Xaviers!

Unlike the rest of the staff, Wanda somehow rated a small cottage further out on the grounds away from everything. The cottage had a rustic look, slightly out of keeping with the more modern sleekness of the rest of campus. Behind the cottage, a small garden produces a variety of herbs and vegetables when the season allows. Some of the plants are highly unusual flowers or things that might be mistaken for weeds if they weren’t in carefully arranged plots.

The interior is comfortable and exhibits lots of natural materials. The main room is open plan featuring a small kitchen, living area, and dining area. Most of the windows in the main room have some sort of nice view of the grounds. The only other rooms are a nice bathroom with a large soaking/jacuzzi tub and the bedroom with a large bed that whose frame looks like a single piece of wood. Heaven knows how she got it through the doors.

After the party, Wanda changes into shorts and uses the last light of evening to work in the garden. She kneels next to one of the beds, singing softly to herself in Swedish while pruning some dead leaves, letting them remain in the bed where they fall.

A tall silhouette stepped in to the light of the cottage. In the dim and shadow one would be tempted to greet Vivienne but this woman was taller and in the light, older yet ageless. Nimue took a calculated step upon a cluster of fallen leaves to announce her approach.

"I sensed you as soon as you set foot on my grounds, Nimue," Wanda says, looking up towards the other woman, "You already sufficiently announced your presence." She dusts her hands off and stands. With dirt on her hands and knees, she looks like she's not at all fit to greet the magnitude of the guest, but none of that seems to bother her. "It's good to see you again."

“Extra precaution and respect to you and your home. I have a habit of softly and unintentionally startling.” She gave Wanda a short curtsy.”You look well. When Vivienne mentioned a second school opening in Cardiff, I had my concerns. How have the Moonlilies sprouts faired in human soil?”

"With me here, they'll be fine, but it was touch and go for a while and I wasn't sure they would make it." She tilts her head, "You've brought some students of your own to the school. A bold move on your part."

“Since Vivienne, a few were reminded of the benefits and necessities of younger generations. I have been given charge of the eldest child of each Season. They have seen the power and strength of humans, now we shall see if they can grow in your soil as well as Vivienne did.”

A tall, dark-haired woman steps out of the cottage, frowning.

"This one's allowed?" She asks Wanda.

Wanda glances over at Isolde and then back at Nimue, "Yes. She's a guest. Isolde, this is Nimue, Lady of the Lake and a bunch of other titles that I'm sure mean as little to her as they do to us. Nimue, this is Isolde, my wife and guardian."

Nimue smiles, curtsying to Isolde. “An honor to formally met you. I am glad you are both home. I have an invitation for you.” She moves her hand into the gods of her gown and removes a delicate envelop. “The Equinox fetes have been reestablished. You are invited the the Spring fetes, the sooner Winter fetes is fey only for now.”

"...suppose if she's going, then I am too."

Wanda gestures for Nimue to hand the envelope to Isolde, "My hands are a mess right now. No offense intended, Nimue. We'd be pleased to attend. The tales of the Spring Equinox fetes are somewhat legendary. It will be a pleasure to see the actual event."

“Both your possible attendances have been taken into account.” She handed the envelop to Isolde and smiled again. “Do not concern yourself. No offense is taken, Druidess. It is a most familiar and welcomed sight for me.” She lifted her hem, revealing her barefoot and slightly muddy state though her gown was pristine.

"Would you like to come in for some tea or do you need to hurry back?" Wanda moves over, washing her hands off under the water from an outside faucet.

"I can stay for some tea." She said as the mud on her feet slid to the ground and the ground dried, leaving her clean.

"That's cheating," she says with a smirk as she washes her own feet and steps past Isolde to go inside and put the tea on.

"I think you'll find in her case there's no cheating if you parse the rules finely enough," she says as she heads inside.

"As if we're any different on that score," she says with a snort as she goes about her business. "Now be nice. Her daughter's involved with Sam and Nimue's a solid friend to have."

Nimue followed after Isolde. "One uses the tools one has. Being water fey make cleaning very easy."

"Meanwhile we lowly druids are required to use the tap," she says as the electric kettle starts to whistle. She tosses some packaged leaves into the cups and pours the water over it. She looks at Isolde, "Nimue brought some new students from across the veil to attend the Institute."

"Humans and their ingenious pipes." She smiled.

"I suppose that was the terms of the... agreement."

"In part. The arrangement is mutually beneficial for all involved. I have been given guardianship of the young ones and as such have decided their education is best attended to here. I believe the term 'fostering' was given to the practice when used among humans."

"Less in the hostage sense I would assume," Wanda says, handing tea to Nimue and motioning for her to sit at the table. She's made a cup for Isolde and offers it to her, obviously not expecting her to drink it. She sets her on tea on the table. "We don't need to ensure the good behavior of the fey at this time."

"Depends on who you ask. To my mind, no more so then any other child in residence. Most are in agreement with the changes, some are grumpy but willing to see what happens." She speaks as she sits. "The children are a show of faith."

"If they need some help navigating fey magic in this world, I'd certainly be willing to help them if Vivienne is unavailable. I'm sure they're in for more than just a bit of culture shock in that regard."

"I think that would do very nicely. A being born of this realm with power to command their respect...yes, you and Vivienne will do well."

"And I'll make sure they don't get into too much trouble."

"She's given up trying to keep me out of trouble, so she has to put that effort on someone else," Wanda says, smiling behind her teacup.

"You will have your hands full. There are four and very fey. I apologize now for any and all insults that will come." She took up her tea and simply held it, enjoying the scent.

“We’ve both likely heard worse. Hopefully they’ll at least be creative with the insults.”

"They are children after all. Even fey young can be surprisingly inventive in that area."

After Nimue departs, Wanda washes up the tea things. “It’s always interesting when she visits.”

"You always did have a different definition of 'interesting.'"

“I thought you liked my interesting.” She smirks over her shoulder at Isolde, “Isn’t that why you married me?”

"I married you because it made it easier to keep an eye on you," she retorts with a faint smirk of her own.

"Oh really, guardian?" She dries her hands and walks over to where Isolde is sitting. "You just wanted to keep an eye on me?"

"After a certain point, it was obvious you were going to get into trouble with me, or without me."

"So I went with the former."

She slid into Isolde's lap, "Happy with your choice?"