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JANET MONTGOMERY as LINDSAY in IN A RELATIONSHIP (2018) dir. SAM BOYD

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Though often found in an abundance of clothing draped over her lithe frame, shedding such layers and walking forward so brazenly did not strike her as something to feel nerves towards. Agnes walked into the bathroom with intention, a confident stride built from the promise of what crossing that threshold truly intended. She did not choose this blindly, whatever friendship between them had already been muddled with a kiss shared when Nylathria had taken care of the genasi when she'd been captured and meant to become grey. Even the memory was chilling, but nothing could freeze the true warmth of this moment nor lull her from this reality unfolding before them.

Agnes took Nylathria's hand to dip into the water which had, naturally, been set to a perfect temperature by the genasi long before the other had entered the cabin. It soothed even Agnes' weary bones, and she hoped Nylathria would feel a similar affect, tension slipping from her. "That's definitely my intention - I don't mean to coddle you, I simply want to make you feel as special as you truly are. Perhaps my urging to have you rest was stated with a more duplicitous intent... but," she looked up at Nyla through the steam swarming them, smiling genuinely, "I had missed you."

From within the bathroom she hears Agnes words of being more than simple friends. It warmed her to her bones to know that she hadn’t been alone in that line of thinking. She lowered herself into the bath as she continued to listen to Agnes words. Eye peering over to the door frame where her beauty stood. “There is nothing for me to forgive. I appreciate your forwardness.” If it wasn’t for it Nyla would be stuck always living in the past, because even if she felt guilty for every moment spent with Agnes it also felt right. Like the other was what she deserved.

Nyla’s eyes drank in the silhouette of the body that had been hidden beneath all them cloth. Though a certain part of Agnes dress had never gone unnoticed by the seers eyes. Arms crossed over the edge of the bath bad the perfect perch for her chin to rest so she wouldn’t miss a moment of the other “you sure know how to make a woman feel special Agnes.” It was said with a love sick melody. With one hand outstretched she invited the other to join her inside for a soak.

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"It's arguably the most important one," her eyes scanned Mikhael with teasing scrutiny, going back up to his innocent face, "When you pray to your god, Mikhael, do you not offer your adoration, your loyalty, in blood?" Maybe she was being a touch too critical, but she found him to be such a conundrum especially when it came to faith and his ties to other affiliations.

"Indeed it was not, but I learned the scriptures well," hummed absently, Agnes found herself rather tuned out to her own childhood woes. She'd endured them, survived them, she needn't think of them any longer now that she was long freed. "You follow a similar faith, but will you cull them for what they've done? What they'll do?"

“Such a  comforting substance to be bonded through,” he mutters, even as his lips twitch into a smile of amusement. It is true that he had found himself bonded with people for far lesser endeavors than the one they conquered as a group. It had a rather haunting quest that they had gone through, and despite everything, he remains satisfied with the results. He had learned a good lesson that day, that most of his own worries about his species were his alone, and others did not care nearly as much. 

“That must not have been easy, or even pleasant, as a druid,” he says, brows raised in surprise as he learns more of Agnes than he ever expected. Whatever he has to say about Agnes, having to grow up in Astoria as a supernatural being is not something he wishes for anyone. “I don’t begrudge your lack of desire to approach. The country might be in a civil war, but as far as I know the so-called Divine still holds some power. Being close to the border when the Astorian Vanguard is desperate for blood... It’s not ideal.”

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"If you're ever traveling and in need of refuge, seek the Stumble Inn," her words still, somehow, relate to the more cryptic manner of druids, but the invitation is one offered sincerely. The Inn, permissible by Deja herself, had always been this place for Agnes to meet with others, learn their intentions, and decide whether they'd be friend or foe; a neutral place, one made of a wayward crew Deja had collected over the years. "What woes have you suffered under, druid?" Veseniya's retort felt ominous, this grief laden feeling that centered around something personal and indelible within her.

As Agnes poised her question, the answer came easily, Agnes nodding almost solemnly. Years felt like a simmered approach to the brunt of the truth and Agnes wondered how long and haunting the years had truly stretched for this one. "You weren't ready," a simple statement, spliced with maybe some sliver of sympathy. Within this life, Agnes was born with staggering dreams of avarice, that which went beyond simple monetary wealth. She dreamed of limitless power, wild beyond even her own imagination, and such dreams only tethered her to the Dark; a path which proved more occlusive than beneficial.

