larkspur

“Huh? Oh, okay.” David set her on her feet, keeping his hands held out in case Lark’s legs were no longer working. The adrenaline in his body was fading, and he started feeling like absolute shit. Mentally and physically hit by a truck. “I agree,” he said hoarsely. “I think if anything this just means we need to keep doing what we’re doing-” David took a break to cough. “Thanks,” he tried to smile. “Why does that feel like a million years ago?” 

David was entirely out of breath, and out of his mind. If he just didn’t think about how incredibly messed up everything was, and how they were lucky to be alive, then he could keep up this adrenaline for just a bit longer. Long enough to carry Lark into the hospital. A shift from her sent him a rush of relief. He gave a small laugh despite the situation at her words. “Just a little bit. I don’t look that bad, right?” David’s voice was croaky, which he figured was the large amount of smoke he breathed into his lungs. That probably wasn’t good. “It’s over,” he answered. “If it isn’t over forever, I’ll be very surprised.” If he knew Lark, that wasn’t going to be an option.

Lark woke up in a fluorescent environment, incredibly confused. She felt a little weightless, and also her whole body was trying to fight her. Puzzled and concerned, she opened one eye, and saw... David. She guessed he was carrying her? “David. Hi. You look like someone crapped you up. I’m guessing me too,” she said, not really thinking too hard about her words. Her throat apparently did not approve of her saying anything, as she had to fight not to get into some sort of coughing fit. Opened the other eye, she asked hesitantly, “Is the council meeting over?” Yes, yeah- She remembered what had happened, but she didn’t want to. Maybe David would tell her that they had a bad fall in the dirt or something from a teambuilding exercise. Anything but this. She was almost certain this was the hospital, but she didn’t want it to be.

“It’s still sort of a name!” Eveleen laughed trying to forget about how harsh her own mother could be. It felt like a small sting of a reminder when someone mentioned her mom, like they poked her with a needle. “No offense taken.” She waved her hand as she continued to sketch, but lifted her shoulder in a shrug at the question. “Uh – I guess we’ll just have to see? If she chills out, then yeah, if she doesn’t….” she trailed off pausing her drawing for a long moment before she continued to sketch. “Brain. Gods I swear I’m losing my mind.” She wrote down SHORT in bold letters at the top of the paper along with a couple other notes as she blew through simple designs. “Hey, I’m totally open for a challenge if you have something you’ve wanted to see but aren’t sure if it would work. I’ll figure out a way to make it work.” She paused, “if they can 3D print a dress, then I can make some weird fun outfit too.” 

“By that logic, anything’s a name. There are at least three- probably more- kids named Espn. I know that sounds like Espen, which is a name in Norway, but it’s spelled like ESPN- the American sports network which I only know much about because my grandma used to be really into watching poker.” Ah, her grandma was the best- even if she considered it worthwhile watching guys who were good at lying stare at each other from across a table. “Mmkay, no more mom talk for today. Got it.” Lark gave a little salute, and immediately regretted doing that. What a stupid gesture that was. “I don’t know if it’s so much of something that I want to see. More of things I am a little scared of seeing. I’ll get back to you if I can think of anything that wouldn’t immediately be snapped up by Lady Gaga.” Unless that was a good thing. Lark did not really think so. The only idea that might be modest enough was the ‘dress made out of cotton balls with Slinkies for sleeves’ idea, but that mostly just sounded itchy.

“I love Vivienne, don’t get me wrong. She’s been my sister for most of my life but the constant comparison with us didn’t do us any favors to foster a loving relationship.” Lina might not have the same views of lifestyle as her sister but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to be there when she was grieving the loss of someone that Lina knew she had loved for a good portion of her life. That didn’t mean that Lina didn’t want to find and punish the people who were making Viv feel the way that she did about the world right now. “Hopefully this is the first step towards change. I know people are hoping it is. The only way things can happen is if the isle works together to stop corruption. Whether it be at a government level or with the gods. They best and worst thing they did for themselves was make so many of us. Banding together we have numbers on them that they can’t even dream about. Plus, given they always have to have to be better than each other think of how many of us are powerful enough to make a difference. Think of the powers Zeus gave his own children. One can create storms to overcharge the others. Not smart planning for a war that they’ll be on the opposing side.” Why Lina was so interested in this escaped her. She always loved the idea that things could change if given the right ammunition. Plus, corruption was one of the things she hated more than anything in his world. That’s why her job was what it was, to go in and stop in by getting to the heart of a human. The turn of the conversation made Lina pause and she took a moment to look over Lark and really think about the answer. “I loved you enough to try,” Lina finally admitted, a small smile on her face. “I think if we both would have put in the effort to talk through our problems, yeah, we could have lasted. We both were also so young and at the end of the day running away from conflict is easier than dealing with feelings.”

