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Elka 1

The light pattering of rain filled the shop where it wasn't hidden by the chatter of the other women shopping together. Well used to it by now, Elka didn't even shift her eyes towards the windows or roof as she would have done so many years ago when she had first moved here. The constant rain had been strange, stranger still with how quickly it had come and gone each day. It had been a worry in the beginning, all that ocean water around her unfit for drinking. How were they to get fresh water? It hadn't been something she had thought of. Fortunately, Kayde had always been on top of everything and already had rain catchers installed outside. Now she welcomed the rain, for it provided such an easy source of water that was theirs and theirs alone. It was almost cozy to think about. Just step outside, in the sunshine after the rain, when the world was smelling fresh and the sea breeze was in your face, for a refreshing drink in your own back yard. It was something she never thought she'd come to appreciate, this type of simple living.

It was strange to her now, to think there had ever been a time when she had been a rich man's daughter, with all the space, clothing, and accessories she could ever have wanted. An alien part of her life her children have never known. They didn't even know there was a better way to live. Maybe one day she could finally show them.

Elka moved along the shelves, aiming for the clothing section of the family-run store. They had some new dresses propped up on mannequins, fit for a child. She fingered the sleeve of one. Long and flowing, with a pretty flower bodice.

"How about this one?" She turned to her daughter with a smile on her face, still holding onto the sleeve. "It's a very beautiful color."

With her eyes roaming the rows of the few dresses in the store, all in the current fashion of cut, the Ice woman hadn't noticed her daughter's attention hadn't been completely on her until she'd said something. She liked to have her children's full attention when she was doing something with them. Especially when it was something for them as it was now. Kayde never seemed to care as much if they got distracted and that he had to repeat himself a few times. As if he wasn't their parent, but their best friend. She tried her best to be both, leaning more on the side of parent than buddy. She didn't want to treat her children like they should always obey and fear her, as her own did, but she also wanted to know she had their respect as their mother. And showing that respect, to her, was by paying attention.

"Good," Elka nodded now, a pleasant smile on her face as she turned her own attention fully on Elenora, two sets of golden eyes. She was about to ask if she wanted to get this one, when the girl turned towards a different dress next, a hint of mischief in the air. All the woman could do was smile as she followed behind, pretending to give the dress a thorough look over as if she were interested in it. When in truth she'd never be caught dead wearing something like that. At least Elenora seemed to share in her mother's good taste, also mocking it for how silly it looked.

"Ah, it's...Interesting." Which wasn't a lie. The cut of the fabric certainly was different from what seamstresses usually did in the area. Someone was clearly trying to think outside the box. "Shall I ask for this one to be wrapped up?" she teased. "You seem to like it so much."

Elka couldn't help laughing at her daughter's reaction. Yes, definitely had the same good taste in clothing designs. The very first step to raising your children right was knowing how to present oneself to the world. No one made a good first impression with bad color combinations or out-of-style designs.

"I'm sorry, little flower," she said between a few chuckles, tucking a curl back into place on the child's head. "I was only teasing. You've got good tastes just like mom." Giving a casual glance around them. the Ice woman bent down, elegantly arranging her skirts so the slit in one side wouldn't expose her one leg in an unlady-like fashion, trying to hold it closed without appearing like she was. "But we must remember to be quieter out in public, alright." She leaned in a little, as if it was a secret between the two of them what she was about to say next. "Even if we think something is ugly, which it is, we should be discreet with our feelings in case anywhere is close enough to hear. It's not very becoming of a lady."

"Good girl," Elka responded, caressing the little girl's cheek before smoothing down her curls in a very loving manner. Curls so like her own. Elias had hair closer to his father, constantly sticking up where she didn't want it to. Maybe as he grew older, it would flatten out more and be less like Kayde's in that sense. Kayde's would always have a habit of standing up, no matter how often she tried to tame it. Still, it wasn't as if it looked terrible like that. It quite suited the man. Always did, she thought. Seemed like her mother's obsession with neatness and the proper order of things was engrained so much in her head that she still ruled over Elka's life even now.

We might have to put a stop to that, now won't we?

"I know you'll be better. Such good children I have." Elka rose back up to her full height, letting her skirt fall back into place. It had taken some getting use to, wearing skirts with such a long slit up the side. She wasn't used to esposing her legs even a little bit before than. But it did really come in handy here, with the cool breeze from the ocean cooling on her legs.

