It's cold and dark out, but inside the B&B it's warm and cozy. The residents are either in their rooms or out, leaving Sophia alone. A fire burns in the fireplace while she sits in a chair, curled up with a book, while a glass of wine sits on the table beside her, barely touched. Apparently it's a really good book!
The front door opens quietly and a Fairest comes inside along with a chill breeze. He glances around with his bright green eyes, looking for someone, probably, as he closes the door behind him. Upon seeing there is a Lost by the fireplace, he gets close and tries to be as gentle as possible to call the woman's attention without surprising her."Hi."
Sophia looks up when the door opens and smiles, placing a bookmark in her book and closing it. "Hello. I'm Sophia. This is my place. What can I do for you?" she asks, shifting around to sit properly in the chair, facing him a little more.
"Yeah. I heard. Nice place, by the way." He says glancing around for a second."I'm here to talk about Freehold matters. But I can come another time if it's too late to that." He hesitates in his position as his eyes fall over Sophia again.
Sophia cocks her head, brows lifting curiously. "Well that's a first. But no, it's not too late to discuss freehold matters. Freehold matters tend to be important, but...it would help if I knew who I was talking to?" she gently suggests with a smile.
The Fairest's cheeks get pinky in the mention of the lack of proper introductions."I'm sorry. I'm Oberon. Of the Spring Court. Recruit of the Waykeepers." He names himself and makes a light bow."I came here to discuss the possibility to join the ranks of the Greenies as well."
"Nice to meet you, Oberon of the Spring Court," Sophia says with a smile. "Would you like something to drink?" she offers, getting to her feet and starting for the kitchen. "Can I ask why you want to join the Greenies?" she asks, glancing back at him.
"Tea, please. If you don't mind." He answers calmly."I want to join the Greenies because I'd like to help using my court powers to heal others and want to learn and help cultivating Goblin Fruits. I know nothing about mudane medicine, and only signed the first clause of the Eternal Spring contract. And never planted a Goblin Fruit before. But I'm a farmboy. I have experience with crops and flowers. If that helps." The explains as he follows Sophia into the kitchen a few good paces ahead of her.
"That isn't a bad place to start, but you should know that to become a full member you'll need to know more about healing than the use of a contract, and you'll need to know your way around a garden. Of the hedge variety," Sophia says as she sets about making tea. "You'll need a mentor, or two, if you want one who specializes in healing and one in gardening. But there's a handful of people who can help."
"I'm aware of that and I'm a good student and pupil. Just point me the names of those I can talk to to ask to be my mentors and I'll do my best to learn everything that's necessary for being a full member." Oberon says with conviction.
"I thought you might be, but it never hurts to be clear," Sophia says with a smile, motioning him to the table. "I'm the Master Gardener. I'm basically in charge of the freehold's garden. I can help with that, but really any member who's a full member can help teach you. And we have a meeting soon, we can see if anyone's willing to take on a trainee."
Oberon smiles in a thanks before picking a place at the table."I didn't know the Freehold have a garden. I only visited the Freehold Hollow once and I only could find my way in an out of the Spring cave." He comments."And thanks. That'd be great. I mean, checking on people's avaliability to pick up a trainee."
"Oh, it needs work, a lot of work," Sophia says with a sigh. "But that's not really too much of a problem since I love playing in a garden." She should, with all those flowers growing in her hair. "And in that case, Oberon...welcome to the Greenies. You're officially a recruit," she says with a smile, bringing a cup of tea over to him and offering it out.
Oberon picks the cup of tea and grins once more in a thanks."If you need help with gardening, you can call me. The Freehold one and the one you have here. Soon it'll be spring and time to replant flowers. I can come to help you with those too." He offers and then blows his tea before a quick sip from it.
"I pretty much indulge myself in the garden here," Sophia says with a quick grin. "But thank you for the offer. As for the freehold garden, I know we'll need a lot of help there. As I said, it needs a /lot/ of work. And at some point we need to find a garden for us. The Greenies."
"I'm afraid I can't help you with the finding a place to us part. I know nothing about the Hedge besides what's common sense. I tried to avoid it, actually. It's unsafe and my combat skills are very, very poor." He says as he looks a bit ashamed of that confession."But there is these guys in Summer Court, Cobalt and Damion. They're huge and I know they'd accept the job. Or maybe someone from the Harvestmen." He adds after another sip from his tea.
Sophia glances to Oberon, smiling. "We'll all work on that. Finding a place or building one. We'll see what happens. And most gardeners aren't great fighters, so I wouldn't worry too much there. But this is our place. We need to find something that works for us, not for summer, not for the harvestmen."
"Roger that, Boss." He says and then bites his lower lips, as if he was trying to decide on what to say next."Is there some sort of guide to Goblin Fruits or something like that? So I don't get to my first class like a fully blank page."
Sophia laughs and shakes her head. "I'm not the boss. I'm the Master Gardener, but I'm not the Grandmaster. And there are quite a few books on hedge fruit out there. I personally feel that first-hand knowledge is the best, but book learning is definitely useful, too. The freehold might have something that you can use."
"I'll look around and see if I can find one. I should talk to the Custodians, right?" He asks and sips once more from his tea."It's delicious, by the way. Thanks."
"They would certainly know about the library, yeah," Sophia says, smiling and nodding. "And thank you. I make the tea myself. I find it preferable to anything mass produced. Fresher, tastier. And I enjoy making tea for people. But as I said, there's a meeting, tomorrow, actually, if you can make it. If not, I'll ask and see if anyone wants to take a trainee."
"Sure." He then glances at his watch and flushes again."I should probably get going and let you go back to you book. There is this sink I need to fix in one of the guests' room back in the Wayhouse." He says finishing his tea with a long sip.
"I'll try. Thanks God it's already Spring. The weather is going to get better soon." He says as he stands up."Thank you for having me at your place. I'll be in touch." He then nods in a polite greeting and turns around to head back to the entrance.
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