Caroline had a lot to her life that got in the way of seeing her friend. Even today, she felt bad that she had to fit Lark into her busy schedule instead of being able to set aside time to see her without things taking precedent. She looked at the clock over the window and knew it was about time she joined Caelan outside with the tractor, but at the moment…Lark was more important than the farm. This was weird for Lark to say, talking in retrospective of hers and Steffi’s relationship. She wondered if it was true, what she was saying. It was half-true, the only time she’d be comfortable at a club was for the masquerade, and look where that got them. She was a relationship person, in theory, but it was difficult for her to fall in love and see herself with someone long-term. “I guess I didn’t know you cared about Steffi and I dating. At least enough that it mattered to fight about with your best friend.” The last part was not lost on Caroline, in fact, she knew this was a compliment that ran deeper than her tone suggested. She knew Lark was a person that didn’t mind saying things to drive a point across. “Listen,” she said finally. “We don’t have to talk about this any more. Have you ever ridden a tractor before?”

November paused and looked at Lark for a long moment. “You seem like you’re going through it and I’m pretty sure it’s not all about me.” She pointed out, noticing the disproportionate anger directed at her. “It is pretty convenient, leaves room for important shit.” She ignored the comment on the weirdness of her name. That was unimportant. “I have priorities but I don’t think they’re anyone’s business but my own. I like privacy.” Plus November didn’t need the judgement that would come from it.

“No, it’s not all about you. Everyone and everything can be stressful at the same time. I’m allowed to be pissed about it all.” It was easy to get mad at someone whose point of view was so different from her own. Lark was angry that November didn’t want to tell her anything, and paranoid that it was because that agenda impacted her somehow. “That doesn’t make any sense. How do you stand for something if you don’t show it? Fine, go be private. That’s as good as having no real opinion. Maybe I should stop talking to you if you’re going to say nothing helpful.” Not caring was the antitheses of everything Lark stood for, and this was an easy excuse to get upset over.

“That makes sense, I know some things are harder than others.” Billy realized some things were impossible, but she tried to believe anything was possible. “But I’ve been told I would never do lots of things an’ they said the same about my oldest. ‘S important to know what you can do an’ not rely on what other people say you can do.” Maybe she was getting too deep into this. “All sorts of interestin’ jobs here in Icaria.” Billy agreed. “I’ve met so many interestin’ people here. Nothin’ like my hometown. Verona was tiny an’ so everyone knew everyone an’ everyone was expected to act a certain way.”

“Yup! Can’t stand that ‘believe in yourself’ rhetoric when it’s directed at stuff that literally makes no sense.” Lark couldn’t really figure out what the specifics were about this oldest, but it was probably really important. Maybe it was a kid? She hadn’t been keeping track. “I mean, we’re expected to act a certain way here too. A certain contempt for the way we accept things to be is frowned upon. As is pissing off Zeus. Icaria isn’t that big if you still want to get to know everyone here. There’s probably more coming and going population-wise than your hometown, though. Speaking of, is it okay with you if I jet?”

Baz was oblivious to the whole exchange, and he was grateful when he thought things had simmered down. Sure, Cygnus was a prideful pegasus, but because he thought so highly of himself, he was never really one to hold a grudge on humans. To him, they just weren’t the trouble. He had hoped the creature hadn’t offended his new customer. He grinned as he listened to her. “Why, thank you so much! People like you are truly a gem in society!” He said excitedly as quickly but gently packed her things in her bag, making sure to evenly distributed the weight of the produce while wrapping the more fragile things in recycled paper. “Alright, will this be all? I’ll be throwing in a sample of our new strain of evergreen avocadoes for you to try. We just harvested our first batch, yesterday. Please let us know what you think on your next visit!”

