Floating Castle - Special Event 6

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Event 6: Could Have Danced All Night

So Anji and Kevin threw a party! And you were all invited!

Basically, this is the dedicated thread for you to write about your characters' interactions at that party. Collaborate and post to your hearts' content.

There are only three rules:

1. You may not contradict any established canon about the party from our post in the Undground thread.
2. Don't ruin the party. It should be happystuff only.
3. If you manage to spike Kevin's drink/ give Kevin something alcoholic to drink (without him knowing it's alcoholic), then your character will be rewarded with one bottle of Askinovian "lemonade".

Have fun!

[Krika]

Anji stood impatiently at the gate of the Library, satchel bulging with papers. “-And can you tell her to hurry it up?”

“Who are you waiting for?” A voice asked from behind her, causing her to jump back, knife raised.

“Oh, Bloody Crow in a Nest… Lori! You can’t… You can’t do that to people!”

The Lorekeeper looked at her, eyebrows knitted with confusion. “I can’t ask questions. Very odd. Any way, whatever it is, talk to someone else about it. I’m a little preoccupied.”

Anji glared at the Lorekeeper, shoving an invitation her way. “Take it. Go to that address in three days. Have a good time with the science, Lori.”

The Lorekeeper smiled distantly, and examined the paper as she left, exclaiming just loud enough for Anji to hear, “Oh, it’s so shiny!”

Rolling her eyes, Anji strode into the Library, looking for a familiar face.

Fern blinked as he saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye. “Greetings Nova! What business brings you here today?”

“Hey, Fern!” Anji smiled brightly. “I just wanted to pop by, see how you were doing.”

“I have been doing research, organizing items, and such things like that, in addition to this one trip where I was asked to collapse another entrance into the Underground and ended up trapped, which was not the most fun experience even if I do not quite remember all of what went on down there, but apparently such strange events are fairly common down there so I have not been worrying too much about it, given that nothing adverse seems to have occurred.” He paused for a breath of air. “How have you been doing?”

“Well.” Anji smiled, and offered him a slim envelope. “I was also coming to see if you’d like to attend a party.”

Fern blinked, and looked at the envelope. “A...party?”

Anji nodded, and examined a small cut on her arm. “Yeah, I’m hosting one this week’s end.”

“I see, or rather understand. I will endeavor to get my duties complete so I can attend.”

Anji leveled her gaze at him, small smile on her face. “Please come? I’ll even try to have cookies there, or something.”

Fern’s mouth twitched into a small smile. “As I said, I will endeavor to attend to the best of my ability to do so, but my duties might cause some problems with it, although I do think I will be able to get them completed to satisfaction in time.” He paused, and opened the envelope, blinking at the shiny invitation. “Ah..what kind of party is this supposed to be?”

“It’s some dance,” Anji waved it off. “Just wear something nice, okay? Maybe you’ll even be able to talk a girl into dancing with you.” She winked mischievously.

Fern flushed. “I...I have no real knowledge of anything related to that, so ah...I do not know.” He slipped the invitation into his robes, running his hands over them for a moment. “Or of parties in general, which means that I will have to find something not quite so utilitarian to wear, or so I would presume, as generally I believe parties are meant to allow one to dress up more than one might otherwise have the chance to…” He frowned. “The Loreknights should have some sort of dress robes I believe although I do not know if there has really been any sort of situation that would require the use of one so maybe one has not been set as of this point in time? I will have to look that up; having some sort of formal-wear would be an important thing for a large organization to have and if it can be rectified at this point in time that would be well-timed. Unless one has already been established, in which case obtaining it should be decently simple.”

“Fern.” Anji restrained a laugh, “I’d just like you there, it doesn't matter about clothing sets or whatever you were talking about.”

He nodded. “I will do my absolute best to attend. I would not want to disappoint you, and having a change in scenery would be….a change.”

Anji beamed at him for a moment, before leaning in to give him a long hug. “Thank you!”

Fern flushed in surprise for a moment, before awkwardly hugging back. “You are welcome Nova.”

“I’ll see you at the dance,” Anji grinned, walking towards the door.

“As shall I, I hope!” He waved back, and looked back at his work for a moment before sitting back down and getting back to it with renewed determination.

[Lordxana0]

Vincent had a bit of a problem with this whole ‘party thing’. It wasn’t that he was underdressed, no in fact he had traded some hair growth tonic for the wonderful suit he was wearing at the moment. The stuff was snake oil of course but he couldn’t be blamed for everyones ignorance could he? No rather the problem was that he wanted to spike the drinks very much, but that might also piss off the people throwing the party, the ones he planned to ask for a job in their guild later this night. It was a problem that tore his mind in two and left him openly staring at the table of drinks.

Two furry points rose up from behind the table, and Zi looked at the stranger through the distorted glassware curiously. Tamar was busy and indisposed with something or another, and Anji and Kevin were doing their thing, so the girl had little choice but to wander the ball on her own.

A ball! And Anji hadn't even told her about it until it began. Zi had anxiously rifled through her closet for the fanciest dress she could find, but this absent-minded stranger staring at the drinks was a lot more interesting than clothes at this moment. She stood up straight and tiptoed so she could properly see him.

Vincent reached into his coat and pulled out an unlabeled vial of liquid and played with the stopper a bit. This little potion would add a rather untastable and yet highly potent whiskey to the drinks, which would of course make this party about a thousand times more fun in a few hours. Or it might leave people in the healers due to overdrinking. And of course seeing as alchemists were few and far between on this goddess forsaken floating rock he would be pinned with the crime. Decisions, decisions...

"D-do you need help with that?" Zi piped up, unreasonably pleased that she'd managed to initiate social contact.

The man jumped about twenty feet into the air (not literally, once again goddess damn his memory for not remembering how to make a potion of jumping) and clutched his heart. “Mon Cher you have to be careful about sneaking up on people” he turned to her and composed himself. “And no I doubt that you would very much enjoy my plan, it involves mass amounts of tomfoolery that a beautiful young lady as yourself should probably not involve herself in”

Her tail swished from side to side as she blushed at the compliment. "Herself in, I know tomfoolery! That's a.. that's a.. I forget the word, but that thing you're holding, it's a drug of some sort, isn't it?"

His eyes went dark and he shook his head. “No!” he calmed himself and coughed. “No, its a potion, drugs are very different” he smirked a bit and opened the cork. “Undetectable to tongue or smell, whatever liquid it touches will taste just the same but also have the effects of the drink being spiked with whiskey”

"Whiskey, I'm a healer, silly. It's as good as a drug. Well, I mean, it doesn't work on the body directly, but still.. Why're you hesitating?" Zi asked, taking a cup of the juice to sip first.

He shook his head. “Because it could hurt someone, and as much fun as it would be to see a room of normally serious people drunk off their asses I don’t want to...wait you said you are a healer” he turned to her and grinned. “I know I said before that you probably wouldn’t want to be involved but now I find myself in the position of you being able to aide in this little trick”

"Little trick, why, do you need to heat it up first?" Zi snapped her fingers, conjuring sparks as she did so. It had taken a while to practice that particular trick, and she was glad she finally had an opportunity to use it. "I'd love to see my sister and Kevin drunk though."

“Well yes, but no, but at the same time yes” he pulled out another two bottles from his coat and grabbed a cup, pouring all three in and mixing them up. “Okay I need you to do the spark thing again, but at the same time I need you to make sure that the sparks will only hit the surface, anymore and...well… we are going to have a dance under the stars” he looked up at the roof and then at her, adjusting the cup. “Okay, do your thing”

Eliziya rolled her eyes. "Child's play," but she focused anyway and a singular bright spark dropped from her finger into the cup, then bounced off the surface back into her palm.

The mixture went through a number of colors before ending up a clear color. “Perfect” he began to add a drop of the mixture into the drinks with as much discretion as he could, which was surprising a lot. That and with the band playing and the food not out yet no one was getting to the drinks unless they snuck back… like he had. And apparently this young woman did as well. “So… I don’t believe I have had the pleasure of your name” he tossed the empty cup where it wouldn’t be found.

"Name, oh yes, names!" Zi remembered flusteredly. "I'm uh, I'm Eliziya Torvantine, professional healer and physician, member of Storm and Drive. Y-You are..?"

The man stood back and gave a deep bow to the young woman. “I am Vincent, Vincent Malos. High Alchemist of the kingdom of Klois and advisor to all who would heed my words” he looked down at her and winked. “Also I am not taken, incase you were interested, which I am sure you are”

"High Advisor.." Zi mouthed. "That's cool. I don't know where Klois is, but I'm attached already." True as it was, saying it made her long ears flare bright red amidst brown fur.

“Oh well bother then” he stood back up and pulled out a cig from his coat pocket, striking a match and lighting it. Unlike the normal toxic smell that came from tobacco this one smelled like fresh fruit. “Do you partake?” he asked kindly, offering one too her.

"I've never tried," she told him, but gingerly taking the proffered cigar. With a thought, the tip glowed cherry red and she took a tentative drag. Zi exhaled slowly, savouring the taste and blinking rapidly with surprise. "It's sweet! I didn't think cigars were so delicious. Where did you get them?"

“I made them, you see I found that when people smoke the regular versions of these things their lungs” he pointed where his lungs would be. “Are diseased and rotten. But habit dies hard and I figured it would be easier to just invent a new kind then try and quit”

"Oh that's nice," Zi smiled happily. "I've seen lungs like that before. Good of you to do this. It'll probably be popular among S&D, been quite a few smokers recently. Say, do you have a guild?"

He shook his head sadly. “No, you see ever since I got here I have been running tests on...well...everything” he scratched the back of his head with some embarrassment. “Forgot to sleep sometimes, kind of forgot where we were for a bit… but I have hit the limit of what I can discover from this place by myself, I actually came here for two reasons” he lifted a finger. “The first being to discuss entry into whatever guild could most help me, and two…” he offered a hand. “To dance with at least one beautiful person tonight, there is still music playing, and drinks will be handed out soon, care for a quick spin for the hell of it?”

Scarlet and grinning, she took his hand. "Give me a good dance," she suggested with a wicked gleam, "and you can join Storm and Drive. I'm more than a little curious in what you're testing."

His eyes gleamed with excitement. “Well better give you a hell of a dance then” he turned and walked toward the music hall. “Because I think your guild and I are going to be doing some wondrous things.” he looked back at the drinks, confident they would have everyone off their asses drunk without having to suffer from the alcohol poisoning.

[narrativedilettante]

Giselle had to return to her old room to find her party dress. She'd had a few established living spaces since coming to the Castle, but the dress hadn't been carried on past the first one, where she'd holed up her first night, when the city that eventually became a center of culture and commerce was still overrun with cows and Giselle had climbed into an old, mostly inaccessible building with a hole in the roof.

That was where she'd taken stock, and left anything that she didn't want to be burdened with.

She hadn't even wanted to bring the dress to the Castle in the first place; it came along only at the insistence of someone who had proved himself an unworthy influence on Giselle's actions. She never intended to see it again after that first day.

But time had passed, her temper had cooled, and for the first time since arriving on the Castle, she actually had a need for a nice dress. It was more eye-catching than Giselle was really comfortable with, though the one who'd given it to her had sworn that was a good thing. Certain threads, she swore, were made out of gold, and the clasps were definitely pearl.

Part of her dreaded attending the party, but everyone she knew had encouraged her, and had a pack of playing cards stowed in her handbag (an accessory to the dress, which had no pockets and must not, she had been assured, be worn in conjunction with a satchel or other large bag) in case she needed to liven things up.

