The Green House Effect|Sorcha's Calling Card

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It was morning Esme had arranged for the meeting with Sorcha today because she had given Ian the week off he seemed to be in some kind of daze. Esme was fighting her way through the kitchen taking her meds and preparing breakfast for herself.

There were days she wished she’d had more useful abilities like moving objects with her mind. Baking and cooking would be much easier that way. She had given Sorcha the address to her suburban home. Not that you couldn’t see the two story green houses from the front yard, Esme lived in a single story home 3 bedrooms two bath with a basement.

She hadn’t been down in the basement in about 2 years. Anything could be done with it at this point.
So Esme just waited enjoying her breakfast. She had left a note on the front door for Sorcha to simply enter that it was unlocked. Esme had trouble getting to the front of the house the door ways were not convenient for her. So it was a very circuitous route to get to the front door for her

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Esme had turned for what seemed only a second to grab something from the pantry when she heard a sound that was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, and there she was the pale and otherworldly princess of winter sitting on her countertop. She held on her hand a bird that appeared to the most delicate ice sculpture she had ever seen until it moved and flapped it's wings casting refracted rainbows off it's frozen wings. More surprising than that though was the fact that Sorcha was singing to it, her voice was always a wonder to hear but when she turned it to song, no siren of myth or reality could hold a candel to the kind of rapture her voice inspired, the song was cold and enchanting in the same way that moonlight on fresh fallen snow beckoned you to abondon the warmth and join with the purest of dark chills. Had Sorcha not been expected and the needed procautions taken, Esme would have had no choice but to abandon all heat in her life and pledge herself to the cold and pale perfection that now sat not three feet from the sizzeling bacon on her stove. The little ice bird tried to sing along and just could not match the fae princess, it fanned its long tail feathers which looked like impossibly carved peacock feathers made of ice, all in all the the bird could not have been more than a foot long from the tip of it beek to the end of its tail feathers but it still produced a full robust sound that could at least compliment Sorcha. When the song ended Sorcha inclined her head to the little bird and it did the same to her.

"My most glorious princess you have grown past all your teachers since your first lesson, truely the birds court of Arcadia is proud to call you it's greatest pupil ever." The voice the ice bird was strong and surprisingly masculin for such a delicate looking thing.

"I could not have come so far had it not been for the expert instruction of the greatest song master in all the Faerie land." She smiled as she said it and strangely enough it was a genuine smile not one laced with hidden meannings. " Now i would like you to meet the human you were so interested in." she slid off the counter, she was wearing a long wrap skirt of ice blue silk whose seams showed off her nigh goddess like legs perfectly, and a wide sleeved white linnen shirt with blue cranes embroidered on it's sleeves and back. "Greetings Esme of the green thumb i have brought Fourson the song master of Arcadian birds and the foremost scholar on all goblin fruits and Fae plants, when I told him of our little project he had to come and meet you." She held out her hand with Fourson on it to her and the tiny bird Puffed himself up even raising a glittring crest on top of his head making himself look truly regal if weren't for the fact that he just looked so adorable.

"A great pleasure miss Esme to meet one who shares my delight in the growing and living world of flora. I was hoping that i might stay with you for some time during this experiment to both advise and observe." His tone was officious and it made Esme want to laugh and pet him for being so cute, but she knew he was very serious which only made it more precious. He even went so far as to hold out one of his delicate ice legs like a hand for her shake.

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Esnme stared up at Sorcha and the bird in a kind of shock she swallowed to make sure her mouth wasn’t hanging open. She was very used to Ian using the door.

She cleared her throat and her face lit with a smile that was dazzling with life. She wasn’t in pain today, which was a good thing. It seemed it was going to be an eventful day. She looked at the bird shocked inwardly at how clearly he spoke. She smiled still and it showed in her bright blue eyes.

“Sir Fourson it is a pleasure to meet such a handsome creation of yourself. I am honored to have you stay to observe in the going ons within my green houses. I am sure you will find many things curious to your eyes. I am sure I will be able to learn a great deal from you, and your experience in these plants. I have only grown a few to date personally but Sorcha here has deemed my green thumb of a very powerful sort.”

Esme moved forward and slowed the chair to a delicate stop. For all one could tell she was simply moved by a slight tap or even a breeze. She extended her right hand to the bird and extended her right index finger even further for him to give the hand shake. She would never think to insult sure a creature.

She wondered if this was one of the mythical songbirds. But she didn’t ask. “I dare say it is obvious I have a condition that doesn’t allow me to walk but I can still show you my two story green houses both of you.”

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Much to Esme's surprise Fourson's icey claw was not in the least bit cold or hard, in fact it felt very warm ans smooth, as it wrapped around her finger. The "hand" shake was a light thing at best and he withdrew his claw, and locked his ice blue eyes on hers.

"I have seen worse conditions overcome, by mortals with less talents than you, but the choice to fight your illness is yours to make or not. Still that is a topic for another day, today is for gardening, Sorcha has aready prepaired your green houses on the grounds of her estate all we need is place to make the link." The excitment in his voice was apparent, and he ruffeled himself up as he spoke of the green houses.

