Her eyes flickered over to look at the woman beside her. Persephone had always found comfort in earth, so to hear someone else praising it felt as if it were praising a part of her. “I could do this from sun rise to set and struggle to get home again.” She admitted.
Taylor allowed her smile to grow. “I feel the same way. If I didn’t have anything else to do on a daily basis, I feel like that’s all I would do, just sit here and look at the sky as it changed colors, and the flowers as they bloomed.” She fell quiet, almost as though talking any more might disturb the plants she found so gorgeous.
“Christ, you sound like Alice.” Except he was used to it with her. There was a certain hippie vibe that his brand gave off but he’d more than adjusted to it. “Yeah, the place is pretty, once you get over the attempted murder.”
“Is that a bad thing?” she asked carefully, schooling her excitement over the flowers and trees quickly. “Well, yes, I suppose you’re right, I guess I was just trying not to think about that. I’d much rather think about the positives, you know?”
“Bands of color that conform or encircle a person, occasionally radiating out depending on their mood or who they are as a person.” He’d gone over some version of this conversation more times than he could count since becoming a Seeker. He understood the interest, surely, but it was becoming an automatic response now. “Visible to the trained eye. Some are easier to read than others … again depending on mood or the person.”
“Oh? What does mine look like then? Unless, of course, you don’t want to. I can understand if it’s probably tiring, especially now that you’re supposed to look at everyone’s in the town? I was just curious. How can you tell if the colors have more to do with the mood or who the person is? Or does that just affect the intensity. I’m sorry for all the questions.”
“I’ve been here quite a while. The novelty of the town itself has worn off, especially in the forest.” Teeth worked at her lower lip at the thought of the darkness beyond the treeline. Rose gave the smallest shake of her head. “I work in a flower shop. So at least the flowers are nice anywhere.”
“I can imagine, after what happened. A lot of people don’t really seem to think that the forest is very pretty right now. I suppose if I had been here, I’d likely feel the same.” Taylor’s eyebrows drew together as she considered the thought and how fortunate she was to not have been in Echo when it happened. “Oh that’s so nice! So you do the bouquets and things?”
“I know, right? Sometimes the concrete jungle becomes a little too synthetic. Places like these make you appreciate natural beauty. Though, I was worried at first. All the trees and cows leading up to this city, I thought we would be living on a farm. I’m not fit for country living.”
“I know exactly what you mean. I’m not sure I would have done very well with that much nature all around, but this is really nice. No gigantic skyscrapers on every block, and I bet that you can actually see some of the stars here, instead of like most huge cities where the sky is just dark.”
“I love nature, I love the woods. Some of my favorite memories happen under the shade of trees, so many trunks surrounding you it felt you were in a separate world. Like you were lost but not alone. This place, it surrounded with that kind of beauty, but I don’t think I’ll be admiring it the same for a little while.”
“Do you mean because of what happened a few weeks ago?” she asked carefully, gazing at the trees that currently surrounded them, looking similar to the forest despite not being a part of it at all. “I think it’s wonderful that you managed to find so much beauty in them, especially if you have a lot of memories with nature. I wish my memories were more in touch with nature than with the concrete jungle.”
“It’ll be starting soon. Or at some point, really. Probably in about two weeks.” He didn’t pay attention to that shit, but he knew that it happened. At some point. Kris only really noticed it when he started taking pictures of the change and when someone pointed it out to him. “Yeah, lived there for a bit about ten years ago. Never been?”
“Oh--- no, I’ve been quite a few times, actually, I was just curious.” She glanced up at the very green trees, her face breaking out into a grin at the thought of all the warm colors surrounding the town. “Do you really think so? I can’t wait. Fall is my favorite season. How about you?” she asked, hoping to make conversation with the people in Echo as much as she could without retreating back into her shell as usual.
“Yeah, there’s definitely nothing like the great outdoors to lift a person’s spirits. What big cities, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Quite a few places, honestly. I mostly lived in Montpelier, but I’ve been to New York a lot, Boston, Philly, Pittsburgh...” She shrugged. “We moved around a lot.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, she’d been stressing about how the cafe was doing without her. Despite Nessa’s assurances, Rey couldn’t help but worry because she was such a control freak when it came to her business. “Good. that’s a relief. I thought i’d need to be dealing an ass-whooping or two” she nodded, smile still in place. “Hmmm, let me think, maybe about… almost a year? I came here about six months after I graduated… so yeah, that seems about right.” she pulled a face as she feigned doing the mental maths. She knew exactly how long she had been in echo, to the day even,but Taylor didn’t need to know that. “It’s super nice here, recent events aside of course, everyone is so friendly and we’re all here for the same reason. Peace and safety.”
