GUIDING LIGHT.

birthday kisses wishes || guiding star

#ch: jiminy cricket #Text: birthday wishes

Iris: good morning, Jiminy Iris: Happy Birthday Iris: ♥️

@yourconscience-jiminy

birthday kisses wishes || guiding star

Soul Scouting || Screaming Star

headpatsforsteve

Steve had needed to leave his apartment.

Matt had been struggling with some video game in the living room all day and was yelling and cursing at the screen. Princess Atta had been able to lock herself in her room -- lucky -- but Steve didn't have that luxury. So after letting Atta know that he would be away from the apartment for a few hours, and having his invitation to join him politely rejected, Steve fled.

He didn't want to go too far without another royal scout around, so he ended up at Hatters, taking up one of the comfier chairs and resisting the urge to take a nap right there. His back was already fucked up from sleeping on his couch for a few months now.

He had his head tilted back and his eyes closed when he was addressed by someone close by. Steve peeked one eye open and the tension left his body when he realized it was another fairy. She helpfully reintroduced herself and Steve opened both eyes and sat up straight to pay proper attention to the conversation.

"I mean, I won't say no to some coffee," he admitted, giving her a smile. "I'm breezy, though. Just a little sleep deprived."

@iiriidescents

#th: soul scouting #ch: steve baneberry

Coffee. Easy! "You just sit tight," Iris says, popping up from her seat, even leaving her coat and bag (besides her wallet). Maybe it was because she knew he was a Scout Talent? In any case, it didn't totally matter. In a moment, she's back with a coffee, small pitcher of cream, and some sugar packets.

"I wasn't sure how you liked it, so I brought some options," she says when she returns. "Now, you said sleep deprived. Is there a particular reason, dear?"

@headpatsforsteve

Soul Scouting || Screaming Star

#ch: steve baneberry #th: soul scouting

Iris wouldn't say that she was a particularly nosy person, outside of the necessity of her talent. Knowing what people wanted or needed was just part of her fulfilling her job! Still, she always felt poor imposing on people, especially in a case like this.

A fairy, Scout Talent, named Steve. They've met a time or two, and Iris couldn't say they were friends but they were friendly.

It just so happened, also, that he seemed to want something very badly that he wasn't saying. That he was lying to himself about.

Now, that could be as simple as denying a craving, or rejecting your own dream. The magnitude of the want didn't matter in this instance, the only thing Iris cared was that Steve wasn't following or even acknowledging his heart.

For some reason.

So, circling back, she supposes she's being nosy as she's sitting at Hatter's with him in close proximity.

"You feeling alright, buttercup?" Iris asks, trying not to startle him. "It's Iris Faye, dear. Can I get you a coffee?"

@headpatsforsteve

Soul Scouting || Screaming Star

Found Things || Guiding Star

yourconscience-jiminy

Jim nodded. The three of them spent a lot of time at that cafe. studying until the chairs went up around them. Those years faded into the back of his mind as life went on and his perspective changed. After those, Iris and their child were the center of his life. Everything that really mattered were in the pages of that scrapbook.

Of course he would help fill it out. It was their life together even as one chapter was ending... The journey hasn't ended in divorce, it is only a chapter. "I'll go get the box I have. Memory Lane is just on the corner of the closet. One sec." He held a finger up and went down the hall to their, his, bedroom.

Kneeling down, he found the shoe box brimming with knick knacks and Polaroids. More wedding photos, their baby in the bath. All soft memories he let slip away in his obsession.

A bitterness buried itself in the heart of a soft man. His father wasn't there to see any of it. Not his university friends, his wedding, his child. Jim struggled to keep that ghost out of his periphery. His past ruined his future. So it all sat in a closet instead of on the other side of his bed with a kiss goodnight.

"This one, I think, was meant for you to put in that book." He plucked a photo from the box and handed it to Iris as he came back with his stash.

@iiriidescents

#th: found things #rel: guiding star #ch: jiminy cricket

Iris wishes her memory were better for these things. In the corner of the closet - not his closet, not our closet. But that was to be expected. The separation of their lives was both clearer and blurrier. When they'd decided to separate, it only made sense that Iris be the one to move out. She had the Hollow if she decided, though they both knew she wouldn't go back. She had had an Apartment in Castle Suites for a short time, and after that she'd found a house to stay in. She'd only done that last year, seeing as they weren't sure if this -- all of this -- would be temporary. Iris still doesn't know if she wants to resign her lease.

Moving twice hadn't been too bad. It was mostly the furniture, cookware, and sentimental what-nots. Iris didn't have an abundance of clothes, nor decor. A lot of the bigger things stayed with Jiminy as well. No use moving things that might be moved back.

