Dior ‘Flamant Rose’ gown, 1948

Marie couldn't help but be excited around fig, it was how she was with everyone she loves. Her heart beating quickly, her heart aflutter.

She never cared that love didn't work out for her. She didn't care that it was doomed from the beginning. After all love was love and love was beautiful. No matter whom it was she loved, they'd get her heart carefully pressed in their hands.

She had it broken twice, she didn't know if she could handle it broken an third time yet she was not afraid when it was fig she loved.

"Aww you missed me." She nervously giggled. "You'll make a great god parent." Marie said, serious for just a moment before planting a kiss on Fig's cheek.

"I've been waiting to hug you ever since you went away."

Fig could not help but smile at Marie's excitement. It was cute. Adorable even. Butterfly inducing. It reminded her of how things used to be, when the four of them would be so excited to play after school, as kids, or when they'd go out and have what fun their parents would allow them to (or they could hide) as teens. At least, Marie and Tou would be hype, Berlioz was never the "hype" type, but Fig was a master of being able to see when in his own way, quietly, he was happy too.

Fig had been weird since they kissed. She wished she could get out of her own head. Her therapist had told her to just start living in the moment, but she knew both she and Marie had far from the best experiences with any and all things in the dating realm. Or love realm. Or any realm. Marie was always crushing on or chasing someone who at best, did not work out, at worst, was a real piece of shit. Like TJ.

On her own end, Fig was only just getting a hold of her own jealousy issues, which had stopped her from ever pursuing deeper relationships. She wanted to, but dating made her uncomfortable, knowing she was one option and not first choice, and she had grown used to just hooking up with people. Having fun, not bothering to get invested in anyone, to avoid the heartbreak of knowing they weren't invested either.

This was different. Marie and her were practically inseparable. They had been best friends since kindergarten. Fig learned how to be fluent in English from how much time she spent with Marie and her brothers far faster than her parents' knowledge and expensive lessons. Marie and Fig knew everything about each other, at least nearly everything. At the end of the day, she'd always be Marie's first choice as a friend, at least.

Fig pulled Marie into a tight hug.

"Missed you too! Sorry, sudden family stuff in Italy. My cousin's new baby is adorable, and I get to be the god parent." Fig said proudly.

"Oh that's so cool that you have a record." Marie said with a bright smile/ "The enchanted rose café at four, yes that will be great!" Marie stated, they'd get to eat treats while drinking tea. While talking about music and who they'd fancy.

Surely it would be fun!

.

"The Queen of the Night is a beautiful aria," Sofia nodded. "I haven't listened to The Magic Flute in so long... It was my favorite opera when I was little. I think I still got the record somewhere in the attic," she said, lost in thought.

"Ah, great!" she repeated, wringing her hands, both excited and nervous about the arranged date. "Then, we meet at the Enchanted Rose Café tomorrow at... Four?" She knew she had to be home by six to start getting dinner ready.

Marie smiled at Guin, she always had been kind towards her. Which is why she greeted her with a polite smile and bow. She had so much respect towards the woman who was both beautiful and kind.

starter for @magicalmariebeaumont

Dinner had already begun, and Guinevere still couldn't quite find her seat. She had arrived fashionably late, as was her custom, but in this particular instance it didn't really cause the impact she had hoped it would. So, once she found her place in the sponsors table (along with some of the other important families of Redwood Hollow, truly an honor, she had to assume), she sat down with a huff, fixed her hair, and took a glance at the menu.

if colors couldn't be girly then why was there a pink tax on female products such as pads and shaving cremes? She wasn't going to say that because it was a debate that rarely anyone won, and certainly not a woman.

"Yeah-" She missed him, he was such a fun guy to be around with, even though he moved.

"I uhm had a casual relationship with TJ. For a while after Charlie I mean, I needed someone to get him off my mind, so I just slept with him a bunch of times." She felt the need to add that little info. "But I was unhappy, very very unhappy." Almost suicidal unhappy not that she would ever admit that, not even to herself.

"And then fig happened." She smiled. Feeling that same warmth and fuzzy feeling she had felt when she was in love with charlie.

"She needed time to think about it. Which fair." Marie said as she passed it back.

.

Toulouse couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "A lighter is a lighter," he shrugged, casually. He'd never been the type of guy to hate "girly" colors. Colors couldn't be girly. They were just colors. Despite the French language thinking that everything needed a gender, Toulouse had the opposite opinion. He took the lighter from her gratefully.

"Of course I remember Charlie. He might have moved, but he's still my best friend," Toulouse nodded. "Well, one of them." It might get him in trouble with a certain mutual friend of theirs if he didn't mention that he had more than one best friend. The more the merrier, right? "Well, that's good. I just think the two of you were very different people who wanted different things." Did it make him slightly uncomfortable how heavily Marie fell for his best friend? A bit, yes, especially since he didn't think they were a good match. But after thinking, he decided he owed her an apology. "I'm sorry I kind of freaked out about it... That was shitty of me, and I shouldn't be policing who you date. Well, in this case, try to date."

