Just a cup of tea and a little bit of haunting, please

What a chaos last month had been, or it wasn't like everything had been chaos, but everything with Quentin had just taken on full speed, and suddenly he was dead and Nigel's biological father was in town. And who knew what he for sure wanted? Not that she counted on he wanted to get invited in for tea and homemade cookies. Irina had to remind herself to take some deeper breaths once in a while, and get out. Luckily, Evelina lived not so far away and with Theo and Mila going  to the same school - it was easy to make a plan to meet up after the kids had been dropped off, actually having time to just be them. Full on pregnancy club. Because in this madness, it was nice to have the solidarity of someone who also was living in some sort of madness. But there was more than just this time of chaos to it, Evelina and Irina spoke a language the other one sadly understood. So, meeting up for lunch at Evelina's place seemed like the perfect idea, just the two of them and too much food - if you asked Irina at least.

Now her and food hadn't been the best friends, or that wasn't true, there was some types of food she could eat without any issues at all. Mostly savory stuff really. Irina took a deeper breath in looking at the empty plate Evelina had left, almost cleaned. "I don't know how you can have that much appetite," she chuckled a bit still having over half of hers left, she took a sip of water and licked her lips a bit. One thing she was excited about was the appointment Nigel and her had next week, where they would get to know the gender. And then there was Maya's birthday coming up not long after that. Archie and Elenora's wedding, so many things to look forward too, despite the chaos that lured in the shadows. "We should do this more often though, even if it's just watching some chick flick in the tv with a top of tea," she suggested with a warmer smile. She knew Cecilia was so busy, and most of her cousin's spare time was used on Lucas, so she knew that Cecilia hadn't had the most time to visit - and if she remembered correctly her vampire hunter friend Mono had been called across the country or some shit for a hunt - not that she was going to dig into that.

Then a text had gotten her attention, given all the events that happened, she never dared to turn her phone off or on silent. Juniper had asked if she could come pick something up that Reginald had forgotten on his way to Aston. She knew Reginald worked rather late in the garage on Mondays, and if not that often spend a few hours with Nigel in the afternoon - especially lately. So, she had asked if Evelina had wanted to join, and then they had made a road-trip out of it. Who would have known they would master the skill of karaoke?

Finally, they had made it to the location provided in the forest. Irina parked the car before moving closer to the cottage. The nature here was absolutely magnificent, she quickly understood why Reginald would move out here, why Juniper would live out here. "Wauw," she looked over at Evelina with big eyes before making their way towards the cottage to knock on the door.

Stress, chaos, joy, laughter, love. So many things that had happened over such a short period of time. To a point that had given both her and Dion a scare that she never wished to repeat. Which had led to Evelina doing next to nothing, mostly because a certain someone suddenly felt that her putting on her own slippers in the morning could be too much of a strain. Even Cayden had started noticing to much, trying to help with things Eve didn’t feel like a young boy at his age should do. But the look in her sons’ eyes had made her understand that she couldn’t really tell him no. And to be honest she would rather have her son’s trying to help out, than sitting on their asses doing nothing the whole day other than playing video games.

Evelina shrugged as she was putting yet another piece of bread in her mouth. “What can I say? I love food, and a baby isn’t going to stop me that” she joked and then looked towards Irina giving her a smaller smile “When pregnant with Theo the only thing I could eat for weeks where pretzels” she shook her torso as if something cold had glided down her back. “It was the worst time of my life, I was hungry all the time, but every time I tried eating anything else, I couldn’t hold it in” she licked her lips and took a sip of her decaffeinated tea.

Evelina gave Irina a big smile as she suggested they should it more often. “I agree” she nodded, just like Irina, Evelina didn’t get to spend much time with her best friend because of how busy she was. So, it was really nice that she had found someone like Irina that was almost like another piece of her. Someone that understood her so well. It had been such a relief having a woman like her in her life after everything had happened with Dion and Garrett.

Evelina was quick to say that she wanted to come, when Irina told her about Juniper needing Irina to come pick something up. Going to meet an ancient wood fairy, who would be dumb enough to pass up that kind of chance?

