May 4th, 1894 - Flower Show
Podmore Zoological Gardens

Being tangentially attached to the Potts ladies saw him used for menial labor for every large event that they hosted. Between the available of his brothers (just him and Harry at the moment) and the Plunkett boys, they did the heavy lifting whenever Mrs. Potts said so. She said jump and they asked how high. There was no other question allowed. Mostly because between Mrs. Plunkett, Mrs. Potts and his own mother, there was no room to say no. It was fine. He had been involved for so long now, he just planned around it. Plus he was coasting on a high after he and Penny had finally gotten the field maple into good shape. They were going to be able to start marketing it soon. Things were coming together. Alvin was relieved to at least have some professional success, if nothing else. It was keeping him distracted from worrying about Zinnia at any rate. Another reason to come today, he could see her without it being weird or out of his way.

Currently he and Harry were relocating a floral arch to its rightful home near the winged tiger enclosure at the last minute. They were cheating and using magic, but it still required a good level of concentration and two sets of eyes; Alvin was focusing on the magic and Harry on their destination. Alvin was generally in good spirits over the last couple of weeks, once he and Penny had some good luck with the broom and even his manual labor today wasn't going to ruin his good mood.

They had successfully gotten the arch in place and Harry set off to get the plaque that went with it while Alvin secured the bottom. There were some beautiful lilies right in his face as he pushed the stake further into the ground. Leaning back, Alvin sneezed rather violently after getting a face full of pollen. Reaching for his handkerchief, he stepped back to admire the work. There were some crazy exotic plants on this one that he had never seen before but he was intrigued by their shapes and colors. He'd have to come back with his sketchbook to follow the shape of them. Maybe he'd brave asking Zinnia about them sometime this afternoon.

Sighing, he figured there must have been something else he could do and he didn't want to appear like he was hiding, so he turned back toward where he had last left Mrs. Potts. If he was lucky she had run out of things for him to do. There were several men at her disposal today, hopefully they couldn't be occupied all weekend. As he approached where he had seen her last, it wasn't Mrs. Potts he found, but Miss Thompsett. Alvin hadn't been able to find the courage to write to her after their last run in at the florist in January, but he hoped she was doing well. She crossed his mind at the strangest times, but he truly did not know where they stood or what it was they had transpired between them, so he lacked any direction where she was concerned. "Miss Thompsett," he greeted with a small smile. "How are you?" It was a general question, but he hoped she knew what he meant.

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Sisse Thompsett

  

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The closer Sisse got to debuting the more she seemed able to convince her father of things. New gowns, outings. He was so easily convinced as if the absence of her mother at such a time had him eager to make up for it. It was the first time since her mother's death that he had even really been there, Matthew not even given the chance to step in. In same ways it made Sisse feel hope, in other ways, the ungrateful ways that she wished she couldn't even admit she had, she wished he had been like this years ago. Regardless of the reason behind it, he had signed her out to attend the flower show this year when she reminded him how close she was with the Potts family.

She had arrived early the show and had checked with Mrs. Potts' to see if she needed help with anything. The woman had tasked her with charming some flowers to float around and Sisse did so, chatting casually with Dahlia as she did so. The older girl was setting up a booth for Honeyduke's as Sisse enchanted the flowers around the second youngest Potts daughter. She laughed at something Dahlia said, pushing her hair behind her ear unconsciously, forgetting she had pinned it up this morning instead of leaving it in a braid.

But then there was a voice behind her and she found herself spinning around, cheeks flushing as she realized who it was. "Mr. Bixby." Sisse curtsied, trying to hide her blush with the movement, the flowers bobbing behind her with action her wand and the charm forgotten behind her.

