until uttermost need dictated it, so he'd carry on with his job of raising her spirits, and showing her the town, but he did lean to murmur quietly and conspiratorially to the lace veil of her hat nearest him, "Would you like a sip of brandy from my flask? To fortify you?" To him it was a ready remedy for putting colour into cheeks, and he could block prying eyes before they hit the sidewalk proper. The fair hand that had tapped her sleeve to create a rhythm for her would tap the pocket that held the flask he never left home without. Well, it was his older one, as he'd traded the one he'd carried in the navy to the tanuki some weeks back. If he'd known that when he peered thus she might be seeing burning curiosity so literally in his eyes, he might not have taken that liberty, but he very much operated on a daily basis as if that part of him did not exist, out of habit.
Llyw was inordinately relieved that Dorian took her untowards behavior in stride, acting the perfect gentleman again. She really wasn't sure how to handle such kind displays but she was grateful for any gesture of it in her darkening days. Her hand seemed even slightly frailer than before, light and thin resting on the solid support of his arm. And even for his human level sense of smell, he might catch the faint whiff of fresh blood, very sweet, much like the subtle fragrance that clung to the woman herself, of honeysuckle and ironically enough, brandy and coffee....
"Oh...Yes, please, thank you so much, I do need a nip I think..." Esher accepted her companion's offer of imbibement without a shred of hesitation. She did have a slight habit at this point. The only reason she hadn't tried to drown all her sorrows in bottles of booze was her weak constitution. But a dram here and there to fortify the nerves was sought out on the regular. His tapping rythym actually did seem to help guide her down the stairs to the cracked pavers. This method was useful in letting her rest her eyes more often, as well as, more importantly she noticed just how much the horde of spirits seemed to avoid the man's vicinity. Thus he was providing a better escort than he was even aware of.
Llyw clung to his arm with a silent sigh of relief, noting his discrete tapping of the flash offered and tilted the shield of her hat such he could pull it out without drawing notice if necessary. She would not presume to touch the man anywhere he hadn't already guided her hand, if she could help it. Her momentary slip of manners was driven by lack of sleep rather than lack of decorum. But she did try to show a warmer small smile to the man, though perhaps abit closer to him now than might be considered strictly polite.
She was willing to weather the radiating mystical force of his glow and many eyes for the sake of brandy, surprising herself.
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) paused at the hedge that bordered the boarding house and would be pressing the warm finely engraved flask that had white-gold inlay making a very fancy W into her hand that had rested upon him. As he stepped in front of her he'd make casual conversation so she could nip without being seen, "The fields that produced this, my favored armagnac, never grew cane, but I swear the end of the stuff tastes like nothing so much as burned sugar atop a creme brulee to me." He was not nearly as young as he looked, but his joy in small things would mix up the aspect so that he was a walking contradiction with wisdom and patience that no man in his twenties possessed, but also a youthful vigor locked in place from stolen time. If he noticed that she smelled strangely, he again said nothing about it, but prattled on, conversationally, "I wonder if those fields even exist anymore, the war carrying on as it has. It is a fine thing to be able to be far from the front. Is it not? Had I not already done my service for the royal navy, I might feel I owed their majesties more, but..."
The moment she was done he'd take the thing back, stash it away, and put eyes on her again rather than scanning the environs for anyone studying them then hold out his arm for her hand to find its place in the crook there again.
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: Llyw almost opted to keep her featherlight grip on Dorian's arm and just loop her cane by the handle to her wrist. She was startled to find herself not wanting to let him go now he had proven to be such a stalwart support warding off the worst of the worlds around her. All despite his inhuman appearance and presence crawling over her skin. But if it meant she had some small measure of protection, she was willing to endure nearly anything less terrible than her current state of awareness. She realized how unbecoming that would look as he took a step to casually block her from any idle gossips and she was touched by his thoughtful consideration. Truly some of his gallantry so far might seem far more discerning than the age the world saw of him, but Llyw had no means to compare that to his true self in her eyes. She just thought him a kind monster, unlike all the rest she knew of so far.
She accepted the offered container with her free hand ultimately. She noted the excellent craftsmanship of it, could feel the lingering unnatural heat from his body warming the metal under her gloved fingers. She was suddenly rather shy about the notion of taking a swallow of warm brandy from his flask, but after this morning she needed it badly. His conversation served as more of an anchoring point to the present moment next to him than he might ever realize...but when she carefully opened the topper and lifted it to her delicate lips, she was surprised by how strong and *good* the liquor tasted. She managed to only take a small sip, handed the flask quickly back, in case he wanted a nip too. She was too busy enjoying the flavor of something that didn't have the tinge of death in it for the first time in too many years to count. She was almost too dazed to feel any embarassment over the exchange or even marvel at how this was possible. She instead felt the fire spread down to sooth the pain lingering at the base of her neck and she offered up a slightly perked up smile for the undeathly being's trouble.