Completely awestruck about what she was seeing Evelina looked around in the beautiful garden Irina had brought her too. A young-looking woman came out giving them both a giant smile. “I’m so glad you could come!” she breathed and looked towards Evelina “Juniper” she greeted presenting her hand for Eve to take, which the human did rather quickly. The look that was given her, took Eve a little back. “It’s been a long time since I felt such a power” she breathed licking her lips and shook her head “No, sorry don’t mind me!” she made a short chuckle and guided them towards her house “Come in, I have a pot of tea and some cake I baked yesterday to offer if you would like any?” Evelina’s eyes lighted up with the mention of cake “I wouldn’t mind getting a piece” she said quickly after and followed the bobbly woman inside of her small cottage. But as soon as she stepped inside it was clear that magic was at play here. It seemed so much bigger walking around, than standing outside looking in.

Irina turned her eyes towards Juniper the second she saw her, giving her a warm smile, before giving Juniper a quick hug. "Yeah, of course, I've always waned to see this place for myself," she replied letting Juniper present herself to Evelina. The werewolf pressed her brows a little bit together for a moment looking at them, mostly by the statement of saying something about Evelina was powerful. Not that Irina saw Evelina as anything but powerful, that woman carried so much admirable strength. It did pick to Irina's curiosity what Juniper meant by it, but she wasn't going to ask - at least not yet. She began following Juniper to the cottage. "Yes, thank you, it sounds delicious June," she replied looking over at Evelina that said she didn't mind getting some, that forty minute drive did something to your hunger - or in Evelina's case the human could eat, one might even think she could have been a werewolf with that appetite.

The werewolf chuckled delighted as they entered the cottage. "Your home is truly incredible, I see why you and Reggie want to stay out here," she complimented while letting her eyes wander around to all the nips and different things around. It was magic. It was a few days ago since Juniper had found out that she was a mother, even if she hadn't gotten her memories and all that. Of course she hadn't been able to not eavesdropping on the conversation that night, even if they had told them later that night. It wasn't a secret.

”Anything for you my love” June said with a giant smile letting her dimples show as she walked towards the kitchen. The fairy was getting out the cake she had mentioned and started brewing a good pot of tea for all three of them. “Thank you!” Juniper was quick to take the compliment of her house. “I’ve used a lot of years making it my own, my sanctuary if you will” she mused looking out the small crocket window that gave the view of her exotic garden. “Even though I could be without my little roommate, he isn’t very fond that someone else more or less has moved in” she couldn’t help but laugh, when she remembered how ‘Claude Bob’ had been scarce for the first time that Reginald had been there. Only to come back out as Reginald had gone to work, giving her an earful about how awful it had been.

She looked at Evelina’s confused face as she tried to make sense that Juniper had a roommate. “Well, he is more or less an involuntarily roommate, he is a ghost and doesn’t really want to leave even though I try to explain to him that he has too” the kettle sounded that the water was boiled, and she poured it over the leaves into the pot. “So, you are living with at ghost?” Evelina asked quite curious and looked around “is he here?” Juniper shrugged her shoulders “Well, I’m sure his around here somewhere” she explained and let her focus glide back to making the tea.

Roommate. Irina pressed her brows a little bit together by the mention, letting Juniper explain further. A ghost. "I should have known ghosts were real too," she chuckled a little while shaking her head. Sometimes she forgot just how little she knew of the range the supernatural had, even though she knew a lot by now. Ghosts seemed like the least absurd thing in this world, but she had always wondered what happened after one died, but it seemed like ghosts were just the dead with untold stories or feeling like they had something holding them back here in the material world. But before she could ask if the so called ghost was here or anything, Evelina was one step ahead of her, and just like Eve, Irina looked over her shoulder. Irina chuckled a little. It was said that the ghosts and anything in that category was supposed to be scary, making you scared, but the way Juniper acted and spoke about it, made her believe that perhaps this ghost was just a grumpy ghost not much for sharing with Reginald. But also saying this ghost might be somewhere around, clearly didn't stop Irina from looking around as if she was assuming he would show up at any given point. "What do you know about your so called roommate?" She asked curiously.

