#fiorena

Her past is not something Fiore divulges with others. She prefers that someone think she simply appeared in Mistria for no real rhyme or reason. Her past at the opera house and her experience as a singer is something she holds close to her chest, refusing to sing in the presence of others. In her mind, it's exactly what brought tragedy and exploitation into her life, so she believes singing would simply risk that again. She does miss it.

████ grew up in the Capital's opera house and was on her way to becoming a household name with her performances. She was very studious and took her singing seriously, despite how stressful it could be. Friendships and relationships were seen as distractions from her studies, so they were discouraged by her parents. This did upset her, as she believed herself to be a romantic at heart. By her early 20s, she was performing in smaller, supportive roles. There was intrigue in her after only a few performances. Her parents wondered where she was getting so many roses from. She started wearing a silver locket, but she never would open it to show what was inside. At age 24, she disappeared one day. After two years, in the dead of winter, she made her way back home - pallid and freezing - her once-long, flowing hair now reduced to a choppy mess. After an undesirable interaction with her family in the foyer when she tried to explain where she had been, she took her father's fur-lined coat hanging by the door, and then turned right around to leave one final time. ████ shed her old role as opera singer, and re-emerged as Fiore, the charismatic, orange-haired street performer. Despite not having a home, she was able to get by through quick thinking and swindling - the theater lifestyle had sufficiently prepared her ability to act. She was cautious, she was fearful, she expected to be found and dragged back to where she was before, but she was at least free in the moment to make her own decisions. Nearly one year into street performing, she found a torn flyer on the ground for a place called Mistria. It advertised a free home along with free land. If she was going to continue existing under a new identity, having a place to live would certainly be the safest option. The truth is, Fiore lied on every question when being considered for a place in Mistria. A simple questionnaire was no different than a stage or street performance.

Due to a mix up during the processing, both her and a woman named Rena showed up to Mistria, their entire lives packed into their bags. Adeline didn't have the heart to send one of them home, so she arranged a co-living situation. Fiore and Rena fought every step of the way while trying to adjust to their new life in Mistria. They even split their one-room house right down the middle, not allowing the other to cross the line. Over time, they were able to adapt to each other and even get along sometimes. By Year 2, they consider each other their best friend (though Fiore would not directly tell Rena this). They bounce off of each other well, and have many traits that compliment the other. Rena keeps Fiore from retreating in on herself, and Fiore looks out for Rena. Rena will sometimes help Fiore with her performances. Fiore doesn't help at all with any of the farm work, but Rena doesn't mind it, as farming is her passion.

Though Fiore does not have many friends, she does have a few people in Mistria that she interacts with regularly, for better or for worse: ⊱⋆ Every week, she has a wine night with Elsie where the two of them discuss their week and anything interesting happening in town. By late Year 2, Elsie knows of Fiore's background and the two of them sing together in private. Elsie over time had taken Fiore under her wing, guiding her to be more social and encouraging her to put herself out there more, especially with Rena. Fiore looks up to Elsie, and hopes to be like her when she reaches that age. ⊱⋆ Though Juniper is not someone she would dare consider a friend, working at the bathhouse once every week with Rena has forced her to interact with Juniper more. Fiore is displeased to admit that she and Juniper have more in common than she would admit - mostly the pride and stubbornness. She finds displeasure in how Juniper treats Rena sometimes, which leads to herself and Juniper butting heads. Sometimes Rena will drag them both along for group outings as a trio, which often has mixed results. ⊱⋆ Due to her connections to Wheedle, Balor thought well enough to warn Fiore of Wheedle's nature. Herself and Balor hadn't spoken much before this, so she found his repeated suggestion to cut ties to be a severe overstep. After releasing crickets into his room and setting a bucket of water atop his door - encouraged by Wheedle, who was quite bothered by the 'warning' - Balor felt like he had no choice but to retaliate. From then on, they both sought to make each other's lives more inconvenient through pranking. Over time, they both do find some fun and sportsmanship in it. ⊱⋆ Fiore and March don't start off very close, but they are brought together by Rena, who is dating March. Rena often jokes about how alike the two are, pointing out even the similar hair color as well. Fiore and March both have a soft spot for Rena, though March is the only one of the two to admit it. She sometimes fears losing Rena to March, but she sees him as a good fit that would take care of her in life. Rena arranges double dates with herself and March along with Wheedle and Fiore. The dates are very awkward. March doesn't like being around Wheedle, and Wheedle dreads them, as he feels more like a chaperone.

⊱⋆ Her and Wheedle start out as rivals due to their shared space and similar street hawking behaviors. What started as stealing customers and escalating peacockery, eventually leads to a 'business merge' where Fiore performs at Wheedle's stall instead, and then an ambiguously romantic back-and-forth, of which there was never a true 'confession'. The two of them simply assumed they were dating and carried on. They eventually marry one year after the initial business merge - for the legal benefits, as Wheedle would put it - and then start a family after a few more years. More can be read about their dynamic here!

⊱⋆ Fiore and Wheedle do not flirt right away, but flirting starts to begin through smoking together (these moments are when they pass Wheedle's tobacco pipe back and forth while making some small talk). Fiore has blown smoke in Wheedle's face, which he found very audacious. ⊱⋆ Despite herself using Rena early on for help with performances, Fiore is protective of her and will butt heads with people she thinks are exploiting Rena ⊱⋆ Fiore works at the bathhouse once every week with Rena. She is embarrassed when Rena makes her wear a maid dress when they clean, but it is mostly due to the fact that Fiore hates being put into the role of a domestic worker. ⊱⋆ Fiore never removes her gloves, and will snatch her hands away if someone touches her hands ⊱⋆ I gave Fiore monkey animal motifs, so some of her traits are reminiscent of monkeys: sits and sleeps in odd positions (characters may remark that it looks painful, but it is not), likes to climb on things and perch herself, signs of affection can be unconventional or very subtle. The way she moves and carries herself is unique and specific to her. ⊱⋆ Fiore is very sensitive to criticism, but only when she respects the opinion of whoever is criticizing her ⊱⋆ Fiore has nightmares every night and doesn't sleep much as a result. It is usually the same dream, on loop. ⊱⋆ At the opera house, Fiore would read whenever she had free time. How she communicates with others is all learned from reading, since she was never properly socialized. She is intentionally written as a theatrical and dramatic character, because she mimics (monkey see, monkey do) behavior from the dramatic and high-fantasy stories she's read. ⊱⋆ In addition to this, Fiore would write in a journal very often. She didn't have anyone to talk to outside of family, so she would talk to herself in journal entry form. This is a habit that's stuck with her. ⊱⋆ Fiore has an extreme dislike of being told what to do, and may do the opposite of what she's told out of spite (Elsie, Wheedle, and Rena are exceptions to this) ⊱⋆ When she is working with Wheedle, their mutual fox (secondary) animal motif traits bounce off of each other (the two of them planning together feels natural, each of them balances out the other's weak areas, but they will also butt heads and will try to trick the other for fun) ⊱⋆ Fiore is not one to admit her feelings to the person in question, even if pressed. Elsie is really the only one able to get her to talk about her affections towards others.