Florence let out a short snort that sounded almost like laughter at Alma’s reply. In the distance, she could see a small collection of rocks, not quite big enough to call them boulders but near enough.

“What is it with men and cars? They’re not that interesting.” One hand lifted to wave off the topic, sure they were fast but all that chatter about parts and pisces. Good lords, it was draining. She’d much rather talk about…literally anything else.

Lily creased her expression, it was kind that someone was willing to be so worked up over something she thought so little of. Maybe she should take more offence towards it, it was a little rude of Florence.

“A lot of people are going to give me that look, Finn. You can’t give all of them the stink eye.” She let out a small laugh, leaning her shoulder into his arm briefly before pulling back so they wouldn’t stumble over each other’s feet.

–

Callisto tipped his head back, his lips pulled into a small closed smile. He had a feeling it would take a lot more time for this to be spoken of, let alone processed in any way. Even if Xevon wanted to move on in the conversion, he didn’t want to go romping around the grounds. He wanted to stay bundled up in this cottage with him, even if they didn’t say a word to each other. But that was a silly fantasy.

“Shall we…patrol? To find her? I am not sure how we find her otherwise, that and neither Florence or Alma said what she looks like.” He realised that fact as he was saying it, not only that he felt a little daft being so close to him now the conversation had pivoted.

Clearing his throat, Callisto looked away and scanned the front door, quickly looking back up at Xevon with more nerves in his tensed muscles.

Her eyes squinted as her smile took up more real estate, still peering up at Finn as he turned his attention to glaring at Florence’s back.

“You can throw hands with bad people, not just because they looked at me funny.” Her eyes flicked to the side as she heard Alma’s foot twist and turn in the grass. Turning her head, Lily narrowed her eyes as Alma redirected the group towards what looked like rocks. Interesting choice, not that she was going to argue with a goddess and demigod, that seemed a touch futile.

Florence cringed. “I’ll make note of that.” Her head barely moved as Alma focused on the rocks, she hadn’t really paid much mind to them in the past, so why was the other woman diverting them With a short huff, Florence joined her.

She could feel Finn’s gaze on her back, eventually she couldn’t help herself and Florence quickly turned her head to look at him. Matching his scowling expression before returning to following Alma, maybe a tad heavier in her steps.

–

Callisto stepped backwards to give Xevon some more room to stand up, pulling his hands back close to his chest. Rather sad to be leaving the comfort of the cottage, but he kept his useless yearning to himself and made for the front door. His clothes were still dishevelled from their night spent on the dirty floor in the ruins, he had made no effort to fix them. He hadn’t expected to sleep anywhere better, so why fix it. Now there was the cottage, maybe he should’ve sorted himself out.

“I will follow your lead, you know more than me.” He offered, he didn’t need to explain why Xevon was more suited to finding this goddess. Callisto knew he had been useless when he had first found Xevon, nothing seemed to have helped him until Alma had shown up.

Lily almost laughed at his grumbled words, but that lightheartedness was ruined as she spotted Florence’s look and the subsequent reaction from Finntello. It made her shoulders tense up and she snapped her gaze back up at Finn, nudging him a little more aggressively than she had meant to in his side.
“Finn, don’t let her wind you up. Or I’m going to throw hands with you.” She scolded in a hushed voice.

Florence had already returned to Alma, ignoring Finn’s reaction to her for now. Happily walking along beside the other woman.

“Why are we walking towards a bunch of rocks?” She pushed the question out with no hesitation, letting the vague amount of snarkiness come through loud and clear.

–

Following Xevon back outside, Callisto peered around the immediate surroundings. He couldn’t see or hear the rest of the group now, which was a little…scary considering how accustomed he had become to having them around. As much as Finn’s mumbling was irritating, it was sort of like white noise now.

“What if Florence is just playing us for fools?” He asked as casually as he could manage, stepping out from behind Xevon to look around the side of the cottage. Only wisteria and evergreens lined his vision, no mourning woman calling out for her friend.

“I mean, that she can get us out of here? What if she is..more Veles-like than human, is what I mean.” He dared a glance over his shoulder at the mention of the old god’s name.

All Lily could do was try and ignore the brewing storm beside her and listen in on Alma as she spoke. Whatever these rocks were, seemed to be calling to her. That or Alma had lost the plot entirely. It also looked like Florence was just as skeptical, trudging her way over towards the rocks with very little enthusiasm.

She turned around, lips parted to speak but quickly stopped herself when her eyes met the clearly annoyed ones of Finntello. Florence lifted an eyebrow, pausing in her stride to confront him.

“What’s the matter? You look like you’ve been sucking on a lemon with that sour face.” She chided, tipping her head back to move her hair off of her shoulders.

Lily winced at the interaction, this wasn’t going to work out well, she sent silent prayers to Alma from across the grass to do something about the bristling man beside her.

–

Callisto let out a small sound, a sort of hum to show that he had heard Xevon, but his eyes were wandering around. Looking for the misty figure they were supposed to be on the hunt for.

“I would not be surprised if they came back having been at each other's throats the entire time.” He commented, stepping out from beside his companion and peeking around the side of the house and along the rolling hills nearby.

This goddess could be practically anywhere, not to mention the mist in the air was only going to make it all the more difficult to spot her.

“She is certainly…opinionated. I shall say that, I cannot remember the last time someone made me almost swipe a paw at them.” Callisto was still muttering under his breath as he pottered around, taking himself further away from the house now.

Florence remained where she was, rooted to the ground with growing stubbornness as Finntello made his quick approach. An indignant expression on her face, scowling up at him, but her muscles didn’t tense up even as he loomed over her. She ignored Lily’s attempt to move forward and prevent whatever was about to happen, her brown eyes wide with panic.

Slowly, Florence crossed her arms over each other as the insults continued. Feathers and goop. That was one way to put it, but she certainly wasn’t her father. Whilst she knew she wasn’t the most…friendly individual, Florence was rather offended by the outburst.

“Are you quite finished?” She asked finally, despite the fact that Finn had basically just threatened to kill her as well as her father she was quite calm. “Would you rather I shower her with pitiful remarks? Oh poor Lily, you poor little thing. You deserve better, you shouldn’t have gone through that, oh dear it’s all so terrible!” Her mocking increased in volume as she glared up at Finn.

“I think she’s going to hear enough of that for the rest of her life, don’tcha think?!” She snapped, whipping an arm out to gesture sharply to Lily but kept her eyes trained on the man before her. “I am not my father, or should I bring up your heritage? Or hers for that matter. I’m not looking at her because I have nothing to say. She’s going to hear it all from someone else anyway.”

–

Callisto dipped his head from side to side in consideration to the comment. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see that fight, he’s seen enough gore for the rest of his new life. Although, it would be satisfying to see Florence get put in her place though.

As he made his way back around from the corner of the cottage, he looked up at Xevon and let out a short cough. He had caught his own saliva in his throat, Callisto had been taken off guard a little. Having honed in on the bigger comment, not that he wasn’t aware of the well..absolute masculinity of Xevon, but he always did his best to try and not dwell on it. It made his skin heat up, something he wasn’t a fan of doing often.

“I think he’s worried you’re going to chew his ear off and make fun of him more than anything else.” Callisto finally managed out his addition to the conversation, busying himself by looking around their immediate surroundings. Not wanting to draw attention to himself more than that burst of coughing already had.