"Now Fourson you, must be considerate to her mortality, I see we have interupted your breakfast preperations, We can come back shortly if you would like to eat first, before we begin creating a tween space on your property." it was surprising to hear the princess use the childish term for the space between their world, but some how made the act itself seem less menacing. Suddenly Fourson stood up straight on her finger and looked as if he had had a brilliant idea.

"Oh my lady why don't you cook for her, i bet that it would be an experience she would never forget. You see she is one of the best cooks and brewers in all Faerie, though she would never admit it." he looked up at her with the equivallent of a birdy smile on his face. "not that her vampire lover will ever be able to truly appretiate it, you are wasting your potential on him my dear." his tone became the reproachful sound of a father who didn't approve of his daughter's choice in boyfriends.

"Fourson we had agreed that we were not going to talk about this anymore today didn't we." Sorcha's voice took on an icey edge that mad Esme and Fourson cring slightly from the sheer chill it carried.

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Esme looked from Fourson. She smiled. “Well I have already eaten what I am cooking here is my lunch so I don’t have to come back in and cook later. Often I simply prepare lunch when I make breakfast. That way I don’t have to trek back into the house and can spend a picnic in the gardens rather then indoors.”

She gave a kind smile to Fourson. “Sadly my new found friend not all conditions are able to be overcome when the mortal’s science has not caught up to the body. Already I have staved off the worst of my condition to my doctors surprise. I count myself lucky that I can still take a few steps and I fight to maintain even that.” She said it kindly. She had the will and strength to live that is not what hampered her physically and once inside her green houses one would be able to easily tell that she fought tooth and nail for her garden as much as she did for her own body.

She looked back to Sorcha. “ I am excited I must say to see what you have laid out. I think my gardens here would hold a few surprises for you yet. There are many things That I don’t take to the market because other vendors buy them from me just so they can sell them. Its all about competition you know.”

Esme smiled up at them both.

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"Well then I look forward to being surprised by your gardens, my dear. I am sure that you and Fourson will have many long conversations, as the subject of mortal science is one of particular interest to him. However, that is not what we are here for today." She shot Fourson a look that said now is not the time. "Please then lead us on to your gardens, so that we can see what we have to work with andd work around." As she followed her Esme couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the effortless grace of Sorcha's smooth gate and fluid stride, but she knew that such feelings were commonly inspired by the prescence of the fae. Fourson hopped of Sorcha's finger and onto Esme's shoulder, it was amazing how light he was he seemed to weigh almost nothing.

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Esme grinned at Sorcha. And smiled even more when Fourson landed onto her shoulder. She turned her chair to the stove turning everything off. It could wait this would be more entertaining in the long run. “Which of the two would you like to see first?”

She went to the back door and going backwards down the ramp where she had more control she spun agilely towards her two green houses. There was barely any room between them here in the back yard maybe a whole foot an a half large enough for a person to fit sideways through. Looking through the clear panels on the houses you could see two stories of green living in side one had vines that were on some kind of lattice work almost to the roof of it. That one had an entire second floor that was various suspended platforms that optimized the sun to the lower level.

The other seemed more earthy. You could tell it was the one she worked in more often. The other the plants hadn’t reached fully into the second level constructed the same way as the other green house. It had several flowering plants. Rose bushes flanked the entrances to both green houses. For now they were cold and just dormant for the winter.

Esme hadn’t grabbed a jacket she knew how warm her green houses were.

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"Well lets look at the one you have prepaired for me to work on. I assume you know that when I merge the two worlds you will lose the space i am replacing and all that is in it." She spoke as she walked up to one of the rose bushes and as she carressed it's twigs a thorn pricked her finger and a drop of blood fell on the plant it began to bloom but it wasn't the same as other roses it's leaves were silvery and the blossoms were white the fragrance that wafted off them was stronger and sweeter than any rose Esme had ever encountered in her life, she knew right away that this could only be one of the rare winter roses.

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Esme nodded and moved to the one she had been in less. She had been avoiding it just for this purpose. "I have already transferred plants I needed from this one to the other green house and have the few fae plants ready to move."

She watched Sorcha with the rose bush. "If you keep up with that you'll have to find someone to manage these for the goblin market they will be disappointed to loose a supplier." Esme simply shook her head there was no scorn but Esme was grateful for the flowers she enjoyed all plants. She led them into the almost empty green house another ramp here allowed her entrance. sure enough it wasn't teaming with the life the other one had.

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"I will definitely be more careful in the future, but i Hope that my needs for supplies will be met with greater aptitude with the beginning of our contract." She opened the door and walked into the greenhouse and a chill wind went with her and some of the leaves of the plants withered slightly at it's touch. She walked to the center of the space spread her arms wide and spun around taking in a feel for the area, her glamour building up around. The sheer magnitude of her power was overwhelming, to the point were Esme found it hard to breath as if her lungs couldn't make space to expand against the relentless press of her power. She raised her hands to the air took in a deep breath and her power slid back into her and holding that much power in her made her seem to glow like the moon. "Are you ready to begin or is there more you would like to before i shift space?"