Dreadlords Zeph's super mega awesome funtime party extro... extrava... shindig!

[Maseno Luana]

He'd been about to comment how unfortunate it was that Zephyrine had never had a party, that she was a skilled mage clearly by the effort and detail put into Thraah's dress, that he would love to come see the window in her room and that his sister deserved to eat as much cake as her heart desired.

He might have also been about to mention that Leander really wasn't so bad - that he'd been on a mission or two with him and found him to be a solid and reliable partner to work with in tough situations.

But none of that had been given a chance to manifest as Thraah suddenly grabbed his hand in panic, doused the lights, and yanked him off through the church. The young man's eyes bulged as he clamored after her, trying to keep his feet.

"Thraah? Thraah!" he called after her, waiting until they were finally in a lit area where he could see before adding some resistance against her hasty exit, "Wait a moment, there's no need to run," and yet he could not help but chuckle at her alarm, "I do not think anyone is trouble." Not that Maz was a trouble maker, but he was certain the lot of them could handle a single guard. He'd found most of the Guards stationed around the Academy to be fairly amiable when given a chance.

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia waved to Maseno, whom she couldn't decide if she was surprised had acknowledged her. He and Houri had both been quite nice to her in the past, so maybe she should have expected that trend to continue. Of course it wasn't long before a very adult voice sounded through the space, and Thraah took off running (night watch perhaps?), with Maz in hot pursuit. Oh well.

Livia addressed her next, and Zinnia nodded in response to her question.
"Th-that sounds nice, yes please." If Houri's current rate of consumption was anything to go off of it must have been quite good. It also gave her an excuse to stay quiet.

Zinnia looked towards the entrance and saw that a guard had entered, looking rather meek, all things considered.
"Um...is Th-Thraah okay?"

 

[Houri]

Kill them. Kill them both, take what you want for yourself... Rash whispered seductively in her ear.

It would be so easy, Shiva agreed, a faint icy wind winding through the courtyard.

It doesn't even have to be painful for them... we can make it quick.

Houri clenched her teeth and focused studiously on the plate in her hand. It wasn't their fault, she had to remind herself. None of them had known the game Silas was playing, they were as innocent as she. She couldn't put the blame wholly on them.

This is why it is better it is just you and us, Tiri sighed glumly and Tishya echoed her agreement. It's for the best. For everyone.

She stabbed another bit of cake instead of her friends. Maz would be mad at her if she stabbed her friends.

Houri wanted nothing more than to be back in her room. Neither of them seemed to be having a problem, perhaps she was alone in her hurt and humiliation. As the guard walked in, sending Thraah and a few others fleeing, the weather initiate merely looked up and fixed the man with a cold look that almost dared him to say something like move along. Just so she would have an excuse to release some of her pent up devastation.

 

[Thraah]

She was outside and Maz had spoken before she really knew what she had done.
When she felt him tug against her she stopped. Her body slump and tired. Of course it was okay.
One Booter could not stop any one of them let alone a gathering like this. This wasn't some shiner in Knife street and one Booter was hardly going to stop them. Maz was right to find it funny.
Thraah laughed, tired and feeling silly she slumped against Maz in a mixture of relief and exhaustion.
It took a moment for the panic the leave her veins though.
"I suppose, I'm still a bit rattled after everything. I'm sorry."
Was she saying that a lot lately or was it just her imagination?
"I was scared that you might get into trouble? Heh. Pretty dumb huh?"
She fell back into a bout of tired hysterics.
"Like that would somehow, ruin your reputation or something. Haha!"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

A steady hand moved to Thraah's shoulder as she leaned against him, giving her a reassuring squeeze for her trouble. Rattled after everything? Maz quirked a curious brow, unsure what she meant by this.

"Everything...?" he asked gently, noting now that she did, indeed, look quite tired and was apparently concerned for his reputation. A chuckle left him again, his eyes lifting as he passed a hand over his freshly shaven jaw, "I see. Not dumb at all, I appreciate it," she had absolutely no reason to worry for his reputation, but he wouldn't belittle her earnest efforts.

