Meeting Amongst Celebrations [Catherine, Caliora]

"Catherine Reed"

She'd huff as she got a hold of her own after taking a bite, a soft grumble coming after a swallow, "M' not introverted..."

A squint would respond to that teasing smirk - she was playing around with her. Was she one of those types? Did she play with her food before taking a bite? Though, her expression would lighten up almost immediately with that question; what? Of course she... But she always had lots of work, studying, all of that to attend to, sculpting herself into something bigger and better, to kill that wretched old wolf... She didn't have time, or really much understanding of 'fun'. It was like trying to fill up an empty void with light - sure there was a brief spark, but at the end of it all she was left with was a pervasive darkness in her chest.

It was something she genuinely feared, "...I would've wanted to. But now that i'm here, I dunno what to do about it."

...Then the subject fell onto why she was so eager to tag along. Fuck.

"Do you know anything about men?" She blurted out on instinct, but the expression on her face told of a cold embarassment, a broad look of 'why on god's green earth did I say that!'. Too late, commit, "..Like, romantically?"

God she felt gross.

END | A Glimmer of Sunlight

Oh? Cali tilted her head slightly and let a palm rest on her hip as Catherine briefly expressed a bit of a pout, but seemed at least intent on answering her question. Progress at least, but what she was really interested in was the reasoning. And THAT caused her to raise her brows, surprise whoing for just a moment before she smile from ear to ear and gave a light chuckle.

"Now THAT is a bit surprising! I don't think anyone's ever come to me for advice like that in a good few decades." She noted thoughtfully, tapping her chin a few times before turning back to Catherine and canting her head to the side. "I happen to know quite a lot about them! The ins, the outs, romance, and of course the pitfalls as well. Old as I am, there's plenty of partners in my past. Is there someone special that's caught your eye?" She asked, her eyes widening a bit along with that smile of hers! Sheer, pure, earnest excitement bubbling up in her as she gently raised her clenched hands up just a below her chin!

Ahhhhh romance was so wonderful! The power of flame and passion that reached its peak! Sadly so often a brief and pyrrhic thing, but oh when those flames could sustain themselves it was wonderful~ Certainly she was now VERY invested, looking eagerly to Catherine for more information on this problem of hers!

"Catherine Reed"

'Decades'? So she really wasn't a typical human, hardly looked a day past her thirties at the absolute most. No, focus: Flattery. Ego fluffing, "You seem like someone men would gravitate to," Stuff that hideous feeling down your goddamn throat...

Her expression was forcibly pressed into a neutral state as those emotions, those memories, those feelings were kept boiling inside. She had to disguise her repulsion as embarrassment else this woman would catch on. Repress, repress, repress, "I've... Had my eyes on a few choices..."

Twiddle your fingers a bit. Bunch your shoulders. Don't look near the face. Appear shy.

"I, had a pretty bad breakup in the past. I'm not sure how to bounce back from it. Or pick the right person this time."

The urge to vomit was palpable, "One that wouldn't.. Do wrong to me again."

END | A Glimmer of Sunlight

Caliora raised a brow ever so slightly as she noticed the tension in Catherien's frame. The older woman resting a hand on her hip as the girl struggled through her explanation. That smile of hers calming slightly as she gave a knowing look to the young woman. "Oh you poor thing~. Trust me, I've had puhlllllenty of situations like that in the past. Well, not quite the same I imagine. But let me tell you sweetie, it's all a matter of ya choices." She flashed her teeth in her smile as she tented her fingers together.

"Now, is it impossible to change a man? Not at all, I'll tell you what I've certainly had to forge a few hoes into swords if you know what I mean sweetheart~ But that takes time. And a young thing like you? You just gotta be aware of what you're shoppin for. If you want you a nice guy who will treat you right, you gotta go to the nice guy store, you feel me? Find you a guy who already seems nice and safe, and then go from there. But MORE than that, you gotta keep those pretty peepers of yours open! Even nice guys can start creeping into some bad behavior. You gotta keep your eyes peeled, and stop it when it rears its head. Let him know you don't play like that. And if he don't back down, you ditch him." She stated with a firm nod of her head. Certainly she made it SOUND simple. But well, was there REALLY any way to truly express how hard such a thing is.

"Hmmm, and maybe make you some good friends girly. A few reliable gals. They don't need to be any particular type, but you know, people who can also keep an eye on things. A fresh set of eyes and an ear to bend helps plenty Sweetie." She noted with a sagacious nod of her head.

"Catherine Reed"

...Those words caught her off guard a bit. Her expression seemed stunned, as if she didn't expect that sort of response - she sooner expected something about changing how she dressed or painting herself up with makeup, that was the normal type of response women like her seemed to give. She couldn't help but inquire with a hint of incredulity, as if she was expecting the subject to shift into familiar waters after all, "..My, choices?"

Then Caliora started talking.

