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

[Zephyrine]

"I guess I should've hit the training grounds instead."

Zephyrine smiled at that. Oblivious to his omittance. "Maybe next time, I can show you one way to take someone out." She chuckled, before that eventually turned into a mortified grimaced. "Oh... That... that sounded," Zephyrine fiddled with her empty glass furiously. "Ignore that. Pretend, no, just... you know what I meant, right?"

The poor thing, cheeks blushing furiously she could feel them heat. Her voice had taken on an octave higher than usual, and even that caused her to cringe at herself.

"Kress, that wasn't asking you out or anything, that was... me..." She sighed, staring at her knees underneath the dark skirts, "Me responding to you saying... that I could... take any of you... out...."

Ivan Skender

 

[Ivan Skender]

"Maybe next time, I can show you one way to take someone out."​

- "Can you?" - He asked amusedly, as he saw the girl struggle for words. Though the blonde had been veering into drunkenness for some time, he couldn't have possibly failed to notice her furious blushing, nor the stammering that he himself had gone through so many times before, in front of girls he liked.

Was she into him? Maybe it was the alcohol, and the sense of increasing numbness that seemed to take over his mind, but he could swear that yes, she seemed to be. Going in, he had not even dreamed that the birthday girl - or, at least, the supposed birthday girl - would've had a fling for him. Maybe that was why he'd been invited.

He looked over at Zeph. Pretty, and incredibly introvert, had been the impression he'd gotten that evening. If she was as deadly as her stealth skills hinted at, they'd make an interesting pair.

"Cute" - He thought to himself.
​

"Kress, that wasn't asking you out or anything, that was... me..."​

- "You weren't?" - He chuckled softly, his features opening up into a warm smile. - "Shame." -

He compressed his shoulders, his torso contracting into a long winded shrug that seemed more like a lazy stretch. He got up from his seat, offering her his hand.

- "But maybe I can take the initiative on that one." - He shook his head. - "What do you say Caddel? Tomorrow? In the forest grounds." -

He grimaced momentarily, the alcohol well and truly sinking into him. If he was to actually meet Zephyrine the next day, then maybe it would be better to make sure he'd be able to get out of bed first.

- "Though I should ensure that at least I can make it there sober." -

He smiled at Zeph again, leaning slightly against the table for support.

- "So, see you tomorrow?" -
Zephyrine
​

[END OF THREAD FOR IVAN SKENDER]​

 

[Zephyrine]

His offered hand made Zephyrine's own move to take it of it's own accord, and she moved to stand with his help, looking up at him. Kress, he was tall, but even if they were standing so closely, there was something... intriguing about his eyes. Her blush never softened, if anything, it grew redder.

All she could do was nod and smile, the fluttering sensations intensifying as he smiled at her agreeing to meet him tomorrow, and her heart pounded against ribs as he stared at her a moment longer before bidding her farewell. Zephyrine herself was standing at an imbalance, watching him go and not noticing his own stumbling steps.

After a moment, she found herself wandering back to her friends. Kor and Larkin still talking amongst themselves as she stumbled before them, a large grin on her face. The after effects of being in the presence of Ivan Skender very much all over her face.

"Still no Thraah?" She asked, almost in a daze as she moved to sit on an old and worn bench seat along the wall. "I thought there would be some... other things going on at a party." Like music and dance. Something lively or even... well, truthfully, she did not have a lot of experience of attending parties other than hearing or reading about them.

 

[Houri]

Houri eyed up the smoking joint, her mind going back to the odd Aurora she had caused the last time she had ingested something... prohibited.

"No.... thanks," she eased herself onto one of the tombs that looked like nothing more than a stone box, the name of whoever resided within long since worn and faded. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She'd just stay for a minute or two then make her excuses to leave. She let herself listen to their quiet, easy conversation and took what warmth she could from it.

 

[Thraah]

"Pfft, you know I can heat up anything Maz."
A full second passed before a potential sexual interpretation of what she said flashed through her mind.
"Eh, no, that came out wrong."
Thraah took an exasperated drag and handed the joint back to Maseno without looking at him. Eye contact right now was a bit too much for her and she was pretty sure that even in the soft light of the candles her deep blush made her positively glow in the dark as she began kicking off her trademark elevated temperature.
Stormy was looking a bit left out so Thraah ramped up her heat, enough to chase away the chill of night for all of them.
"So..." She followed up, desperately trying to take attention away from herself "how are things inside? Everyone okay? Is that Booter still hanging about? He scared the piss out of me."
She threw another look at Maseno, still a bit embarrassed over her reaction, her OVER-reaction really.

Houri
Maseno Luana

 

[Larkin]

Larkin shooed Zephyrine from their side, though the company she seemed to find had him feeling unnerved. He turned his attention to Kor, however, his needs more important currently.

