#laflorenata

[15shadesofgray]

🏃: Rinea sighs, but it does little to ease her. It may be time for some air, it had begun to grow quite humid, even with less people on the floor. The smell of everyone began to permeate her senses and the heat of people in giant clusters begins to crawl up her spine.

Rinea begins to head toward the door, only to nearly run into another person. She can vaguely recall his face, not pulled from a pleasant memory, but she is polite regardless. "Oh, are you leaving as well? Please, after you." She steps aside and gestures with her hand.

Ethereal Ball Ask Meme

     Gray never forgets a face. Especially a pretty face. Yet... the woman that almost ran into him looks familiar and just that, familiar. He’s sure he’d remember the when and where down to the last millisecond if he did meet here, but the specifics elude him. The soft blues of her hair and the gentleness reminds him of Silque, and the way she carries herself was reminiscent of Celica’s. Still, no memory comes to mind as to why he feels as though this isn’t the first time they met.

     Oh, well. It’s not like he needed a deeper reason. She’s hot. No use pondering on a feeling when he could just get to know her personally now, he he.

     “Just for a bit. Party’s just getting started. It’s getting a little crowded in there and I was hoping to get some peace and quiet before dancing. Looks like the gods insist I do it with company.” He takes a step forward, and spins himself around, back turned towards the exit, but attention fully on her. He takes small steps backwards, but continues on with conversing with the lovely stranger. “You taking a breather, too? You’re breaking so many hearts in there by staying out here.”  

[atypicalsenerio]

Out in the Elements [Rinea & Soren]

Golden Deer Mission Starter for @laflorenata

The priests back at Garreg Mach must’ve not experienced a genuine Faerghus winter storm before if their only warning was, ‘it may be a tad on the chilly side’.

Soren had marched through snow before. He’d made camp some nights and woken up unable to feel most of his extremities. It wasn’t an experience he was eager to repeat. He burrowed into his robes and cloak as their company walked, the border of Faerghus not many hours behind them. Snowflakes whisked about in flurries around them, the frigid air cold enough that they stuck to outer layers of clothing without melting right away. Even if the snow was light, at the moment, it was the cutting, freezing winds that sought to stop them in their tracks.

He rubbed his folded arms, hooded head down against the wind. Soren couldn’t quite feel his toes in his boots anymore. He sighed, breath escaping in a vapor that dissipated in the winds instantly. 

“Hold!” He turned to the rest of the group, hoping he didn’t look as frozen and miserable as he felt. “We’ll be no use to anyone if we catch colds or frostbite. We need shelter to wait this out! It’s only going to get worse, by those clouds on the horizon and the direction of the wind.”

The wide trade road wound and wandered through a forest at some points, meaning trees and underbrush were easy to find. Soren glanced around, arms still folded for warmth. “Is anyone here used to this sort of weather?” His eyes landed on Rinea. “I don’t believe we’ve spoken. I’m Soren, a mage.”

[extenebris]

[Tea]:

She had just enough of clinging to the wall for now. While humming and toe tapping to the music was nice, her legs were getting tired of standing in one place. The next area of safety was the food table.

Rinea grabs a plate and surveyed the table quickly before plucking a little bit of this and a little bit of that from each tray. Her eyes lit up at the smells and aesthetics of the treats laid out before her. Her eyes flicker briefly to the bottles of champagne. She would need to return later for that. For now, she needed both her hands to carry the plate she had packed presently.

In her excitement for snacks and treats, she hums along to the current song and ends up roughly bumping into someone. Not enough to disrupt her plate and send flying, but enough to erupt a small yelp of surprise from her. Rinea is quick to rectify her mistake and faces the man to bow her head. "Sorry, I should watch where I'm going." As silence on her end is left in the wake of mishap, she forces herself to look away and find something else to focus on.

She gestures to the packets on the table and looks back to the man. "Tea? The range is limited, but I believe I've had the bergamot and mint ones before. They're," she adds, albeit a bit quieter, "tolerable."

Salem had hardly seen anything but a flash of periwinkle before he found himself knocked off balance. He stepped forward to catch himself and then turned swiftly to check the other student. She looked surprised, but neither she nor her plate of refreshments had been harmed.

“We are both in one piece,” he says with the wave of his hand to dismiss her apology. He follows her gesture toward the table. “I suppose I have not yet tried the tea…” Though his words trail away with the doubt instilled by her comment that the selection is “tolerable.” He glances to the plate in her hands and there’s another beat of silence as neither make a move to go their own ways.

“… Have you a drink? I can prepare a cup for you as well, if you wish.”

[incursionparagon]

🎯

Darts. She’s never played before, but the concept itself is simple enough: aim and throw. Theoretically, it’s not too different from javelin throwing, although she isn’t fool enough to think them one and the same just because of that. Cordelia rolls them in her palm, mindful of the barbs; light and sturdy for their size, she decides to start with what she knows, although...

Her gaze flickers to her side, settling lightly upon a girl who seems just as intrigued by the game as she is, if not more. Again, she tests the weight of the projectiles in her hand, then splits the group in half and cedes three of them to her; she can have the other half as well, if she doesn’t want for company, but it is better to ask than to assume.

