" Huh? "

Eiden glances up from the sketchbook like someone just woke him up wide awake at once. He hadn't really noticed anyone getting close so it takes a while for him digest any questions beyond what he's got himself.

" Uhhh... "

Well, given that the page next to this one had a full on half finished toy design with notes and all he couldn't exactly blame her for thinking that.

" Err..."

"... I mean I do try to design for everyone though obviously in the end my own tastes tend to win over... but this... this is just a flower. Though I was kinda thinking to turn it into something though. "

He taps the paper, then glancing down again. He'd thought the shapes could work for a toy - the plan was to gradually shapeshift the drawing into one - but now that she mentions it does kinda look like .... Eiden tilts his head.

" Hmm? Now that you mention it... "

While it was gratifying to see the stranger's confusion, Sera took her delight more so in the fact that he had a dirty enough mind to understand her own bemusement.

❝Ooh–A real imaginator type, huh?❞ she nodded with approval. ❝Now flowers are something I'm a know-how in, if you want a hand.❞

❝I think you turn that bit, the thorny lookin' thing out more and it'll work brilliant!❞ Her hands pointed towards the rough sketch as she said this, though she was careful not to touch the paper directly. A fellow artist knew not to mess with the delicate balance of lines and shading.

❝How do you get these all shaped right and what? Never met someone who can do the whole making part.❞

He doesn’t much care for this person’s attitude when he’d mostly been complaining to himself, but considering the last few days he’s definitely also feeling the opposite of confrontational— not that he’s ever like that in the first place but right now he really wants to escape this situation.

“I— well…”

He sighs, slumping back in his seat. “I’m sorry you’re dealing with that… but it’s not a competition of ‘who has it worse’…” He says in what’s basically a whisper, gaze remaining on the wall ahead, avoiding eye contact with the stranger. He doesn’t want to be disruptive or anything either.

She scoffed and puckered her lips as if she had swallowed something sour. Judging by the lack of fight from the man, she surmised he was used to being treated poorly and that led her to feel guilt over acting like a right shit.

Sera stood from her chair and plopped down beside him instead, her eyes downcast as she did so. With a scuff of her boots against the linoleum floor she grumbled, ❝Yeah, I know that... Look, s'been a long boring day and you're the only one who piped up the whole time I've been here. Stopped yelling at the door after they told me it'd make the doctor take longer.❞

Turning to face him properly, she stuck out her hand. ❝Name's Sera—in case you wanna complain about me later.❞ Her words were followed by a wink.

"You could just ask instead of taking, you know. I like to think we live in enough of a civilized society to be past petty thievery, but I see some still find it hard to adjust." Tsuru peeks out from behind her doorway, hand on her hip as she watches the elf pocket one of the herbal flowers from her garden. It happened pretty often, so often in fact that she wasn't surprised. But she still can't help but huff at the attempt. "Unless you thought this cottage to be abandoned. Which you will now know that it, in fact, is not!"

❝Fuck!❞ the elf exclaimed with a start, her whole body jerking at the unexpected appearance of anyone, let alone the owner of the cottage. More than just surprised, Sera scrunched up her face and quietly chided herself for her inattentiveness. ❝Shit-fucking-ears!❞

With a deep breath in, she stood from her crouched position, her hand which held a flower inching behind her back.

❝Pfft, what kinda thief steals from a stupid garden?❞ she lied unconvincingly, sending a silent prayer to Andraste that the fancy horned woman inside didn't actually notice the stolen good. ❝Maybe I'm so civilized I sniff roses every day!❞

She didn't actually know what kind of flower she held, though the garden's owner needn't know that.

“Being passed from doctor to doctor is… annoying. I know they must be busy during flu season but I’m tired.”

There’s only so much he can do while at the hospital waiting around, and most of that has been staring at the wall.

❝Yeah? Try waiting for a splint 'cuz your healing bow didn't work right on your bones.❞ Sera complained in return, immaturely sticking her tongue out at the end of her sentence. At least now she could pass the time arguing with someone in the waiting room, even if it wasn't a doctor.

It wasn't until someone right beside Mika said anything that they took into account just how long her smile had lasted. But how could anyone react any differently to such a pretty accessory shop? There was just too much to choose from, and so little time and money to make a purchase for herself.

"Wait why would you steal for me?" Not that she cared, especially after being given the info that the owner was someone selling these things at such high prices with their living conditions. Maybe one little thing couldn't hurt...

"...Well what about that little brooch there? The one with the hibiscus?"

❝Well...❞ she said slowly, her brows scrunching together as she mulled over the question. It was a fair thing to ask when offered free goods, though Sera didn't have a witty reply for her. ❝I mean, the shopkeep won't notice some lost trinket. You though, you'll appreciate it proper, yeah?❞

Not to mention it would bring a rush of adrenaline to her veins.

❝That's a nice shiny!❞ Sera soon leaned onto the display case and nodded, an approving grin on her face. Looking back to the other woman, she covered one side of her mouth so the cashier wouldn't hear when she asked, ❝Right–how good are you at distractions?❞

The opposite of a haunting is something very lonely, Katie Maria

(by @heavensghost)

quickbow​:

There are plenty of people who have stupid nicknames for him, thinking they're funny-- so Badou automatically starts to turn, though the voice is only vaguely familiar--

"OOF-- THE HELL!" Somehow he catches her, arms around her shoulders, eye squeezed shut because OW. Like a little bullet or something--

When he opens his eye, a familiar face is looking back at him.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow-- SERA? Dude, you're back?!"

She huffed at the man's exclamation of surprise, her eyebrows already raised by the time she dropped her hand from cradling her head.

❝At least you're a good catcher! You wouldn't believe the crap arms some people have.❞ Now that she had a proper look at him and that gobsmacked face, she pushed his hands aside and soon stuck her tongue out at him. ❝How'd you know I even left, huh?❞

❝Alright, fine, I'm fresh back in this shite place. Fancy I found you so soon! Don't tell me you been here the whole time?❞

<3 <3 <3