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Detail at Elie Saab Fall 2016 Couture

You do not get along with your family? Not an uncommon experience, it seemed, amongst people on this island. Her own family of sorts had been very much welcoming upon her return home, but this did not detract from their role in her departure so long ago! I understand this feeling! It is often easier to make a new family, no? This is why I see Toli so often, and why I live with my best friend! The mere mention of Aspen made her smile grow all the wider, the corners of her eyes crinkling as though her face reflected her true age. She did love him, truly! And Toli too! Deciding this was a good time to begin her investigation, she added, I have made many more friends here, and perhaps you will too! It is so nice to have a community like this, no? When I lived in Italy, it was so hard to be comfortable around the people, but here it is so lovely! 

Toli got home and wrenched the door open with only a slight struggle, more than a little surprised to see two living beings in his living room instead of just the one he’d left behind. Ah. Well, then. He smiled wide, setting his bounty on the scuffed wood floors. “Έφη! Δεν ήξερα ότι θα πρέπει να έρχονται. Βλέπω εσείς οι δύο συναντήθηκαν.” Of course, he’d meant to introduce the two at some point, but… If fate would have it this way, then so be it. “Ελπίζω να δεν τον βασανίζουν πολύ. Αυτός είναι ευαίσθητος.” He made his way to where Johanás was perched, gently tugging on the tip of his ear. “Take it off, yes? Effie is good. No fear, αγαπι μοθ.” He leaned to press a chaste kiss to the elf’s forehead, pulling away with a sense of mild embarrassment not unlike he would feel if his mother were here. Effie’s presence always held an odd sway over his emotions. The bull plopped down onto the couch, abandoning the groceries for now, completely expecting the lapful of tiny elf soon to come.

Before he could finish answering the grubby child's prodding, the front door opened, making Johanás' hands clench tight as if around a weapon that wasn't there. Instinct, of course. The man entering was very much welcome - it was his home, after all. The bull's return at last near instantly placated him, the tension in his jaw loosening and his hands unclenching, gaze dark and ever-so-slightly predatory as it followed the large man across the room. The spurts of Greek were assumedly directed towards Effie, making him wish yet again to be free of his glamour's prison and back with his proper enchantments. He didn't enjoy being unable to understand. A small smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth as Anatolius approached, though the tug to his already uncomfortable ear made him wince, almost imperceptively but not quite. The words of freedom to follow filled him with something he'd almost call joy. The elf immediately reached up to yank off his enchanted jewelry, sighing with the release of pent up heat as his newly reformed ears fluttered up-down-up-down, quick as a rabbit's foot against the earth, desperately trying to lower his core temperature. Good gods. The prince did, in fact, clamber directly into the other's lap, despite the continued danger of overheating. If this was how he died, from overheating while strewn across the giant's chest, then it was a death he would accept. 

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Хрустальное утро by Алексей Угальников

Good mood bolstered yet more by her fruity discovery, the dryad pranced into the living room and perched on the arm of the couch. She loved being able to swing her legs freely, and had long since decided that this was one of the perks of being smaller. Never one for silence by any means, she’d already reached for her board, tapping lightly on it with one end of her chalk as she pondered her next question. It was not a lack of questions that she was struggling with by any means; she simply could not decide what to ask first! After a few seconds of deliberation, she settled on three questions and held her board up once she had finished writing them: I have not seen you before! Are you new to the island? Do you live nearby, or perhaps with family? It seems that many people here come alone, does it not?

“No. I have been here many months now.” Johanás was not very good at keeping track of time, but the move occurred shortly before his birthday, and the oft-hidden sun was rising higher and staying longer... It had to have been at least a half of a solar year. “...Family, of a sort. More so than my blood, at the least.” Lars and Lisbet had always been there. Usually his kind were very hands-on in child rearing, often with the extended family and friends involved - but not so with royals. There were far too many responsibilities to handle to also bother with properly raising a child, especially one without a claim to the throne. Attendants were perfectly suited to take the place of true family, raised from an early age to serve the crown and the ones who live under its thumb. “I tend towards solitude, outside of my housemates and Anatolius.” My, she was nosy. Why all the questions? Could they not just wait in silence for the bull’s return?

Slipping off the couch and nodding, Effie held up her board, “I will come too!” She did not particularly want to be left by herself, and she enjoyed Toli’s kitchen much more than her own. Pattering ahead of him, she hunted out the box she liked to stand on and dragged it below the cupboard she needed, clambering up to get herself a glass. Not having hands to write her message, she took a second glass and waggled it in offering to her new friend, hoping he understood the gesture.

The prince stomped off to the kitchen, and oh, good gods, she was like a tiny, tanned parasite. Getting a glass of water couldn’t take more than a few minutes, did she really need to tag along? Still, he wordlessly took the glass from her outstretched hand, pivoting to fill the glass from the tap. He took a single sip before exiting the room again, continuing his offended silence. She wasn’t expecting him to retrieve her drink as well, was she? He didn’t even truly want to get his own. Normally he had people to do such things for him, but alas, today he was alone. Once the little gremlin of a not-his-house guest was behind him and he was perched back on the couch, he brough his drink down to the proper temperature of just above a cup full of slush with a quick jolt of magic. What sort of heat relief could a lukewarm puddle provide? None. That’s the sort.

