The Estate, Glacia, Sunday Fandom Time

[wwiii]

In Glacia, it was cold.

This generally went without saying, what with it being a place with a name that sounded suspiciously like 'glacier' or 'glacial' or even just the French word for 'really fricking cold,' but it was that sort of cold now that indicated that they were just starting to push past Winsol-and-Christmas and into January, and Warren was doing that thing he did where, so help him, it had been storming out for the past three days and he needed to do something to help get his mind off the fact that he hadn't been able to fly in at least as long.

So he was setting up a swing set.

Indoors, yes.

For a little girl that still wasn't quite a year old yet.

But it had a nice wooden frame, and one of the little kind-of diaper-shaped seats that could be swapped out for a proper swing seat later, and he was more or less caught up with his paperwork for the day.

So, a swing set. Kayla would appreciate it, he was sure, and it would help to get his mind off of the whole claustrophobic feeling of being stuck indoors. That one that had him half-tempted to book a portal to the island to just enjoy a few days of summer, Consort duties be damned. Now, if only he could get Karla's pet out of the way while he was working. The little guy kept zipping around the room, perching on his shoulder, on the toolbox, making a game of seeing what he could get away with.

"Nemit, I will give you extra crickets if you stop trying to steal these screws." Beat. "And stop rubbing it in."

[OOC: Just realized I haven't touched this boy in a while. Open for calls, or people who might happen to be in Glacia, or texts or whatever!]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

Opposing schedules and a metric fuckton of responsibilities that never seemed to end, no matter how hard they worked?

"Where we don't have to be Queen and Consort," Karla said, voice dreamy. "Just Karla and Warren. In ways we haven't been since high school."

[wwiii]

"Momoko's invited us to visit San Antonio on Independence Day," Warren shared, "but I was thinking maybe we could make our way out to see the aerie for ourselves after that? Provided things aren't too crazy out here, that is. If weather like this keeps up, though, I can't see many people seeking our audience any time soon."

Even Glacians didn't like going out in Glacian storms. They were adapted to live in it, they weren't insane.

[glacial_queen]

"It's not going to be covered in snow?" Karla asked, unable to pinpoint the aerie's exact location from the pictures. "You know the north gets even more snow than we do."

[wwiii]

"Two sides of it are shielded by the mountains," Warren explained, "so the valley where the cabin itself was built actually gets less snow. The snow through the rest of the mountains means people don't often bother trying to get there on foot during the winter, and there's only one Wind that passes by there, so nobody with a Jewel below the dark opal tends to wander by for months and months. And we could opt to stay in Hawaii longer, but Glacia's still moving double-time to everything else, so 'longer' would still have to be cut short."

He shrugged.

"Anyway, there are more reasons to go camp out in a secluded, well-heated, insulated cabin in the mountains where nobody will find us than just getting away from the snow."

[glacial_queen]

"I just wanted to make sure we could even get there," Karla laughed. "Instead of having to turn around halfway because it was impassible." She dimpled at him. "But do share. Why else are we going to go camp out in a secluded, well-insulated cabin if not to escape the snow?"

[wwiii]

"Besides the seclusion?" Warren grinned a little right back at her. "You can't tell me that on its own isn't reason enough. We deserve a break."

[glacial_queen]

"Oh I see how it is," she teased, sending phantom hands to ruffle his feathers. "You don't want to be secluded with me necessarily. You just want a break from Mallory interrupting our meals with bullshit that requires our approval."

[wwiii]

"I'd settle for being able to sit and eat with you at all," Warren chuckled, his feathers lifting a little bit at the ruffling. "When's the last time we both sat down at the table at the same time, never mind the last time we both got to finish our meal?"

[glacial_queen]

"I seem to remember something in the dim, distant days of our youth..." Karla said. "I think--maybe?--no, it's gone now. If it ever happened and isn't just some rose-colored reminiscence, I'm sure I can't remember such a luxury."

She pointed at him. "At least I can't get in trouble for it now. I've been on time for the last three dinners."

An achievement!

[wwiii]

"That's because even the mail carriers have been snowed out for the past few days," Warren pointed out, smirking faintly. "I think I know the memories you speak of, though. They involved some strange, alien dish. Something about... curr-ee? And pie-napel?"

[glacial_queen]

Karla shook her head, looking appropriately tragic. "You've begun making up words again," she reported sadly. "Like this mythical 'freet ime' you told me about once. What was that? A dessert?"

[wwiii]

"It might have been. Or maybe it was a spectator sport of some kind," Warren mused, though he didn't have the appropriate air of tragedy mastered quite yet. "I feel like we need to go on some sort of great adventure, in order to see if these things are real, or if I'm just going crazy."

Crazy was totally a possibility.

[glacial_queen]

"You've been trapped inside the estate too long," Karla decided. "I guess I should just be grateful that you're not wandering around with your sticks out, chanting 'All work and no play makes Warren a dull Consort' until I lost you in the maze out back."

Which was currently buried under several feet of snow, so best of luck even getting to it.

[wwiii]

"I'd mostly just be impressed with myself if I managed to get to the maze out back," Warren noted. "That would take dedication."

There was a pause, and then he nodded to the swingset.

"So, if this room is off limits until we've declared it to be baby-safe again, where should I put this?"

[glacial_queen]

"Why do I practically hear the words 'Julian's room' circling in your brain?" Karla accused. "Does it make noise? Play obnoxious music?"

Even if the answer was yes, Julian would still be overjoyed to have it in his suite.

"Isn't there a small room off the Consort's suite that has yet to be overtaken by baby stuff? That's always a possibility."

[wwiii]

"... Actually, that's a great idea. We could turn that room into a playroom."

Another playroom.

"Anyway, I don't want to go into Julian's room if I don't have to. It might be a bit squeaky, but it doesn't do anything more fancy than swing."

He gave the seat a little push to demonstrate.

"I, um, kind of always wanted one of these things as a kid."

[glacial_queen]

Another playroom that wasn't counting her nursery, for all that she'd never spent a night in there.

"And I didn't even know you could get tiny little swings," Karla said, coming back over to examine it. "This is adorable. That should help keep her entertained."

Kayla loved being on the move. Which could be tiresome, yes.

[wwiii]

"If nothing else, it'll help her get a feel for being off the ground without somebody holding her," Warren offered, doing that happy hopeful stupid face again. The one he wore when he thought of the possibility of teaching Kayla to fly. "That can't be a bad thing, right?"

[glacial_queen]

"She'll need to learn and sooner is better than later," Karla said, matching his doofy smile with one of her own. "Better with a swing than by her throwing herself down the stairs or off a balcony instead."

[wwiii]

"... And now I'm going to be terrified of the amount of stairs we have," Warren reported.

[glacial_queen]

"And the number of balconies," Karla pointed out, because being a parent meant sharing your fears. "Most of which are in unoccupied rooms, which means they're free of supervision for any little girl inclined to wander."