Friendship Montage [Thea]

Flicking her hair back and soothing the feathers with her mage hand, Citrine extended her hand and took Thea by the elbow to escort her home. "Ye've ah fine curtsey!" She complemented on the pose, trilling her laugh at the whole scene. Having no idea where home was, though? It only made it slightly difficult. Luckily, Goddess Bless them both, Thea still had enough of a mindset to still know where her home was. Always good. Always good.

Struggling to keep up, and bursting into giggles when she couldn't, Citrine gave up keeping her feet on the ground. In order to 'walk' via a very precise hover a foot or so off the ground to become a better matched height the firebird took advantage of the wider main road and let her wingspan take over as much space as she needed to.

"Beds, bah! Hammocks are better!" She began debating the benefits of a hung piece of fabric to a sturdy traditional bed. The fact her entire debate hinged solely on the fact it was impossible to sleep comfortably with wings that moved on their own during sleep and therefore at least in a hammock she could be high enough to let them drape over each side, was beside the point. "But either way, ye're quite right. Blowing anything right nae that involved hot molten glass es ah silly idea." Her eyebrows rose though in a mischievous wriggle, wax coming off her wings. "Course there always be pleasant things tae blow when ye're feeling nice an' free like this." Citrine was a seven year old with the mind of a gutter.

Relenting on the innuendos for Thea's sake, for now at least, Citrine behaved better the rest of the trip home. The cool air did wonders for her inebriation and by the time they were standing outside of Thea's door? Citrine had sobered enough that, while she was still humming in the back of her head, the initial fog wasn't there.

"Thea." She began, standing at the doorway, catching Thea's attention before she went inside - helped by the fact she reached out a hand to skim at her elbow. "Aye, Aye want tae say." She took a step closer, other hand behind her back. "Tae perhaps ask ye." It wasn't that she was nervous! No! She'd wanted to bring it up earlier in fact, but it just hadn't seemed like the right time.And she didn't want to put it off another day, not after it'd been a tenday since their secrets in the cave, and their revelations to one another in the shop.

Looking up towards Thea, damning her height and wishing she had a way to step into the air as stay standing she cleared her throat, not realizing how close they'd gotten. "Might Aye ask ye." Her hand from behind her back came out now, clutched between her thumb and finger a beautifully intact flight feather, about 6 inches long - the sheen of the oil catching the light. "Ef ye might accept this token o' me appreciation towards ye, an accept me as ah friend? Nae just as ah teacher, but really, truly, ah friend?"

Her room, newly set up in the extravagant and lavish Mariners' Hall - the Captain and their chosen guest only sailor guildhall. Her… 'application'… into gaining a room had taken some time. They were, rightfully so, aghast to hear that her ship was the Blood Red Rose and Citrine was a self-proclaimed 'Free Captain' who sailed under no charter but her own. After a frantic miscommunication had brought the City Guard to the office to arrest the 'pirate', hours of grueling interviews, questioning, and even a high tier cast of 'Zone of Truth', the now unchained phoenix had herself one of the fancier rooms in the Hall. A large suite, decked out in silks, cottons, pillows, rugs, candles, incense, paintings, elaborate decorations and details - she even had her own silk screened off bathing area - Citrine had immediately unpacked her trunk and made the suite her 'as permanent as it was going to get' home.

Citrine was lounging on the king sized bed -her wings could stretch and only 'just' hang off the bed- as Thea paced a hole in the rugs beneath her feet. Her head was perched on her palm, the phoenix just grinning more and more the longer she ranted. A few times she tried to interject but for once? Thea was taking Citrine's place as the chatterbox.

"What ah codfish!" She finally was able to insult the once potential customer. "Ye're ah right beauty! Wild as ah storm an' gentle as teh breeze - there's nae way ah scrap o' ah lad like him could even 'ope tae even be within ye presence fer moar than ah moment." Hype-Girl Citrine easily slid into the role of insulting and bad mouthing the unworthy individual. "An tae assume what ye'd like tae eat! Only Aye do tha' fer ye!" The irony of Citrine having a fair number of quirks that many found unattractive in others, acknowledging even the fact that she had the same habit, was completely lost on the phoenix. The difference here though? Citrine did it out of pure friendship. Not out of a power play to others.

