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meekmedea · 10 hours

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conversations over tea (XI)

previous part

~~~~

Lavinium is in a strange sort of limbo with her uncle’s death. Operations were running as usual and nobody – not even the staff – dared to inquire after who the next owner was.

Allusions were made, of course, but for the time being, the power rested in her maternal grandfather’s hands. Grandfather had taken over signing off on anything that might have required Uncle Aurelius’ signature. Nobody had complaints of that.

The funeral was a miserable affair – it wasn’t to say that it disrespected her uncle or anything, but that Clemensia felt hollow standing there as a multitude of empty platitudes were offered up.

A shrill laugh brought her back to reality and Clemensia’s brows furrowed as she found the source of the laughter. The topic of conversation at hand was distasteful to say the least – there was no formal announcement, yet here Aunt Agave was, parading Pentheus around as if he was to inherit Lavinium.

With Uncle Aurelius having died a bachelor and childless, the Beauchamps had no direct heirs to inherit Lavinium. This left his sisters to inherit Lavinium and because it was highly unlikely that he’d split it between the two of them, it meant that it would either go to the Valencik family – to Aunt Agave and her son, Pentheus – or to the Dovecotes.

“Shameless,” mutters her father, coming to stand beside her. He continues in Mandarin, “To talk of such matters at a funeral, promising things that aren’t theirs.”

There was an implication there. One that Clemensia didn’t dare voice out loud. And when she glanced at him, hoping he’d confirm things, all he did was squeeze her hand gently in support.

It certainly sets the tone for the will reading that took place right after the funeral had concluded.

There aren’t too many people present – Clemensia’s family, Aunt Agave with her son and husband and of course, her maternal grandfather. The lawyer is there too.

Personal effects are bequeathed mostly to Aunt Agave and her mother. Her grandfather isn’t mentioned at all, but Clemensia thinks that is due to the fact that Uncle Aurelius wouldn’t have considered his father outliving him.

Clemensia just blinks in surprise when he leaves her his flat and everything within it that he hadn’t already bequeathed to his sisters.

“To my favourite niece–” continues the lawyer.

A fresh wave of grief welled up at the line.

“–Clemensia Dovecote, I name her my heir to the business. Ownership of Lavinium is to be given directly to her. Should she accept, I have instructed Mr. Lamont to also give her ownership of a certain jewelry box and all the contents as hers. ”

She forgets how to breathe as all hell breaks loose in the room.

Her Aunt Agave is on her feet, contesting the validity of the will. Insisting that her son, Pentheus, should inherit. She says something about how Uncle Aurelius had promised it to her son, something that Pentheus vehemently backs.

Her words are getting harsher by the second.

There is too much going on.

Mother is arguing with Aunt Agave. Grandfather intervenes, but not in the way Clemensia would have expected – he too argues against the will’s validity. Something in her chest twists bitterly at her grandfather’s words when he says in light of Clemensia having helped around Lavinium, he proposes that they give her a small share.

20% ownership to her. Hardly anything. Was that all she was worth? Because she wasn’t born as a boy?

Her aunt’s husband makes an offhand comment about Clemensia, one that her father takes as a personal insult. “Do repeat that again, Valencik.” The look on his face is murderous. “I dare you to.”

“Stay out of this, Dovecote,” spits out her aunt’s husband

And oh had that been the wrong thing to tell her father.

As all this chaos unravels in the front of eye, Clemensia doesn’t realize she’d stood up from her seat and gone up to Mr. Lamont – the lawyer. The words hardly register to her until she realizes he’s asking if she’d sign the papers to take up ownership of Lavinium.

She picks up the pen.

“Clemensia!” screeches Aunt Agave. “Don’t you dare!”

Turning, Clemensia found the entire room staring at her. Her eyes flit to her mother first, then her father. After a second, she looked to her grandfather whose disapproval was clear as day. “Grandfather,” she starts carefully. “Uncle Aurelius entrusted Lavinium to me, I promise to take good care of it.”

She doesn’t wait to see his reaction. Instead, she turned back to the paper and signed her name. “And the box?” she asks.

The jewelry box is offered by Mr. Lamont without any protests.

~~~~

The next few days are a mess. Especially when a new will is found in the belongings that Uncle Aurelius had willed Aunt Agave – or so her aunt claims. Frankly, Clemensia found the timing too suspicious.

The new will is rather similar to the one that been read by Mr. Lamont. The only difference is that there are far more things bequeathed to Aunt Agave and her family. Notably Lavinium. They blow up her phone with calls and demands to sign her inheritance over.

And when Clemensia refuses to budge on ownership, even going so far as to ban them from the store itself, her aunt threatens to take her to court. They also threaten to ensure the name Dovecote is synonymous with liars and thievery.

This, her parents take as a declaration of war. Especially their attempts at a smear campaign. Father has friends in many places and the papers know better than to publish anything that puts Clemensia in the spotlight. In a way, it affords her an anonymity that some of her peers didn’t have. One that she didn’t mind so much.

It’s been this way since she was a child – unless approved first by the family, the papers won’t write a thing about her, regardless if it's positive or negative.

The one paper that dares to write the words ‘Dovecote heiress’ and ‘Lavinium’ has their papers instantly taken off the shelves, pulped and recycled. Never to see the light of day again.

~~~~

Pup is finally able to reach out over call. Over the period, there are certain parts of the district waters where the signal isn't quite as good as others. If he could turn back the ship, he would. That much Clemensia knows and is touched by, but he cannot. Instead, he vows that if things should go to court, he will put his family’s backing behind her.

And when Saturday comes around, Clemensia shakily dials the President’s number. Was she a bit of a coward for not calling his private line and leaving the message with his secretary instead? Perhaps. But she was in no mood to leave the house. To wallow in her misery was far more preferable, and besides, he was out on personal business or so his secretary had said.

This is why she startles when a knock sounds on her door around half past noon. “Coryo?”

“I heard about your uncle.” The silence dragged on uncomfortably. “I’m sorry,” he adds awkwardly.

“It’s not as if you were behind it.” She lets him come in after a second of hesitation, closing the door after him. It seemed cruel to make him stand out there.

“I thought you might want the company.”

Sirius meandered by, his tail knocking into Coriolanus’ legs.

“Human company,” he amends, causing her to crack a smile. His arms reached out just the bit and she let him tug her into a hug.

“You’re not as fluffy as Sirius, but I suppose you can make do,” she mumbled.

“You’re too kind.”

Just then the landline in the room rings. But Clemensia makes no move to reach for it.

“Should you…”

“No.” She had a good feeling it wasn’t one she wanted to pick up. “Let it go to voicemail.” Unfortunately, Clemensia forgot that when it went to voicemail, the message would be heard by the entire room.

This meant that Coriolanus was subjected to her aunt’s rant about how she was an ungrateful and selfish whelp of a girl.

“She seems…” His nose wrinkled. “Pleasant,” he settles on once she untangled herself from his embrace.

Somehow that statement was enough for something in Clemensia to crack, she doesn’t mean to spill all her problems to him, but it just happens.

Yet he listened to her.

~~~~

“Here.” Coriolanus offered up a steaming mug of tea to her, settling down beside her on her couch with his own steaming mug of tea. “That’s quite a series of events.”

Clemensia made a hum of agreement. Hands occupied with the mug, she had stopped stroking Sirius’ head, and her dog seemed to be a little unhappy at the lack of attention, nudging at her hand ever-so-slightly to remind her of his presence.

“So what are you going to do? I mean, do you want Lavinium?”

She took a slow sip from her tea. “I want my uncle alive.”

He said nothing to that, letting her rest her head against his shoulder.

Eventually, she spoke up once more, “Since he trusted me with it, I want to make him proud.”

“I’m sure you will.”

They watched as Sirius moved off the side of the couch and meandered around the room. He seemed in search of something. He really was due for another trim because as he passed by the coffee table, his fur caught onto the jewelry box, causing it to crash to the floor.

Putting her tea down on the coffee table, Clemensia got up to pick up the box. In doing so, a watch fell out and when she flipped the lid open to put it back in, she noticed something sticking out from underneath the velvet lining.

Coriolanus shifted in his spot, leaning forward. “Is something wrong?”

“There’s something sticking out,” she says distractedly as she tries to tug at what she believed was a piece of paper. Was it a false bottom?

“Let me see,” he offered.

But even upending the now empty box seemed hopeless as whatever was there seemed stuck.