Early on, she entertained herself by partaking of refreshments while watching the crowd. They lacked the kind of mead that Giselle usually got from taverns, but the wine was decent enough, and the people were fascinating. People who didn't usually move their bodies unless attacking a monster were attempting to dance, sometimes with partners who knew what they were doing, sometimes with partners who also looked like they had no idea how to use their bodies for anything beyond attacking a monster.

Then the leader of Severed Storm gave a speech, and the real fun of the evening began. That other Severed Storm person, Kevin, Giselle thought his name was, had clearly had more alcohol than he was used to, and seemed entirely unaware of his inebriation.

Giselle watched him, overheard his conversation with the Severed Storm leader, and determined that he did not believe himself to have partaken of any alcohol whatsoever, despite the fact that he was accepting dubious beverages left and right. It seemed to be a game that nearly everyone was playing, getting Kevin drunk.

It was the sort of game Giselle would have loved to partake in, but by the time she took notice, he already seemed far enough gone that giving him anything more would be unnecessary or even cruel. Giselle felt some sympathy for the man, with everyone conspiring to get him drunk against his will, but she wasn't about to step in and do anything about it. Besides, it was at least partially his own fault for acting so naive.

Still, she decided to keep an eye on him for the rest of the dance, just in case he needed help. Or could be persuaded into a card game. As easy a mark as that just couldn't be ignored.

[Lordxana0]

Vincent smiled and gave Zi a quick spin before pulling her back toward him to keep in beat with the music. “So is this your first time dancing, if so I must say you are both beautiful and talented, this other person in your life is quite lucky to have you,”

If Zi blushed anymore, she'd faint from all the blood at her head. As it was, she was already feeling light-headed. "It's my first," she admitted, "but you're guiding me. Tamar better appreciate me."

Vincent nodded and laughed a bit. “I am sure he… Tamar is a he yes?”

"Yes, what, of course-"

Before they could move forward, a slender arm interposed between the pair, separating them nicely. “Zi, why are you dancing with strange men that are several seasons older than you?”

Vincent blinked in confusion, looking at the newly arrived figure and wondering what had just happened. Okay he had been dancing, then there had been pushing. “So um...friend of yours?” he asked

"You dance with Kevin and he's older than you," Zi said, stumbling at the abrupt stop to the dance. "His name is Vincent, Jie, and I promised him a place in Storm and Drive!" she told Anji brightly.

Anji scowled witheringly at the girl, “Unfortunately for you both, Storm and Drive no longer exists. There is another guild, named Severed Storm, that he can seek employment at without--” she whirled on him, jaw set in anger-- “baiting a young girl.” She paused for a moment, glancing him up and down like an opponent. “And I’m less her friend, more her erstwhile bodyguard. So keep your mitts to yourself, please, or we may find ourselves at a bit of a disagreement.”

He blinked before giving a small bow to her. “I understand you worry for your friend, or rather the one you protect if you don’t wish to be known as that personal an acquaintance. I do hope this doesn’t color an image of me that would be untrue in all fashions.” He turned toward Zi and took her hand, placing a kiss on the top of it. “You must pardon me moi cher, it seems you have a new dance partner who is a bit more aggressive than I am willing to be.” As he made to step back away, Zi's small hand stopped him.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait." Her ears twitched in confusion and her brow furrowed worriedly. "First, Anji here is my sister, guildmaster. Mistress. Either. Secondly.." Zi looked up at Anji. "What do you mean there's no more S&D?"

“Precisely what I said,” Anji glowered at the man, raising an eyebrow. “Storm and Drive and the Severed Claws guilds combined some time ago. The name has been changed to Severed Storm, and I am the one that decides who and who does not join.”

"What."

“Wouldn’t Storm Claw be a better name?” Vincent asked rather out of the blue. “I mean a Severed Storm sounds a good bit less powerful than a normal storm”

“I didn’t choose the name,” Anji snapped. “Zi, go… Do something. We’ll speak later about this.”

"But.. Jieee," she whined, "it's a ball and I can't dance? Vincent's a nice guy, I promise! He's got this cigar thing that's healthier and tastes a lot better. A nice guy!" Zi insisted.

“No, Eliziya.” Anji turned to face her, excusing Vincent. “Go and wait for Tamar. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.”

"Will he really? I don't even know what he's doing.." Zi shuffled away reluctantly, discreetly mouthing to Vincent, 'See you later'.

He gave her a small wave and turned toward Anji once more. “Well I suppose this was a less than ideal first meeting.”

Anji fumed silently, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I suppose. Don’t mess with my sister, sir. Have a good evening.”

Vincent was about to speak in his defense but found it better to just be silent for the moment. “Indeed, till we next have the pleasure of meeting moi cher,” he sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Where am I suppose to find a dance partner now?” he asked himself.

[Krika]

Fern sighed as he awkwardly stood off to the side of the main event going on, which appeared to be partner dancing. Unfortunately, as he had little idea of how to dance properly, in addition to lacking a partner, he currently wasn’t really able to participate, leading to his current situation of standing around feeling awkward.

At least he had managed to find a decent set of clothing - as it turned out, he did have a few more changes of clothing than he had realized, including one set of robes that seemed designed to look a bit more impressive than normal. Unlike the normally fairly shapeless robes that went down toward the floor, this one seemed to be tailored to at least fit a human body, and only went down to his knees. In that sense, it seemed almost more like a tunic than robes, but he wasn’t sure on the precise distinctions between clothing, and wasn’t letting himself be bothered by it.

“You look like maybe you need rescuing,” said a voice to his side. A woman in an ostentatious gown… Giselle, it turned out, had noticed him, and approached, giving a friendly smile. “I mean, maybe not as much as that guy,” she said, nodding to Kevin, who was becoming less stable by the minute, “But boredom can be it’s own kind of trouble.”

“I suppose that can be true, but I have not really found myself in that sort of trouble, at least in what I have experienced so far.” He glanced around for a moment before pulling his attention back to Giselle. “Generally there is always something that I could end up doing.”

“Well then, would you rather I leave you alone so that you can find something that you could end up doing, or shall we jump into the next dance?” Asked Giselle, casually leaning against a pillar in the guild hall, as if she really wasn’t bothered either way.

Fern’s cheeks flushed a little. “Ah, um...I suppose I could although I do not think I know who you are and while I suppose that is not really an issue it feels like it would be awkward to dance with someone who you do not know, in addition to the fact that I really do not know how to dance at all; I have never had a situation where it would have become necessary for me to know and so I have really no idea what to do…” he trailed off, awkwardly shuffling his feet a little.

“We have met before. You’re Fern, right? I helped you retrieve those overdue books from Legias. But as for not knowing how to dance… Well, traditionally it’s men who lead, but if you want I can lead you and all you have to do is try to match me. I’m not much of a dancer but I think we can manage to not make fools of ourselves.”

Fern flushed a bit deeper. “Oh, ah, right. I did not recognise you as is abundantly obvious, so I must apologize for my lack of comprehension and recognition, and I am sorry for not recognizing you on my own.” He paused for a moment, pulling himself together a bit. “As for the dancing...ah, that would be much appreciated, as I, ah, would not want to..um, make a complete fool of myself on the dance floor so any assistance would be appreciated in that regard….” He trailed off awkwardly, looking for a response from Giselle.

She smiled. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, and held out a hand to Fern, beginning to step toward the dance floor. “Just follow my lead.”

Fern hesitantly took her hand, and followed her out onto the dance floor, doing his very best to look like he wasn’t completely out of his element (and failing).

Giselle had to arrange a red-faced Fern’s hands at her shoulder and waist, then looked at him carefully to make sure he was following he as she took a step back, and then to the side, and forward. She tried to move in time with the music, but she was so worried about going too quickly and missing a step, or Fern stepping on her feet or the two of them tumbling over, that she had to step with every other beat, so that they were only moving at half tempo. Also, she only really knew the dance from the woman’s side, so even though she was leading, she still moved as though she were following, and it felt a bit awkward. Nonetheless, they managed to navigate around the other dancers without causing any problems, and after a few minutes, Giselle felt comfortable adding something new to the routine.

“How do you feel about spinning me?” She asked. Fern blinked, stumbling a bit more than his apparent usual amount as his concentration was taken off trying to keep up with his partner. “Spin you?”

“Mostly I’d spin myself, you just need to hold your arm above me and catch me when I’m done. It’s easy.” Giselle attempted a reassuring smile. “Very easy. Almost impossible to mess up. I swear.”

“Oh...uh, very well?” He did his best to slip the hand that was on her shoulder off smoothly, attempting to provide a bit of a push to get her started, and started to raise it in the air….to be caught by something? He wasn’t quite sure how this was supposed to go, but he trusted that it could work out..somehow.

It did work out, at least in terms of Fern’s hand catching something… that “something” being Giselle’s hand, raised above her head. She spun herself, adding to the momentum that Fern had provided her, and spent a few moments twirling beneath his arm before ending with her back against him. “See?” She said. “Easy.”

Fern jerked a half-step backward as she ended up against him, before trying to rotate so that they were back to the face-to-face dancing, his face long since burning red. “Ah...yes?”

“You don’t sound very certain,” said Giselle. “We don’t have to do that again if you don’t want to.”

“Well I have not really done anything like that before, and I do not know if I really am much of a dancer, although my lack of coordination would sh-” He tripped over his feet a bit, somehow managing to avoid falling over or falling onto Giselle. After a few moments of trying to get back into the swing of the dance, he continued. “Essentially I am uncertain of what I am doing, and thus do not know if I am doing this correctly.”

“Well, it gets better with practice, like anything,” said Giselle. “I’d offer to teach you but I don’t think I’m actually very qualified.” The band reached the end of the song, and a few couples changed, finding different partners or taking a break. “Do you want another dance or is that enough for now?”

“Umm...I do not know, is only doing a single dance acceptable, or does one generally do multiple da-” he cut himself off with a shake of his head. “I am not sure?”

“One dance is acceptable. Let’s take a break, at least for now. Maybe we can get some other people lining up to be your dance instructors before the night’s over, huh?” Giselle winked as they left the dance floor, finding a spot at a table to sit down. Fern followed, still flushed from the last comment, muttering something under his breath. He plopped himself down next to Giselle. He paused, unsure of what to do exactly now. Small talk maybe? Or perhaps there was something else to do, given that he wasn’t quite sure how to do small talk, and there seemed to be a dearth of other things to do, as most people seemed to either be dancing or talking with each other and getting right back up to dance would be awkward after just sitting down, but he didn’t really know what he could talk about with Gis-

“Game of cards?” Giselle had placed her handbag on the table, and removed from it a deck of playing cards, which she proceeded to shuffle. “I’m a fan of old-fashioned poker, but with two people blackjack might be simpler… we can keep the bets small, if you like.”

Fern jerked out of his train of thought, focusing on the cards. “I do not really have anything that I could use to bet with, I am afraid.”

Giselle shrugged. “I could front you a few pennies. Or we could play gin. You could bet on that, but it’s not intrinsic to the game.”

“I guess that would be the better option?” He paused, considering. “I mean, if you lent me some to get started then I would already be in your debt and I would have to have a winning record in order to come out ahead and as I do not think I know this...gin, could we perhaps...not bet?”

“All right.” Giselle sighed. “No betting.” She began dealing cards between the two of them, explaining the rules as she went. “So, you want to get groups of three…”

A few minutes later, they were deep in the midst of a game.

