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Pearling skies threaten another shower upon the grass, a badly needed relief from the incessant humidity that tends to make August in New York a recipe for utter misery. Even in the greensward of Westchester County, oppressively moist air can drain away someone's energy in rapid time. A bit of shade beneath the trees lends a perfect perch for someone in a turbulent mood to partake of the wildness promised by nature, a spectacular lightshow less likely than a gentle patter building into a steady, strong shower.
Front row, Scarlett allows herself the moment of pleasure in a drifting sea of troubled thoughts and emotions. Her feet flat to the grass before her, she kneads at the soil with her bare toes, her knees bent at a sharp angle and her back braced upon the high trunk supporting her. A nigh thankful pat thanks the sentinel for allowing her the dissolute moment away from other students, far from the classroom and petty cares that seem so vast to small, young minds.
Anyone in their right mind wouldn't approach Scarlett with bare hands and bare feet, knowing anything about her particular curse. Death walks in a pretty bohemian's face, and a silver ankh resting upon her breast above a golden spindle gives dreadful warning.
Crumbs of a bar of some sort scatter over her lap, brushed away with her palm. Soon mizzle thickens into the promised downpour, a serenade upon the crowns of the maples and elms and hornbeams around her. For a moment, she might pretend to be herself.
*
For most people, the rain would be a deterrent. Crystal's affinity with the elements, however, makes the weather less of an issue. For once she's dressed more simply, in a long, flowing cotton dress that clings to her as she walks across the lawn, looking up to the sky to welcome the rain.
It's almost by accident that she wanders under the tree next to Scarlett, pausing when she recognizes the other woman. "Scarlett," she greets, smile flickering. "I didn't expect to find you here."
*
"You should not. The Institute offers haven and sanctuary to others." Drawing a fine line in the sand, there, the young woman looks up to the greying skies, the calm in her tone and the distance in her voice utterly betraying nothing of her turbulent inner thoughts. Yet they lie there, somewhere, adding to the roil under the deceptively still surface. Scarlett gives Crystal a smile all the same. "I can leave. You and your sister dwell here, at least for the nonce, and you deserve what tranquility and space the grounds afford."
Reaching for her boots, these are pulled on with perfunctory efficiency over her taut calves. She can dress with considerable speed as necessary, a byproduct of keeping her flesh out of contact with all else. "Medusa looks and sounds well. I am truly happy for your reunion."
*
"Why should you leave?" Crystal asks, brows furrowing as her smile fades into a frown. "Don't be silly, there's plenty of tree and rain for the both of us." Leaving a respectful distance for the other woman, she moves to settle onto the ground herself, careless of the water and the mud.
"Thank you. It's…a relief to have her back, though closing one chapter means starting another. And the last chapter was so much of my life, I'll admit I'm a little frightened of what comes next, regardless," she confesses, pushing sodden locks away from her face.
*
The rain might percolate through the trees, though the curtains are drawn thicker off to the west, following prevailing winds. Boots on, Scarlett leans back against the tree and runs her fingers over her face. "Forgive me, Crystal, the recent days bring their own challenges and lack of adequate rest. I took your expression to mean you preferred the solitude of your own company." She can, at the very least, phrase these things eloquently.
Not that it helps much. "You need not fear. Your sister returns to you, does that not bring some confidence and satisfaction? So too His Highness puts favour in you, and that will not waver in the least, from all I have seen." Running her palms against the lawn, flattened by her seated position, she welcomes the texture and dampness. "Friends at your back, family at your side, there is much to be achieved in that. Though if it ease your heart, I can say Thor's lady mother is…" A pause follows. "Intense, though not unkind; wise, and remarkably profound. She came to speak with Lady Amora, who promptly informed her of His Highness' news. Only in slight passing. She left soon after."
*
"Well, we wouldn't have wanted things to be too simple, would we?" Crystal murmurs ruefully, not quite able to feign cheer. She considers for a moment, then rolls one shoulder in a slight shrug. "I will deal with it as it comes. It's clear that the lady has…made her decisions about what is happening. Which is unfortunate." She holds a hand out into the rainfall, letting the water dance over her fingertips. "I would prefer we be able to work together."
Looking back to Rogue, she smiles crookedly. "I am sorry that you seem to have been caught in the middle of this. It is one of the ugly truths of royal politics that those not directly involved often become either tools or pieces on the board."