Agnes shook her head after a moment of great thought; she didn't like not knowing something and her pinched expression showed this openly to the other. "Not that I'm aware of, but I'll be looking into it once we're released from what binds us here."

Palms met and anxiously rubbed together as she considered the geographic location of the Queenslands. Perhaps it’s exact location was not important. What was, was the fact that the Darkness permeated their dreams from afar. This would not be the work of the Kossith, Veseniya thought, but the work of the Dark One, and she highly suspected the abductions and subjugation of those taken onto the dreadnought would only help to further His aim, even if it was not what the Kossith intended. Veseniya looked indifferent when Agnes spoke again; not with the genasi herself, but with the Circles. “Then they might have taken more care to create a pathway for me.” Joining the Legion had been a rushed decision as it seemed like the most obvious option to her at the time, but it had not been entirely thoughtless. And she much preferred to bring this life to a more swift end than to run out the full lifespan of druid-kind. 

“Most of my years were spent in the Arches, and the silence afforded me few lessons. Age and wisdom are not the same thing. But I do not need to tell you things you already know,” Veseniya responded without judgement. Agnes would have far more life experience than she, even at a fraction of her age. Whether in the cult or the Arches, Veseniya’s life had passed an extremely insular manner. 

Veseniya remained passive and unmoved in expression as she watched the water of the pool become agitated and darken. She had only observed the water, not touched it. Nor had it been her intention to disturb it in its glassy state moments ago. She did not suspect she was the cause of it, but perhaps the Blight that ran through her veins. “Do you know of any similar pools where the Kossith stake their false claims upon these lands?” Perhaps their presence tainted a once-pure stone.

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Janet Montgomery

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"The Fates has their own cruel plans for me, Freydis, you needn't worry about collateral damage," she lent herself to being far less cryptid than most other druids; Agnes knew her own damnation of the Fates influence lead to said Fates revolving back around that much harsher in the sense of the Dark. Despite this omen for herself, Agnes smiled warmly, though it was clear Freydis was still in a more rotten sense of being, a long road of recovery ahead, Agnes relished in the fact she was simply here in the flesh. She did not want to place her friend on this pedestal of veneration but often Agnes felt Freydis deserved such admiration tenfold; she would not die without a sacrifice relating to the world and preserving the life within it. Agnes only hoped that when her friend met her end, she would see the genasi in another life and know what she had left behind.

Freydis' exhaustion and weariness was clear and Agnes tried best to support her without fully emasculating her strengths. A shield could only take so much, it did not fall with the first blow, but Freydis had been under the duress of many adversaries; she needed to be treated with care and time. "I think your garden was a worthy sacrifice to the wildlife around, I wonder if the Kossith's plight towards Haven may have scared the animals closer here and they were able to have food and sanctuary within the perimeter of your home." Agnes liked to believe this as such, especially since it seemed the garden hadn't simply rotted away via abandonment or lack of care.

Agnes' smile remained, nodding along as Freydis spoke, "I'm not sure what will be next for me; I must return to the Queenslands eventually, there are some things I must check on, but for now, you and Nyla, have my attention and care." The smile morphed into something that lent to a more teasing regard, "Though I'm sure Nyla will soon throw a fit if I return too quickly; she's a very capable woman and doesn't like to be doted on so closely. So if you don't mind, you indeed have my company for a few hours if you'd like it." If Freydis truly wished to be at her lonesome, there was plenty around Haven where Agnes could lend a hand.

Agnes went towards the kitchen area while Freydis disappeared to change. As requested, four hearty lumps of sugar were tossed into Freydis' tea; the blend was strongly herbal, meant to soothe the shieldmaiden and hopefully offer some quelling to any inquietude to allow the other true rest. The genasi had made herself comfortable at the opposite end of the small round table, stirring her own tea, having sweetened it only with honey.

“I might argue that they ought to try harder, but I think they might smite me where I stand and you would be collateral damage,” she responded. Freydis attempted to remain humble, even when others around her would remind her that her deeds were many, frequently defied the odds, and–as Agnes pointed out–flew in the face of the Fates. But she rarely if ever had seen these accomplishments through on her own, and had done so in several cases side by side with Agnes. This thought could not help but draw a harrowing conclusion to how terrible Agnes’ treatment would have been on the vessel, and Freydis embraced the genasi a degree more closely. 