He looked back down to her, smiling warmly, another gentle squeeze of her shoulder, "Why don't we sit down somewhere and you can tell me about the everything?"

 

[Thraah]

"Heh, okay. Come on."
Thraah, still tired, led Maz to across the grounds and the candle lit graveyard. She looked at how odd it was that this morning it was overgrown with brambles.
"Here, nobody comes out this way and I don't think the party will reach this far, not for a while."
She sat on a headstone and kicked her legs against it. Thinking where to start as Maz made himself comfortable.
The night was cool and the moon was bright even as a half.
"Everything..."
She stared at a nothing point on the ground then looked up.
"Well, you know about our eh, little trip. No need to go over that again."
Her eyes were heavy.
"I suppose I should tell you about... something else."
Thraah was not sure if she was willing to tell it but this was Maz and they were alone.
Why did they find themselves alone so much? She didn't plan it.
"Do you remember about my sisters?"

Maseno Luana

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Liv went ahead to cut Zinnia a slice, noting Houri's silence, but she said nothing more to the girl stabbing her cake. Shit, she was still mad.

"Here you go, Zin." Liv smiled, a sad attempt of one.

“A church doesn’t really look like your style.”

Livia's brows furrowed at the voice, turning to see Ivan Skender coming to stand by her side. "No, why would I have a party?" She snorted, "Especially here at the Academy."

How odd... did Thraah invite all these people? For Zephyrine, an Initiate that had done her best to remain elusive until recently? "I am taking a guess here... but none of you actually know Caddel, do you not?" She glanced from Ivan, to Zinnia, and then to Houri. Even if she was only choosing when to speak to Liv, Quinnick understood that her friend needed time to come around.

Since when did she care what someone thought of her? But... Thraah and Houri became friends with her out of mere coincidence.

And this party was not the place to bring up still healing wounds. Perhaps it was a good thing Silas was not in attendance...

Ivan Skender Zinnia Houri

 

[Kor]

There came another presence now, this one completely unfamiliar to him; Kor didn't recognize his voice or vibrations at all, not that he had much of a chance to when his arrival caused such an uproar that it felt as though everybody began to move at once. The sudden shouts from Thraah were enough to spook Repent completely, sending him flying from Kor's shoulder and out one of the many windows of the cathedral with a malcontent caw.

"Ngh... Can everybody just shut up for a minute?" Kor seethed through clenched teeth, still keeping a hand clasped to his temple in a vain attempt to shut out the cacophony of meaningless noise that was leaving him lost and confused. Even Repent had left him, he was as useless as any other blind person without a guide, unable to help himself, unable to even move himself around.

All he could do was focus on the familiar tones of his fellow Boundless, and do his best to gravitate towards them, even if it meant stumbling about clumsily to stay close. Perhaps there were still some trust issues between the three of them, but Kor trusted Larkin and Zephyrine more than anybody else in this building, and he liked to think they wouldn't let him go too far astray.

Then, through the haze being created all around him, Zephyrine's voice pierced the wall of sound, her voice low in his ear as she spoke close to him.

"It's just Larkin and I here with you now. If you wanna move around, I can help you. Larkin can give you unreliable intel on what people are wearing too."

Without a second though, Kor looped his arm over Zephryine's shoulders, leaning into her to support himself and remain close. Oddly enough, being able to physically feel where she was in relation to him was rather... comforting. Kor smiled, albeit pained.

"I've seen Larkin's outfits, I don't think I'll rely on his fashion opinions..." He joked, his pale eyes locking on what he hoped was Zephyrine's face. "Thank you, Zephyrine... Can you tell me what's happening?"

 

[Maseno Luana]

No, there was certainly no need to go over their mission together again. At least, not unless she wanted or needed to. Maseno preferred to leave the past where it was and move on, when possible, but for certain some missions proved more difficult than others to do so with.