“I think I need something thin to pry it open.” A pen? No, that might not be thin enough. What of a knife? “Do you think you can grab me the letter opener over there?” She gestured with a tilt of her head to the drawers nearby. “Second drawer.”

Returning with the letter opener in hand, Coriolanus offered it to her. She gave it a few more attempts before it finally loosened enough that she could remove the velvet-lined bottom. There was a multitude of papers within – one was a copy of the will, a quick skim through it reveals that it was identical to the one Mr. Lamont had delivered on the day of her uncle’s funeral.

“What are they?” he asks.

“Another copy of his will,” she says, placing it on the coffee table. “And this is…” She stared up at him. “Coryo, he’s given me the deed and all the papers to show that I own the land Lavinium is on.”

As far as Clemensia knew, only the head of Lavinium had access to this. Her grandfather had given it to Uncle Aurelius, and as far as anyone knew, nobody had it. Not even Aunt Agave could produce them with all her declarations of her son being the rightful heir to Lavinium.

So if uncle had arranged for her to have it, it must have meant something right?

~~~~~

first part

next part

some rambles - we know very little about the Dovecotes, much less Clemensia mother's side of the family but if anyone was a little lost by the family tree presented over the course of this AU, this is a brief glance of what I've crafted up:

Clemensia's mother's family name is Beauchamps, and their family made their fortune as a luxury jewelry boutique (Lavinium)

Her grandfather had three children (oldest to youngest): Aurelius, Aelia (Clemensia's mother - the name comes from my other AUs), Agave

Aurelius never married, nor did he have any children; Aelia had Clemensia; Agave married a man with the surname Valencik and they have one child Pentheus (Clemmie's cousin)

#conversations over tea #clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #fanfic #platonic #messy family business succesion #2 more chapters to go...

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meekmedea · 2 days

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conversations over tea (X)

previous part

warnings for this chapter: mention of animal cruelty

~~~~

It feels like the peacekeepers have it out for her or something, or at least the one in charge right now did. After some back and forth, they eventually give her the phone, warning her that one call was all she had and it didn’t matter whether the other person picked up or not.

There were few people she considered calling.

Her parents were off the table – they were off on some cruise for their anniversary and she had little wish to disturb them. Uncle had a notorious track record for never picking up the phone, so he wasn’t on the table either.

A few friends came to mind – then him.

It was a gamble because she had little idea if he’d pick up, much less hear her out. But she had to take the chance. He’d at least have the decency to hear out his dearest friend’s plea, right?

After all, he was the one to name her such.

So she dialled his number. Perhaps the odds weren’t stacked against her considering she had the number of his private line these days.

And she waited.

“Coriolanus speaking.”

Hearing his voice, Clemensia let out a sigh of relief. “Coryo, it’s Clemensia. I know it’s late, but I was hoping I could call in a small favour.”

He made a small hum, acknowledging that he’d hear her out.

“When I was walking Sirius tonight, someone tried to mug me. They had a knife and Sirius bit them in my defence–”

“Are you alright?” There was the sound of rustling from his end of the phone. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m fine,” she reassures. “The Peacekeepers appeared on scene fairly quickly, except now I've been detained at one of their bases.”

“On what grounds?”

“They want Sirius put down and to charge me with a litany of crimes.” Many of which she thought were trumped up charges. “Including identity theft – they don’t believe me to be Clemensia Dovecote.”

He made a displeased hum and she could just about picture the frown on his face. “I see.”

She wasn’t sure if that meant he was considering helping her or not. Without being able to see his face, it made it hard to get a read on him.

“I’ll handle it,” he says finally.

“Thank you.” And she meant that wholeheartedly.

~~~~

When he hangs up, she utters no threats or demands to the Peacekeepers. She merely returns to her seat and waits. They think it means that whoever she has called is unable to help or unwilling to.

Then the phone rings. One of the Peacekeepers answered it and Clemensia watched with a bit of a malicious glee as the officer looked utterly terrified within seconds before handing it to her superior, the irritable commander who’d been piling charge upon charge upon Clemensia just moments ago. And with every passing second the man was on the call, he only looked more and more nervous.

Everyone in the room watches as the haughty man becomes reduced to a sweating, nervous mess.

“Who did you call?” asks one of the newer recruits.

As she turned to face them, she caught sight of her reflection in the glass. The corners of her mouth had twisted into a cold smile. “Just a dear friend.”

~~~~

The lawyer comes soon enough, and it’s almost like watching a magician perform his vanishing act as he makes all the trumped up charges disappear one after another. Especially the charge on identity theft.

Clemensia pays rapt attention when the woman brings up the charges on Sirius. They are dismissed so easily. There is no need for her to put Sirius down.

Good. Because Pup wouldn’t forgive her for it if she had let it happen. And Clemensia wouldn’t forgive herself for it either.

What she doesn’t expect is how Coriolanus strolls up to the base as things are being wrapped up. There’s not a crack in his Presidential facade. Ignoring the rest of the officers, he made his way to where Clemensia, Sirius and the lawyer were. The unlucky Peacekeeper that was sitting across from there was sweating bullets the closer Coriolanus came towards them.

“Are you finished here?” he asks

“Almost,” she says.

His gaze slides to the lawyer who instantly springs to say, “Miss Dovecote can leave first if you’d like, everything else is paperwork that I can handle, she doesn’t need to sign for them.”

“Very well.” The unspoken request is clear when he turns gaze back to her.

Clemensia took the offered hand, getting out of her seat. Her grip tightened on Sirius’ leash, gesturing for her dog to follow.

They don’t speak until they’re outside where there’s a car waiting for him. This is where they’ll part ways.

“Thank you for sending her.”

“Merino is a competent lawyer,” he says. “You shouldn’t have to worry about them pressing any more charges on you for the incident.” He opened the car door, and glanced back at her.

“What?”

He gave her a look. “You didn’t think I’d let you walk home after that, did you? On that note, why were you walking him out so late at night?”

He’s too stubborn and she’s too tired to argue.

If he was alright with Sirius shedding all over his seats, then so be it.

~~~~

Coriolanus insists on seeing her to her door.

“It’s not as if I’d be attacked,” she says. “What are the chances of it happening again?��

“Slim, but not impossible,” he retorts.

The doorman lets them through easily enough and mentions that a package had been left for her while she’d been out and that they had brought it up to her doorstep.

And when they come across the package on her doorstep, Clemensia was puzzled over what it might be. She had no recollection of ordering anything that would come in such a box. Well, she ordered clothes, but it was unlikely that they’d use such a large box.

“Do you want a hand bringing it in?”

It’s on the tip of her tongue to agree, yet she finds herself hesitant to do so. “I don’t think it’s mine.” There was nothing on the box that could identify where it’d come from.

“This tag I found suggests otherwise.”

It was the only thing on the box that could suggest it was hers. On the gift tag were the words ‘From your secret admirer’ and ‘To: Miss Dovecote’. The words were printed out, so there was no way to tell who had sent it.

Reluctantly, she opened the front door to her flat and Coriolanus brought it in. It must have been lighter than it looked, because he didn’t break a sweat lifting it.

Cutting away the cardboard box reveals yet another gift box. This one looks like a stereotypical present in storybooks with its elaborate bow on top.

Coriolanus chuckles a bit at the sight. “What are the chances it’s yet another box inside?”

“Oh shush. Don’t jinx my chances.” As she lifted the lid off the box, the sides of the box sprung open like a flower. A heavy fabric covered the oddly shaped object.

“How mysterious,” he says wryly. “What next?”

Rolling her eyes, she pulled the fabric to the ground revealing an elaborate birdcage. A stench permeated the room – like something rotten and when she peered into the birdcage, Clemensia shrieked, stumbling backwards in horror.

Instantly, Sirius is at her side, he looks ready to pounce if the need calls for it.

“Coryo,” she stammered. “There’s a – A bird inside.” Dead and plucked clean of all its feathers, and the bottom of the cage had been littered with its bloodied feathers. She was no ornithologist, but she would bet all her money that it was a dove.

Similarly, the blood drained from Coriolanus’ face when he took a step towards the birdcage to glance at its contents. Gingerly, he picked up the fabric from the ground and covered the cage once more. Turning back to face her, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. “You can’t stay here tonight.”

“What?”

“You can’t stay here tonight,” he repeats, just as firm as he had the first time he’d said it.

He insists on such, because if they knew where she lived, then they probably also knew she lived alone. Which wasn’t a good thing, considering the type of gift they’d just left on her doorstep.

She hated that he made such good points.

“Then I’ll probably stay with my parents,” she says. “What?” She noticed the frown on his face.

“I thought you said they were away this weekend.”

“They are. The maids can let me in.”

Somehow his frown grows even more.

“The security is fine there,” she reassures.

But that does nothing to lessen the frown. “Just come back with me and stay the night there.” Before she can come up with a rebuttal, he tacks on, “You owe me, remember?”

