It was unlike Carine to seek out an afternoon of tea and small talk. Especially when she had countless curiosities on her mind to study; dark tomes to peruse and potion hypothesis to test. She was a woman consumed by academics, a woman who's personal studies and newly obtained potion ingredients to experiment with called her attention and favor far more diligently and was far more appealing to her logical mind than simple niceties and discussion over the weather. She found such talk to be similarly to the overcast sky that day entirely dull; unworthy of her time she knew was more valuable when spent studying everything her mind desired. Nevertheless she had organized a meeting that day, against what was in her comfort zone and better judgement, for both tea and an inevitable amount of small talk as she attempted to seek advice from an almost-friend.
Though the meeting with Aleena that day would be unwelcome in it's small talk in the beginning, it was one Carine had sought out of necessity. After all, in her network of acquaintances and contacts Aleena had been the only woman she knew that had adult children, a woman who had already experienced her baby birds leaving their nest to form their own lives. It was an experience currently unfolding in Carine's reality since sending two of her three children to Hogwarts and beginning to see them grow and change into the people they were destined to be. The feeling of watching the children she so loved and nurtured discover themselves and their independence was both heartwarming and a sense of pride as it was disenchanting, knowing one day they would leave and start families of their own. It was a feeling so specific in its manifestation that Carine felt no one could truly understand unless they had experienced it themselves, a feeling Carine not only wanted to seek advice over but also seek solace in the fact Aleena had shared the same experience. If the meeting with Aleena unfolded as planned it would develop into a deeper and more emotional discussion and sharing her feelings on her children growing up, which Carine was admittedly far more comfortable and familiar with, but until then she knew her manners would force her hand against her will to make small talk out of politeness. It was this beginning expectation of small talk that she was dreading, more so than opening up to a woman she only knew as an acquaintance. Trying her best to maintain her composure and usual confidence, Carine attempted to ignore her nerves as she set up her favorite aesthetically cracked tea set on her coffee table. It was currently steeping with a blend of tea lives grown from her own garden, steam rising from the spout and forming an aroma in the air. Carine smiled to herself to hide how unsettled she felt, moving to adjust a few plumb coloured dahlias in a nearby vase as she waited for Aleena to arrive.
Aleena was horribly out of practice when it came to making friends. It had never been hard for her when she was in school. But being surround by peers made the hard part easy. Meeting people seemed to be the hard part. Yet even in her young adult life it had been easy when her friends were her husband's friends and wives, and his friends were his business partners. Everything always seemed to fall into place until they had started to go wrong. When they had to move she expected the same thing to happen in New Zealand but it hadn't. Nothing had gone like she had expected. And now she was a widow with a close to nonexistent social circle. She had meet Carnie a few times now and while she found the other woman's interests to be...unusual. She also couldn't afford to be choosy when it came to company. Merlin knew she wasn't exactly a sunny personality these days either. She arrived to the Vale house right on time and she straightened out her robes before knocking on the door.
Caught in distraction while adjusting her vase, Carine could not help but notice a few of the Dahlia's petals had begun wilting, brown seeping in from the edges in a reminder of the flower's impermanence. While in some ways she welcomed the sight of degradation it was hardly pleasing to see in contrasting to the plumb colour of the bloom, nor an impression she intended to give to the impending guest she knew only as an acquaintance, so she no sooner moved to pluck the eyesores from the otherwise pristine vase, placing them in her pocket once she heard the sound of the door knocker resonate in the entry way. Not wanting to keep her guest waiting Carine promptly approached the front door, opening it with a smile on her face and her usual aura of confidence.
"Aleena, I'm so glad you've arrived." Carine greeted, stepping aside to invite the other woman into her home. "I have brewed some home made tea, hopefully it's to your liking." Carine explains after closing the door behind Aleena, leading her into the formal living room. "Make yourself at home of course." She adds as she moves to get comfortable on a nearby arm chair, reaching forward to the coffee table to pour the tea into two cups, choosing to busying herself with serving Aleena's tea, knowing the action gave her at least a momentary excuse to avoid exchanging pleasantries for a little longer. Carine picked up one of the cups, idly stirring it with her teaspoon and sitting back in her chair, watching the coloured water swirl in circles on the surface before she glanced over to Aleena. "Excuse me, I am never one to make too much small talk." Carine admits to the woman. "But I understand we should in politeness, how have you been recently?" She then asks, not entirely uninterested in Aleena's answer but also finding herself feeling predictably out of place in asking such a question, in the same way she always was in asking about another person's life. Carine's instinct was always to cut to the chase but she was trying her best, to be her best to meet the expectations of her upbringing and manners in spite of its occasional difficulty and she hoped Aleena understood this.
