Violet Hawthorne

“She was,” he whispered softly. “I would lavish her with attention all the time, and she’ll tell me, “Valentin Halsburg, I’m trying to focus, stop that,” Valentin mused, his voice going up to an almost high pitch while imitating her. “Or worse-she’ll threaten to sell my goat and make me bay at the moon for her if I don’t.” he laughed before he stopped, nodding. “I would like that,” Val got up and started looking around for paper and a pen. “Then once I write it, I won’t sound like a moron and not say a random fact about anything.”

Ollie was never one to be too good on his feet. They seemed to always make him trip and fall… often. Today was nothing new as he was sweeping an accident of his up, another vase bites the dust, before he slipped on a water puddle, no doubt also his fault and fell straight to his back, just in time to hear the chime of the bell above the door. Groaning to himself, he just decided to stay put and pray death take him post haste. “Don’t mind me, enjoying the view of the ceiling,“ he explained without looking toward the customer.

There were days when Violet just didn’t want to do a damned thing. Cooking was off the table, cleaning, whatever. That day, it was the first so she’d swung by a shop for a meal and doubled it so Ollie wouldn’t whine. Although absently counting the calories and rounding up for her nightly workout, keen eyes caught someone entering the shop and slipped in behind them. “He does that,” she added to the customer and dropped the bag of food on his stomach just for the fun of it, offering a flirtatious smile to the customer as she filled the order. It dropped when they were alone, shifted to a haughty brow lift and smirk. “Comfortable?”

The sharp curse got Aurora’s attention with immediacy. “Fanculo! Mi dispiace molto!” (Fuck! I am so sorry!) the princess rushed over to the woman and called to a staff member fast, “Get ice,” she says looking to her unintended victim, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I–,” the Italian found herself stammering, “I lost control– Please forgive me,”

“What do you mean I can’t leave?” Aurora asks sharply. The guard before her looks particularly flustered at how the princess’s voice rose upon hearing the news. It was protocol of course after a royal had been sick to no allow them off the grounds for two weeks- but that meant nothing to Aurora. After being unwell for a week and then being told to keep to her room, the Italian was nearly out of painting supplies to keep her distracted. She was used to getting what she wanted and being told ‘no’ was a hard thing to handle. Nevertheless, she took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself as she stood at the guarded courtyard with her bookbag on her back. “Listen, I just need to go and get a few paints from in town. I won’t be gone for than an hour,” she attempts to plead to no avail. 

Storming out of the foyer, Aurora blindly kicks a ball with incredible force, “Stupido, bastardo, regole. Lo odio qui.” (Stupid, bastard, rules. I hate it here.) she gowns loudly in her native tongue, not paying attention to where the ball lands. “Se fossi a casa questo non succederebbe.”(If I were at home this would not happen.)

Another royal, another damned delivery, and she was just about to snap at the next person who wanted to have a bouquet of flowers delivered was going to get stabbed with her least favorite pair of heels. To add to that, a certain moronic brother had forgotten to write down who it was going to and, well, she was just going to-

“You kick my ass all the time, what would make it any different from a normal Tuesday?“ he taunted, flicking her nose lightly before she had to roughly swipe those tears of hers away. He hated she was so upset, hated what she had gone through, not just now just all of the things in her past, but what could he do about it? They both were stuck in this bullshit… “Listen, fuck you, dumb bait works every time. People love the bullshit that comes out of me.” He grinned, not commenting on his shooting skills, knowing well that was the only reason the rebellion probably hadn’t “retired” him a long time ago. 

“No, listen, I got this down to a science. Medical professionals would be in awe of me. Energy drinks all day to keep me awake, and then start drinking straight liquor around seven until I pass out at night. It works and is totally healthy for the three or four hours of sleep I do get.” This was, indeed, not healthy at all. “Rinse and repeat every single fucking day…“ he paused and looked to her. “No, I’m not bitter over it,“ he added without needing her worried questions. He sat up, stretching out his torso before groaning. “There’s no other way to eat pancakes. Chocolate chips or bust,“ he said as he got out of bed, fixing  his sleep shirt and pants from the twisted mess they were in. “Let’s go, I’m hungry and you cook slow.“

“I’d call you ugly on top of it all,” she retorted without hesitation, although she flinched and rubbed her nose. “Dick.” Feeling fairly humiliated, certainly ready to kick his ass if he poked at her for being emotional, Violet huffed and gave him a baleful look. “We tell you that just to keep you from crying.” She didn’t feel like telling him it terrified her every time he was sent out as bait, even when it was her idea.

