fandomtownies | Covent Garden Flowers, Saturday

Not too long after Seivarden had opened the shop, a child looking about ten burst through the door.

"Mother! I found you!"

She grinned at Seivarden.

Sevarden looked up. Her first thought was that this might be a mistake, and that she soon would be disappointed, but the child in front of her did wear gloves (and a leather jacket, but she didn't think about that) and looked a little bit like her sister.

Seivarden smiled, rose from the chair and managed to hold back tears.

"You have," she said, crossing the floor and lifting the child off the floor. "Although you have to tell me your name."

"It's the time travel thing, right?"

She knew about things like this, of course. She had suspected it even before she stepped through the portal.

"Etnys Diaz Vendaai. Is mom here?"

Seivarden managed to keep reasonably calm when the kid told her her name, and she definitely didn't drop her.

"Well," she said slowly, trying to think about what to say while trying to figure out how she felt. "I'm not.. That is..."

Regardless of Etnys' other parent, Seivarden loved her. She couldn't not love her child.

"I'm not sure where she is."

Etnys considered that for a moment, then nodded. "But she is here, isn't she? This is where you two met."

She knew about these things, and she was very proud of herself for figuring it out.

"I'll have to find her later. Right now, I want tea. You have some prepared, Mother?"

Earth was so uncivilized, it was true, and that was part of why Etnys kind of liked it (in small doses), but she knew she could always depend on tea.

They had met here, even in this universe, although not in the 'let's have a child' way, of course.

Seivarden put Etnys down on the floor again and smiled. "Of course I have tea."

When things felt a little awkward, just talk about tea. She walked over to the counter where the pot was standing on the counter.

"It's made in a pot though, not a proper flask. I haven't been able to find one here."

"That's okay," Etnys shrugged a shoulder, emulating a certain casual disinterest that she'd picked up from both her parents. "That's how abuela makes it when I visit."

She took a moment to consider all the flowers, wondering of maybe she should bring some when she went to find her mom, but, no, her mom wouldn't like that. She'd probably just call her a nerd.

Seivarden would definitely advice her against bringing her mom flowers, for Etnys' sake.

"Abuela?"

She poured a cup of tea and offered it to her.

Etnys smirked a little as she took the cup. Of course her mother wouldn't know what that meant, and used by itself, she probably didnt recognize its origins either.

"Grandmother Julia," she explained, taking a sip. "That's what I call her."

"Oh."

Rosa hadn't exactly been forthcoming about her family, but at least their daughter - Seivarden did feel uncomfortable thinking their - knew them. In some universe, one very far away from this one, probably.

"So, you visit her?"

She frowned a little. "Actually, you know I don't know anything about your life, do you?"

The kid seemed smart - of course! - and probably had figured all this out.

Etnys shrugged, made a gesture. "I figured," she said, "since you're still here. This must be before you returned, since you almost never come back if you can help it. But Mom does. A lot. And sometimes I go with her."

But not nearly as much as she'd like, but she knew better than to admit that to her mother.

"Oh, she does?"

Come back?

"But we don't live here, do we?"

Had she found a way to go back? And to where?

"Do you have family at home too, then?"

Family meaning the Vendaais. Well, hopefully it meant the Vendaais, and somewhere on one of the estates, and a proper Rachaai upbringing and...

Rosa. Oh, the scandal.

Oh, the scandal indeed. It was all very complicated and ongoing and her mom was constantly making things worse, but at the same time, it was terribly exciting and kept things more interesting than any entertainment could even hope to acheive.

Etnys sipped her tea. "Everyone back home has been very...forgiving."

Even as young as she was, she understood the complicity of jer unique position all too well.

"Oh, good," Seivarden said, with the voice of a mother who was ready to do anything to defend her child, especially using her social influence to do so.

And Seivarden couldn't help it, she had to ask: "How is your mom getting along with... well, everyone."

She took a sip from her cup.

"She doesn't," Etnys said, smirking, with the voice of a child who was clearly looking up to the entirely wrong influence. "But she tries. Sometimes. And then gets sick of everything and leaves for a while. She always comes back, though."

And brought presents. Etnys almost looked forward to when her mom blew up and stormed off, because it meant in a few months she'd be swimming in Earth candy qith the inevitable return.

She was definitely getting some while she was here, too, as soon as they finished their tea.

So, she came back. Seivarden smiled a little.

"You look a little like your aunt," she said, wondering if that other self did that too. Maybe everyone did?

Then she remembered: "Have you had breakfast? I can take a break and we can go and find something to eat."

"I haven't!" Etnys' grin grew a little bit, and, as much as she'd like to just feast on candy all day, that probably wasn't the smartest idea. "I came looking for you as soon as I got here. Maybe we can find Mom and she can join us!"

At Etnys' time, her mom was definitely having one of her moments and had for a couple of months now, so the idea of them together right now was especially appealing.

"I know a good place," Seivarden said, smiling at Etnys. "Finish your tea, and we'll head over there."

If Rosa had burst through that door any harder, that would make two of Hot Leaf Water's Hot Roommate's doors that she'd have been the reason for their replacement.

Sending the kid off to get lost in the town (whatever, it was good for her, it would build character or something) sort of dulled a little bit of Rosa's ire, but she'd worked up plenty back up on her way to the flower shop. If anything, the whole fact that she felt she needed to do this was enough to do it. She thought about just ignoring it, but, no, she didn't want to risk that.

So into the shop she stormed, all fury and determination, and pounded her fists on the counter as if that entrance wasn't enough to make sure she had Hot Leaf Water's full attention.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she demanded.

As if it were all her fault in the first place.

Seivarden pulled back a little. So now talking was ok? No, shouting, she corrected herself. That was shouting.

"What, you're blaming me for the island sending us a kid from an alternate universe?"