Aleena couldn't help but count the seconds between her knock and when the door finally opened. But she got distracted around five when she started inspecting some of the carvings on the door frame. She didn't have a chance to make heads or tails of it before the door opened and she was caught with her head cocked to the side. A less than ideal impression but she recovered quickly and pulled on a warm smile. "Carine, thanks for having me." she replied reflexively as she as she was ushered inside. As desperate as she was for friends she maybe should have suggested meeting elsewhere. The house had an odd energy that put her on edge. In some ways it reminded her of her in-laws home. Issac Thorne had been an odd man with many interests and his house reflected that but he wasn't quite this eccentric. But the promise of tea did raise her spirits. "Tea sounds lovely." she said genuinely. She missed the high end tea shops in London and even the cramped shops full of students in her hometown. Aleena took the cup and hesitated momentarily before taking a seat. She smiled at the other woman's comment about small talk. "It's alright. There was a time I was quite good at it but recently I've found I'm very out of practice." she said before taking a sip of her tea. It was lovely and she raised an eyebrow. "Well my youngest son recently graduated from Hogwarts. He's still at home but I know he won't be for long." she said with a sigh. She could have mentioned work too but if she was honest Caleb was the only thing on her mind recently. "He hasn't said anything but I can feel it."
Aleena's response regarding their small talk was admittedly a relief to Carine who as a result practically wanted to melt into her arm chair; though it was an action she chose to avoid from wanting to maintain her posture. That at least, was a polite necessity she tried not to avoid lest seeming like the weakest link among her various social circles. Women of society were notorious gossips, a show of both their insecurities and immaturity, and a reality and action Carine detested almost more than making small talk, so in not taking part in what she thought was a lower tier of socialization she also had to seem strong to avoid becoming a target for said immaturity and resulting gossip. Aleena thankfully was not one of those women; though it didn't mean Carine would allow herself to fully let her guard down even if she was in her own home. There was still a semblance of an appearance to keep with her social set of acquaintances."Help yourself to the lemon slices and honey of course. The tea has a blend with lavender and honey goes quite well with lavender." Carine added almost as an afterthought, nodding to the tea set where the small pitcher of honey and saucer of lemon slices were displayed proudly. "The honey is local, though not our own as much as I would likely enjoy beekeeping." It was another interest of hers and another hobby to add to her never ending list; she barely had enough time for the few hobbies she could keep up with never mind the countless others she didn't have enough hours in a day to pursue.
"Oh, your youngest has graduated now?" Carine asked with a raised eyebrow, soon sipping from her cup of tea as she listened to Aleena mentioned she could feel he would be leaving home soon. It was a feeling Carine was not familiar with yet, but one she felt impending in her near future as Astraea began to grow into a woman. "The subject of your son graduating does fortunately transition into the topic I had brought you here today to discuss." She admitted, deciding that would be enough of their small talk for the time being. "Excuse my bluntness in keeping to this subject, but I understand you have two other children who are already adults. My own are far from graduating but I have sent two of them to Hogwarts now meaning they will one day too graduate and become adults, as old as this makes me feel." Carine began to explain, leaning forward in her seat slightly as she spoke. "I do worry about what life will be like when they move out and begin their own lives, when they are fully independent and Merlin forbid, they begin to have families themselves if they so choose." As far as her children were from graduating Hogwarts with one having not started yet, they would be even further from starting families but the thought nevertheless weighed on Carine's mind like a plague. "How do you cope, if at all? I cannot imagine the house without the life and souls of our children to fill it, I worry life would seem, well, empty. Is this a normal feeling, in your experience?" Carine understood she was oversharing to a degree and it may have been impolite to bombard Aleena with so many questions, but she also couldn't imagine a more polite way to do so when conversations of having an empty nest so to speak was in Carine's experience rather Taboo.
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