open post.

[higginbottom]

Esther has, well, only sort of gotten used to the Mansion and its ways. She's still frustrated by being stuck there - after all, she survived almost dying. Doesn't she deserve something better than a small room with a small window?

Still, she's thankful to be alive. One morning, when she opens her window and looks out over the Mansion grounds, the air comes in, shockingly cold, and Esther remembers - she's here, alive and awake and ready for anything. She breathes in and out, and sighs with a sort of strange contentment that probably won't last long, but hey. She'll take it.

She gets dressed, wearing slacks for once (she decided to try it out, as she is in fact, a very modern woman, thank you very much) and a pretty floral blouse. She makes her way downstairs, her saddle shoes tap-tap-tapping against the stairs.

"I feel very much in a good mood today," Esther announces, to no one in particular. "Is that strange? Should I be worried?"

Comments

[temnota]

"I am glad to see you out and about," Aleksander said. "Are you settling in well?"

[higginbottom]

"I think so," she says with a slight nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. "I still have...bad days, but I like it here, mostly."

[temnota]

Aleksander nodded sympathetically. He'd had his own difficulties settling in and what equilibrium he'd managed to find had been shattered by Zoya's arrival. "For all this place's... quirks, it could indeed be much worse."

[higginbottom]

"It could indeed," she agrees. "I'm happier here than I was at home, though. I felt so...constrained there, as if I only had one path for my life. Here, the future feels wide open."

[temnota]

"There are many possibilities here," Aleksander agreed. "For myself, coming here opened my eyes about what kind of person I'd... become and gave me the opportunity to change. For that alone, I am grateful that I was brought here."

[higginbottom]

"Yes! Isn't it incredible what a simple change of scenery can do?" She grins. "I thought I'd be stuck marrying some stodgy old fellow, but here? I can do as I like."

[temnota]

Aleksander raised an eyebrow. "An arranged married was your fate in your world? There was no other option? It is good indeed that you came here, then."

[higginbottom]

"Oh, no, no...it's not like that. I guess I was just expected to marry someone. It would be strange to end up a spinster."

[temnota]

Aleksander nodded thoughtfully. He knew some communities thought that way in Ravka. For nobles it was more about inheritance and property and for commoners it was often about survival and pulling resources together. The endless wars had done so much damage to everyone.

"I imagine many seek to find someone to marry but I never saw that happening for me," he confessed.

[higginbottom]

"Truthfully, I sort of feel the same way, though part of me still wants to find love," Esther admits. "I just don't want to feel chained."

[temnota]

"Anything is possible in this place," Aleksander said encouragingly. "I have managed to find love and community when I'd given up all hope. The hardest part is communication, talking through what you want and don't want with someone but it is good and necessary."

[higginbottom]

"I--I want to have hope," Esther says. "I'd like to find someone to...just to talk to. Who knows if that person exists."

[temnota]

The demographics in this place was unusually skewed, Aleksander thought. There were very few options for someone of Esther's age and he knew all too well how very lonely she must feel. "I hope that person exists too. You deserve to find someone to talk to and share your time with."

[higginbottom]

"Thank you, that's quite kind of you to say," she replies, offering a small smile. "In the meantime, I've got to keep busy."

[temnota]

"Indeed," Aleksander agreed. "I admit to finding that to be difficult some days. My current project is wood carving so should you ever wish to take that up, I would be glad to share my hard-won knowledge."

[higginbottom]

"Oh, I know nothing about that sort of thing." She's trying to be polite, but it's a little obvious she feels awkward. "I'm no good at anything with my hands."

[temnota]

"It is all right," Aleksander could see the awkwardness and hastened to reassure her. "I did not mean that you ought to take it up. I only meant it as an example. I was drawn to it because I work with my hands anyway and well... I wanted to do something nice for Sunny."

[higginbottom]

"That's very kind of you," she says, feeling less awkward now that she doesn't need to, you know, build a bookshelf or something. "What did you make for Sunny?"

[temnota]

"Toys," Aleksander admitted, slightly sheepishly. "She likes to bite and I thought she might like something that could stand up to her teeth. I made her a duck first and she liked it so much that I kept at it. I keep waiting for her fathers to tell me to stop or that I have to help them build a new room for all of the animals before I am allowed to make more."

[higginbottom]

Esther laughs a little.

"That's very sweet of you," she says. "I think you should keep making them. I'm sure she appreciates them."

[temnota]

"I will make them as long as she keeps wanting them," Aleksander promised. "Is that not what uncles are for?"

[higginbottom]

"Of course, yes! It's very kind of you."

[temnota]

"Every child should have a happy and safe childhood full of love and toys. My own childhood was... precarious and I do not want her to ever feel as I did."

[higginbottom]

Esther nods solemnly. "I agree completely. Every child should be safe and feel loved."

[temnota]

Did Baghra ever love him or was he just a means to an end? This was something Aleksander had never dared to ask her and he supposed he would never know now. She had shown up once and they'd spent their time fighting and he could not imagine the Mansion letting her come again or that she even would if offered the chance.

"I was on my way to get something to eat," he said, attempting to distract himself. "You are welcome to join me if you would like."