#heartevaded

👀 ! time to grade final exams! there’s an especially tricky question toward the end, and most students invent meandering answers in hopes of stumbling somewhere vaguely correct. two students actually write the correct answer; the second one cheated off the first one. some leave it blank. one student gives up as well but instead of leaving it blank, they get distracted drawing their professor as a kitty in a desperate attempt at pity points and entirely run out of time to answer the remaining questions <3

"i, eh..." english has a funny habit of completely evacuating her brain in the moments she needs clarity. this place doesn't exactly feel like a safe part of town for a local, let alone a teenage girl from a different country, and her brain is definitely not thinking about the possibility that the old bookshop owner in pioneer square deliberately sent her to one of those sex trafficking rings her father always talked about. she clenches her jaw, resting her eyes instinctively on the ocean as she forces herself to draw up some photographic memories of her english textbook instead.

[ text: Laridae (New) ] Um? I'm also busy??? [ text: Laridae (New) ] It takes me 30 minutes to drive into Seattle?? [ text: Laridae (New) ] YOU left it here, YOU come get it!!!

IN THEIR SPOT in the vast cathedral gardens, hidden away by overgrown bushes and magic illusions alike, Sister Helena paws through the metal fence at her friend. Forbidden or not, her cheeks are flushed, her lips are smiling, and a single lock of blonde hair peeks through her habit.

“here.” helena pulls out her prize straight from the earth, a notoriously finicky healing herb that has taken her 4 rounds of planting, sprouting, and killing to finally grow a harvestable amount. turns out, if you just leave it to the elements and don't touch it because you're too busy giving birth and caring for a newborn by yourself, the garden just runs wild! she's standing barefoot in wild bursts of peonies and poppies and strawberries and she definitely stepped on what she hopes is a tomato...!

is this the first time she's been outside since veli was born...?

helena doesn’t think to get a bag. she's simply holding out this plant to him, earthy roots and bugs and all, hands, hem, and feet covered in dirt. her last alert braincell is poised to hear nothing but a baby crying, so while the thought occurs to her that she looks like hell, really, she’s just glad she remembered to put a chemise on this morning.

( wait. she uses her free hand to brace her chest. okay yes, she did remember. )*

she tries to not seem prideful. his fellow cult members had not been able to stop her. yes, it was a small group, and she'd taken two of them by stealth and shadow, but this was the only man left. the jarl would be proud of her .. she hopes. since this one had not immediately tried to kill her, lydia was all too pleased to forgo another fight.

and with the windy snowstorm outside, the spot nearest the fire that he gestures too is welcoming. her sword, however, is not sheathed. " the jarl does not allow daedric worship in his hold. your people drew the attention of the guards quickly. "