"Sorry, you poked the curiosity, but you do have your own Dvorovoi, ish" Irina licked her lips a little, knowing that Juniper might know what she talked about, but wasn't sure if Evelina knew. "It's from some Russian myth, my father used to tell me all about them when I was a kid. Dvorovi, they are in charge of taking care of the household and its members," she explained shaking her head a little bit by the memory. Irina chuckled a little to herself, odd how some things could remind you of things you thought you had forgotten. The smell of the tea being brewed, the scent of the herbs brought a sense of peace with it, making her breath out. "What did Reggie forget to bring along? Or was it just an excuse to get some girl talk in?" Irina teased a little with a warm smile, not that she would mind if it was the case, but also knew it was likely Reginald could have forgotten something.

“Well, I can quite confidently tell you, that even I still meet things in this world that surprises me, so there are a lot of magical things out there, that might not even have been discovered yet” she couldn’t help but chuckle that both Irina and Evelina looked around, and instead of being scared they just seemed intrigued by the fact that there was something more supernatural in here. Besides the fact that they quite clearly had walked into a fairy’s home.

What did she know?
“Oh not a lot really, he doesn’t really share anything. Other than he quite clearly lied about what his called” she shook her head and gave them both her signature grin of a smile “Claude Bob” she shook her head “For all the horrible cover names he could have chosen, he found the worst” she made a new pot, this time only of hot water, so they could thin down the tea should it become too pungent in its taste. “Ah yes” she smiled as Irina mentioned the Russian superstitions about having house ghost. She waited for Irina to explain to Evelina that nodded a little thoughtfully. “They also have them in Asian folklores, it’s quite interesting really” she licked her lips as she put the things she needed on a tray and walked into the dinning room, both Irina and Evelina following along. “But he can’t quite be a dvorovoi” she said as she placed the things on the table in the middle of the room. “As he definitely isn’t any of my family members” she looked towards Irina as she asked if Reginald actually had forgotten something, or if it had just been a bad excuse. Juniper couldn’t help but laugh and nodded “well, if I wanted to have you over, I would just ask you, I’m not as tricky as one might think” she teased, walking over the one of the many cabinets either filled with books or plants. She took a leather inbound book and walked towards Irina “here, Reginald had found some more for Maya to read about her new species and abilities” Juniper said with a smile as she sat down gesturing for her guest to do the same. As they sat down, Juniper was quick to slice a cake for Eve, and pour tea for both her and Irina.

A ghost lying about his real name, funny how the dead lied or played tricks even after having left life. One thing did stick to her mind though, Claude Bob, Irina pressed her brows a little bit together mostly because it reminded her of something. Her and her siblings had been pretty young when they once had thought their family home had been haunted, and their father had made up this story about the ghosts Claude and Bob, which Natasha had absolutely loved. She blinked a little bit realizing she hadn't paid attention to everything said, but pulled her lips up in a smile, not in need to have the words repeated. She followed Juniper  to the dinning room, still looking around then again, there was a lot of stuff to look at.

The werewolf chuckled tenderly by the respond of not being as tricky as one might think. Irina took the inbound book when it was given to her, letting her finger tips run over the leather and nodded a bit. "I'm sure she will appreciate that," she clicked her tongue a little before looking over at the table, and walked over to sit down. Irina placed the book to her left, not wanting to forget it later on. It had clearly helped Maya's research that Damian had given Maya a name for what she was, it made searching for more information easier. A thank you left the werewolf's lips as Juniper poured up some tea for her, leaning back in her seat. She was still not over the ghost's cover name, zoning a little bit out as she gently tabbed the cup with the tea with her fingertips. "I'm sorry, I just can't get over that cover name - it reminded me of something," she licked her lips a little.

“Oh, it did?” Juniper asked curious and took a sip of her tea. It wasn’t like Irina to zone out like this, so it had to be something that was lying near to her heart to make her go back to the names and the fact that she had a ghost. Of course, it could be the very fact that there was a ghost roaming around the house that could be intriguing. But something was telling Juniper that it was a whole lot more than just that.

