#001. ic. all my flowers grew back as thorns.

[verticordiia]

She blinked. Once, twice. Then, blue eyes narrowed into a glare and she took off her gardening gloves to swap them for her regular gloves. Taking the moment to not address the wrong ice mage's sudden appearance in her presence, she surveilled the work she had been doing in the guild garden and deemed it satisfactory.

"Okay," she said as she levelled her stare at Gray, "why are you suddenly coming out of the shadows?" Aren't you supposed to be somewhere in the mountains right about now?

@resolvebound

[verticordiia]

She was still at least two shades paler than she had been, before. She did not like that, each time she looked into the mirror, she was reminded. Reminded of how fragile she had become. That her left hand had developed a bit of a trembling issue did not help either---it seemed there was no escape. No way to reassert control over her own life without drastic measures.

Maybe, she thought, maybe if things had been smoother, maybe if her hospital stay had not been as much of a disaster, she would not be entertaining this thought. But things had been a disaster on so many levels that she did not even know where to begin. Her life was a mess and she desperately needed to find a way to stablise it.

The current situation was not sustainable.

Tapping her pen against her left cheekbone, she looked at Lyon. '' I know what I get out of this agreement, '' she said quietly, perhaps a bit guiltily. He had told her that she was not taking advantage of him, but---no. There was no point in lingering on this thought. '' But what benefit do you reap? ''

[verticordiia]

On Sherry's desk, there is a letter, and a limited-edition Love Day chocolate bar, wrapped in a black bow ( which has been curled elegantly ). The envelope is ivory, and there's a pretty rose-gold seal it, with a heart stamped into the wax. There also appears to be a condom inside of the envelope. Dear Sherry, My prediction is that you will have made it very hard to sneak into your office unnoticed to leave this for you at the end of the day. Happy love day! Rejoining the world has been an anxiety-inducing experience, but you've made it significantly easier for me. I appreciate you. xoxo, Mary A. PS. I tried to find a pink condom. All I could find was this cute one with hearts on the wrapper. Have fun and be safe! ♡ I realize that you could just drink contraceptive tea, but this is much funnier. And she was right. It WAS hard to sneak into Sherry's office unnoticed!

sherry blinked. once. twice. before she could blink a third time, she felt the blush that raced up her neck. she was fairly certain that right now, the colour of her cheeks could be seen from space. looking at the generous gift, she pressed her hands---they were always blissfully cold around this time of year---against her burning cheeks and tried to will it away. the success of that was . . . mixed to say the least.

mary was a menace. she had known this. one might even say that the fact that mary was a menace was why sherry had been assigned to her in the first place, but sherry would say that there were . . . different ways of being a menace. and the way mary had been a menace approximately thirty-two minutes ago, when sherry had been talking with kora and logan about upcoming events in the guild had absolutely nothing to do with the other way of being a menace.

what was she even supposed to do?

her grandmother had always said that polite people wrote thank you cards, but she somehow doubted that it would be appropriate to write a thank you card about . . . this.

[verticordiia]

beta friendly tag drop.

[verticordiia]

she had lost track of how much time had passed since she had been admitted to the hospital  ---  the days followed the same routine,  again and again,  and blurred into one another.  merciful distractions from this  . . .  drudgery were jura’s visits,  but he had quite a bit to do with his wizard saint duties and she could not bear to whine and let him know that safe for his company,  there was little that was good about the place that was supposed to glue her back together.

( some days,  it felt more as if she was further falling apart. )

still,  there was the occasional event that did surprise her and that made her almost reconsider if maybe,  trying to nap away the day meant that she was missing out on things.  a  ‘ nurse ’  ( runeknight in disguise,  her hands were too soft )  ambled into the room,  a broad smile and an expression of utter joy  ( definitely faked )  on her face as the magical restraints sherry was bound by blinked to life. 

‘ you have a visitor,  ms blendy! ’  the woman said,  and sherry wanted to scream.  she hated this,  hated that she did not have enough control over her current situation to decide whether or not she wanted to see somebody.  because aside from jura,  she widely wished to be left alone.

@fairybond ( lucy )  liked for a starter.

[verticordiia]

" What did the grape say when it was crushed. Nothing, it just let out a little wine. "

     she pinched the bridge of her nose and took four carefully measured breaths before fixing the man with a glance that was somewhat  . . .  concerned.  ‘ ‘ --- all right, ’ ’  sherry said as she let go of her nose.  ‘ ‘ i rate this joke a,  hm,  five. ’ ’

[verticordiia]

the magazine crumpled under her glare and grew tiny little legs before miserably slouching off towards the waste bin as sherry pressed her eyes shut so tight that the black she saw seemed multi dimensional.  she was not amused, but she was a professional, she just needed a moment to compose herself, just a moment to arrange her features into something that was not a fearsome snarl.  all right.  fine.  whatever.  that had not been the worst that had ever been written about her.  she could handle that.

running gloved hands along her face, she sighed softly as she took a deep breath before snapping herself out of her funk as some of the younger serpents would call it to look at, well, someone she was not necessarily thrilled to see.  ‘ ‘ to what do i owe this pleasure? ’ ’  she asked tiredly as she stretched out her leg to push the chair on the other side of the table back for the newcomer.  ‘ ‘ i am commenting on neither the nonsense your rival magazine has written nor on jenny’s dating life.  same as ever. ’ ’ 

@jasonthereporter​ liked for a starter!!

