fandomtownies | The Photo Hut

Nell had asked around a bit and made her way eventually to the Photo Hut. "Excuse me," she asid politely, if a bit nervously, "Might you'un be Steven's friend, Liz?"

Liz had been lost in thought, staring at her blank report and it took her a moment to be register Nell speaking to her.

“Oh,” she blinked, “oh, sorry I mean - yes I’m Steven’s friend Liz,” there was a pause and Liz wished she wasn’t looking so tired and sad when there was someone new in the store.

She knew she wouldn’t be making the best impression right now.

Nell would register the tired and sad later when she wasn't quite so nervous. She didn't want Liz to think she was here to sell her something or bother her, she just wanted to offer a hand as best she knew how.

"Steven told me that you were happy to have the tea, so I thought I'd bring you a bit more. And I have some lotion I made, for, well to, um," she gestured as if rubbing it on her belly. "It's calming as well."

Liz blinked and then made the connection, “oh you’re Marc and Steven’s friend Nell?” she said , managing a small tired smile.

“I - I did want to thank you for the teas and lotion,” she said, “they - they’re very nice, I’ve been enjoying having them,” she told her.

“I wouldn’t say no to extra if that’s okay?” she said quietly, “how - how much would you like for them?”

It had been a while since Liz had bought teas or lotion so she wasn’t t sure how much they were.

"I am," Nell said, "I'm happy you'un likes them, but I'm not here to ask for money. I just thought..."

She'd listened to radio today, trying to get some clue as to what might have happened over the weekend and had heard about Marc visiting a very upset Liz, but it didn't seem quite polite to say anything about that.

"It was a hard weekend," she finally said. "And I was concerned. Too much stress is hard on mother and baby, so I just thought maybe if you'un felt they helped before that I could give you some extra. Another time if you want me to make you a special batch we can talk about that, but this is just by way of being a gift - one woman to another."

There was a very tiny smile at that, “thank you,” she said softly, “it’s …very nice of you,” there was a pause, “ the weekend … I miss …” she started and stopped several tines, not quite knowing what to say since she didn’t know if Nell knew about her particular situation or not, “it’s been a rough few months,” she admitted. “The weekend drove home that it’s going to take time … to, well … ‘ her voice trailed off.

“To be the version of me that I was that weekend, even though I don’t know if I will be that person,” she said softly.

Nell only knew that Liz was pregnant. However, that and knowing that this weekend has been one of those weekends and having heard about Marc's visit yesterday and how just Liz had been, well, she might not know the details, but she could make some educated guesses.

"Nobody told me anything, if you'rn worried about that," Nell said gently. "Neither Steven nor Marc would do you like that. But I know how rough pregnancy can be on a body and with an upset like this weekend, that just makes things worse.

"You'un don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, but I'll tell you now that I'm happy to listen and anything you say won't go any farther. But I can tell you that everything takes time and if you need to grieve or worry that's perfectly normal."

Liz hesitated, it might be nice to have someone else to talk to …who didn’t know everything.

Well not everything, she didn’t think Nell wanted to know about all the problems she’d had with her powers since they’d only just met.

“I’m…I’m a pyrokinetic,” she explained and then cautiously summoned her powers in one hand to bring up those blue flames tinged with gold, “it’s - I don’t have the best control and I - I don’t know how my powers will be react with the pregnancy,” she admitted.

Nell's eyes widened. "That must be awful worrisome," she said.

She took a moment then smiled at Liz. "M'not sure I have anything to help with that, but I can put together a tea that helps you feel more calm and settled. And if you're feeling calmer, maybe your powers will be too."

The flames disappeared, “I also don’t know if my daughter will have my powers as well,” she admitted, that was a possibility she was also fearful of.

There was a pause.

“I do like the sound of the tea though,” she said quietly, “I need as many options as I can get to stay calm I think,” she admitted.

"I can see where that would be a concern," Nell said, thinking of how a colicky baby with fire abilities could prove disastrous. Not that she'd say that to Liz. "But sounds like the better space you're in the better you'd be able to cope."

She smiled at her. "If'n you'un tells me what you might need and what flavors or scents you like, I can adjust what I make for you. Also... have you ever done any gardening? 'Cause I can tell you there's nothin' like getting your hands in the dirt and growing things to help you feel more connected and peaceful. And that's something I can help you try too if you'd like."

“I don’t know much different flavours of tea, I wasn’t much of a tea drinker before I had to limit my caffeine intake,” Liz considered, “I do like tea to be quite sweet though,”

There was a pause as she considered the rest of what Nell was saying.