Her eyes looked up and she saw her house ghost standing there, starring. Not at her, but at Irina. Juniper pressed her brows together. “What did it remind you off?” she asked quietly, not telling the two girls that the very person they had been talking about had come back. Because she wanted to know, without a doubt, that her newformed theory in her head was correct. Because if it was, then it would be very chocking. And maybe not something that should be explained. Because how would anyone react to seeing a family member again after they had died. And this wouldn’t be like seeing Archie because this person was still dead, and roamed around because they didn’t want to leave. But they were very much dead and couldn’t do anything a living person could be. Tortured soul that was trapped between living and dying.

What did it remind you off?
Irina took a deeper breath in, it was a long time since she had visited that train of thought. Back when times had been good, back when her family had been whole and everyone had thrived. After her father had died, Irina's mother was perhaps the one who had taken the hardest fall, closing herself in till a point where the husband she had found after had been a person that never could help her rise from the ground again. Maxim had been the worst thing happening to her family back then. "My father, he died quite some time ago," she took a deeper breath in, even if years had past it never got easier to recall those times. Irina kept her eyes on Juniper, clicking her tongue a little bit. "The oldest of my brothers and I once thought our house was haunted - like back when we were kids. And my father sat us down and talked about these two ghosts that had been roaming around the house making sure we all behaved nicely Claude and Bob," she chuckled a little bit while shaking her head. "It's the worst possible ghost names in history, but yeah, he liked his stories - I wonder what his reaction would be if he heard about the supernatural world was real, he always did believe there was more to the world than we saw," she told moving her eyes down to her tea for a second. "That was, who it reminded me off," she nodded a bit before looking up at Juniper again, lifting her shoulders a little bit as she once again exhaled.

As Irina started her little tale on how it seemed so familiar, Juniper didn’t keep her eyes on her, but at the man standing behind them, and she could see how the story hit him. She had never seen him so quiet, nor so much in pain as she saw him right now. Always sarcastic or had some handy remark when he wanted to let Juniper know that she was being annoying. Which only made it so much clearer who ‘Claude Bob’ really was. “You father is dead, isn’t he?” she let her eyes glide towards Irina as she was done explaining, a sad smile formed on Junipers lips. “I’m sorry” she answered, as Irina confirmed her theory. “Maybe you should turn around then” she took in a deep breath and let it out, as she looked at how scared he looked.

“hello my лисичка” (little fox) Michail breathed while titling his head a little. Evelina turned around, looking at the ghost standing there looking at them. She took a deep breath in, her eyes wandering towards her friend, waiting for her reaction to whatever that was going on.

Irina nodded a bit as Juniper said she was sorry, it was something the werewolf had moved somewhat on from - as much as you could move on from your father's death. Life had done her in favor in that way, keeping her so busy she barely had had much time to even think back on it. Somedays were naturally harder than others, but she for her focusing on the good memories had been the key to move through the tough times. Maybe you should turn around then, Irina pressed her brows together, not understanding why she should turn around. There was no scent to pick up on, but either way, she placed her arm on top of the chair's back and turned her head back. Hello my лисичка, her jaw dropped a little, and her lips split but no words left her.

She held her breath just blankly starring at him, as her mind rushed to figure out what was going on. But then it hit her and she breathed out, "Papa," she gasped a little, feeling how her eyes started to burn from the emotions that lured in waiting to attack. There were so many words trying to leave her lips, but nothing really left her mouth except for air. Irina felt the tears silently run down her tears, before getting slowly up from her seat taking a few steps closer to the ghost - her father. "How - wh - what happened?" She asked slightly breathless, she wanted to reach out and hug him close, but he was a ghost, was that even remotely possible. "I - I - ehm, I've, I miss you so much," she pressed her brows a little bit further together.

Michail gave a small sad smile as he saw how it affected his daughter seeing her like this. Juniper let out a big breath letting her eyes follow from her roommate to his daughter. How were you to act when you found out that your father couldn’t find peace, and that why she still hung around? Michail nodded slowly, clearly he had no idea how to express himself nor tell her. “Irina” Juniper said in a slow and slightly sad voice “it’s, very important that you know, that your father is still, dead” she stood up and walked towards her, squatting down taking her hands, a slight shimmer and Michail was gone again. “he’ll be back, whenever a strong emotion is triggered it’s hard for him to stay and keep herself materialized” she tried to explain squeezing her hands in hers “Is there something I can do?” she asked giving Irina a soft smile. Evelina was still just sitting with her cup in her hand and didn’t really understand what was going on.

