Author: Dusk, Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:08 AM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

Lewis was more than happy that Fiori was content with trying to watch him fish. It wasn’t exactly the response he was expecting. If anything, he was expecting her to think it was boring. But, then again, Fiori wasn’t exactly the most normal of little girls. Hell, the entire family was anything but normal.

As Fiori spoke about her interest, Lewis was happy to hear what had sparked the initial interest. Mira was an odd one, for sure, but the two seemed to get along quite well, almost as if they had always been siblings. Simone had always been supportive of each of their child’s interests, and with Fiori, it had been embroidering to start. Add on Mira’s love of the necklace that was made, and Fiori had a lifelong passion to pursue.

Lewis was secretly happy that FIori had chosen something that was relatively safe. Sure, he was an assassin and barely had any room to talk, but as a father, he wanted nothing but peace and happiness for his kids, and that meant a nice, safe job that was out of harm’s way.

“You know,” Lewis said with a half smile. “You’re pretty smart for your age. I’m impressed you’ve figured something out like this. You’re right, beauty isn’t everything. Neither is money, but it can definitely help. But to want to make beauty in the world and make people happy with outfits, then I’m glad to support that any way I can.”

The boat trip was about an hour long, and as they pulled into the docks, Lewis was thankful to finally get moving again. He was good with patience, but Fiori was not, and he had a gut feeling that the girl wanted to get to shopping as quickly as possible.

“All right, Fiori. What shops do we need to go to? Do you know the way?” Lewis held out his hand for Fiori to take.

Author: Fiori Terrowin, Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:34 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

Her father finally agreed and left to get ready for the trip. Fiori raced to her closet and went through her hundreds of dresses. If she was going to go shopping, she was determined to look good while doing it. There was a pretty red dress with a light cream gown underneath that caught her eye. She tried it on and looked at herself in the mirror before deciding it was perfect. Then she sat at her little black vanity table and began dressing up her hair. She managed to make a half ponytail and tie a little red ribbon around it, creating a bow on the back of her head. She considered adding jewelry for a moment but decided against it, believing adding jewelry would make the overall outfit a bit too much for a casual shopping trip. Fiori slipped on a pair of red flats, picked up her little basket, and met up with her father at the door. Off they went after that. 

"I think fishing is nice. It's very peaceful and quiet." Fiori said, "Oh and the fish always seem to shine in the sunlight. It's really pretty! I would love to watch you fish!"

She had little interest in fishing itself, preferring something less slimy than the fish. If her father started fishing, she would find a way to join him in her own way. Fiori would most likely find a picnic blanket and sit by her father as he fished, working on embroidery or some sort of jewelry piece. The fishing wasn't the important part. The part that was important would be spending her time with her father. 

"Mommy taught me how to embroider and told me that I could be a great seamstress one day." Fiori explained with a big smile, "But… I suppose it really started when I gave Mira a necklace. It was something I made for school with her in mind. When I gave it to her, she wouldn't stop wearing it. She was so happy…" 

Fiori thought for a moment, trying to think on how to explain her point of view. She knew most people wouldn't find dresses or jewelry to be important. Although her father would listen and admire her regardless, she wanted to find a way to get him to truly understand why she was so interested in dresses. There was more to it than just fabric or sewing, there was so much she loved about it. 

"Beauty isn't everything… but it does make people smile." Fiori said after much thinking, "Expressing yourself can give you confidence about yourself and your appearance. That's why outfits are so important for me. I can give to my family, show them how beautiful they are on the inside and on the outside." 

Her words were spoken with a gravity that Fiori didn't often show. She usually was smiling but it seemed she was very serious about this matter. Fiori knew how low people's confidence could go, she had seen it at school many times. The girl felt the best way for her to rise other people up is to show them how they were beautiful with outfits that made them feel comfortable. That was the power of clothes to her. 

Author: Dusk, Posted: Mon Feb 8, 2021 3:21 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

It was not quite the result he had expected, and at least Fiori was working on understanding it. However, her impatience was obvious to Lewis, which merely caused him to sigh inwardly. With the thought that she was at least making progress, he finally agreed to take her.