With a glance about their new surroundings, Maz took up a spot near what appeared to be an old century marker that stood as a tall, stone plinth just short of his shoulder. It felt intrusive and perhaps a little insulting to use a gravestone as a seat, but he wouldn't begrudge those who did not feel the same.

"I suppose I should tell you about... something else."
Thraah was not sure if she was willing to tell it but this was Maz and they were alone.
Why did they find themselves alone so much? She didn't plan it.
"Do you remember about my sisters?"

"I do," he said ponderously, "forgive me, I know you spoke their names but I cannot recall them exactly other than the fact that they rhymed with yours."

An eidetic memory he did not have but it would be hard to forget the naming scheme.

 

[Thraah]

She smiled.
Of course Maseno was listening. He was Maseno Luana and his only flaw was he gave too much of himself.
"Yeah, it's a family thing. From the Old Country. My folks are kinda traditional like that."
Thraah kicked her legs under the dress and scuffed her boot heels against the headstone.
"Well, they got sick and so I had to go see them."
It was a whole moment before she remembered where she was.
"They're not dead but, it was close for a bit and, then I had to leave them again."
Mentioning Proctor Perrine, regardless of her critical part, would lead to questions she didn't want t answer just yet.
She trusted Maz, how could she not after they faced Ilverstein and his goons but even so. She had only let Perrine know because she had to. Part of her hoped he would understand.
"I almost chose to stay with them. I was so fucking scared. I don't think I've ever been more straight up terrified of anything."
Before she realised it Thraah had brought her leg up to her chest and was hugging it close.

Maseno Luana

 

[Larkin]

Larkin watched balefully as Repent soared easily away from Kor, birds, so unreliable. He knew that he and Kor were still testing each other, but slowly comradery was being built. It was mostly because of Zephyrine pushing them together, but it was working to an extent anyways. It was obvious their fearless leader was struggling with the commotion, and he felt for him.

He smiled at his little friend as she took charge of Kor, she really had grown these past few months. He rolled his eyes and chuckled as Kor teased him, it was a good thing Larkin was good natured for the most part. No biting remarks like the ones Livia might have delivered.

"I'll spare you then, but I do think you could use a cool drink of water for your head." Larkin squeezed Kor and Zephryine's shoulder gently before swishing away to find said glass. It brought him dangerously close to Livia, and he looked sheepishly from her, knowing full well he's probably already irritated her.

Kor Zephyrine

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine grinned, fixing Larkin with a smug smile.

"There's a guard here. I think the uniform scared Thraah off as she ran off with Maseno, and snuffed out all the lights. There is Livia, Zinnia... Houri... and Ivande--- I mean, I... Ivan Skender."

She shook her head, glad for the dark at least. "I don't know, I think that was his name. A friend of Leander Urahil... who is not present because Thraah has such distaste for them." She shrugged, slowly walking forward and feeling for the door before leading Kor where everyone else congregated. "There's cake, if you want any. Wait..."

Zephyrine reach for the candle wick that still held an ember, using her magic to recreate the magic Thraah had used. A simple, small spell, and within seconds, they had light again. "Someone want to light the other candles?" She did not want to drag her friend around doing it herself. She looked to Larkin and Livia, the only two she really knew.

Kor Houri Larkin Ivan Skender Zinnia Thraah Maseno Luana Livia Quinnick

 

[Maseno Luana]

Well that was rather ... awful news to share at a birthday party. Thraah's apparent exhaustion now began to make a bit more sense. Seemed she was having a rather rough go of it for the last few months. His gaze shifted around the cemetery, at all the lost souls buried here, but he knew that there were so many more that had never been granted the honor of a burial. Nameless Initiates lost over the many many generations raised here.

Some without any body left to bury ... like those he had killed in his youth. Was there a headstone somewhere for them? Could he even remember their names?

And what fate would have awaited Houri if she had died in the place she had been taken to? To simply vanish from their lives without any evidence remaining that she lived aside from their memories.

"I am sorry to hear that," he said after a long moment of silence, "I understand that fear. What it is like to worry for your family."