[verticordiia]

nobody had pretended that this would be easy,  and somehow,  this had annoyed her even more.  there had been so many glances,  worried and worrying at the same time,  and sherry had wanted to scream.  it had bubbled up inside of her and almost,  almost it would have burst,  but she had always aimed for flawless self-control and this had not failed her there,  at least.

she had not seen delma in years.  she had not heard from her,  had not heard of her.  she was thankful for the woman’s  ( it was strange,  so very strange not to think of her as an older girl )  teachings and she was thankful for how far they had allowed her to go,  but she had not spent the past ten years thinking about her daily.  she had hardly thought about her at all until ooba-sama had sat her down in the office and asked her to please retrieve the books delma had taken when she had  . . .   left.   become a ghost.

it was an s-ranked intra-guild assignment because of course it was.  it meant that at the very least,  the pay was good and if sherry were in a better mood,  she would have been entertained by the thought of ooba-sama having to get the approval to cash out such a hefty reward from carolina-sama and by the knowledge that carolina-sama tended to be stingy when it came to these assignments.  alas,  her mood was sour as she looked out of the window as the trees outside got less and less blurry as the train slowed.

‘ ‘ we will split the reward seventy-thirty, ’ ’ she said as she folded her coat and shoved it into her backpack, ‘ ‘ because i think this will be a bigger hassle for you than for me.  and, well,  because it is my teacher we are on a wild goose chase for. ’ ’

@killrate​!!

[verticordiia]

[ braid ] / probably v badly

[ braid ] for your muse to braid mine’s hair

admittedly,  she had been spacing out when it had started.  she was tired and she was frankly not in the mood to listen to the back and forth of people who were paying her to look dangerous while they gambled with the lives of others.  she hated working for politicians,  but sometimes,  the reward was too good to turn the job down.  other times,  like today,  the reward was something that her guild wanted back after it had left guild possession some hundred years ago.  and quite a bit of sherry’s loyalty was with her guild.

still,  she was not going to listen attentively to budgeting concerns when she knew that the decisions would be made behind closed doors and under consideration what would bring the biggest personal gain to the negotiators,  anyway.  she would not play the game.  she refused.  instead,  she was toying with her gloves,  tugging on them now and then until they looked perfect while occasionally,  she folded paper into origami dragons that then marched up and down the railing  ---  hopefully to the amusement of her mission partner.

she liked to work with sting.  they got along just fine,  he did not drink her coffee  ( unlike other mages who seemed to find it hilarious )  and--- was he braiding her hair?  was this truly what was happening?  she chanced a glance to the corner of her eye and yes,  it was.  he had snatched a strand of her hair and was messing with it,  trying to braid it.  trying being the operative term,  she decided.

nevertheless,  she hummed,  contentedly,  as she ever so slightly inclined her head into his direction to allow him easier access.  she had always had a weakness for this,  for people messing with her hair  ---  when she had been a child,  her grandfather had always teased her for falling asleep while he was braiding her hair.  but who could fault her!  it was relaxing and although she did not think that sting was particularly talented in the art of hair styling,  she would have to be careful.

‘ ‘ maybe the next time,  you can add some flowers, ’ ’  she pondered aloud as she inspected the finished braid.  ‘ ‘ to accessorise. ’ ’

nonverbal memes  /  accepting.

[verticordiia]

if there was one thing sherry had learnt in the recent years,  it was how not to care.  not about the newest rumours that had been smeared all over the front pages of the gossip magazines.  not about the way she seemed to no longer exist in the eyes of people who were looking for serious mages.  the only time when she cracked,  when there were cracks in the mask of perfect ennui was when someone had the nerve to go for someone she cared about.

so if this newbie of a blue pegasus mage thought that his crankiness and grim glare was having any effect of her,  she was not giving his future in security much of a chance;  clearly,  his ability to read the room was limited.  who had even told him that it was his place to judge her?

rolling her eyes,  she turned away from his glare and crossed her arms as she continued to wait for someone who was not currently indulging in revenge fantasies to notice her presence;  the trimens and jenny all seemed to be out  ---  which was not ideal as they would have been her preferred contacts for this. 

@fairybond ( lisanna )  liked for a starter.