~~~~

So she stays the night at the Presidential mansion. Then one night becomes two because they haven’t found out who’d been behind the horrific present.

Sirius takes his duties as a guard dog very seriously. It doesn't matter where she goes, because he will follow.

On the third night of her stay, she’d gone to the library some time after dinner. As per usual, Sirius had followed her there and made himself comfortable in a corner of the room. While he didn’t track her every movement, his eyes did. He made sure she was always in his field of sight.

A maid enters after some time and asks if she wants any tea when she spots Clemensia tucked away in a corner, reading with Sirius laying by her feet.

The tea comes – oolong, tonight – and she waves off the maid’s request of fetching a blanket or any snacks.

Eventually Coriolanus wanders in and considering he doesn’t look surprised, she wonders if the staff keep him updated of her whereabouts or if he’s simply gotten used to her habit of perusing his library at night.

“They haven’t found the culprit yet,” he tells her when one of the maids fetch him another cup so they can share the pot of tea.

“Oh?”

He tells her of the flaw in the security circuit in her building. There is an area where deliveries can be brought in where the cameras can’t see. One the culprit likely exploited – there is no way to trace the sender as the doorman’s description of the delivery boy is not a particularly unique one. It could be anyone.

The quiet frustration is there when he concedes that it's unlikely that they’ll find the culprit anytime soon. There are no fingerprints or DNA on the package they could track. It grows to a silent sort of disapproval when Clemensia says she’d move back to her own flat soon.

He’d been kind, offering out a place to stay, but she couldn’t live on his goodwill indefinitely. And it was inconvenient to get to Lavinium from here, or to any of the routes that Clemensia usually took Sirius on.

After a promise is extracted from her that she’ll be a bit more careful when coming in and out of her apartment – he lets her return home.

~~~~

And so she returned to life in her apartment with Sirius.

Clemensia had more or less settled into her routine when terrible news graced her doorstep once more.

A phone call comes in from her mother and between tears, Clemensia learns that Uncle Aurelius is dead. A car accident – some reckless driver had been at fault – it was quick.

Her mother is saying other things too but Clemensia can’t quite process anything else as she stands there, feeling colder than ever. It’s not until the call ends that she realizes she’s sitting on the couch, crying – and that’s was only because Sirius had nudged his way onto the couch, his head on her shoulder as her tears soak his fur.

She hugs him tight.

~~~~

first part

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#conversations over tea #clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #fanfic #platonic

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meekmedea · 3 days

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Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Reaper Ash/Clemensia Dovecote Characters: Clemensia Dovecote, Reaper Ash Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - No Hunger Games, District 11 (Hunger Games), Pining, Falling In Love, The Capitol (Hunger Games), Other Additional Tags to Be Added Summary:

Young. Old. Capitol. District. It doesn't matter. Because everyone falls eventually, it’s just a matter of time. The particulars of what they are falling to or for aren’t fairly important here - it's just that for these two, they sometimes like to take it in a more literal sense.

In a world without the games, Clemensia and Reaper are still destined to meet in circumstances that are far from normal.

#clemensia dovecote #reaper ash #clemensia x reaper #Reaper has opinions about people who are from the Capitol #mostly about the pretty girl his age #fanfic #tbosas au #alt universe #the games never happened

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meekmedea · 6 days

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conversations over tea (IX)

previous part

~~~~~

No piano this afternoon, or even a walk in the gardens despite the lovely weather they were having in the Capitol today. Rather Clemensia took one look at the divan in the drawing room and settled onto it. Within seconds, her eyes began to droop.

Never had she thought that Sirius would miss Pup so much once he’d returned to patrolling the waters of District 4. But he had, and he was very vocal in expressing it. All night long with his pacing and whining outside her bedroom.

She was on Day 3 of said changes and last night, she’d kept her bedroom door open – hoping Sirius would be reassured that she was still here. There was less whining, but it’d still been very hard to fall asleep.

Hopefully Coriolanus would be tied up with work today and she could nap a little longer…

Clemensia wasn't sure how much time had passed, but however much it was, it wasn’t enough.

“What happened to you?” asks Coriolanus, upon seeing her half-asleep on the divan.

“Sirius,” she says, muffling a yawn. “He’s been miserable these past nights since Pup left the Capitol. He’s kept me up all night with his crying and I’ve had to let him sleep in my room.”

“Sirius?” he echoed. “Like a child?”

“I guess.”

Coriolanus looked baffled by her answer. “What do you mean, ‘you guess’? Is he yours or not?”

Right…they were supposed to put her name on the adoption papers. “Legally, not yet. Maybe after the next time Pup is in the Capitol.”

He only looked more and more confused. And perhaps a little concerned.

Just then a knock sounded on the door. A nervous looking maid entered. “President Snow,” she says, looking ready to cry. Clemensia wondered if the maid had been nominated to be the bearer of bad news or something.

“What is it?” asks Coriolanus wearily when the maid was unable to get her point across.

“Sir…there’s an issue at the front gates. And security is wondering how they should proceed.”

At that, he snapped to attention. “An issue?”

“Yes, there’s a–” She seemed ready to burst into tears.

“A what?”

“A dog and he’s…”

The words began to spill out of the maid, faster and faster, about the dog who’d appeared in front of the mansion’s policed gates since Clemensia arrived at the mansion. One that they couldn’t chase off and was continuously barking outside.

They were hesitant to use brute force, considering the dog didn’t look like a stray with how well-groomed he was and the shiny collar around his neck.

And just as she finished, another maid appeared and informed Clemensia that they’d gotten a call from Janus – the dogwalker she’d hired – that Sirius was missing.

Combined with the description the first maid had given Coriolanus about the dog, Clemensia knew where her missing dog was exactly. “Where is he?” she says, standing up. “I’ll go see to him.”

“Clem?”

“Sirius seems to fancy himself a bit of an escape artist these days.”

“Hold on, Sirius is a dog?”

Clemensia gave him a strange look. “What else would he be?”

~~~~

They sit in the garden – Coriolanus’ suggestion – nowhere the roses of course, but on a grassy lawn where a table and a pair of chairs have been hastily set up for them to sit and converse.

Sirius is having the time of his life running around, he might be hunting squirrels while Clemensia sips at her coffee. She needs caffeine, if she is to be a functional participant in this conversation, and elected to ignore Coriolanus’ teasing that it was hardly coffee with how much cream she’d added into it.

Curiously, she wondered what was in Sirius’ mouth as he bounded in their direction.

A large stick was left in front of Clemensia, and it didn’t take much to realize what he wanted. After fetching and chasing after the stick a few times, Sirius must have decided that Coriolanus was being left out or something because he eventually dropped the stick at his feet.

Coriolanus eyed the saliva on the stick like it was poison.

It took every ounce of self-restraint in Clemensia to not outright laugh at the look of disgust on his face as he picked up the stick and threw it far away from him.

Too bad Sirius ran back with the stick within minutes, clearly delighted by how far Coriolanus had thrown it.

This time, she let the snicker escape.

~~~~

As the months pass, while Sirius has proven that he’ll listen to Clemensia without too much of a fuss, he is a clever dog, he knows who he can take advantage of to get things going his way.

Like how Janus was terrible at dog-watching. About a month in, she’d stopped hiring the man to take Sirius out on walks during Saturday afternoons because Sirius consistently outran the man and escaped to make his way to the presidential mansion.

Instead, she now spent her Saturday mornings at a dog-friendly park and let Sirius go wild, hoping to tire him out prior to her weekly standing appointment with Coriolanus.

Sirius is a bit of a hunter. If not a menace to the local unsuspecting bird population. Since her visits to the park, she has seen her dog pounce on a handful of birds and bring it back to her like it was a trophy. It’s a work-in-progress – she is trying to stop him from doing that as often.

Today, she idly wonders if this is an improvement. Instead of a dead bird, Sirius gently drops a baby rabbit in front of her. Where he had found the poor thing, Clemensia had little idea, but at least it was still alive and looked visibly unharmed.