*
"Simplicity would be unfortunate. The goddess of matrimony and the hearth reads deeper than the surface currents, and does the goddess of desire hold her trust and faith?" A curl of her mouth marking a slight dimple, Scarlett holds to a still, measured observation. "I would not be so quick, upon reflection, to presume that Her Majesty accepted whatever Lady Amora said. She knows her son better than any, surely, with a mother's wisdom." Even a stepmother's. "With a mother's heart, too. If this arrangement pleases Thor, as it pleases you, then she may be a great advocate in your favour. Do not let the scheming of a wounded heart destroy your happiness."
It's not a conciliatory fashion. "Why apologize? 'Tis the adventure of a lifetime and one I set my star by. The choice to be engaged is mine, to some degree, and only a fool weeps at his lot without assessing his role in reaching where he is. I've seen a glimpse of the Queen of Asgard and witnessed your reunion to your sister. Do you imagine me sorrowful? I am not. Suppose my fate ends in an Asgardian dungeon, a river some miles away, or a battlefield against jotnar. It would not be a terrible conclusion, seeing what I have seen, knowing whom I have known, loving as I have loved."
*
Danny has partially disconnected.
*
"Your sense of adventure does you credit," Crystal smiles warmly back at the other woman, drawing her knees up toward her chest and wrapping her arms loosely around them. "It occurred to me," she muses, "That Lady Amora's concerns that there was no reason for her to be present if his highness was courting me and not her are not entirely baseless. But there are other possibilities."
Her smile deepens at one corner. "What if I said that I had asked her to come, to advise me in the ways of the court of Asgard? No doubt no one would believe that was her true goal, but it isn't difficult to imagine she would agree to it, hoping to tangle me in some terrible gaffe."
*
"She must be treated cautiously such. Truly her understanding in the ways of the Asgardian court, and Asgardian ladies, must be deep and nigh without peer. Lacking the availability of anyone else so wise," Scarlett conjectures upon the point, "you could reasonably do it. Name her your chief advisor, as it were, though she may reject you out of spite for the mere fact she walks in your entourage after you rather than before. Precedence is a strange business. I know not how you do it among your own people, though we have seen oft enough how someone's pert nose gets put out of joint. The delicacy and diplomacy need to be lightly done."
In this, she shakes her head and leans back against the tree. "I do not envy you that."
*
"And if the rest of Asgard finds me so absurd a match, then no one will blame her if she isn't present at my side," Crystal points out. "Which will leave her free to pursue whatever rescue efforts might be needed." She sighs, dropping her chin onto her knees. "Plans within plans, contingencies for all possibilities. This was always more Medusa's gift than mine."
*
The redheaded bohemian curls her arm around her knees, anchoring the movement. "None of us can perceive all ends, can we? Make plans and the universe rebels at that by finding a key to unlock every door. There you might say the only constants are fate and mischief of fate, though even chaos serves a higher plan." Waxing philosophical comes quietly and preciously easy to Scarlett. It speaks a bit much on that front.
The girl glances up to the sky. "Plan what you can. Do what you may, and if you succeed, succeed brilliantly. She can accompany you or not. You won't have to suffer if she does or does not."
*
"Oh, I'm reasonably certain I'll suffer more if she's there," Crystal laughs softly. "But I've been exiled from my home for ten years now, and I know how that hurts the heart. If I can help her to go home, then I will. She need not appreciate it. It is the right thing to do. Would you bring her my offer? That I would ask nothing of her, but would be…pleased to present her as my advisor on matters of the Asgardian court, if she would be willing."
*
"Have a care with her, for all her purposes stand to serve her benefits. I do not believe Lady Amora would harm Asgard, though her goals serve her ends and no one else's. I've never forgotten that, even considered her student. However, I will do so," Scarlett replies softly. "I intend to visit her on the morrow, and as such, that will give me a suitable opportunity. Is there aught else you wish me to speak to her of?"
*
"Nothing else," Crystal shakes her head. "I fear we left things on…less than ideal terms. But I would have her know that I will choose no fight with her." The corners of her eyes crinkle with a small smile, a glimmer of humor in her eyes. "In no small part because I am not foolish enough to think I would win."