"Purple or blue?" Satya asked, holding up a flower of each shade for her to pick from.

"Whatever you think is best." Simone shrugged, letting the other woman get back to work. Satya gave her a critical look before putting down the purple and deciding on the blue.

"It goes with your eyes." She explained, working the blue flowers into her hair. Simone was having an afternoon tea session with Zenyatta and Satya, and Satya was doing her hair in a traditional dark elf hairdo, adding some of her fresh flowers to make it really pretty.

"Why does Gabriel go by the name Reaper? Almost everyone calls him that." Simone asked as Zenyatta passed out cups of tea.

"Reaper is the name of our leader. You call him Gabriel because you are bonded to him." Satya explained.

"Amelie doesn't call him Reaper." Simone pointed out.

"She is his second in command, but also his closest friend." Zenyatta commented, handing Satya another flower.

"Do you think it bothers him that I don't call him Reaper?" Zenyatta laughed at her question in a good-hearted way.

"I don't think he knows what to think."

"He certainly doesn't know how to act when it comes to his bond mate. You… what is the word I am looking for?" Satya chimed.

"Perplex?" Zenyatta offered

"Exactly. You perplex him." Simone chewed her bottom lip as she thought this over.

"Well, I don't know what to do as a bond mate either. It's not like I've had one before."

"Take things slowly. Impatience often leads to eating unripened fruit." Zenyatta said calmly, taking a sip of his tea. Both Satya and Simone looked at him with bewildered expressions. The elf certainly did have many unique ways of saying things.

"He checks on me every morning." Simone said softly.

"I don't know if it's because he cares or because he feels my magic and doesn't trust me."

"And what do you do?" Satya asked.

"Nothing. He usually leaves without even knowing I've noticed him." Satya finished securing the last of her hair, setting down beside her delicately.

"Maybe you should do something."

"I am not going to let him avoid me forever. I have to come up with something to get us to actually talk to one another." Simone tapped a finger on her cheek as she contemplated an idea. She stood quickly, having decided.

"Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I have to go see Gabriel." She left in a hurry. Satya put her cup down and gave Zenyatta a look.

"Her hair looks exquisite."

Simone wasn't running, but she was walking rather quickly through the halls to find Gabriel. She had decided that she would share one of her ideas with him and she could only hope that he thought it was worth trying as well.

She spotted him working on something in his office and headed in.

"Gabriel." She tried to get his attention.

"Hola`" Simone startled, unaware there was anyone with Gabriel.

"Uh, hello." She gave an embarrassed smile to the young woman.

"You're the angel, right?"

"Oh, um.' Simone wasn't sure how to respond to the unexpected question.

"Sombra." Gabriel growled, but didn't turn to address the two. Simone smiled.

"Only half angel, actually." She told Sombra. The other woman shrugged, circling her slowly and looked her up and down.

"When you die, can I have your body?"

"Sombra!" Gabriel turned now, glaring at her. Simone took a small step away from Sombra, closer to Gabriel. He sighed and explained.

"Sombra's a necromancer."

"Yeah, yeah." Sombra waved her hand and rolled her eyes.

"You would be like super strong; you should take it as a compliment that I even asked." Simone watched the younger woman, a smirk creeping on her face.

"Alright." Simone agreed.

"As long as you promise not to make my body do anything silly or embarrassing." Sombra's eyes went wide and a huge grin broke across her face.

"Deal." She grabbed Simone's hand and gave it a firm shake before sticking her tongue out at Gabriel and running off.

"I can't believe you did that." He shook his head, turning back to his work.

"Nephilim age extremely slowly. Some say we're immortal." Then she frowned.

"I don't have to worry about her trying to kill me in my sleep, do I?" Simone looked over his shoulder.

"No. She respects the contracts that she makes." He turned to her.

"What do you want?"

"Have tea with me?" Whatever he expected, it wasn't that.

"I don't like tea." He said dismissively, thinking she would leave.

"Honeyed figs then." She leaned lightly against his work table. Gabriel sighed, though she wasn't sure if it was in annoyance.

"I'm busy." Chewing her lip she tried one last time.

"I wanted to tell you about something. I'm pretty sure it would count as city business." He raised his head and they simply looked at each other for a moment. He waved his hand as invitation to stay and continue. Simone gave a bright smile.

"I thought that we should have another marketplace."

"We already have a perfectly fine marketplace." He interrupted.

"I agree, it's lovely. But I was thinking more along the lines of a trading marketplace. If there was one that both Overwatch and Talon could have booths and sell their items. It would increase the amount of revenue brought into the city, and it would promote the alliance amongst the people." When he didn't say anything in return she chuckled.

"Don't look so surprised Gabriel, I have helped run a city before."

"I'm not… Where would you even put this market? The forest is too dangerous for your people to traipse through for a simple shopping trip."

"The ruins. It's always been a neutral space and is evenly in the middle of the lands. The people from Overwatch wouldn't have to risk the forest, and our people would still be within a safe distance of the forest if they would need it." Gabriel eyed her, obviously noticing her usage or the word 'our'.

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"I have."

"What made you think of the ruins?" He asked.

"It deserves to be more than just a pile of old stones. It's special." She blushed, hoping he wouldn't ask her why she thought they were special; she wasn't sure if she could tell him it was because it was where they first met.

"You!" He snapped, causing her to jump.

"Bring some teas and honeyed figs." He told the equally started person he spotted in the hallway. They nodded and hurried off.

"Sit." He motioned for her to take the seat on the other side of the work table.

"I'm not going to be the only one paying for this market of yours, you're going to have to talk to the Light Council about it and get their support too." She nodded, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

"I'm not drinking any tea." He informed her, going back to his work. She smiled, her heart giving a tiny skip.

Simone couldn't get Satya's words out of her head. "Maybe you should do something." After the progress that was made earlier this week, she really should try it. But her heart beat so hard at the thought. She had spent most of the night convincing herself it was a good idea, but now that she was going to put it into action she was very nervous. Second thoughts tried creeping into her mind. She brushed bangs from her face, feeling very self conscious. She took a deep breath and brought out her wings before she could talk herself out of it. She gave a happy stretch and then twisted her braid in her hands as she waited. Sure enough, the door cracked open just a little, and Gabriel looked through; checking in on her or making sure she hadn't opened a portal to run away, she didn't know. She spoke up as he turned to leave.

"You can…" She cleared her throat, speaking clearer.

"I mean… It's faster to groom them if I had help. Would you?" Her wings expanded slightly as if drawing attention to them. He took half a step into the room but didn't try coming in any farther.

"You would trust me with your wings?" He asked, uncertain. Simone guessed that he knew how protective Nephilim were about their wings from his time in Overwatch. It helped this situation though, he knew how important this was to her.

"Of course; you are my bondmate." She said quietly, not able to at him directly. He hesitated, a fist clenched as he looked at his taloned fingertips. He gave a jerky shake of his head and quickly disappeared out the door. Simone tried not to let the disappointment weigh too heavily on her, starting to groom her wings herself. She would try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. He would either stop coming to check on her or, as she hoped, he would take her up on her offer.