Taylor laughed a bit at that, feeling a bit more at ease with Rey’s smile. “Oh, so you’ve been here for a while then.” Taylor figured there would be people who had been here for a while, but it still felt strange to her, like being the new students in the middle of high school. “I know exactly what you mean. It’s sort of a shame that the recent events had to ruin the peace and safety for a little while, but hopefully it’s all over, and things like that don’t happen anymore.”
With the sun setting, it made it easier for him to go out and actually allow himself a moment to relax. Of course, that didn’t stop his brain from going in over drive. “Yeah.. that shit’s kind of a rarity in places like New York and whatever. You can actually watch the trees change here.”
“I can’t wait until it gets to be autumn, and the leaves all start to change colors.” She grinned up at the sunset, admiring the pretty colors that often went overlooked when city lights and skyscrapers seemed to be more exciting. “Did you used to live in New York?”
Rey nodded, a grimace crossing her face as flashbacks of the night appaeared fresh in her mind. She tried her best to surpress most of what happened, but it was difficult, she’d deal with it eventually but right now she needed to compartmentalise it otherwise she’d never be able to function. “Yeah, it was… pretty bad. But it’s all over now, we all need to move on and not dwell on things, right?” her smiled fixed back on her face, like a lightswitch being turned on.
“Hey, I remember what it was like being the new girl in town. Don’t worry it’s pretty straightforward and everything you need is basically on one row of stores, heads up if you ever need some cheer up food then just head to the bakery cause Sebastian’s cinnamon rools are to die for, Marcella’s salon is reasonably priced and she does an absolutely wonderful job” she ran her fingers though her bobbed hair with a playful wink “and of course you’ve been to my coffee shop, best mug of joe in town thank you very much. I try to bake all of the cakes and make the food fresh myself, but i’ve unfortunately been unable to do so for the past week or so. So i’ve had to entrust the task to me staff, I hope they’re not doing too bad of a job.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she agreed, tugging at the hem of her light sweater. She felt horrible for everyone that had to go through the awful situation she had been hearing about, but she supposed Rey was right about wanting to move on and not think about it. Taylor had never been very good at not worrying about things that were on her mind, but she was glad Rey was able to.
Grinning at the advice given to her as the new girl. She hadn’t been to any of the places mentioned, at least not yet, simply due to her lack of time so far. She had been looking for a job and was hoping to find one rather soon so that she wouldn’t be stuck in a large town with nothing to do but explore day in and day out, even if it would be nice, and would give her a lot of time to read. “I thought they did very well! Everyone was very nice, and the food was amazing, just like the coffee. You shouldn’t worry. So, how long have you been here? Do you like it?” she asked, unable to hold onto her curiosity.
“It really is so pretty here, don’t you think? I feel like I’ve spent so much time in big cities, that I nearly forgot what it’s like to just sit and look at trees and flowers.”
Taylor came from a family that believed that children should be seen, not heard. While her older sister seemed to grow away from this ideal, making friends easily while in school, she did not have the same luck, instead growing shy and rather reclusive. Her parents would hold dinner parties with friends and she would stay upstairs, reading and staying quiet. Much of her personality comes from nurture rather than nature, a lot of her patience and insecurity coming from knowing that she was meant to be as good as possible, to bring home wonderful grades and not make any mess whenever possible. One of the only things that came naturally to her was her open-mindedness.
Though her parents seemed rather set in their ways with a lot of things, opinions had as stone, Taylor simply wasn’t like that. She was a good listener, she didn’t judge others, though she tended to be a bit too selfless for her own good in some regards, another thing that came naturally to her. She was simply good at putting others before herself, even before her parents praised her for doing such a thing. Another trait that came to her more naturally was understanding and compassion. She will often do anything that she can to understand the way a person is thinking or feeling, and then try to help or augment it depending on whether it is good or bad.
How does this title highlight their personality, or overall person?:
Demure, adjective, meaning: (of a woman or her behavior) reserved, modest, or shy.
Without a doubt, Taylor is all of these things all at once. She is extremely shy, fairly modest and most definitely reserved.
Has this title always accurately described them?:
Being demure is something that has definitely formed over time. Perhaps, at one point, she might have been outgoing, excitable, and ready to take on the world, but her parents were intent to mold her into a quiet little thing and so she followed their direction, turning her into the soft woman she has become.