This time she didn't have any qualms resting her hand on his arm again, finding the gesture almost familiar already. "Thank you, kind sir...That has helped immensely. We can head over to the sights you want to showcase at your leisure." There was a slight flush to her pale cheeks now before her hat dipped down just enough to block his burning curious gaze tingling over her senses. She did sound far more chipper and put together than before at least.
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) was a very warm-blooded Englishman, even before he had magic running through the atoms that made him up. Having been a kind man before he was a kind monster, he carried a literal warmth to accompany that of his persona, in a small thermocline around him. He'd readied some points of interest and started in on them; given she seemed bolstered. He measured his footfalls to not challenge her, kept a wary soldier's eye on the world around them, and importantly, perhaps most gentlemanly, he did not ask questions about why she seemed blind and not, frail but with means to combat that, unafraid of any potential contagion or challenge before her. He was not a pedant, so his explanations wandered, "Some years back the royal navy and imperial one saw that this place was something special. On land, harbors and capitals have intention, perhaps a certain set of rivers and rocks making a place ideal. But this island, it is something beyond that. It is a grand project, where the entire place is really rather not unlike what the Bourbons did outside Paris with Versailles. It is as grand a vision." His French, when he slipped into it, was just past a British noble's negotiation of a tongue he'd had long years to get comfortable with mispronouncing just so. "See this rift here, which the bridge spans? It divides the isle, carrying waters from the wilds. I have a deep seated wish to get a canoe or a kayak or a bloody gondola if I must and row the thing through here, just because the current taking one back downstream would be no work at all. I think you shall find that the Seiiki side of the isle is just as fine as ours. There is a meadow outside a tea ceremony pavilion that is most lovely. Where our tendency is toward the practical with aesthetics as the afterthought, the Japanese build aesthetics into what is practical."
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: "Creme brulee..." Llyw mused on a snippet of Dorian's earlier conversation, something that stood out to her in the warm tide of his words. "I do miss it so..." She sounded so wistful, as if it was something she couldn't have again, that bracing measure of brandy having loosened her qualms just enough to let some of her inner thoughts slip out. Dorian made it easy, far too easy in some ways she couldn't even explain to herself, to become comfortable with him, to let her guard down just enough to perhaps risk saying too much.
She just didn't have the energy left to marshal her caution properly, holding onto the offer of aid he represented in various ways and even his undying form might be part of this dynamic, whether she was willing to admit it or not. And then she didn't care to contemplate the matter any further, no bandwidth for any such speculations when she had far more pressing concerns she had to address or all was lost. Navigating the streets was a much smoother quicker affair with the golden silver-eyed Windgrace to guide her and inadvertently ward her from the Other side. Once she stepped foot onto the bridge, the change was even more profound than usual. She nearly swayed on her feet in sudden relief as she felt the cool current of that metaphysical divide that mirrored the physical one bisecting the island in two as if a God had smote it asunder ages ago.
This pause and change of demeanor was noticeable even to a man trying to studiously ignore all the quirks of his lady companion. Only here on the crossover between lands, here over moving waters from deep to shallow, from wilds to the sea, only here was she almost *free*. Free for a moment from all the moaning ash choked ghastliness of the deathlands all around her. She was too tired to pretend otherwise and she had to stop to catch her breath.
She was abashed enough by her faltering that she finally felt steady enough to take off her hat so she wouldn't seem to be avoiding Dorian's attention any longer. Though she could feel his gaze far too keenly she didn't want to seem rude towards such a generous inhuman man. Her pale blond hair streaked with grey and silver wasn't quite as smoothly tucked as usual and she had a certain new level of pallor that might look rather alarming in the full light of day But she directed a warmer smile to him now than he might have yet seen from this frail widow.
She strove to focus back on his words, again offering no explanation for her odd behaviors, not yet. Though perhaps if he asked, out of all the persons she had encountered, she might actually feel inclined to give him true answers.
"The architecture is much simpler and easier on the eyes. This side of town is so much more restless, I've found....A tea ceremony sounds lovely in fact..." She mustered up enough of an effort to almost speak at a normal tone here, the alcohol loosening the knot of pain around her voicebox,"I've never been given the opportunity to try boating of any kind I'm afraid, but I would be happy to watch you if you decide to attempt the feat. I am sure you would succeed excellently."
