Jewell sat in the relaxation room of Diem, one of New Haven's premier day spas. Despite the two women chatting loudly on a couch nearby, the atmosphere was soothing: a natural color palette, dim lighting, and water trickling down the real stone wall behind her. The plush, white robe and freshly made cappuccino didn't hurt either. She wiggled her toes, digging them into the cushy slippers the spa provided, thinking (not for the first time) that it really wasn't so bad to be The Empress in the city at the center of the multiverse. At least the service was usually good.

Any minute now, she expected Lirssa to be ushered into the room. One of the local couriers had delivered directions to the young woman early this morning, along with a bouquet of baby yellow roses to celebrate the musical's opening night, and the woman at the front desk was under strict instructions from the blue-haired Faerie to cater to Lirssa's every need. So Jewell waited, taking another sip of the cappuccino and questioning whether caffeine really had been the best way to calm her nerves today. It seemed silly to be nervous about her 'date" with Lirssa, but Jewell had been up at dawn, her stomach tied in knots. She had paced the floor for an hour before going out for a longer than usual run.

She wanted to think of Lirssa as just a young friend and this outing as nothing more serious than a similar one she might have with Koy or Eless or Tara, although with fewer weird requests for things like lava baths than she usually heard when with her redhead bestie, but she was lying to herself. Even if wasn't actually more serious, it felt serious. Was she going to lose her head" Burst into tears" Struggle with the drowning feeling of despair"

Every time she looked at Lirssa, she saw the little girl she used to know and the beautiful young woman she had become. She also saw Amanda. Looking at Lirssa, she saw the wonderful, amazing young woman Amanda would never get to be.

It was heartbreaking, and her initial impulse was to protect herself by pushing the younger woman away.

It was also a comforting balm for her soul. Jewell only believed in Fate when it was convenient, but Lirssa's re-arrival back into her life in the past year certainly seemed fateful. Jewell may have been denied her right to see her children live and grow into adulthood, to be a guiding force and friend to them on that journey, but she didn't have to deny herself the privilege of enjoying that same journey, albeit in a different role and capacity, with Lirssa. And it was a privilege! It was a privilege and an opportunity that she would not turn away from. So so many others had already been lost! How many times did Fate have to offer her a hand up before she took it?

So Jewell sipped her cappuccino, rolling her eyes at the chattering gold-diggers sitting nearby, and waited for one of the few second-chances life had granted her.

"Lirssa!" Jewell broke every spa rule by calling out the girl's name loudly; she set aside her drink so she could stand and envelope her in a huge. The two women on the couch shot them a curious and reproving look before they put their heads together and started to whisper. Swanky day spa, blue hair, "Ms. Jewell" was rather easy to identify and clearly worth gossiping about!

"Pssh," she waved off Lirssa's apology. "I hope you found it okay' I thought about sending a carriage, but when it's so nice out, it's more fun to walk." Her nervousness was going to come out as word vomit as she lead the young woman over to the couple of chairs she had claimed. "And you're very welcome for the flowers. I read in the paper this morning that your performance was outstanding. I hope to see it myself before the show is over." It was only a half-lie. Jewell did not want to see a play about seven children but she had been contemplating going anyway for her young friend's sake.

She glanced around at the room then, squishing her feet once more into the soft cloth of the slippers. "I found this place a few months ago, and it is rather nice. It reminds me of home.." she paused, frowning a touch at that. Faerie was not home. "I mean it reminds me of where I lived in Faerie. There we have underground hot springs and plenty of people to pamper you whenever you want. I don't do it all the time, but it's kind of fun every once and awhile, yeah?"

There was a moment there when she could feel herself getting misty-eyed. It was the perfect opportunity to take a sip of her cappuccino until the moment passed, which it did. Then she was all smiles again. "Faerie is...something." Despite all of her bad experiences beyond the veil, there was still a touch of longing to her voice. "But this is a lot like it in some ways, although it is all worlds different than what my life was like when I first came to RhyDin. It certainly takes some getting used to, but it's nice to be pampered at times. And you deserve it after your big performance!"

"Since you are the star, you get to pick what we do today: facials, massages, mud baths, body scrubs and wraps, pedicures, manicures," Jewell rattled off just some of the services the spa offered, "or all of the above!"

Lirssa's excitement was contagious, and it seemed that they could mutually agree to let life's anxieties melt away (even if it was only temporary) under the gentle touch of Diem.

"Scrub, facial, massage, maybe a mud bath soak instead of a pedicure?" Jewell ticked the items off on her fingers to make sure she got it all right. "Let me go speak with one of the ladies, and then we should be good to go."

Jewell excused herself from the relaxation room for only a matter of minutes, returning with a card bearing their itinerary. "Okay," she stood next to Lirssa so they could both see the card. "They said this order made the most sense. We're going to start with the body scrub. Then it's on to the soothing mud bath before massages. Then facials and manicures if we want them. Oh and there's food somewhere in there. I guess after or before the massages" But they've got anything we want to drink and nibble on while we're here anyway. I saw an ah-mazing tray of chocolate covered strawberries.?