after-party ♔

[wynn]

♬ Jeux d'eau - Ravel

WHO || Wynn, any and all Knights not currently on missions (Slovechnia group will be returned by this point!)
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Ballroom
WHEN || Feb 1st, 2013, 6:00PM
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

[unhand]

There's something about him... [He scowls a bit, then shakes his head.] Definitely staying away if I can help it. I don't like his creature much either.

[uncurse]

Not a bad instinct to follow. [ her expression softened to look more honest as she encouraged him away. it didn't hurt that avoiding gold seemed to mean avoiding her, as well, from what she understood of this squiring process. ] I don't get the luxury.

[unhand]

You don't mean... [Is she his squire of all people?]

[uncurse]

Actually, I do. I'm having all kinds of luck with this castle.

[unhand]

Sorry to hear it. [Because Hook'll probably have to get near Gold now to be near Emma, which he wants to do more than he wants to avoid Gold.]

[uncurse]

I'm starting to see a bright side. [ spoiler: it's that you'll avoid him and therefoer avoid her. ]

[unhand]

[Spoiler: ain't happening.] How'd you get stuck with him anyway?

[uncurse]

Luck of the draw? Wynn being psychic and knowing we're from the same place? Hell, for all I know, he might have picked my name out of the list of newbies. Wouldn't put it past him. [ nothing makes you feel like a pawn quite like winding up in a new land and becoming the underling of the person you were JUST FEELING was chessmastering your actions. ]

[unhand]

He's from your land?

[uncurse]

Yep. Think sketchy pawnbroker, and you'll get somewhere in the ballpark. Haven't figured out why he's here yet, either.

[unhand]

"Seems to be going around." He'd met that girl from Regina's cell here too. "Surprised you're not trying harder to get back."

[uncurse]

"There's not much point. I mean, we're hardly the only ones this has happened to. People have been living out their lives for generations after coming through the Veil. It's a one-way trip." She glanced across the room.

"Besides, David's here apparently not under a sleeping curse anymore, and Mary-Margaret came through the portal with me, so there's a good chance she's out there somewhere too. The knights are my best chance of finding her again." She looked back at Hook, shaking her head. "I didn't have much else tying me to Storybrooke." Or any other part of that world, for that matter. That's how it worked with orphans who'd grown up into loners.

[unhand]

"And the child?" She'd been so eager before, so desperate not to let anything get in her way. It seemed odd that she'd give up now.

[uncurse]

That caught Emma off guard, and it showed in her face in a way she didn't mean to let it. Her brow furrowed, her jaw tightened, and the shock was apparent. She hadn't thought about that in … God. Since the election for Sheriff, when the prison records had come out. So, how the hell did Hook know?

"Excuse me?"

[unhand]

That was unexpected. "Your child. The one you climbed the beanstalk for." He looked at her, tilting his head. There was a hole in his memory, he knew. He could feel it whenever he tugged for strands of the story that didn't quite add up. Why had he spent so long in Neverland? What was he looking for in Storybrooke? Who was this Milah whose name he'd tattooed on his arm? "Something's missing, isn't it?"

[uncurse]

She only bristled further as he persisted. No, the Veil hadn't taken her kid from her - she'd given him up. Declined her rights to inquire after him, to know anything about him. It was better that way, she'd been telling herself as much for years.

"I don't have a kid. I don't know where you got the impression that I did, but it's wrong." Her tone was serious and cool in a way that made it clear she wasn't going to humor any of his attempts to push this.

[unhand]

So she didn't remember. And he didn't know enough about the kid to fill her in, if he even should. Maybe she was better off not knowing. She was right about how unlikely escape seemed.

"Right. My mistake."

[uncurse]

For a moment, a brief moment, Emma's mind raced. They were both holding things back. They were alike enough that it was hard to miss that - particularly when she'd started it. For her, though, it couldn't be memories. Nothing was out of place, there were no gaps. No people she should know, but didn't. No space for a child she didn't remember.

And it genuinely occurred to her that maybe he did mean that kid. The one she'd given up. That maybe she was passing up on her chance to ever find it and get to know it by not fighting like hell to get back. But, she couldn't conceive a situation where she might have gotten to meet that child. It was a closed adoption, she didn't even have a name - of him, or his parents. He wasn't her kid - he was theirs.

More than that, she couldn't imagine a single reason why she should be able to do what hundreds, thousands, had already failed to. They'd been forced to live out their lives here. It was time she accepted it and set about finding her mother, who'd had to have come through with her somewhere.

