#tcaleaf

molly   is   even   more   beautiful   in   this   simple,   comfortable   light.         this   cottage   is   quaint      —      the   land   and   house   paid   for   with   coin   from   mollymauk’s   wedding   gown   and   jewels      —      and   sequestered.      there   is   a   house   nearby   for   marion   and   jester   as   well,   guarded   and   protected   and   safe   for   them   all   in   this   country   across   the   sea.      it   feels   as   though   nothing   of   their   old   hardships   can   touch   them   here.

but   this   morning,   @tcaleaf​​   idly   tracing   raised,   thick   scars   around   caleb’s   wrists,   it   all   feels   terribly,   terribly   close.      he   holds   molly   closer.      his   strength   returns,   little   by   little      —      though   healers   tell   him   he   likely   will   not   be   quite   the   same   ever   again      —      and   today   there   is   enough   to   hold   his   husband   tight   enough   so   no   one   and   nothing   can   come   between   them.

cassandra has been incredibly adamant that she is not a little girl .  but sometimes the pain ,  both mental and physical ,  overcomes her in a wave  ( nothing childish about that ) ,  and sometimes her body screams for comfort that she cannot provide ( perhaps something childish there -- though her parents were never affectionate , and neither were her siblings , and her lack of understanding of why she feels this way is infuriating and confusing all at the same time ) .

but @tcaleaf seems to be some kind of mind - reader when it comes to cassandra's distress -- for him to find her , and start gently rubbing her back ( with permission , of course ) . her palms are pressed against her eyes , little fireworks across the darkness in her eyelids , but she knows that he is there , and that he is taking care of her .

astrid's brain has nearly been rattling with how many thoughts are bouncing within it -- nothing solid , but solid enough that she was not able to settle . so she'd situated herself on the couch -- video after video to try and focus , to try to calm . hours and hours pass .

It’s late, and @tcaleaf is half asleep as he joins Astrid on the couch. With a hum he stretches across her, wraps his arms around her. “What are we watching?” he asks, a purr starting in his chest.

Jester gasps, her hands flying to her chest in a show of utter shock and drama. Her eyebrows raise, and even through her open-mouthed surprise act, her amusement is obvious.

“Molly.” Her tone is serious. So serious, Molly. Take her seriously. “What are you dooooing.” Why are you looking through her stuff, rather.

" Is that my jacket? " Percy asks, raising a brow. he knows it is, or rather… it was. his query walks an endeared edge, one that he may deny if it was pointed out. he was admittedly surprised that it had caught Molly's eye at all. Percy had worn it to all hell, the sleeves were fringed & the seams at the shoulders were hanging on by a thread.

Still, Molly found a way to make it work. it made him look a bit roguish. So Percy doesn't fight the smile that creeps onto his features, thin & wide. it's a moment of sincerity he doesn't often indulge in.

dual draw (because i was curious) knight of swords & reversed three of pentacles

he had been working so much lately, and he hadn't had much time to spend with molly, and it had been eating away at him. it had made him feel.. awful, truly. but he had patients to see and people who needed him and things to do and glooms to kill and those kids, gods, those kids they needed support too, but...

who's more important to him in this moment? right now, right here? the person who has kept him sane, or the people who only need him once in a day? he thinks he knows his answer pretty quickly, though the flustered feeling in his chest remains as he meanders over the navigator's long since prepared study.