Aha.

Another spring was impending and Iris tried not to think of it, but she knows it's quite possible that her hopes would melt like the snow. They were speaking with lawyers, though the Fairy-Nature of it all on her side did make it a little bit interesting.

She's pulled from that line of thinking as Jiminy comes back. Iris has a sip of her coffee (so as not to seem rude and like she'd asked for it for nothing) before accepting the photo. Oh. This was another lifetime ago, but not quite as far back as university.

A visit to London, the three of them. Their child having to be coaxed as a barely one-year-old to look at the camera. Iris had worn a lavender dress that matched Jiminy's shirt.

"I forgot about this," Iris says, looking at the details all the more closely. It was slightly grainy, taken on an instant camera. "This is the trip that convinced us we were never going back to London without a buggy. Your arms were so sore."

@yourconscience-jiminy

Let's Do Lunch! - Wires

Wolf huffed slightly, but it was one of his amused huffs. Traditions looked a little different when your business was security. While everyone else celebrated, you had to be on the highest alert.

"I was working," he explained. "New Years is often a time when there are issues. You have to be prepared."

Luckily this years drama had left the Inn itself unscathed, although some of the guests had been a little shaken by the debacle, most had been easily soothed with a few drinks and going back to their rooms. He had allowed himself a doughnut, the closest he could find to a proper Berliner, but that was for himself to know alone.

He had texted Ting-Ting at midnight, but she alone could know that.

"And yourself?" He added, after a heavy paused, when he remembered he probably should ask.

@iiriidescents

#th: let's do lunch!#ch: wolfgang amadeus

"Oh, oh, of course you were," Iris says, quickly flying just slightly backwards in the conversation. She looks like she's contemplating what to say next, because while she was celebrating, Wolf was working.

She might have spluttered some gratitude to Wolf, and may still yet. His change of topic does save her, though, and she's grateful. "Oh, it was mostly the Acorn Drop. Made a wish at midnight. That sort of thing," she says.

Technically, she had had an after-midnight kiss with Maximus Keaton, but was that worth sharing? No. Especially with things how they were with Jiminy.

"In past years I made a to-do list," which is a bucket list but without the morbidity of kicking the bucket, "and have gotten through them fairly well! Maybe I should make a belated one."

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Jumps Right Off The Page || Blue Fairy

@iiriidescents

Drakken peered down at the child, eyes narrowed as he tried to take in what she was saying. He may have lived in this country for...goodness, had it been years now?, but he still had trouble understanding the accents sometimes. Especially with children, they didn't have the best articulation and often spoke at such an accelerated rate that their words got lost to his ears.

He had managed to get that she meant well but, ha! Like that mattered. People didn't care if someone had good intentions if it meant their property got damaged and they had to pay for it. A lesson the child would no doubt come to learn soon enough when the neighbors started to gather themselves to take out this Herman...thing.

Then the woman, whose name he didn't remember (despite having heard the kid say it several times now), asked him to help.

He very nearly laughed– until he remembered that he couldn't turn her down, now could he? He was a Board member. Someone who needed to look good in front of the community, and even better in comparison to the other people who sat on the Board. (Namely the litter bug.)

"Of course I would," he said, though it was not with any amount of pleasantry or enthusiasm. Drakken heaved a sigh, it congealing into a white cloud in front of him, and started moving. "Come on then! No use standing around."

#th: jumps right off the page #ch: benjamin drakken

Iris watches the gears in Drakken's head turn. From speaking with Cassie to hearing Iris's request for help. Or maybe a better analogy was she could see the radio waves forming, the thoughts tuning slowly. Unfortunately, Drakken's thoughts were outside of Iris's frequency.

She was ready to beg for assistance when he surprises her, saying that he would - even if he did not seem terribly excited about it. She nods, accepting whatever help is being offered. Quickly, then, she follows him, the cold air brisk on her face as they follow the trail of (mild!!) destruction. Iris's heel nearly catches on a kerb, it makes her feel so close to flying.

Herman growls up ahead, knocking continuously into a Light Post. Drakken is nearly upon him before he sees them and runs back towards the direction they came from, evading them.

"In fairness," Iris begins, knowing that Drakken had every right to be angry with her, "I hadn't thought a creature with short little legs could run so quickly."

@dr-drckken

Found Things || Guiding Star

yourconscience-jiminy

He felt bad back then, falling in love with her so ardently and forcing her hand. She left everything she knew for him and he always worried that love wouldn't be enough to make up for that sacrifice. His love was always a burden to Iris.