He nodded, staring down at the controller like it was going to bite him. “I…I haven’t thought about a script,” Valentin admitted with a chuckle, the first smile and laugh he gave for a month now. “I thought I can do it myself, tell her that I miss her and that I’m always thinking about her, but doing it now…I get choked up and I don’t know what to say with stuttering and crying. Sometimes I do both and I try to hide it.”

Camilla stifled a laugh as she heard her brother shouting from inside the store, pleased as she took the bouquet. “Nice to meet you Violet.” She smiled, a pretty name for the gorgeous girl who worked in the flower shop that was for sure. “Beautiful flowers from a beautiful woman.” She corrected, glancing back up at the blond. “They’ll be perfect in my room.” She moved forward as the other slipped, prepared to catch her if she needed the help. She relaxed when the woman caught herself and a small laugh slipped past her lips. “How about coffee on me since you’re the one stuck putting up the lights? Besides you’ve already given me the flowers.” 

It was almost too tempting to open the door and snap an insult at Ollie. However, when it came to choosing between someone beautiful and him, the former always won out. Though she only nodded at the acknowledgement, an easy smile flirted at the corners of Violet’s mouth. “Good to know,” she offered with a quick wink and did her best to ignore the ding to her pride at slipping. Serves her right for wearing heels in the damned frozen tundra. “I think thats a fair compromise.” Checking the steadiness of the ladder, Violet puffed out a breath and scaled the ladder quickly. “Tell me if they’re uneven,” she called down and set to stringing the lights as quickly as she could.

Ollie rolled back to his back and chuckled. “We’re both cowards, and I’ve decided it’s fine. So just tell me the plan when you cook one up,“ he tried to make light of it all despite her choked words. His head rolled to look to her once more. “You know you got me, Violet. Even when I shouldn’t have your back, I do. Which is why I usually get my ass handed to me,“ he admitted with a grin, looking back up to the ceiling in silence until Violet spoke again and caused him to laugh. “No. Probably not. Want to shotgun some redbulls with me and cook pancakes? And by that I mean, you cook the pancakes and I will promise to eat them all since you won’t burn them like I will,“ he offered, but quickly added: “I’m a great batter mixer.“

“Another time and I’d kick your ass for saying that.” She had to be pretty bad if she couldn’t even argue with being called a coward. A sniffle and she felt the wetness on her cheeks, roughly brushed them away like a child upset about being caught crying. She hated vulnerability, she hated having it and expressing it even more. “Yeah, well. You’re the sharpshooter and dumb bait, I just fill in the rest of the gaps. It’s how we are.” She couldn’t help but answer his grin with her own, a fraction of the weight on her chest lifted with the confession. Then she blanched. “Ugh, how you haven’t had a heart attack yet is beyond me.” Shifting and rolling out of bed with a comforter-muffled thud, Violet popped up after untangling from her spot. “Chocolate chip pancakes?”

He looked up and chuckled when he heard Violet’s voice, chuckling and shaking his head. “It wasn’t that bad,” he commented with a tiny shrug. His smile fell a bit as he took a deep breath and curled up a bit tighter in the chair. “It doesn’t really. What I want I say I can’t say it, because each time I try, I star to stutter real bad and everything I say sounds messed up.” which was truth. “I thought my stutter would go away when I got older, but it only comes out when I’m sad or is so nervous that I start saying random things that don’t make any sense.”

Curious as she always was, Violet debated for a moment before leaning a hip on a nearby table. Easy enough to relax by, just as easy for her to leave quickly if she got bored. He seemed.. timid to her or some level of broken. “Ah, speech impediments are tricky like that.” Not that she knew, she’d only read about it here and there, witnessed it with a few acquaintances that were more Ollie’s friends than hers. “What about a script? Reading off something isn’t bad as long as you mean the words, I’m told.”

While being in Khatanga had its perks, it still left some things left to be desired. To start, he was still new to the palace and the social scene was lacking for him. It took some digging around to finally find himself at the Lilac, raising a brow at its shoddy exterior and the elevator that looked as though it could drop down to hell. Still, he ventured on, sharing the password to the bouncer. As soon as the actual bar was revealed, he stepped off the elevator and grinned, moving to the bar to grab a beer. “Ah… now this is more like it…”

There was little else Violet would rather be than faceless among a small crowd of those who might not remember her in the morning. A shift here, a turn there, and she wound through the people in her way. An easy smile or flirtatious touch and it was easy enough to make her way to the bar, give her order for another bourbon and leaned against the wood. “Enjoying yourself?” she asked the stranger on easy impulse.

