after-party ♔ march

[wynn]

♬ Jeux d'eau - Ravel

WHO || Wynn, any and all Knights not currently on missions (if you are uncertain if your character would be at the castle for this, ask!)
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Ballroom
WHEN || March 1st, 2015, 6:00PM [backdated]
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

The "afterparty" is rumored to be the real main event of the night. A black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, it is every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Of course, a couple hours are provided following the ceremony for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope you aren't shy. They're all here to meet you.

Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

ooc; also if your Knight wants to get all gussied up, you can make a Disguise (Cha) check for how good they were at hair/makeup/stylin', etc! This goes for... any time.

Comments

[lionbrave]

[He raises his eyebrows, looking as blasé and unaffected as he'd like to always look (bluff 16).]

Who says I care about keeping anyone's attention? If I wished to, I've no doubt I could be as charming as any man. Perhaps it's me that would find you dull should our conversations be civil.

[Hahaha he cares so hard though but he mostly cares that no one thinks he cares. He's Ser Jaime Lannister. He's above all this, or he should be, anyway.]

[trebond]

[ yeah nope sense motive 20 total. ]

Oh, that's a laugh. You can't bear to even give compliment, for fear someone might be satiated with it and stop paying you mind. [ She interjects a harsh scoff. ] An ended conversation! Mithros, someone get Sir Lannister a fainting couch. [ She waves a hand up, like she's trying to summon no one in particular to do just that. ] And another, I think, for his pride. Perhaps if you had less of that, more might find you tolerable enough to wish to carry on with.

[lionbrave]

[Fine, she's seeing through him. He drops the act and gives her an annoyed look which is probably the most honest he's ever looked when she's... actually looking at him.]

Like you're any better. If I were to act tolerable you wouldn't know what to do with me. You'd suspect my intentions. And you'd probably be right to.

[He can't imagine ever being nice if he didn't want something out of the deal. He doesn't know why anyone else would expect it of him either. He's not a nice person. He knows that about himself. Why should he pretend otherwise?]

[trebond]

[ Dropping her voice into a seething huff, ] Oh, don't you turn this around on me.

[lionbrave]

Why? Is it making you uncomfortable? [He steps in closer, sneering at her.] Am I, perhaps, too close to the mark?

[trebond]

Or perhaps because it says a lot more of you than it does of me. Do you have an honest bone in your body, I wonder?

[lionbrave]

[He grabs her by the shoulders and yanks her forward into a brusing kiss.

He doesn't know if this is him actually being honest or him just trying to get her to shut up, to stop digging into places he doesn't want to look. He doesn't know because he isn't particularly good at honesty, even with himself, and he isn't sure if he's taking the fight in another direction or ending it entirely. He doesn't know if he wants her to shove him away and punch him or melt into him and go with it. It's a challenge, and it's not one either of them can win. It's a complication, one that might shove her away for good and by the seven he doesn't know if he wants that or not.]

[trebond]

[ It's not as if she hasn't kissed a man before. She may not remember George and the doe eyes he'd made at her, the way he'd set her reeling by catching her with her arms full when she was just a girl, but she does remember long nights in Jon's room doing what didn't precisely fall under her duties as squire to the prince, when he wasn't otherwise preoccupied with Delia. And when Jaime's lips crash into hers, it's with all the same hunger and conflict that she could taste on Jon's all those years ago. As if he's as much trying to escape in her as he is trying to appreciate her.

It wasn't Jon's love that drove her from Corus, into the desert. Being revealed as a woman before the court and the King had done that. But that violent passion had more than once threatened to either consume them both or burn out in a blaze of short-tempered glory. Had I known all men would lose their senses at the sight of it, Alanna thought to herself, I might well have stopped dressing in ladies' things.

Since then, though, she's missed that connection. The warmth and surety of it. And it's for that reason that she hesitates, allowing his lips to fumble across hers, caught up in the dizzying heat. She leans into it, one hand resting against his chest while she struggles to keep up with the aggression he puts behind the kiss, matching him as she had in battle.

But Alanna isn't cut out for these things. Once, she'd sworn to herself that she would never let herself fall in love, to have something like this. It's terrifying, consuming, life-shattering. She'd seen what love did to her father after her mother passed: he wasted away. Even when he died, some six and ten years later, he called out for Marinie.

