February 20th, 1891 - Ari and Dio's
Zelda woke up after Xena, that morning - this was not surprising considering how late she had been with Alfred in the garden. There was not really any urgency to her wanderings until she was dressed and in the washroom and happened to catch sight of herself in the mirror. There was a large, purpleish bruise on the side of her neck, and she knew exactly what it was from.
She wasn't on call for work, so she had nowhere to be. This was actually worse, she felt, because at work she could have come up with an excuse to be outside with a scarf and coat all day. And - Zelda's heart sank - today was Shabbat. It wasn't unlikely that she would have extra siblings in the house this evening, and she couldn't make herself scarce all day to figure this out.
She stood in the washroom, calculating.
1. Pretend that this was a bruise from something else. This could have been fine, although she suspected that she would be called out by probably Leonid or definitely Dorian. So. No.
2. Pretend to be sick all day, risk someone coming into the bedroom to help her.
3. Find somewhere to hide so that she could try to come up with something.
Three was the obvious best option, although there were only so many places she could plausibly go. Julian was out because he would probably accidentally tell someone; Roslyn would simply murder her on the spot; Katia would tell Roslyn. She wasn't sure Brannon would buy her going to Dorian's flat for a social call.
So. That left her with... Dionisia and Ari.
This would probably go terribly, but Zelda could not come up with a better way to delay her suffering. Also - well, Dionisia was a mediwitch. Maybe she would know something about how to deal with this? Or maybe Ari (or Elliott's father, whichever) had left bruises on her neck before, and she had actual experience hiding them? Zelda had to hope.
She hustled back to her room, stole a scarf from Xena's side, and wound it around her neck. Her coat was downstairs - Zelda got it off the hook and put it on, raising the collar. She left a note on the table: Ari's house! See you soon! and let one of the maids know that she was going to use the floo network. (The most embarrassing part of this whole situation - people watched to see what address she was using for the floo network.)
And she was gone, wearing a scarf and her coat even though she was going to another house, and at least the maid hadn't called her on that.
"I need your help with something," Zelda hissed, as she arrived in a rush of green fire. She was relieved to find Dionisia and not Ari, although frankly either of them were better options than her father. This was not, actually, what she wanted to ask Dionisia for help with - but what else was she supposed to do?
Dionisia Fisk Holly ScrimgeourShe wasn't on call for work, so she had nowhere to be. This was actually worse, she felt, because at work she could have come up with an excuse to be outside with a scarf and coat all day. And - Zelda's heart sank - today was Shabbat. It wasn't unlikely that she would have extra siblings in the house this evening, and she couldn't make herself scarce all day to figure this out.
She stood in the washroom, calculating.
1. Pretend that this was a bruise from something else. This could have been fine, although she suspected that she would be called out by probably Leonid or definitely Dorian. So. No.
2. Pretend to be sick all day, risk someone coming into the bedroom to help her.
3. Find somewhere to hide so that she could try to come up with something.
Three was the obvious best option, although there were only so many places she could plausibly go. Julian was out because he would probably accidentally tell someone; Roslyn would simply murder her on the spot; Katia would tell Roslyn. She wasn't sure Brannon would buy her going to Dorian's flat for a social call.
So. That left her with... Dionisia and Ari.
This would probably go terribly, but Zelda could not come up with a better way to delay her suffering. Also - well, Dionisia was a mediwitch. Maybe she would know something about how to deal with this? Or maybe Ari (or Elliott's father, whichever) had left bruises on her neck before, and she had actual experience hiding them? Zelda had to hope.
She hustled back to her room, stole a scarf from Xena's side, and wound it around her neck. Her coat was downstairs - Zelda got it off the hook and put it on, raising the collar. She left a note on the table: Ari's house! See you soon! and let one of the maids know that she was going to use the floo network. (The most embarrassing part of this whole situation - people watched to see what address she was using for the floo network.)
And she was gone, wearing a scarf and her coat even though she was going to another house, and at least the maid hadn't called her on that.
"I need your help with something," Zelda hissed, as she arrived in a rush of green fire. She was relieved to find Dionisia and not Ari, although frankly either of them were better options than her father. This was not, actually, what she wanted to ask Dionisia for help with - but what else was she supposed to do?
Elias Grimstone Ari Fisk invitational ;)
![[Image: xXXD462.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xXXD462.png)
AMAZING set by MJ