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) took her opening up in stride as he had everything else. Though his smile growing in response surely demonstrated that he noticed, when it fanned out from mere crescent to dimplesome. As if to encourage her visibly loosening up he'd step back to let her take a breath of fresh air, like a set of choreographed steps envisioned before undertaken, and after a twelve count, and some remarks, he'd offer his arm again, "I am not ashamed to say that I have a great deal of experience, having been enlisted in the finest navy this world has ever seen." He was proud of being English, there could be no doubt of that, which was really very human of him. "Should I find there to be an agreeable journey for a novice waterman, I shall endeavor to see if you might like to join me, hm? But for today..." He indicated his readiness to walk again with that offer of his arm, and explained on, "Tea ceremony is a beautiful thing, from what I have read of it. I have not attended one myself, though I have been learning how the thing is performed from the samurai tales I have availed myself of. I met a descendant of the Date clan, very famous swordsmen from Sendai, in the north of the main isle, here on Callisto. The place has called to very fine people from right across this entire world, I think. Do you smell that?"
Apart from sea brine, the faint smell of smoke of all kinds, in the sea breeze, there was the smell of Japanese cookery, soya drenched things, noodles, dango, little coal fires to roast street food, and heat pots of dashi. "Mmmmm. I would encourage you, my lady, to learn using chopsticks, it is a lark, and it is not so hard as it seems. The trick is to band them together from the start to learn to grip them correctly. To hold the resting one as you would a well inked pen." His footfalls carried them further into that side of the isle, to a sort of crossroads that was the the main drag of the Seiiki.
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: Lady Esher was again provided the exact sort of consideration she needed whether she realized it or not from the Windgrace twin. The moment was very much as if she gained a second wind from whatever ailment dragged at her vitality so. If she could have gotten away with it, she would have been happy to camp on the damn bridge to keep the dreary press of the dead at bay. But she was not quite desperate enough to look a vagabond and no doubt end up in a much dreaded and feared cage of some kind. Her natural wariness was painfully ingrained for very good reasons.
She was reluctant to move on back into the fray, but her company gave such an unexpectedly charming invite she was startled into taking his arm without thought and being guided over to the relatively calmer side of the isle. "Oh, I.. I'm flattered, good sir, truly. I would have to be in far better health. I would not want to impede your boating adventures." She waved off the notion somewhat flustered but regathered her poise as Dorian proceeded to escort her carefully and regale her with various interesting points of fact and personal experience.
When Dorian paused however with his question, she hesitated, working hard to hide a cringing inward draw of her shoulders, pressing her softly pink lips together into a somewhat grim line briefly before she smoothed her expression, nodding to his comments going forward. "I will take your word for it, Lord Dorian. I am sure the food here is both exotic and tasteful. I've never tried chopsticks however. I suppose if you don't mind showing me how to use them I would be happy to try."
Did she just casually request his presence again for an outing? Apparently she had and didn't even seem to be aware she had asked in that way. She stopped in the crossroads with him in the middle of the Seiiki district and steeled herself to look at him directly, lifting her delicate chin to face him with her black lenses. She braced herself for his unnatural presentation and coloring and overall uncanny presence and found her eyes didn't hurt as much this time, or perhaps in this place...His many eyed wings however still sent an odd ache under her skin and she had to lean on her cane again, looking away with both a hint of shyness and tiredness bleeding through her decorum.
For his part, Dorian might note by now just how stiffly Llyw held her shoulders and neck, as if perhaps she was suffering from a sore back perhaps.
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes) felt she seemed to be completely overwrought, from all he could see of her, contradiction that she was, young and old, steel-strong and deathly pallid, blind, but using her eyes, but he would not inquire after anything she did not wish to offer up in terms of information about herself. He'd explain, "We shall have to take a meal together then, and I can show you how thoughtful it was to invent a cuisine that did not require bringing a knife to the table. There are a few properties to let around here, but I wanted to offer, if you are at wit's end, though our home is rather full, if you need a respite from the business of a boarding house, our shop is uninhabited in the evenings, and our man Hiram patrols our dockside holdings and the shop. And you can sample the music on your own then." He did not know that the place's warding might help her, but she might surmise from what she knew of his house that the family kept their property shielded from arcane interferences. Upon that offer, he'd turn to see how it hit her, to inform himself as to whether to bring it up again, but walk them into the quiet traffic of the area, "You can see the shops are lively, and look there, that is the meadow I spoke of." He'd pause near a stall and gesture to the field of flowers rather than the buildings any more. He presumed she had some sort of access to envisioning those things herself, and certainly the agency to request a side-trip to any place she saw and wished to visit.