Fern stared at his hand, and then glanced at the pile of cards between them and at Giselle, quickly looking back to his hand. After a moment’s consideration, he grabbed the top card of one of the two piles, and added it to his hand, before placing another from his hand on top of the other. “Done.”

“Yes!” Said Giselle, grabbing the card that Fern had just discarded. “Gin!” She laid down her cards, arranged into groups.

Fern frowned and revealed his own hand, significantly less well-ordered. “I did say that I was not going to be very good.”

Giselle shrugged. “It gets easier with practice. Like dancing. Was it fun, at least?”

“The game or the, ah dancing?”

“I was referring to the game, but I guess both.”

Fern considered the question for a moment. “I suppose so? I do not think I disliked them, anyway, although the dancing was a bit…” He flushed a little. “..a bit off-putting sometimes.”

“Well, I’m sorry it was off-putting, but I’m glad you don’t think you disliked them.” She gathered the cards together and shuffled them once more. “Anyway, let’s have another round. Of cards, I mean, but I guess we can dance again later if it’s not too off-putting for you.” She began dealing again without giving Fern a chance to respond.

Fern spluttered as he took his cards. “Nononono, it was not your fault! It is simply that I have not done anything at all like that, so it is a new experience that does not really fall into my area of expertise!”

“Don’t worry so much. You’re doing fine.” Giselle drew the first card, and the two proceeded with their game while around them the various off-duty adventurers proceeded with the ball.

[RussetDivinity]

Likovya still wasn’t sure why she had to be the one to go to the party. Sure, she was nominally the leader of her little proto-guild, and of the three people who would be happy attending a party, she was the one she trusted the most. Curtiss was possibly the least responsible person she had ever met, and Arietta was… Arietta. Flippant, shining, and very dangerous. Neither of them were really the sort of people she thought merchants and the like would want to “network” with… whatever that meant. It had been Arietta’s idea entirely.

Really, she just wanted to know why she had to wear a dress.

It wasn’t like it was a bad dress. Three years ago, she would have loved it. It showed off her shoulders and arms and flounced slightly every time she took a step. Arietta had chosen it, of course, and the only concession she had made to Likovya’s knives was to make sure the color didn’t clash with any of the hilts. She had to admit, the three knives on her belt did look nice against the fabric, and she even had her sword hanging from her hip. She missed her jacket, though, and her boots; bare arms meant everyone could see the knives strapped to her wrists, and the strappy sandals meant she had to make some sort of rig to attach her boot knives to her ankles. Perhaps all her blades were why no one had approached her.

“Pardon me but are those throwing daggers?” Vincent walked toward the woman with a warm smile, his eyes examining her dress. “Very interesting attire”

“Most of them are.” Likovya eyed the man carefully. He seemed friendly enough, and she would probably have been friendly toward him if she had been dressed in her usual clothes and not surrounded by people in finery. “Who are you?”

The man gave a deep bow and looked up at her. “Names Vincent Malos, Alchemist by trade and currently without a dance partner and rather bored” he stood up straight and offered her a hand. “And it appears you are also without a partner, care to dance?”

“It’s been a while since I last danced,” she said, taking his hand. “I don’t think it was one of these fancy ones, either.” At least, it wasn’t one of the showy dances the circus performers enjoyed, and it wasn’t one of the simple village dances that were so easy to learn. Suddenly it struck her that it might be noble dance. “Will you teach me the steps?”

“Of course moi cher” he took her and lead her toward dance floor. “Feel the music run through you and follow my lead, no different from learning the steps in making a potion or learning to fight” he began to move with her. “Lose yourself into the rhyme and beat and enjoy it, and your body will move with it”

It was hard to let herself follow -- the village dances didn’t have much in the way of leading or following -- but if this was a noble dance, then she would be the best follower there was. “I’m Likovya, by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen you around much.”

“I have been out of the view of the Castle at large, studying it and learning everything I can since my normal supply of alchemy tools and ingredients were lost when I was kidnapped by the castle” he seemed rather annoyed before going back into the party mode. “You need to stop focusing so much”

“It’s not exactly easy to stop thinking,” she snapped, but she did try to relax a little. “So, what have you learned?” He might be able to tell her something she wouldn’t be able to discover on her travels, and a bit of knowledge might help. The night wouldn’t be a total loss, even if she didn’t manage to make any business partners, or whatever it was Arietta had wanted out of this.

Vincent frowned, his normally bright mood suddenly dulled. “That this castle has something wrong to it, I know I know big shock” he sighed and shook his head. “The best way to explain to a nonalchemist would be… have you ever had the feeling that when you are in a room by yourself and you know no one is there someone might be watching you?”

“Once or twice.”

“Imagine that feeling but make it solid and nearly undetectable by any person” he moved his hand around the room. “An every material that wasn’t brought into the castle by the spell or whatever did this has that in it”

Likovya shuddered. “And that’s the castle?”

“Yes,” he looked around. “Every stone, every piece of dirt, every bit of metal mined here is wrong. And the thing is that it shouldn’t be possible” he shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “But in the end that isn’t really important, and do you want to know why?”

“All right.” She was starting to feel a bit skeptical about this man, but the dance was starting to feel more natural. “Why?”

He spun her around and dipped her down before bringing her back up. “Because I could be wrong on every level and seeing ghosts after being stuffed in a lab for days on end” he gave her a playful wink and began to move back in tune with the music. “This is a party Likovya, you need to learn to let go of details and feel the music flow”

“Like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.” This Vincent was certainly a charmer, and it had been a long time since she’d really talked to a charming man. “Alchemy, though? That must be interesting.”

“Depending on a number of factors I would agree with you,” he laughed a bit. “But mostly it is just trial and error with a few explosions between them. Sadly most of my research is missing, even the things I have on me… and I am still missing my sister”

“Were you separated when you came to the castle?”

“Yes, it is...complicated” he sighed a bit and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it too much, as I said its my problem and not proper party discussion” he looked down as his stomach began to rumble. “Bloody boxes am I starving,” he sighed and stepped back, giving a bow to her. “It has been an honor to dance with you. If you find yourself in need of potions or advice you can find me at a rather pleasant little cottage in the lower section of the city” he grinned. “Its the one with a hole in the roof”

“I’ll be sure to remember that,” she said. Not caring to curtsy, she returned his bow. “If you need any exploring done, ask for the Sky Chasers. We’re a pretty small group, but we get around. I also provide stabbings to those in need.”

He chuckled a bit at the last part. “Well if you find any strange flowers, liquids, or saps bring them to me and I might be able to use them for some purpose. Also anything magical and I can take a crack at figuring out what it does. Alchemy is the understanding of the unknowable after all” he turned around and began to walk away before pausing. “Oh yes and you look rather lovely in that dress, though it doesn’t quite suit you. I imagine your true beauty belongs only to your normal attire. Don’t know why, just thought it should be mentioned” he put his hands in his pockets and walked away to the food table.

It was one of the oddest things anyone had said to her, and Likovya supposed it was some sort of compliment. With a shrug, she slipped away through the people preparing for their next dance, wondering whether she did look beautiful in her tattered jacket and why anyone would care.

[Krika]

Anji sighed deeply, walking over to one of the nearby tables, and began perusing it for a drink.

“Oh, hello Nova!” Fern was sitting at a table next to the one she was picking through, playing cards with Giselle. “It is nice to see you, not that I did not see the speech you gave, or that I thought that I would not see you, but it is still nice!”

Anji glanced over, scowl turning into a small smile, “Hey Fern! You decided to come!”

He nodded. “I did say that I would endeavor to show up, did I not?”

“Yeah but I didn’t think… Hello!” Anji strode over, quickly hugging him. Turning to Giselle, she sobered, asking, “Are you Fern’s date?”

“Not exactly,” said Giselle, smirking. “Convenient dance and cards partner, mostly.”

“Ah,” Anji smiled again, glancing at the deck. “Rummy?”

“A variant. You play?” Asked Giselle.

“Poker’s more my game, honestly.” Anji said, grinning. “I prefer to win.”

“Then we’ll have to play sometime.” Giselle returned the grin. “By the way, I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Giselle.”

“I’m Anjali Aqaba.” Anji extended her hand, “Pleasure to meet you, finally. I heard that you were running with Seire and his gang.”

Giselle took the offered hand, shrugging in the process. “I’ve been known to. I suppose I haven’t been doing a good enough job keeping out of the spotlight, though, if you’ve heard about it. I’ll have to be more careful.”

Anji shrugged as well, “I’m still fairly well connected to the thieves around here. So, I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“Ah, I see. Well, do you want to join us? We could teach Fern how to play poker.”

Anji grinned widely, and glanced around, “Winner gets a dance with Fern?”

Fern did a double-take. “Do I have a choice in this matter?”

“That depends,” said Giselle “Would you actually make a choice, or just stutter and say something noncommittal?”

Fern opened his mouth, and closed it a moment later. “....I would likely be noncommittal, yes.”

“Then it’s decided.” Anji slid into a seat in between them, tapping the table rhythmically.

Giselle shuffled the cards for a few moments, offering them to Anji to cut before dealing to each of them. “Aces high. Generally speaking, higher cards are better. If you have five cards of the same suit that’s great, and even better if they’re all numbers in a row. More likely you might have two cards of the same rank, or even three. The improbability of a hand determines it’s score. Got it, Fern?”

Fern slowly nodded as he looked over his cards. “Yes, I understand.”

“Okay. We need units to bet with. We won’t actually be betting, but bets are part of the structure of the game. It’s how you communicate your faith in your hand.” Giselle looked over at the buffet table. “Here, I’ll grab some blueberries.”

A moment later she divided blueberries evenly amongst the group. “When you run out, you’ve lost. We should be able to play a few rounds.”

Fern nodded, before making a face. “I do not expect to last very long, but I shall do my best to not make it too easy.”

“Excellent,” said Giselle. “Then we’ll begin. Anjali, if you’d be so kind as to start the betting?”

Giselle won the first round, Anji the second. By the third, Fern had to bet all of his remaining blueberries… which didn’t end well for him. In a few more rounds, Giselle had nearly all of the blueberries, but Anji was careful and waited until she had a very strong hand to put her remaining monetary strength against Giselle. After that it was anyone’s game (except for Fern’s) until, at long last, Giselle bet everything she had on a very strong hand… but Anji’s was stronger.

“Even better when they’re all numbers in a row,” Giselle said, self-mockingly acknowledging Anji’s victory.

Anji smiled back, smoothly standing. “You’re a really good card player, Miss Giselle. I haven’t had that much fun in ages.”

“We should do it again sometime.” Giselle gathered the cards back and tucked them away. “Anyway, enjoy your prize dance.”

Anji nodded, turning to Fern. “So, let’s dance, book boy.”

Fern held out his hand to her. “It seems that I have little choice in the matter, so shall we?”

Anji obliged, following him out onto the floor. “This is actually only my second time dancing, so you’ll have to forgive my not knowing everything about it.”

“Do not worry, this is also my second time dancing, so I am afraid I know equally little about it.” He pulled her into something close to a dance frame, and with some awkwardness, they started dancing to the music, or at least doing something close.

“So, having fun yet?” Anji asked.

“I suppose I am? I do not think I was expecting anything in particular to happen, but I do not think I would say that this has been unenjoyable.”

Anji nodded, twisting into a spin before returning, “Yeah, parties aren’t my cup of whiskey either.”

Fern stumbled a little as Anji returned from her spin. “There is not much that I would do of my own volition here, as before tonight I have not danced before, and small talk and other such social activities…” he paused for a moment. “They are not something that comes naturally to me, I think.”