Maz then looked back up at her, offering a fleeting but supportive smile, "Are they well again?"

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Know who, now?" - Indeed, Ivan had never even heard the name. Caddel... Caddel, that sounded like, a surname? Maybe? He panned around the room, trying to divine which one of those people might be Caddel. Fortunately, he could discount the golden-eyed girl, Zin, or whatever her name was. Beyond that though, he really didn't have a clue.

Not that he would have much time left to wallow in his own ignorance however.

The newly-arrived guard soon caused quite a commotion among some of the initiates. Strange. Ivan had expected Thraah to know better than to run from the guard. That had not been the first time an initiate party he was in had been crashed, and he could vaguely recall that during any of the previous times either the guard had gotten drunk with them... or had gone on an early visit to Kress himself.

In any case, all the uproar soon died down, though his attention turned when he heard his name being pronounced somewhere else in the room. He turned around to see the red-headed girl not too far from him, asking for help with the candles.

- "Here." - He said, a charming smile adorning his features, as he took the lit candle from the girl's hand. As he went about relighting everything that Thraah had put out in her hasty exit, Ivan turned to Livia again.

- "You were saying?" - ​

 

[Thraah]

"Oh, yeah they're fit as fiddles and three times as loud heh."
With her hand she tucked her hair back behind her ear again, as she took great afford of the moment to be away from her own sadness. She clung to it, and looked to Maseno whom she knew was still in his own worries. It was easy to see when because she had seen him sleeping and if Maz wasn't sleeping then it meant he was carrying the weight of the world.
"Wow, look at me, the life of the party. Heh."
She wiped the under of her nose with the back of her hand, then remembered that Zeph had given her a hanky so she cursed and wiped her hand with that.
"Shit, I'm sorry, I meant to tell you just, I thought I could hold it for a bit longer like you do."
Thraah wasn't trying to get him to talk about his mountain of troubles. That kind of cunning was not in her.
"Thanks though, it's good to talk about it."

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

"That is good to hear," Maz replied warmly, glad to know that Thraah no longer had that worry holding a cloud over her head. The relief of that weight must have been intensely exhausting - something he had a great deal of personal experience with. With a deep sigh, the Initiate dug into his pocket and withdrew a small, neatly folded and tied bit of material.

"What do you have to be sorry for," he replied with a glance to her as he carefully unbound the item in his hands, offering her a wane and self-deprecating smile when she spoke of his ability to hold things in.

"I do not believe myself to be the best role model for such things," he said with a chuckle, "but I am glad you felt comfortable enough to share that with me." From the cloth he produced what looked to be a small, rolled joint before carefully folding the cloth back together.

"I should be more like you," another short smile followed as he stuck the cigarette between his lips and stowed the material back in his pocket, then gestured to her gently, "do you mind? I seem to have forgotten my matches."

 

[Thraah]

In answer to Maseno's request Thraah got up and swished the dress.
"More like me? I don't know if you could pull off this look."
She felt a bit, lighter now. Able to breathe a bit though her eyes and cheeks were still red from sad.
Holy smokes, Maseno Luana had a blunt.
Thraah did a slight double take and then scanned her surroundings for reality. It all seemed normal, no bunnicorns.
She smiled that smile, the one that looked like it might make the top half of her head fall off.
"Maseno, Luana, You dark horse."
Thraah sidled up to beside Maseno after her brief tease, kicking off a bit of heat as she did, enough to chase the night chill away.
"Sure, I got you."
Lifting her hand she made to light the joint with her finger but instead blew a small flaming kiss in front of Maseno's face that artfully set the joint alight as it brushed past before dissipating in the night air.
Thraah had never felt so sexy as she did then, despite having wiped her nose on her hand only a few moments ago.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

A more earnest, hearty chuckle followed that twirling swish. How good it was to see Thraah in such a different element, and he watched her a bit more closely as she moved to catch the subtle differences in her poise from what he had witnessed on their mission. The girl had many colors and facets to show, he was learning.

"Maseno, Luana, You dark horse."