Shouting was always okay.

"Well, it definitely didn't come from my head space."

Because that was totally how these things worked, Rosa.

"But I'm letting you know. Right now. In absolutely no uncertain terms, that I do not want aaaannythiiiing," that word wasn't so much said as it was hissed, "to do with this. I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to acknowledge it, and if this stupid island puts even a single idea in that thick skull of yours about this, I will lobotomize you myself just to get rid of it."

And she did go to med school for a few years; she could totally do it.

"Are we clear?"

"Actually, I'm relieved," Seivarden said, managing to seem calm. "I saw how you treated your children last year, so I don't trust you to keep Etnys safe. She'll only be here for a weekend," that was far too short, "And I'll make sure she'll enjoy herself while she's here. She'll probably miss her other mother, but I can't do anything about that.

Etnys?

Etnys?

Rosa wanted to punch you so bad for that one, Hot Leaf Water, because there was no way she was responsible for that name.

"That's right," she said. "You can't. And you won't. Glad we can at least agree on that."

Etnys was a very proper Radchaai name.

"Did you even talk to her?"

Or had Rosa run off the moment she saw Etnys?

"Yeah," Rosa pulled back, folding her arms in front of her, sucking in a breath and regretting not just storming right back out with that last part, but now it wouldn't be nearly as effective. "I did. Sent her off to Blackstone's because she was talking about knives."

Now Seivarden got to her feet, almost spilling her tea. "You did what?" she shouted. "You can't give a child a fucking knife! What kind of a parent are you?!"

Since Rosa had just resigned from parenthood that was a stupid question, Seivarden.

"I'm glad Amaya is sensible, because Etnys won't be getting any real weapons until she's fifteen. None that she can keep without supervision, without proper training!"

What were you thinking, Rosa?!

"Oh, calm down," said Little Miss Practically Pull Off the Door over here. "Fifteen? Are you serious? There was a practical baby in the park earlier running around with knives and she was just fine. I shouldn't be surprised, though; she was worried about being by herself here, which is ridiculous....unless you've clearly been stuck with an overbearing, overprotective mother. Let me guess. You probably still cut her food up for her into smaller bites so she doesn't accidentally choke or something."

Also, Blackstone sold an axe to Seivarden; Rosa reallly doubted she was nearly as sensible about who she gave weapons to as Hot Leaf Water was giving her credit for.

Edited 2019-04-14 13:06 (UTC)

Seivarden actually managed not to use 'uncivilized'.

"So you give weapons to babies where you are from? What do you mean 'worried about being herself?"

"Not where I'm from, no," Rosa rolled her eyes, "but Et--" And she stopped herself, realizing she was about to say the kid's name, which would just give its reality power, "that kid was clearly not a baby. She was clearly interested, and in that case, why not start them out young so by the time they actually have to use it, they know what the hell they're doing? And, yeah, she was worried. About exploring on her own, because you might get upset, despite the fact that this island is tiny and the worst that's likely to happen on a weekend like this is a run-in with a gremlin or tripping over someone else's kid. Like it'd kill her to actually have a little fun without someone looming at her side."

"I'm not looming, I'm working here, unless you've noticed," Seivarden pointed out with a snort. She crossed her arms.

"What did you do to her?"

It had to be something. Judging from last year, Rosa shouldn't be trusted with children.

"Do to her?"

You could have just well enough alone, Rosa, you could have just not come in here and ignored this whole thing, but you didn't, did you? And now there was this. And you should really know better by now.

"I didn't do anything except exactly what I told you. Sent her off to find the forge, and then I came here. Is sending kids on errands considered child abuse where you're from?"

"I met your children last year, remember?" Seivarden said accusatorily. "And you won't even use Etnys' name!"

Granted, that didn't mean Rosa had hurt her.

"Did you even treat her kindly? Offer her help?"

"And guess what?" said Rosa. "Those kids survived the weekend just fine, too. And then disappeared into the ether, never to be heard from again. Because it's not real! It's all just some twisted, messed-up conjecture what-if bullshit. I am not that kid's mom. We are not that kid's parents! That kid's parents died the moment I thought it was a good idea to show you something stupid that I cared about and you couldn't keep your goddamn mouth shut about it."

And as she realised that all of that had actually left her mouth as actual words, Rosa sucked in a breath, and cursed her own stupid temper before trying to swoop in with something resembling a recovery.

"You're free to pretend all you want, Seivarden," she said, straining to keep calm. "But I am not playing that game. And I just wanted to make sure we were clear on that."

Edited 2019-04-14 15:02 (UTC)

Seivarden had to struggle for a while to come up with a reply to that. Then she said:

"I didn't realized those parents were ever an option."

Bad choice, quick change of subject.

"You know, Etnys looks like my sister. She lives in some happy universe where I could go back to my own time, not some fucking thousand-year-in-the-future where everyone I've ever known is dead. So I don't fucking care if it's real, I want this weekend, and I don't want you to ruin it by being..."

She wasn't sure what, so she made a gesture with her hand while wiping her eyes. Not a good change of subject, but at least crying might scare Rosa off.

"Oh, god."

Rosa was planning on leaving after that, anyway, but now there was going to be that slight needle of feeling a little bit bad underneath it all. She held up her hands, as if to absolve herself from anything from here on out, especially if there were going to be tears involved.

"And that's fine," she said. "You do whatever you want to do about it, except expecting me to have anything to do with it. Which you probably didn't want anyway, but I just wanted to make sure we were one hundred percent crystal clear on it. That's all. No misunderstanding, no misinterpretations, no gray areas."

You know.

Actually communicating for a change.

"Completely clear," Seivarden said, now managing to hold back her tears. "She missed... her mom, that's all. But I'll tell her."

Covent Garden Flowers, Saturday

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