The last time she had seen Sloane's older brother had been mortifying. The time before that even worse. If there had been any one person here she would have wished to avoid it was Alvin. And yet here he was. She straightened up (flowers returning to where they had been hovering before) and schooled her face into a calm inviting face. It was her polite young lady who could talk to anyone face, or so she considered it. "Well, and yourself Mr. Bixby?" The words were a tad stiff but overall Sisse was rather happy to find she sounded almost as if she were speaking anyone else. Not someone who saw her as a little girl and had been forced to kiss her.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alvin nearly winced at the tone. Each time he saw her it got more and more polite and further from the excited whispers of the museum where he had seen her first after Sloane's death and they had sketched together and reminisced and remembered the good times. Whatever had happened at Christmas had stained their blossoming friendship and Alvin, still stuck in his own dark little world, did not know how to get back to where they were; or if it was even possible. The easy sort of correspondence he had come to enjoy had shattered and Alvin wasn't sure if he should, or could, fix it.

"Glad to hear it," he managed, passing Dahlia a wan smile. She made herself busy with whatever it was that she was doing and Alvin wasn't sure if he was grateful or annoyed. Perhaps they could have kept it to an easy polite conversation with somebody overseeing, but that was not to be the case. "Your arm is all healed up, then?" Alvin had felt guilty about that. She had slipped because he was an idiot and it haunted him, just a little bit, just as much as Christmas. Alvin wasn't sure when he'd become so unreliable, or lost in his own head, but he could make a guess if needed. Idly he scratched the back of his head with his good hand, wondering just where he was going with this.

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"It is." Sisse assured him, lifting her arm in the hint of a demonstration. "Madame [Blank] was able to mend the break when I returned to the school." She explained, trying to keep her tone light. It had been her own fault she had fallen on the ice, her own foolish pride that had led to the breaking of her arm - and everything that had followed it.

Wishing to remove the attention from herself she found herself nodding to where Alvin had been working, "I see Mrs. Potts has put you to work as well?"

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Relieved to hear that it had been a quick and easy fix, Alvin passed her a hint of a better smile. No worse for the wear then. He should have been used to things like that, Sloane had broken hers more times than he could remember and one of them was always getting beaten up during quidditch, but it hadn't been easy to see Miss Thompsett in such pain.

"Always," Alvin figured that his mother and Mrs. Potts had conspired for a long time to make things even out; there were plenty of Bixby brothers and a plethora of Potts sisters, somehow things balanced. Even once Sloane had come around, his mother hadn't gotten to really enjoy all of the girly things that most mothers did; Sloane was far from the epitome of a lady. Borrowing a Potts sister or two for tea had always seemed to quell the desire. It was a good thing they hadn't lived far from one another, always bouncing back and forth between. Add in the extra Hachitt children and they had plenty of entertainment.

"My mother always likes to joke that we were one giant family." Which is certainly felt like most of the time. "I don't mind though." Alvin shrugged, adjusting his sleeves that had slipped down his forearm from where he had them rolled up. "Plus she's hard to argue with." He really didn't know where he was going with this conversation, but felt the need to keep rambling anyway.

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It was entirely irrational, Sisse knew, and yet she felt a stab of jealousy at the closeness of the Bixbys and the Potts. Her early years had been so lonely, so sheltered, her mother doing everything she could to make sure that Sisse was the perfect little girl. Not only had Sisse been sheltered but the Thompsett family was not overly large. Oh sure, there were a few aunts here and there but no children around her age. And while Mrs. Potts seemed to have accepted her friends' families into her own family Mrs. Thompsett had done no such thing. Now, Sisse wondered, if perhaps that was because her mother was all too well aware of how much she had risen in status after her marriage. Yet logic did nothing to sooth the sting. Sisse had always been jealous of Calla and Sloane, of their loud boisterous families and how open and accepting those families were. Showing nothing of her own inner turmoil Sisse gave Alvin a smile, an acknowledgement of his attempt to be friendly. She could do that at least, she could do this.

