[Slightly Backdated] Merrymeet Outfit Planning

[witheredpeonies]

Whitlock Needleworks sits in the heart of Downtown Hollow, and mid-February a sign shows up in the window: NOW TAKING MERRYMEET ORDERS. Clearly, the new seamstress has noticed the opportunity to serve the masses, locals and offworlders alike.

Come get your gal.

Comments

[lordoftheozarks]

"Am I not?" Not for the first time does he wonder what arrangments Ms. Whitlock might be eager to wash her own hands of.

"One thing, your honor," he tries for whimsy but it falls flat. "I'm not ignorant of what I've put him through. I was once kept as a Pet, myself. Though I have ultimately failed, what I did to him, I did because I believed it would make life less painful for him than it was for me. If I must return home, I will try to make amends. I will try to conduct things differently."

[witheredpeonies]

Annabel nods slowly, once he's done talking.

"Are you ready for my verdict, Lord Osborne?" As she has in the past, she accords him his title while getting emotionally honest with him, never taking that from him to cause him pain, not since the gala.

[lordoftheozarks]

He smiles sadly when she uses his title--the very thing he is speaking of throwing away if he never returns--and closes his eyes, head bowed as if in prayer.

"I am."

[witheredpeonies]

She clears her throat, stands straighter.

"The court finds...that litigating crimes committed back home over and over again is a path to madness and a distraction from the effort we're putting in to make this world a little better. You want to do better, let's do better. I'm not saying that anything you did with regard to your Max is right or okay or wrong. I'm saying...knowing that about your past doesn't undo the impression I have of who the man you are here is. You tell me it's what you had to do back home, and I'm accepting that, but underlining that we're not in either of our homes, now."

[lordoftheozarks]

He lets out a breathy laugh, and the tension leaves him with all the suddenness of a marionette with cut strings. River does have such brilliant taste in partners, for the most part.

"I find the court to be very fair in its assessment. Thank you." He smiles for her, and it's the kind of smile that he reserves for a friend.

"We are not, no. But, I hope we can make this a home given enough time and effort. I am making the effort. I will continue to do so."

this one could wrap here?

[witheredpeonies]

"You won't make it alone. I promise you that." Not on River's behalf (though she's certain of the truth of that), but for herself.