Come one, come all...storytime with the Arcana

[stacks_the_deck]

As the sun set it became rather apparent that it wasn't only the sun's rays that had lit up the Embassy so it seemed to glow. No, there was plenty of light of its own shining out of all of its windows of colored glass, making it a rather cheerful beacon in the night

Comments

OTA

[cardstitcher]

With all the excitement coming through her office lately, Frankie had nearly forgotten her other duty as Club Emissary until the invitation had appeared in the hand of an unfamiliar but smiling man. She has no idea what to expect, no more than any of the other Cards she can see milling around. She'll look for the other emissaries later, although it seems like every Suit has several high-ranking Cards at the embassy tonight.

She can't help glancing around for Christophe. It's been weeks since they've talked, has he finished the books? Has he made Gustave finish the books? What did he think of them?

Re: OTA

[foolishlywitty]

Oh! Oh look, Frankie was there too! it was very much not polite to dance like an excited puppy, so Christophe didn't do that much. Instead, he made his way over to the doctor, snagging a servant holding a tray of snacks on his way.

"You came!"

Yay~

[cardstitcher]

Even with the slight uncertainty and awkwardness she's feeling at being here Officially, Christophe's genuine enthusiasm is pretty contagious and she's already smiling when he bounces up, although she looks a little askance at the servant proffering the tray with a calm smile

"Sure I came," she says as she takes something small and delicious. "Wouldn't miss it. It's good to see you again, how have you been?"

[foolishlywitty]

Christophe's beam was contagious, it seemed. Even the Twins couldn't always hate him - even if they were a bit condescending.

"It's going to be great! Asarlai is pumped for it. Thank you for coming." Because it would've beensad if she'd been too busy to make it. "I helped decorate. Kind of. With the lights. Have you gotten a tour yet? I've been good, have you been good? Thank you for those books! We're really liking them."

[cardstitcher]

Frankie just waits with a smile until Christophe pauses to take a breath, because even he needs to breathe sometimes, and jumps in with, "I'd love a tour. Tell me everything. About the books too. I have a few more set aside if you like. Maybe this time you could stop by and pick them up."

Assuming by the end of the evening, the Deck is still open to the Arcana.

[foolishlywitty]

"The books are great! Asarlai and I are reading them and something Andra drops by but not really all the often because, you know," he gives her a smile like she really does know about the fighting between Gustave and Andromeda, like it was a special in joke they shared.

Beaming, he started to lead her around the Embassy, continuing on with the babbling. "And you have more? There are so many stories, you have to wonder why they don't run out of ideas! I mean, I love that they don't but where do they all come from." Well... he knew where some of the came from. "These people are just so imaginative. I'll come and get them soon! When you're not busy. When are you not busy?/ You must have tons to do, with the stuff here, and then being a doctor and all."

Sieben, you are not Frankie.

[cardstitcher]

"I have a lot more. I collected them in med school and just kept going after I finished. You can come look at the whole collection if you like, but it's...pretty big." And not exactly organized. She knows where everything is, but the librarians of the Deck would despair.

"As far as not being busy, I'm busy when I'm busy. It's hard to predict when I'll be needed." When some idiot or other does something stupid or a Card gets themselves banged up in a challenge. Which is more legitimate, but still stupid from a medical professional's point of view.

XD ♥

[foolishlywitty]

"We'd love to! Well... I'd love to, and maybe he'll come anyway because he's going to be reading them to-" Wait. That was an embarrassing thing to say, right? He could save this! With a bit of a stumble, Christophe managed to keep that sentence going. "Too. He reads them too. We really do like them a lot.

[cardstitcher]

"It's okay, I know he sometimes reads them to you," Frankie says, keeping her voice down, although it's accompanied by an affectionate smile. "I ran into him...oh, it must be a month ago or more now. He said you were both having fun with them, I'm glad. You can both come if you like."

[foolishlywitty]

Christophe's smile widens, not a hint of embarrassment about it in him - he just didn't want to make Gustave feel bad. "I'll tell him. He'll probably come, even if it is just to make sure that I don't pick something he doesn't like. Which I wouldn't do. Probably. I probably wouldn't do. This is the front hall, did you know all the windows tell stories?" The quick jump in topic came from the windown that caught his eye - it reminded him they hadn't told anyone much of anything yet.

[cardstitcher]

"I didn't know that." She looks up at the window with a smile. "It's beautiful. Reminds me of the stained glass in the churches in New York." At home doesn't mean New York as readily as it had, although it doesn't really mean the Deck again yet either. She's getting there. "And I'd love to hear the stories."

[foolishlywitty]

"You'll hear one of them tonight! And I'll tell you the others, if you'll come back." The large, warm eyes he sent her weren't supposed to be puppy-dog eyes, and the bright smile that went along with them helped to dampen the pleading quality slightly. " We really like company. I mean, I really like company and the others won't bicker as much if we have company, so it would really be great if you came."

[cardstitcher]

See, this is exactly why, try as she might, she just can't bring herself to be as suspicious of them as the rest of the Deck seems to be. It'll be a low blow if she's proven wrong, she knows that possibility is there - it's hard to ignore, it's everyone else's opinion - but she's still thinking the best of all three of them.

"I'd love to come back and be company to hear more stories." She gives his arm a quick squeeze before letting go. "I suppose I should let you get back to your hosting duties." Or bouncing around the room, which seems to be Christophe's version of hosting duties.

He made a wizard of oz reference in the Q&A section >>

[foolishlywitty]

That... did tend to be his version of hosting. "That would be great, I can't wait! You'll enjoy the story. It's gonna be fancy, like those books you lent me!"

The arm he squeezed around her really quickly was just like the one he tended to slip around Andromeda every once in a while. Warm, platonic, and pleased.

[lowtohigh]

The mix of what's familiar and what's infinitely strange isn't altogether unusual, particularly these last few months. That doesn't mean that the familiar isn't going to be sought out directly, like a touchstone against things as yet unexplained.

"D'you think we'll be waiting long, Dr Frankie?"

[cardstitcher]

And Frankie always has a smile for Eileen. "Not too long, I hope," she says, glancing around the room at the milling Cards and the occasional servant, and Christophe. "I'm pretty curious to see what they have to say, I admit. Any ideas?"