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THE THIRSTY MINNOW - EARLY EVENING
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Victoria walks into the Minnow, her tails swishing only slightly as the leopard is deep in thought. Dressed in a light blue not-quite-see-through piece, she looks around, hoping to find her brother... and also sort of hoping to not find him, as there is definitely a part of her that would rather just forget anything even happened. But she can't, not quite.
Florian is sitting at the bar counter, dressed in a lightweight and definitely effeminate set of clothing, albeit leaning more practical than showy. His fluffy tail swishes a bit as he eats an evening meal, as he's clearly liking the food after who knows how long the majority of his meals were served on-board a ship, and thus salted, pickled or otherwise preserved... or bland.
Victoria quietly steps to near Florian. She takes a deep breath and is about to say something, but stops herself and just lets the breath out. What does one even say in such a situation?
Florian continues to eat until he senses someone stepping up next to him, at which point he looks around, his fork still in his mouth. Upon seeing Victoria, he nods at the stool as he finishes eating the piece of food and sets his fork down. "Evening, Vee."
Victoria gives Florian a weak smile: "Hey, Florian." She pauses again, words failing her something fierce: "We uh... I think we should write a letter."
Florian hums while taking a sip of water from his glass, then nods as he sets it back down. "Mmhm, we should. That was the plan, right? You show up here once you're ready?"
Victoria glances aside, then nods: "...as ready as I will ever be." She then hesitates, hesitates again for good measure... and grabs Florian into a tight hug, witnesses be damned.
Florian is in the process of picking his fork back up to continue eating when he's pulled into a hug. His fork clatters back onto the plate as he lets out a surprised sound somewhere between a meow and a yowl. It takes him a moment before he realizes what's happening, but he can't do much beyond sort of awkwardly hang partway off of his stool, leaning heavily against Victoria as she hugs him.
Victoria lets go of the hug almost as quickly as she started it, giving Florian another of those weak, if now slighly warmer, smiles: "...I missed you." Her voice is quiet, almost a whisper.
Florian manages to right himself again once Victoria releases him from the hug. He looks over at his sister, his expression definitely a bit softer than what it's been since he first showed up. "Same, Vee... ever since you left Fern."
Victoria nods: "It's been... well, a long time." She sighs and shakes her head, then turns to Barkeep to get herself a drink: "I think it... better if we focus on the now, though."
Florian hums again. "It's been a long while, yeah. I'm sure a lot has changed since back then." He looks over Victoria's outfit, silently making a bit of a point, "Were you here in Respite since back then?"
Victoria shrugs, completely failing to notice said point: "More or less. My goal was to get far away, and I didn't really care where I ended up."
Florian lets out a quiet, singular laugh. "Heh... well, I guess you succeeded in that, then. This was the last place I thought to check, and even then, I had to ask around in Bairnell's Foothold before getting pointed this way."
Victoria takes a sip of her beer, going quiet for a second as she does. She hums, then glances at Florian: "So... how do we want to go about this? I don't even have to guess that you have better ability to write than I do."
Florian throws Victoria an amused smirk. "Oh? You didn't even keep up with your penmanship lessons when you left? I'm definitely not going to be writing for you, Vee, if you were hoping for that." He shakes his head as his smirk fades, "Your letter to dad comes from you. I write one, you write one, we send them together."
Victoria sighs: "Fair, I guess." She takes a breath: "...how should I even approach this?" The usually confident leopard looks lost and confused, right now.
Florian shrugs. "I can't say. I was with Dad for six out of the last eight years, and I've been sending him letters pretty routinely. I'd imagine you have a lot of writing to do in the immediate future."
Victoria gives a rough laugh: "I guess you would imagine that. I just want to let him know I'm fine, and alive."
Florian watches Victoria a bit. "So... let's start from that, then? There's eight years of your life that he's missed out on, but letting him know you're still around is a good start."
Victoria shrugs: "Good as any place, I guess." She looks aside, thinking about their Father. She then shakes her head after a moment: "Or something. I don't even know. Just write what comes up, right?"
Florian nods. "More or less, yeah. Paper's easy enough to come by, and I've got a few writing tools you can borrow." He shakes his head, "Just... talk to him like you used to, you know?"
Victoria nods, continuing in a quieter voice: "Like I used to... gosh, it's been so long. But, yeah... I get you."
Florian: "Well... more like... just remember that he's our dad, not some random person. I can tell you're rougher around the edges compared to before, Vee, but you're still his daughter."
Victoria hums: "Easier said than done. I'm not really... used to this sort of thing, I guess. Writing to anyone."
Florian flashes another small smile. "You never really were one for that even back in Fern. Like when one of your friends moved away with their family, remember?"
Victoria blinks, then her expression drops: "...I never wrote back."
Florian bobs his head to the side a bit. "Well... you did once, but Dad really had to encourage you to do that."
Victoria sighs: "I'm better at burning bridges than keeping them be, aren't I?"
Florian shrugs. "Writing isn't exactly for everyone, but I think you need to write in this case, since it's to Dad."
Victoria nods slowly, staring into her glass: "You're right. I... I do."
Florian sighs a little and tilts his head as he shifts the topic a bit. "So... want something to eat before we get to writing?"
Victoria smiles: "Yeah... best to first get some food in me."
Narrator: The siblings order hearty food, and eventually even get into writing some really hard words (for Victoria) to write home. Afterwards, their mood slowly lightens, slowly tearing down the walls in between.