Juniper's voice trying to reach her find didn't really get Irina's attention. Her focus was on her father, just for a moment she almost forgot what was happening around her. It was like being put under a spell, where the thought of seeing him only brought her joy - but then in a blink of an eye he was gone again. Vanished, feeling like a knife being stabbed in her heart and twisted around. Irina moved her hand to her chest for a short second, taking a deeper breath in, realizing how the tears silently had made their run down her cheeks. Her lips split, wanting to call out for him, but she looked towards Juniper looking down at her hand shortly before letting her eyes return to the fairies again. He'll be back, Irina nodded a bit taking a deeper breath in, moving her free hand up to dry her eyes with the back of her hand before running her hand over her hair. It was very unexpected to see her father here and had out of the question shaken her a little bit up. If it hadn't been for Juniper having said the words she would have believed it to be an illusion - but it was very real. It was hard not to put yourself back to those days, back when her father was a life, seeing him brought every single thought and emotions back to the point where he was gone. "I - I don't know, I'm just processing," she confessed taking a deeper breath in before breathing out again. "What is keeping him here? - Should he be at peace somewhere?" Irina wondered. She knew that not all souls found peace, but she also hoped that he had been somewhere good. Wasn't that always what you wanted? To know that down the line the people you loved would find peace after their death, and not wander around in the afterlife lost with unsolved stories. Irina took the next few steps back to the chair and let herself sink down, taking a deeper breath in again and exhaled, starring out the window just processing still.

As Juniper saw how Irina had started shedding tears, a soft hum left June and her hand found her cheek and slowly removed some of them on the other side. It had always been so easy for the fairy to fall into the mother role without thinking much of it. “He should, but sometimes it not that easy, and a soul can decide to not go with the angels when they come to take you home” She whispered caressing Irina’s cheek before getting back up to her feet. “I’m afraid I’m not sure why his here, maybe he felt drawn to the energy of the gardens, a lot of people are” she confessed and sat down and poured herself some tea. “I’m nearly 190.000 years old” she confessed and gave both of the girls an apologetic smile. Eve’s jaw almost dropped as she processed the news “Most of the time I used a lot of energy to conceal just how powerful I am, and I put it in the garden that is around us, that comes with a set of problems. That creatures and in this instant also ghost get drawn and take solace here” which Juniper didn’t want to deny them. She had used so many years of her life fighting and raging wars against other races. She had been a gladiator, an executioner, and a judge. So many lives she had lived, and she wasn’t nearly done with exploring just what this world had in store for her.

There were many traditions on how they were supposed to make sure how his soul had passed on. Russian traditions that should have made sure that he had gone safely to Heaven, she remembered how angry she had gotten at Nayden when he had uncovered one of the mirrors days earlier than he was supposed to. Mostly because of the superstition that her parents had been so fond off. Funny how most of the lores had some truth in them by now, and here everyone was raised with some sort of knowledge of the truth, but you were taught the supernatural belonged in fiction. What a lie that had been. Irina blinked a little by when Juniper told her how old she was, she knew Juniper was old, but that old - it was still something she was processing that people could become that old without looking anything like it. Irina could understand why people were drawn to this place, it beamed of safety and somewhere close to home. It was something out of this world, you could have told Irina that she had been abducted to another planet and she would believe you just because of the atmosphere here. Irina took a deeper breath in and dried her eyes as she breathed out. "You have a beautiful place as well, I don't blame people anyone who would want to find some sort of peace here," she smiled while her eyes still being wet, and she blinked a little dismissing a few tears that wanted to leave. "I'm okay, it was just quite unexpected," Irina breathed out before lifting the tea cup up to take a sip of it in hope of calming her nerves a little bit.

