knightsoflegend | after-party ♔ april

after-party ♔ april

♬ 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 || April 1st, 2016, 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.

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Not always so fearless.

[It's startling, the way he can fall back into old habits as though nothing had changed, as though those two years had never passed at all-- two years that they had barely spoken of, although Ashe has the feeling that he knows what might have taken place all the same. He always seemed to know more than he should.

She stumbles in the process (Perform: Dance 3) and feels utterly graceless even as he rights her, and it takes effort not to draw away when he leans in close and lowers his voice-- like everything was the way it should be, except that it wasn't. Not for ages now.]

Are you sure about this--?

[ He steadies her easily, tucking him in against his chest as his other arm slides about her waist, letting her lean in him until she's sure of her footing once more.

Her question gets a gentle smile from him, his eyes warm and fond. ]

I am always sure of you, Ashelia. Come. Let me show you.

[ And with that, he guides her out onto the dance floor, letting his arm anchor her against him and make up for the shift in balance she has to adjust to. ]

[It almost feels wrong, like a mockery of what she'd once wanted from him. What could they have now, even here? Given the first opportunity to return to his purpose, they would meet the same end, nevermind all that they've been so careful not to talk about since meeting again on this side of the Veil--

But she doesn't have it in her to say no, not now, not to him, and she swallows her misgivings, allowing him to lead her.]

You're still a better dancer than most anyone here.

[He had surprised her with it the first time, and he seems even more at ease with it now.]

I had a long time to practice.

[ His tone is a hint dry as he carefully supports her, offering her his certainty and strength as he guides them smoothly through the steps (Perform: Dance 16), his gaze focused intently on her face as if the movements themselves were well-memorized and natural. ]

Besides, these steps are no so different than those we shared back in Halamshiral. I seem to recall you dancing very well there.

[She smiles wryly in reply, letting him lead, allowing some of the anxiety of feeling out of place to ebb away as they go, even as a part of her remains largely unsettled.]

You forget, I'd had Josephine drilling me on Orlesian dances for two weeks beforehand.

[As well as table manners and other formalities. It had been exhausting.]

I don't think I've danced since.

[After he'd left, who would she have danced with?]

A pity.

[ He smiles as his arm tightens imperceptibly about her waist a moment before he spins her into a twirl about the room, carefully holding her steady, and close. ]

You dance now as you did then. Beautifully. At least the atmosphere is much less... [ He pauses, searching for the right word before he wrinkles his nose and goes for the most apt, as distasteful as he seems to find it. ] Orlesian, this time around.

[She bites at her lower lip, stifling a laugh.]

I was just appreciating that fact myself, before you came over. [A beat.] You're full of compliments tonight.

[Like the truth of his identity hadn't changed them. Her smile falters, just for a moment. Allies, they had agreed upon, but the rest was not so simple as setting their differences aside, even if it felt like it should be simpler than that in this particular moment.]

Making up for lost time?

Perhaps it is the air of celebration being so infectious.

[ He suggests it with a quirk of his lips, but his gaze is steady on her face as he watches her, thoughtful. ]

Would you deny that we have much of it to make up for?

No, I cannot.

[Two years-- even longer, if they counted all that time when he'd been there but she hadn't known the truth.]

But-- nothing has changed.

[Other than the where. His purpose remained the same, the reason he'd left her, because it had been him that did the leaving. Her tone is thoughtful rather than accusatory, curious without managing to be entirely neutral.

Did he plan for things to change?]

[ He gives a pointed glance around the room. ]

On the contrary. I'd say a great deal has changed.

[ Evasive. He knows that's not what she meant. ]

[She gives him an almost warning sort of look. Of course he's playing evasive. Looking back, that's often been his response when it didn't suit him to answer honestly.]

You know I don't mean this place.

[She doubts she has to say more.]

[ He merely chuckles softly at the look she gives him, shaking his head. ]

Yes, I know. But we are in this place. None of our plans took this into account. As of right now, I don't know how this may have changed anything. perhaps there is new information to be gleaned about the Veil in this realm that I was unaware of back home. And if not... [ He trails off, something wistful flickering in his expression for a moment before he shakes his head again. ]

Let's not borrow trouble tonight, Ashelia. This is meant to be a celebration. There is music and dancing and tiny cakes. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, don't you think?

[She presses her lips together in response, unable to embrace the same levity that he's managed. Music and dancing and tiny cakes aren't quite enough to distract her from greater matters.]

If not tonight, then when?

[She slows, no longer quite keeping up with him while dancing. She's not insisting that they argue, but:]

Even for one night, I cannot just forget.

No. I did not expect you to.

[ There is a hint of sadness in his gaze as he slows their pace, still leading, if only to keep from colliding with another pair of dancers. ]

I cannot change the duty left to me, Ashelia, much as I might wish otherwise. But that, too, is on the other side of the Veil, out of both our reaches for the moment. So we can spend our days here arguing over it and being enemies, or we can put aside the problem until we find out if there is any returning to it.

