Tendy
27
Widowed
Noble
Tier 3 Character
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Post by Helene Hewitt on May 7, 2020 12:45:00 GMT -5
Helene couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up at seeing Olivia's reaction. Warmth filled her chest as she beamed at the little girl. Helene turned to look at William as he knelt beside them. "What do you think?" She asked playing along with Olivia. She handed the ribbon over and looked to Olivia. Amusement clear in her eyes as William examined the ribbon. She looked between the two of them and then couldn't help as her lips rolled in under her teeth, to form a straight line to keep herself from laughing, but she couldn't help it as she began to laugh. She quickly covered her mouth with a hand, over her shoulders began to shake a bit from her laughing, and her eyes squeezed shut as she feel forward a little bit.
"I-I don't think it's your color." Helene tried to say through a giggle before she turned as the giggling fit she currently had nearly consumed her. She looked up at the ribbons and took a bright green one. Turning back to them, she reached out and held the ribbon up to his hair. She pursed her lips then, giving him a critical look. "What do you think Little Dove? Nice contrast in color," She tilted her head to the side as she admired William and the ribbon. "It compliments your eyes very well my Lord." She said nodding her head and then looking over at Olivia for approval.
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Lunari
34
Widower
Tresterian Ambassador
Tier 2 Character
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Post by William deGrey on May 7, 2020 22:12:27 GMT -5
At times it was difficult having to raise a daughter on his own. He had his mother, his brothers, of course, and Olivia's governess was always a great help, even Elyscia...but it was still difficult. Because, at the end of the day, it was just he and his daughter. And Catherine's memory. Olivia was slowly beginning to look more and more like her, and the girl didn't understand the pang in his heart over the loss. It had gotten so severe that he found himself betrothed to that wicked woman. Seriously, he must be broken to think it was a smart move.
Instead of allowing Margery to return to his thoughts and further aggravate him, Olivia had his full attention. That laugh of hers could cure anything. And, it would seem, that his antics were amusing Lady Hewitt as well. Dark eyes drifted to her when she told him it wasn't his color, and he gasped and feigned offense. Between Livi's big giggle fit and Helene's own laughter, it was hard for that smile not to spread wider across his face.
"Nope, but it's mine!" Olivia squealed, snatching the lovely ribbon to hold it against her chest. William's attention was on his daughter briefly before he was watching Helene retrieve another one. Now, he thought she was going to suggest it to Olivia, but a low chuckle erupted from his chest when she was furthering this silly charade. He was definitely going to have ribbons tied into his hair now...he just knew it. Eyebrows lifted in amused challenge at Helene's compliment. "Oh, does it now?" he asked her before Olivia broke out into laughter again. "Oooh, yes, we should get that one, too!" the girl exclaimed. "Uh-" He paused, turning to regard his daughter with a questioning glance. "And how many of these do you really need?" Unsure, Olivia turned to Helene for the answer.
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Magpie
26
Unmarried
Noblewoman
Tier 2 Character
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Post by Marinette Roquefort on May 9, 2020 19:57:46 GMT -5
Marinette rose to her feet, giving Triston a gentle smile. "I promise, I'll let you know if it becomes a problem, but I should be alright."
Once he rose, she would take his lead on which direction they walked. Once they were moving though, she found herself wanting to return to his comment about his brother.
"I do not blame your brother, I hope you know. He had good reason to be upset, seeing as his daughter had been missing, and he had trusted that person to watch her. He seems to be a good man and an excellent father, from what I've seen." She glanced over at him with a smile, hoping she had reassured him somewhat. She held no ill will at all for William, and she wanted that to be clear. It was not his fault in the least that she had this trouble.
"Our father is...quite different. It's no fault of Lord William's that I have gotten into the habit of being frightened when a man raises his voice." She found herself wishing she could take back those words as soon as they left her mouth, but it was too late now. She hurried to distract by remarking on Olivia again instead.
"It's clear that he cares deeply for Olivia. It's quite lovely, really. She's lucky to have him." Her smile was wistful now, and she turned her eyes to the shops that they were walking past rather than meet his gaze. She felt terrible for being jealous of the bright little girl they'd had the pleasure of meeting. Olivia reminded her of Helene as a child, always full of life and excitement. Things might have been quite different for the two Rochefort sisters if they'd had a father like William DeGrey.
"May I ask you to tell me more about her illness? She seems to be quite an energetic child, in spite of it, whatever it is."
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Soleil
32
Single
Council Member of Tresterian court
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Triston deGrey on May 14, 2020 13:22:20 GMT -5
Triston slowly stood after Marinette did, he stepped beside her and began to walk along with her. "Yes... Just say the word and we will sit again." He offered her a warm smile and nodded his head in assurance.