Jiminy looked back at the pictures she brought, the pictures still on the walls. Their child. Friends he hadn't seen in a decade and his mother looking less frail, powered by the joy and the sun that day. He hoped Iris thought it was worth it all. Even if it all ended like this.

"Jay and Auben. We were interns together. They were closest I had to friends outside of you." Before they were married, they were friends after all.

He flicked through the pictures, smiling, reminiscing. Saying things like that, Iris, made him remember how much he loves you. Who put together a wedding scrapbook in the middle of divorce proceedings? His wife, that's who. "I'll take these. Say, how many pages are actually filled in that scrapbook? I might have some photographs you might like to add. Just little things, first bike with no training wheels type things."

@iiriidescents

#ch: jiminy cricket #th: found things

Iris wishes she'd taken in everything on their wedding day. If she could go back, she wouldn't have spent more time worrying about the details that meeting the guests. In a way, Iris had thought they'd look at her and think she wasn't enough. That she wasn't right. That she didn't fit.

She had no idea what Jiminy's friends thought of Iris, they were fairly tight-lipped about such things; but Iris was a fairy, and older. She was a bit bumbling at her talent... She would understand if Jim's friends thought he could do better.

He always had so much potential. He worked hard, studied hard, but above all... Was kind in his pursuits. That's what appealed most to Iris. In times where things were difficult, he remained kind.

She wishes she could recall Jay and Auben better. They'd said congratulations to her? She almost remembers. It's not quite there.

"Right," Iris says, studying their faces. "We... went to lunch together once, didn't we? That cafe down the road from the university?"

A lifetime ago.

Jiminy asks her about the scrapbook, and she knows he could never be cruel about it, but Iris is still fearful that he'll tell her something like not to bother with it. Instead, he offers her help and Iris is reminded now how in love she is and how difficult that is on both of them.

"Oh, It's half done, maybe 15 pages?" Iris looks away, knowing her rosy blush might threaten her matter-of-fact tone. "I have some images from when we started seeing each other up to the wedding, so it's not all the wedding. I think it's nice to think of it more as a journey," Iris says, which is true but she wonders if Jiminy will think she's too sentimental. A journey... That ends in divorce... "But, you know, I'd love to see the photos. You know me. Memory lane is my favorite street."

@yourconscience-jiminy

Pickup Lines || Gary & Iris

fairygarykao

@iiriidescents

Gary shook his head.

"No, not really. And sometimes. It changes. She's a music-talent so it varies by which instrument she likes better that day, or singing. Whatever she's enjoying more is what she wants and then tomorrow it'll be something different." He explained. "She's 15, she doesn't know what she wants. No 15 year old does."

Even dust-talents like him who really only have one likely path, a path preset for them, they don't really know.

#ch: gary kao #th: pickup lines

@fairygarykao

How long had it been since Iris had been to a concert for music-talents? Why, it felt like years and years. Fairies of all types were blessed with concerts held by music-talents, though Iris rarely listened. She was too absorbed in the world of humans to feel her heart ache for home and the things that were once mundane.

A music concert would be wonderful...

But that's not what this conversation is about. The conversation is about Gary and Bobby's children. Though, what he says about fifteen-year-olds and the way they didn't know what they wanted to do...

Iris thought she knew. She was so set on following her path as a godmother-talent. And now look... She was terrible at it...

"Does she aim to stay in the Hollow or live amongst humans? Do you know? Does she?"

A Yearning for Home || Atta Astra

princess-attaflutterwing

Atta was trying not to miss the Hollow.

She was really, really trying. She knew it was unproductive. Everyone was doing everything they could to find a cure for her ailment so there was nothing more to be done. She had been learning a lot while in Swynlake and met plenty of very nice people. Her entire view of people (she very rarely said "clumsies" anymore) was being built into something far more positive. This was positive!

And yet, no matter how much she logically knew that, the empty aching of her chest continued to spin, slowly eating away at her insides like a black hole. Every day her light seemed farther away. She was being consumed by darkness.

Surely, a walk in the park will help. She found herself sitting on a bench, looking around and trying to take note of every beautiful thing. The sound of children's laughter. An unusually warm breeze for this time of year. A fullness in her stomach from the pastry she'd just eaten. Anything to bring back some light.

Her ears perked at the sound of her title, looking over. "Ah--! Iris," she said, offering a polite smile and a nod. "Yes, sit, please."

