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[beautifullies]

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— sometime near the end of july

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥?

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘤𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩.

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐴 𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙.

𝑂𝑟, 𝑖𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑. 𝑊𝑒'𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑤 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘳. 𝘙𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥'𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘵.

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵.

[beautifullies]

[ Claire laughs even though it's unseen. ]

𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝐼'𝑚 𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑔𝑜 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑛 𝑁𝑜𝑐𝑤𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐'𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥.

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡. 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜? 𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝐸𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦'𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠.

[theidlemaiden]

[ Forget the lizards. They're momentarily forgotten at the mention of her new home. ]

Your home?

Wait, are you moving? When did this happen? Oh, Claire I have to get you a housewarming gift to commemorate the occasion.

[beautifullies]

[ Claire chuckles to herself. ]

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑓. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰!

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

[beautifullies]

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑡𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡. 𝐴𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑, 𝐼'𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑.

[ She tries not to think about it, the fact that this is like putting down roots in a place she never meant to be, and all without her family. ]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘤𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘩, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯?

[beautifullies]

𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝑛𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒.

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟. 𝐼 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑦, 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑠.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘨 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩 - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥!

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑. 𝐴 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙. 𝐴 𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑦𝑒𝑠?

[ She still has some imagination, and she likes imagining herself silver-haired with plants and grandchildren one day. No grandchildren here, but she might have everything else. God help her if she's still here when her hair goes completely silver. ]

𝑁𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑦. 𝐼𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡, 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝐼 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟, 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑒? 𝑁𝑜, 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑧𝑦. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑤𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑐ℎ.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺.

[ And if she does go silver one day, Hilda can help her dye it if she feels so inclined to. That being said, Hilda is under the impression that whatever hair colour Claire chooses to wear is one she could pull off. ]

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦! 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺.

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙, 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑎. 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑑𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓-𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔.

[ Short of blaring hard rock and being a general pest, which Hilda most certainly is not. ]

[theidlemaiden]

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺.

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟ℎ𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑚, 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘖𝘩, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯.

[ That sounded like more dirt - and work - than Hilda preferred to have in her life. ]

𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦.

[beautifullies]

𝑂ℎ, 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐻𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑎.

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑚 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛, 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.