If I'm ever invited then I'll be delighted to take you to the fairy tale ball....

[tenoroftheskies]

Dawn breaks through the windows of the crystal ballroom as a woman in a storm-gray mask and gray silks mounts the stairs and turns to face the crowd. Silence falls as she spreads her hands

Comments

[painhumbles]

Gabriel tugs on the broach of his (miraculously still intact) licorice cape and finally just fingersnaps himself back into his usual attire. Damn, but it does feel good to have that little bit of power back. He's going to be so pissed if he has to jump through hoops to keep it.

"Not really big on castles, but, hey, if you need me? I'll be in touch. Ciao." He gives a mock salute and starts heading for the door. He has to go make sure Castiel didn't die in the snow or get eaten by skinwalkers trying to find this joint.

[sarkraticmethod]

Sark has long since decided that the only way to deal with this place is a great deal of drinking and a lot of filing everything away. He's gleamed bits and pieces from overhearing conversations and lurking. This is either an experiment or he really and truly has lost his mind or, perhaps, he honestly is in a mystical wood for some reason.

Either way, he doesn't think he can do much of anything living in squalor in some deserted barracks with a bunch of lowlifes. No, if he's to figure out the truth, he'll do it where he can be presented with resources.

To Tempest, he raises the glass of champagne he's holding and murmurs, "God save the King" with a slight smirk.

He'll take his chances here. There was never a scenario he couldn't find his way out of and this is just one more.

[sonotahunter]

"God, I surmise, has little to do with it." Bela stands close by, sipping at her own glass and watching Tempest with a predator's cold, near-empty gaze. She doesn't realize how fae-like the expression makes her look. Even odds to whether or not she would care.

"I take it you wish to indulge a little longer in the hospitality of our host."

[sarkraticmethod]

"Inasmuch as He has anything to do with anything," Sark responds dryly. He glances over at the woman beside him- unfamiliar, but then again, everyone is. He can't recall seeing her around either, which means she's either very good at hiding herself or makes a habit of being elusive. Both admirable qualities.

"I see it as the preferable option at the moment, yes," he nods slowly, taking a delicate sip of his champagne. "If I'm to choose my prison, then I prefer the comfortable one."

And if Tempest knows anything, he plans on getting it out of her, but that much he won't say in mixed company.

[hisstupidheart]

Des, for his part, can't get to the door fast enough, already shedding the cape and chainmail from the costume in the middle of the ballroom without even looking to see who he's been talking to half the night. He's done. He's out. He's had enough fae crap for one night and he's going back to the barracks.

On his way out, he turns to face the hostless and gives her a flamboyant bow before about-facing and marching towards the rooms... All while hoping she totally doesn't see that as soon as he's not facing her, he's flipping her the bird.

Maturity. He has it. But at least he hasn't started his 'if you agree to stay here, you're a fucking idiot' rant yet. No, that'll come when he sees how many heads he has to count once he gets everyone together again.

[tenoroftheskies]

She notices. There's very little that happens in her castle that she doesn't notice, really, unless she's distracted. Just now? She's not.

Tempest appears in front of him seemingly before she vanishes from the ballroom, dressed in a tailored suit from the appropriate era on earth. "Indelicate," she says, her voice carefully even. "Rude. But then I begin to find that is a trend in this group the Wood has chosen."

[hisstupidheart]

Des doesn't jump- just twitches a little, because the one thing that always stays the same between universes is that fairies won't give you any damned space.

"I'll make sure we build a charm school when I get back," he says, putting on a saccharine smile that can't be anything but fake.

[tenoroftheskies]

"Why do you run?" She crosses her arms and tilts her head. "You have seen much, and worse. Why do you flee?"

[aheromade]

Leaf frowns as Tempest leaves. The offer comes a bit unexpected -- though here it's customary, apparently?

And while he'd be lying if he said the offer was completely untempting, it's the difference in customs that really makes the decision for him. Were he back in the Manster District, or Thracia, where he knows the culture inside and out and knows exactly what honor entails, it would be easy to judge whether the invitation was worth taking.

But here, where he doesn't know the customs well enough to be certain of anything...no. The last thing he needs right now is to put himself in debt to someone he can't be sure of.

After one quick glance around the room, he makes for the door.

[kalenedra]

There was really never a chance Tarma would stay. Even if she could be sure of the Princess - which she's not - she's Shin'a'in, born to open spaces and freedom, and all of this... well, civilization, to put it bluntly, grates on her nerves.

She's not surprised to see a few people obviously planning to stay, but she is pleasantly surprised when no few people immediately move for the doors. She falls into step alongside Leaf on her way back toward the rooms, casting him a sidelong glance. "I take it you trust that offer about as much as I do."

[aheromade]

Leaf takes his time answering that, choosing his words carefully. "I don't necessarily doubt her sincerity. But honor doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. I'd not want to rely on my own homeland's idea of it...and then be wrong."

[kalenedra]

Tarma smiles faintly at his words, nodding ever so slightly in approval. She agrees with the boy - sincerity, she's sure the Princess has plenty of. Protection would be easy to grant, in a castle like this, with the kind of power the Princess has at her disposal. But.

"She never did say what she expects in return for that protection. And in any case, all this civilization's beginning to make my teeth itch..."

[im_apimp]

Alec already knows what his answer is before she makes the speech.

The entire duration of the gala has been a rough one. He doesn't know what he can trust. He knows for a fact that he can't trust Kitsune. People who threaten other people's lives to get what they want? Not trustworthy. Not by a long shot. He knows that there's no expectation for her to keep her word regarding Max, but then again, he isn't sure he wants to take the risk. Things between him and Max are on shaky enough ground as it is. He doesn't want to make it worse by making her the target of some pissed off fae, who's power he doesn't even understand

[tenoroftheskies]

Tempest steps out of the corner of his room, knocking twice on the wall to announce her presence. He might be able to tell anyway, but politeness it politeness.

"I have it from your guides that you have chosen to stay. Is this so?"

[im_apimp]

He is able to tell. Sudden familiar scents tend to help a guy out that way. He pushes himself up into a sitting position to meet her eyes, before giving her a small smile.

"Yup. I'm a sucker for a nice bed." His tone is joking, but Alec likes to cover most things with a joke. It's not like he could tell her the truth anyway.

[tenoroftheskies]

"Indeed." Her own tone is both amused and dry, suggesting that she knows very well he has better reasons - though she doesn't press as to what they are. "I am glad of it. You will have nothing to fear here, not from the fae."