It was strange to be taken care of with such attentiveness and detail upon walking into her home. There had been others who bolstered her on the dreadnought–Eivor and his habitual willingness to listen and ability to understand her more than most, the druids Sakkara and Deimos who had reminded her of her ability to lead when she felt most stripped of power, and Ingrid’s healing of her ruined hands in their fruitless attempt to extract information from the surviving Kossith in the captain’s quarters. But she had not been taken care of like this, and more often than not Freydis had been leaned to rather than the other way around. To be seen a a soft place to land was something Freydis valued within herself, but her own fortitude had limits as well and she had been stretched miles beyond their boundaries. 

Freydis opened her mouth to respond regarding the tea–the bed, the bliss of a bath–but Agnes mentioned something else before the Veil Maiden could say much of anything. “I was looking at it and I noticed which stems were not picked from were chewed on. There was hardly anything left to rot–it seemed that travelers and wild things that came this way found what grew waiting for them,” she thought aloud. She was not sure if Agnes had spent as much time observing the empty patch of earth. “I think it’s better that way–that even if I wasn’t here, what was left behind helped them as they moved to safer territory.” But the garden was a total loss as it was now. She offered Agnes an expression that was the best approximation of a smile that she could manage. “Replanting will be plenty of work, but it might be good for me to have a project.” It would keep her hands and her mind busy, too occupied for dalliances in the shadows and doubts that had crept too close for comfort in the past when Freydis had not been mindful. 

“Would you fix us some tea while I change?” Freydis asked, her head canting to the side and a sort of soft desperation blooming in her eyes that begged Agnes not to go, not just yet. When she was fairly certain Agnes would not turn her down, she requested, “Four lumps of sugar for mine?” An absurd amount–but Freydis missed the comfort of sweetness. She was gone only for the few moments required to scrub her face and hands and change into fresher linen in the bedroom toward the back of the cabin before re-emerging—she ached to bathe properly and completely, but she desired company more.

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A humble cabin but Nylathria had yet to been to Agnes' own humble abode hidden in the lush forests of the Queenslands and even that was somehow smaller still than this. The genasi nodding accordingly, borderline apologetically, as Nylathria hissed and tensed beneath the ginger touch to her ribcage; she was certain there was nothing that could be done aside from time or magic but she had to wonder if allowing something ordinary for Nylathria would be a kindness considering what she'd been through. Magic was this double-edged sword and the Kossith had used Nylathria's own magic against her. As Nylathria was undressed before her, the bruising was more obvious, Agnes trying not to frown outright, "I can mend that for you, otherwise it would take some time on its own."

Nylathria soon slipped away from her and Agnes eyes trailing after the elvhen were unapologetic as they followed, Agnes' gaze answered Nyla's ultimatum before the elvhen could even state it. The genasi still smiled sweetly at this, the expression morphing into a delighted grin at what came next. "Forgive my forwardness, but I never found you to simply be a friend," Agnes reached behind herself to undo the strings that held the top of her dress together, the garment easily slipping to the floor. "An adversary, perhaps even once something of a foe," teasing to the trickery of the fey, "but then how quickly you became someone more."

Soon, Agnes' body was also bare, the trail of clothes behind the genasi as she stood within the doorframe. She was not a modest woman who felt decency was measured in how one hid themselves and she stood there unashamed before crossing the threshold from the doorway into the room. "You became someone I would fight for, perhaps even someone to live for." The Dark had been an unfortunate and eternal promise, but she would fight it so long as it continued to attempt to pry her and Nyla apart. "There is no questioning that what I want with you goes beyond the simple parameters of friendship, but friendship is indeed apart of it."

“No you wouldn’t shrink in my eyes” even if she did wove that Agnes was blinded by what was shared between them to make a different statement. There was something that was oddly comforting being in Anges hands, how nothing bad could happen to her as long as the other was there. A small hiss escaped her lips as Agnes touched her side, it was the most uncomfortable part about this exchange, the pain. Agnes made a good point that she should take her dirty rags into a clean area. As the other generously helped her remove her dress Nyla had a rose above her head in an aim to make the disrobing easier. Before she knew it her clothes were on the floor and only her undergarments gave her some dignity stood in front of Agnes. Gently removing herself from Agnes grasp she slinked towards the room where a scent of lavender was coming from. But she stoped in the door way and looked back over her shoulder “Agnes…” she needed to make it clear, so unbelievably clear that it couldn’t be misunderstood. “You are welcome to join me but if you wish to remain just friends you need to stay out here.” Nyla wasn’t able to promise that she wouldn’t attempt to cross an irreversible line of Agnes followed her in. She slinked her self behind the door to let Agnes makes her decision. Moments later an arm came around the door “oh and Agnes! This is a no cloths area.” That hand had Nyla undergarments that were dropped to the floor after her announcement.