A cool, wry, and somewhat rare smirk of mischief answered those words. His younger self would have reveled in her reaction.

"Did you think Zaire smoked alone all the time?" he offered back, lifting a hand as she moved closer to light him and gently leaning down toward her hand. Only she didn't use her hand.

Maz blinked, brows raising over a gaze that clearly saw and registered what she was doing and likely how she intended it to come across. There had been flirtations before, but this was quite a bit more overt and forward than he'd expected of her. His stare lingered as he eased himself upright once again and took a sloooow drag from the joint.

"If I am a dark horse," Maseno Luana remarked with a brow quirked her way as if to say I see you, his words expressed in a heady plume of smoke, "then you are undoubtedly a fire kitten."

 

[Thraah]

It made sense, Z had to smoke with someone and Thraah had not always been around. Recently she had hoped to fill the gap his new straight mage had left but she never imagined the very stoic and proper Maseno would be getting his tits blitzed in the dorms. She was about to ask who his dealer was but Maz wasn't finished.

"then you are undoubtedly a fire kitten."

*BADDUMBADDUMBADDUMBADDUM...*
Thraah's heart took off like a greyhound and didn't stop.
She was being cool and sexy and Maseno was responding, kinda. He wasn't backing up, or making excuses, or reaching for a knife.
Damn he looked good smoking. Like, the way it wafted past his face so his golden eyes seemed to shine.
"A fire kitten?"
Thraah had a habit of giving people nicknames, it was kinda her thing socially. So to get one, even briefly, was nice. Until she noticed she was staring at Maseno's handsome face again. She tore her gaze from his face and rocked back on her heels.
"That's a new one. I could get used to being called that."
It was amazing and perfect and she only wanted Maz to call her Fire Kitten from that moment on but there were other things, manners and such to be considered.
"You gonna share that?"
She asked, eyes darting to the joint.


Maseno Luana

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia graciously accepted her slice of cake and began to munch, quietly watching as the others went about...whatever it was that other initiates apparently did at parties. It mostly seemed to be chatting and arguing. Thraah and Maseno still weren't back, but nobody had answered her question regarding Thraah being okay and no one seemed to care, so they must've been fine. Probably.

It was while Zinnia's palete was full of creamy, sugary cake that a faint whiff of...something filled her nose. She knew that her senses usually seemed to be a tiny bit above where the other initiates were at, especially her nose, but that smell in particular got her to wrinkle up in a way that she couldn't resist asking about.

"D-does anybody else smell that? It k-kind of smells like...skunk."

 

[Kor]

Kor had always seen The Boundless as a group of like-minded individuals who wished to better themselves outside the confines of the Academy, without the restraints that the City and the Republic would place onto them, the *ranks* and *titles* that meant nothing but opinion. This trio, he'd thought, was simply one of mutual benefit.

For the second time now, he was being proved wrong.

Zephyrine and Larkin had no reason to show such concern for him. His turmoil did not affect them in any meaningful way. Yet, when he began to struggle, they instantly came to his aid. Zephyrine held him straight, describing what was happening around him and who was present with all the detail he needed to grasp his surroundings. Larkin retrieved him a glass of water, one which he needed far more than he was letting on. All he could do was give an apologetic, almost sheepish smile as he sipped at the cold beverage.

Perhaps The Boundless was more than a group benefiting off of one-another. Maybe he'd been mistaken in his line of thinking. Kor was beginning to see them as something else. Something he'd no real experience with. He dared not even think the word. For now, he merely allowed himself to settle in the shield of safety they provided him.

"I think... I'll just stay with you two, if that's okay..."

 

[Zephyrine]

"You forget that Thraah may very well pull me around to socialise, don't you?" She commented, nothing that when Ivan took the candle from her, his fingers brushed against her own. It was odd, how it seemed to tingle after, but Zephyrine then watched as he began relighting the candles, questioning Livia who only rolled her eyes and snorted at him.

Everyone knew each other.