Nothing could have prepared him, though, for the confession that slipped his sister's lips next. A sudden jolt shook him as he processed what he'd just heard, and though he wanted to gasp and say WHAT, he knew that he needed to approach this situation delicately this time. "You kissed Fig?" he asked, brows raised, attempting to not look totally stunned. "Okay... and then what happened?" Toulouse eagerly reached his hand out, waiting for Marie to pass it back.

"All I want for Christmas is you." Marie sang, hitting the high note as she went. After all, she sang opera, and this high note wasn't even hard for her.

"Oh, this is fun!" She giggled, the heavy mood she felt earlier already forgotten. "I want one more, though I'm certain the price will be rather lovely whatever it is."

.

Honestly, there was a good chance he would get shot down for a lot of these, so when she didn't immediately tell him to get lost, Bailey was excited. "Alright, we'll start out pretty easy, and if you get that one right, I'll give you some harder ones to trade your prize for a better one, if you'd like. First up," he held up his microphone and began to sing the first line. "I just want you for my own, more than you could ever know. Make my wish come true...."

Bailey held out the mic for her to finish, waiting expectantly.

((Well aren't you a sweetie- closed starter for fig))

Marie was nervous, even though she had shared a joint with her brother, she was still a bundle of nerves waiting to see Fig, she wanted to hold her hand so bad. And kiss her. And make out with her. And tell her how pretty she was. And AAAH feelings were so complex sometimes.

She stood there when she felt some hands around her wrist and she looked back to see fig standing there with that all too familiar smile and her heart melted.

"Fig!" She said gleefully. "I missed you!"

@figarofabbri

"would it?" Marie asked sweetly, she wasn't sure - all she could see were some clouds and honestly if she expected anything, it was rain. "I'm not sure-" She pointed out, she wasn't a weather lady after all.

"Let it snow, let it snow , let it snow." She sang, feeling a little silly for it, but she loved using her voice - especially to cheer people up.

Abby stared intently at the sky, standing outside of the town hall. To anyone passing by, it might just look like a girl curiously watching the clouds, or trying to see some stars. But she was doing more than that. She was trying to study the sky and determine weather patterns. Her brows furrowed and eyes squinted in concentration, placing her hands on her hips as she continued to stare upward. It was only when she heard someone approaching that she stuck her arm out to stop them. "Wait, look up at the sky for a minute. Do you think it's going to snow? It'd be lovely to have a white Christmas this year, no?"

@happieststarters

Marie blinked at the sudden request, but then decided why the heck not. It wasn't like she'd spend christmas with her family - mom was gone, so was thomas and toulouse might prefer to spend his christmas with his new girlfriend. She wouldn't blame him, she couldn't blame him.

"Sure, whats the beginning of the lyric?"

Bailey was in the mood to spread a little Christmas cheer. And, to quote a pretty famous movie, the best way to spread Christmas cheer, is by singing loud, for all to hear. He'd come up with a fun way to give out some presents as well as spread a little happiness through the town. Heading into the center of Redwood, Baily carried a satchel over his shoulder, a sign under his arm and a microphone in hand, setting up a little stand. The sign read "finish the lyric for a present", and as he waited for people to pass by, he got settled. "You look like you could use a bit of Christmas cheer," he called out to the first person he saw. "Finish the lyric for a prize?"

@happieststarters

marie raised an eyebrow when her brother pulled her to the side but when she saw the joint she understood why. Mom would kill them when she'd see their children behave in such a way. And let's face it golden child Berlioz would never.

"If you don't mind it being pink-" She muttered before taking the lighter out of her black purse (not pink this time which was just adding to the funural look she had going on - maybe the funural was for her former self.) In any way, she and Toulouse needed a talk.

"Remember Charlie-" She said out of the blue, because Charlie had been the beginning of it all - her strange mood - her fear of being looked down upon by her brother. "I'm over him now." She stated. Maybe that could give Toulouse some comfort, knowing she wasn't interested in his friend anymore. Not that Fig wasn't his friend as well - but at least she was friends with fig first. SO he didn't have a say in it, not really.

"I kissed Fig." She whispered softly against the air, as she took an inhale blew the same ring, and blew a smaller one like that scene from lord of the rings (or maybe it was another movie - she didn't really watch that many movies)

'Tis the Season, Bxtch

Toulouse stood by his sister outside the town hall. Holidays were about spending time with family, were they not? Despite him not being as equipped for formal events as his sister had always been, Toulouse always knew how to make an entrance. This year, with everything going on, though, he knew that he'd need a little bit of help staying relaxed and enjoying the night. So, before entering, he pulled Marie off to the side and checked to see if they were being watched. Not that he particularly cared, but it wasn't exactly black tie behavior to be smoking right before such a formal event.