~~~~~

Her birthday comes and goes – Pup was still out patrolling the waters of district 4, though he manages to send some birthday wishes through a phone call and send in a lovely gift. He sends her piano sheet music, a physical copy of Chopin’s nocturnes, knowing her preference of turning pages to playing off a tablet as was more commonplace nowadays with how technology had improved.

Clemensia likes to think that she’d chosen well – they might not be marrying for love, but at least they had an amicable friendship with one another.

A stunning pair of earrings also comes her way. This one, she recognizes from Lavinium, a pair she’d been admiring for quite some time, but hadn’t bought for herself. Coriolanus had attached a note to it, addressing the gift as to his dearest friend. It was rather sweet.

Many compliments had been passed her way when she wore them out and about.

~~~~

In fact, those are the earrings that she’s wearing when Pup is finally back in the Capitol, they’re on their way out to meet up with her uncle when they bump into Invidia.

“Was it just me, or did she seem oddly hostile to you?” asks Pup once Invidia had turned the corner.

“A little.” But Clemensia couldn’t come up with the reason why. She hadn’t talked to the socialite since…well since the last time Pup was in the Capitol. So maybe for quite a few months.

“Right?”

“Maybe she was having a bad day?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe she was jealous that she didn’t own your earrings. She did look rather envious when she saw them.”

Luncheon with her uncle is a pleasant affair, if not a little embarrassing. Uncle Aurelius spends far too much of it talking about Clemensia’s achievements –

“Uncle Aurelius, please–”

“What? Can’t I be proud of my hardworking niece?”

“Thankfully Pup seems more amused than annoyed. “Come on, Clem, I think it’s sort of sweet. Let your uncle brag a little.”

“See? Thank you.”

“Not you too,” she complains half-heartedly. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

Pup elected to ignore that and cheekily added, “Did she tell you about how she had President Snow purchase from Lavinium?”

“You remembered?”

“You only spent the two letters and 3 phone calls telling me how you were worried that it wouldn’t be perfect,” he reminds her.

As their luncheon comes to a close, Uncle Aurelius brings up the real reason he’d ask her and Pup out to meet today. “I know it’s still early, and you might not have a dress or anything in mind yet. But I was hoping you’d give me the honour of designing your jewelry for the wedding, Clemensia.”

Touched by the request, she found it hard to voice out her thoughts.

“I’m fine with it so long as Clemensia is,” Pup says, squeezing her hand gently under the table to remind her to say something.

“Uncle,” she breathes out. “I don’t know what to say.” It was a generous offer – to have the director of Lavinium personally design for her?

“I’d designed the jewelry for my sister– your mother’s wedding,” rambles Uncle Aurelius, a little nervous. “And though I know it’s early for this, there’s no pressure on you to accept right now. It’s just that I think of you as one of my own as well and…”

Oh. Oh.

Upon realizing how that could be interpreted, he hastily adds, “not that I wish to diminish your father’s importance or anything. It’s just that I don’t have any children and–”

“Uncle,” she interrupts. “I understand and I’d be honoured if you did design my jewelry for the wedding. Truly.”

The smile on his face is blinding. “Have I ever told you that you’re my favourite niece?”

“Uncle Aurelius, I’m your only niece.”

“Which makes it even easier to pick a favourite,” says the man without missing a beat.

A snort of laughter escaped Pup.

~~~~

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#conversations over tea #clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #pup harrington #snowcote #platonic #fanfic

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meekmedea · 6 days

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In certain versions of the myth, Clytemnestra and Helen are twins, born from the same egg. This is a feature we see semi-often in myth called Heteropaternal superfecundation - twins from the same womb but by different fathers. Clytemnestra by Leda and Tyndarius, Helen by Leda and Zeus.

The thing is though - Helen is the demigod because of her divine beauty and place within the narrative, but are we sure it was her who Zeus fathered?

Clytemnestra, too clever, in love with authority, commanding. When Clytemnestra killed her husband, no divine judgement rebuked her, almost like Medea being whisked off by her god grandfather after the murders. When Clytemnestra is killed, the furies gather to avenge her where they didn't for Agamemnon.

What if the furies were looking after one of their own? Recognizing divine authority? That is to say,

What if it wasn't Helen?

#Clytemnestra #Helen of Sparta #tagamemnon #greek mythology #this is a really interesting take

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meekmedea · 7 days

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conversations over tea (VIII)

previous part

~~~~

Clemensia falls in love when Pup returns to the Capitol a few months later with the dog in tow. His name is still up in the air and ‘dog’ has been its current placeholder these past months.

Regardless, pictures hadn’t done ‘dog’ justice – he was far larger than she ever imagined. And ‘dog’ was due for a trim with how he resembles more so a gigantic ball of white fur than anything else.

A name is hastily chosen when they take him to the vet to make sure he’s in good health, gets his shots and everything. Well, technically ‘dog’ has final say on his name.

Pup first suggests ‘Argos’ and the side-eye the dog gives him makes Clemensia laugh. They quickly run through a few more names before settling on ‘Sirius’.

The vet places Sirius at about a few years old and says he’s a Great Pyrenees. Which would explain his enormous size as the breed were once bred to guard livestock, being able to fight off wolves and supposedly scare off bears.

Under the guise of courting –training Sirius – they try to get Sirius comfortable with Clemensia so that when Pup has to return to the ship, she won’t have much trouble on her hands.

So far Sirius is wary of most, if not all people. Especially males. He’s also very active. At least more so than Clemensia. Twice a day – long walks. Her health has literally never been better.

That and for such a large dog, he doesn’t seem to realize he’s not the size of a lapdog. Sirius will attempt everything a lapdog will do, but the outcomes are not quite the same. Quite a few of their cups have been shattered this way when he launches himself to lay on their lap.

And he’s very, very strong. At a park, Sirius runs, chasing after something. Except she’s dragged along for the ride as she’d still been holding the leash. Pup attempts to catch them or at least one of them – they end up in a mud puddle sans the dog. To his credit though, Sirius returns once he realizes neither of them had followed and sits primly by the puddle, wagging his tail.

“Maybe we should just get a place with a huge garden and set him loose,” says Pup with a groan as he got to his feet and offered out a hand to her.

“Would our garden survive the day?”

“That can be the gardener’s problem.”

~~~~

Washing the dog is a veritable feat. It’s a group effort between the two of them and by the time the task is completed, she’s too exhausted to move. “Do we still have to meet your parents for tea?”

“M’afraid so,” he says, just as morosely.

For all the mischief and stubbornness that Sirius is, Clemensia likes having him around. Having a 90 pound ball of fluff wait for you to come home is surprisingly a lot more heartwarming than she’d have imagined.

Also, their dog had great taste in people - Pentheus could say whatever he wanted, but honestly, what did her cousin expect? That mocking Clemensia in front of Sirius wouldn't have any consequences?

“Are you training Sirius to bark at my cousin?”

Caught in the act, Pup looked conflicted on whether to lie or not. “No?”

“Pity.” Out of the corner of her eye, she swears she sees him slide Sirius a treat.

~~~~~~

Held in one of the grand hotels within the Capitol, it seemed as if his and her families were determined to go all out for their engagement party.

In her ear, Pup mumbled that if all this was for an engagement, then what would they be subjected to for a wedding?

“This is our curse for being an only child,” she whispers back.

And in a few days, they'll be due for yet another party - though this one is to celebrate his promotion to Captain.

The captain of the ship Pup was serving was retiring soon, and it seemed the higher-ups had been pleased with his track record as of late, setting him up to take over that very ship. Although Pup's rank was higher now, his duties are more or less the same as the previous captain had usually let Pup call the shots anyway.

Invidia is unofficially introduced to her as Coriolanus' girlfriend when he brings her along to Pup and her’s engagement party.

Invidia seems alright, they don't talk much save for the compliment she gives Clemensia about the strand of pearls that she's threaded into her hairstyle tonight.

She does privately note that Invidia is wearing the earrings that Coriolanus had custom ordered for her. They suit the socialite well, adding to her regal appearance tonight.

“Have I ever told you that your cousin has a very punchable face?” asks Pup once he's returned from greeting some of her relatives.

Clemensia stifles a laugh behind her hand. “You don't say?”

“With his personality, Pentheus would never last a day, much less an hour on my ship without the whole crew wanting to toss him overboard.”

And whatever frostiness Coriolanus has for Pup melts when Pup puts her boorish cousin in his place in front of him.

“You know, it's a real pity that duels aren't legalized anymore…”

“A pity,” agreed Coriolanus. “Perhaps an exception should be made for the odd occasion or two.”

“Please don't fight him,” Clemensia interrupts with a sigh. “Besides, it wouldn't be a fair fight. We all know you'd lay him out on the ground in less than a minute.”