“Hey, Tierney, it’s me. Um…it’s been a year since I spoke at your…f-f-f-funer…FUCK!” Valentin swore, cutting the camera off. He’d been in the tea room recording a simple video, but each time he tried to talk, each word coming out as a stutter or stumbling over words. This time, he tried to say something, only for the tears to fall and his words coming out fast. Tossing the camera control on the table next to him, he leaned back in one of the chairs, silently letting the tears fall while trying to think of some words to say. 

He didn’t even hear the door open as he sat there, curled up in his chair and stared at nothing. “You can sit there,” the Austrian said with a little nod. “I was just…um…trying to do something…not…scary…I think…”

Some amorous royal wanting to woo a staffer for a night of fun, Violet figured as she studied the card written in a foreign language, plucking it back in with the bouquet she was delivering. Not that she could particularly call them fools, really, when she was keen on doing the same for a certain chocolatier. Rolling her eyes, she slowed and paused at the voice, brows lifting at the curse.

Curious, she poked a head in the room and her brows remained high at the sight before her. “Not scary?” she echoed, fully entering and setting the bouquet aside. The Greek prince and the Indian princess could damn well wait now. An expression of concern flickered to life and she dug in her pocket, approached and handed over a travel packet of tissues. “Shouting fuck doesn’t seem to help your cause,” she joked and gave a half smile, wheels turning in her head. “Sorry, bad joke.”

Silence was all Daxa gave in return as Violet took her coat, kissed her hand, and spoke. The worry of watching her just ditch out again seemed to creep along in the back of her mind, but she ended up just giving a soft smile. The space Violet offered gave a mixture of relief and yearning. Daxa just couldn’t figure out the correct boundaries for this. Violet had told her so much, and she kept silent about it all, but what was she supposed to do now that she was here to make things right? 

“Well… I appreciate it. It’s one less thing I have to worry on,” she replied as she resisted the urge to brush Violet’s blonde wisps of hair out of her eyes. “Yeah, it was a pretty busy day. How… was your day with your brother? Was it busy too?” she asked before she perked up at the idea of a bath. It was actually a lot coming at her at once. Bath, wine, food… she just handed over the flowers to Violet with a nod. “O-Okay… Thank you?” she asked almost in a questioning manner. “This is all very sweet, I-” she didn’t even know exactly what to say so she just placed her palm gently on Violet’s cheek, thumb stroked against her cheek as she gave a warm smile. “I’ll take the bath before it’s cold,” she said before she walked away to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Violet was not known to be a patient woman unless a target was in mind. If she was to siphon information, funds, resources from a target, that was easier for her to handle. But what did she want from Daxa but just the woman herself, a future she had no doubt stalled with her own cowardice? It was a struggle to not rush, to simply force the forgiveness but the woman, the mere idea of a future with her was worthwhile.

“Do you want to talk about it, schmetterling?” Violet asked, giving the endearing nickname by instinct and thinking nothing of it. She offered a small smile and shrug to the questions, though. “Mm, slow and full of our usual antics. A welcome reprieve, I suppose.” She didn’t mention they had somehow choreographed an Irish step routine (or something like it) to Toto’s “Africa.” She couldn’t remember it when her cheek was touched, only gently, briefly nuzzle the palm and return the smile. It was something, at least. “Okay.”

As the door closed, Violet pressed a hand to her jittering stomach and gave a small huff. Anyone else and she would have resented the ability to incite such a strong reaction with so easy actions. Shaking her head, sure she would spend the night alone and dreaming of her love, Violet simply returned to making dinner and grinned when Dai muscled his way up to her shoulder and chewed on her hair. “She’s worth the wait, yes?” she murmured to the cat. “What am I talking to you for, you just want food- hey!” Violet laughed when a tail smacked her face.

If she was aware of the tears silently streaming down her cheeks, Violet made no motion to clear them - not yet, at least. No, there were other things to worry about and her dignity didn’t make the cut quite yet. No, her composure was key and she took a few deep breaths, slow and steady.

“I know,” she whispered and squeezed his hand, only vaguely aware that his grip might have made her hand sore if he’d continued to squeeze as hard as he had. “I know you do.” There was thanks in her voice, though even in her current state she wouldn’t have lowered herself to say it. “When I do, when I finish being a coward and have a plan, I’d want you there.” Pride choked her for a moment before she swallowed it. “I’ll need you there.”