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"I believe you," she murmured in kind; sometimes the motherly role between the two blurred and it was simply two women who understood the catastrophic feeling of what it was to become. She felt great sorrow for who Deja once was, a woman Agnes never knew in life, but a spirit she intimately understood in her death and undoing. "And I believe their fight is not yet finished," she was bonded to Nyla to some degree, etched in a promise of a tattoo, but Agnes was unsure if the Kossith's influence swayed the truth of what her tattoo represented. Would she truly know if Nyla was gone?

"I know that now, I think." Deja steps back only to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hands and square her shoulders. No, she was not just someone resigned to be stuck in one place, not anymore. The Lysaran wilderness isn't an ideal place for her sure, but she's there and she'd gone because she had to go and recover what was left of the little family she'd put together under one roof. "You're the first one I've encountered, but I know they're out there, I can't explain how or why, I just...." One of her hands left Agnes's shoulder to gesture vaguely. A gut feeling, a strong one, and she was getting better at listening to it.

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Truly, Nyla would likely not sleep nor would the elvhen entirely rest, but if she didn't wish to be barred from seeing certain folks, Nylathria would have likely wandered out to stop Agnes from deferring the other herself. She'd been through an ordeal that even Agnes, who'd been tortured so intimately by the Dark herself, could not begin to understand and she vied for Nyla to have the time to simply be.

"Agnes," she offered after a moment, heading to a certain part in the grove where an area of firewood had been stacked. As she walked along, the fungal ferret scurried from her satchel and stuck his tongue out at Lailani. With a motherly sigh, for she didn't see Flounder do it, but Agnes simply knew, she shook her head without sparing a glance to Lailani, "And this is Flounder."

Tension leaves her shoulders as the stranger speaks, a look of relief settling over her features as she considers her options. Bothering Nyla right now it’s out of the question. Her friend needs the rest, now more than ever. She can’t even begin to imagine what her friend had endured at the hands of the Kossith, but whatever horrors she had been subjected to, she would need time to recover from them. A good night of sleep was the first step of a long journey. 

“That is good,” she sighs out softly, glancing one last time at the door before her focus turns to the woman that had taken care of her friend. Lailani hates to admit it, but she has no idea who she is, and it is entirely her fault. She had spent less time with Nyla than she liked, going off on her own to try and follow the Wheel as she deigned. She had forgotten that her time with her friend is limited, and she needs to ensure she has no regrets when her time runs out. 

“Lailani, I am an old friend of Nyla’s,” she offers softly as she moves to follow, willing to do anything to help the kind soul that so very clearly cared about her friend.

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"I have friends in many places; humble chipmunks, mourning doves, even mere wasps. They whispered of your recovery and I made preparations at once." Agnes winked mildly, for while it was true, most of the information had been funneled from the Feronia packs recovery team and from the dragons - Talisa and Fyren - who scouted so feverishly to ensure the safe return of many. "Would my image shrink in your eyes if I were to say you were more important than the dozens I've healed prior to your return?" The others, situated in sick cabins or healing tents, could manage without her for the time being. A hand reached out between them as Nyla spoke of her possible injury, squeezing the elvhen softly on the shoulder before trailing down to her rib. She'd not be able to see nor sense a thing with such fabric in the way, that Agnes knew, but she often relished in the feeling of suspense and figured Nyla could wait another second before the sea-soiled fabrics could be removed.

"Then you shall delight in me taking care of you," simple, to the point, her hand fell to Nyla's waist before it bunched the fabric in her fist and began to gingerly pull upward to remove the dress. The shades to the windows were drawn closed and a fire that had burned to mere embers still sparked gently in the fireplace allowing a small bit of warmth to ease into the room. "There's no use in having the bath quarters stink like the sea, it's better to undress here if that's alright."