He quietly listened to her as she explained that she did not blame William, and that her father seemed to raise his voice quite a bit, which in turn, caused startle in her when other men raised their voices. He found himself frowning and looking at her with concern. He would make sure to remember that about her. "I am sorry to hear that..."
He was silent for a moment and nodded. "Yes... William is a good father... Just has his hands full since his wife died, and with Olivia being as spirited as she is...and with her getting sick all the time... It's a lot for him to handle on his own. But then there is Margery..." He fought the urge to roll his eyes, but he did sigh. "He thinks that marrying another woman will help him out... But, he's the only one who does not see that she is the wrong woman..." He shrugged his shoulders. "He does not seem to care what we, or his daughter, seem to think of her though."
At her question regarding Olivia's illness, Triston frowned again and let out a quiet, thoughtful sigh. "We are not really certain completely... She seems to get sick a lot. The cold bothers her more and she gets this cough. If it goes untreated, she ends up spending weeks in bed...She doesn't seem to let it stop her though, that's for sure." He chuckled softly. "She is a good girl..." Triston smiled proudly. He was a very loving uncle.
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Tendy
27
Widowed
Noble
Tier 3 Character
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Post by Helene Hewitt on May 14, 2020 18:43:28 GMT -5
"Mmmhhmmm It most certainly does." Helene said sternly. As Olivia said they should get the green one, she handed it over to the little girl. Fully in agreement with her. Helene's eyes went to Olivia and then back Lord DeGrey, gasping slightly at the question. She placed a hand on her chest in mock surprise. "Lord DeGrey! You can never have to many ribbons." Helene said. "Right Lady Olivia?" She looked over at the girl to agree with her. "They're multipurpose! They're not just for hair you know. Why," Helene stood up, placing her hands on her hips while she looked at the array of ribbons. "You can put them around your hat," She motioned for Olivia to stand next to her as she picked a pink one up and handed it to her. "The long ones can go around your waist and act as a belt," She picked up white lacy one with light blue spots that was on the longer side, and promptly handed it to Olivia's quickly growing pile.
"Bracelets, some can act as chokers, but for Little Dove's sake I'll suggest just making it into a necklace, you can wrap ribbons around presents, Mari and I put ribbons on our Christmas tree, we used to put ribbons on our dolls, because they need to look pretty too." She rattled on as she went down the length of table, picking up ribbons as she listed ever item it could be used for. "You can even use them for shoe ties, you could convince Uncle Wesley to use them on his ships to keep sacks closed. They'd look way better then regular ole leather or rope." She paused and tapped her chin in thought. "You could make rope out of ribbon too..." She said thoughtfully. She looked down at Olivia and grinned widely. "You'll need a lot of ribbon for that." She said with a mischievous grin. She looked at the pile of ribbons then and nodded approvingly. "You have nearly every color there Little Dove, you should be able to match a ribbon to every out fit you own." She said with a nod of head.
Helene could hear muffled laughter coming from the ribbon vendor and she glanced up at the older man. A smile appearing on her face. "He agree's with me." She nodded towards him, and then crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at Lord DeGrey. "A girl's got to have her multipurpose ribbons Lord DeGrey." She looked down at Olivia and then winked at her.
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Lunari
34
Widower
Tresterian Ambassador
Tier 2 Character
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Post by William deGrey on May 24, 2020 22:13:59 GMT -5
Oh. So it was going to be like that, was it?
The humor remained upon his face while Lady Hewitt made a spectacle about how many ribbons a little girl needed. And it wasn't a small spectacle, either. Oh no, she had Olivia smiling widely, laughing and squealing in excitement with every ribbon that she found. "She's right, daddy!" Olivia exclaimed, nodding frantically to prove a point. Will knew very well that his daughter would not have been so enamored with these bloody things if it hadn't been for the woman strutting before them.
Well, there were worse things, he supposed. And it kept Olivia content and amused.
As Helene gestured for her, Olivia was rushing right on over, waving the ribbons around as the woman handed them to her. The smile never leaving the girl's face. William was still kneeling there for a moment, running a hand down his own face as he tried not to appear so thoroughly entertained. But the truth of the matter was, he really was. A roll of his dark eyes, he was chuckling as he finally got up to his feet, watching the two make excuses for every ribbon possible...and some were outright ridiculous.