[ Because he's becoming aware that that is a concern here. That in all the years people have studied their Veil, it's been a one-way trip for those who have fallen through.

Which, if indeed fact, renders their differences irrelevant. For the time being, at least. ]

We already decided not to make ourselves enemies.

[But it's not the same, is it? It's not the same as being friends, and it's certainly not as simple as going back to the way things were before she knew.

The fact is, he's had far more time to consider his actions and the consequences they would bring than she has. He's known all along that things would be complicated, that there would be no easy resolution, had always believed it was a path he would have to walk alone. For her, everything was still too new, and neither of them had been able to predict this place, or the further complications it would present.]

Even so, even if what you say is true, I-- it may take some time before we are friends.

[She cannot bring herself to hate him, or even to be as angry as she feels like she ought to be-- but it's not as simple as forgiving and forgetting, either. It's too big for that.]

[ He regards her seriously for a moment before inclining his head. ]

Indeed. It seems as if the fates are in my favor, however, since it seems to have granted us a great deal of time, for now. Will you allow me to attempt to make amends for my deceptions?

[She studies his face for a moment, thoughtful. Time, it seems, is something they have in abundance-- but is there any coming back from where they'd left things?

She nods once, careful.]

If nothing else, I believe that you want to.

It was never my desire to deceive you, Ashelia.

[ His words are quiet and fervent as he bends his head closer, keeping their conversation private between the pair of them. ]

Had I seen any other way... I did what I thought best at the time.

I know.

[She keeps her own voice low, not wanting them to be overheard, and pulls herself closer under the guise of continuing to dance to that end.]

I know it's impossible, but if you could go back, do it differently-- would you?

[And if so, what would he change?]

[ He gives a soft chuckle at that and for a moment his expression falters and his eyes slide closed, regret and sorrow flaring in his eyes before he purposefully hides it from her. ]

A dangerous path to tread, vhenan. Do not ask it of me. What should I say? That I would never have cast the world to its fate had I known what would befall my People? Ah, perhaps, but what then would they have experienced? Would they have even survived? Would my path have ever crossed yours on a mountainside beneath a torn sky? Corypheus' actions caused great pain and suffering, true, but it was only one path to his goal, and one you had the means to end. He would have found another way, with or without the aid of my orb, and perhaps with more disastrous results.

Do I wish that I could have stayed at your side? Always. But I cannot turn a blind eye to the plight of my People, any more than you could. I know what I must do to set things right, whether any other understands my actions or not. Where would you have me change it, vhenan? Can you predict that a different path might have been fraught with less pain and disaster, or that it might have promised more precious moments of happiness?

[In the greater scheme of things, it's too important a cause to him for her to expect that he change his mind about it in any way-- but there's one thing she would have had him do differently, even if he disagreed.]

I would have had you tell me sooner.

[Not leave her to wonder whether or not he was alive for two years. Even though she would have disagreed with his course of action as much then as she did now, maybe things would have been different if she'd known.]

That's all.

I wished to spare you from as much of it as I could, vhenan. [ His voice is quiet as he meets her gaze, serious and intense. ] It mattered not when I told you, it would put you in a difficult place as Inquisitor, and as an elf. You founded a great achievement in shaping the Inquisition as you did. I am proud of what you - of what we all - accomplished. But I also knew that the path I was set on would eventually bring me in opposition to all of you, to what the Inquisition at it's core stood for. I was in no rush to reach the day that would put us at cross-purposes at last.

[Her face falls, just a little, thoughtful. Depending on when he had chosen, things might have changed a great deal. He was right, the position would have been a difficult one either way, but it gave her something interesting to think about, something that made her question the person she had been versus who she had become over the last few years.]

If you'd told me at the start, I might have followed you. We never would have been at cross-purposes at all.

[And that, she's not so certain is as desirable as some might think. That was a version of herself that no longer existed, an Ashelia who cared only for the livelihood of her own people and preferred the rest of the world to remain strangers to her.]

Perhaps.

[ He agrees, because there's a chance of that. But he suspects she'd been made of sterner stuff even from the very beginning. ]

Regardless, I did not. And you had your own challenges to deal with from the start. Challenges you faced and overcame. It has been an honor to watch you, Ashelia. To see what you did with the power that was thrust upon you, how you shaped the Inquisition into what it is. I am proud to say I was there beside you to watch it take shape and come to fruition. As hard as they were, I would not have traded that experience for anything.

Nor would I.

[It's only three small words, but it says a lot. For all of the difficulties that they had faced, for all that her time with the Inquisition had changed her and the way she saw the world--

She wouldn't have traded it for anything, either. She wouldn't have given any of it up, even the parts that hurt. She slows to a complete stop finally, gently pulling away from him.]

I think-- I should go. A bit tired, that's all.

[She's not, and she knows he'll know the truth, but she needs space from him at the moment. Even if they're to be allies, there's still too much between them for any of this to be easy.]

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