" We'll take a step outside, see if we can't charm one of your birds, and it will be a bit less of a sensory overload."

Larkin began to guide Kor to the open door, his eyes watching Zephyrine and Ivan carefully. " I don't plan on drinking, I'd like to make sure Zephyrine gets home safe and alone." Once outside, he looked at his new blind friend. "She's talking to Ivan. I'm not pleased. I don't care for how familiar he's acting towards her." He trusted Kor enough, and it's not like the other boy couldn't feel his tension anyways.

Falling quiet, only a small sigh escaping him. " So, how does one reclaim your bird?"

Zephyrine Kor

 

[Zinnia]

Livia turned to Zinnia, managing a polite smile. "I must say, I am impressed Thraah has gone to such effort. Always thought if she were to throw any event, she would insist on all of us to contribute food or drink and to set up everything ourselves." She picked out raspberry, testing it's softness before popping it into her mouth.

"You graduate soon, do you not Zinnia?" Olive eyes now rest on the other Initiate. At least she did not hold such a grudge against Livia after the events of their cake baking went down. In a bid not to bring it up, she turned the conversation towards Zinnia's future beyond the Academy. "Nervous?"

Zinnia

Zinnia nodded as she took a sip from her wine. It tasted strong...it almost assuredly wasn't, but to Zinnia it might as well have been hard liquor.
"Th-Thraah did a good job! She and Zephyrine must be c-close."

Gold eyes shifted from the contents of her glass to Livia, seemingly as doe-eyed and unaware as ever. She nodded in reply.
"Mmhmm! K-Kristen and I will be sh-shipping out within a month or two, I think," "Yes, to be honest. I...r-really don't think I d-deserve the rank I'm graduating into. B-but! I'm going to do my b-best to grow into it! I don't want to l-let the people who g-got me here down."

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia appraised Zinnia in a matter of seconds. She could not fault the girl for her history with Silas, nor did she with Houri either, but it had taken so much of her to trust and allow someone in to her own personal thoughts and incecurities. Silas had been good at it, getting her to talk and Livia had never felt so supported than she did. Her feelings were the most genuine thing about her in so long...

"I think you deserve whatever Rank they deem you, Zinnia St. Kolbe." She began, turning to look at the selection of treats again. "We may have only crossed paths a few times on missions, but the magic you command... you do it so well. And... I heard whispers about what you did to Soleil..." Her hand twitched, the memory of Joel dead in the outhouse was still fresh in her memories.

"I think a rank does not do you service. It is the recognition they should bestow on you, and you need not prove to them you are their to fill shoes... I have all faith in you, St. Kolbe." Livia smiled lightly, looking to turn to Zinnia. The other girl had been here a number of years, and Liv only a few. She had every expectation that she would merely be a Fourth Rank upon graduation, but she also had another year to prove herself to not be overlooked.

Zinnia

 

[Maseno Luana]

Affecting an easy smile that could not possibly cover the concern welling up over the solemn nature of his sister, Maz watched after her as she took her seat. He wished for all the world that Houri would never feel another day of sadness or pain again, but even he did not know the full extent of what she'd been through. That she looked quite sullen now provoked him to tamp out the roll and pocket it.

Waste not, want not.

He had a hunch that the Guard inside was not what was causing the proverbial rain cloud to follow his sister about. Approaching quietly and gently, he stooped down beside her and carefully reached to brush a wayward loch back over her shoulder, "It does not sound like the others are too concerned with him," he said with a short glance back to the doorway through which Thraah had dragged him out.

Candles were relit. He could hear the murmuring of chatter. Everything seemed quite calm in there.

"Is everything alright, sister?" Maseno asked quietly of her.

 

[Houri]

Houri met her brothers eyes and for a moment, she hesitated.

Since that night she hadn't spoken to Thraah. Hadn't spoken to Zinnia, nor Livia Hadn't wanted to confide or admit her own stupidity and foolishness in thinking that Silas had liked her. The broken initiate. But a part of her, that part these people had forced to come out and be vulnerable, wanted to confide in someone. To cry. To mourn and rage. And with her brother she thought she might, might finally be able to do just that.

But then her eyes slid past him to Thraah. Remembered her friends blushes and spluttering when mentioning her brothers name and how he had once been nice to her. She seemed to realise then she had stumbled into something normal students would have called a moment...

"I'm just tired," she pushed herself to her feet and took a step away from the pair. "I'm just going to head back to my room. Thanks for the cake Thraah," she gave a half wave then turned and headed back to the dorm.

 

[Thraah]

It took nearly everything she had to let Stormy go.
"Okay, I'll bring you something later..."
The words felt limp in her mouth, they were a poor substitute to convey the complicated mess of feelings she had for her.