"Lighter?" he requested, pulling a small joint out of his pocket. It made things easier now that he knew Marie also smoked, and he didn't feel like he had to keep it a secret. Lighting the end, he rose the joint to his lips and took a few puffs, blowing out the smoke in elaborate rings, just to show off a bit, before passing it to her.

@happiestmariebeaumont

"I do-" Marie said with a soft smile a bit taken aback that anyone was impressed with her. "Yes Opera." She smiled as she learned that they had this in common. "My favorite aria is the queen of night the magical flute." Which was a pretty well known one, but she liked the classics and mozart was a genius.

"I'm a soprano." She nodded. "Sure! No its not too early?" She wondered if Sofia had it tough back at home, she couldn't put her finger on it but she felt that Sofia seemed a bit sheltered, as if if she was too joyous she'd be annoying, which wasn't the case.

.

"Oh, you do a lot of things," she said, truly impressed. "... Opera?" Sofia repeated, opening her eyes wide. "I love opera! I –I didn't think anyone my age was ever interested in opera!" she cried, opening and closing her hands, feeling a sudden burst of excitement. Finally, someone she could talk to! "What's your favorite aria? Oh, and your favorite soprano? Are you a soprano? I'm a soprano, and so was my mother..." She took a pause to breathe, and closed her mouth, realizing she was getting a bit too annoying about the subject.

"Great! So am I," Sofia beamed. "Would you like to go have something for teatime? Or... Or is that too early for you?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not friends with TJ." Was she friends with TJ? Could she still call herself his friend after all they have been through. "I rather not see him."

"umm okay?" she said. wendy wasn't one for gossip but she was aware that tj and marie were close at one point "are you friends with tj? you could go find them both"

"Of course I came, though I didn't know so many people were invited??" She had to step away to let someone pass through, someone half drunk and certainly not dancing groovy.

"All of em are yours hun, its a fleece blanket in yellow, a facemask for if we ever have a sleepover, a guitar and a bee necklace."

Lilo whipped around at the sound of her name, instantly grinning when she realised it was Marie! She came bounding over, pushing at least 2.5 other 'guests' out of the way- "Marie! You came! I- You brought gifts? I- All of them?" she gestured to the basket, definitely not staying chill- "For me?"

"Hmhmm." Marie said, not really interested in bloating about her brothers. They had their charm, but that didn't mean that Marie would praise the heavens that she got them. Lately they didn't really talk much, she doubted Toulouse even knew about the mess he started with the whole you can't date a friend bullshit two years ago.

"I study music writing and singing." She smiled. "Majoring in opera." Like her grandmother who was a key factor in her life.

"What about tomorrow?" They could go after campus. "I'm free around 4pm after school tomorrow."

.

If she had to do some self-judgement, Sofia would say she was definitely less shy than she used to be even earlier that year. She hid a lot less, for once. She felt her smiles were less forceful now. And she was just generally a little bit more comfortable with talking to people... But with her crushes, or with people she used to have crushes on, she still felt like a mess.

"I bet they are," she nodded. She had only met Toulouse so far, but she was certain Berlioz Beaumont was a sweet and delightful person, too. "I think Toulouse mentioned studying art, and I suppose Berlioz is studying music. Do you study at Redwood College, too?" Sofia was almost sure she had seen Marie around campus once or twice. She could very well just be visiting her brothers, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Heaven to the tongue --that's a funny turn of phrase," Sofia chuckled. "Would you, um... When would you be free?" Or maybe she should just give her her number to arrange for a meeting later? She didn't want to pressure her into giving her a definitive answer if she was too busy.

Very bright things in your future. She softly smiled at that, it seemed like Lilo was a terrible psychic. "And you, any girl that striked your fancy, not that I wanna asume but like you seem to be way more into girls than you are into guys."

“I– Psh-… Yes, it is. That, then,” Lilo nodded very smoothly. She let out a laugh, “Well, it depends on the lighting but that sounds like fun. I’m sensing-,” she pause dramatically- “Very bright things in your future.”

"They are both, very, very hot." She sighed. "But I guess one could be considered cute." Endearing too. "Why can't I just like them both?" Why was the universe against her.

"I just-" She didn't know. "I'm torn between a guy who likes a girl aside from me, and someone who liked me all along, who i had a crush on when we were younger but i never thought would like me back."

"And the worst of it all is that - I don't think I deserve either of them."

"Don't worry," he smiled, her little laugh saying it all. He crouched down beside her to help pick everything back up, watching intently as she sighed. "Sounds like you've got a real dilemma on your hands. Are they both cute?" he joked.

"Seriously though, I'm sure you'll figure it out. When you're ready."