#earthrunes

Clem sips the tea, "Thanks again for the socks. You picked good material for Iowa winters"

"Well, how often do sheep seem cold?"

"Ha. Onnly when shearred" A smile

"Buck gets sained later today" A blush

"Ahhh. Will he get to know the secret identity, then?"

"I'm worried he'll put things together" A blush

"I say you approach it with troll subtlety and guile."

"Aren't those oxymorons by sluagh standards?" Wry

"Aye, and thus..." A gesture, extending out a spidery hand for Clem to draw conclusions.

"Just fess up and tell him the blonde hussy with four hooves he's been with is me?"

"Troll guile." A sip.

"Or I could hope it goes away annd he wonders where the busty blonde buckaroo went"

"Maybe I need to stop chasing fellows"

Zara stares, one brow arched.

"I mean it. Agnes is.. stepping into the fire soon"

"And is that a reason to become a eunuch?"

"Means I need to focus on breaking in a new Hearth"

"Clementine."

"I mean it. I can't go dilly dallying, leading men on like some satyrress in heat"

"Clementine Zaneeta DeBuke!"

Despite Zara's whispering, Clem blushes and hisses "keep your voice down"

"Feh! I shan't! Not when my friend insists on such folly! I shall not allow anyone to harm my friends - think you are exempt from this? Nay! Fie!"

"Thou hast already cast aside love, when it was presented by da'an as a gift. And now, you would deny even simple pleasure and willing companionship - but think to lead? Think to guide thy family?"

"I don't need affecttionn to lead" She huffs

Zara folds her arms.

"You can lie to yourself. I see no midriff."

PURPLE

"Must you bring that up? Fine. I'm as Seelie as a summer breeze right now but the love conquers all is last on my list is all"

"Oh? So you think you may discard love, discard pleasure, discard thy self and be strong?"

"What strength has an oak which is unwatered?"

"I can 'water' myself If I have to" BLUSH "i'm a troll, Duty is our passion"

"Nay. That is not enough. You know what I mean, but you are insisting on perpetuating this self-deceit."

"I do not respect it. I shall not coddle it."

"Could you at least not fuss at me? I feel like I've told you I've given up on college to 'find myself'"

"That I could support. But you are seeking to lose yourself."

A sigh

"Look, romance with me just doesn't last. Cadman, Buck..."

"This is not nobilty, this is not 'self-sacrifice.' This is banality. This will smother part of you, until what remains cannot hold magic."

"Love is not important because it lasts. Nothing is forever - but, for fear, you would deny it. I never thought you a coward, Clementine. I may need to reassess."

Clem's eyes narrow "Careful now"

"Aye? Strike me, if I have uttered one word which is false."

"I wouldn't strike you reggardless, Code of Dagda." A sniff "Might find yourself in a crabshell though if you keep pinching"

"Cast your magic, then - if I have spoken a word from hostility, or without sisterhood. I would rather ruffle your pride than see you hurt. I will not be Cassandra, crying into the wind. Do I not know you? Am I some casual acquaintance?"

Clem's blush shifts to a look of shame "No... you're a good friend three times proven, and a sister in the haven"

"So please, listen to me. Do not carve out your heart, do not allow fear to stop you from living." She reaches out, cupping Clem's hands with her own.

Clem sighs "I just don't KNOW who is right for me, and I'm tired of looking" She admits "Duty is easier than love"

She squeezes gently back

"You cannot know, but you shan't find out if you deny every sprout. Too much vinegar kills the wheat as well as the weed."

"You're telling a DeBuke about Wheat management?" Brow

"I am using metaphors you would appreciate."