Again she promised herself she'd check in later. When she had time to rest and recover.
She took a half step forwards despite herself then halted and turned back to Maseno and tried to show more resolve than she felt she had and held it for two long, agonizing seconds before the dam of her feelings broke.
"Sorry, I'll be right back!"
She bolted after Houri lifting her dress up and boots kicking up dirt as she went until she was close enough to reach out and grabbed Houri around the shoulders in her warm arms and held for a moment.
"I'm-here-whenever-you're-ready-Stormy-I'll-be-here-okay-I-promise."

Some part of her, possibly what remained of her survival instinct at that moment screamed to Thraah that she was holding tight to the most dangerous person in Vel Anir and possibly the world but she hushed it before she loosened her grip and gave Stormy a look of utter sincerity.

Then she let her go and dropped her hands by her side.

Then took a very respectful step back towards Maseno and waited for what she hoped wouldn't be a lightning bolt.

Houri
Maseno Luana

 

[Houri]

Running feet in her direction always made her tense. Whilst most Initiates in her brothers year had done training missions, Houri had been thrown into the bloodiest of Anirias wars from a young age once her mind had cracked and the Archons had decided there was no need anymore to take any care at all in building up her trauma response. It was a testament to how far she had come Thraah even made it to her, let alone was allowed to touch her.

Still, it was with panting breaths Houri stood still and allowed the other girl to hug her whilst wrestling with the urge to kill her, talking to the dark voices that ruled her that this was not a threat. With her heightened emotions she was not sure how long she could hold back the wave and was relieved when Thraah finally stepped back. Houri mimicked the step, putting more space between them and the emotions her words stirred in her heart.

There was a thousand things she could say. Wanted to say. But her lips refused to move. Instead she gave Thraah a long, weighted look and then turned to finally escape.

 

[Thraah]

It didn't feel good but it felt better to get that out, to tell Stormy that she was ready to help when she needed it.
It felt more honest too so as Thraah returned to Maz a bit slower than she needed to she tried to trust the process and that Stormy would in fact come find her if she needed to.

When she looked back up at Maz she felt a bit silly.

"Girl stuff."
It wasn't a lie, just obscure. In the time since the fallout Thraah had pieced together that Silas had done SOMETHING to Stormy and when she found out what it was he was getting his face introduced to his bowels.
But the Midnight Feasts had been GIRL TIME. It was never said out loud but it was, at least to Thraah and Silas ruined it with his dumb boy shit.

"Have you still got that joint? I promise I can pull without choking this time!"

She smiled and tried to get back to how she was feeling she had a few moments ago.

Maseno Luana
Houri

 

[Maseno Luana]

It was one of those rare nights where he had no where pressing to be in the morning. No missions calling him to lands afar, no training with his mentor to fill his time. Leisure time was rather sparse as of late, so the need to not mind his time felt a little foreign. Sitting there in the place vacated by his sister, he watched after the girls and quietly listened to his surroundings. Sounds of the evening filled the air, a gentle tune that might've lulled him to sleep for the haze filling his mind were it not for Thraah's return.

"Mm?" he blinked up at her curiously and then nodded, "Yes, of course. Will need a relight..." he pulled it from his pocket and offered it to her with a wane smile, "not that that is any trouble for you."

 

[Thraah]

"Heh heh, Nope."

Going two for two with sparking it in a sexy way Thraah looked Maz in the eye and with one hand on her hip took the joint, popped it into her mouth and with a click of her fingers she lit and pulled.

It was nice and she held it a bit in her lungs before letting it out again.
The warmth and smoke began to disperse almost instantly around them until it disappeared into the night.

"So..."
She passed it back for Maz to have some of the joint.
"... you bag any more Rogues lately?"

There was a conversation they were having but Thraah had promptly forgotten what it was about.

 

[Maseno Luana]

He accepted it back quietly and took a small pull then shook his head.

"No, not lately." Not that he was really at liberty to discuss any of it with her regardless of what the truth was. She was only allowed enough information for their shared mission, but beyond that he was sworn to secrecy when it came to what he and the rest of Zana's crew were up to.

It was safer that way for everyone.

"You are cooking with Houri now? Tell me about this," Maz offered her a larger smile of interest, hoping it would help persuade her from further questions on the rogue front.

 

[Thraah]

Finally a thing she can just run her mouth about.