Juniper smiled as Irina complimented her home, that it was beautiful. June let her eyes fall outside the window and took in her overgrown garden. A garden that roamed with creatures and flowers that was long forgotten or instinct. Some she had taken with her from books, just a little memento that she had found while wandering the many pages of history. The fairy let her eyes find their way back to the girls sitting in front of her, and a soft nod appeared. “I understand why it is” she said very understanding that it wasn’t every day that you walked into another person’s home to find your father. Now a spirit. “I don’t know if it will calm you, but being here will prevent him from becoming a lost or angry spirit, and with your help we might find the thing that will let him pass on and continue in another life as he is destined to” the only reason why Juniper hadn’t pushed the issue, was because it was clear that Michail wasn’t ready to let go of the life he had once lead. She didn’t think that anyone really was, especially not when a life was taken from someone so drastically.  

She closed her eyes just for a moment, just letting the thoughts through alongside the flashes of memories that picked their annoying time to show up. But to know your father was here, as a spirit, not alive, but in a limbo not able to move on, it stung in your heart in ways Irina hadn't been able to imagine to this point. She took a deeper breath in and turned her eyes back to Juniper, it was always something to know that he wouldn't get lost or turn into an evil spirit by being here. Not completely lost at least. A small tear escaped the corner of her left eye, which was quickly whipped away with the back of her hand. She could help him? Irina took a deeper breath in and nodded a bit. "He always did like to study the theories about the afterlife," she chuckled a little bit shaking her head softly, as she placed the tea cup back on the table. "He was the glue of my family, after he died everyone just started to isolate themselves,  and nothing was ever the same again - so if I can help him with this, moving on, I want to, he deserves that," she breathed out folding her lips together, nodding a bit. She wasn't going to tell Natasha, Natasha was dealing with enough, and their other siblings had no knowledge of the supernatural. But she could shoulder this, besides she wasn't alone about it, even if she didn't tell her sister. "But how can I help him?"

Juniper nodded and clearly showed that she was listing to what Irina was telling her. Now living for such a long time as Juniper had, she had lost many good people in her life. Many of them had been the lynchpin in one way or another. Sometimes the death of someone could hit much harder than you would expect. So, she understood what it meant that a family had isolated themselves after the death of a man that clearly had been the head of house. Juniper took in a deep breath as Irina asked what she could do to help him. To be honest the fairy didn’t know, maybe there wasn’t anything that could help him. “Maybe there is an item of his that is still tying him to this plane, or there is unfinish business, but you would now that better than me” she smiled and saw how Eve reached out and placed a comforting hand on Irina’s arm. “Was he cremated or buried?” Juniper then asked taking a sip of her tea. There were so many ways a spirit could bind themselves to the plane of the living if they weren’t ready to leave. And it could take a lifetime to figure out why sometimes. Because I could easily be forgotten in the mess of understanding that you weren’t alive anymore.

Irina took a deeper breath in feeling a bit disorientated from the entire situation, but at least she had great flair for keeping herself at least as calm as possible. "Could be, to be fair I left Russia with just a bag and the clothing I had on my body, I didn't have time to bring many belongings," she confessed as far as items went. "Could be my mother, she got as far as I call it, manipulated into another marriage rather quickly after his death. Very traditional guy, best to just remain silent and follow orders. If he knows about that - well, I would stay around too," the werewolf breathed out. If there was anytone she hated it was that man, mostly because of how he had tried to control the house hold, how he had ended up controlling the house hold. Going from living with one controlling man to another when she had married Matthew - not that she had been anything but blind to that till later on. "He was cremated, we spread his ashes over the ocean, he had always talked about wanting to around us if it ever should come to that." She looked shortly over at Evelina and gave her a brief smile. It was rough suddenly pulling up stings from a wound you thought had healed.

Juniper nodded when she got more information and started recking her brain to what they could do about it. Because her father shouldn’t be here of course, he needed to go into the afterlife. Start a new life, or just become a beautiful spirit in heaven or in hell. Depending on so many things. And there where so many types of underworlds, and heavens. So many Eden’s, beautiful gardens for the one passing through. Even if hers were in its own way, also a paradise it wasn’t really meant for ghost.

