Winter our discontent (RP)

Persephone shakes her head and smiles, saying, "Honey, [I]everyone[/i] has an accent. Nothing to be ashamed of. Wait, you're not drinking coffee either? This black; no dairy, no sugar. Come on now, you'll need the energy. Don't be a prude."

She slides the coffee a bit closer to Circe.

Persephone laughs and rolls her eyes at Circe's mock parochialism and then smiles slyly at Circe's resistance to coffee. She says, "If merely feeling like I have energy still allows me to do things without which I would not be able to do, which coffee most definitely does, then how is it importantly different from actual energy?"

She laughs at her own little bit of sophistry and says, "OK, let's get going. Those shoes aren't going to buy themselves!"

Having taken her shower earlier that morning, Persephone shoos Circe away to get ready. Then she logs on to Her, the most popular lesbian dating app being used in London at the moment and continues her quick swiping, in search of Viviana. She reflects, It's a long shot, but who knows? Maybe I'll get lucky. Ahem.

Not finding her, she puts away the phone as Circe emerges. Persephone smirks and snarks, saying, "Ah yes, your patented 'poor American college student' chic. I love it, but we need to get you a new look, girl!" Persephone smiles and Circe knows she's joking, mostly.

Circe smacks her playfully and the two head out to shop--destination, Canary Wharf.

Persephone laughs at Circe's face when she reads the caffeine headache headline. As they arrive at Black Sheep Coffee, Persephone opens the door and gestures for Circe to enter, as if she were Willy Wonka introducing the children to the factory. She takes a surprising amount of enjoyment watching Circe relish that first sip.

She and Circe linger a bit until Persephone can put it off no longer. "OK. let's get you out of those soaking trainers and into some proper shoes! Hmm, let's see. Kitten heels from LK Bennett, some statement boots from Dune London... maybe some streetwear from Circle Collective? Yes, I think so. And after shoes, some proper clothes! Ok...let's go!"

"Company" card in hand, Persephone takes Circe by the hand and out into the wonderful world of luxury capitalism.

Emma works (with) Sarah in the kitchen, focusing on preparing dinner.

It was harder and harder for Emma to think of Sarah as a real person. She was so meek and lethargic and bland, she couldn't believe she was capable of surviving on her own without anyone steering her. She showed no initiative. No pushback. Nothing. More and more she reminded her of the 'Servitors' in Arundel - the men bereft of personality who only existed to obey their masters. She caught herself wondering just how far she could push the poor girl before she finally snapped, if it would ever happen at all. It was a cruel thought, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to provoke her, do something drastic to wake her from this dull submission. If only she could be sure it wouldn't make matters worse for her...

When David finally walked in, soaked and cold and exhausted, she smiled, but the sight of him drained and dripping made her sigh inwardly. So much for tonight. She thought. Her husband looked far too miserable for anything beyond dinner, no matter how sexy she looked in that dress. He was usually always home much earlier, by mid-afternoon, but the relentless rains flooding parts of the city had his department scrambling all over London. It has been going on for weeks now, and he has been looking worse for wear as the days dragged on. At least the weekend would be upon them soon, and he would have a couple of days to recover...

"Hi" she said softly as she walked over to him, but didn't lean in for a kiss since she didn't want to get her pretty dress wet "How was your day?" she knew the answer to that, but asked him anyways "Do you want to change? Dinner is ready"

"I was bored. You know what happens when I get bored: heels, lipstick, and mischief." She placed her hand over his chest, and leaned in just a bit closer "Go change into some dry clothes. I’ll have a drink ready for you when you get back"