“All right, go ahead and get ready then. We have about twenty minutes or so until the next ship departs,” Lewis said. That would give both of them time to at least make themselves presentable. It had been some time since he had gone into Benin, and he had appearances to keep up. At least, according to Simone. Something about the taxes and at least making himself presentable.

It wasn’t long before the two of them met up at the door, and off they went. The boat ride would take about an hour, per the usual course they took. Lewis and Simone were lucky that they employed a mage on the ship who utilized wind magic, as to keep the ferry service alive and kicking.

“Fiori,” Lewis said as he pointed out on the lake. “What do you think of the fish? I was thinking of maybe picking up a hobby…fishing sounds nice. Do you think that’s something that would be fun?” It was odd talking about this with the girl, who was very much into her own escapades. Now that he had more time to spend with the kids, he was finding that they had grown up without his knowledge, and now he wanted to make up for the lost time.

“Why do you like making dresses so much?” he finally asked. “Did you meet someone with Simone who got you interested? Or did Aunt Leilah influence that?”

Author: Fiori Terrowin, Posted: Mon Feb 1, 2021 7:46 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

Fiori listened as her father asked her if she promised to let the squirrel go once she was finished. She eagerly nodded her head, as she had planed to let the squirrel go once she had given it a dress. The look of concern in her father's eyes made her grow worried he was upset about something. The idea she had done something wrong hadn't even registered in her mind. Then he mentioned how she took the squirrel from his home in a similar way that the fae took her mommy. Her brow knitted in confusion as she began thinking about what he had said. 

"But daddy, they were trying to hurt mommy. If I'm trying to help the squirrel, am I still in the wrong?" She asked. 

The child seemed to be genuinely confused rather than trying any sort of protest. Fiori had been taught about kindness, sharing, and all that other good stuff. But sometimes more complicated lessons were necessary for her to understand. She listened earnestly as Xiex began explaining the difference, as she didn't want to be a bad person and wanted to make people enjoy her presence. 

"I understand. When I make the dress and put it on him, we can let him go. And I won't take any other animals because kidnapping animals is wrong." She repeated as a way to show her dad she was paying attention, "Can we go now? Please?" 

The girl was beginning to get a little impatient. She had been trying her best to wait but now she really wanted to get going. Her imagination of what the dress would look like was burning in her mind and had already been drawn in several notebooks. The eagerness shined in her eyes as she wanted to get to work as soon as possible. The desire to create something was as strong as any other feeling. 

Author: Dusk, Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:05 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

There was a moment of confusion as Lewis tried to comprehend what his daughter was saying. There was a squirrel that needed a dress. No, that wasn’t quite right. It was a Mr. Squirrel, so as not to upset Fiori further. The assassin gave Fiori a rather blank stare to hide his confusion as she more or less dragged him down the hall to her room. As they entered the room, Lewis laid eyes on the terrified squirrel, and it more or less clicked into place.

“So what you’re telling me,” he said as he knelt down, eye to eye with Fiori. “Is that you need fabric. And none of the fabric you have will do?” It was an honest question, as Lewis had absolutely no idea on how to design clothes, let alone how each color and shade mattered.

Of course, Lewis could tell immediately that the squirrel was absolutely not happy with its predicament. He let out a sigh as he stood back up. FIori made her case as strong as possible, even using her puppy dog eyes to beg him to go to the store.

“Fiori,” he said finally. “There’s a few things…” Lewis looked down at her. “One..do you promise to let the squirrel go once you’re finished?” There were a few other things, but this was a little more on the important side of things. He knew Fiori, and that she wouldn’t kill or intentionally harm the squirrel. However, the current method she was using wasn’t quite the right way to approach things either. “Two…we need to have a talk about consent. I know someone in Benin…he can teach you something. A way to commune with animals. I’m sure if you asked the squirrel nicely, and promised his safety, he would work with you and make your job much, much easier…”

It was strange having to negotiate with a child. Normally Lewis’ tactics involved threatening the removal of limbs, or worse, but when it came to his family, it was much harder.

“What you’re doing is a lot like what the fae did to Mommy. They took her without consent from her home, much like you did from his. Do you understand?”

Author: Fiori Terrowin, Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:57 AM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

Fiori looked up at her father with a small little frown and eyes that were beginning to water. 

