Alycia looks at her with her head cocked. “Um – you do know that we actually know ‘where butterflies come from,’ right? Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, adult? I mean, in the Grove, who the hell knows, but …”
She lets that trail off a minute while they wrap up, and climb to their feet with an ease that stirs jealousy from the middle-aged man working in the garden across the street. Alycia looks over the bed, pulling off her gloves. “Excellent. I’ve made sure the sprinkler system is set up to irrigate this side now, though the timer on it is inexcusably crude. I might have to do something about that.”
She starts to say something to Summer, then noticing the butterfly again, flitting between their plantings. Pipevine swallowtail. Usually found in forests, but not unknown in the city. Still … Alycia always does at least a light review of insects and other species in areas where she’s going to be operating for any length of time. Since that incident in Gambia, at least. “I need something cold to drink.” She grabs the bucket of garden supplies and heads toward the house.
Once inside, and with iced tea (deliberately unsweetened) in hand in the kitchen, Alycia swings back to the topic. “I have a --” She only bobbles over the word a half-second. “-- friend at school. Daph Palin. Soccer captain, tall blonde?” Alycia snorts. “I know, I know, me and ‘friends,’ go figure. Anyway, she’s a meta, too. Kind of. Found a lost tomb in Greece, encountered some mysterious ‘god’ named Palamedes, who said she was his new high priestess and who gave her magical powers. And, now, apparently, butterflies are her go-to fashion statement, thanks to her patron, whether she likes it or not. Even though she doesn’t actually want the job.”
She takes another sip of tea, lets Summer connect any dots
author: *** Dave H.
url: https://app.roll20.net/forum/permalink/6839528