“I have a knife, if you feel like ending the pain,” Anji joked.

“I doubt that would be an appropriate option; a stabbing would likely ruin the party for everyone.”

“You’d stab me?” Anji asked, mock-scandalized. “I meant you could cut your own throat or something.”

Fern very nearly tripped, almost falling over. “No no no, I would not stab you! Why would I stab you, or me? Stabbing you would alienate you, and would make your husband more than angry at me I would think, and I doubt that the stabbing of a Guildleader would be looked upon well by the populace as a whole and with all the witnesses they would know that I did it and…” he slowed down, eyes narrowing a little. “You were joking?”

Anji laughed merrily, before trying to regain her composure, “Yes, I was.”

“Oh.” He took a few deep breaths, working to regain his composure as well. “That is comforting to know that stabbing a friend is not expected of me.”

“No, it is not, Fern.” The dance ended, and Anji began looking around the space, biting her lip. “If you’ll excuse me, Fern, I think it is high time I find out what my husband’s been doing with his time.”

Fern nodded, smiling. “I hope he has not found himself in much trouble. And...thank you for inviting me to this ball. All in all, I think it is a better choice than the alternatives would have been.”

[Victin]

Morionem rushed inside, then suddenly halted, realizing he shouldn’t be running inside in a fancy event like this, and that he should behave properly. “Whatever that’s supposed to mean.” Donald came inside just after him, and Morionem couldn’t help but wonder if the duck wasn’t dressed better than him.

When the warrior found out about the ball, he decided he should certainly go because this was the first time he had the chance to partake in such event. Of course, then he noticed he had to buy himself a set of clothes he could wear, but all he could find was a black mantle and a leather jacket, both of which hopefully disguised the normal set of clothing he wore underneath. On the other hand, it was surprisingly easy to find a bowtie Donald could use.

Just as he arrived, guild-leader Anjali Torvantine started her speech. It was inspiring and reassured the warrior it was a good idea to join Severed Storm. As the people resumed to what they were doing before, Morionem decided to get himself a drink. “Follow me, Don.” The duck quacked in response and did as asked.

The warrior, or better, the man - as tonight there would be no fighting, although he did bring his sword concealed under his cloak - walked to a bar and asked for some ale, but all they had was wine. “Oh, of course.” He took a glass for himself, but the attendant poured it. ”Of course they’d have wine and not beer.” Morionem told himself.

Quacking repeatedly, Donald flapped his wings towards the buffet. “No, Don-” He realized he was talking too loud. “Donald. Don’t do that.” Under the noisiest whispers he could make, Morionem chased after the bird, who was munching some kind of stuffed tiny bread. The man’s hands took hold of his pet, who barely reacted. “If you want something to eat, ask me first. You hear me?” His reply was the duck peacefully chewing the snack he got.