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She really did hope he wanted to become friends… A little because she loved having people to call upon as she pattered around the town, but mostly because she wanted to go out for a picnic later! If Toli’s friend did not like her, how could she invite them both to sit out in the park and take advantage of the rare sunlight? He did not look like he had been outside in the sunlight for more than half an hour in his entire life! The contrast between his pale skin and her own tanned legs was a little startling, although many of the islanders appeared a little washed out and pale in her eyes. He would definitely benefit from coming out for more walks - and Effie was just the person to encourage him!

Johanás shifted in his seat uncomfortably, ultimately removing his gloves before settling down again. The one downside of Anatolius’ apartment was that it was hot. The elven folk of the north were not built with sweat glands, and oversize ears played a large part in thermoregulation. Glamours were complicated magic, and truly changed a piece of you, but only a piece, and the prince found himself quickly beginning to overheat. How incredibly unfortunate. Hopefully, Anatolius would return sooner rather than later, or this grubby child would decide to leave. He could only pray one or the other happened before the unbearably undignified panting commenced. “I am going to pour myself a drink. Excuse me.” Perhaps that would be an appropriate temporary solution.

Delighted to be given a name, Effie nodded rapidly and saved it to memory, trying to visualise the spelling in her head. People did not like it if their names were misspelled - she couldn’t help it! English was not her first language, and it was only many centuries of practice that had cemented its wiggly alphabet in her mind. She gave a surprised blink, head cocked, and almost blurted the question out before biting her tongue and rapidly writing it out. How odd that this friend of Toli’s did not know Greek! She could not imagine a friendship with Aspen without knowing French. Hm. She would have to prod Toli on this, perhaps. Flipping her board around, she waited for him to read what she’d written: Hello, Johanás! I am very glad to meet you :) It is always good to share friends, and if you are in Toli’s home, we will become very good friends, yes? I did not know that you could not read Greek :O This is something we must change! It was only a name for your lovely hair :)

The prince read the new message and twisted the ends of said hair between his fingertips, silently pleased with the compliment. “I am learning,” he stated, leaving out the painful ‘slowly.’ Languages were difficult, and he wasn’t ready to embark on the journey of yet another alphabet. Elvish had an extensive set of characters, and the Latin alphabet covered most of the other things he knew. Spoken was just... Easier, sometimes. “I have not begun with reading yet. All in time, I suppose.” The chunk about ‘friends’ he wasn’t sure how to respond to, so he didn’t. If this little one was human, he could never find himself comfortable enough to be ‘friends.’ Anatolius was too friendly. Some of the company he kept was absolutely perplexing.

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Ah! Of course he was getting food! Silly Toli… He was so used to living with his family that he was always lacking good food in his little human refrigerator… much to her chagrin. Smiling fondly, she nodded as he spoke, smiling all the wider when he invited her in. Oh, perfect! How lovely! Toli had chosen his friend so well! Rewarding her newfound friend with a delighted beam, the dryad bounced up the final step and into the house, already swinging her board up to write a message of thanks: “You are very kind! Toli will not mind at all that I am here - when he is out, I often sit on the doorstep and wait!” By ‘wait’, she mostly meant ‘napping’, but he did not need to know this less-than-laudable habit. “Have you got a name, ξανθά μαλλιά?”

The written out unfamiliar language stumped him as much as the still lingering sun. Code switching in a verbal manner made sense, but why take the time to do it in writing? It was incredibly suspicious. “You may address me as Johanás.” His accent thickened ever-so-slightly around the syllables of his name, a lower and more guttural intonation. “What do the letters say? I find it impolite to use a language you don’t know if another person understands to their face.” He found no reason to dance around his misgivings, raising a dark eyebrow and staring down the stranger in front of him. Of course, he was beginning to learn Greek, but he was far more interested in the spoken aspects of new languages than the written. It was rude in any case.

Having chosen the sunny yellow chalk, to match both her mood and the fortunate weather, Effie neatly chalked out her message and paused, a lock of hair falling over one eye as she tilted her head in thought, before adding a little sun in the top corner and flipping the board around to face Toli’s houseguest - a new potential friend! Maybe he would want to come out and have lunch too! She considered the message to be clear in its explanation of both her state and her intentions: Hello! I am Effie :D I am friends with Toli! I cannot speak, so I will use this board :) The weather is so lovely that I wanted to invite him for a walk and some food, and you are most welcome too!

“Anatolius is not here,” he began, with a surprising level of cordiality. Something about the tiny girl was… Inherently charming, or warm, perhaps. “He is on an errand to the store, for food.” His next sentence continued to be mildly unpredictable. What was with him? “You are… Welcome to come inside and wait for his return. I do hope you are not lying about your level of familiarity with him.” It would be highly unfortunate if this person were to be not telling the truth, and he’d let a true stranger into the bull’s home. Johanás wasn’t sure where his sense of personal defense was this afternoon. He stepped back, letting the door swing a bit wider, and letting the girl invite herself in.