The smile broke into a laugh though at the bossiness of Mrs. Potts. "That she is." The woman was a force of nature, bright and free, and a captain at the helm of her own ship. "I was hardly here more than a moment before she set me to work." Sisse didn't mind though, she selfishly loved that Mrs. Potts had done such a thing, it made her feel as if she were included in the large brood of an adopted family Mrs. Potts had created for herself.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alvin could only shrug a little, a wry grin on his lips as he bent to start moving empty crates around. "Just means she's taken you on." What was one more in addition to the nest in her eyes? If Mrs. Potts could make it an even two dozen at this point, Alvin wouldn't be surprised. He was pretty sure she was making a small army of assistants so that they could indeed help her at events like this. Alvin would get paid in food, he usually did, and that was fine. Plus it felt good to get out of the house and focus on something different. He hadn't been to the zoo in a while and was thankful he'd thought to bring his drawing supplies at the last minute. Eventually he would run out of things to do and would sneak off to take some time to himself.

Without a clear direction, he was floundering as to what he could be doing right now. Harry had jotted off with the last plaque and Alvin wasn't sure if there was anything else heavy that needed to be moved around or if they were down to the little things he wasn't very good at. "Did you ah, need help with anything?" He wasn't quite sure what Miss Thompsett had been assigned to do, but he figured he should offer to help. If she didn't take him up on it, well, maybe he would sneak off to draw somewhere.

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Her smile softened, a more genuine one, as Alvin confirmed her suspicion. There were days she doubted that Mrs. Potts was really as open toward Sisse as she appeared to be, but then comments like Alvin's reminded her that the woman truly had accepted her, brought her into the family in some way.

"Oh, I don't think so," Sisse spun away from him considering the task and to her dismay found that the flowers had all sagged back to the ground. "Actually," She started slowly, "Would you be able to hold those up?" She gestured at the trailing garland of flowers she had been attempting to float above the heads of the crowds. "I can't quite get them to stay where they ought to." She confessed.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Relieved that some of the tension from Christmas seemed to have dissipated between them, Alvin stacked the last of the crates he'd been moving around and dusted his hands off on his pants. The smile was more of what he was used to seeing on Miss Thompsett's features and he relaxed a little. "Sure," he wasn't sure what good he would be here, but the flowers part was never what he was any good at, had always left that up to Zinnia and her sisters, taking on more of the grunt work, but he could stand there and be a placeholder just fine.

"Like this?" He asked as he took up the garland in hand and tried to hold it up toward where it was indicated. He wasn't quite tall enough, but hopefully she could levitate it up from there? He was good at charms, maybe he could help with that if she couldn't get it to stick. Making things fly and float was part of his skill set, after all.

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"Yes, like that." Sisse nodded, swishing her wand and trying the nonverbal spell again. It was good practice, she figured, using nonverbal magic before her NEWT exams in a few weeks. This time the flowers stayed in place, floating above Alvin's head in a merry garland of flora. "There that should do it." She pocketed her wand eyes still on her handiwork.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" She found herself saying, and then as if the words just didn't know how to stop she added, "I'd love to sketch them into a gown." She could so easily see how the petals would flare into the skirt, how silk might capture the softness of the flower, how a small shimmer charm might catch the light in the soft shade that the natural flower did.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Stretching for a moment more, Alvin waited until she was satisfied with the placement to move. He shook out his hands, one arm a little tingly from being above his head for a moment, but nothing too weird. It seemed poised to stay, but he stepped away, toward Miss Thompsett just in case. Looking up at her handiwork, he nodded. Alvin obviously acknowledged the beauty of flowers, it was hard not to, but even after all of this time around the Potts women, he still couldn't distinguish between them very well, nor was he all that impressed with them. Maybe he did spend a little too much time in the greenhouse.

"Lovely," he agreed anyway, nodding. Alvin remembered her dress sketches from their meeting in the gallery, but he wondered if she was still sketching. "Have you designed a gown for your debut?" He found himself asking, prolonging the conversation, perhaps unwisely, but still just the tiniest bit curious. He thought he remembered that she'd had them all sketched out, but he was curious to know if she had followed through and had one of her designs made for her big day.