“I’ve never played before,” she admits. Then: “You’re welcome to all of the darts, if you’d like; I’m only trying it out.”

As if to prove her point, the pegasus knight takes aim-- but while her dart makes contact with the board, it is rather too loudly, and it falls to the floor gracelessly. Ah. No, she thinks, a sigh fleeing her lips, that won’t do. 

“I’m not off to a good start, am I?”

[princepsumbra]

🌌

ToA Fleeting Snow 2021

“Ah, pardon me, Lady Rinea,” Leo stops just shy of bumping her aside as he exits the Lodge. 

One viewing of the aurora was not enough to satiate his fascination. How did they form, exactly? Something to do with the atmosphere, obviously. Scientific studies on space are few and far between; why devote study to the stars when there’s so many unexplored avenues of magic? 

If only there were more hours in a day, in a lifetime. The things he could discover...

“Have you chanced upon the elusive aurora yet? Rumor is that those who view it are considered lucky.” 

[minorindech]

☕️

Fleeting Snow

The sight outside the window was beautiful. Bernadetta couldn’t help sigh in content as she watched it, resting her head atop her palm neatly as she let out a soft sigh. It was a flurry, enough so that if she was outside she would be worried about freezing to death or getting so cold she lost all her fingers and having to live her life with only stumps that clumsily fumbled and dropped every knitting needle she tried to hold but thankfully she was not.

She was inside and warm and watching safely with a cup of tea that released a soft steam that perfumed the air around her...The snow danced around the window pane, a soft ballet of flakes that was absolutely mesmerizing to watch.

Bernadetta was lost in thought, head full of ideas of how she could paint the scene outside the window to try and recapture it. It was only the sound of someone else’s teacup returning to the saucer that jostled her out of her trance.

“O-oh! I’m sorry!” Bernadetta squeaks as she looks back to the blue haired student. Oh, her face is definitely a bright red, she can feel it without even putting her hands to her cheeks. “I-I just...I’ve never really seen it snow like this before, and it’s so pretty to look at...I didn’t mean to ignore you, I’m sorry!”

[princessmacedon]

🎹

As is only natural, when given the freedom to roam the entirety of a building so large, Maria seizes the opportunity for adventure. No hall goes unwandered as she meanders every floor, the din of unrestrained laughter and conversations aplenty fading in and out depending on where her feet lead her. Some corridors see flocks of students rushing merrily past her; others see naught but wooden floorboards and whatever moonlight filters through the windows as her company; each and every one of them sees a wondrous expression painted upon her face.

It is when the distant sound of song faintly drifts through the air that the girl’s gaze, once freely wandering, now draws to a curious focus. Down another hall she trots, the melody a string pulling her closer and closer to wheresoever it comes from. It is a pretty song, familiar in its gentleness and captivating in its surety; she almost wants to hum along, but, unacquainted with the tune, she can but try to follow it.

It leads her to a door, half open, the only one in its hall to host someone within. Maria’s fingers curl around the doorframe as she peeks inside, just in time to see a splash of sky blue and the end of a song.

“That was wonderful!” She smiles as she steps forward, clapping softly once the figure— a girl— turns around; only after the round of applause it so clearly warrants does she dip her head slightly in apology, a shade of sheepishness ringing her expression. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I heard your song while I was exploring, and it was so pretty, and—!” Again, she claps, as exuberant with her praise as she is honest. “That was amazing!”

[vonvestra]

Rinea knew of him, but nothing about him. Any previous encounters were mere passing in the hall or a glance at him in the classroom. He was often to be lurking around the house leader as she had observed. There was no benefit for her to invest more time than necessary in this man, but today, she happened to catch sight of others giving him gifts. As congratulatory? Or a special occasion? The word "birthday" clued her in as she passed by in her stroll to the greenhouse.

Though she had no reason to send him a gift of any sort, there is something in him that resonates with her. Next when she sees Hubert, it is with a bundle of yellow alstroemerias—nothing too personal, but not thoughtless either.

Rinea's eyes meet his briefly to mutter, "Um, happy birthday." Out of respect, and to evade some awkwardness on her end, she bows her head slightly and holds out the bundle for him to take.

She catches him in the courtyard. It’s sudden. Though Hubert knew of her (Rinea, described in her student file as young noblewoman from Valentia, but hardly anything more), he had never made any formal introduction. And so accustomed to others unacquainted with him fleeing from his presence, he does not expect her to cross his path, much less stop him to speak. It’s the surprise of it all that stops him.

She holds a bouquet out to him and he stares at it for a moment in bewilderment, but accepts the gift before the encounter can turn awkward.

“You’re an observant one,” he says in lieu of a thank-you. His eyes turn to appraise the yellow blossoms. Lilies of some sort, but that is all he can recognize.

“Rinea, was it?” He glances back down at her. “I hope you’re settling in well with the Black Eagles. Lady Edelgard is often busy, but have you need of her, you may pass any message along through me.”

He hadn’t much else to say than that. Another beat of silence, but Hubert breaks it with a polite bow. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

As he continues past her to his room, he looks at the flowers again. Lower nobility though she may be, she seems to know that ingratiating herself to those above will save her in the long run. He would ask Edelgard what she knew of the girl in their next meeting.