Ollie’s eyes rolled at Violet’s counter. “I learned quite some time ago to not bring either of you up to each other, Violet, so no not her… Don’t know why I deal with either of you twos shit,” he grumbled, irritated from his lack of sleep in general, let alone only having a solid hour in a half in him currently. His free hand rubbed his eyes, listening to her speak, even if it was rather vague. He paused in the silence, expecting more, but nothing came so he motioned his hand from his eyes into a ‘hurry up’ type of movement.

“Go on, go on. Don’t leave me in such suspense,” he pushed. His body rolled to his back with a flop, his hand staying on her own tightly. “How bad was it, Violet?” he asked with a bit more seriousness in his rasped, tired voice. His eyes on the darkness of the ceiling above before he draped his forearm across to block his vision. 

“Look at you, actually using a brain cell. The, sorry.” Still, she sighed and decided that for once she wouldn’t mock the woman she hated and he loved. Why, she’d never understand. She didn’t want to.

“Then we will drink wine and you can tell me about all the things I have missed in the real world. Like fashion and politics… And men that I have not seen everyday for the last six months,” she added with a laugh. Of course, after the first bottle, Solveig would like broach the topic of what was bothering her again, but that didn’t need to be said. “For sure,” she replied with a laugh, picking something out from beneath her nails while Violet finished locking down the shop. “You do know the way to a girl’s heart,” she replied following her up the stairs and into the small apartment. Heading for the sofa she plopped down. Between being friends with both siblings she’d been upstairs a number of times and become familiar with the layout. “So, is your bother driving you crazy yet?” she asked as she stripped off her jacket and got comfortable. 

“That we will- though the men we can always do without.” Grateful, though she would never say it, for her friend’s company, Violet made quick work of closing the shop and didn’t think to tell her brother of it. Why would she? Inside the apartment, Violet kicked off the shoes that had cost too much and she loathed anytime she wore them. They were just too cute to burn, though. Snagging the bottle and glasses, a few snacks as well, she laughed and sat next to Solveig, jamming the corkscrew in place. “From the moment I arrived. Did the idiot get into any trouble while I was gone?”

Camilla shifted the bags in her hand and moved to stand closer and out of the way of other people who were milling about. Her smile grew when the blonde agreed that it was a compliment, she could always appreciate a compliment from a gorgeous woman. “I don’t always but I certainly like to think I have my moments.” In fact others would maybe say she had terrible ideas, but it was usually because her plans and ideas weren’t always so well thought through. She watched quietly as she dug through one of the tubs, laughing as she came up with another roll. She was shocked for a moment at the offer of roses before her smile grew and she stepped closer to take them. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.” She leaned in to inhale the fragrant scent before straightening once more. “I’m Camilla by the way, I don’t think I introduced myself.” 

Ignoring the shout Ollie gave over the taken bouquet, Violet gave the woman a wink and nodded to the name. “Violet, a pleasure.” There was a small twist of guilt in her gut as she remembered someone else enjoying when she got flowers, but the thought of Daxa had to be nudged aside for the moment. It wouldn’t do her any good in the moment to sulk, would it? “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. It seems-fuck!-fitting,” she stated, interrupted only by the slide on ice, catching herself and huffing. “Okay, let’s try these damned lights again. If you care to stay, I’ll get you coffee for thanks.”

Camilla laughed softly, she wasn’t sure she was the best person to trust when it came to lights. But hey if it made the other feel better than she certainly wasn’t going to tell her otherwise. “Being tall is overrated anyway.” She assured the girl, she had always been happy with her own height after all. Her smile brightened and she took a brief moment to admire the woman before she spoke again. “Thank you, I’ll take that as a compliment. Personally I’ve always been a fan of the classic simple lights, I think they’re beautiful to look at.” She explained. “Besides all the color that your shop has to offer is once you’re inside the store. Still you should choose whichever ones you like, who am I to decide?”

A lean and jerk and the last of the lights fell from their hooks, leaving Violet to roll them up. Maybe she’d prank Ollie with them; couldn’t hurt to try. With an easy hop, she landed on the ground and set to rolling the strand for later use, the movements easy and automatic. “You should, it was one,” Violet returned with an easy, light chuckle. Considering, letting the image play in her mind, the blonde finally nodded. “You’re someone who makes a good point, that’s who you are. Give me a moment.” With a quick nudge to the storage tubs lid, kicking it off, bending to dig and find an unused roll of lights. “Hah, knew I bought them a while back.” Considering, she opened the shop door, flipped her brother off, and snagged a bouquet of roses as well. “Here,” she said, following impulse, and offered the bouquet. “For the help.”