And she listened. Despite every fiber of her consciousness instinctively cursing these ideas, she did not interject or walk away - she just stared at her. Listening.

The moment felt out of her body, as if she wasn't real.

Doing this. Being here.

It was easier to pretend she didn't say what was to follow.

"...What if I pick wrong again?" Her voice still sounded strong, present, but held a slight whisper of uncertainty and distance, "What... if I don't have anyone?"

END | A Glimmer of Sunlight

Oh she could tell the girl was a little overwhelmed. Adorable honestly, but she kept rolling as it were. The girl asked for information and by goodness gracious she was going to get it. She certainly LOOKED like she could. Skinny. A little tattered up, but that was EXACTLY the type of a certain type of ghuy, or gal. She wasn't going to judge. The girl certainly had a unique look and a nice one. But all the same, she raised a brow slightly as The question popped up.

"Oh you probably will!" She noted with a warm smile and a chuckle. "You're never going to find someone PERFECT for you. Even the people who claim they have probably have just accepted and acclimated to the bumps and friction. But that's all part of the process sweetie. You're not gonna know who is right until you find out. So you may find a few more guys who are bad. Probably not in the way you expect. But you'll get better at finding the ones you like, and you may even get lucky! I'll tell you one thing, I've had a lot of romantic endeavors in the time I've been a live. And MOST of them turned out pretty aweful~" She noted with a light chuckle.

"But hey. As many times as you have to try. You only have to win once, then you're set forever." She noted with a winsom smirk, tapping her chin a moment before pausing. Well, TECHNICALLY not forever. ONe of them would probably die even if theyre happy. Or they die together. But youknow. Functionally forever, presumably. No need to get lost in the weeds of technicality when this poor gal was just looking for some simple advice.

"Catherine Reed"

The buzz of words in her head went off with mentally picking apart what advice this woman was speaking to her, that expression of her's bearing a look of reading or deep thought as she spoke. None of it sounded like verifiable data or anything past chance; she had just as equal an opportunity to have any chance of a relationship be mired in terrible ends than finding a single someone who had her best interests at heart. Even someone as perceptively old as this woman still had advice like that, huh?

But no, no. She wasn't going to point out how frivolous she thought this advice was. She had to play passive and agreeable, pushing back in the slightest may offend or give a poor impression, then she'd never get any information from her about what she is.

This was what friends did after all, wasn't it? Tell each other nonsense at some fleeting attempt at help?

"I see..." She plotted to latch onto that little end to get her to talk, "It sounds like you've been around a while, how many relationships have you had?"

END | A Glimmer of Sunlight

She didn't have to be a mindreader, or really rely much at all on Catherine giving a sense of things. She was very aware of how the advice felt. She'd had plenty of young gals like Cath tell her that it sounded like bullshit. But it was just true bullshit~ There wasn't a shortcut or advice to be had, other than manipulating people, but frankly that was just as likely to yield poor results than not. Kids wanted nice, easy, actionable answers, and news flash: there weren't any~ Still, she certainly felt her own smile deepen as she noticed the shift in Catherine's tone as she asked that question, trying to be polite.

"Quite a few. I'd say probably more than a couple hundred. But I guess that depends on your definition of a relationship." She paused for a moment and closed her eyes as she just... tilted her head back and folded her arms across her chest as a fond little sigh escaped her. Thinking back to quite a few lovely men and women. Indeed, more of them probably considered her a loved one than was reciprocal. So many unvoiced feelings she more or less smelled under the surface. And so many more that simply didn't realize how important they'd become to one another. And who knew how many had simply escaped even HER radar. IT made her heart race as she thought back to so many soft, adoring faces. So many gentle hands. So many warm words. So many tongues down her throat~ Heheh.

"Though things DID slow down whenever I hung out around places that trended toward monogamy."

"Catherine Reed"

..A couple hundred? Her expression changed from thoughtful to briefly stunned, blinking a few times as if to process what she just heard. If she had as much time in the world as she thought, then she supposed that was only natural to have so many partners but... Ugh, the very idea made her skin crawl, how could you stomach loving that many people? And by that statement, how could you do that with multiple at once?

"Not trying to be rude at all, but," It was only appropriate to be direct, now, though her tone trembled a little with cold shock, "How old are you?"

END | A Glimmer of Sunlight

Cali couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter as she saw the look on the girl's face, oh she always loved seeing stuff like that. That smile of hers widened and she gave a hearty pat on Catherine's shoulder. Oh that was just adorable. "PFFT, as if. Women who are sensitive about their age are just insecure! There's nothing rude about it, if I was your age and heard about someone having that many partners I'd ....well I'd have thought they were some sort of mystic or sorceress. Which I suppose isn't too far from the truth." She smiled, a brief shimmer of starlike flames along her fingertips as she closed her eyes and thought back to the good old days.

"As for your question, I'm decently fresh into my Seventeen Forties."