@iiriidescents

#ch: atta flutterwing #Th: a yearning for home

So they've gotten this far. A pleasant moment together where Iris can so distinctly hear Atta's wishes but couldn't discern them as plain language. Wishes could be words, but sometimes they were simply feelings, or energies... Desires from the heart that sang like music, or old memories that rang in the senses.

Atta's felt, to Iris, like a wound of nostalgia, brought upon her by an old blade. Twin wounds to the back, where even if they werent literal, the tie of a fairy's wings to home was-- well. And then a sort of wound to the heart, as it were.

Iris smiles and straightens her skirt as she sits.

This entire time, Iris hadn't spoken to Atta. It was her cowardice and helplessness that controlled her more than anything. For, in fact, what could she do? Especially when the suspected culprit wasnt the culprit at all?

"I'm sure I don't need to dodge the topic," Iris says, softly. "I'm truly sorry for what's happened to you."

@princess-attaflutterwing

the consequences of a new year kiss || maxiris

trackedbymaximus

It had been a busy few weeks for him. New Year's itself had been ridiculous and exhausting as he'd dealt with person after person trying to shake off the effect of that damn magic clown who had disappeared into nowhere. So of course, that meant a new open case and new investigations as they processed all of the damage around town.

Then he'd had to turn around and go straight into the Triad Sting. A sting that had left him with several cracked ribs and a bruised jaw that made eating more complicated than he'd like. He'd burned through his store of soups that were easy to swallow. So back to the grocery store he went.

Maximus intended to keep his head down. In Moon Market and out, soup in hand, so he could go back to resting on the couch.

Until the cereal display suddenly seems to explode next to him. Maximus jerked around, feeling himself brace for another hit - but nothing came. It was just Iris standing there, looking like he'd caught her in the middle of the heist of the year while his ribs throbbed with the new sudden pain and caused him to wince.

Ah. Yes. Iris. He'd been trying not to think about that.

"Ms. Faye, are you all right?

@iiriidescents

#ch: maximus keaton #th: the consequences of a new year kiss

"Fine, I'm fine," Iris says, her face burning. Ah, thorns, this is not what she needed right now. Surely, Mr Keaton would understand it wasn't of her own volition that she had kissed him. Or, perhaps, it was but it was spurred by an event or effect outside of either of them.

She reaches down and begins collecting the fallen cereal boxes, smiling awkwardly all the while.

"Erm, you look... well, to say well would be false, wouldn't it? I'm glad you look as well as you do," she says in a way she wishes was more polite. And correct. And... friendly. Iris smiles at the ground, begins building the display back up. "How did everything go on New Year's Eve. You know... after everything?"

@trackedbymaximus

Let's Do Lunch! - Wires

"Mmm," Wolf hummed his agreement in disapproval. It had been, in the grand scheme of Swynlake, a small affair - shortlived and thankfully with few real casualties - but it was still enough to set him on edge. It had been strange magic, magic he did not know about or what to do with.

That Jack Skellington, by all accounts, had to have something to do with it.

But the thought of Ting-Ting being there, of Matilda perhaps ... it made his scowl sink more deeply into his features.

"No." He said, managingto cut himself off before he told her that he thought the very idea of New Year resolutions was stupid. Why insist on some arbitrary day of the year to do what you knew you should anyway?

@iiriidescents

#ch: wolfgang amadeus #th: let's do lunch!

Wolf, Iris had learned, was a bit more of the quiet type. While Iris could be chatty, especially if asked about something that sparked her enthusiasm, Wolf was a lot more reserved. He kept his thoughts to himself, which did make Iris wonder what it was that he was thinking about often.

Not that it was Iris's business. Actually, he didn't give off much wishing energy, so Iris had an even fainter idea of his interests and wants than what was normal of others.

Many had their desires and hopes written upon their hearts. Not Wolf, not really.

"Oh, well, that's okay," Iris says, pleasantly, as Wolf admits he has no Resolutions. "It's not for everyone. And some people keep their wishes private and secured until they find the right time for them to act upon them. Did you at least partake in any traditions?"

@wolf-innsheepsclothing

Jumps Right Off The Page || Blue Fairy

@iiriidescents

Drakken looked at the woman's hand but took it, movements tentative as the situation he had walked into processed slowly in his head. All the different elements needed time to form as a whole before he tried fitting them all together.

Herman. The kid. The sudden appearance of the woman. The pain from the fall.

He planted his feet firmly beneath him and used the woman's weight as a counter to haul himself back into a standing position. His hand released hers and he took a step back, only to startle when something brushed at his sleeve. Drakken peered down to find the little girl brushing away snow from his elbow. She smiled warmly up at him.

Then the girl was talking to the woman, "Herman ran him over. He went that way."