“Well, now that I know who he really is, I’ll try to reach out to some of my friends that are also versed in magic, maybe they can help me, and we can figure out a good way to send him pass the veil” she said with a smile and reached over to take Irina’s hand to give it a squeeze. She then proceeded to cut another slice of cake and put it on Eve’s plate as she had already eaten the one, she had gotten when they had sat down. Sipping her tea afterwards, already trying to piece information and people she could ask for help together. She was confident that they would find a good solutions for everyone.

It did sound like the best idea, figure out if there was something they could do. Irina knew that Juniper had to have some powerful friends with knowledge that couldn't be found in many books. She had no idea how much to do, if there was anything she could do really, as far as she knew the most powerful people she knew with the most magical knowledge was Cassian and Juniper. Maybe death related Daisy could enlighten them in some things they hadn't thought off, but Irina did not know much about how banshee's worked. She moved her free hand up massaging her forehead a little bit, looking to Juniper who squeezed her hand. "We will figure something out," Irina exhaled and folding her lips a little bit together. Irina took the tea cup and finally managed to get a sip of her tea taking everything in once again.

Because in the end, there had to be something they could do. "Is there anything else you need to know about him that would make it easier?" Irina wondered and looked towards Juniper. It was a rather hard topic to just leave at the door when it involved her father, despite her having hoped to just come here for a cup of tea and a chat. This was not how she had imagined spending her afternoon.

“Of course, we will” Juniper said with a small smile and nodded softly, of course they would figure something out, but it also seemed like it was a lot to take in. And why wouldn’t it? It was a very big thing suddenly finding out that your father was walking around on this earth, not able to find rest and move on.  When Irina asked if there was anything else she needed Juniper shook her head. “I know, that you want to help and figure out this as fast as possible, and I understand that, I truly do” Juniper took in a deep breath and licked her lips “But, I think right now, you being here, is to overwhelming and I need to ask him questions that he might not want to answer while you are around, things that he knows will upset you” Juniper tried to be as tactful about it as she could, but also knew that it wasn’t easy to hear. No matter how she would have explained it to Irina. “My suggestion, is we eat and drink, talk a little, and then I think it would be best if you went home to Nigel and talked with him a little, I’m sure he can give some insight as well” the old fairy said with a soft smile.

She nodded a little bit, listening to Juniper. Even if she wished that she could do something, Irina knew that she only could do so much. "Yeah," closed her eyes for a moment and took a deeper breath in. There was always something a parent didn't want their child to hear or know, she couldn't blame her father for not wanting her to hear every single thing. Irina opened her eyes again and exhaled listening to Juniper's suggestion and nodded a little. For her sake she wouldn't mind skipping the first part and just get back home, getting some peace to her right now disturbed mind, but she also didn't want to ruin the little gathering they had right now. "Seems like a good idea, -" she breathed out and nodded once again. She hated that the drive home was that long by now, a small part just wanted to scream for a moment over the things she didn't understand regarding this, a second part wanted to cry for a moment and allow the wound to heal after having been ripped open and the last part just fought to keep it together, which was what she just needed right now. To not overthink this too much, she could do that later. "Yeah sorry, I didn't mean to down the mood."

”Oh sweetheart” Juniper breathed looking at Irina “You did no such thing, at least it is expected because of everything” the fairy said with a soft smile “Now, let’s eat, in your case drink so more good tea, talk and just, you know take a little time to let it sink in” Eve nodded slowly and let her hand glide over Irina’s back, trying to be as comforting as she could be in all of this.

After some time, after half the cake was done, thanks to Eve. Boy that woman could eat. They stood in the entry way and said their goodbyes. Juniper pulled Irina into her arms and gave her a tight hug. “We will figure things out, trust that Irina” she said and let go again. As she walked them out towards the car and waved them off as they drove away.

As she returned to the house he stood there once again. “You know that time will only be limited now” she said and thought the sad smile on his lips. “We’ll figure this out, and it till be good for you to finally say your goodbyes” she mumbled, hearing how he thanked her before disappearing once again. “What a curious world this is” she mumbled, as she looked out in the garden.

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