2022-08-21: Feelings in Fabric
- Log: 2022-08-21: Feelings in Fabric
- Cast: Milly Ashford, Emilia Eschonbach
- Where: Nagoya, Area 11
- OOC - IC Date: 21 August 0096
- Summary: Emilia visits Milly at her grandfather at home to deliver a late birthday gift. Also, there is a very big dog.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly has steadfastly refused to go back to her mother's house again; she has repeatedly cited that her mother is too far from Ashford Academy for the amount of responsibility Milly's taken on with the GUTS initiative. She has gotten away with it, after some insistence.
The compromise: Milly stays with her grandfather.
This is a relatively big win, in that her grandfather is busy enough that Milly has the mid-size home and its guest room substantially to herself. It has also allowed her to demand some personal accommodations, including... her favorite personal accommodation.
But right now she's actually catching a nap before she entertains any guests. She needs it, and her grandfather's guest room is... probably her second favorite room to sleep in, at this point. Besides -- she blew her weekend on GUTS tasks in preparation for the Deculture Festival.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
This was, for Emilia, kind of exciting and nervewracking all at once. It was one thing to see Milly on school grounds, visiting her home- or her grandfather's home- is a different matter entirely. It's not far from school, and Emmy decided to walk. She has a small bag with her- a water bottle, her phone wallet and a little gift wrapped parcel.
The jacket Excellen gave her is tied around her waist, and she's wearing a plain skirt, sneakers, white socks and a pastel blue tee. She doesn't need the jacket for the weather, it's a hot day. She *does* need the confidence that jacket brings.
When she arrives at the house, Emilia is... a little surprised. It's not as loud as her Grandfather's, it's not as big, it's not what she expected. She knew Milly's family weren't as well off now, but this seems.. Simple, almost plain from what Emilia had come to expect from other nobility.
Nervously, she presses the doorbell. When someone answers, Emmy is a little nervous. "U-um, I-I'm Emilia. I'm h-h-here to see Milly...?"
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
There's one maid -- a tired-looking lady about fifteen years Emilia's senior. She nods, and says, "A moment."
The moment passes.
The maid returns, and says, "The young lady will see you," and guides Emilia over to a sitting room, where Milly's set herself up.
Milly, for her part, looks well-rested and happy. "Thank you," she says to the maid, before returning her attention to Emilia. "This was the compromise," Milly explains, not particularly embarrassed by it. "I would've preferred the dorms, but there are a few benefits."
She snaps her fingers twice, at her side -- and then someone comes out from behind her, having been impossible to see from the entry angle but now quite plain. It's...!
... a dog!!!!
A big dog, at that. "Sebastian, this is Emilia. Be nice to her, okay?" She gives the dog a few scratches behind the ears, and whispers, "If you're really good to her I'll give her some treats to give you."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emilia simply stands there while the maid does her thing. She's very good at staying still and doing nothing in the houses of people more important than her, even if she wasn't in them very often. When the maid comes back, Emmy nods. "Th-thank you." She follows quietly, trying not to be trouble.
It's obvious that Milly's doing better now, and Emmy is happy to see it, smiling softly. Emmy walks toward Milly- it seems uncouth to run when the maid is watching, even though a part of her wants to. "O-oh, I see..." She's still nervous, but maybe it's the whole... being here thing. "B-Benefi-"
And then there is a *very* big dog. Certainly bigger than Emilia is. He could probably put his front paws on her shoulders with minimal effort. And Emilia is very clearly awestruck, staring at Sebastian.
A big dog.......!
"Can I p-p-p-pet him?" There's wonder in Emmy's voice, even though she's a little unsure how to proceed. She certainly always wanted a pet, but has very little experience. Ai-kun was the first time she'd been allowed to pet any creature and Sebastian is big enough to be intimidating. But the second Milly says okay, a hand is going to reach out towards doggo unless she's stopped.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
"Of course you can! He likes it under the chin to start, but after a minute or two of that he'll probably be fine with anything you want to give him," Milly answers, with a smile that just barely edges into confident smirk. "He's very well-trained."
Milly, for her own part, remains comfortably seated. "I'm really happy to see you off-campus and not working," she says, brightly. "I was kinda worried about you there for a little while, but you really seem like you're doing a lot better." She doesn't bring up her own issues -- she thinks her demeanor speaks for itself.