"Mr. squirrel needs a dress and I don't have any fabrics!" Fiori whined, "None that would look good on him." 

She reached up towards her father's hand and began dragging him towards her room. Fiori needed him to understand her terrible sadness at the lack of fabrics and to make sure they left before Simone came around. She knew her mother would suggest using a different color but that would ignore the green design Fiori wanted for the squirrel. When they made it to her room she picked up the cage with the bound and gagged squirrel, showing the poor creature to her father. 

"See? He looks so sad and miserable without a dress." The little girl said with teary eyes, "And I only have greens that would look bad on him. Can we go to the stores? Please? Please? I must go. The green shade must be perfect!"

She placed the cages squirrel back on the desk and looked up towards Lewis with big begging eyes. Fiori grabbed his hand and held it, trying to look as adorable as possible. The amount of times she'd practiced the look in the mirror could rival the amount of time she spent on sewing. Her hair had been brushed and her dress looked neat, the rest of her bedroom was clean with the exception of the basket of fabrics. It was almost as if she cleaned it before going to her father, just for this moment. 

"Please?" She asked softly. 

Author: Dusk, Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:25 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

Lewis groaned, putting his head to the desk. With Simone dealing with Angela, that left him to do the taxes for the month. There was a reason she was in charge of it normally. There were a hundred different loopholes that she used in tandem with her arguments to lower their admittedly absurd taxes, but this was something that he had absolutely no skill in. The complex math also had him stumped, and he let out a hefty sigh. And this is what I get for agreeing to stay. Next time, I’m dragging the kids out to do…anything.

When Fiori started to call for him through the door, he sat up almost immediately. The fact that any of his kids had come to him was exciting news. It was rare, though, for Fiori to ask for help.

Anything but this. He stood up and straightened his tunic, giving a good stretch before walking over to the door. He opened the door and looked down to his wonderful daughter. Since he was home from work, he was wearing a casual set of clothes, a basic tunic and dark pants, and for a strange moment he wondered if Fiori would find it odd. He ignored the slight panic, and smiled as he did with all of his children.

“Yes, Fiori? What can I do for you?” His smile was genuine. There were very few people in the world who could pull a real smile out of him, and even less that could pull emotions. His family could do both, and it showed with the love and devotion that he shared with them. He knelt down, getting to eye level with her. “You seem flustered.”

Author: Fiori Terrowin, Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 7:22 PM, Post Subject: Écureuil Dans La Robe [P]

"No, no, no, and no." Fiori let out a sigh of disappointment as she dropped a piece of purple fabric. 

She had been searching through her basket of fabrics for the last thirty minutes for the right shade of green. Not only was she lacking on green but the only two shades she had left were sage and moss, which were both beautiful colors but wouldn't fit with a dull shade of brown. Dumping all the fabrics back into the basket, she walked over to her desk where a beautiful cage sat. Inside the cage, a poor little squirrel was hog-tied with a little rope Fiori had found in the gardener's cabin. The squirrel's eyes grew wide with terror as the girl walked over. She picked up the cage and looked at him with a devilish smile. 

"Don't worry! I'll give you an outfit to make you shine." She insisted, "Be patient. Then you can go back to trees as a pretty little princess." 

The squirrel struggled against the rope and tried to bite it, but the piece of fabric tied around its mouth blocked it from being able to free itself. Even if it had, there still was the cage. Fiori had been very careful to keep her special prisoner. She would have tried to use chloroform on the squirrel to keep it passed out for longer but she was afraid she would kill it. The little creature flailed about and Fiori placed the cage back on the desk. Simone was busy that day, going to see Angela or something. There were so many new friends of the family that Fiori could barely keep up with who was visiting and who needed to be visited. With Simone absent, there was only one person who could help her now. 

Leaving her room, Fiori walked through the glamourous halls of the manor. A place she had grown up in and one of the better homes in her personal opinion. The other house was fine, but this place had an elegance the little house in Vilpamolan lacked. Approaching Lewis and Simone's door, she peeked through the keyhole to see if Lewis was inside. She saw him at his desk, working on something important. Standing up properly, she quickly brushed out the wrinkles in her purple dress to avoid looking messy. 

"Dad! Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Daaaaad." She called, slightly annoyed he didn't answer right away.