"Your tree?!" Olivia echoed in delight. Soon enough, the castle would be decorating its own tree and she always helped with that. Those brown eyes were big and glinting in wonder; her little arm swinging the ribbons around as she bounced in place. At the mention of giving some to Wesley for the ship, William was almost half a mind to buy every single ribbon there was because there would be no way his brother would deny Olivia...and Will was certain his face would be priceless. Instead, he chuckled again as Helene was relentless, and he saw the pile of colorful ribbons his daughter clutched in her hand.
Well, there went all the coin in his purse. Olivia winked back to Helene.
With an exasperated sigh, perhaps a little too exaggerated, William made his way over to the vendor as he fished for the sufficient funds for this sudden shopping spree. He was eyeing Helene the entire time, however, and she'd be able to tell he was struggling not to laugh but that he was certainly blaming her for this all. Finally, his attention turned towards the older man to hand the coins over. "For...all of that-" A cant of his head down to his daughter's handful of ribbons. "And whatever the lady has decided upon."
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Magpie
26
Unmarried
Noblewoman
Tier 2 Character
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Post by Marinette Roquefort on May 24, 2020 22:52:40 GMT -5
Marinette smiled as she listened to Triston talk about his niece. She seemed to have captured the hearts of all who met her--all but Margery, that is. She noted that both Triston and Olivia said the woman's name as if it were a swear word. She must truly be a menace to have offended Triston DeGrey, Marinette thought, since he had been so kind and considerate with herself, the queen, and his young niece. She imagined it must take a good deal to put him out of sorts. It surprised her some that William didn't seem to care about the opinion of his daughter. She wondered if perhaps he simply didn't understand his daughter's worries. It would be easy to imagine that a young girl like that was simply upset her mother was being 'replaced,' and to discard her opinions on the character of a future stepmother. But Olivia didn't seem the type to hate someone for no reason any more than her uncle did, despite being far younger.
"Well, it's certainly a shame that his choice of fiancee isn't the best, although I certainly can't blame him for being lonely. After all, one might be tempted to accept an imperfect relationship, rather than have none at all," she mused. She found that she could empathize with William's situation, even if it didn't quite mirror her own. "I apologize if this is prying, but has anyone tried to talk to him about it directly? From what I've seen, he seems to take his daughter's wellbeing quite seriously. I'd be surprised to hear that he was purposefully ignoring her feelings."
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Soleil
32
Single
Council Member of Tresterian court
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Triston deGrey on May 28, 2020 19:44:16 GMT -5
Triston was a very patient and tolerant man, but there were certain things and certain people that were enough to just get under his skin and cause annoyance. Margery was one of those people. William was seemingly the only one who somehow could manage to tolerate her. And if he couldn't, well, he was rather good at pretending then.
He nodded at Marinette regarding loneliness. "I suppose you are correct on that." He shrugged his shoulders. It was William's issue and if he wasn't willing to listen to everyone else around him, then he would have to deal with things later if they did not work out. He silently hoped someone else would come along and change his mind.
At Marinette's question, he smiled and nodded. "Yes, we've all tried talking with him. He is rather persistent and stubborn about it. I think he just... Tries to see the best in everyone and hopes for the best. He doesn't want to believe us, perhaps. Or maybe we are all wrong about her and he sees something we do not."
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Tendy
27
Widowed
Noble
Tier 3 Character
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Post by Helene Hewitt on May 30, 2020 1:54:23 GMT -5
Helene tried very desperately to keep her face as straight as she could while William stared at her, eyeing her while dug out the coins for the ribbons. She couldn't help but roll her lips in under her teeth. Her mouth forming a straight line despite how much she wanted for it turn up. She did feel a little bad for all the ribbons, but the look on Olivia's face was priceless, and she wouldn't change that for the world.
She glanced down at Olivia winking at her, before she began to dig out her own coin purse from inside her purse. "Oh no, I've caused you enough trouble Lord DeGrey, Please, let me help." She told him when it appeared he was going to pay for all the ribbons single handedly. "I did tell her I would give her a ribbon." Helene said with a small chuckle. Looking down at Olivia's hand. Well...She did give her a ribbon. She produced enough coin for half the ribbons and quickly put them in Williams out stretched hand when the Vendor emptied his hand of his coin, and began getting a bag for Olivia to put her ribbons in. "It's the least I can do, she's so charming I can't but spoil her." Helene laughed.
"My lady," The vendor caught Helene's attention and she reached for the bag of her ribbons that Marinette and her had selected earlier, and then she took the other bag he gave her, and turned and held it open for Olivia to put her ribbons in. "They'll stay nice and safe in there Little Dove." Helene told her. If and when Olivia put her ribbons in the bag, Helene would pull out the yellow and purple one she'd found for her earlier, and then quickly tie it around one of Olivia's wrist securely.