"I have everything dusted for the festival now, and a few things for school starting back up again besides," Milly adds. "We're making great time and assuming nothing goes wrong we might even end up with an operating surplus for every school, even accounting for some big budget multiplier events. ... Actually, some of the things that could go wrong would make that surplus bigger."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
The lavender haired girl nods enthusiastically, and she starts scritching Sebastian's chin as instructed. She is listening as Milly speaks... but she is *very* taken with the dog.
Better than a weird mouse? Too early to tell, more research needed.
Emmy looks up to Milly, and gives a nod. "Th-th-thanks!" Emmy replies, though thanks for which part of that she's not specifying. "I g-g-guess... I h-have somewhere t-to go." And things have been quiet for the Black Knights, and she seems to have pulled up from her dip after the dinosaur empire attack. "Ranka took me out to N-N-Nouvelle Tokyo, too. And I m-met some of her f-friends."
There's a long pause. "But... I wouldn't be able t-to if you hadn't decided... to help me." Milly gives her numbers, and nods. "All the m-m-major events are scheduled, too. Anything else is- is up to th-the other student c-councils." She stands back up, neglecting poor dog. She could ask for more information but... "I d-d-didn't come h-her to discuss w-w-work, th-though."
Emmy takes a deep breathe, and reaches into her bag, taking the giftwrapped parcel, and wishing for the courage of a chaos blonde to approach another. "I-I'm sorry it's l-late but... H-Happy Birthday, Milly."
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Sebastian is very well trained and loves to be scritched. Just the very most affectionate yet patient dog on the planet. Milly seems happy -- and perhaps a little relieved -- that Emmy and Sebastian have taken so well to each other.
"I guess there hasn't been a great opportunity for this," she notes, as Emilia brings out a parcel and presents it to Milly. She's used to being the one who fusses over birthday things -- and the school schedule means her own birthday is never at issue during the school year, which means... well. Milly's used to it passing her by without much fanfare. "Thank you, Emilia. It means a lot."
... she'd had a birthday dinner, of course. At home. Less than pleasing, as activities go.
She begins unwrapping the parcel carefully -- she's pretty deft with her hands. Sebastian provides a momentary distraction, as he gently puts a paw on Emilia's foot; Milly notes, "That's the go-ahead. He thinks you're safe... you can pretty much pet him wherever now."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Inside the package is a violet infinity scarf. No brand tag, no hint of having been purchased. It's simple, well made- and hand made. If one scrutinizes, you can see the work of an amateur, if an amateur with talent.
There's a blush on Emilia's face as Milly responds, watching as she opens it, a hand reaching for Sebastian's head to gather som emotional support. "I n-noticed that... you favour, um... you favour a l-lot of a-aqua and p-pale blues." She's clearly anxious to see how the gift is received.
It's the first gift she's ever given. And definitely the first time she's offered something to someone so important to her. She leans more into petting and scritching Sebastian, with both hands.
<Pose Tracker> Milly Ashford has posed.
Milly looks it over. Despite the fact that the Ashfords are humble by Britannian nobility standards -- or at least, have fallen decently far -- Milly's never wanted for anything; certainly designer brands are not outside her reach.
This is something different. She can tell it immediately -- the stitches don't have that hide-all-sign-of-a-human-hand energy. Nothing here is machine-precise. But... "... Oh, this is really nice. I can see exactly which outfits this would go with," Milly says, brightly. "You put a lot of thought into this. Thank you!"
Usually, Milly's hugs are sort of... playful affairs. Casual -- occasionally a little dirty -- but not that intimate. Here, Milly stands, gently taps Emilia on the shoulder, and asks, "Can I borrow you for a second? Sebastian's very patient. Don't worry -- you just need to stand up."
If Emilia does stand up, she gets a hug from Milly, thus -- and it's a much more warm, tender sort of hug. There's some real sincerity there -- sincerity Milly's traditionally had to push aside.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
There's a sense of relief when Milly likes it, and Emmy relaxes her not quite deathgrip of pets on Sebastian. "I-I'm glad you l--ike it." But when she's tapped on the shoulder, Emmy stands up, turning to Milly-
And gets brought into the hug and she's briefly surprised. But only briefly. Emmy leans into the hug, wrapping her arms around Milly. She's not sure if she should- or can- say anything.
So she doesn't. Maybe this is enough.