Sighing, Morionem put his glass on the table and started eating some of the tiny bread himself.

~~~~

After some long minutes, Morionem kept wondering if he shouldn’t find himself a pair to dance with, or at least someone to talk with. ”I know that Thomas kid should be here, wasn’t he from the Severed Storm guild?” Lost within his musings, the man found his way back to the real world with a familiar ‘quack’.

“No, Donald, stay. Stay her-For goodness’ sake.” Taking his glass of wine, he rushed towards the animal, almost stumbling with a blonde haired man who staggered around the buffet table. Morionem sipped his drink as he stopped to look for where had the bird gone. “Huh… This wine’s more lemony than I- There he is!”

Morionem arrived just in time to see a vaguely familiar red-haired woman take an even more familiar man to dance, but couldn’t make out any of them as he struggled to hold both Don and his drink. “Why did you run away like that, Don?” A sheepish - Duckish? - quack was his response, as usual.

“That animal belongs to you?” Asked the woman who’d been sitting with the pair who were now dancing. “You’d better be careful. People are in their finest; they might not all take kindly to a wild creature running about.”

At the mention of ‘wild creature’, Donald quacked. “Umh… Oh, yes he’s mine.” He said, words stumbling out of his mouth. “He’s usually very well behaved, unless he gets bored, or hungry.” Morionem gave a strict look towards the bird. Weakening his grip, the man let Donald escape, casually falling down flapping his creamy-yellow wings.

“I guess balls aren’t really his cup of tea? Regardless, I won’t interfere with your judgement. I just advise caution.” The woman looked Morionem over. “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, but I’m guessing you’re not particularly used to this sort of thing.”

He chuckled. “You’re right, this actually is the first ball I’ve attended. Donald’s too.” The man took another sip of his lemony wine, then continued. “I didn’t have anyone who could take care of him, and despite feeling like I could’ve just left him guarding my stuff, I had found something he could wear to the ball, so I thought ‘why the hell not?’” After a second of silence, he apologized for his wording.

The woman laughed. “I guess there’s no need to advise you to be cautious; you’ve clearly already made up your mind not to be. Well, how are you enjoying your first ball?”

Morionem blushed a little. “So far… So good… I guess. What about you?”

“Hm. One dance and a few rounds of cards… Guess I can’t really complain.” She smiled.

”Huh, didn’t know playing cards was acceptable to do at a ball.” The man stared ankwardly at her for a while. “So… Uh… Would you like to go for a dance?” In afterthought, he pointed to himself he had no idea how to dance, but the damage was done.

“All right.” She nodded, stood up and took Morionem’s hand. “My name’s Giselle. I figure I should volunteer it because you asked for a dance without knowing it yet. And what do I call you?”

“Name’s Morionem. Glad to meet you.”

A moment later, Giselle asked, “Are we going to the dance for or were you thinking we’d stay here at the table?”

Morionem blushed again. “Oh, right, sorry.” He walked her to the dance floor, then tried put himself in a dancing position and not to step on her feet. The man wasn’t sure if he was positioned correctly, but at least he didn’t step on her feet. For now.

Giselle hummed. “I know you said this is your first ball. Am I to take it that this is also your first time dancing?”

“That’d be correct.” The man said embarrassed. “I have a vague idea of what to do, and that’s it.”

“Okay. Just… do what I do. At least you seem to have observed where to put your hands, which is an improvement over the last one. I should open a school.” She took over, trying to keep in step with the other dancers and not look out of place. She was becoming an expert on hiding the fact that a woman was leading.

Morionem followed, the best he could. “I take it your last pair also didn’t know what he was doing then?” He felt slightly relieved. “Am I at least doing better than him?”

A tsk noise came in response to the question. “It would be completely unprofessional of me to compare my pupils so blatantly. But I will confirm that you are at the very least more interested in becoming a better dancer than he was. I really don’t think his heart was in it, to be honest.”

“Maybe he just wasn’t that interested?” His feet faltered for a second, fearing to step on hers. “Now I spin you?”

“If you’re up for it.”

“Let’s try?”

“‘Kay.” The word was almost lost in the motion of Giselle parting from Morionem to twirl and come back to him. She nodded. “I think we handled it.”

He smiled. “I’m glad I’m not being a disaster on the dance floor.”

“Yes, hopefully we can keep the disasters outside of the guild hall, at least for tonight.”

“And may we keep the disasters away from the city too!”

Giselle threw her head back in laughter, almost as if doing so were part of the dance. “I should have known someone who marches into a fancy ball with a duck and no idea what he’s doing would be an unrelenting optimist.”

“Well, certainly one or other disaster will hit the town. But then we’ll go there and kick it until it’s not bothering us anymore.” The look in his eyes was fierce, and his dancing motion showed that. He would be taking the lead if he knew how to.

“I hope that confidence serves you well.” The music slowed as the song came to an end. “So how was your first dance?”

“I think it was good. Did I dance well?” Morionem stood silent for a second, then realized she might’ve been asking about her performance, if indirectly. “Uh… I… Assume you did greatly.”

“For a beginner, I think you did very well. As for myself… I think maybe I’ll wait until you’ve got a little more experience before I trust your assessment of my dancing abilities.” She smiled as she stepped away from the dance floor. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Morionem.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you too, miss.” He smiled back as she turned away.

Morionem stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Wait a minute… Where’s Donald?”

[Krika]

After Anji left to go and find her wayward husband, Fern wandered over in the general direction of the buffet table. He hadn’t really seen what was available, and he could use a bit of food to eat now anyway, so he didn’t really see any reason not to gravitate in that general direction. At the present, he was looking over a small table with several dishes filled with bite-sized pastries on it, considering what could be eaten.

“Quack”

Blinking at the unexpected noise, he looked down to see a little ball of yellow fluff and down flapping at his feet. He bent down, reached out a hand to the little creature who was inexplicably wearing a bowtie.

“Donald? What are you doing here?”

The duckling quacked and hopped into his hand, flapping it’s wings excitedly as Fern stood up, lifting it up to his face. It bounced against his hands a couple of times, giving a few excited quacks.

“I rather think it is you, Donald. How did you get here?”

The duckling quacked again, this time bouncing once or twice before leaping off of Fern’s hands to the table, wings flapping futilely in an attempt to slow his fall. Fern tried to grab the escaping duck, but missed his grab, and it landed on the table with very little grace. Showing no sign of being injured, Donald popped up and waddled over to a nearby place, deliberately grabbing a piece of one of the pastries before settling down contentedly to bite at it. Seeing this, Fern shook his head.

“I guess you are just hungry. I do not know if that sort of food would be healthy for you, but I will not stop you.”

“There you are!” Said a familiar voice from behind Fern. His steps resounded as he grabbed Donald and cradled him in his arms. “I told you if you wanted food you should ask me.” A silent stare was exchanged between the bird’s black beads and the man’s brown pupils, the latter which then turned to Fern. “Hey! Hello!”

“Oh, hello Morionem. I thought you might be here, given Donald’s presence. You really brought your pet duck to the ball?”

“Umh… Yes…” His eyes glanced away as he said that. “I didn’t have anyone to leave Don with, and I found something he could wear, so I brought him. In hindsight, I could’ve asked you, but you too were invited so...”

Fern frowned a touch. “Well, I would have been been happy to join you, but I think that such an event could have a variety of connotations attached to it that I do not think either of us, or at least myself, would have liked to have been label, although I can understand how coming by oneself can also be bothersome…” He shook his head, pulling himself off of his train of thought. “In any case, Donald certainly seems to be taking to the party rather well.”

“Quack”

Morionem chuckled and knelt to put his pet on the floor, the stood up again. “He must have an idea of what he’s doing. Or at least he isn’t afraid to be seen walking on the buffet table and eating as he pleases.”

“I suppose he does not have the same concerns that we would have about such bold behavior.”

“Certainly.” Morionem tried to take a sip from his drink, only to realize it was already empty. “What about you? Having fun?”

“I can say that I have been enjoying myself, yes. I certainly do not regret coming, and there have quite a few novel experiences that I have run across.”

“Same.” The man motionem the glass he held in the air, doing some spinning motions. “Would you like to get something to drink?”

“Are they all alcoholic, or are there any juices or punches? I am not overly interested in getting drunk, at least in such a... public context.”

"I believe they do have punch." His eyes darted all over the buffet table. "Over there."

“Well then, shall we sample the drinks?” Fern wandered over to the bowl, and filled a glass from the punch bowl, sampling it as he returned. “It has a bit of an edge to it that I would not have expected punch to have. It is quite nice, I would say.”

"I think I'll have a glass myself then." He did the same as his friend, and sipped the punch as he returned. "Indeed. Quite nice." Crouching, Morionem leaned the glass towards Don. "Would you like to have some?"

The bird stared at the drink and sniffed it. "Quack" He said, flapping the wings that carried him away.

Standing up again, he took a sip himself. "I guess not."

“I guess ducks do not like juice, or perhaps Donald is just not thirsty at the moment.” Fern sipped from his drink.

Suddenly smiling, the man had an amusing thought. "This is the first time we've met and have not dealt with underground caves. Yet."

Fern grinned as well. “I should hope that no caverns become involved here, as I suspect that any circumstances that would lead them to show up would also lead this party to a rather… abrupt and not particularly good finale.”

“It’d be a disaster, yes. But most people here are capable members of the Severed Storm guild, right?”

“I...do not know, although I suppose that most people here are from one guild or another, so I agree that most of them would be able to hand themselves in the event of an emergency. I simply do not wish for such skills to become necessary tonight.”

“And I wish the same.” After a moment of thinking, Morionem raised his glass for a toast, as it seemed appropriate.

Fern raised his glass, and clinked it against Morionem’s, before taking another sip. There was a short moment of silence, until Morionem broke it again. “So… If I remember well I have this book I got from the library before the Loreknights started taking care of it. Probably should give back and get others, it was of no use for me.” His usual smile had become a frustrated frown, and the man stare was focusing at the erratic bird, before he could get in trouble again.

“What kind of book was it? What was the topic?”

“Meditative techniques and all of that cra-stuff.” The man drank a swig of punch.

“I suppose such techniques can be unhelpful if you are not inclined in that particular direction.” Fern took a sip of his drink. “If you can stop by the Library some time with the book, you should be able to simply drop it off with one of the Loreknights, and it will find it’s way into the shelves.”

“I was hoping it could help me improve my magic, or something. But I guess it’s not the kind of thing you learn from a book.” Morionem gazed over his shoes, where he felt Donald pecking the leathery outside. “Anyway, it’d be good to meet you somewhere that isn’t the Underground. This ball is fun and all but it’s only thirty-three percent of the times we’ve met.” A smile came to his face, only slightly forced into existence.

Fern smiled somewhat ruefully. “Indeed, that would be an nice change of pace. Are you a member of any of the guilds?”

“Not yet, no. But I’m planning on joining the Severed Storm guild. If they accept me, that is.“

“Well...I have something of a standing invitation to spend time at their headquarters, although this was given for Storm & Drive, although since Nova is was the leader then and still is the current leader I see no reason why it would not still be in effect, so we could meet up there sometime?”

“Uh… Isn’t the leader An… Anjali Torvantine?”

“Ah, yes she is.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, I am sorry. I refer to her as Nova.”

“Why would that be?”

“I…” Fern looked down and took another sip from his drink. “I do not know if it is something that she would be comfortable with me spreading around, as while I can see that it could be considered a private thing I can also see how she might not mind, so I…” He cut himself off. “Suffice to say there were circumstances, and she consented to allowing me to use it, and I see no issue with doing so.”

Morionem was even more confused than before. “Ah… I… See.”

“I mean, what you call something or someone can be somewhat flexible, and multiple names can all refer to the same thing without changing what the named thing is, so…” Fern took another sip. “I do not see much of an issue in that regard.”

“Right then.” He took a sip of his own. “Uh… If they ask for references or anything of the like, may I tell them I know you?”

Fern grinned. “I do not know how much knowing me may help you considering that I am not a member of the guild, but I will certainly put in a good word on your behalf!”

Morionem grinned back. ”Thanks!” Lifting his glass once again for another toast, he realized it was empty, but didn’t care. The two of them clinked glasses, before descending into a companionable silence.

“Umh… Any other activity you enjoy besides… Lorekeeping, blowing up underground caves and going to balls? We could meet one day and do that.”

Fern frowned, swirling what was left of his punch around the glass. “You know, I do not have any particular other things that I like to do, although I would hesitate to say that blowing up caverns was fun, and I do not think that one ball is enough to de-” He hiccuped. “-determine whether or not I enjoy them, although I would say that this one has been quite entertaining!”

“Oh well…” Morionem fell silent, and thoughtful. “Then I’ll just do what I said I’d and visit you while you’re Lorekeeping.” ’It can’t be that bad, right?’ He told himself.

“And I would be glad to have you visit, my friend!” Fern grinned broadly at Morionem.

“Quack.”

“Well, if you excuse me…” Morionem rolled his eyes and glanced at the pesky bird. “I think Donald wants to eat, or wander around, or ducks know what.” Donald stopped pecking his shoes, for once, and quacked again, cheerfully. “T’was nice to see you again, Fern.”

Fern grinned and nodded. “And it was good to see you again! I shall see you around, or possibly not, but most certainly eventually!”

Donald quacked one last time, at Fern, and flapped his wings and he quickly wandered away, with Morionem chasing after him.