The firebird popped from the bed to the space behind the chair Thea collapsed on and began rubbing her shoulders, the crackle of smoke and embers fizzling to nothing where she'd been on the bed. With weeks of their growing friendship, Thea would know that misty-stepping was one of Citrine's favorite methods of movement, even beating out flying. "As fer what et means? Et means ye dodged ah right magic missle o' ah disaster." She focused on a rather deep knot, digging both hands into the shoulder while her mage hand started to mix a drink for the both of them.

"Sae tell me, what was teh lads name again? An' where's he livin' at?" The wax became strong enough to smoke off her wings as Citrine whispered in Thea's ear, coaxing the answer from her while the genasi was pudding in her hands.

---

"Thea, me Faodail!" Citrine, stripped of all her possessions and wearing just her leather pants, and a lent out shirt by Waterdeep's fine and upstanding guards who ran the jail yard. A single shackle was around an ankle, a shimmer of magic coating it, and a chain anchoring her to the wall with about 7 feet of movement allowed. "Aye knae ye'd come, really though, et was worth et - ye have tae admit. Ye can't be tae mad, can ye?"


A guard had escorted Thea to the cell block Citrine had, literally, been tethered to. They knew of her ability to simply reappear wherever she wished, as well as her small frame and flight? It was the only way to ensure she stayed put. "… and so the convicted was charged with several lesser instances of assult, damage, excessive noise, and breaking and entering which all condensed into the overall bookkeeping charge of "Serious" termed as 'Repetition of any lesser or minor offense against the plaint'. Sir Frederiksen requested she simply be detained for double the time in replacement of time and charges. Her bail is set at 500 gp, and only to the handling of a citizen with no previous criminal records - of which you showed as all clear, Miss Baring." The boring voice of the guard was dull as he finished his summary of Citrine's predicament. He flipped through a key ring until he was holding the one for the cell and one for the magic suppressing shackle on her ankle, then held out a piece of parchment on a clipboard.

Citrine, hands around the bars, just grinned like the idiot she was, tail flicking side to side as she listened to the guard talk to Thea. She'd been grounded, literally, for a full two weeks - with a potential for longer if she wasn't put under 'house-observance'. As no real harm had come to Marius they couldn't punish harshly according to the Code Legal, but the constant badgering of the perturbed man had them settling with simply suggesting an extended guaranteed two weeks of quiet and a furthered house arrest - therefore allowing him peace for nearly two months.

"Please sign here if you agree to the conditions described and take responsibility for the accused doings for the next three tenday. Of which you will share in the accused penalties if there is a repeat offence during that time."

"It isn't common, but in this case?" The guard looked to Citrine a moment before turning back to Thea. "I believe we can come to an agreement."

Citrine, who's face fell at the sweet tones Thea sang, despaired. "Laaasssssssss" She groaned with emotional pain, both real and acted. "Ye wound me! Aye promise tae be good! Aye'd ne'er get caught enta trouble ef ye well-bein' was on teh line!" Dramatically she let herself sink to the floor, moping as the guard unlocked the door… and only the door. The chair was unpadlocked from the wall and handed to Thea - Citrine following like a dejected pet who was about to be set out into a big fenced in yard but then chained to the doghouse.

"Keep the accused detained and return the shackle after a three tenday. A cost will only be accrued if it is damaged."

Despite the mostly teasing despair in her voice there was a spark of fear in the scent coming off of Citrine's wings. Nutmeg - a smell Thea never would have picked up off of her feathers before. She didn't want to necessarily alarm anyone here as to her concerns, and so played up the act of an over-egoed child. Which… to be fair… didn't require much acting.

Keeping within ten feet of Thea as they walked out of the jail building, Citrine was a mix of pouting and preening, voice sullen but still prideful. Clearly, there was no regret despite the annoyance of her imprisonment. "Et's still worth et. He won't bother ye again - made sure o' et." The phoenix itched at the shackle with her free leg, holding in her hands a canvas bag of all her possessions she'd had on her when she was brought in.

"….." She looked out of the corner of her eye at Thea, wondering what was going on through her mind. "Ye… ye aren't really plannin' on keepin' this thing on me fer ah whole month, are ye?" It was a quieter voice, with a hint of real worry in it. "Aye'll pay ye back teh dragons."