"I need some air." She said it quickly and decisively after only a short beat to let all of this pass through her head lightning-fast, more feeling than actual sorted thought, and she turned to move past him to head for the doors out into the courtyard.

[unhand]

"Emma?" He turned to follow her. She probably didn't want him to, but he'd never let that stop him before. He definitely shouldn't push her on the child thing, for now, at least. Not when so much as mentioning it got this strong a reaction.

[uncurse]

She meant alone - and he knew she did. He was just following her anyway. That's what he did, forced his way in uninvited to where she didn't want him prodding. She didn't look back at him as she slipped out the door into the courtyard. If he wanted to pursue, he'd pursue, but she didn't have to answer him.

[unhand]

He followed her out, standing quietly at first. She didn't want him to push. He didn't want her to push. They both had their secrets, and neither of them remembered what they were.

She'd thought he wanted something to do with Mr. Gold. Killian wasn't always clever, but he wasn't stupid. She thought that for a reason. He just couldn't fathom what it might be.

He turned towards her. "Way I see it, we can dance around hiding what we know from each other or we can show our cards and see what happens. You can choose, darling, but if we dance, we're probably just putting off the inevitable."

[uncurse]

Emma's arms folded over her chest, and she didn't look at him as he spoke, instead examining the castle grounds through the darkness. There wasn't much that could be made out, but the light filtering out of the ballroom helped. Accents notwithstanding, it really wasn't all that different from Maine.

Unfortunately, she could only ignore him for so long before she was expected to answer. Maybe he had a point - that they'd inevitably find out. It didn't seem entirely logical to assume so, though, considering they were the only people in this world who knew. Combined with the fact that she was pretty certain he didn't know anything, she wasn't wholly convinced.

But, what was she trying to do? Spare him pain? Keep him from losing it on her knight, whom she didn't hold any particular care for in the first place?

"His name's Rumpelstiltskin," she turned to look at him. "He took your hand, and he killed Milah." She had to assume that by now he'd seen the tattoo - that couldn't just get washed away by the Veil, could it? "That's all I know."

[unhand]

He uses his hook to pull down his sleeve, looking at the tattoo on his arm. "Milah," he said softly. "I've no idea who she is." Except that clearly he cared about her enough to tattoo her name on him. And judging from Emma's initial reaction, Hook had been after this Rumpelstiltskin/Gold guy long enough that she didn't think he'd give up.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He knew he didn't like Gold. But knowing it was because Gold took Killian's hand and some girl he didn't even remember...

Well, he didn't know how that made him feel.

He looked over at Emma. Exchange of information, that was what this was. "Henry. The child's name is Henry, and he's in Storybrooke. You weren't exactly forthcoming with more information than that." He raised an eyebrow, leaning in like he was going to impart some great secret. "I've mentioned you're not very trusting, haven't I? You really should work on that."

[uncurse]

"You're one to talk," she raised her eyebrows at the tattoo. Admittedly, he'd told her all she'd asked, and all she needed to know. It wasn't as though they'd seen this situation coming and opted to share life stories. And, she was hardly surprised Hook didn't know more about Henry.

The name didn't even resonate as familiar. Like, the Veil had just cleaved any trace of it from her mind on her way into this world. Assuming he was the only child she remembered having - it was a boy, she'd known it was a boy - then he should be in Storybrooke because he was adopted, not because of her. That was what a closed adoption meant.

He was safe, and happy, with a family that would give him his best chance. The same as Snow had tried to give Emma hers. He wouldn't want anything to do with a woman who'd given him up from prison, and he certainly wouldn't want anything to do with her knowing she didn't remember the first thing about him. She knew that firsthand, now that she'd seen David.

There wasn't anything she could offer him, with that.

As she considered this, she also considered Hook's remark. Her refusal to trust, to share details, the fact that they'd both been guilty about it and been unable to help more than on a surface level.

"I gave him up." A beat. She went on to clarify. "The kid you're talking about, I gave him up. He's got a family, and Storybrooke's not here. Believe me, I looked."

[unhand]

He wasn't surprised to hear it. He didn't know much about the geography of Maine or how it related to other worlds, but he knew curses. If time had frozen there as it did elsewhere, it would be much simpler, he supposed, to create a town for the purpose rather than just move into one. Otherwise they'd have to deal with other people.

"That's lucky, then." He did appreciate the shared detail, though. As little as it was, well, she probably didn't have much else to offer. "I'd tell you more about this Milah, but all I've got is the tattoo. Wish I'd gotten them to do her face."