[Guyshane]

Marcus fidgeted nervously in his new clothes while he waited for Mirae. His new clothes were comfortable for the most part but he hadn’t had time to get them tailored exactly. Still it was a nice outfit with breaches of higher quality than his normal pants, a green silk shirt and a black cape. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have wasted money on the cape. But it was quite nice, just so long as it doesn't get me kicked out of the ball.

“I like the cape.” Mirae walked up beside him, mouth pressed tight to repress a laugh. Her blouse and striped skirt had fading colors, but they were clean, and she held a corner of the skirt in her relaxed hand. She tried curtseying, stumbled a little, and ended up just bobbing in place.

Marcus grinned slightly at her near fall. “Well the cape isn’t just me indulging myself, it does hide the daggers wonderfully,” he explained before offering his arm to the mage. “Shall we?”

“You should try wearing a skirt sometime,” she said, not bothering to hide the laugh this time. “Hemlines are wonderful things.” She placed a hand on his arm and began tugging him slightly toward the entrance, half-turning to face him as she did.

“I’ll just skip the skirt wearing and take your word for it if its all the same to you,” he responded mirthfully. As they walked inside Marcus let out a whistle. “The place cleans up nicely when we put our minds to it,” he commented.

Mirae glanced around at the decorations and the people already milling inside. A man she didn’t recognize swept past in a lacy coat. “I can hardly find my way around,” she said, smiling. “What do you think -- should we look around the edges or cut straight through?”

“Edges,” the soldier replied firmly. “If other dances and festivals I’ve been to are anything to go by we should establish whether or not the drinks have been spiked already, in case we want something later.”

“...Spiked,” Mirae repeated, images of cups ringed with glass thorns flashing through her head. “You have interesting festivals.”

He shrugged. “Well if you think the drunks getting to the punch early and deciding to share with the community to be interesting. Then yes, I suppose those could be called ‘interesting’.”

“Ah.” Mirae’s eyes lit up in mischievous understanding. “That depends on who doesn’t notice the change, then.”

“Very much, so,” he replied grinning. “Luckily for you, I have ways of testing. Herbs can be used for identifying substances besides poisons.”

“So you’ll be adding more things to the drinks,” she said, raising an eyebrow. Turning to face ahead, she continued, “You do have fun at dances.”

“What?” Marcus asked with false innocence. “I’m quite sure I don’t know what you’re talking about and I certainly did not buy a very hard to obtain bottle of rum for the sole purpose of spiking the punch, that would be immoral.”

“Just remember which one you did so we know who to blame at the end of the evening.” Mirae grinned. “It might get harder to tell.”

“Well that’s why I was going to pour it one of the bowls that was already spiked, so I could deny everything. Come on,” he said as he pulled her towards the punch and began dipping a roll of bound herbs into each bowl. On one of the bowls the herbs turned blue after being dipped. He looked at the herbs in surprise. “Oh well...that’s interesting.”

Mirae looked at him askance before peering closely at the bundle. “Good interesting, bad interesting, or just interesting?”

“Yes, most likely to all of them. I believe someone has poured a potion in this one. Based on how the herbs aren’t dying or anything similar its probably non-poisonous. But...since I don’t know what it does I’ll just not spike this one.” He then walked to the next bowl over and poured about three-quarters of the rum in before storing the rest of the bottle. “Anyway, would you like to dance?”

“Before everyone else is drunk enough that we can’t move without running into them?” She smirked at him, softening it to a smile. “Let’s.” She led the way farther into the middle of the room. Watching the other dancers, she mimicked the way they were standing, then caught Marcus’s eye. “Do you know how this one goes?”

He shifted from side to side. “I think saying that might be an exaggeration, but I can probably do a good enough impression.” He took hold of her and they began dancing. “I must admit to being better at folk dances then this formal stuff.”

Mirae frowned, trying to glance between the crowd and Marcus, missing steps more often than not. Finally, she shook her head and stopped. “The music has a nice enough beat,” she said, looking in the vague direction of the musicians. “Do you want to try a folk dance?”

“Well, we should let the current song finish I think.” Then an evil idea struck him. “Unless of course you want to throw off all the other people here merely for our own comfort and amusement?”

Mirae grinned back at him. “Could it be much worse than standing still?”

“You are evil and terrible and do you happen to know this one?” he asked as he began to swing the small mage around with a wide smile on his face.

Mirae let her skirt flare as she spun, falling into step with the beat. “Something similar enough-ahh! Mostly, anyway.” She laughed as he suddenly switched directions and hastily took a few extra steps to keep herself on track.

“We can make it work, I think.” He replied before grabbing a hold of her again as the two began moving quickly around a small space that had opened up in their wake. He stopped suddenly so he could spin her. “Working just fine.”

“Seems to be. I haven’t danced like this in…” She paused. “A while.” She smiled at him, and they danced in place for a moment. “When it goes back to the high note, try throwing me out instead of bringing me back in at the end of a turn.”

“Alright,” he replied. As the music peaked again, he twirled Mirae but let her out as far as their arms reached. They hung there for an instant, then he spun her back toward him, letting her momentum carry her past him and out on his other side. His cape fanned out behind him. Catching her just before she ran into another pair of dancers, he hurriedly pulled her back into the center.

While she was in close the big man muttered. “Aww, look at how jealous they all are of us.” before letting his partner extend out again as they quickly turned.

“Not bad for only half knowing what we’re doing,” Mirae replied as she swept past again. She whirled too quickly at the end of the move, and managed to stay on her feet by turning the slip into a fumbled spin. “We’ll need to work on that one.”

As the music slowed down he brought her in close again. “We’ve got plenty of time tonight. I mean sure we’ll need to take a break when the drunk people come out on the floor but they’ll leave before long. No one who's drunk wants to move for very long.” He heard the music begin to pick up again. “You ready to ‘wow’ them with the finale?” he asked, his eyes glittering.

“Ready when you are.” Her eyes narrowed over her smile.

“All right then,” he said as the music picked up again. Marcus once again began swinging her quickly around the small circle and twirling her several times before finally dipping the mage as the song ended, to polite applause. He pulled her back up. “Well I’m having fun so far, how about you?”

“Of course.” She stayed close to him for another moment, then slipped out, letting her hand come to rest in his. She glanced around the room. “What’s over here?” The dancers started up with a slower song, and she tugged Marcus between them to a set of tables. A couple of waiters were loitering by the wall, trays in hand.

“Well dear it does appear to be waiters. If you want a drink I’m sure we don’t need to ask them for one.” Marcus took out the bottle of rum and took a quick draught from it. “Rum?” he asked, offering her the bottle.

“Hm.” Mirae looked around in disappointment at the more or less empty corner. She shrugged, accepting the drink. “We could go back out again. Or wander around the edge. I suppose we could wander through the middle, though that might be trickier.”

“Hmm…” Marcus thought for a moment. “Okay, how bout this: First, lets get some food so we have energy to dance and if we drink more we aren’t doing it on empty stomachs. And then we can go out to dance more, if you don’t mind of course.”

“Definitely not.” Mirae did a half-spin, letting her skirt twirl again. “Back over by the punch?”

“Geez, one bit of rum and you already can’t get enough,” Marcus joked. He squeezed her hand gently. “But yes, I do believe the food was back over that way.” She only laughed in response and led him off toward the table, dodging around a brightly-dressed man and his partner who seemed not to notice they were drifting away from the main group.

Mirae scanned the table as they approached. “You said you’d never been to one of these before. Is it what you expected?” she asked, picking up a berry from one of the platters.

Marcus let out a grunt of approval as he bit into a bread roll he had picked up from a platter. “Something like it. There is food and music and people far better looking than me. I’d say its close enough to how I imagined it.” He picked up a plate and began gathering food. “What about you?”

Mirae gazed around the room before she spoke. “It’s not all that much like a festival. A lot quieter, fewer children, more formal. Still fun, though.” She smiled as she turned back to him.

“Well I gave you the best guess I could muster since I had never been invited to one.” he replied around swallows of food. “Look at the bright side, at least I was right about the drinks being spiked. So we can safely assume tomorrow will look a lot like the aftermath of a festival.”

“The difference is, I don’t think there’ll be any suddenly unguarded alcohol tomorrow.“ She sighed jokingly. “Though that doesn’t seem to be a problem. And you were right about there being food,” she grinned, slipping a roll off his plate.

“And its very nice food at that.” Marcus rolled his eyes at her antics. “Much nicer food than I’ve ever had. I didn’t know we had people that made food this good up here.” He pulled out a chair from a nearby table. “Seat, milady?” he joked.

“Why, thank you.” Mirae inclined her head graciously before pulling out her own chair and sitting down. She looked up at him, smile on her face.

He gave her a look that was half amusement and half exasperation. “You tease.” Marcus sat down in the chair.

“And you weren’t?” She opened her eyes wide in pretend innocence.

Marcus rolled his eyes before smiling. “You are ridiculous sometimes.” He placed his hand on her face and pulled her into a kiss. “But I suppose life would be less fun if you weren’t”

Mirae pulled her chair closer to his. “You let me be ridiculous.” She wrapped an arm around his neck and returned the kiss.

Marcus leaned his head against her’s. “Let you? How could I ever hope to stop you? I told you about floor 20 over dinner and you wanted to go storm it before I had even paid the bill. I think you need to realize that you’re wonderfully ridiculous.”

“That’s not being ridiculous. That’s being excited,” she said, not moving away. “And we still haven’t gotten back there yet.”

“Well we were making good progress.” Marcus noted. The big man let out a sigh of irritation. “But I guess we’re back to square one with the whole rearranging, aren’t we?”

“We know sort of what’s around us. It’s not like we have to explore every floor again now that they’ve been moved about. Though I do remember a temple we seem to have been forgetting.” She looked at him questioningly.

Marcus nodded. “True enough, and I certainly can’t say your leg hasn’t recovered. The dancing provides testament.” He swallowed a bite of a sandwich. “Now I suppose its just a question of when.”

Mirae sighed, leaning back. “That’s why I’m not in a guild. I rather like being able to disappear for a while and not worry about being back. At least you seem free more often than not.” She shrugged, taking a pastry from the plate.

He shrugged. “Of course I’m free often. I provide valuable intelligence on the floors as well as elimination of potential serious threats. And absolutely no one can complain about me being gone for long periods so long as I keep doing that. Not Anji, not Ben, not Kevin.”

Mirae grinned around a bite. “Well, would you like to provide more ‘valuable intelligence’ sometime, then?”

“Well,” he said as he laced his fingers through her’s. “I’ll need someone with me, to watch my back and such.” The warrior smiled slyly. “Would you happen to know anyone who might be interested?”

“Oh, I’m sure someone will turn up.” She squeezed his hand.

Marcus looped their connected arms over her head so he could pull the smaller woman against him. “We need to avoid the desert if at all possible. Seriously if I never see another lizard again it’ll be too soon.”

Mirae adjusted her skirt from being spun in the chair. “And here I thought being exposed to something made you like it more.” She tipped her head considering. “We could always introduce the lizards to a cow, see what happens.”

He kissed her ear before whispering. “Don’t you dare, troublemaker. But I’ll tell you what: You get them to taste like something besides burnt lizard and I’ll never breathe another word against them.”

“Why, do cows often taste like burnt lizard?” She smiled into his shoulder. “But I accept your challenge.”

“Then you need to start practicing your cooking skills,” he stated. “As I recall you never got beyond ‘slightly less burnt than when I cooked them’.”

“Still an improvement. At least most of mine wasn’t black. You’re a soldier,” she continued, “shouldn’t you be able to cook?”

“Everyone has a different job. My duties were to stab things with a pointy stick, provide backup first-aid and set up tents. So no my cooking skills are at exactly the level someone with no experience should have.” He kissed her on the neck. “Besides shouldn’t someone who didn’t have others to cook for her be a much better cook than me?”

“I suppose you are rather good at the other things. Though I have to wonder how they expected anyone who got separated to make it back,” she said, leaning against him. “And lizards aren’t rabbits.”

“Well I don’t know about regular guys but the running joke with my unit was that I could eat roots and leaves until they found me. And I see your point but it must be the same principle of cooking shouldn’t it?”

She laughed. “Maybe. They cook faster, for whatever reason.”

“Mmm, okay.” The musicians started playing a slow song. “Hey,” He said gesturing with his head. “Would you like to?”

“Trying again?” She kissed his cheek, then stood up and offered him her hand.

“With this rhythm?” He asked as he stood and took her hand. “No need to try, no formal moves, no informal moves, just us.” Marcus slid his other hand to hold her hip.

Mirae placed her free hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just see what happens, then.” They stepped forward and began to dance again.

[eli_gone_crazy]

“Er,” A hesitant voice spoke up from behind Fern as he got more punch. “Hello.”

Fern spun around grinned. “Why hello the-” Upon seeing the person who had just greeted him, the rest of the sentence got lodged somewhere between his voicebox and his mouth. “Ah, greetings Loremaster.”

Lori smiled back, seeming nervous. “You are Fern, yes?”

“That is my name, yes.” He did his best to keep his nervousness off of his face. Her presence wasn’t unexpected given how important she was, but he wasn’t sure why she’d be interested in him.

“You…” Lori took a breath, thinking for a moment. “You seem to be the only person I know very well here.”

“Well, I suppose people would prefer to spend time with people they know rather than people they do not, unless they are particularly good at making new acquaintances…” He trailed off. “Ummm. Did you want something from, or with me?”

“Would you accompany me, please?”