A somewhat depressed whistle quietly hissed out of Citrine when Thea finally commented her displeasure as they rounded the corner. "Thea Ay-" She cut off when the genasi in question doubled over in laughter, barely able to breath - which was quite a feat for someone so attuned to air.

A stunned moment of silence kept Citrine quiet before she too joined in the laughter. The key went flying past her, as she had tried to use her mage hand to catch it - and failed - due to the magic suppressant cuff on her ankle. "Oi, Besmara take ye, ye fuckin' key." She vented her pent up fear at the key as Thea just kept laughing, bending over to have to physically bend over like a plebian and pick it up herself.

"Aye, alright Thea, brace yeself, Aye've nae idea what's gonna happen 'ere. Me magic's been en teh locker ah full two tendays. Et's nae happy." She warned in-between Thea's laughs, the phoenix more concerned with the rather painful heat and itch under her skin. Sitting on the cobblestones she unhooked her own cuff, toes curling the moment it was released, and braced herself by cupping her form with her wings to try and contain whatever it was that would happen, eyes tightly shut, and toes curled her magic rushed out of her like a gasoline fire. The magic ignited the air around her, a mix of phoenix fire and pure chaotic wild magic spinning like a vortex around her.

She could feel it sizzling and erupting over her skin - her magic furious at being pent up like it had been. Despite her morning calls from within the cell to the sun, and despite her trying her best at passing the time in meditation and keeping the waves of her magic calm deep in her mind… it hadn't been enough.

Perhaps it was because she was near Thea that her magic mimicked the power of the other sorceress. Maybe it was just because lightning was what she personally viewed as being the most powerful of the elements - a higher form of fire she'd never hope to really master… not like her Captain did… or perhaps it was just because her magic liked to remind her who was boss every once in a while. But regardless?

Lightning, powerful lightning, sparked and spun around her, and no amount of wings covering her form was going to save those nearby. Standing up and spreading her wings Citrine, with power behind her eyes, looked desperately around for anything, anyone, other than Thea to point her magic to. Hawk eyes darted over the alleyway and… there. They were spotted not a moment too late.

Streaks of white-hot fire scorched down the alleyway to hit two dogs and a cat that had been snooping to see the ruckus. The impacted boomed, echoing and rattling the debris around them both. Neither would need to investigate to know the 3 animals had been obliterated.

Chest heaving heavily, curling her toes, fingers, and wings at the utter relief she felt at the pent up magic was a stark difference to the sparking destruction 30 feet away. Slowly, one hand reached up to run through her hair, as the phoenix awkwardly pivoted on her foot to turn towards Thea, a nervous chuckle. "Aye….uh…. Perhaps should 'ave taken tha' off further away frem teh city?"

It had been several hours now, at least it seemed that way. In reality it'd only been maybe one or two, but lying here, flat on her stomach, watching Thea watch the crate she'd set up out this way with zero success whatsoever at any sort of anything towards the crate. She'd resisted falling asleep at least, despite 'working' through her usual mid-day nap.

Joy hadn't worked. Neither had hope. Or general kindness. Surprise. Or even optimism.

And it was just as frustrating for Citrine as it was for Thea.

"Ye're doing great Lass." She quipped from her spot on the lawn, fingers doodling in the grass only sorta-kinda paying the genasi any attention anymore. But her tone wasn't as encouraging, or helpful sounding. If anything? She sounded bored. Disinterested. Which… she was… but that was just her nature. It wasn't that she wasn't thrilled to be out here, helping Thea with her magic. She was just…. Bored.

And boredom was never good for a mentally seven years old, ancient phoenix who had a tendency for getting into trouble.

As checked out as Citrine appeared to be, in reality, the phoenix was running her mind ragged trying to figure out how to bolster Thea's spellcasting. She could cast magic - that was a non-issue. She knew she could cast magic - that was fine too. She could also cast a range of spells, and twist them to suit her own needs - awesome. But where the problem lay was more with her mindset. Over the last several months, being in full springtime now, the two had talked again and again about Thea's hesitance to embrace her magic.

And that mindset didn't seem to be anything that would be changing, anytime soon.

Which boggled the ever living shit outta Citrine. It still didn't compute - a caster not wanting to use magic. It made no sense in her world, despite the living proof right there in front of her.

