#goldfinchfreehold

Goldfinch is not her usual spot.

But she DOES like it. It's a cool freehold.

It is! And as she enters the front doors, the stained glass bird whistles a jazzy hello to her. Inside, the sounds of somebody practicing a guitar riff with Etsie can be heard.

If she peeks in a few rooms, she can see Sylvi recording a video in one of the windowed studio rooms.

Symon has been in touch with Dagmar, but he owes his fam some time. Not avoiding her! Honest!

She drifts along, finding the vending machine. Having a weird soda to carry will help with social anxiety AND occupy a hand!

The vending machine provides! Passion fruit and lavender!

Sniff. She is not sold.

The vending machine might be a bit miffed.

Sylvi saw her passing down the hallway, and comes out to meet her. "Hey!"

"Hey." A little pop-can salute.

"Smell this, it's so weird."

"Oh, that's always a dangerous sentence." She takes a sniff, pauses...takes another sniff. "Definitely weird."

"I think Tove has a bodywash like this."

"Yeahhhhh, that might not be my first choice for beverage. You can dump it in the sink if you want. Or...save it for Symon," she says with a grin.

"Point. Can let it go flat."

"Yup!" Sylvi puts it on the counter, grabs her wrist, and all but drags her to the stairs going down to the freehold proper.

"We have got to talk!" she says with an eager smile.

She follows, amiably enough.

The skeleton bird flits along in her wake, and finds a shadowy perch.

There are a bunch of folding chairs racked up against the walls, so most of the freehold area is clear. The little raised stage area has a number of huge throw pillows, and Sylvi chooses one of these to sit upon. The little balefire flickers quietly in its spotlight case.

A smile at the fire. She picks a green pillow to sit on, and holds another to her chest. "Is Mic down here, or causing trouble upstairs?"

"He was on the top floor, last I saw, but he has an uncanny ability to get down here. You might spot him before I do."

"So? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

She bounces slightly where she sits.

She turns purple. "I mean... I... we talked, yeah?"

"Yeah?" Encouraging.

"He's at home today. Said he was catching up on family time, which, yeah. fair."

"Um. Like... about us. We talked about us. How we felt."

"I bet Anne Marie's gonna put him through some pretty intense questioning."

She smiles. "And you were honest? Didn't hide anything?"

"Yeah. It... yeah. I do love him, Sylvi. Everything else is maybe messy, but I'm sure on that."

Sylvi sighs with satisfaction, "I think I already said it, but...Finally!"

"Well, I'm not exactly known for my rock-solid emotional intelligence."

"And... honestly? I'm partially terrified."

Sylvi shrugs. "I mean, fair, and you've had some bad experiences. But what's scaring you, exactly? I mean, it's not like Symon would ever try to hurt you."

"He wouldn't, at all."

"But... I've hurt him, and I screw stuff up, and I get stuck in my head."

"Whoa whoa whoa...first of all, you two hurt each other with this whole mess, so it's not all on you. Second, past performance is no guarantee of future results. You've learned, Dagmar. And, okay, let's say that you do something that you think is okay or necessary, but you end up hurting him by accident. If you can keep from getting all weird about it, you two will. work. it. out." She claps softly after each word there. "I know you will."

"Right." Mildly reassured. "I did convince Vali not to throw a party."

Sylvi is suddenly aghast. "Oh, he totally would have, wouldn't he? I bet Mom would have put her foot down, too."

"I mean, put her foot down to stop him."

"She didn't have to, but yeah."

"Parties aren't exactly either of our thing."

"No, it would make you crazy."

"I hope you do get to celebrate somehow. Like, go out, or something. Just like normal, but...well, normal plus."

The little bird has moved to perch on one of Dagmar's horns.

Sylvi smiles at it. "So cool," she murmurs. "And very badass."

She bobs her head. "I'll figure out something."

"...oh god, would that be a date?"