England was cold, not the same cold that settled between her bones while fog seeped into her skin and the light mist wrapped Orenda’s body like a cushion. It was a cloying cold, the type that rattled in her lungs and caught in her throat.
They’d been exiled, banished, sent away from the homeland of her precious rocky shoreline and towering redwoods. No scent of wet dirt and fresh snow on the wind signaling the start of Autumn, no talks about winter hunts when she returned home to the reservation. England was separate, almost stately in it’s manicured gardens and chopped trees.
In short, Orenda wanted to leave the moment she’d touched down. But Cyprian and Arista made it clear they were not to return to America until after things simmered down - who knew blowing up part of the Grand Canyon would be such an issue? Which was why Orenda had to walk, there were no hikes or mountains to climb nearby, she’d already been told off by three people for idly scaling the brick walls - why have such great crimps if you can’t climb ‘em? - and Orenda was going crazy, fuck. She needed to move. Diagon Alley bustled, overbright even as the fog cleared for the day, people moved like zombies returning from night shifts or nights out clutching toast lathered in beans ( a disgusting invention ) toting friends across their shoulders. So when Orenda stepped out of the way of the drunkard fools she didn’t expect to land against a familiar arm, nor to crane her head back as if praying to the Spirit for guidance, finding only Nate goddamn Pinnock’s pureblooded face looking as if he’d seen an owl.
“Aho there, is this motherfuckin’ Nate Pinnock in my presence?” Orenda’s mouth curled into a familiar smile, her rough rez burr heavy on her tongue, “The great Prince of the goddamn Ilvermorny out here, lookin’ like ya got caught in a wood chipper, fuck.” Orenda grinned pushing at his shoulder, “Damn Pinnock for serious what ya doing out here, far and away from the Americas? Don’t seem right ta me.” She looked over his shoulder, half expecting to see Harriet pop out behind him, “Tell me your better lookin’ half is out here too damn.”