~~~~~

Pup doesn’t stay very long in the Capitol after he’s been officially promoted to the rank of Captain – and as promised, he brings her out on his ship for a few days. Sirius comes along as well as neither of them were quite comfortable with leaving the dog alone for a few days.

The ship runs like a well-oiled machine – both the vessel itself and its crew. By now, he’s introduced her to some of his crew – they seem to like him and are loyal. Even comfortable enough to crack the occasional joke with Pup.

Like Coriolanus had mentioned – the smell of the sea was strong, but it wasn’t something she couldn’t grow accustomed to. However, Clemensia would never admit that she’d been seasick for the first day or so. Coriolanus would only make fun of her for that tidbit. So this, she swears Pup to secrecy, a vow that he laughingly agrees to keep.

~~~~

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#conversations over tea #clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #pup harrington #tbosas au #snowcote #platonic #fanfic

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meekmedea · 10 days

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conversations over tea (VII)

previous part

~~~~

Unless Clemensia asks after Invidia, Coriolanus rarely brings up the topic of his girlfriend. And considering his usual dry, curt answers regarding his girlfriend, Clemensia doesn’t quite have a reason to bring her up. So today’s a far cry from normalcy when he asks after her opinion on jewelry trends as he’s looking to gift Invidia something.

As she mentions a few off the top of her head, he listens, and a maid brings in a tray of fine jewelry.

Clemensia tries her best to be polite, but internally, she bemoans the horrific styles that have been set out for their viewing. Who designed these? Every piece was overly ostentatious. She’d seen cheap costume jewelry that was designed far better than this.

“You hate them,” he remarks after she designated the third bracelet he’s picked up to show her as ‘nice’.

“Hate is a strong word to use,” she says, sipping at her tea so she wouldn’t be forced to elaborate on her true feelings.

“And I have a good feeling that’s what you would use.”

She flashed a small grin at him. “Your words, not mine.”

Rolling his eyes, he says, “Alright, if it puts you at ease, then I’ll say it first. They’re terrible. Believe it or not, this is the third time I’ve had them resend me their finest selection.”

The third? Oh dear… It feels like a crime to not speak up now, and she’d be a terrible friend if she didn’t. “Perhaps you might consider another jeweller?”

“Perhaps.” A wave of his hand was all it took for the maid who was still in the room to take the tray and leave. “On second thought, why don’t you help me with this? You probably have a better eye for this stuff than I do.”

Thinking it was a jest, she says, “Only if you promise that they won’t be from the same jeweller as today’s.”

“That can be easily arranged. What of Lavinium?”

Lavinium? Clemensia coughed in surprise before quickly recomposing herself. “Alright.” Of all the places he’d suggest, she didn’t think he’d think of them first.

~~~~

This is how their next Saturday goes. Around their usual tea time, instead of meeting at the presidential mansion, they meet inside Lavinium where Coriolanus had arranged in advance for the store to be just the staff and them as he didn’t want to deal with more people than he had to.

Now if only her boorish cousin, Pentheus, would kindly leave them alone. He never ever shows up around the boutique – but coincidentally, he decided to make his appearance today? Yeah, Clemensia didn’t believe it was a coincidence.

Pentheus was getting on her last nerve with the amount of incessant flattery he was lavishing on the President, and by the looks of it, he was getting on the last of Coriolanus’ nerves too.

“Clemmie–” says Coriolanus, cutting off her cousin mid-flattery, “Are there private showing rooms we could peruse?”

She dipped her head ever so slightly, gesturing for him to follow. She takes a malicious sort of pleasure in closing the door to the private showing room in Pentheus’ face, preventing him from entering as well.

“So did you have a particular style in mind? Colour or stone?” she asks conversationally, as if she hadn’t scoured the social columns over the past week trying to get a feel for what Invidia’s style was.

He stared at her like she’d grown a second head and was speaking in tongues. “Red?”

Alright then.

As they sat down, one of the staff moved to pour tea into already set out cups.

“Thank you,” Clemensia says, as the man finishes pouring out her cup. “Would you also fetch the tray I set up earlier? The one with the ruby bracelet, and maybe add the pearl earrings from the other tray?”

“Of course.”

“I see you did your research,” says Coriolanus as he stirred the sugar in his tea.

“Just a little.”

He shakes his head in amusement. “As you say.”

As fabrics are a familiar territory to Tigris, jewels were the same to Clemensia. Her mother’s family name was firmly established in gemstones and precious metals.

Established by her great grandfather, the luxury jewelry boutique, Lavinium, was named for his wife, Lavinia. The boutique had slowly built up their prestige in the Capitol and by the time Clemensia’s mother, Aelia, was born, the Beauchamp name and Lavinium was a familiar one to the upper class.

~~~~

Red is a colour well associated with Coriolanus over these years. It matched Invidia well too. And once he gives her a bit more information on what exactly he’s looking for, it becomes easier to offer up suggestions.

Before the rebellion, Clemensia used to watch her mother and grandparents run the business. And in the years since entering University, she’d helped her uncle who’d since then taken over running Lavinium.

Coriolanus picks out a bracelet crafted from rubies and diamonds, and soon decides he wants matching earrings and a necklace. The bracelet wasn’t part of a set – but it’s not an impossible request to fulfill. A designer was on hand today, and Clemensia had the woman invited into the room to help draw a mockup of the potential design.

“But the necklace won’t be the exact same design?” questions Coriolanus.

“No, no, no – you see if we made it the exact same as the bracelet, it would sit rather awkwardly on her neck and look bulky,” explains Beryl.

The look on his face told Clemensia that he didn’t quite understand.

Beryl must have thought so too as she gestured to the bracelet on the tray. “May I?” At Coriolanus’ nod, the designer picked up the bracelet. “Miss Clemensia?”

“Yes?” She put her tea cup down on the saucer.

“Might I use you as an example?”

A glance to Coriolanus who seemed to not mind, Clemensia nodded. With a ribbon that was lying about and threaded through the clasps of the bracelet, she let Beryl drape it against her collarbone.

“You see how it bunches up here? And if she were to move around, her hair would easily get caught,” explains Beryl.

It was a little unnerving to have Coriolanus stare at her so intently. “I see,” he says slowly. “Then I’ll go with your design then.”

The makeshift necklace is removed.

“I never realized how knowledgeable you are with all this,” he notes after he finalizes the last of his decisions with Beryl and they are alone in the showroom once more.

“I guess it never came up in conversation.”

~~~~

Nervousness doesn’t begin to describe how she feels about his order placed at Lavinium. A few weeks pass, and Clemensia double – no, triple checks to make sure nothing there are no imperfections before she lets the store contact Coriolanus that his order is ready.

On one hand, she wants to ask if Invidia had liked them, but she wasn’t close with the socialite and knowing Coriolanus, he’d probably just offer up a one word answer.

Thankfully, the tabloids do the work for her. Photographs of Invidia wearing the jewelry set appear on the papers, and considering how the gossip mill has nothing but praise for the pieces, Clemensia likes to think that Invidia liked them too. Particularly when she hears from one of the employees that Invidia has recently bought a pair of earrings from Lavinium.

~~~~~

Her delight spills over to her next call to Pup, and he lets her ramble on about her triumph. In turn, she listens to what Pup has been up to since their last call. During his time on the sea, his ship had come across fishy business – in the literal sense. A group of smugglers had been caught trying to evade taxation by hiding their cargo of pearls amongst beds of seaweed and fish.

There’s talks that he may or may not be fast tracked for promotion, especially since the captain of his ship is set to retire soon.

As they near the end of their call, he sounds strangely nervous. “I know we never discussed this when we talked about our arrangement. And I’m aware that it might be a big change, but like…”

“Like?”

There’s a faint bark from his end of the call. “Err…I recently acquired a dog?”

“You’re allowed pets on the ship?”

“More like nobody has told me no just yet.”

Pup is quick to describe the situation – the dog is one of the many spoils they found on the smuggler’s ship. Maltreated and starved, and he’d taken the dog as his own upon discovering the animal.

Here therein lies his next problem. He’s become attached to the dog during the short period he’s had him. And as much as Pup would like to keep him on the ship indefinitely, they aren’t exactly allowed any pets. A temporary exception had been made, but it was expected that the dog would have to leave the ship eventually.

