[Hera Cleary]

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Hera - Charms adept with prompt - use charms for cooking and cleaning
Viola - Potions expert - no prompt

Hera pushed a piece of hair out of her face, looking over her living room with a pleasant expression. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. Viola would be here any minute; despite all their arguments, she was determined to sort out this relationship and make some real connections with her cousins. Now that they were all officially adults, aside from Noella, it was essential for the women of the family to stick together.

Glancing around, Hera lifted her want, flicking it toward a disturbed stack of papers on a desk, before flicking it again to a sweeping brush, which soon began sweeping its way to the corridor to dispose of any dust and dirt.

Tucking her wand away, Hera sighed happily. as the door knocked, she made her way over, opening it up and seeing Viola standing on the other side.

[Viola York]

Viola had her arms cross, her red lips pursed. Since leaving school, Viola finally felt free to do what she wanted, or more specifically, she was being told to do what she 'wanted'. She had to do a job that was suitable for her role in the family, and apparently potions and herbology wasn't quite what they were wanting. Too stressful for a woman wanting to settle down and have children. Pft!

"So are you gonna let me in or just stand there?" She asked, lifted her brow significantly.

[Hera Cleary]

Hera sighed. Apparently this was how it was going to be - blunt and resistant for the beginning. Hopefully, if Hera remained calm, this would be okay. Without much more prompting, Hera stepped to the side and allowed Viola to enter, gesturing to the new sofa for her to seat herself on.

"Lunch will be ready soon. I've decided to make some soup, and I have some cakes for after."

[Viola York]

"By you do you mean your wand?" Viola commented, shutting the door behind her and making her way to the seats. "Ever since you graduated you have been using magic non-stop. You're getting lazy, Hera."

She slumped down, crossing her legs at the knees, clearly waiting for Hera to pour tea.

[Hera Cleary]

Hera rolled her eyes, seating herself opposite Viola and pouring the tea by hand as to avoid any further comments. She added sugar to Viola's liking, as well as milk - it was strange how she remembered these things when she was certain Viola didn't.

"Are you seriously saying you haven't? Come off it, Vi. we all know you've been itching to use that wand outside of school the moment you got it."

[Viola York]

Viola scoffed.

"I use it for work. And yeah, I use it for the shit I don't wanna do like washing up and...I dunno, doing whatever. You're the one who always preaches to use gifts sparingly and to understand the real concept of humanity. Well, news flash, Hera. Humanity sucks!"

[Hera Cleary]

"Still upset about no longer having a potions lab and a greenhouse on hand?" Hera asked with a raised brow, passing over the full tea cup before sitting back with her own, giving an understanding look to her cousin.

"I know it seems irritating at the moment. But surely there are places you can go; why not just ask to convert some of the Manor's gardens into a Herbology study or greenhouse? Or maybe go to some classes outside of work and home? There must be somewhere to rent out just for the studying, right? And once you get some more experience, you can move up in that field...I know it seems hard but...really, you should just move out..."

[Viola York]

Viola was silent for a long moment, staring into her tea cup with a long sigh.

"Ever since what happened to you; with up and leaving, getting a place, leaving your 'acceptable job'...My father has been putting far more pressure on me. Caius and Aegon are pains in my ass, and whenever Ciceron helps me, he expects far more in return. I dunno...maybe classes or something inconspicuous can help..."

[Hera Cleary]

Hera nodded, pressing her lips together in response. She knew how hard it was to get out of the constant loop of socialites, suitors and the prospects of marriage and children. Unlike Viola, she did actually want to be settled down with a family, but that didn't mean she didn't have other dreams to fill too.

"I can help to organise something if you like? If you wanted...I have a spare room here that you can use as a bit of a study location, as long as nothing too dangerous or harmful is kept here?" She smiled. "Speaking of which, did you bring the uhm..."

[Viola York]

"Anxiety drought? Yeah, one second." She spoke, reaching into her back and sifting through, keys and make up cases clicking together as she searched.

"I only managed to make a small amount before I had to go to work. The way Ciceron set the room up, I can only be in there between dusk and dawn, so I had to stay up to set it up, leave it brewing, and then collect what I could early this morning. I should have some more later - but if you let me set up that room, I can supply it more regularly." She spoke, finally bringing out a small bottle of a light green liquid.

"One teaspoon in the morning, take another in real times of stress. Don't take any more than that or it will throw you off a bit too much."

[Hera Cleary]

Hera sighed.

"Thank you. I appreciate it, Vi." She spoke with real gratitude, taking the bottle and standing up, placing her cup down and heading to a small, locked cabinet. She turned the key and placed the little bottle inside before turning around again.

"I'll go set up lunch." She spoke before heading to the kitchen, wand in hand. She flicked it, saying a quick incantation, the spoon stirring the soup and herbs levitating and adding half a teaspoon of each. taking a quick taste, Hera felt happy. She had never been very good at cooking, but at least this was somewhat easier than a full dinner. Soup was relatively forgiving with ingredients, cooking times and spices.

Sure enough, she had ladled the soup into two bowls, some still left over for later, and had cast another spell for cutlery to follow her to the dining table. As she got there, Viola had already seated herself and placed a napkin on her lap.

[Viola York]

"Well, I'll give you this...it doesn't smell entirely awful." viola commented, leaning own to take in the aroma. "But soup is soup. You did okay, so let's taste it."

And she did just that, lifting the spoon to her lips, blowing, and then taking a sip. She hummed.

"Mmm, not bad. You're at least getting better. Cooking was never your strong suit. Hopefully you find yourself a forgiving husband and have kids that aren't picky."

[Hera Cleary]

Hera rolled her eyes.

"And hopefully you can find a man that can put up with your whiny-ness and how long you spend doing your hair and make up."

[Viola York]

"Perfection takes time, Hera. You should know this. Just like a potion - you can't rush it. It all needs love, affection, care, and practice."

She shrugged.

"If a man can't handle it then that's his problem."

[Hera Cleary]

Hera hummed as she seated herself, crossing her legs under the table and lifting a brow at her. Sometimes, she just didn't understand her cousin; how was she ever supposed to get a man, if anybody at all, to stick around if she was too stubborn to see how she would drive them away? Perhaps the hair and the make up was one thing, the ego another...but the sheer intensity of selfishness wasn't something everyone could handle. And that on top of the rest, even less so.

"Perhaps...but over time, tolerance can die down, and people will accept those sorts of things less frequently. Perhaps after James-"