setting fire to the sky.

i'm !! moving once again because i needed something to distract myself from what's happening in my life ( and it's happened before but it's serious now and i won't go into details because it’s triggering ) so !!!!

      it makes cora laugh and she’s definitely pleased with the attention she gets from duke. she pets his head and blinks up at máire, looking slightly sheepish now. she nods, and considers mentioning the fact that it was a different day than em usually comes in, so that probably means that she’s stressed out or is trying to distract herself from something. cora won’t say that unless she’s asked about it, though.

  “she was at the studio earlier for a class. i didn’t realize she left her phone until about an hour ago.”

        máire scratches under duke's chin when he finally traipses over to her, then gives him a push to go back inside and join the chorus of barking again. her head tilts and she looks off, wondering if whatever is bothering em is the reason her phone has been going off all day. she has to wonder where she is now, concern flashing across her face.

     the apparent affection makes the witch beam, now crouching even more and extending her hand to the pit bull again. she shows the smile off to máire, but her attention is mostly focused on duke. her voice changes slightly, sounding a little higher and sweeter as she speaks to the dog like she expects him to answer her.

  “hi, duke. i’m cora.”

        the baby talk does its job, considering how fast duke is when resting his head on cora's hand after licking her face. it doesn't really bother máire, even if she'd had echo promise to train his dogs not to jump up on or lick someone's face.

      she knows máire is probably right, so she shrugs a shoulder slightly and nods. she hadn’t looked at it, of course, and em’s phone was password protected, anyway. cora breaks out into a grin when she hears the dogs even if the barghest doesn’t look as pleased about it. she bends a little at the knees and holds her hand out to the nearest dog (she doesn’t want to overstay her welcome, but she couldn’t go without greeting one of the animals).

  “probably. –oh, hey there.”

        she watches as duke, originally her pit bull, immediately licks cora's hand and settles in between her and máire. the barghest rolls her eyes and scratches duke's side for a moment before grinning a bit at cora. dogs are what she's used to, considering there's a certain king with their gang of dogs that tend to show up wherever she is.

     cora watches her, her own head tilting slightly in the opposite direction as she tries to figure out what máire’s doing. something about that and the way she explains that em isn’t around makes cora laugh under her breath. she nods, setting the phone down near the barghest and crossing her arms.

  “sure. –it’s been going off like crazy.”

        she isn't too nosy as to want to look at the phone, and instead stows it away in a pocket so máire can give it to em when she sees her next. all four of echo's dogs start up a chorus of barking and well— her expression turns apologetic.

     she watches máire from a few feet away for a moment, almost feeling guilty for disturbing her when she sees the slightly far off look on her face. after a moment of staring when she’s finally addressed, cora smiles and holds up a cell phone with a blue and gold marble case on it.

  “hi. is em around? she forgot her phone earlier.”

        it takes a moment to process and it's possibly because of how tired she is, but máire snuffs out the cigarette and tilts her head. she's listening, but all she hears is echo talking to babel and the brownie quietly cleaning in the kitchen. she shakes her head, but offers up a smile.