And leaving the dog with his family isn’t an option as his mother is allergic. Which left Clemensia. So sheepishly, he asks if she’s willing to take the dog in. Or at least give the dog a chance.

“I like dogs,” Clemensia reassures, “What kind is he?” She’d always wanted one as a kid.

“….white?”

The men in her life are truly something else when it comes to descriptions.

~~~~

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giving lore to characters that we know next to nothing about? It's more likely than you think 😂 listen - maybe there's a reason they got Clemmie to introduce District 1 and 5 for those promo videos for tbosas movie

#conversations over tea #clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #pup harrington #snowcote #platonic

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meekmedea · 13 days

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radio is not ded 📻Ψ(￣∀￣)Ψ

#hazbin hotel #alastor #art appreciation

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meekmedea · 13 days

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Clemensia Dovecote & Felix Ravinstill, Clemensia Dovecote & Iphigenia Moss, Felix Ravinstill & Clemensia Dovecote & Iphigenia Moss Characters: Felix Ravinstill, Clemensia Dovecote, Iphigenia Moss Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Childhood Friends, Male-Female Friendship, Felix is always ready to throw hands, Classism, The Capitol (Hunger Games), POV Felix Ravinstill, Clemmie is trying to recover from the snake bite, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified Summary:

Felix Ravinstill checks in on an old friend after the games, and the more he spends the summer with Clemensia, the more he finds that things are not quite as they seem.

This summer was shaping up to be one of certain realizations.

~~~~~~~

fallaces sunt rerum species ~ the appearance of things are deceptive (Seneca)

#post canon #post tbosas #Felix has strong opinions #felix ravinstill #clemensia dovecote #iphigenia moss #Felix has beef with Coriolanus #one-sided tho #mainly because clemmie was HIS friend first #and like other reasons I guess

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meekmedea · 14 days

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ahh just look at these bridal dresses

Blini Fashion House, designer: Lavderim Kukaj

#writing inspo #legit just searched up pearl dresses #the opulence feels like something you'd see in the capitol

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meekmedea · 15 days

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conversations over tea (VI)

previous part

Clemensia has always known that she’d marry one day. It’s what was expected of her. A duty that she would rather fulfill on her own terms before her parents arrange a match on her behalf.

And that time was slowly dwindling as her father’s fondness for her had only granted her a few more years once she’d graduated university. Eventually instead of arranging prospective suitors for her and phrasing them as suggestions, her family might choose to simply name one of them as her future husband.

During Pup’s last return to the Capitol, the two of them had commiserated over their impending fate – it was time to take matters into their own hands.

In short, it was an alliance with a friend who understood her in ways that others could not. He wouldn’t demand things from her that she had little interest in, and vice versa.

And to their quiet relief, when they announce their decision the next time Pup is back in the Capitol, both their families had taken the news well.

A long engagement would have been preferable – had it been feasible – but it wasn’t, so they had to settle for other things. Like how Pup wanted to wait until he was a Rear Admiral, but it wasn’t very realistic. That could take decades and none of their families would have been that lenient. Such was proven over a luncheon with their parents. So they settled on waiting till he was made a Captain. A far more feasible goal for their families to wait.

Because marriage was full of compromises, or that was what people said, was it not?

Neither Pup nor her were in any rush to marry, not when they knew that their families next question would simply be about children.

While children are what is expected of them, this is one area where they weren’t quite so keen on adhering to. Because he had little interest in sex, while Clemensia supposed it depended on the person in question. They are content to remain childless.

Nevertheless if they ever change their mind, there are ways to have children without overlooking their preferences regarding sex. Or as Pup suggests, they’ll adopt.

~~~~~

Part of being engaged includes announcing that one was engaged. In the back of her mind, Clemensia complained that Pup had lucked out with having to return to District 4 to patrol the waters. He was lucky to not have to be stuck picking out flower arrangements and tablecloth colours.

When they eventually planned their wedding, she'd make him suffer the same boredom she was enduring right now for their engagement party. This, she thinks, is what she will write in her next letter to him.

Staring at the pile of invitations that she needed to send out, she looked over the list of names one more time.

What are the rules of friendship in this scenario? Was Coriolanus and her close enough to offer him an invite? Though unsure, Clemensia supposed she might as well. The worst he can do is decline.

So without further ado, she added his name to the end of the list.

Waving a maid over, she handed over the final guest list and asked them to fetch her another cup of tea.

~~~~~

She doesn’t get a reply from Coriolanus, at least not one by mail. Instead, he brings up the topic on Saturday. Clemensia had more or less expected it, especially with how he’d been glancing at the sapphire ring gracing her hand.

“You’re engaged.” At her continued silence, all he adds is, “It seems sudden.”

Clemensia opted to sip at her tea instead.

“With his work, you’d only see him a handful of times a year in the Capitol.”

Another sip of tea. “There’s nothing against me visiting him,” she points out. In fact, she was rather looking forward to Pup’s next visit to the Capitol as he’d promised to take her with him to 4 for a brief trip.

He rolled his eyes. “You would hate it. The constant smell of the sea and the churning waves.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

He seemed more curious about her relationship than she’d have thought.

“You’re awfully blasé about – wait,” His eyes narrowed. “Clem, do you even want to get married to him?”

Surprised by the question, all she could do was stare at him.

“Clem?” A hint of worry tinged his expression. “Clemensia?”

Right. She was supposed to answer him. “Yes?”

The look he gave her told her that she wasn’t very convincing.

“People can get married for many reasons,” she tries.

“Like?”

“Tax benefits?” As soon as that left her mouth, Clemensia berated herself for it. Really? Was that the best she could come up with?

“I’m not sure that you’re supposed to be admitting that to me,” he says dryly.

“Oops. Give me a moment, I’ll come up with something better.”

Incredulous, he adds, “You don’t even love him and you’re marrying him?”

“You and I know that not all marriages in our circles are matched out of love.”

His mouth twists ever so slightly at her comment. “But are you happy with it?”

“I think I would be, yes.” Why was he so persistent on this?

He shakes his head at that. “I don’t want you to be unhappy,” he says finally.

Oh. Had he thought that she might have been forced into the match? Was that why he was acting like this? It …it was rather sweet.

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meekmedea · 20 days

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conversations over tea (V)

previous part

~~~~~

After her slip of her tongue, Coriolanus, or Coryo, as he’s come to insist her calling him now during these teas continues to be an enigma.

“What do you know of the horse carriage rides down at the Central park by the water?” he asks without prompting one Saturday.

“What about them?”

“Would you say the experience is,” He paused, as if struggling to find the right word. “Memorable?”

Her nose wrinkled at said words. “Quite.” It was a fad that she was sure would die out soon. For the conditions weren’t the best – for both the horses and the passengers. The smell of manure was one that’d unfortunately linger in her memories.

At that, he raised an eyebrow.

“The smell is rather…strong,” she settled on.

“Ah.” There was a pause. “What of Elysée?”

The Gardens? Surprised, Clemensia choked on her cup of tea. Both were all popular dating venues amongst the wealthy. So why was he asking her for her opinion? Waving away his concerned look, she coughed out, “I’m fine. But are you… Are you asking me for dating advice?”

“No.” The answer comes a little too quickly for her to take at face value.

Oh, he absolutely was.

~~~~~

Clemensia did wonder who the girl in question was though. Because as hard as she tried, nobody came to mind.

She supposed she’d find out eventually, considering all these places he asked were rather public ones. And when combined with the fact that he was President, unless he completely closed off the public space, there was no way that people wouldn’t find out.

~~~~~

The pictures spread just as quickly as the rumours.

The lady in question is just another socialite within their circles, one a few years younger than them. There’s not much of note. Invidia is just one of the many faces within the upper crust.

Sometimes, Clemensia will take advantage of this ‘friend’ status he’s bestowed upon her to poke at the topic. And while Coriolanus doesn’t outright dismiss the questions, his answers are so curt, one might have thought he was reporting to a superior officer.

He made them sound so bland and boring, making her wonder just why he kept going on these outings with Invidia.

He always turns the topic back to her instead.

“And how was your own date?” he asks, adding far too much sugar to his tea.

Idly, she wondered if he ever got cavities from the amount of sugar he consumed. “It wasn’t a date.” Thank the stars it wasn’t…

“So you just happened to be in the area?”

It’s become a little easier to tell if he is simply poking fun at her or if he’s being serious.

Today was the former.

“I was passing by,” she clarifies – because Panem forbid that anyone thought it was a date. “And he simply happened to tag along.”

A snort of laughter escapes, cracking the image of the ever so dignified president. “As you say, Clem.”

“Don’t laugh,” she protests.

How strange it was to hear him refer to her as ‘Clem’ nowadays, coming from him, the nickname felt more foreign to her ears than ‘Clemensia’ did.

For the longest time, he’d only ever used to call her ‘Clemmie’. But that had been a long, long time ago. When they’d been different people.