“Ummm….very well?” He paused, before a moment later awkwardly offering her his hand.

Lori accepted, glancing around the room nervously. “I don’t see how anyone can stand to talk to people about nothing for several hours.”

Fern nodded. “I also do not really know how that is quite entertainment, although I may have done some; I would not think that my ability to discern the semantics of such social interaction would be very well developed.”

Lori nodded. “I did rather like the invitation. It was aesthetically pleasing, as well as being concise.”

“I suppose those are at least pseudo requirements for such things, as they would be the first real impression one would have on the party, and thus having them be well made would leave a positive impression of how the party will be..” He trailed off as he realized that they were still holding hands.

“Ah….er..would you like to, ahhh...dance?”

Lori looked at him, expression unreadable. “If you would, yes.”

Well, this is a party and from what experience I have had of it so far dancing is part of what people consider to be entertainment, or at least a way to pass the time, and if you wish me to accompany you then doing at least a little dancing would seem to be the appropriate thing to do, or so I think…” He paused for a breath of air, and with some trepidation started leading Lori out to the dance floor.

“I am afraid I am not a particularly good dancer, as this is the first instance in which I have had any sort of experience with dancing, so I am not going to be a very good partner…” he trailed off awkwardly.

“Do not worry,” Lori smiled back, taking the lead. “I was trained to dance from a young age.”

“Oh. Ah…” Fern awkwardly followed her as they started to dance.

“And you? Where did you come from?”

“Well….I identify myself as coming from Pallas Akasha Academy, as I was taken there when my magic was identified when I was young. I do not have any particular memories of my birth family, if that is what you are asking.”

“In some ways, that is fortunate.” Lori smiled again, asking, “Do you think it would be a funny prank to play if we could cause all of the punch to bubble as if undergoing vaporization?”

Fern paused. “Well, it would certainly make some things a bit more lively, although any particular methods I can think of that I would be able to implement would be somewhat conspicuous in their implementation.”

“What if we introduced a combustionary element into the drinks?”

“What combustionary element would you suggest?”

“Sodium, perhaps?”

“That would certainly cause such a reaction, although I am not quite sure where we would obtain sodium in such pure quantities.”

Lori bit her lip, heading for a seat. “It would also probably scare all the other partygoers, and that would be upsetting.”

“Indeed...I think Nova would be upset if someone were to ruin her party…” He awkwardly followed her to a seat.

“Oh, she looks so pretty!” Lori looked across the room, quickly returning her eyes to her lap. “Though I’m unsure of the latest fashions. Legias told me that she would personally oversee my execution if I wore armor.”

Fern paused. “Umm...If I may ask, and if it’s not too bold to ask, why would the Captain of the Guard execute you if you wore armor?”

“She thinks she could stop me,” Lori replied. She stared at the floor for the moment, adding, “She’s my sister.”

Fern blinked in surprise. “Oh, ah...um.” He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to come up with something to say. “Um. I am afraid I would not really be experienced in the ways of blood relations...”

“Oh, psh,” Lori waved her hand dismissively. “She likes to talk, my sister.”

“Um. Alright.” He hesitated for a split second. “I am sorry, I do not really have much that I could say or speak to about any relationship between siblings as I do not know if I have any, nor does that lack of knowledge bother me, so I doubt I am the best person to comment on that sort of thing.” He awkwardly looked down. “I am sorry, I just...I do not know what I could contribute to this sort of discussion.” ‘

Lori nodded, playing absently with her hands. “Hey, I know you’re having fun and everything, but… Do you think that maybe you could accompany me back to the lab?”

Fern jerked a little in his seat, face coloring slightly. “Ahhh….sure? If you would like me to, I will.”

Lori looked up to face him, suddenly distant. “It is not an order. If you wish to stay, that is also fine.”

Fern shook his head, waving his hands slightly. “No no no, it is fine, I would not be opposed to going with you! I….” his head dropped a little. “I have seen everyone that I really know already, so unless I found them again I do not think I would have much to do.”

Lori blushed slightly, before offering him her hand. “Would you like to see my latest project? I am attempting to convert frogs into recorders.”

Fern awkwardly took the offered hand, blushing a bit as well. “I think it would be more interesting than staying here and either repetitively hanging out with the same people, or simply doing nothing.”

“What are your thoughts on the astronomical patterns lately? I’ve heard that most of the constellations are unknown-” The two of them headed out of the ballroom, slowly becoming engrossed in conversation.

[Lordxana0]

Vincent moved toward the food tables with a large sigh as he began to get a plate of food together. The night hadn’t gone too badly. Danced with two girls, got yelled at by another, and he was eating actual food and not alchemy slop and getting air not filled with chemicals in his lungs. All in all it was a fairly even night when it came to luck. If he believed in luck that was. Get some food, eat, see if anyone else might be interested in a bit of dancing then get home and do some proper going arounds to find a place to sleep that wouldn’t kill him when someone struck a match.

“What are you still doing here,” a voice spoke up, heavy with anger.

The alchemist turned his head and saw the woman who had broken him and Zi apart from their dance. Her sister? Or was it bodyguard? Something along those lines he was sure. “Well if you mean what am I doing now then that should be rather obvious” he lifted the plate of food up so she could see. “If you mean why I am in this location at the moment isn’t that the mystery behind life that everyone is asking?”

“Oh, stow it.” Anji snapped. “Why were you trying to strong arm my sister into trying to let you into my guild?”

He blinked and tilted his head to the side. “Um… until I came to this party I had no idea who your sister was, or who you were for that matter… in fact I don’t believe we have yet to be properly introduced” he put the food down and held out a hand. “Names Vincent”

“Anjali Aqaba,” Anji returned the handshake, still tense. “Guildleader of Severed Storm, as you know.”

“Well when you shoved yourself into the middle of a dance I did” he scratched the back of his head and smiled. “Anyway when she said that she could get me into a guild I just figured she was trying to impress me. Young girl at a big event like this with Goddess knows how many people around I figured it would be safer if she wasn’t alone and looking to all the world like a lost kitten” he looked careful at Anji’s head. “By the by I found it rude to ask but the ears is that a thing that people have around here?”

“It was an accident,” Anji winced. “Thanks for the help, I suppose.”

His smile dipped down a bit. “Its my pleasure, parties like this were a haven for assassins back where I came from. Well assassins and aristocrats. Which lets be honest about the same thing” he chuckled a bit at his joke and looked back toward the crowd. “So… about your guild… I have been looking for a place where my skills could be put to use. Any openings for an alchemist?”

“Dunno, what’s your battle ability?” Anji asked.

“Served in a war, ended up betraying my side to form a rebellion and blew up the diamond mine that both of the sides were fighting over” he shrugged his shoulders. “I can use a sword and can be very convincing when it comes to talking people over. Oh right and I can make things that explode. When I remember how to make them of course”

“Be in my office by midday tomorrow,” Anji ordered. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to finally find my husband.”

He gave a bow to her and smiled. “And I need to find a beautiful and single woman to dance with. Or maybe a handsome young man. Don’t suppose you would know either of those two would you?” he took up the food again and took a bite of something he was pretty sure was chicken.

“You could always look for the Lorekeeper, if she’s still around.” Anji smirked, walking away. “I’m sure you two would go together perfectly.”

He thought about it and nodded. “Yeah that could work… wait what is a Lorekeeper” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I am really behind aren’t I?” he shrugged and continued to eat. “Well I am sure it won’t be that bad.”

[Guyshane]

Anji rubbed her head, giving up the search for her husband for a moment, and slid into a nearby chair.

Suddenly her wrists were quickly tied with some decorative rope by someone who had sat down in the chair next to her. Marcus glared at the guild leader. “Anji, really? After I just got done complaining about you stealing from me, you steal my coin purse?!? Do you know how hard it was to get this outfit?”

“Oi!” Anji called out, trying to disentangle herself. “What’s this all about?”

Marcus glared at her more, light being reflected from his diamond eye directly into hers. “Where is my money?”

“It’s with you, I suppose.” Anji snapped, pulling out a knife. “How would I know, anyway? ‘m not a thief.”

The warrior plucked the knife out of the thief's hand and began playing five-finger fillet with it. “Now see why are you lying Anji? Its pretty obvious you did it. I mean while we might have the guild funds to afford the ball, you don't have enough money to buy fancy clothes for yourself and Kevin. Unless of course one of you is royalty.”

Anji narrowed her eyes, snarling, “Careful, Marcus. Ye might make me angry.”

“Well you’ve already made me angry.” He tossed the knife aside. “I mean I’m not going to hurt you of course. But we are going to sit here until I get an explanation...and maybe an apology.”

Anji smiled ferally, “You should really keep a better eye on your gear, anyway.”

“And you should keep your hands to yourself, I guess we’re both disappointments.” Marcus stopped and took a bit of an apple he had snuck off someone’s plate. “Where did you even get this? I didn’t know you could get food this fresh.”

“Had a last minute dropout, made the caterer go to the market. “Let me go, Marcus.”

“Give me my money back, plus however much you spent.”

“You took twelve gold for a bit of salve,” Anji complained. “Highway robbery. Ye had it comin’!”

“Highway robbery? That was a jar of high quality salve! And it was at a discount! You took hundreds, hard won from the grips of various monsters and criminals. I’m the guild’s vanguard on this damn castle and you’re stealing stuff from me! What the seven hells, Anji?!?” Marcus took several breaths, calming himself after his rant. “Where is my money?”

“You know well as I do that if I had a gorram choice, I’d be out there with you.”

“Stiffing me, I even went with the rename without protesting despite the fact that Severed Storm is a silly name.”

Anji rolled her eyes, “I know it’s a silly name! I didna pick it!”

“Lets not get off topic. Where is my money?”

“Not on me,” Anji relented. “I’ll give it to you in the morning.”

“I certainly hope so.” Marcus replied. “It really is in your best interest to have your lieutenants happy.” He gave a couple of quick tugs and the rope came loose. “I like the ball by the way. Mirae and I have really been enjoying ourselves.”

Anji smiled, “I’m glad you’ve liked it. Sorry for swipin’ yer things. Old habits.”

“Don’t let your old habits start to touch people who aren’t friends who will forgive you or criminals. Otherwise the whole point of this ball will backfire. Also thank you for hiring Rachel as one of the musicians, she always said that she loves more exposure.”

“Pleasure,” Anji motioned to the rope. “May I?”

He gestured dismissively with one hand. “If you must.”

She examined the rope, “How’d you get it to tie so quick?”

“Oh well that’s simple, you just do this.” Before she could say anything Anji’s hand were tied again and Marcus was watching her with amusement.

“Marcus.” Anji said, taking a deep breath.

“Yes, An…..Sis?”

“Sis?”

“Why not?” Marcus replied. “You, Zi, Tamar. You’re all like family to me, certainly the closest thing I have to it anymore. So yea, Sis.”

“You just screamed at me.” Anji said, deadpan. “Literally. Now I’m family?”

“Right, you didn’t have family growing up, isn’t that what you told me? Well let me tell you something it took me forever to figure out. Family screams and fights and squabbles over everything and nothing. And at the end of the day it doesn’t matter because they're a family.” He leaned back, satisfied with what he had said.

“Well, I’d hug you, but my hands are tied and you have my knife.”

“What trust you to hug me after I tied you up?” He snorted. “Not likely, no I’ll find you later Anj.” And with that Marcus got up and left, presumably to find his date.

[Scarab]

Uh, I'm guessing this happens BEFORE the last two (Does Anji ever stop getting into trouble? )

Eliziya sat on a stool and tucked her legs in, glaring at the floor. Fire flared on and around her, hissing and spitting wrathfully.

Your sister doesn’t like you, it observed.

She bit her lips, grinding her teeth, fuming. “It’s a ball. This is a ball. What the hell am I supposed to do if not dance?”

Your sister might have been more accepting, were it your heart-love.

“Well, he’s not here, is he?” Zi scowled. “For the first time I get to know someone and she does this.”

You should not have presumed to promise him a place.

“Why can’t I recommend people for the guild?” Zi demanded of the voice. “Isn’t that how Tamar got in?”

It sounded less of a recommendation and more of a demand, the voice pointed out, and she felt it drape about her shoulders like a physical cloak.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zi growled. “Why are you so damn nice today? Shouldn’t you be yelling at me and telling me how unloved and insignificant of a gnat I am? How mad, how pathetic I am?”

Serenity welled up from the being inside her, but no vocal reply came. Struggling for a few moments, Zi eventually sighed and the anger dissipated.

“You’re right. I should have made it clearer that I just intended to vouch for him.” Zi played idly with Numen’s feathery wing. “What now?” she asked gloomily, watching the crowd dance through a sheen of incandescent flame. “Am I just supposed to sit here?”

*

“Oh saints, am I supposed to just walk in there? Looking like this!”

Eliziya was going to kill him.

Honestly, Tamar wasn’t sure he deserved it this time. The incident with the blue vase? Sure that time he could understand being the target of the wrath of a heated sun blazing down upon him. It had been a very nice vase. But this time? Honestly not his fault.

This did not, however, change the fact that Eliziya was probably going to kill him

or if not her, then certainly Anjali. Or Kevin. Or anybody. He had meant to be here hours ago. Was it two hours, or three? How long had that... thing been chewing on his cape, anyway?

“Damn it Hector,” Tamar grumbled, you said it’d take half an hour, an hour max! I should’ve known better than to accept a time limit from him of all people.”

It was only as he started to get close to the ball (a few people who had already left, having clearly enjoyed themselves a little too much, marked the path in the right direction) that Tamar remembered that his nice new cape had been ripped in two. Also, his tunic was messed up. And the less said about the burn marks on his sleeves (what was with Echo lately) the better.