No sooner had she given the lesson, did the youngling seem to forget it, once more using a louder voice than the parent would have liked out in a public space. This time she let it slide, since a loud voice giving a compliment was much better than a loud voice saying something negative. She followed her daughter, reaching out with a hand to feel at the fabric with two fingers. Very nice. And the color was lovely. "Do you like this one, than? Should we find someone to help us bring it home to show Papi?"

The stiffening of the hybrid was not lost on the mother and she felt a little twinge of guilt over it. Was it her fault? Was she being too harsh? Kayde would sometimes say she was being a little too hard on them, not allowing them to just be kids without the worry of coming off as impolite. Kids were impolite by definition. Off in worlds of their own, too preoccupied with the next thing to pay as much attention to the others around them. But they couldn't be left to run around as they pleased. They still needed to be taught some form of manners that would help them grow up into well adjusted adults. What was the balance? She didn't have anyone here she could use as an example. Even her brother's family were still in Zena. She'd never seen them down here. Which maybe proved he was not someone she should be looking at for tips.

Elka patted the girl's head once more, still smiling her same smile all this time. Revealing nothing. She called over for an attendant to get the dress packed up for them. While they waited, she turned back to Elenora, smoothing down the front of her own skirt, fixing a little wrinkle in the bottom of her shirt. "Should we eat after this? Or would you rather go straight back home?" She glanced out the window, frowning. "I think it's still raining, though."

Elka tucked a stray curl behind her own ear, having felt it bouncing off her cheek for the past five minutes. Her hair wasn't difficult to control. The curls that covered her head weren't to tightly wound that she couldn't get a brush through it. It could be manipulated as she saw fit, be it either pulled up into a bun or hanging loose down her back. It might frizz a little in the rain, but for the most part, she considered herself very lucky. She had seen other people with thick, curly hair that looked impossible to do anything with. Certainly not comb it without risking breaking the tool. Elias hair as a child had been fairly straight, only ever looking slightly wavy when it grew out too long. Elenora took after her mother, with a beautiful head of brown curls.

Following behind the attendant, the Zenan woman gestured for her daughter to follow, where she paid for the dress now safely packaged in a tightly bound brown box. She put it swiftly into the bag she was carrying and turned around, stepping out of the way of someone else.

"Food it is, than," she nodded, holding the bag with two hands so it rested on her thighs. "But what shall we do about the rain, I wonder." Raising one hand, she put it against one cheek, pretending to be completely stumped about her next action. She liked to give her children as much choice on what they did, to try and stimulate their brains to think more. Not that Elenora needed it. She had enough thoughts in her small head for the entire household.

The bag with the dress box dangled from the wrist of the arm Elka had crossed over her stomach. Being a kid's dress, it wasn't taking up much room in the bag, which was a normal bag she liked to use when she went into town to look for browse the shops for anything she might find interesting. Most often she did not, but it wasn't because she found the things here in Matori ugly or not worth her money. She did. A lot of the clothing was beautifully made and very lightweight, which she found she preferred on her body over the longer, thicker skirts she used to favor even in Jauhar. The tight corsets that would sometimes cut off her air. It was a style her mother had preferred and had made her daughter's adapt to, thinking it enhanced their beauty. Elka especially she always said fitted the look the best, and she had kept up the look even long after she was no longer in Zena. It was only moving to Matori did she finally try something different. A new life, a new look, a new her. She wasn't the same as she was. In many ways.

The Zenan tapped the edge of her nose with one finger. Very smart answer. What would Elias have said, she wondered? Definitely not the suggestion about the roofs. Maybe lament how he'd left behind his umbrella once again.

"Mm. We could. That is a very resourceful answer. However." She reached into her bag, pulling out a small cloak with a large hood. "I do also have this. I found it at a small shop." There was one at home for Elias, a nice deep blue with little yellow leaves along the edges. They were both small enough to fit children, but large enough that they should still serve the two for a few years before they finally grew too big for them. She held it out for Elenora to inspect and take should she be interested.

While Elenora took the small cloak, Elka pulled out a larger one from her bag, shifting the box against the side where it had been sitting directly on top of it. With more difficulty because of the bag hanging off her arm, she swing it around her own shoulders, tucking it around her shoulders and curls carefully. It was lighter blue in color, closer to her own skintone and made the tight curls that sometimes snuggled against her cheeks stand out all the more.

Like a typical mother, she bent down to tuck her daughter's hair more into the hood and set it just right on her head and shoulders. "Adorable. It's a very complimentary color for you." With a little smile, Elka straightened back up, puling the edges of her own cloak around her body and making sure the hood covered her forehead just enough. Though she had long since gotten used to the rain, she still didn't appreciate getting too wet. "I think we're ready. Where shall two pretty ladies go to eat?"