Phoenix watched Eliza babble, more than listened, and the lighthearted feeling she always got in such situations over took her and her smile beamed. Phoenix put a high price on one exhibiting their artistic talents, in whatever way that talent happened to manifest itself. Apparently, it presented itself in Eliza in a way similar to her Aries, the devising and creating of materials out of other materials. The woman must be quite determined, Phoenix mused, if this was her fourth attempt, and there were more attempts in the offing. She looked down at Eliza's foot when she mentioned how she walked on it, and saw that, indeed, she did walk mostly on her toes and front pads. Though Phoenix would have no idea how to make a shoe if the pattern hit her in the nose, she could see, sort of, what Eliza was talking about when she suggested getting rid of the heel.
She let Eliza have her quiet as the woman thought. The Phoenix could see that an image of a shoe, or whatever images one gets when devising shoes, was dancing before the ferret's mind eye, and was loathe to disturb it with anything, even a thank you for being called pleasant company. It surprised her slightly, then, when Eliza said, "The tea is good."
She blinked, her huge smile still on her face, as she brought her mind back to the question asked. "Yes," she answered, nodding her head. "You can drink it cold and make it like sweet tea. With the weather getting warmer, that might be a better way to drink it anyway." She took a sip of her own tea, the bitter aftertaste hitting her tongue, "You can put a sweetener in it if you want," she looked up at Eliza, "but in my experience, sugar is precious commodity not to be wasted on herbal tea."
Eliza ducked her head in an attempt to hide the smile that was threatening to split her face in half. Sometimes the universe just handed you perfect opportunities and this was a moment she had been waiting for, unable to decide on her own how to broker the subject. Placing her mug back on the table she turned so that her body shielded her actions as she unzipped her backpack and rummaged around. She brought the container she had fished out close to her chest and tweaked the ribbon. She looked over her shoulder at the healer who was giving her a curious look.
"Funny that you should say that. I'd always heard that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." She smiled and turned so that Phoenix could see the large plastic jar of honey she held, it's cheerful bear shape smartly decorated with a red bow tie. "This may not be sugar but I think it will fill the role quite nicely." She smiled and held out the gift with a determined look in her eye as Phoenix took her time retrieving it.
"You know, the first thing that I knew about you, before even I knew there was a YOU, was the scent of honey and herbs." She had to swallow against the sudden rush of emotion she felt thinking back on that night not long ago. "Back in that alley, I was only looking for a moment of stolen freedom. I'm thankful that I found so much more."
She sensed Phoenix's continued reluctance and practically placed the honey bear in the woman's lap and covered the healer's smaller hand with her clawed one. "You keep saying that I don't owe you anything. Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But it would make me so very happy if you would accept this, not as payment, but as a token of my appreciation and, hopefully, friendship." She smiled again and laughed, wanting to lighten the mood. "Besides, it's heavy and I'd rather not haul it back home with me."
Phoenix's mouth fell open as Eliza turned her body to show her a large jar of honey. It had been years since she'd seen that much honey in one place at one time. How in the world did Eliza get it? Oh yes, she still had a bank account, that she used, and sent her human daughter out shopping for things…she couldn't even reach out to take the bottle, it seemed like some sort of cruel joke, a mutant with money who buys honey and gives it to homeless women who live in abandoned warehouses.
She smelled like honey and herbs? Is that what mutants smelled when she came close to them, even before they could see her or hear her? She had never thought of how she smelled before, not specifically, only if she smelled bad for not showering in the cold water in the winter. She would have to ask the kids when they came home, what she smelled like.
She looked down at Eliza's hand as she practically put the jar of honey in her lap, and covered her hand with her own. She was saying that she wanted her to take this as a token of friendship.
Of friendship.
She was saying that she wanted to be her friend. Phoenix shook her head slightly, this was like out of a dream. She had been gifted with tokens of appreciation before, she had been told that her presence was wanted and anticipated, but she had never had anyone tell her, while she was living this life, that the token was one of friendship.
She looked up at Eliza with tears in her big, green eyes, and blinked rapidly to keep them from falling. She was the healer, the one who was supposed to reassure those around her, and here was this woman, this paradox of human and mutant, that was making her cry.
"Many of my medicines are made with a honey base," she said, her voice far away, "when I have it." She took a deep breath in, afraid she would lose her voice. "Thank you, Eliza," she breathed, looking at the ferret with an intense gratefulness, the feeling threatening to make her tears spill over onto her cheeks.
Phoenix's eyes were glassy as she talked of using honey in her remedies and seemed to gather herself before issuing a breathy thank you. Eliza had given April instructions to get the largest jar she could, along with several other items, while the teen was out on a special shopping trip just for her and was pleasantly surprised when the red-head returned with the bear container. She had hoped it would be a useful without being so outrageous that the healer would refuse it. From the look of appreciation the healer was giving her she had hit her mark and so much more. The gratitude swelled her heart to overflowing and the warming tingle of it bringing a sense of fulfillment she hadn't felt in a long time.