“That’s a really good compliment. I might steal and repurpose it, if that’s all right. Not sure its quite warranted when I’m shopping, exactly, but you set your price for a reason, I think.” Lark really, really did not understand sales for discounting anything other than used, damaged, or truly obsolete products. But then, she considered outdated products a problem of their own- she hated planned obsolescence very much. She also hated price gouging and lost leaders too. Honestly, she just hated capitalism, but there was no simple alternative. Anyway, rude winged horse aside, she had enjoyed her market experience well enough. “Oh! Thank you very much. I’ll give my honest assessment the next time I am back here. I don’t anticipate having anything but good things to say, though, of course.” What was there not to like? “Thanks again. I hope you both have a good day.” Even the horse could use well wishes.

Eve almost choked on the water she sipped when she heard Lark say her mom could have another kid – and spouted off a name. “Leopard Print Heels Fox.” She repeated looking up and laughing. “I would question your mom’s sanity if she did name a child that. The poor damn kid.” She shook her head, “At least your name is still sorta a name. Not something ridiculous.” Eve’s hand glided across the page as she sketched out a couple simple ideas. “Eh, she’s trying to make sure I succeed, she just does it in a way that – doesn’t alway make me the happiest.” she sighed. “Honestly, love my mom, but she’s very controlling and exhausting. Everything has to be perfectly to her standards or it has to be redone.” She shrugged. It was why Eve was so critical of herself, so hard on any mistake she made or any slip up that happened. It’s why she seemed to constantly be in an internal state of self-hate. There was no winning with her mom and that… got exhausting. “No no! These sorts of challenges are what I live for. It gets tiring just coming up with new designs based on what my mom wants or what is about to come into season or fashion. Getting to step outside of that and try new things? That’s what makes me a better designer and writer. Challenge is good for the soul… yanno?” she smirked. “Seriously, throw the weirdest shit at me. I like a good challenge.” She paused, “Did I ask you already if you wanted it regency length or short? I can’t remember.”

“Larkspur Fox is barely a name. It’s a list of random nature things. Unfortunately, my mother is of sound mind but terrible taste. Although, I guess I have to prefer my mom to yours. No offense, but that sounds like an exhausting way to live. You going to be okay in the long run?” Lark’s mother was difficult, insensitive, and selfish, but at least Diana Fox was no perfectionist. Sometimes Lark wondered why she brought up her mother so much when it was her grandma that meant so much more to her. Probably because there was nothing fun to complain about, but she could not quite go back in the past and perfectly recreate her perspective. “Oh boy, well I can come up with a whole bunch of weird shit. Not sure I’d suggest a challenge just for it to be a challenge, but the notion is pretty tempting.” Lark tapped her lip, digging through her recent memories until she came to the right one. She had a good memory for events, but sometimes had a tendency to reframe the tone or certain pieces of dialogue to suit her perspective. In this case, she was closer to accurate about her recalled perception. “Mm, you suggested short. I’m more inclined for long, but it sounded like you think short was the way to go. It might be because I have trouble imagining how that would look.”

“Really.” He was almost surprised at this. “It seems like you enjoy constantly fighting with me. I guess it’s much less boring than a regular conversation. Or ignoring me entirely,” he added, which was something Ezra sometimes wished Lark would prefer. He didn’t want to fight with her, and he knew what he was saying to her was bordering on unnecessarily cruel, but maybe it was better to get this out in the open instead of backing away from it like he tended to. It wasn’t like Lark ever had any qualms telling him exactly how she felt. Though…this time was feeling different. Maybe it was that now Lark knew she was warranted in her hatred of him. Maybe it was that Ezra was attacking instead of defending this time. Either way, he didn’t know how to feel about her confession that she was going through some things of her own. Telling each other personal things was not how it usually went. “Are you dealing with a lot because of mistakes you think you made? Then apologize for them if you feel bad about it. Don’t make it everyone else’s problem.”