“I’ve actually never tried gardening,” Liz admitted, “I’ve never really had much chance to be outside a lot, unless it was for work and then we were too busy to really spend time to relax outdoors,” also because it was really hard to hide a 6’5 red demon from the general public, there was another pause and then she managed a small smile, “it does sound nice though, I ….I would like to learn,”

"The teas I gave you were caffeine free, they're actually a tisane or an infusion, so you don't have to worry about that. I can make sure they're sweet and you can always add honey to them. Do you like more minty or citrusy flavors?" She smiled and shook her head. "Probably too many questions, I'm sorry."

"I'd be happy to let you come work with me and my plants," she offered. "You can even plant some things to bring home and care for them. Plants are good to have in your house. They help clean the air and add oxygen to it."

Nell ducked her head a little. "They're kind of my thing as you'un can see."

“That’s okay, I - it’s a nice change from my thoughts for a while, trying to think about other things,” Liz said softly.

“I prefer citrusy flavours ,” she considered after a few moments, “and having them with honey does sound really nice thank you,”

She paused for a moment as she considered Nell’s offer, “I - I would like that,” she told her, “It …I think it would be nice to create as much as I could, my - my powers have destroyed so much …” she hesitated, biting her lip, “it would be nice to have those memories, growing the plants while my daughter’s growing inside me,”

Liz did smile at Nell’s explanation, “it must be nice to be able to work with plants all the time, I sometimes take photos of nature when I have the chance to, it’s usually when something catches my attention and I want to remember how something looked on a particular day,”

"I can do citrusy," Nell said with a smile. "I'll fix you up some tasty teas that will be calming for you and good for the baby too."

She listened to Liz, nodding. "Your plants and baby can grow together and we can find you some that will be pretty and maybe helpful to have around the house. I ain't - haven't ever been one for taking pictures," having a camera would be important for that, "but I'd love to see some of you'uns. 'Specially the nature ones."

“I - I would like that thank you,” Liz said with a small smile, “I do keep some of my photos here,” she offered, as she bent down to the photo albums she did keep under the counter, she found the album that did have most of the nature photos she had taken at Fandom. She held it out shyly towards Nell.

There was a lot of random photos of trees, fallen leaves and flowers and even different blades of grass where she had liked how the sunlight had created different shadows on it.

Nell looked through the pictures, her quiet smile growing. "These are beautiful," she said. "I wish someone coulda taken pictures of my Soulwood so I'd have them to look at while I'm here."

“Thank you,” Liz smiled, “I’ve always enjoyed taking photos, ever since I was a kid, I like how images stay still in the photos,” she explained.

She paused, tilting her head, “Oh Is that where you’re from?” Liz asked curiously as she listened, “I’ve never heard of Soulwood before,”

"And you can capture a moment in time," Nell agreed.

"Soulwood is the wood and the land where we live, just outside of Knoxville, TN." She smiled, thinking of it. "It's beautiful there and I miss it so much."

“Oh that does sound really nice, I spent most of my time growing up in the south, I’ve lived in New Jersey for years since I was 14 but I was born in Kansas City and we traveled a lot for my dad’s work,” she explained.

"I wish I could show it to you'un," Nell said. "Actually, until I came here I'd never gone farther than Knoxsville and then only for the farmer's market once in a while."

Liz did smile at that, “I would like to see it one day,” she said, “aside from where I used to work, Fandom is the longest I’d ever stayed in one place …. It was usually hard to stay in one location for long both due my dad’s job and they were …incidents with my powers, I’m the only pyrokinetic that I know of back home, my parents …didn’t like the attention it could bring,” she said softly.

"Must have been hard," Nell said sympathetically. "Moving all the time. Probably made you even more afraid of your powers. That can't help with your control."

Liz nodded, "it ... they never blamed me directly for it but I know, the constantly moving and my powers emerging ... it didn't help their marriage," she said quietly, "the only reason they stayed together was because they didn't believe in divorce, towards the end ... they had some pretty major arguments ... it didn't take long to figure out that they thought I was to blame," she admitted. "they thought I'd committed a sin when my powers started emerging, took me to the local Catholic Church and everything," she bit her lip, "I was seven when I started to get my powers,"

"That's just plumb ridiculous," Nell said firmly. "You'un was seven. How sinful could you be? Ain't none of that your fault and I'm sorry they made you feel that way. No wonder you worry about having control of it's all tied up with that nonsense."

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