[attr="class","elisatestbody"]

"Not a body this time? How disappointing."[break][break]

Elisabeth pushed open the door, teasing gently as she smiled at her sole employee. The enormous bags in her arms elicited the faintest rise of an eyebrow, curiosity piqued, as the Rotom floated inside. Behind her, the entirety of the cottage's first floor was empty, the shop closed on on this snowy day.[break][break]

"Your Scorbunny is certainly enthusiastic," she commented, allowing her friend inside. "I don't suppose those bags were getting too heavy for you out there in the cold?"[break][break]

She far preferred spring to winter.

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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"I do remember," she said, a note of fondness weaving its way into her gentler reply. "It was one of my favorite early missives on behalf of Rocket, in fact."[break][break]

Infinitely preferable to smuggling missions, although she had never managed to escape those, had she? She'd been paired with Kouji Matsubara mere days ago.[break][break]

"You were quite panicked, as I recall," she continued with a pleasant hum as she helped unpack the groceries on the counter. A hand reached up for basic recipe ingredients -- flour, sugar, cinnamon, and so on -- as she laughed. "I think you're much more confident now, hm?"[break][break]

Thieves notwithstanding.[break][break]

"Did you have any recipes in mind?"

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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"Now we're the suits," she teased, her laughter sparkling with amusement at the memory. "And enduring subpar baking from our subordinates, no less."[break][break]

It was a simpler time, though, as Cygne said. It felt so much longer than a year ago. War had a way of doing that, as did responsibility.[break][break]

"But it's a little funny, to think baking was the thing that made you fear you were incompetent, over anything else," she carried on, looking at the recipe that had been placed in front of them. Her eyes lit up with interest at the title. "Oh, that's endearing. I rather like that one," she said, pointing at one glossy picture in particular.[break][break]

The white chocolate dipped cherry cookies looked delicious enough to eat off the page.

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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She joined Cygne in the preparing of the mixing bowls, though she was content to let her friend take the lead this time. It warmed her, to see how confident Cygne had become in her kitchen after first meeting her confused and stumbling in that Rocket mission a year ago.[break][break]

The question she posed, however, made Elisabeth pause for a moment.[break][break]

"If I am to be honest," she admitted, green eyes sliding over to her companion, "I begin to think the floristry's time is winding down."[break][break]

It was the first time she had admitted that quiet doubt aloud, and doing so felt both shameful and relieving at once.[break][break]

"We have had so many defectors, and I have not done the best at shrouding my identity. I suppose I never thought that--well, I didn't expect someone like me would matter in Rocket, really."[break][break]

She laughed then, attempting to wave away the concern with a faint attempt at humor. Still, there was a bittersweet tinge to the admission.

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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"I think there's something to be said for that, yes. That growth demands us to change."[break][break]

Change itself invited a sort of grief for what you left behind.[break][break]

This cottage had been an indulgent whim of her own excess, made possible from an inheritance too vast for any one person to successfully squander. Her desires had been simple, in so many ways. To be alone. To be able to pursue her own small happinesses. To be able to enjoy the sunlight that poured in through her windows, and to step outside and find herself surrounded by trees.[break][break]

But the dream had changed, too. Teaching Kalosian recipes to Cygne. Setting up a television set against her better judgment, because her friend ensured her that stories were better seen than merely read. Shopping trips at Lilycove boutiques where she could spoil her friends. Decorating her home with Isaac Merlo for Halloween.[break][break]

Teaching her friend everything she knew about flowers, the good and the bad alike.[break][break]

"Did I ever tell you why I wanted to be a florist?" she asked suddenly, turning to Cygne as she wiped her hands on her apron. "I don't know if I have."

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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The cookies on the pan look quaint, invitingly so. Baking had changes too, didn't it? The rising of the dough in the heat, becoming something different than the cold, sugary slab that stared up at them now.[break][break]

"Something like that." She sprinkled flour over the unfinished cookies, a small smile peeking out despite herself. "He never thought I could be successful at taking care of myself. Employment, and all that."[break][break]

She'd never held a job, really; she'd been exchanged from her parents' house to his house, one sheltered existence exchanged for another.[break][break]

"I know everything I do in Rocket counts, but... Being here with you, working on things like this, I find it very satisfying. Like it's proving myself all over again, to a version of myself that wasn't sure if I could be someone who stood on her own."[break][break]

She snuck a bite of dough, licking her finger, before she glanced over at her companion.[break][break]

"Well," she amended, a slow grin spreading on her lips, "not exactly on my own. But I think I prefer that change from my initial plans."

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[attr="class","thadtag"]Elisabeth Fiorelli
mission: affection's confections

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The warmth in ana fell's voice left her briefly speechless, and Elisabeth's gaze turned to the hanging plants that surrounded them in her little cottage. Their pleasant floral aromas wafted through the vicinity, inviting in their sweet fragrance; it was enough to mask any doubts of what might poisons might lurk in the basement below.[break][break]

A finger worried with the hem of her skirt, restless.[break][break]

"Would you believe me if I said I feel it's always been the other way around?" she ventured then, turning back to look at Cyg as she busied herself at the stove.[break][break]

Elisabeth found herself, as always, at a loss when forced to contend with the version of her that the other woman held in her mind. To her mind, her story was not a triumphant one. Regrets spilled from every corner of her memory, of choices she wished she had taken and doors of opportunity left unopened and now locked to her entry.[break][break]

"When I look at you, Cyg, I see someone who has accomplished so much on her own, despite adversity. I have only given you an opportunity to showcase the strengths you already possess. If you had been the one in my situation..." She trailed off, then shook her head. "No. I don't think you ever would be, if I am to be honest."[break][break]

Because Cygne valued the inherent good in others. Because Cygne did not let others treat her the way Elisabeth had let herself be treated.[break][break]

Perhaps that was what had endeared Elisabeth the most to her friend and coworker -- not merely the ways in which their struggles aligned, but the ways in which Cygne embodied the parts of her own story that Elisabeth wished had been written differently.[break][break]

Her hand moved to rest on the other blonde's shoulder in a light, gentle squeeze.[break][break]

"You're a remarkable person, Cygne. And you became that without me, I assure you."

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