Maybe that's not what Jaime's offering here and now, and maybe it is, but regardless, it's enough to scare her. So she breaks away with a stumbled step back, raising one hand to drag over her lips, parted with the same shock that widens her eyes to search his face in silence. Color rises steadily in her cheeks, and she reaches for indignant anger that she can't quite get a hold on. ]

[lionbrave]

[Who said anything about love? Jaime certainly isn't acting out of it. He doesn't think about love much. Maybe it's because it always feels subtly wrong. He doesn't remember his life from before, but sometimes he wonders if he had a wife, one he was truly devoted to enough that he would never consider cheating on her. It might explain why he feels no draw towards any of the women of the castle, no urges to try and find himself in the gentle caresses of another.

Until now, anyway. And there's still that twinge of guilt, like there's someone else he should be waiting for, someone else who has a claim to his heart, but right now he's ignoring it.

When Alanna pulls away, he doesn't stop her, though he does lean forward, almost as though he wants to keep going, to see what will happen next. He never expected her to kiss back. He never expected her to break away so soon.]

You wanted honesty.

[Do you regret getting it? He's pretty sure he regrets giving it in this desperate moment when she has all the power reject him or accept him. He tries to tell himself he doesn't care, but the fact is, she's wrong about him. He's never been very good at lying. Even to himself. Perhaps especially to himself. It doesn't take much scraping to get past the shining gold to a man who's not worth much as anything more than a sword hand. See what happens when you try and get him to be more?]

[trebond]

[ The flush on her cheeks turns from girlish embarrassment, all flustered and just a bit giddy, to red hot anger. Where did he get off? It's not as if he's ever shown any— signs. When people flirted with one another, they were meant to be kind. Charming. Not callous and disparaging. Her expression curdles, but her face remains red as she snaps her response. ]

If this is honesty, I'd rather have the lie.

[ Act quick, think later. It's never done her particularly well, but it's gotten her this far. Her hands curl into fists. ]

Ever since we met, you've done nothing but insult me to serve your own ego. You've undermined my leadership on missions, disobeyed my orders, and disrespected me to the squires. You've made it more than clear that you think a woman has no place among the Knighthood, yet you now expect me to believe this was all born of some … [ She bites down on her tongue, stumbling immaturely over the word. ] Foolish attraction? [ A scoff follows. ] You must think me mad. Or desperately lonely.

[lionbrave]

[The vulnerability lingering in his eyes slams away, replaced by his usual cold indifference. She'd rather have the lie? Well, he can arrange that. Maybe next time she'll know better than to prod.]

You did kiss back. Which was it, then? Madness or loneliness?

[He shrugs a shoulder casually.]

You think rather highly of yourself, don't you? Most of that was because I genuinely couldn't stand you.

[He doesn't know when things changed. It might have been seconds before he kissed her. It might have been when he woke up after she knocked him out. He's not even sure it has changed.]

Fret not, it won't happen again.

[trebond]

Oh, do you always go around — [ She flusters, spitting out the word after some struggle, ] Kissing people you hate, then? Right. Excellent show of it. [ She certainly looks the part for madness, waving at him like she's gesturing to alL THIS RIDICULOUS GARBAGE. ]

And I should think it won't. [ Drawing in a steadying breath, she squares her shoulders, setting her jaw. ] I've enough to do as a Knight without getting distracted by such silliness.

[lionbrave]

[This is the first kiss Jaime's had since he slipped through the veil, the first kiss he actually remembers, though he still thinks its not his first kiss ever. So he doesn't always go around kissing anyone. Not that he feels the need to advertise that either.

He raises an eyebrow at her response though.]

Silliness? Was it me you objected to or kissing in general?

[trebond]

Both!

[ Outraged, she rolls her eyes as she snaps her answer. ]

I believe I've made it quite clear that I would sooner kiss a pig than you again.

[lionbrave]

Fine with me. The pig'd probably enjoy it more than I did.

[trebond]

Oh, you— [ Anger burns through her anew, and she scowls, readying herself to snarl something else unkind, but she tightens her jaw and quiets instead. Her nails dig into her palms. ] Well, rest assured that you'll never have to suffer the experience again.

[ Cue flounce. ]