This time she didn't ask but enfolded the Phoenix in a hug, stooping down so that the smaller woman's head rested on her shoulder while her own long neck and muzzle allowed her head to rest on the healer's upper back. She ignored the trace of damp that made it through her fur enough so that it reached her skin. Instead she just held her new friend, making no noise or movement till she felt Phoenix pull away. The the ferret sat up casually, not drawing attention to what had just happened, and smiled softly.
"I'm glad that it will be useful. But you have to promise me," she waggled her finger playfully at her companion, "that you will use a portion of it for yourself." Eliza smiled to herself as she retrieved her mug and finished off her tea, which was only slightly warm now, she had a feeling that it was a promise that Phoenix might have a hard time keeping. Done with her drink she leaned back into the couch, hands interlocked and resting casually on her torso, just underneath her chest. Turning only her head she noted that Phoenix looked composed but happy.
"So, what shall we do now?" She smiled and looked over at the table where the plants were still spread. "My offer to help you prep still stands and we can get to know each other a little better while we work. Or would you prefer to get down to business?" She frowned slightly, not knowing what steps the healer had in mind to determine her status. Closing her eyes she took a breath before looking at Phoenix and giving her a small smile. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still nervous or scared. But I've had time to think and I'm ready to find out what's going on." She chuckled. "Though I'm not in a rush either. If that makes sense."
When Eliza reached out and enveloped her, the tears would hold back no longer. Phoenix was well aware that she was a crier, that the tears would stop soon, but she let them fall for the moment, onto the shirt that Eliza was wearing. She felt the ferret's neck on her shoulder and her head on her back, and with her arms wrapped around her, she felt truly enfolded, something she had only felt with her children up until this very moment. The ferret mutant smelled of ginger and honeysuckle, with unmistakable musk that lay underneath in all Mustelids. It was comforting, the animal smell, much more than the ginger and honeysuckle. Perhaps she was more accustomed to using her nose than the thought.
She pulled away when the tears stopped, and nodded her head like a little child when Eliza chastised her about using the honey for herself. It was a common demand, given to her before, "I promise," she said quietly.
Eliza leaned back, as if she had been here a hundred times before, and her smug smile brought Phoenix back to herself. She took a deep breath, and looked at plants that still needed tending. "I need to finish those up," she said apologetically, "before the kids get home, or they'll be trampled and useless." Visions of Medusa's huge body turning each of the leaves into a mushy pulp came to mind. "All I need to do is put the leaves on the screens to be ready for the dehydrator. With help, it shouldn't take long."
Eliza rocked slightly to assist her rise from the couch, flexing her toes once she was standing, enjoying no longer being constrained by her shoes. She really did prefer to be barefoot, or only socks in her pre-mutant days, but could not stand the idea of sloshing through the sewers without some sort of protection. She did not consider the wraps that Splinter and the boys used anywhere near adequate enough.
"Then let us get to it." she smiled down at the smaller woman. "First, if you'll pardon me, I'm gonna make use of the facilities. By the landing right?" She asked just in case there was some issue she should be made aware of. She strode down the hall and came back after only a couple of minutes, her once confined tail swinging behind her, fur flattened so that it followed the form of the bone and muscle underneath. She felt in a jovial and relaxed mode as she made to join Phoenix at the table.
"Much better." She declared as she sat down. She observed Phoenix's actions for a moment before picking up a nearby stalk and copying her. After a few moments of silent work she had the rhythm down and fell into a pattern easily. "So, I guess this is a good a time as any to get better acquainted." She looked up and smiled before returning her attention to her work. "Though you already know some things about me that no one else does."
The ferret felt the heat of embarrassment and was thankful that her normally telling blush could no longer be seen.
"Still, we haven't really had a chance to get into many of the basics, so I guess I'll start there. I'm 37, married Grant when I was 23 even though he was 31. I was pregnant with Gwyn before our second anniversary." She smiled softly, not really looking at the Phoenix while she glossed over the details of a life she could no go back to.
"He got sick about five years later. It was a long fight that he eventually lost. I love him very much and Gwyn misses him a lot." She sighed the resigned way of one who had accepted the tragedies of the past even though they still felt them. "We do well enough, just the two of us. Grant set up a trust and taught me how to be a day trader so that I could work from home. He made sure that we would be taken care of." Her voice was tender and full of love, she coughed and felt the need to press on.
"I like to read and sew and Gwyn and I both sing. We like to watch movies together, she's a social butterfly and I'm a bit of a homebody though I used to do a lot of community volunteering." She shrugged and stopped talking, not knowing what else to expound on for the moment. "I'm pretty boring otherwise, except of course the whole 'giant ferret' thing, but if there's anything else you want to know I'd be happy to answer what I can." She looked up at her friend, blinked a few times, but was otherwise calm and passive.