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Magpie
26
Unmarried
Noblewoman
Tier 2 Character
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Post by Marinette Roquefort on May 30, 2020 17:04:29 GMT -5
Marinette frowned as Triston explained that all the brothers had tried to convince William that Margery was no good. She wondered how exactly they'd gone about it if perhaps a gentler touch might help, but seeing how varied the deGrey brothers were during the party, she suspected that they'd tried every form of attack to make sure that their little niece was well cared for. How strange, though, that William wouldn't be swayed. Perhaps her original impression of him had been wrong. She was oddly crestfallen at that thought; she'd truly been enjoying the image of William and his sweet daughter and the bond between them, a direct opposite to the Roquefort family dynamic.
"Well, I hope that is the case. I've hardly met Olivia, and even I can tell she deserves a loving stepmother--and the same goes for your brother, of course, he deserves a loving wife. Still, I doubt that you and your two other brothers, plus Olivia, would all be wrong. Perhaps she simply doesn't show that side of herself in front of William as often? Or perhaps there is a side of her she does show him that others don't see?" She nearly grimaced as she tried to form an excuse for William's behavior that still allowed for all the others who disliked Margery to be right. "No...I'm not sure every one of you could be that mistaken..." She shook her head. "Well, if there is ever anything that I can do to be of use to you and your dear niece, please do let me know. I seem to owe you twice over now--once for catching me when Helene practically tossed me at you, and once for helping me regain my senses now."
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Soleil
32
Single
Council Member of Tresterian court
Tier 1 Character
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Post by Triston deGrey on Jun 6, 2020 21:37:22 GMT -5
Triston had once hoped for the best for Margery. He trusted that his brother knew what he wanted and that maybe there was something he saw that they did not. Maybe Margery was better in private, behind closed doors. He had no idea. But the longer Margery was around, the more he realized this was not the case. And now Marinette was hoping the best for the woman.
He gave her an uneasy smile and just nodded. But when she stated that surely not all of them could be that mistaken, Triston laughed slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "Thank you," he responded to the offer of her help if there was ever anything she could do. "Oh, you do not owe me anything, my lady... Perhaps just your friendship? I would like that very much. I am sure Olivia would as well." He chuckled softly and glanced back as if he would be able to see his brother and Olivia--but they were too far off now. Triston turned his attention to Marinette. "Are you feeling any better now?"
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Magpie
26
Unmarried
Noblewoman
Tier 2 Character
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Post by Marinette Roquefort on Jun 6, 2020 21:55:07 GMT -5
Marinette was surprised by his suggestion, but it brought a bright smile to her face, completely erasing the worry that usually lingered there. "It would be an absolute pleasure to be your friend, and Olivia's, too," she answered emphatically. "I'm not sure I can tell you how much that means to me, but thank you."
She was still beaming when he looked back at her to ask how she was, and she nodded her agreement, gently steering them so that they turned back towards the ribbon shop where they'd left their siblings and Olivia. "Much improved, thank you. And now that I won't be painting, I think we can safely make our way back to our families."
She covered her mouth to laugh softly as she realized what the others were probably up to. Her sister had a tendency to get carried away when shopping for others, so she could only imagine how things had gone when she had a child to spoil. It was sure to be quite a sight.
"I had almost forgotten we were going to get Olivia a hair ribbon. I'll bet Helene has bought her half the shop, by now." She picked up her pace without realizing, eager to see the results.
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Lunari
34
Widower
Tresterian Ambassador
Tier 2 Character
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Post by William deGrey on Jun 20, 2020 21:36:51 GMT -5
Helene had a tendency to get carried away? Oh yes, William was learning this the hard way, and immediately. But it was making Olivia so happy, and even if it had been a little overboard...he couldn't deny his daughter anything right now. Regardless of the fact that she ran off on her own when she knew she shouldn't have. He had to realize and remember that it turned out alright in the end.
Olivia was bouncing excitedly on her toes while he paid for the ribbons. Will was very quick to give the coins back to Helene with a shake of his head when she tried to pay for half. "It's fine," he said with an amused grin. "You were kind enough to ensure that my daughter was safe. It's the least I can do." And he would thank Helene and her sister twenty times over, perhaps every time he saw them.
Excitedly, the little girl rushed to put the ribbon into the offered bag. "I'm going to give everyone a ribbon!" she announced. "Thank you!" she said to the both of them, waving her little bag around now. William chuckled, bending down to be level with her. "Uncle Wes loves pink...be sure he gets that one." And he had no doubt that Livi would do just that.
He also had no idea what kind of a ribbon monster his daughter was about to become.
[ end scene ]
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