~~~~~

The social aspect of being a socialite was stifling at times. Because as she got older, the vultures disguised as people began to bring up the topic of marriage more and more.

It gets awfully tiring, especially when her parents have begun to ask her about her plans for the future.

In hopes of a respite – brief as it may be – she ducks behind some curtains where a pair of glass doors led out onto a small balcony. What she doesn’t expect is to find it already occupied.

At the sound of the footsteps, the man turned. “Clemensia,” he says, offering up a small if not weary smile.

“Pliny,” she greeted. After a second’s pause, she added, “You can still call me ‘Clem’, you know.”

“Only if you call me ‘Pup’. Pliny makes me feel like I’m my father.” He waved at her to stay. “How have you been?” he asks once she settled beside him.

“I ought to be asking you that. It’s been months since I last saw you.”

“The life of a naval commander isn’t quite as interesting as you might think,” he says wryly. “Much routine and nothing else.”

“And the life of a socialite is any different? Besides, of the two of us, you’re the one who gets to flitter between the Districts and the Capitol.”

He laughed. “That’s fair.”

Slipping into conversation with Pup nowadays is as easy as breathing. As children, they hadn’t been close, but they hadn’t been exactly strangers either.

It was only once they reached their University years that they’d grown closer due to their similar circumstances.

The older they get, the more commonplace inquiries into their future become. And by that, Clemensia didn’t mean about their career, but rather about marriage and future children.

“Mother’s got a list of eligible brides that she’s dying to introduce to me, I’m sure of it,” he sighs. “As much as I love her, I wish she would understand that things aren’t going to change once I meet the so-called right person.”

She made a hum of agreement. The feeling was understandable.

“There’s some engagement that she’s arranged nearly every day that I’m back here. Tomorrow’s some tea party…” Pup waved his hand wildly, making a nondescript gesture. “...garden event or something.”

“The one at the Elysées?”

“That’s the one. What are the chances I’ll be forced to endure some romantic boat ride?” He wrinkled his nose at the thought.

This time, she was the one to laugh. “Fairly high, I imagine. The ladies shall be lining up in droves to have the handsome naval commander row them on the lake.”

“Alright, now you’re just being cruel, Clem.”

Society may pride themselves as progressive and whatnot, but in circles like theirs, the expectation was that they’d marry someone in their circles to continue the family name and whatnot. And if one preferred their own gender? Well, lovers weren’t a foreign concept in their society, so long as one did their duty first.

These rules were far more lax for second borns and spares, giving them more leeway. But for only children like them? Duty was all but demanded of them.

~~~~

“I thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone?” remarks Coriolanus during their weekly teas.

“And I thought you weren’t one for idle gossip,” she teased. “Tell me, which man have I been saddled with this time?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out, considering all the time you’ve been spending with him lately.”

Ah. “You mean Pup?”

“I wasn’t aware you two were so close.”

“Well he’s only back for a short while before he’s back out patrolling the waters of 4, so of course I'd take the opportunity to catch up with him,” she says blithely. She knew exactly what Coriolanus was trying to hint at, but it was fun to tease him. “Besides, I wasn’t aware spending time with friends was a treasonous offence nowadays.”

He sighed. “You know exactly what I mean.”

She flashed him a cheeky smile. “More tea?” At his pointed look, she conceded, “He understands me. And I, him.” There was no need to launch into a whole explanation of the understanding Pup and her had.

Shaking his head, Coriolanus pushed his tea cup toward her slightly. “More tea then.”

Her grin only widened.

~~~~

first

#clemensia dovecote #coriolanus snow #tbosas au #platonic #snowcote #conversations over tea #pup harrington

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meekmedea · 21 days

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pt.2 of more rambles about their family life

Their children have a pretty big age gap if you’re looking at their eldest/youngest

Pandora and Lytta have nearly a 15 year age gap

With the others, there’s a five year difference between Pandora and Eirene, less than 12 months between Eirene and Aurelius.

When Pandora is in her primary school years, Coriolanus genuinely considers private tutors when he realizes that their eldest is much like their mother at that age (half the boys would make fools of themselves for Pandora) – Clemensia laughs at the idea and says no.

In that same vein, if one of them wore something that Coriolanus was like hmm…

Coriolanus, looking up from his paper during breakfast: dear, isn’t that skirt a little short? (translation: go change)

Pandora: no.

Clemensia, glancing over: You never complained when I wore shorter skirts.

Coriolanus having no leg to stand on because it’s true:

Rest of the children: staring in a mix of fascination/horror

If any of their children ever ask to intern as a Gamemaker or as part of the games in any way - Clemensia’s immediate answer is a ‘no’. Not unless they enter University first. Ideally, she doesn’t want them to be involved in any way, but given that they’d be adults by that point, that’s sort of all she can do

She’s so vehement on the point that even Coriolanus knows better than to fight her on it

The president[‘s children] have a cat - one of Boa Bell’s many descendants. He originally said no. His children used their accursed charm inherited from their mother on him. Clemensia laughed

The cat is called ‘cat’. Blame Pandora. She was old enough to speak and her siblings were too young to argue

Random hobbies their children took up: Pandora plays piano, Eirene is good at violin and can fence, Aurelius is his mother’s child and art is their thing; Lytta is a brilliant dancer

Clemensia’s art decorates their children’s bedrooms

Eirene’s first few months of violin were painful for them all - Coriolanus learnt to smile and bear through it every time she came in to show off what she learned

The children all have their distinct personalities, but of them all, Pandora reminds Coriolanus of Clemensia the most. However, Pandora is her father’s daughter if you cross her or her family

The ‘twins’ - Eirene and Aurelius - are rather protective of their elder sister. They will also destroy you socially/physically if you look at their elder sister the wrong way.

Coriolanus has used this to his advantage before (with a mixed success rate)

Pandora: complaining about how her siblings wrecked her date

Coriolanus: listening + pretending to scold the other two. The moment Pandora is out of sight, he slides them a bonus for a job well done

Clemensia: speechless, standing at the doorway. But also making them fork over the money when they notice her standing there

Eirene and Aurelius: immediately hightailing it out the room, knowing their father is in trouble

Due to their children’s large age gap, at one point Pandora is married and has a child when Lytta is about 7-8