“Hope–” she frowned, “Hopefully only child” She finished nodding her head with a sharp movement as she continued to doodle out ideas. “Maybe she wanted you to be badass so she decided to name you something dangerous?” she asked raising an eyebrow. Eveleen couldn’t imagine the stress that came with naming a child, it was something they’d love or hate – and it effected their whole life… Gods. Maybe she was just scared of having kids. She shoved that thought aside and just shrugged her shoulder, “Not a secret no. I write novels – thats my actual passion. I’m actually published, theres a section of people who only know me, or mainly know me from that, but… its not enough to live on and its not something my mother really supports.”  she sighed tossing another design over her shoulder and towards the trash can. “More neutral with green or pink – I can work with that.”  she smiled. “Totally fine! That’s why I asked, wanted to make sure whatever I put in it was good.” 

“My mom isn’t known for making good life choices, but yeah, I’ve always been surprised she didn’t wind up with any other kids after me. She’s still in her forties, so there’s unfortunately a chance that she’ll have a kid and name them something she thinks is edgy. I’ll let you know when my baby sibling Leopard Print Heels Fox is born,” Lark said, cringing even as she said it. Her last name just made it worse every time. For all of her mother’s faults, she had been supportive of having her kid follow her dreams. “Oh! Okay, that makes sense. Your mom sucks for that because, I don’t know, maybe it could be enough to live on if you had the time and support to devote yourself to what you’re passionate about.” She was incredibly comfortable with throwing out that kind of support/criticism. If parents were good for anything, it was being critiqued. That didn’t exactly make her a ton of friends. “Okay, cool. I feel bad, though. if this isn’t what your heart’s in and I’m just coming in here with a weird commissions and odd preferences... It’s still okay to be here, right?”

Steffi genuinely did not know what to make of this conversation - it was like someone had taken Lark and replaced her with an alien. Were there many demigods on the island who could shapeshift into other people? The notion that Lina or anyone else would bother to go to the trouble of shifting into Lark and saying all of this was patently absurd, but it also wasn’t that much stranger than what was actually happening. What could she even say to this? It wasn’t like she could accept these partial apologies. “Well, it sounds like you’ve made some progress at pulling your head out of your ass. If you ever finish the job let me know, hm?” And with that, she turned to walk away - the fact that she’d tacitly admitted to possibly being open to that full apology was more than enough sharing for now.

Lark watched Steffi go. It was anguish to let her best friend walk away when there was a chance that she could have made some sort of bullshit apology. Lark could have pretended that everything was fine like she usually did and put a bandage on the problem. Typically, she apologized just to apologize. Sometimes she apologized when she didn’t feel like she even needed to apologize because Steffi was never going to do it. This time, though... Lark knew that it was all on her to make a real apology. 

The most difficult part, though? Resisting the urge to say ‘okay’ or something. Lark had asked her question, and trying to get the last word in- trivial as that word would be- would not make anything better. This was her mess to sort through. She felt a little better after the brief conversation, at the very least. Once she had a real apology, she got the idea that Steffi would give her the time of day long enough to hear it. That’s all she needed.

“See I wouldn’t have thought Lark, as the Larkspur flower, I hear Lark and my first thought is the bird.” She continued to sketch, not really looking up as she spoke but still clearly engaging in conversation. “No genitalia… got it.” She glanced up now though, just with a wicked little look crossing her face., she wouldn’t actually but she liked to joke. She crumpled up a design and tossed it across the room – almost making it into the trash can. “Ah – I appreciate that.” Eve said her cheeks becoming rather pink at the compliment. “It’s been a labor of love… though, its not my favorite thing, or what I truly hope to make my name out of. Though, I guess I already have made my name through it.” no, in all honesty. Fashion she loved, but her passion was writing. She wanted to be known for that over the fashion. The fashion was just fun, her ability to make dresses was cool, but it didn’t bring her the same level of joy her writing did. Though, she did appreciate a good challenge like the one Lark was giving her. That made the fashion side a whole lot more interesting. “Oh, also, colors. Regency London was known for more pastel, dark tones. If you want to update it, bright colors may be more fun and would you want any sort of sparkle? That also wasn’t hugely popular back in the actual Regency London era but can be adapted for modern tastes.” 