Would they embrace or accept this title if they knew about it?:
Though she would accept it, and realize it was true, she would feel a bit despondent to know that she had become so shy and reserved in her life. She always looked up to her older sister who was confident and had many friends because she was so good at making them, and she simply wasn’t. So although she knows it is true, she might not want it to be as much as it is.
Is there an event that happened that made this title accurate to them as a person? If so, what?:
There is no real event, but rather a series of them. Her parents laid her path out for her like a yellow brick road, a trail she was never meant to stray from, and never truly did, until she left their home. Her parents would instruct her to hold her tongue, or not jump up and down in excitement, because it was unladylike. All sorts of instances like these lead her to being The Demure.
Finally decided I need to hop onto the intro train
THE DEMURE just checked into Echo. On the record their name is TAYLOR HART. They are 27 years old and I hear they’re UNDERSTANDING and OPEN MINDED but they can also be WITHDRAWN and INSECURE. They look a bit like CAITLIN STASEY but I don’t see it. I sincerely hope they’re ready for this responsibility.
Taylor was born in Sydney, Australia, and was brought to live in West Virginia with her parents and older sister when she was three. As such, her parents have Aussie accents, but she and her sister do not.
She comes from a well off family, though her parents always seemed far more interested in business than in spending time with their daughters, despite seeing them as the light of their lives.
A result of this was the two sisters growing very close until Taylor’s sister went to school and began to spend more time with her friends than her.
Taylor has a tendency to be shy and somewhat awkward, despite her desire to make friends.
She loves to read and would much rather spend a full day curled up with a book and a war blanket than by going out to a club.
She doesn’t drink.
Although she has many insecurities, she tries to keep them hidden, though it’s always inevitable for them to pop up.
Many of her problems with socializing and loving herself have to do with her parents influence on her as a child, despite how much she knew they loved her.
Taylor tried to convince her sister to join her in going to Echo, but she wasn’t sure she managed it at all. If she did, her sister hasn’t arrived yet, and Taylor misses her very much despite their separation the older they got.
She tried to attend college for literature and journalism, but found it far too stressful and moved onto things she had always had passions for, like dance and painting.
Taylor’s quite nervous about being paired, although it has less to do with the supposed dangers her parents tried to convince her of before she left, than the fear that her pair won’t want anything to do with her.
please plot with my baby <3 i will accept any and all messages thrown my way, so if you’re interested in writing up a thread, just hmu
Rey couldn’t help but laugh at the woman’s question, how unsure she was shaking her head and patting the seat invitingly “absolutely not, sit down, love it’d be nice to have some company that isn’t my cats or my adorably obsessive overbearing best friend". She smiled at the memory of Nessa rushing round her house, cleaning things for her and forcing her to not be able to lift a finger whilst she was healing. “Unfortunately, I’m not entirely joking about the drugs. But getting a knife to the gut a few times kinda requires a prescription or two” she chuckled, tucking the pill bottle back into her bag discreetly.
She leaned back and eyed the woman sat next to her with interest “you’re new in town, right? I’m Audrey, call me Rey if you like, I own the coffee shop, Common Grounds” she held out a polite hand, a kind smile on her face.
With a small smile, Taylor sat next to her, knowing the feeling of wanting company other than a few select people. Her smile turned into a look of shock at the admittance of the woman’s injury though. “Oh my gosh! Well, of course it does! I can’t imagine what happened before I got here, everyone’s talking about it like something really crazy happened.” And she supposed something really crazy had happened, but it still seemed to insane to her.
“Yeah, I’m new, and I’m starting to think that might be a good thing. The first news I heard when I got here was that everyone was on a curfew and no one should be going near the forest.” She shuddered at the thought before shaking Rey’s hand, matching her smile. “I’m Taylor. I think I’ve been to that shop! When I first got here, someone told me it would be a great place to get coffee.”
Tatianna sighed as she stared at her phone. She was standing outside of the box office at the local cinema, trying to decide which movie she wanted to see. She was only partially done with unpacking, but she was itching to get out of the house and do something. Biting her lip, she glanced over to the person who was standing next to her and she asked, “So…What’re you thinking about seeing?”
The voice shocked Taylor out of her thoughts as she tipped her head to one side. “Oh, I’m not really sure. I thought I might try and see if there was a good comedy, but it looks like everything is just thrillers or action. A little bit too serious for my liking, but maybe I’ll see one of them. What about you?” she asked, wondering if her decision would help Taylor make one.