She didn't, or at least, met them truly. Zephyrine had gathered her own information by watching from places people often overlooked. The first of them all had been Livia, in fact, then Thraah and Vicky... then Kor and Larkin.

She had not made proper introductions with almost half the people present, and still they came because Thraah invited them.

"Before you dig your claws into me to keep me in your company, I might get myself a drink." The wine Livia had given her had put her in such a decent mood, she wasn't sure her awkwardness or her first taste of drink made her act this way. Usually she was standoffish with meeting people... "Want me to see what Thraah brought to eat other than cake?" Her question was directed to her two friends.

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Seemed no one truly did, and that left Livia quite impressed someone with red hair could go unnoticed by so many of their peers. Her eyes caught sight of Larkin, who still did not look her way, but she did her best to not frown.

She sniffed the air after Zinnia made a note of a smile, but the silver haired Initiate shrugged and shook her head. There was no discernible smell that she could tell. "Probably something outside. Perhaps an actual skunk has shown up after Thraah invited it." She made jest, looking to Houri on instinct, but she was not watching the people like she had expected, and kept to watching her cake.

Liv bit down on her bottom lip, chewing it before looking around, watching Ivan begin to light the candles after Zeph reignited one.

"You were saying?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "What is her magic then, smart arse?" She grinned, questioning him as he paused close by before abandoning her small slice of cake after only a few bites. Livia would bet he would at least get that wrong.

 

[Larkin]

Larkin was proud of his little friend. She had grown so much since they had first met, and it made him happy. What didn't make him happy was the way Zephyrine was looking at Ivan. His brotherly hackles were raised, the desire to protect against outside forces, in the case boys, rearing its ugly head. He pushed the feeling down, merely turning his attention back to Kor and Zephyrine in kind.

"Go find something to drink, I'll stay with Kor. If Thraah does drag you off, I'm sure the two of us can manage. Perhaps we can lure our feathered friend back at some point too. You just let me know what you need Zeph, it's your birthday. You shouldn't have to worry about anything." He put an arm around Kor as Zephyrine stepped away, making sure to fill the void she left at Kor's side.

He finally lifted his gaze to Livia, ashamed with how he had ignored her. She was like no one else, and it terrified him. his eyes sought hers, a ghost of a smile as he waited for her to lift her head.

Zephyrine Kor Livia Quinnick

 

[Ivan Skender]

"What is her magic then, smart arse?"​

Though he was still facing the wall, relighting the candles that had been put out, the blank confusion that was stamped all over his features was very much palpable.

"How the fuck would I know?" - Was the first thought that ran through his mind. Indeed, how was he supposed to know? He didn't even know who this Caddel was... something he'd hoped Livia would enlighten him on.

Ivan couldn't help but notice though, about that little nudge of mockery on Livia's voice. As if the riddle was so plainly obvious... until it dawned on him.

"Oh."

Fuck, the red-head was Caddel. That was the why behind Liv's scornful tone, and her eye-roll. It was also the only way the question would make sense, as the red-head had been the only other person he'd interacted with. Well, that and the golden-eyed girl, though by the direction of the conversation he could rule her out as well.

So, the pretty red-head with the elegant dress was the birthday girl... interesting.

He finished lighting the candles, turning then to Quinnick. When he did though, the look of aimless bewilderment had vanished, leaving in its place an expression of unrepentant smugness.

- "Oh, I wouldn't know." - He said, his smile curling up into a slyly mischievous smirk. - "Why don't I go and ask?" -

He turned his back to Livia, grabbing his moonshine bottle, as well as two small glasses that lay on the table, by the cake. As luck would have it, he approached the red-head just as she was headed out for a drink. There was also something about a cake, but he mostly ignored it. Instead, he smoothly slid to the girl's side, effortlessly pouring some of the moonshine into the two cups.

- "I think the food's spoken for." - He told Zephyrine, while glancing slyly towards Houri. - "But here, on me." - He said, a charming smile having replaced his roguish grin from before. He handed her one of the glasses.

- "Happy birthday, Caddel." -​