[ota, threadhopping and intermingling welcome] No, the party don't start until I walk innnn.

[tenoroftheskies]

Should the castle's residents be wandering as evening falls through the windows, they might hear the soft strains of music coming from down a hall, around a corner, behind a closed door. Regardless of where they are, or how far they are from the source of the sound, it will lead them all to the same place: a veranda high up on the castle's southern

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[votetemple]

Adrian was in no more danger of falling into complacency here. Since their brief meeting with the teenage werewolf the other day, there was no more procrastinating, no more enjoying the comforts of the Castle, he just wanted to leave and not come back. He'd more or less gotten over Tempest knowing because there had been Lia, and if nothing else their host had retrieved them both from the stomach of that thing even knowing what they were, but this? A whole group of total strangers finding out that he was a monster? People who would stay here, and who he'd run into, and who would talk amongst themselves and tell other people?

Just thinking about it made him feel nauseous. The problem wasn't the question of whether them knowing put him and Lia in danger, but rather the more basic, mindless anxiety that came from having spent so long trying to keep this secret from so many people, and suddenly finding that it was becoming public knowledge against his will. It was frightening, and painful, and disgusting, and there was a reason he didn't want people knowing about it, and... at the Castle, he didn't think he could have that any more.

So he'd spent the day getting packed. He'd found enough dried meat in the kitchen to last him for around a week if he went alone, and still a good three days if he could convince Lia to come with him. He'd wrapped the meat in cheesecloth and stashed it in his room temporarily, and was just looking to find a decent lightweight bottle he could use to pack some water for the journey, when he heard the music.

He knows he probably shouldn't have followed it. Should have just gotten packed and gone looking for Lia to talk to her about wanting to get gone as soon as possible, but Adrian's been doing all kinds of things that he shouldn't have been doing lately, so follow it he does. Stepping out onto the veranda, he's instantly struck by the light of it, and brings one hand up to shield his eyes. Squinting through the glare, he can see food, and people, and one of the more beautiful sunsets he's seen in his life, and the thought crosses his mind that one more night here couldn't possibly hurt, could it?

[toseethesunrise]

Quorra spots him when he walks in--the man who was apparently like Kat. He'd run off with the woman so suddenly, she hadn't even gotten his name. She wants to approach him, but she's afraid of scaring him off again.

She takes a tentative step towards him, holding herself in a manner that she hopes will tell she means no harm. "Excuse me?" she says, politely and inquisitively, holding back despite a bursting desire to talk with him.

[votetemple]

Adrian turns quickly, to see who's addressing him, upon recognizing the woman they'd encountered a few days ago, his initial reaction is to do a quick mental scan of possible excuses for politely leaving again. His good manners get the better of him this time though, so instead he offers her a cautious smile.

"Hello! I'm sorry, we met the other day, didn't we? Ah..." What was her name? She'd told him her name... crap, he'd forgotten her name. Or rather, he hadn't really been listening very closely when she gave it, "Forgive me, I know you introduced yourself then, but your name seems to have escaped me..."

[toseethesunrise]

"It's all right! My name is Quorra," she says, pausing for a moment before she holds out her hand on instinct. She is very determined to make this go over better this time around.

"I'm sorry if I did something wrong last time. It wasn't my intention to chase anyone away." She says it calmly, trying to feel less anxious.

[votetemple]

"Quorra," Adrian repeats, willing himself to remember it this time, as he takes the offered hand, and gives it a firm shake, "I'm Adrian Temple. Pleased to meet you again."

He's... a little surprised that she has any doubt at all over why he'd fled the other day, but whatever, she seems nice, and her being completely oblivious is pretty preferable to her being completely aware of his weirdness, "You didn't do anything wrong." He replies quickly, "It was just... a tense situation. We didn't want things to go downhill."

[toseethesunrise]

She shakes his hand back, perhaps a bit eagerly, and bites back a tiny smile. "Likewise, Adrian Temple!"

Taking a step back after she pulls away, to potentially avoid another confrontation, she draws in a deep breath. "Oh, good!" she says with relief. Maybe she didn't mess up! She would make the interaction go smoother this time! "Although I did recognize the tensions. I'd just hoped it could be diffused."

[ledfromthepath]

Kat is lurking near the wall, but not too near, just in case one of those clockwork things decides it wants to be unfriendly. After what happened in the garden... Well, she can't leave. Not until she's had a chance to find that Adrian guy and...

Well, something. What she doesn't expect is for him to find her. Kat freezes when he stumbles onto the veranda, her stomach twisting as he stops just a few feet away. She resists the urge to hug herself, instead just dropping her eyes to her feet in subconscious submission.

[votetemple]

Adrian catches sight of Kat when he enters, and for a moment, he's torn. She's another werewolf, a young girl, going through one of the hardest things he can imagine once a month, and stranded here having to deal with it alone. There's a pretty significant part of him that wants badly to reach out to her.

Then there's the other side of it. That he knows she's here with others, who presumably she's told about her condition. She doesn't want his help, she doesn't need his help, and his last attempt to make contact with her didn't just force him out of the werewolf shaped closet, it put Lia at risk as well. Despite his desire to try and be a part of her life, he just can't bring himself to do that again. Trying to push his help onto her wouldn't have been fair on any of them.

So instead, he gave her a very slight nod of greeting, and made for the finger food.

[ledfromthepath]

She catches his arm with both hands as he starts to pass, digging her heels in just in case he tries to pull away. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I guess I like..."

Kat trails off and lets go, twines her fingers together behind her head and rolls her eyes and generally tries to look like the picture of a half-apologetic scapegrace teen. "I fucked up. I don't... The only werewolves I know would've beat the shit out of me, soon as they knew what I was, all right? I don't..."

She drops her hands to her sides, then crosses her arms. "I don't..." She sucks at this. "I'll ask them not to tell anybody. They're. I think they're okay people. Except probably the disco pimp."

[thumbcocked]

Lia and Adrian had never been more on the same page in all their short acquaintance. Because as much as she'd talked up the staying points of this joint - the thus-far free room, board, and foodstuffs, the apparent safety from the weirdness they'd both found out there in the woods, and pretty much no questions asked - she's been on the move too long not to have kept her duffel packed and stashed by her door.

The scruffy little twerp had just forced the timetable she'd had in mind. She's been much less discriminating in her scrounging (also she's already been hoarding some nonperishables since getting here) and is pretty sure she's set to go soon as it gets dark. So what that she's never ever gone it on her own in a forest. She can handle it. No biggie.

Course then music happened and she could already smell the spread after a couple minutes of following it and she's figuring that hey. Could at least check to see if anything else could get got.

Assuming a certain dude-o stopped blocking the way. Reaching up to gently flick at his shoulder, Lia whistles. "Hey. Guy. Fab impression of a door, so how's about opening up."

[votetemple]

Realizing that Lia is behind him, Adrian steps to the side, turning to smile at her as he does so.

"Lia! Hey! I was just looking for you, when I got... well, sort of sidetracked I guess." Adrian gestures out into the room, towards the clockwork figures, and spread of food and sources of the music, to indicate just how effective Tempest is at throwing a good distraction. "Seems to happen kind of a lot here. This is nice though. Would you like to get something to eat with me?"

[thumbcocked]

"Well, here I be, side- or back- or whatever track."

She flashes a sideways smirk at him before shrugging and stuffing her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. Nudging him with an elbow, she starts moseying her way over to the table.

"Sure. Mean, we're both here, food's here, can't be too hard to knock a couple birds at the same time, right?"