open | if language were liquid

[coquettish_trees]

WHO: The Irrepressible Lady Lexie and You
WHAT: Catch-all for January
WHEN: Mostly current, may be some time travel in prompts
WHERE: Kirkwall/Gallows
NOTES: Come at me

[ This is the open, specific prompts will be in comments! Feel free to make your own. ]

Office Hours

Rather than share her time between the Jeshavis office and the library Alexandrie has had an additional bookcase (exactly matching the first, of course) brought in, and has a number of tomes on what is essentially permanent loan to join those from her personal library. An array of dictionaries, linguistic texts, and books on histories and noble families in the languages of their countries—books in Antivan, Nevarran, Rivaini, Tevene, Ander, and one on the Memories and their runic inscriptions sit alongside those from Orlais and Ferelden—have joined the publicly available project reports; she has moved her translation work in its entirety to her office. Perhaps it's for privacy, perhaps for easier availability to anyone who might be seeking her out.

The desk itself is covered in three books, half stacked atop each other, and a small sheaf of papers. At the moment, however, she's taking lunch at a small table brought in for the purpose of holding the silver tray and its contents. Despite the development of 'team spirit' that inspired her to seek the position in the first place, apparently she hasn't got enough of it to enjoy the common fare available a few floors below.

The lady is in.

Comments

let's do lunch

[vorbratta]

Had the reason for her heretofore social isolation not been so grave, Sonia might feel somewhat embarrassed of how hungrily she'd been anticipating lunch with Alexandrie. The mood in the manor at Wildcrest had been grim even on her grandfather's better days, darkened further by her uncle's ever-black moods, and hadn't been an inviting place for company even when Sonia had had the time. Kirkwall is...not much brighter, but at least it has friends and room to breathe. And Alexandrie is, as ever, a breath of fresh air.

Her smile is unselfconscious as ever when she meets Alexandrie at her atelier, her voice singsong. A linen-lined basket hangs in the crook of her elbow. Nestled in with a bottle of a Wildcrest merlot are a few of the finer cheeses from Sonia's personal collection. Good food is meant to be shared with friends, after all.

"Hello, Alexandrie! Your friends from Wildcrest have arrived."

let's!

[coquettish_trees]

"Oh hurrah!" is the bright exclamation in reply. Alexandrie has had a table set for them in the middle of the studio, which is wide and as bright as the winter skies of Kirkwall can manage through the many large windows that make up the near entirety of the outside walls. She moves to greet Sonia with the brush of a kiss on both cheeks, and a quick twist of her fingers has a young man moving smartly to genteelly relieve Sonia of her basket to set out the wine and take the cheese to the kitchen to plate.

"I am so pleased to see you, and very excited to have further introductions made to the friend you have brought along with you." Alexandrie gestures grandly towards the table. "Do come sit."

[vorbratta]

It's almost like being at home, just a little bit -- this little bubble of luxury to fend off the dreariness and relative unfamiliarity of Kirkwall. She'd spent so long almost in total isolation, with her increasingly stressed and taut family around her as her only company. Lexie and this place are -- even more so than the open windows -- a badly needed breath of fresh air.

"Well, this year's merlot is absolutely dying to meet you," Sonia says, clasping Alexandrie's hands in her own in greeting. "And I, too, have been dying to become acquainted with your atelier. What a view! How did you come by this place?"

[coquettish_trees]

"Ah, well! These apartments were designed and built by the Comte De La Fontaine," she replies, "and were serving as a tertiary home for some family friends. They very kindly returned it to us when my sister Geneviève came to Kirkwall with the Inquisition. She was very slightly less happy to relinquish a tiny bit more than half of the space to me and my extensive wardrobe when I came to Kirkwall to join her." Alexandrie offers Sonia a friendly arm and gestures towards the space. Walking tour before we sit?

"Then Geneviève received a commission to become part of the personal guard of the Empress herself, and I married and moved to the estate kept by House Asgard. I decided the view was so fine it ought not be entirely wasted, so I had several internal walls knocked out and the space converted. My dear friend Colin still lives here with a minimal staff, but apart from that it is entirely a studio space that I am very pleased to offer the use of to my fellow artists in Riftwatch."

And a very pleasant studio it is. Wide and open and filled with light, the walls painted a pristine white to aid in its reflection. There are a number of blank canvasses already stretched over frames, several easels leaning against one wall, and a set of shelves containing an extensive collection of paint pots and crowned with an array of brushes.

"I imagine you have brought your own things, but you are of course welcome to my collection," she says, her smile bright.

[vorbratta]

Sonia hooks her arm in Alexandrie's with a girlish grin as she looks around, and as she draws in a breath she seems to swell with delight. As she fully takes in the opportunity all around her, she starts to look more and more like a child in a sweet shop, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. She's been painting as a hobby since she was a child, never really achieving any marvelous level of skill, but always enjoying it. But she was the only artist in the family (and her uncle always has scoffed at it) and her collection of paints, while of fine quality, is still considerably more conservative. This...this is everything.

"Oh, my," Sonia says, stepping away from Lexie toward one of the blank canvases, her hand held slightly out. "Alexandrie, this is wonderful! You really don't mind?"