"Well i can see that its been quite chaotic here so i didn't think you would have had such time." no one knew what state those from the ship were going to be in so she naturally thought they would have prepared for the worst. it hurt her that with every word Agnes spoke she liked the woman more, it was like to woman had know her for years already. "Well since you allowed me to care for you i should grant you the same curtesy." Nyla owed Agnes the chance to see her vulnerable and if she turned her back on that Nyla would put it down to karmic retribution for indulging herself in such a relationship. "Well not to sound a kin to a child but i think i will. I think i have a bruised rib at least." she didn't come out of the unharmed but it could have also been from how tight Talisa embrace had been, the cause was hard to say honestly. "Though you should only help me if you have a gentle touch"

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"Oh, honestly Nyla, must you presume me to be so negligent," the genasi's head turned offering a toying glare at Nylathria before ascending the steps of the cabin. "The water has already begun to warm. Now I don't mean to infantilize you by etching out your day hour by hour, but I'd rather like to care for you if I can insist on that." Agnes was stern, though there was some leniency in her voice considering what the elvhen had likely both witnessed and endured. The cabin was small, one level which encompassed an open floor plan of kitchen and bedroom. Despite this, the door leading to the bath was slightly ajar with steam already milling out of it. "I take it you can handle undressing yourself," she tried not to grin so impishly as she teased the other back, grateful to have Nyla's humor and candor back within her presence.

Nyla let Agnes lead the way with no protest to being led or their hands being intertwined with one another. She wasn't sure what exactly it meant, but everyone was so keen on her resting, maybe the truth of what the kossith had done to her was written in her eyes. "I would prefer a bath. Fashion isn't on my list of priorities, Agnes, not to say i don't like what you wear, but right now I would wear a bed sheet. if it meant i could feel clean water on my skin" a small part of her hoped she could wash away everything that happened on that ship, but in reality, she knew it wasn't likely.

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"The Queenslands," muttered quietly, her personality was not twisted to this unsavory tone based off of Veseniya personally, but there felt a great urgency here which laid thick on her palate; acrid and foreboding. "I can't imagine they prefer any tether to the Dark - they'll reprimand you and state you should have devised another way," her lip curled in that sense of stale humor she always carried. She never vied for acceptance amongst the druids so she did not feel entirely aggrieved for being outcast, but Agnes had still performed and sacrificed so much for them and their precious Stones that she sometimes wished their sacred balance carried more nuance.

"But, I wasn't I had been in the presence of a legionnaire," she hummed thoughtfully then, and even in the dream world she could feel the weight of Veseniya's soul, "Though you are old and you call me the experienced one. It's rather humbling of you to say that," through each trial and error performed by Agnes she'd never once call herself experienced and the Sting would try not to let that go to her head.

As Veseniya approached, the pure water within bubbled viscously shifting to a dreadful shade of black. It steamed and shuddered, viscous bubbles popping at the surface; it smelled intimately like blood, that strange iron tinge which pervaded the air and their senses. Wild eyes darted across to Veseniya, Agnes more puzzled than ever as the genasi removed her hands from the lip of the basin, staring across at Veseniya, "This does not bode well for the Wildlands - the Kossith -- they - what else could it mean?"

The geographical layout of Lysara was still somewhat foggy to Veseniya. She paused to consider what Agnes had told her, quietly remembering the lay of the land. The Wildlands–she was familiar with them as she had passed through them in her work in Aventia, but they were far from well known to the druid. But something wicked and dark seemed to live there, trouble always erupted in that region and plagued those who inhabited it. “And where are you in the waking world?” Veseniya finally asked. “I am stationed at Caer Glas, though I am dispatched elsewhere as needed.” 

Agnes’ body language was not unnoticed by Veseniya, but she refrained from reacting. She was used to impatience. This world was strange to her. The secular world confused her, each day carrying with it a fading sort of culture shock. And she knew her time in the Arches had made her off putting; she didn’t really blame anyone who did not acquire a taste for her. She had met no Keeper, spent no time under the tutelage of another druid. She was learning as she went, and she did not expect patience as a given as she did so. “I wonder what the circles make of The Joining,” she pondered quietly. They both carried the Dark One’s essence within them in the differing ways they had come by it. 

“You are experienced. Where must our work begin?” Veseniya asked, approaching the glassy surface of the water to inspect it more closely.