Def some mixed feelings about being grandparents

Though Clemensia and Coriolanus concede that they married fairly young, and Pandora married even younger than them

~~~~~~~

Despite all this - important to remember Coriolanus is still encouraging the games to be run. This is only a peek into his family life, he’s still poisoning political opponents in the background.

To him, the children are kind of extensions of Clemensia - he loves them, yes, but sort of because they came from her and are his children

He does have limits to his love for them + he’s far more lenient when they’re still children

Such as the incident that happened after his first grandchild is born

Roses are a popular symbol associated with their family, especially the blue ones. They probably have a section in the outdoor gardens dedicated to the blue roses

I like to imagine that it was a away for Coriolanus to flaunt that he was the one whose blue roses were real AND that Clemensia accepted them

So in these gardens, one of Lytta’s pet snakes is on the loose while Lytta and the grandchild are playing. (They’ve tried to be supportive - but neither of them like that Lytta likes snakes.)

The official story is that Lytta didn’t notice the cage wasn’t properly locked. So when called away, she doesn't see it escaping the cage

During this time, Clemensia had passed by and before the snake could bite the grandchild, she’d intervened. She, unfortunately, gets bitten - it's not a venomous snake, nevertheless, it’s not a great experience for her

Coriolanus isn’t pleased at the turn of events. Of all the children, Lytta’s personality is most like his - this doesn’t endear her any more to him though. If anything, he’s a bit more wary because he knows exactly what his youngest daughter is thinking

He knows the apology is false. Lytta is sorry that her mother was bitten. But she is not sorry for putting their granddaughter in danger

Eventually, Clemensia notices the animosity her youngest has for their granddaughter – she, however, wonders if its due to jealousy as Lytta is a bit spoiled by her siblings due to the age gap

He doesn’t have the heart to tell her that he thinks it’s beyond simple jealousy at not being the youngest to dote on anymore. It’s just pure hatred

So he is perhaps a bit harsher on Lytta of all his children

His wariness grows, and he keeps an eye out on his youngest interacting with his granddaughter over the years. Because even with the birth of other grandchildren, Lytta continues to despise their first grandchild

Out of all of Clemensia and Coriolanus' children, she's the only one to work as a gamemaker

Nothing happens for quite some time - that is until that granddaughter turns 18

Maybe Clemmie is gone by this point - foul play (?) up to you – regardless her death isn’t on his orders or anything

There’s an incident with the muttations. An accident, mind you. And this one leaves that particular granddaughter scarred for life, that is if she survives

Pandora (understandably) freaks out and tears into Lytta → “An apology will not make my daughter whole!”

The setup is a bit too similar to Clemensia/Coriolanus’ experience for his taste. Of a test, reaching into a tank...

He has a headache - wishes Clemensia was still here, she was always better equipped to deal with the children and emotions...

Regardless, he knows that Lytta has overreached this time. A line has been crossed, and he will step in

With Pandora being the one that reminds him of Clemensia the most (personality + appearance), it plays in his eldest’s favour (not that she realizes) - and well…he plays favourites

He already has 2 daughters, so what use does he have for a third who’s a liability?

Because he doesn't need the image getting out that their family is less than perfect

Ok, this has been nagging at me almost all week, but the epilogue for fatum faciendum est got me thinking…

Do Clemensia and Coriolanus end up having more than one child? Probably. They both seemed open to the idea.

And then I fell down a rabbit hole of random thoughts. I think it’d be a bit funny if their daughter in the epilogue gets their wish granted. So without further ado, let me present my ramblings:

Clemmie’s doomed to be the only one in the family with pin-straight hair. It’s kind of funny because she’ll just be waiting, bored to death as the rest of them go through their 12 step hair routine. (Coryo probably takes the longest to style his hair 😆)

At the same time, Coryo’s fated to have children that mostly take after Clemmie in her eye colour and hair colour

Pandora - their eldest is a little bit of a blabbermouth (she’s like 5 - let’s cut her a little slack). When she next sees Tigris and the topic of gifts comes up, she mentions to Tigris that she’s getting a sibling for her birthday.

Tigris tries really hard not to laugh at Clemmie + Coryo, while these 2 are like “huh, maybe we should have a talk with our kid about what info should stay a secret.” Because there’s no way in hell that Coryo wants to deal with that info being shared to Clemmie’s parents.

Number of kids? Hmm…maybe 4?

Pandora, their eldest (dark curly hair, and brown eyes)

Eirene - another daughter - this is their only child that has his blond hair + blue eyes

To everyone’s amusement, Pandora is disappointed that her new sister has blue eyes, but says she guesses it’s acceptable (Pandora’s parents are amused - Clemmie more so than Coryo)

A boy follows very quickly, this time it follows Pandora's request lol (dark curly hair and brown eyes). Eirene and Aurelius could be considered Irish twins with how small the gap between them is.

Then there’s a considerable age gap between Aurelius and their last child. Unplanned, but it’s another daughter –Lytta. (Another dark curly haired child, but with blue eyes)

When asked if they have a favourite child, they both say ‘no’. But whereas Clemensia means it, Coriolanus doesn’t. (Hint it’s his eldest.)

Their parenting?

Clemmie is a bit more involved than he is

At her behest, the children have some sort of artistic education whether that be music, art, dance etc...

And at some point, each of their children have probably approached Coryo for something that Clemmie has said ‘no’ to. When asked why they’re asking him then, they’ll say, “because Mom isn’t the boss of you.”

The first time he’s hit with that, Coriolanus wonders if it is a trick question. He has now learnt that there is a correct and an incorrect answer. Being President of Panem doesn’t exempt him from Clemmie’s ire. (He really wished it did though.)

Very quickly, he realizes that most of their children have taken after Clemmie's ability to charm just about anyone. Especially their eldest. Despite it not being as efficient as Clemmie’s - he’s fallen for it more times than he should

Bonus: one of Persephone and Festus’ kids falls HARD for one of Clemensia and Coriolanus’ kids.

Worse yet (for Coryo) - it’s his eldest AND it’s reciprocated

#you decide if he would go far enough to kill or do something equally as horrible #rambles #fatum faciendum est #random thoughts

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meekmedea · 21 days

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after writing happy endings for my recent fics, the urge to write to write something devastating is growing...

#I'd like to apologize in advance :)#which of my characters should I make go through it?

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meekmedea · 22 days

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100% them 😆😆

That one line is giving Clemensia a quarter life crisis. Because the rest of their letter is pretty tame and not at all romantic.

So Sejanus is a bit curious, wondering what Reaper has written to make Clemensia so out of it. He's like, "Huh, I didn't know he was a romantic."

And just maybe he's a bit nosy. Listen it's not his fault that Clemensia is too out of it to remember to put the letter away.

Later, when he sneaks a peek at the letter, it's literally on funding for better health care in district 11.

Sejanus: .....

a silly thought came to mind. In the game has changed AU, we know that Reaper and Clemensia fake a relationship (because they obviously won't fall for each other lol) and they write letters to one another quite often.

Now imagine this during their 'fake' relationship. Because Clemensia insists they play their part to a 't', their letters aren't an exception.

Because by this point, they're both in their 20s and they aren't quite as naive as they were as teenagers. The walls have eyes and ears after all.

So Reaper agrees.

And he writes the perfunctory endearments or greetings in his letters to her. Something like:

My dearest Clemensia.... Dear Clemmie....

That sort of stuff. Knowing them, they probably make it a game to see who can write the most sappy opening/closing statements in their letters. (Clemmie mostly wins since she's pulling references out of literature lol, but I like to think that Reaper occasionally gets some pretty good ones in)

And one day, he's writing as usual – maybe there's a bit of a smudge on the letter. In his defence, he was sketching before this and charcoal smudges.

So instead of "My dearest Clemensia...." It looks a bit more like, "My dearest, Clemensia." Which is a new one.

When it gets to Clemensia in the Capitol, she zeroes in on the smudge and just stares at it.

She's overanalyzing. No stone is left unturned. She absolutely isn't daydreaming about an actual relationship with Reaper or anything. Nope.

Next week - Reaper undergoes a similar thing when he gets her letter. His brain shuts down because instead of a ridiculously flowery opening statement, Clemensia opts for a simple one

My love....

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meekmedea · 22 days

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Ok, this has been nagging at me almost all week, but the epilogue for fatum faciendum est got me thinking…

Do Clemensia and Coriolanus end up having more than one child? Probably. They both seemed open to the idea.

And then I fell down a rabbit hole of random thoughts. I think it’d be a bit funny if their daughter in the epilogue gets their wish granted. So without further ado, let me present my ramblings:

At the same time, Coryo’s fated to have children that mostly take after Clemmie in her eye colour and hair colour

Number of kids? Hmm…maybe 4?

Pandora, their eldest (dark curly hair, and brown eyes)

Eirene - another daughter - this is their only child that has his blond hair + blue eyes

To everyone’s amusement, Pandora is disappointed that her new sister has blue eyes, but says she guesses it’s acceptable (Pandora’s parents are amused - Clemmie more so than Coryo)

A boy follows very quickly, this time it follows Pandora's request lol (dark curly hair and brown eyes). Eirene and Aurelius could be considered Irish twins with how small the gap between them is.

Then there’s a considerable age gap between Aurelius and their last child. Unplanned, but it’s another daughter –Lytta. (Another dark curly haired child, but with blue eyes)

When asked if they have a favourite child, they both say ‘no’. But whereas Clemensia means it, Coriolanus doesn’t. (Hint it’s his eldest.)

Their parenting?

Clemmie is a bit more involved than he is

At her behest, the children have some sort of artistic education whether that be music, art, dance etc...

Bonus: one of Persephone and Festus’ kids falls HARD for one of Clemensia and Coriolanus’ kids.

Worse yet (for Coryo) - it’s his eldest AND it’s reciprocated

#left unchecked I might have written an essay #fatum faciendum est #idk I sort of see him as a girl dad #none of these kids are allowed to have a first name that starts with 'c'#clemmie and coryo were like #we're not dealing with their initials being similar #should I continue to ramble?

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