"Really, ye're makin' progress." The redhead hadn't looked up from the grass twining between her fingers. The sounds of the incoming storm she'd thought was a perfect solution. It wasn't a full blown storm, no danger of lightning or high winds (yet) - just the pleasant pre-winds knocking the branches. Birds cawing as they sought to shelter from the oncoming storm. The cold brine smell being carried up out of the sea. A perfect stage set for a storm sorcerers to draw inspiration and power from.

But it was doing nothing.

Like an unresponsive lover…

Rolling over onto her back, opening a wing to let the growing winds move her like a boat's sail, Citrine stared into the cloudy gray skies. There was another option, she started to consider the idea she'd kept snuffed in her head. Nothing positive, nice, or 'beneficial' had helped. No amount of kind words or positive reinforcement did the trick. It left only the negative thoughts. The negative emotions. Pain, hurt, sorrow, fear, anger… all things that were the opposite of the sweet Thea she knew. Of course though, she considered too, Thea was frightening and intimidating when she wanted to be. When she let a scrap of the storm living in her blood leek out? She was just as fierce and terrible as a sudden summer storm.

She hated the idea of it though, of nurturing and encouraging her friend to use what some might call as darkness to fuel her power. As one who fueled off of anger herself? She knew how draining it could be, emotionally. But… Thea wasn't without having lived through darkness herself. She wasn't a child. And - she debated with herself, a plucked piece of grass still twisting between her thumb and finger as she still ignored Thea - some progress was better than no progress, no matter the inspiration. A greater good, one might say… for the individual. Take what you can, give nothing back - that was her motto, was it not?

It wasn't like she had never done anything at the detriment to others for her own selfish ends.

And this time her personal goal was to help Thea become more competent as a spellcaster. Thea had even said, she wanted to become better. It's why they were out here, wasting their time, for Thea to stare at a box for an embarrassingly long amount of time and have no results. Her heartstrings clenched as she realized what would need to happen next….

"Ye know." Decision made, for good or bad.

Her voice drawled somewhat sarcastically, the biting tones of Citrine's whiskey'd voice cutting deep like a cat-o-nine lashing against some poor fool's back. "Aye really did think ye were one deservin' an' respectin' o' teh magic teh storms gave ye." The combined smell of burning books and nutmeg, the storm sorcerer would maybe be able to recall by now the indicators that Citrine felt disgust and shame, respectfully (though if she felt those personally, or felt those towards Thea, only the firebird would know) leaked out of her wings though it didn't linger as the wind swept the smells downhill. "Et's why Aye chose tae try an' 'elp ye through et, ye hangups, 'cause Aye saw potential - just like teh storms. But… ye're done nothin but stall and swirl endlessly around yeself. Like ah stagnate storm tha' won't move. Ye're just lettin' ye ability build an' build - et's gonna burst one day, like me wild magic, but on ah much grander scale. But... ye'd need ta 'ave teh skill en ye tae begin with nae wouldn't ye."

She turned back to lay on her stomach again, having now made a full 360* roll-over flop. The grass where she had been was indented still despite the wind picking up. Only now did she look up at Thea, a sort of resting bitch face look on her features. "Maybe teh ship an' sea should 'ave taken ye, fer how ungrateful ye're actin' an' behavin' about ye gift. Maybe ye should 'ave stayed with Dominic all'ong, ef 'e was able tae coax teh magic outta ye. Ye could've been his pet" It was a low blow, bringing his name into the discussion. The more she'd learned about the ex-suitor? Of his "friends"? The more Citrine had despised him without ever needed to have met. "Ye might 'ave been worth somethin' then, at 'is side."

The old books and burning nutmeg increased, but the scent still washed away in the wind. Her tongue felt heavy and her throat burning from the words she sent like a whip or pistol lash at her closest friend here in Waterdeep. But though the discomfort she kept the bored look on her face, one that Holly so perfectly kept like a mask. The cold look of someone not caring towards anyone else's plight. If her fire was brought out by anger, there was a very good chance that Thea, who was gifted through the terror and fear of a shipwreck at sea, need the same fear to move on. Citrine was being purposefully cruel, in a time when it was most needed. Just like Mani had been to her, all those years ago. She herself had seen the trial of fire for what it was after, and had been appreciative of it. She just hoped Thea would see and feel the same... the genasi made living here in Waterdeep bearable.