To say he was a bit of a mess would be an understatement, besides, what if there was a no weapons policy? He never went anywhere without Echo these days. He couldn’t just walk into the building the way he was. Granted, he didn’t smell at least but he’d probably embarrass the living saints wishes out of her.

Okay, maybe there was someone else he knew here, he could ask someone to come out, Guild members didn’t generally ask questions about why their comrades in arms were covered in dirt and had tears in everything, it was just kind of a guild thing. So maybe there was someone there who-

“Well?”

-...Or he could just turn around. Because clearly today was not going to give him a choice in anything, now, was it?

So he turned around. As slowly as he could, tyring to remember what exactly had happened en route so that he could explain why it technically was all Hector’s fault. Because it really was. Seriously. He had kind of predicted the burning hair before he even turned. She did that when she was angry, but apparently it had moved to her eyes today as well and her ears, being far more expressive than they used to be, were curled slightly backwards in cat-like anger. Tamar winced. “Uh... hi?”

“Are you coming in or not?”

Without waiting for his answer, she stalked back into the ball, trying to give him the metaphorical cold shoulder.

Oh, this was not going to be fun. “Uh... Zi, you might not want me to go in there! T-trust me, it won’t do guild relations any good!”

But then she was already inside and couldn’t really hear him, or maybe she was ignoring him. Either way, he really only had one option.

Yeah, if Eliziya didn’t kill him, then somebody in his guild was going to. he paused for a moment, debating whether or not to leave his one remaining shoe on, then decided hey, he was gonna look like an idiot either way, took a deep breath and walked into the room.

|The good news was he didn’t see any members of Severed Storm he immediately recognized. Granted, the guild was about three times the size it had been in the beginning, but the important part right now (apart from ‘explain things to Zi so you don’t look like such an idiot’) was to avoid any of the senior members, who would probably raise questions as to what the hell happened and that was just going to ruin the entire evening. So he stuck as close to Zi as he could (given that she was walking just a little too fast right ahead of him).

She glanced back uncertainly, as if to make sure he was still there, then glared resolutely straight ahead again. “You-” Then she cut herself off, remembering that she was supposed to be ignoring him.

“Um... am... I being cold shouldered or told off?” Tamar realised he didn’t actually know the difference. “I... look, Zi I’m really sorry I didn’t show up on time, I didn’t mean to, it’s just... there was stuff... in the Underground... and... would it help if I blamed Hector? I’m fairly sure he started this.”

Zi whirled, stared at him for a few moments, lip quivering, then she pouted and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “Where were you? I’ve been waiting for you!”

Tamar... hesitated, not sure whether to be relieved. At least she was talking to him. “I-I said, the Underground. Not the proper part just one of those big rooms at the start, um... yeah you know that rumour about the rats of... unusual size? The one we’re not supposed to talk about, on account of it being ridiculous?” It sounded ridiculous alright, especially said aloud, but saints darn it, he had seen those teeth. Stupid omnivorous giants...

Zi patted his tunic, trying to dust him off before realising it was pointless. “Are you alright? You don’t look very.. clean.”

“Uh... it’s okay, I washed my hands,” his eyes widened slightly. “I’m not even joking about this, Zi, they’re down there, they actually exist. I just thought Kain had been drinking again, but no, there are now giant rats in the sewers.” He paused before lowering his voice. “The small ones were bad enough, I’m not sure if I can handle giant ones, they kept sniffing me! when they weren’t trying to eat Hector’s armour. His armour, Zi!”

She tiptoed and grabbed his temples, pulling him close so their foreheads touched. Soothing currents of warmth passed through her into him, easing his frazzled mind and restoring a measure of vitality to his limbs. Then she let go and stared at him, concern evident in her eyes. “Better?”

Tamar spent a couple seconds wondering how she could go from obvious anger to reassurance that quickly. But then again, that just seemed to be a thing Zi did, for him, at least. It was like a pendulum, he thought. She kept his momentum.

And he had stood her up at the biggest event the Castle had ever thrown. A castle that might well kill either of them whenever it chose to. If it wasn’t for Zi’s trick, he’d probably be freaking out about that.

Thank the saints for Zi. “I’m sorry, I really, really didn’t mean to stand you up, I guess... I guess it’s not really Hector’s fault, I was just... curious. I thought I’d have plenty of time, then it all just kind of got away from me.” he looked back little sadly. “I just got this cloak...”

“It’s okay,” she smiled. “Come on, I already got to piss Anji off once already. Wanna dance?”

Tamar paused. He looked a mess, and as appealing as the idea of pissing Anji off as to Zi, the concept filled Tamar with a strange kind of horror. He still remembered the look on her face the first time when Zi had made him knock on their door while carrying her. This was not an experience he wanted to relive. And his cape had been practically torn in two. It was trailing everywhere. Stupid rats, why they all went for him he’d never know.

Also he had never actually danced before.

But he did have one rather significant idea. “Okay hold on a second, here’s an idea.”

He tugged her slightly to the side, away from the crowds, and drew Echo from his sheath just enough that the blade flashed in the air, and blinked.

One of the strangest things about Ice magic was how it changed the way your body worked. It wasn’t that you stopped feeling hot, or cold (at least that wasn’t his experience) it was more like... your body stopped reacting to it. He supposed that was natural: that the body had built in safeguards to protect you and those you wanted protecting from themselves. Just a week ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of doing this but now...

Well now he knew what he was doing, and those rats were not going to ruin the evening, saints damn it.

The ice spread in a thin, filigree weave. He remembered the pattern on the inside of an old book cover, the twists and eddies, like water. He focussed it on individual threads first, drawing together the torn seams, crystallising the surface, holding it together just enough to keep the seams steady. It didn’t look very much like ice at all against the purple. He gave the oddly repaired cloak a bit of a shake, keeping Echo where he was in his sheath so as not to break the contact. “Huh,” he muttered, glancing at the cape (andperhaps secretly glancing at Zi to see whether or not she was impressed). ‘“All this time, and I still can’t get that magic to go through my hands, how do you even do that?”

“That’s pretty, but uh, if we’re dancing,” she flicked her fingers and conjured a candlelight. “Won’t that melt?”

Tamar smiled, shaking his head. “it won’t melt. Well... not very fast.” He thought about it for a second. Could he actually... it didn’t take that much power, so it wasn’t like he could accidentally hurt her, but could he maybe... “Hang on, lets see if I can...”

Turned out, he could. The ice spread in a pattern down Zi’s back but she only shivered at first, before it balanced out. He had to make the threads this time, rather than using an existing material base, and that was harder but it worked. The pattern formed against Zi’s back, like the wings of some fae creature in one of the oldest books, catching the bottom of her hair, melting a few times until it balanced out. Cold, sure, but not dangerous. There was something very reassuring about the fact he could do that now. It didn’t always have to be about hurting. He could use it for something else. Something constructive.

“Ha! Who says I can just stab things with this!” Tamar gave Echo a pat.

“Eeeeeeee,” Zi shivered intensely at the touch of the cloak. “It’s so cold, gosh, next time I’ll make you something out of fire and see how you like it!”

Despite her words, she hugged him briefly, then took his hand. “Well, sir?” she asked with mock formality. “Are you asking me to a dance?”

“Only if you promise not to set me on fire, milady.” He paused, realising soemthing was kind of ruining the effect here. “Whoa, hang on, shoes.” He pointed. The nice cloak aside he was actually still only wearing one shoe. Could people dance in one shoe? Was that a thing people did anywhere?

“Tamar? What’re you waiting for?” Zi asked, setting her crimson shoes by the wall neatly.

...Okay, so dancing with no shoes was a thing people did. Yes, that seemed much more balanced. Tamar kicked the remaining shoe off so that it landed much less neatly next to Eliziya’s, and followed her. If anybody thought this was weird, they didn’t say so.

“So, T, ever danced before?”

“Um... I read about it?”

“It’s fine, I’ve done this exactly once before.” Zi pulled him onto the dance floor confidently. “That makes me a professional.”

[Guyshane]

Anji sighed, examining the rope before giving up and leaning against the chair.

“Love?” Kevin asked, stumbling over to her.

“Oh hey, Kevin.” Anji smiled. “I lost you for a bit.”

“I’ve been righ’ here all ‘long,” Kevin said, his words slurring heavily.

“Drank a bit, have you?” Anji asked, amused.

“On’y the lem’nade. No’ as goo’ as yours bu’ it was nice.” Kevin pulled out a chair beside her, trying three times before he sat down in it. Anji laughed, raising up her hands to cover her mouth.

Kevin narrowed his eyes. “Wha’ss on your wriss, love? Braceshletsh us’ly go on one hand don’ they?”

“I uh… I got distracted and accidentally got tangled up. We’re good!”

“Tanglesh don’ happppen on their own li’ that. Lemme get it off. Who di’ thish to you my beautiful princess Anjali?”

Anji let him, kissing him on the nose. “In the morning, dear. You’ve had a bit much.”

Kevin’s brow wrinkled. “You didn’ get tied up inna morning, I rememember the morning an’ you were fine.”

“No, I’ll talk to you about it in the morning,” Anji laughed again, reaching out to hug him.

“Wash i’ tha’ man?” Kevin asked, pulling away. “The ugly one?”

“All other men are ugly,” Anji said placatingly. “You’re the cute one.”

“So it wash the ugly man!” Kevin said triumphantly. Without waiting for Anji’s reply, he stormed over to Marcus, cutting short the man’s dance.

Marcus stopped with a noise of irritation. “Kevin, it’s a ball. Can’t we just ignore each other and enjoy the night?” Mirae stood next to him, watching.

“Could do, ‘fff you’d enjoy th’ night wi’ your own girl,” Kevin growled, swaying slightly.

“Ah, you must have been sampling the punch,” the other man noted with understanding. “You also must not have much tolerance for alcohol, I didn’t put that much rum in.”

Anji strode over, placing herself between the two. “Oi, you two. Stop.”

“We’ll go back to what we were doing,” Mirae said, frowning at the two newcomers.

“You been dancing wi’ my wife,” Kevin said, jabbing a finger in Marcus’ general direction. He missed, stabbing aimlessly into the air. “I seen you. An’ then you you you tied her up!”

Anjali laughed, looking apologetically at Mirae. “Sorry, miss. He’s not one for drinks, I think.”

“I have been dancing with no one but Mirae tonight, a fact she can vouch for. And the rope was perfectly justified payback.”

Kevin’s arm shot out, only narrowly missing Marcus this time. “D’you know who she is? No one manhandles my wife li’ that!”

“You’re the one with lightning abilities, yes?” Anjali ignored the brewing fight for a moment, eyeing the mage.

Mirae glanced at the two men, seeming to decide she wouldn’t be much help getting in the way, and looked back at the guildleader. She nodded. “Diversion?”

“Or you could knock him out,” Anji said, pointing at her husband. “I’ll deal with the aftermath, no worry on your end.”

Kevin collapsed heavily to the ground. Mirae winced at the sound. “It’s harder when they’re drunk. Very easy to go too far.”

Marcus stared at Kevin nervously. “Is he smoking? I believe he’s smoking a bit.”

“You just exacerbated the issue,” Anji snapped, raising her tied hands to point at the taller warrior. “You knew he wasn’t thinking straight, and you still went jonesing for a fight.”

Marcus stared back. “Really? How did I know he wasn’t thinking straight? I only found out when he interrupted our dance. Besides, the knot is simple.” He tugged on one strand near the front of the knot and within a few more seconds the rope was sliding off the small woman’s arms. “If you had looked instead of struggling you could have been out of it easily.”

Anji sighed, turning to smile at Mirae. “Sorry again for the interruption. Thank you for the help.”

Mirae ran a hand over the back of her head. “It’s fine. Um, would you like help?” she asked, nodding to Kevin’s body.

“Please,” Anji laughed, blushing. “The apartment’s not too far from here. I think Mal is already asleep, so it shouldn’t be that much of an issue.”

“Here,” Mirae said, pulling one of Kevin’s arms over her shoulders. “We can make it look like he just had too much to drink. ...Nothing else.”

“There is still smoke coming off of him. We might want to pat that out.” Marcus pointed out.

“It’s not as if he’s on fire or anything,” Mirae grumbled.

Anji looked over at Marcus, obviously upset. “Dunno what you two are playing at, but... you need to solve your issues.”

Mirae looked up at Marcus, surprised, then returned her gaze to Anji. She started to say something, but shook her head and shifted Kevin’s weight. “So, shall we bring him back to your home?”

“Here, Mir. Let me help you,” Marcus said as he got one of Kevin’s arms over his shoulder and bore some of the weight.

“Thanks,” Anji said, walking slightly ahead of them. “I’m sorry we ruined your party.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mirae would rather be off exploring an abandoned temple anyway.” The big man joked before reaching over to gently poke the mage in her side. She hid her grin, turning to scan the path in front of them.

Anji smirked, shrugging as she opened the door to the apartment. “Up to you two, I suppose. Thanks for the help.”

Marcus shrugged as best he could under the weight. “Its no problem. Although may I offer up that your husband cannot hold his liquor?”

“He’s… had a lot, I think.” Anji smiled. “May have played a prank on him, poor guy.”

“So you spiked his drink, I spiked a bowl of punch and someone slipped something else into one of the other bowls.” Marcus looked at the redhead incredulously. “Is there anyone who didn’t bring alcohol to this shin-dig?”

“Him, apparently.” Anji motioned to the bedroom. “You can set him on the bed. Sorry again for the trouble.”

The couple laid Kevin down on the bed. “Don’t worry Anj, there was no permanent damage to anyone. All things considered I’d term this night a success.”

Anji punched his shoulder lightly. “Heading back out, then?”

“Might as well,” he replied.

She pulled a pouch out of a drawer, tossing it to him. “Here. Yours, anyway.”

Marcus caught the pouch and patted himself down to make sure everything else was still present before stowing it. “Any particular month you want me back by?”

“Report back by the next full moon.” Anji slid into a chair. “I can make you something to drink, if you want.”

“Given what happened to him, I’ll pass.” Marcus replied gesturing towards the bedroom.

“Right then,” Anji smiled, and motioned to the door. “Don’t die on me, Marcus.”

“Why would I start now?” He joked as the couple walked out the door.