She pointed in the direction the colorful creature had taken off, a trail of minor destruction left in the things wake. A tilted yard sign, a broken piece of wooden fence. Off in the distance there was a loud, almost cartoonish, angry MEEOOWW! before something hollow and metal crashed.

"And just what is a Herman?" he asked.

"Herman's my friend!" the girl replied, helpful. "Ms. Faye-Cricket made him come to life!"

Drakken raised a brow, looking to the woman. "She did, did she?"

"Mhm!" she nodded.

"So, she's the one that's going to be responsible for..." he turned, gesturing to the aforementioned mess.

#th: jumps right off the page #ch: benjamin drakken

Iris's face burns slightly with embarrassment. Well, this is a perfectly good intent gone awry, isn't it? Still, she smiles as Cassie goes to brush snow from him and Iris smiles. "It seems I would be, yes," Iris says.

Cassie, who seems to realize what's happened, is quick to try to defend. "No, no, she meant well, so surely everything will be okay!" Cassie says. "Besides, all we have to do is catch Herman and teach him that it's not good to break things!"

It's a nice thought, though Iris isn't so sure she can convince Dr Drakken to help herself and Cassie round up an imaginary friend.

"It's alright, Cassie," Iris says, though the small child does look like she's ready to bawl under Drakken's gaze and the the thought of her friend getting farther and farther away.

"I know it's not my business to ask," Iris says after a moment, "but would you be so kind as to help me track down Ms Cassie's dog, Herman?"

It's not likely to work, but Iris wasn't above pleading. After all, it wasn't so much that she thought that she would get in trouble, but she did want to reduce the amount of property damage if she could.

@dr-drckken

make it pink / make it blue || babette & iris

babettexdurand

It was a little funny- marital bliss was absolutely the mood of the month, of course, especially being back from the honeymoon so recently, but with the couple didn't intend to waste time when it came to expanding the family, and it made Babette oddly anxious about her social circle.

Oh, the brunch babes were all a delight of course and she was sure their saturday gatherings were part of what would keep her sane for many years, but one on one socialisation was still a little sporadic for what she was used to. So with the new year and all she thought this was a good a time as any to try and be a bit more open to better friends.

Admittedly, the house could be in a better state because she'd been halfway through a handful of re-decorating projects when they left, but coming back with fresh eyes she felt like she'd finally settled on colours for the kitchen cabinets, at least.

So, there were snacks on the coffee table and the kettle was boiling and the dogs weere- mercifully- fairly calm, after a long walk with Will. Of course, the second there's a knock on the door they're both still up regardless, wuffing their way towards the entryway.

"Iris!" Babette cheers when she's managed to make her way past them, trying to wave the pair away, "sorry if you're not a dog lover- they'll go back to bed once they've investigated a bit. Come in!" She waves her through, making a beeline for the kitchen, "drink? We've got coffee, a few teas.." She waves a hand towards the collection cluttered on the counter, "don't mind the mess, I've been doing a deep clean so I can paint the cabinets. Then I might finally get that farmhouse sink I can't stop thinking about..." She chattered as she fixed herself a coffee, "if only the time away had given me a lightbulb moment for the bedroom, I've still no idea..."

@iiriidescents

#ch: babette durand #th: make it pink / make it blue

Iris was a fan of most-to-all animals. When the dogs come up to her, Iris is quick to make faces and cute voices at them - dignity be damned, the dogs were sweet!

"Oh, it's no trouble to me at all," Iris says, cheerily. "I brought you something for your wedding, sorry I haven't stopped by sooner." She beams at her friend as they walk towards the kitchen. "Water is just fine," Iris says, glancing at what Babette says is a mess. Iris sees it as the makings of a fresh start. As if, for instance, one were spring cleaning. Taking charms and luck and the invisible not-pixie dust around everything and renewing it. Or maybe that was Iris being sentimental.

"I like it," Iris says, encouragingly. "Are you looking through catalogues or Pinterest at all? Where are you getting your inspiration?"

@babettexdurand

Found Things || Guiding Star

yourconscience-jiminy

“Great, your’s is this one, then.” He put the coffee made how she liked closer to her.

The tray had a few biscuit options. Jiminy didn't add the honey biscuits on account of their child. Much like their mother, they were their favorite as well. "Hm, I do have some in the pantry. I can grab them."

He made his way to the back of the closet, the shelf of their child's favorites didn't get much use nowadays. Jim still kept it stocked. He quickly returned with a sleeve of them and looked at what Iris set up.

“Are these from the wedding?” He plucked one from the table and got a closer look.

@iiriidescents