She didn't have business today - not that she had business most days, but today was especially free, with no plans to collect more food or materials. She had all she needed in the small shelter she'd made in the past few months. So today was just...free. Free to wander, to enjoy the weather (she pretended it was weather) and watch the birds. To be honest, life down here was a lot more calm then it was on the surface. There weren't any children racing through the streets, there weren't arguments over who had left the candles alight, no worries for the coming snowstorms from the mountains, and no reports of Verinen witchhunters creeping closer.

It was...boring.

But today was promising to be different, just from the sight that she laid her eyes on. What looked like a house, or at least part of one, sticking out of the side of a hill. An almost fantastical little home and in front of it was a fox on two legs, picking flowers.

She was thrown back in time at the sight of the basket, and the accessories that adorned the young man. They reminded her so fondly of home, of the glasses some of the poor-sighted wore and the necklaces couples wove for each other or kids wove for their parents. She could not help but approach closer, fearless now, at such a homey sight.

"Hello," she called out as she got closer. "Is this your home?" She smiled, excitement in her heart and alight in her eyes. "It's lovely!"

That word - family - struck something so deep in Eleanora, something so distant from this place, so strong and familiar and deeply trusting, that she felt her feelings towards this stranger grow infinitely warmer. A family, with a home, and in a place that reminded her so fondly of the Vaa. An unspoken emotion rose up through her chest and settled almost uncomfortably in her throat. A heavy swallow chased it down, but not without a moment in which its ghost passed across her eyes. Oh, how she missed her home.

It was swept away, however, before she could lose face and she approached with nothing but a smile and curiosity. She reached out to accept the handshake (and how long it'd been since she'd shaken a hand!) and offer her name. "I'm Eleanora. It's very nice to meet you as well!" She looked back at the house and the surrounding meadows, different enough from her own home to keep her from falling back into memories. "It's lovely," she repeated. "Did you build it yourself? I've never seen anything like it! Was it a natural hole in the hill? Or did you dig it out yourself?" She wanted to ask so many questions - had they cut the trees themselves? By hand or by machine? Where had they gotten the tools, did they make them or had someone more knowledgeable given them? How had they figured out how to do this? She'd only ever seen caves and simple shelters down here, besides, of course, the Palace. Which was a different story altogether.

But she didn't want to overwhelm Forgraves with her crafter's curiosity so quickly. They had just met, after all.

Eleanora listened to Forgraves' explanation with genuine interest, not at all phased by his long-winded method of teaching her all about the home he'd constructed. She wasn't put off by the ramble but instead impressed, again, by the ingenuity of the Gembound and happy that he found so much pride in his work. Not often did the witches show as much pride in their achievements, as they weren't seen as such but rather just another way of survival. A house constructed was given no praise and the builder expected none, but now that she lived without the common comforts of home, she appreciated every little thing they had. Every extra hand that helped build or weave or gather materials.

She looked inside the house as Forgraves opened the door, but didn't invite herself in. She had enough manners, of course, to wait to be invited to actually step inside, but she could see enough to be equally delighted about the inside as she was the outside. "Wow! I'm really, truly impressed that you managed to achieve all this without any prior experience! It took us many many years to develop such building skills and we still never made anything like this! I'd love to meet your family sometime, they sound delightful! Are there many of you here?"

She waved a hand dismissively at his apologies. "Oh, don't you fret! I enjoy the talk. I haven't had such a conversation since I came to the caves and I'd love to hear more! If you have the time, that is." Although she wasn't sure if Gembound really had anything else to do outside of survival duties. And it wasn't like they had the constant thread of the Empire breathing down their necks.

Eleanora let out a small chuckle at the wonder in Forgraves' question - not at him, in particular, but just at the notion that the outside world was so amazing. She was sure that it was to creatures that had known nothing but these caves, and she was sure in time it would feel as distant and fictional to her, but for now it was still fresh. She had been born and raised on the surface. It was as ordinary to her as these caves were to them. "Yes, I have. I'm from the surface, actually." She didn't mention, though, that she would never return.

She looked over to where Forgraves was looking and spotted the many figures. None of them looked anything like Forgraves, to be honest, and for a moment she wondered how any of them were related, but it wasn't like adoption was a foreign concept to her. And besides, she had met stranger children - the white Valkhound came to mind, who looked nothing like his parent.

She waved as well before turning back to look at Forgraves. "Ah, I'm sorry to have interrupted then. But I would love to join you! If there's anything you need help with, I'll be glad to lend a hand." At the mention of tea, she was swept away by a sudden deep sadness. She swallowed heavily, thinking for a moment that she could distantly taste chamomile, but continued to smile, keep up appearances. "Tea sounds lovely."

She would have to learn to let go of the past. She would never see him again.

Elleanora followed Forgraves inside, the musty smell of herbs and flowers hitting her immediately. It was almost like a punch to the gut and the ghost of tea flavors flooded her mouth, memories of sitting in a small, gently lit kitchen, watching the sun rise and set past the mountains in the distance, a smile on her lips, and the sounds of the village seeping through the window. Across from her sat a man, pouring the tea, telling her all about the flavor he'd chosen today and about the garden he'd picked them from. The smell of herbs was pungent in their house as well, but more open, drifting along with the cool air of the Vaa. Here there was little wind, no mountain breezes, but as she slowly drifted out of her memory, finding herself having stood in the middle of Forgraves' house for a moment, she could at least appreciate that not everything was lost to her.

Tea, at least, she would not lose. Nor good company.

She flinched, realizing that she'd just frozen suddenly and smiled again. "It's lovely!" And she was honest. She'd never understood people that kept their houses perfectly clean and tidy. There was no character or love in a house that was so empty. Here there were things everywhere, plants all over the walls. She stepped over to look closer at ones she didn't recognize - alien plants that she'd never seen in the Vaa before.

"Oh, it's quite alright. I don't have a preference but I don't recognize many of these." Her hand drifted over the stranger flowers, especially over the ones that seem to glow. "Which is your favorite?"