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: Lady Esher was perhaps a bit of an enigma despite all the quirks she displayed. What was clear to see was the utter determination that seemed to animate her abiding frailties. What it would take to get her to open up about her troubles was unknown, if anyone cared to try.
As long she had his arm to help provide guidance she seemed capable enough to proceed with full confidence down the lane with any pauses she might do if on her own. Though as the crowd grew more numerous as they headed further into the neighborhood, she slowed slightly, clearly not comfortable at all around large crowds by the few signs of body language she didn't manage to mask.
Dorian's offer did immediately swivel her glasses up towards him like a magnet. Llyw had to stop herself from an automatic refusal however, no matter how much an imposition to his family or how unusual an arrangement it might be for her reputation. At this point she would take nearly anything over the horror show of her current residence. Anywhere that she could lay her head in peace at least. She pinned her hopes on the guess that the Windgraces had the means to shield all their properties. For some reason, as long as she was not in a guest room at their mansion, this charity didn't seem too odd to accept.
She took a moment though before replying careful so as not to seem too eager, though her soft voice carried a slight edge of her plight nonetheless...and a warm rush of gratitude she couldn't hold back, the most expressive she had ever been with him or anyone on this island yet, "Oh, my stars, I...I will accept your kind offer, Lord Dorian. I am very grateful for your help in so many ways. I do insist on repaying you in some way. That would take a great burden off my thoughts. I could take the time to proper research properties, rather than try to drag you by the elbow around today." She was smiling, a small burst of sunshine from behind the dark clouds of her stoicism, making her almost a touch winsome. She even seemed to have a bit of humor to her reply, so relieved she was almost dizzy with it.
She looked to the indicated meadow still slightly dazed by her improving luck, at least so far. She gently shook her head however, knowing he couldn't see all the broken shards of bone sticking out the grass there, some very old, some terribly new.
"I heard there was a temple of some kind on this side of Callisto. Might we see that if you are willing to show me the way, good sir?"
Well, though she spoke quietly as always, it seems she might have a small measure of charm herself when she put her mind to it. In any case, her mood had greatly improved with the lordling's offer of hospitality. The music was just a bonus...
Llywellynn Devoreaux (llywellynndevoreaux): *down the lane, unlike any pauses she might
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes)'s grin persisted, perhaps even intensified when she accepted. He'd explain a very easy mutual back scratching, "You could open the shop, if you would like, the earliest hours are not our most favoured, nor busy, but if that and the very comfortable Corinthian leather couch there, well that would be ample recompense for now. And I think we should to the temple, thank the gods for our good fortune in having a mutual endeavor, hm? This way, if you will." He was easy in mien and delighted in tone, again speaking off the cuff about the island, "I have found Shinto more than Buddhism almost opaque to understand, for all the apparent simplicity of it. Even so, you will find the aesthetic lovely and lofty, I deem. And we shall pass the onsen on the way, hidden gem, that. It is a hotsprings, and it delights the body, enlivens the spirit to have such a soak, by my estimation."
Dorian navigated the crowds with ease, putting himself between her and any apparent dangers, and as they neared the foot of the stair up to the temple, he'd gesture up that way to give her time to fortify herself for the little climb. The air here was more humid and mineral from the springs nearby.
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: Llywellynn responded to Dorian's enthusiasm almost like a flower opening to the sky, if everso slightly by the most observant. The mutual benefit arrangement was exactly the sort of thing that made the odd situation workable for her in fact. She nearly grinned back at him, her wan face almost becoming cheeky for a second. "Yes, that would be perfect. I am agreeable to those terms, good sir." She replied with a sliver more life in her delivery and in her step. Hope was such an elusive but intoxicating drug for the truly desperate.
Thoughts of a couch, of whatever material binding it, filled her sleep deprived mind for a long minute or two as Dorian led her towards her requested location. So she startled when he stopped at the foot of rather steep stone stairs leading upwards towards a rather large looking compound in the Asian style. She noticed the peach blossoms next, pale pink petals falling around her as the breeze shifted undecided, at first drifting one way then the other to swirl the motes of color around the pair briefly. For some reason she couldn't explain, the scent of this specific tree was clear of rot and mold and she breathed it in deeply as the wind brought the floral aroma to her. It was refreshing in a way she hadn't felt in so very long. She was so starved of normal sensory information that such simple things could bring at least a small flash of joy.