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A genasi's tongue was no longer beholden to the truth, but no wit nor word could deny the pure elation and joy Agnes suddenly felt under. Freydis was more than a mere ally now, she was forever cemented as a friend; a title which Agnes did not bestow lightly. Nylathria's own friend, Lailani, had insisted upon ensuring the seer elvhen was okay, and with that, Agnes had set off to intrude upon Freydis' apartment. The genasi had hoped to ensure everything was perfect for her; freshly fluffed linens on the bed, freshly brewed tea at the ready. The only downfall had been the garden. How distracted Agnes had been within Haven, bolstering the wolves for a fight, mending those they retrieved. Even after Aurea had defeated the Arishok, there'd been much work to be done and the genasi had stepped up tenfold. The wickedness of the Kossith could not be undermined by their need to eradicate the blight; their processes were cruel to Agnes and as such she did not accept them as a worthy ally of any sort.

Still, even as she heard Freydis on the porch and ran to the door, her mind revolved back to the garden; crisp and crumbly, rotten and near barren from the weeks Freydis was at sea. Guilt was overtaken by the way her heart leaped within her chest, squeezing her friend tightly and inhaling sharply at the sweet reminder of cinnamon. "Oh Freydis, you damn the Fates again," stated gleefully, even if Freydis were to let go within the next minute, Agnes held on tightly, pressing her forehead to the shieldmaiden's.

"There is tea warming on the stove, enough for two. But your bed is ready for you and a bath can be drawn at once," she could be a good host when needed, though she'd been a faithful friend to beasts and creatures of the woodlands, her nurturing care for them could always extend to her closest friends. "The garden... well, I'll kick myself for that through this life and the next but I'd already promised myself to uphold the health of another friends garden - you hadn't made me make the same promise." Now she was teasing Freydis, tone full of mirth despite the Death and exhaustion which loomed on Freydis' complexion. "Come, come," she finally turned, holding Freydis' hand within hers to pull her friend through the threshold of her own cabin, "We must get you out of these briny clothes at once."

who: @agnesisolda where: Freydis' cabin when: when the captured friends make it home notes: let me know if you need me to edit anything

Upon arrival back in Lysara, Freydis had given Haven a wide berth, something relatively difficult with a cabin settled in the Wildlands. Or at least, Freydis hoped it was still there. She heard inklings of a great battle between Alpha and Arishok, and of a song written to celebrate the victory. It was something to look forward to, a first hand account of the battle from Aurea and those who had witnessed it and a song from a bard who’s voice her well of fondness for had no limit. But for now? She was exhausted, down to her marrow, her body and spirits sore and homesick, and she could not prolong the nagging anxiety of the question: do I still have a home? She would only believe whether or not there was one when she saw it for herself.

As she stood looking out over a garden of bone-dry earth and crumbling, dead crops she wondered if she had made a mistake. A garden could always be replanted, and the work would be rewarding. The fact that her cabin still stood, untouched as best as she could tell, had brought forth a few tears. It was considerably more than she had dared to hope to return to. But she returned alone. And she had not been alone for months, or so she assumed. She had lost count of the days during the terror the nights wrought and the confusion and calamity of a rebellion and subsequent explosion. Though she would not spend a fraction of a second wishing she was in the company of others under lock and key of the Kossith, it felt suddenly alien and overwhelming to be alone. 

But she needed sleep–and to scrub the gunpowder and grime from her hair and skin and shed herself of the ratty clothes she had returned home in. Then, she would seek out the others. It surprised her to find the cabin door unlocked, but she supposed she was lucky she would not need to break into her own home–until she saw movement from within. Freydis jolted visibly from within the door frame, flinching away from the movement before processing who she was looking at. Agnes. Her fright seemed ridiculous in an instant, and an immediate sense of warmth and relief flooded her. To see her cabin was one thing, but to see someone she held so dear was another. It was confirmed, it was final: she was home. She began to laugh at her fright, at her relief to see Agnes, out of sheer delight to share her company, but tears came at the same time as well. And the moment she was close enough, Freydis had pulled the genasi into her arms. “It’s good to see you,” she croaked, but her speech was warm and genuine. “I missed you.”

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Agnes was not one to show her affections so publicly, but the genasi had become quite taken with the elvhen rather quickly and she owed it all to the trickery of the fey manifesting the illusion that the other had stolen from her. In some way, she knew the lively fey creatures, albeit mischievous, were ultimately on her side. The brine of the sea emanating off Nylathria was strong though it was hardly offensive to Agnes who often lived a less than spoiled life as of late; she'd care for the other, show her spoils of affection they both deserved, even if it started with merely drawing a bath.