"Yeah we started that a while ago. Me and Stormy and Liv."
She returned to the headstone she had sat on before and when she sat idly suspended her legs in front of herself.
"We started kinda by accident really, just all bumped into each other in the kitchens after dark."
Her face screwed into a look of annoyance.
"Did you know Liv gets the cooks to make her cookies especially? Like, talk about favoritism!"
The headiness had begun to reach her, that far away feeling when the world rubbed against her face.
"So anyway, yeah we all met up, baked a cake and adopted a chicken, Gladys. She's a queen. Since then we have been meeting up once a week or so to cook and eat and hang out..."
Thraah smiled as she passed through a memory of herself and Stormy on the floor, Gladys was pecking at crumbs and Liv was standing over them both, annoyed as usual that they had eaten themselves sick.
"Stormy really likes cake."

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

"That is all good to hear," Maz could feel a new warmth growing in his chest at the idea that not just his sister, but other Initiates like Thraah and Liv were making bonds and forming friendships. Especially given the central theme to it - food was as much security as it was luxury.

Made him all the more proud to be someone who could protect such things.

"I am sure she does," he smiled at Thraah and wondered just how much she really knew of Houri's traumas and past. Not that he would speak of such things as it certainly wasn't his place.

"If you start making bread you must let me try it. I am not much for sweets but I have a fondness for bread."

 

[Thraah]

Thraah wanted to make Maseno a whole house of bread, a great big one with bread doorknobs and bread furniture and all that.
She thought about sitting with him on a great sourdough couch and her mouth began to water but that might have been hunger.

"Oh you got it! I'll get you a loaf, a big one!"
She made a suggestion of size with her arms. A loaf of such mass would be require a massive oven. Her body heat began to rise steadily, not entirely because of the fantasy but because she liked the idea of making food for Maseno. Which was different than making food for Stormy.

"You know... if I'm gonna get you the bread..."
She leaned forward and craned her head up to the side letting her half head of hair fall down.
"... I'm gonna need to know where to find you and so far I don't know where that is!"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

Chuckling, he took one last pull on the roll before offering the last of it to Thraah.

"That is a fair ask..." a nod, "difficult to deliver to someone who is so rarely around."

"My room is on the second level of the southern hall, fourth door on the right. But I am quite often in the observatory when there are no classes. I lead meditation training there when I have time and interested Initiates."

 

[Thraah]

She took the joint and the last pull then killed the joint with a neat snap of her fingers.
The light from it died instantly and Thraah plotted a mental map from her room to Maseno's. It wasn't super far, longer to the kitchen really.

She was on the fourth floor west dorms so, stairs.

"Okay, well I'll find you somewhere. If not I'll leave it in your room. The bread, I mean. heh."

The idea of being in Maseno's room made her breath heavy. Was she stoned? She was, this was stoned hightenedness and it was intoxicating.
Looking up at him she confirmed that even in the moonlight Maz's golden eyes looked utterly amazing. The look on Thraah's face was gormless.

"Wow... I'm, feeling it now!"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

That earned her another hearty chuckle.

"It may be stale by the time I get to it -" and his smile widened at her words, a short flash of confusion showing between blinks, "are you? It's not supposed to be very strong..."

His eyes skated about in an uncertain look around, "Perhaps I have built a tolerance to it." He had been using this mix and variety for a few years now.

 

[Thraah]

"Really?"
More hair spilled about her head before she sat back up straight and resumed focusing on keeping her legs level.

"Damn, I guess it's been a while."
The last time she got proper munted was with Z and that was right after the Ball.

"So, any reason you've been getting stoned? Not that I'm blaming you or nuthin, if I had to see the shit we saw on the road all the time I'd never wanna be sober again."

Her laugh was short and a bit desperate. She didn't like thinking about the mission at all. Her way of coping was to stay busy. Exhaustion was much better than depression.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

A withered sort of smile shifted his lips.

"It is something I have taken up to help me keep a level mind, yes." Thraah fairly perfectly hit the nail on the head. While most of the Initiates within the Academy had long since grown dulled to the very idea of grief or guilt, Maseno had instead found them to be a great fuel for his drive to do well.

But much like fuel was want to be, it was dangerous and volatile if not handled with care. He was not want for any repeats of the past.

"Helps me meditate and maintain my inner peace," he added, "but I do not partake for sport." He'd never look down on Zaire or Initiates like Chasmine who he knew used drugs to escape. Everyone dealt with their own demons in their own ways.

 

[Thraah]

There had to be easier ways than getting wasted Thraah thought.
"There has to be easier ways than getting wasted to keep your inner calm."

She smiled to herself as she spoke and considered suggesting something more erotic. It was right there too, Maseno loved to talk about his meditation time and twisting that to some perverse version of itself wouldn't be too difficult.

"You know, if you ever need it."
Her chest puffed out a bit.
"I can be pretty distracting."
She conjured a mote of fire in one hand and wove it between her fingers.
"Not to toot my own horn but eh, I have rendered almost a whole semester of etiquette classes all but useless."
Her face was a comically proud look of mock seduction complete with waggling eyebrows.

Maseno Luana