A whiff of the onsen he mentioned however when the wind shifted to bring the mentioned humid minerals to her nose was not so blessed but she didn't dare to look. She could smell what lurked in the steaming waters there. "I will have to take your word for that too, Lord Dorian." She replied, indicating yet more restrictions on her way of life without explaining why. He did not press which was a relief as well. Though perhaps the time might come that her need to tell *somebody* would yield him up at the first choice.
She had made note of the fact he actively squired her through the busy lanes to get here, so she had gained a small measure of trust in the man, despite his many glowing eyes and deathless perfection. "I suppose it won't hurt to offer some thanks for better fortune, though it is thanks to you, I must say." She smiled as she said this, as if she had no dealing with any such practices, but for this venture she was willing to go along with local customs. So she didn't linger long at the foot, nodding to him to indicate she was ready. The Windgrace had managed to brighten this unhappy widow's day by all counts.
Dorian (alexandros.lycomedes): || At this pause in the venture, though she was ready, he'd slip his arm from hers and step away to catch a passing vendor. He'd pass over money for some stems of sunflowers, then offer these to his companion, explaining, "Should you wish to leave an offering, or just to brighten your path." He'd offer his arm again, once she'd taken them, and begin the trek up the large broad stone stair, taking them leisurely. "I shall have a key sent to you that you may let yourself in and out, and inform my kindred that you have accepted our offer. Drystan and Delilah are wonderful people, my brother and sister you have not met yet." Naturally he was not worried about being stolen from, they kept close eyes on their books and holdings, and he did not think the frail widow was a con. The generosity rested easily on the back of actual manpower and security. Bearing them upward, he'd offer, "I hope this arrangement does not preclude our ongoing friendship. I should hate for you to feel our fellowship is out of balance... ...just because I have offered you a modicum of aid. Perhaps if there was someone bothering you or taking advantage, as a friend, I would like to help." Surely she would understand the barely coded language that was his attempting to make certain she did not feel beholden to yield anything she did not wish to. A promise, perhaps of certain questions to come when he would not feel extortionate. He'd fall silent as they reached the top, but before that, explain, "I shall leave you here for now, if you would like some time to reflect? I hope you do not feel marooned?"
Lady Llywellynn Devoreaux Esher: Lady Esher was still distracted by the tantalizing possibility of getting actual sleep. It was a literal life saving, what Lord Dorian had offered her. Perhaps eventually she would admit that to him.
She was startled from her thoughts again by the appearance of sunflowers in her line of vision, fully intact, vibrant ones sticking out of that pale undying hand of his. She looked up at him as if shocked before she offered her usual slight smile, taking the offering and the advice graciously. In her hand and only in her eyes however the flowers wilted into dark limp things, as all the rest of the world did where ever she looked. Everywhere except where Dorian and his sister existed. She had no real idea why though she had plenty of guesses. But she couldn't think beyond the next night's tortures so having the prospect of an end to her suffering took all priority over the nature of her benefactors.
She took his hints in stride, nodding to his instructions, noting his mentions of imbalance of power and she shook her head with a warmth to her lips now almost bemused. Now that the matter had come up, she would have to explain at least a little, "Not to worry of such things, good sir. I've ran an estate for many years and will see to whatever requirements you need on the matter. Though normally I might not accept a situation where I am provided services, this arrangement is of mutual benefit i the short term as you have stated. I would very much like to continue our friendship, Lord Dorian, as it is. I do not believe that will change. Despite my ill health I have the resources of a Viscountess of Esher. I intend to give an Endowment to the university in fact quite soon."
Finally spelling out her own depth of wealth, she let him help her up the stairs to the serene interior of this exotic place of worship. Most importantly she felt the calming wash of the ward as she stepped over the threshold of it. Again she was almost dizzy with the protection it gave, shutting out almost all the terrible ruin of the earth and sky and the screaming souls wandering both from her senses. She sighed aloud with the feeling this time, her expression open and easy for the first time, fleeting as peach blossoms in the wind, as she turned to her deathless companion. "I do hope we can continue to be friends, Dorian. I hope you don't mind me saying so and I hope you won't mind showing me how to use chopsticks when there is time."
The Windgrace lordling was always on the move and busy with his various pursuits so she was not surprised when he had to move on to the next venture. He had already given her so much more than he realized and she was happy to have met him again in any case. Her appreciation beamed from her smile as she gave farewell, clearly intending to stay at the oasis of peace and quiet for the afternoon. "Thank you for the wonderful tour and opportunity, Dorian. I hope the rest of your day is wonderful too."
So the widow was left at the temple with sunflowers in hand and hope for once blooming in her heart.