"Come," her palm slides down Nylathria's arm to take one hand in hers, but Agnes does not turn away just yet. "Queen Aurea had offered me a cabin to stay in while I was offering my aid, I can take you there to rest at once. I've extra clothes you can borrow if you don't mind my fashion sense," Agnes smiled lightly as she teased this, before turning on her heel to lead them in the proper direction of said cabin.

Talisa had taken such good care of her on their way back Nylatheria couldn’t have asked for anything better. While she was injured from the blast, stank like the sea, her body was physically tired but mentally she wasn’t ready for everyone else's feelings. She remembered what it was like when Lyra first died, how everyone acted and while this wasn’t the same she hated being made a fuss over. She hated that she had caused them so much worry that her friends felt the need to come find her. 

While she was sure Talisa would have happily monopolised her time, Nyla couldn't help but notice a certain someone approaching. Excusing herself from her saviour, leaving what felt a kin to a daughter with a kiss on the forehead, she lightly limped towards Agnes. “I wish I had.” there was something unspoken in the elvhen eyes, a kin to having lived hundreds of years. Life was short and unexpected and yet there was that sense of guilt because all she wanted was to embrace the other. Normally she wouldn’t think twice about holding her friends but Agnes wasn’t like the others, Nyla’s thoughts weren’t pure when it came to the other. Her hands did grip the others forearms “I will never go on business trips alone again.”

[agnesisolda]

"We are, Deja, and you never needed to tuck yourself away in that Inn," the banshee has always been a marvel to Agnes, something which grew to showing on the surface over time as Agnes began to trust the posse of the Inn further. Where once she'd hesitate or freeze, Agnes is returning the hug, squeezing the banshee, and using her free hand to wipe the tears which fell. "Nylathria, Juneau, we're going to get them back and your presence here is indeed vital for that." A banshee's wail was indeed the true deciding factor of what the wreckage produced, but Agnes was certain they were alive along with many others who'd been taken.

Person: @agnesisolda Location: Touchdown Lysara The moment she'd seen the woman, she was in her arms. Mostly on account of her own small stature. And because she was a step away from just burying her face in the bartender's chest and sobbing. "Hi." There's tears in her eyes and because of that, Deja keeps her mouth shut for fear of anything coming out that was akin to a wail. They're happy tears though as she takes a moment to reunite. "We're a long ways from home." Despite that, Deja had left the inn anyways, hellbent on being part of the recovery crew.

[agnesisolda]

"You needn't be afraid to indulge me, Mikhael," her tone lowered in a conspiratorial manner, raising a brow at the seemingly holier than thou man who'd gotten grouped alongside her, the witchers, and - well, at least he and Karme aligned in some respects. "We're bonded by spilled blood now, remember?" Really, her teasing was just meant to see if she could spook him with such reminder, but when Mikhael spoke of Astoria she tried not to curl her lip in a distasteful reaction.

"Even the border of Astoria is too close for my kind to venture," Secrets held favor, they bound one another, unwound secrets in those who seemed so pure on the surface. "Did you know I'm from there? Astoria-" It was a subtler way of asking if he was a holy man, but considering he was from Maferath it was a useless question only meant to learn more of what relgion inclined him to truly do.

Surprise tints his interactions with Agnes, as do with everyone he battled against those forsaken beasts with. Whatever sentiment against them he held before the endeavor had been tinted by respect and a level of camaraderie that he still cannot quite understand. Same as with Torsten, truly. Much of the judgement he held before had evaporated, leaving room for new opinions to grow. There is no doubt that he still holds some level of wariness in regards to Agnes, but he is more willing to give her the benefit of the doubt now than he was before. 

“I am not quite sure,” he admits frankly, hesitatingly. He longs to travel back to Maferath to meet his mother, but after their last (and frankly disastrous) trip to the country… Well, he doesn’t think he will be able to leave unharmed if he is once more barred from entry from his home by the One God. That and… There is doubt growing on his heart, and he is not worthy to bask on His Light until his heart has been steadied once more. “Perhaps the border with Astoria, but I will check the contracts with the Warrior’s Guild before I do. Why do you ask? Do you need traveling companions?”