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She'd made this tea specifically for Caleri. The thick scent of ginger permeates Elouisa's home, the tea warm with the flavor, sweet leaf---a guilty pleasure of Caleri's, one she would never admit to---and briar daisy stems. She sets the cup down on her coffee table, right on top of several ring-shaped stains from teas consumed what feels like centuries ago. When Caleri would come over. When Caleri could bear her.
She forces a smile as she faces Yarrow. Kilima's favorite--and only--human, beloved and studied by all. Yet Yarrow remains often solitary, only visiting Elouisa, only pulling Elouisa aside when she navigates the village, never chatting with anyone else. Elouisa has never had a friend like her; she is slowly reconsidering her beliefs about humankind. Even if they migrated underground---even if they are the terrifying unknown---Yarrow is a shining specimen, only kind, only ever peaceful. She is truly, truly special.
But, surely, understanding can only go so far.
"Caleri never came over to drink this with me," Elouisa explains, "so I thought I'd invite my greatest friend! I'm... glad you came."
Yarrow's face twists. She picks up her teacup, stares down into the earthy liquid, and takes a careful sip. Elouisa feels an awkwardness in the air, curses herself internally; she's always doing something wrong, always coloring outside of the lines and singing out of key and dancing to the wrong beat and never, ever realizing her mistakes---
"This is delicious," says Yarrow. "I can't figure out why she wouldn't want to drink it."
"I suspect it has more to do with the the company rather than the tea," Elouisa says, her eyes flickering to the side, a blatant expression of agony.
"I thought you two were doing better," Yarrow asks, making a loud slurp.
"I thought so as well..." Elouisa pauses, turns back, tries to mangle herself together. She invited Yarrow over to enjoy herself—not to be depressing. "Well, it's no matter. Nothing out of the ordinary, hm?" She cracks her knuckles. "I invented a new roleplaying game recently! It is about hunting cryptids. I haven't been able to play with anyone yet. Would you like to play with me?"
She takes a sip of her own cup. It really is delicious.
She's always thinking up new ideas, forming new worlds in her head. When Yarrow gifts her aquamarines and gemstones and pearls, she imagines them as Majiri, exploring the vast turqouise of the Bahari seas, shining bright among the splattered constellations, existing in her room to keep her company. She draws them sometimes; other times she writes about them, scrawling her characters into various dreams.
Occasionally she wonders if Caleri would ever want to read them; she is a lover of the written word, after all, a curator of stories. But Elouisa knows better.
Yarrow sets her teacup back down. Folds her arms. "I would love to," she says, "but I think you should invite Caleri to play with us. I mean, have you ever asked her why she doesn't come over anymore?"
Elouisa looks down, her eyes widening. "No," she admits. "I try not to bother her."
"See," Yarrow says, leaning in---she closes her hand over Elouisa's, her soft peach skin a comforting pressure. Elouisa can almost feel Yarrow's heart palpitate inside, can see her nervousness. "You assume you bother her, but when I talked to her... I love you, Elouisa, but it's irrational, she cares about you... you get in your own way sometimes..."
And she pauses. Her eyebrows raise. Her eyes join Elouisa's in widening. Her expression grows into shock and humilation, the fear quivering her lips up.
"Did I do something wrong?" Elouisa asks.
Yarrow looks like she's about to cry. "No," she says. "I just didn't mean to say that I----nevermind. I just want you to be happy, and I think you'll be happier when your sister is back in your life." She pats Elouisa's hand. "Go talk to her. And bring her some of this delicious tea."
"Will you... come with me?" Elouisa asks, tapping her fingertips over the chair's wooden arm.
Yarrow is suspiciously eager when she replies, her words spilling out singsong and fast: "Of course."