“I’d prefer if it was the bird. She could have just gone with the bird, but no, she had to name her only child- hopefully only child, I have to amend that- after something poisonous and decidedly not child-friendly.” Lark threw up her arms, forever bitter that she wound up with that mother. Oh well, nothing she could change. As long as her mother stayed out of trouble and did not give her a surprise younger sibling before menopause hit, everything would probably be okay. “Oh? Are your aspirations a secret sort of thing? Or do you want to talk about them?” Sometimes people could be cryptic about what they enjoyed. She wasn’t really sure if she was supposed to know already. Hopefully not. THere was already enough in Lark’s life that she found confusing without forgetting everything that she knew about Eve (which wasn’t much, admittedly). “Colors! Mm, I have an idea of the palette you’re talking about. I’d actually like to keep it more muted. A small pop of bright color if it makes sense could work, but I think keeping to the neutral tones with accents of... maybe green or pink? That would make sense to me. I’m not keen on sparkles for this, though, sorry.” There was something to be said about sparkles, but there was a time and place for them. Usually when she needed to get someone’s attention. Or when she needed to mail an envelope full of sparkles to someone undesirable. 

“I guess that makes sense, but I like, to like, talk with people I meet. Like I see the other gym teacher sometimes so I talk to them. Not everyone is all like talkative like me.” HJ said, waving it off. Everyone was different after all. “Oh, social media can be dope. I use it to keep up with like, all the people I’ve met. Facebook is kind of weird though.”

“That’s good. I think? Better than not talking to people you meet and making things uncomfortable,” Lark said, wondering what level HJ operated on. “There’s a lot wrong with Facebook. I don’t like that they sell your data, or get hacked so your data becomes free. Or tailor terrifying ads toward you. Which is why I throw in some fake information onto my Facebook profiles to throw them off their rhythm. What don’t you like about it?”

“I do not doubt it’s possible, it was just never me. Not many people were willing to listen anyways. As for being loud I think everyone has their moments.” Blake had always been quiet and shy, if partially because her family never had any interest in what she had to say. They were unkind about sharing how they felt about it too. “I will say I don’t get many crying customers but it has happened. I do prefer to cry at home as I have my dogs for comfort.”

“I probably have more than my fair share of moments at this point. Sorry if I’m taking away some of yours,” Lark said, not completely devoid of self-awareness despite being very good at not having much. “Ah, animals are probably good for crying. Although dogs offer a little bit less of a cold shoulder than turtles. Turtles don’t care if your life’s a mess and you’re going through a crisis. It’s fine. Anyway, uh, maybe I should get to checking out your recommendations so I can figure out what to get.”

“I do want you around,” Caroline assured her, wondering if her friend was entirely focused on their conversation. Her mind must be focused on other things. She’d hoped Lark would at least have fun on their farm, she’d expressed an interest several times, but maybe there were more important things in her life at the moment. Caroline wished she knew more about Lark’s life, maybe even was more included in it, but she supposed now she was getting what she wished for in a weird and bad way. Her relationship with Steffi was indeed a short one, but also a toxic one, maybe on both their parts. Caroline has noticed in her life her relationships start as friendships, and only go further because she feels like she should, and this was the case with Steffi. They’d gotten along well, and Caroline thought they were honestly better off as friends. But Steffi was angry with her for breaking it off, and their friendship never recovered fully, only a little. If she was the best relationship Steffi had ever had… Gods. She was silent until Lark stopped talking, feeling like the woman needed to get part of this out of her system, but also feeling the need to stop her from continuing. “Well, thank you for telling me,” she wasn’t too sure what to say. “I’m not mad at you or anything. I guess I was just confused. But I know this was hard for you to talk about.” She did have something nagging at her; even though Caroline knew this argument wasn’t really about her, she wanted to know anyway. “Why do you personally think I was her best relationship?”