[verticordiia]

there was no doubt that,  at the end of the day,  sherry was enjoying her new assignment much more than she had her previous one.  whoever had decided that she should be the one to spend much of the past week dragging remnants of the ships used by the empire out of spring cold water,  she did not know just yet,  but she would find out and she would make them regret.  the cold had been tolerable  ( she was used to wintry grasps on her,  not just because she was stupidly and tragically in love with its herald but also because,  well,  she was from the north ),  but being waist-deep entrenched in water was something she did not enjoy.

stretching like a cat as she held her face into the sun,  the marionette mage turned towards the other pink-haired mage.  she was almost convinced that she kept being assigned to these jobs because of her hair colour  ( and she was not sure what to make of it yet ),  but this did not matter as she patted the spot on the wall next to her.  ‘ ‘ are you having at least a bit fun,  meredy,  checking out these bandit hide-outs? ’ ’  she asked as her legs swayed back and forth,  feet tapping into the air along to her air quotes.  ‘ ‘ and do you want some of my food?  i,  well,  may have anticipated this assignment to be more than last week's  . . .  and packed too much. ’ ’

@sensoriella​ liked for a starter.

[verticordiia]

sherry always liked to think that there was a sense of camaraderie between those who were awake at these strange hours between night and day.  she could pretend that she was up because she had work to do  ( it was no complete lie )  but the truth was that she could not come to rest.  rubbing her tired eyes before looking around,  she halted as she saw a familiar figure and then crossed the room to stop next to him.

‘ ‘ good evening,  once more, ’ ’  she said with a slow nod.  ‘ ‘ is this chair taken,  rogue? ’ ’

@prxestigiae​ liked for a starter.

[verticordiia]

during the day,  there were students by the lake,  sitting on the grass and either doing classwork or pretending they were not on the campus but rather in a pretty park.  during the day,  the lake was pretty.  at night  . . .  at night,  the lake was a different story.  it was too calm.  too quiet.  quiet as a grave.  the atmosphere was eerie and sherry shuddered as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat,  looking anywhere but to the water.

she just had to get to ren’s car and get her laptop so that she could settle into bed with a cup of hot chocolate and a good movie.  and it was not far from here to the parking lot.  she could get there very quickly if she --- walked fast.  she was not running,  just hurrying  . . .  so that she could give ren back his car keys and--- what was that sound?

@hearternal.  

[verticordiia]

>  what can i say ? i’m charming and irresponsible   

>  *irresistible

➽ s. eucliffe:  a)  who lied to you and told you that you were irresistible? ➽ s. eucliffe:  b)  irresponsible is much more accurate ➽ s. eucliffe:  i don’t mean that critically

better left on read  /  accepting

[verticordiia]

[ smile ] // levy

[ smile ] for your muse to smile at mine from across the room

all of this was taking too long,  sherry thought.  she was not unused to being a visitor in this department and she was not unused to having to wait,  but this did not mean that she was suddenly excited about spending more time in this place than she had to.  after what had happened,  first with the demons and then in the war,  death clung to era.  it was like a dense fog,  like spiderwebs that grew everywhere  ---  and with every breath she took,  more of it slipped into her lungs.

feeling everything deeply meant that she was no stranger to this,  meant that she had felt something similar in crocus,  too,  but  . . .  she shuddered.  it was fresh,  here.  the pain and the anger in this place was something visceral,  and it left her gutted.  no,  sherry was eagerly awaiting the moment when she got the necessary signatures and could leave era in a hurry.

her gaze moved,  away from the clock towards the uniform shelves  ---  there were no ghosts lurking between the thick folders and for this,  she was grateful.  she did not think that she could handle a haunting today,  no matter whether it was a literal or a metaphorical ghost.  four more massive yet unlabelled folders,  four more question marks in sherry’s book.  how was anyone getting any work done when they had to open the folders to know what was within?  it just seemed so  . . .  inefficient to her.  alas,  from there,  her gaze shifted downwards and found something,  someone  unexpected.  short,  blue-haired,  smiling  ---  the head of the department.

it was a nicer,  a brighter welcome than she had anticipated and she smiled back at young levy mcgarden.  she shifted her weight to her other leg and stepped forward,  one hand extended.  ‘ ‘ it is always a pleasure to meet you, ’ ’  she said warmly.

nonverbal memes  /  accepting.

[verticordiia]

sting just sits & casually eats a flower. ‘oh— my bad. did you want some?’

sherry blinked as she regarded the dragon slayer,  then she let herself fall down onto the verdant meadow that was stretching out around them.  having spent quite some time with chelia  ( and wendy,  later on ),  she liked to think that she was slightly used to the strange eating habits of those who used slaying magic of any variant,  and she did realise that eating air was surely stranger than eating flowers,  but she could not help the confounded expression that was growing on her face.

‘ ‘ ---i do not eat flowers, ’ ’  she said slowly as she rubbed her chin before a question forced its way to the forefront of her mind.  ‘ ‘ . . . but,  if i may ask:  do different types of flowers taste differently? ’ ’