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A soft pink stain crept onto Sisse's cheeks. He'd remembered. Unable to look at him she kept her gaze on the flowers above them for a moment longer as she answered, "I have." It was beautiful too. Nothing like her original sketches. She'd poured over fashion plates from French all fall and then fashioned the gown in honor of a rose. A British Rose was what she hoped to evoke in the evening of the ball. Much to Matthew and Henry's annoyance she had gone to fabric store after fabric store over Christmas break until at last she had found what she was looking for, the perfect texture to evoke a soft petal. And then she'd trusted the gown to the seamstress.

"Twilift and Twittings has done a beautiful job with it." Sisse told him, finally looking over at him, taking in his handsome face and the softness that she was, perhaps, imaginings in his eyes.

For a moment she toyed with telling him about Calla's gown but then she found herself deciding that she might as well. "[b]I asked Calla to consider wearing the design that I made for Sloane.[b]" She told him, her voice soft, almost cautious between them. In a way it was more intimate to bring this up, to think of this now when so much had passed between them since that summer afternoon so many months ago. He'd seen her angry, he knew what her lips felt like, he knew her passions in a way even her friends did not, and yet there was no hope between them. No thought that perhaps this would go somewhere else. Which made the admission like a jagged edge, something that he could use to break even this tentative link between them.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alvin found himself pleased to hear that her designs had come to fruition. What she had shown him in the past wasn't something he really know how to wrap his head around, but he knew what it felt like to take a sketch and create something real from it. The feeling was satisfying and gave a sense of success unlike anything he could truly put words to.

"I can't wait to see it," he offered cautiously. He, Harry and his mother planned to attend the debut to support Calla and Sloane's other friends. That she wouldn't be there, lurking in the shadows, purposefully not participating in the debut itself hadn't really set it yet, but it would. Alvin had thought about skipping it, but decided it would be a milestone they should celebrate anyway. Sloane had been friends with these young women for a six year, or longer, and they ought to be celebrated regardless. That Calla would wear the design intended for Sloane was a nice touch. "I'm sure it will look wonderful." Somebody ought to wear it and if it was indeed quidditch inspired, Calla made the most sense.

Aware of the change in cadence of the conversation, Alvin found himself fidgeting a little. He wasn't quite sure where they stood, but was still relieved to feel the tenseness of their last few interactions fading.

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Anxiously Sisse took in his face, looking for any sign that he might disapprove of her actions. At his platitude she rushed to add, "I modified it for Calla, but I wanted to pay tribute to Sloane in some small way that day." The words jumbled out of her mouth and Sisse felt her own renewed discomfort. If there was any way that she might convince Alvin she was just a little girl still it was babbling on like this.

Internally she took a breathe to calm herself, her hand smoothing down her skirt unconsciously. It was easy to start to feel comfortable around Alvin - no, Mr. Bixby, she reminded herself - but the moment she realized she was relaxing all her worries and anxiousness seemed to return. It wasn't fair. But then again, there wasn't much in life that was fair.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Her explanation was unnecessary, but Alvin nodded along anyway. "It's a nice way to have her there somehow." He agreed. There was no way he could tell his mother this, she would bawl over it, but it was a nice tribute regardless.

"She might have fought you on wearing anything remotely fancy anyway." He joked lightly. Alvin had known Sloane had zero intentions of officially debuting and he wasn't going to argue with her, but he did wonder if her friends might have been able to convince her in the long run.

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Thankfully Alvin seemed to understand the gesture, or at least didn't seem angered by it. She gave him a small smile in return. But it next statement made her laugh. "She would have. But she wouldn't have won." Sisse tossed back as if she were speaking to Lester or Ned. While Sisse was rather unassuming next to her friends she was stubborn and persuasive and rather confident that in the long run Sloane would have debuted, if only for Sisse's sake.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom