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

[Maseno Luana]

A deep chuckle sounded from the Initiate as she took hold of that title and claimed it with cool vigor.

Maseno arched a dark brow at her as she asked after his habit, "I suppose that is only fair," she had lit it for him, after all. He could have made use of his magic to conjure a flame, but he wasn't want to treat his abilities as a toy - not when it was honed and meant for things far opposite of recreation.

Though Zana might disagree on the point of his sky surfing, but that was neither here nor there.

He gently plucked the joint from his lips between fore and middle finger and held it out to her, "It's not like what Zaire used to have. I had a girl in the upper class named Chasmine make a custom blend for me - she disappeared during the anniversary festival for the Revolution and... was never found or seen again."

His brows knit as he recalled this, "This just..." he gestured noncommittally with a wave of his hand, "helps me keep the inner peace."

It wouldn't get her high. Wouldn't make her hallucinate. Wouldn't take her away from reality. All it did was take the edge off and settle ones worries, which was enough for him.

 

[Houri]

Houri had really hoped that a girl she had never heard of before would not have had quite so many friends, but then Thraah had been organising it. The pyromancer was a surprisingly social creature who seemed to find it easy making friends no matter where she went. Judging by the people gathered most had come for her, not her redheaded friend. She was staring in Zephyrine's direction when she caught Ivan's sly glance. In response she merely stuck out her tongue; it was frowned upon to fry fellow peers now.

Why should we care about the Academy rules? The Archons would let us kill whoever we wanted.

"I'm going to get some air," she muttered to nobody in particular and stood in one fluid movement. Taking the cake slice with her she headed for the graveyard beyond and the cool, welcoming night. It would be rude to leave when the party had only just really started, but she was in no mood to sit and watch Livia flirt her way around the room or make small talk with bird boy. Perhaps she could just spend an hour out here then make an excuse to leave.

 

[Kor]

"Yes..." Kor nodded in agreement with Larkin. "This party is supposed to be for you. Don't let my impairment ruin your fun. Go." He was addled without his bird, but he wasn't completely unable. It wouldn't be right of him to chain both Zeyphrine and Larkin to his side for the duration of the event. He was blind, not helpless.

Another arm steadied him, and he nodded towards what must have been Larkin. Perhaps it would behoove the both of them to attempt to call one of his birds back so that he could see, at least somewhat. As things stood currently, all he could hear around him was a muddled mix of voices that he couldn't distinguish from one another.

"Between you and I, I'll abstain from the wine tonight." The faintest hint of a smirk played at the corner of his mouth as he recalled his last foray into alcohol. "Last time I drank, I woke up underneath two other people, and was promptly vomited on." What was more, Repent had nearly been killed by the now-missing Dreadlord Ysobel in a panic.

To say the experience had turned him off of the idea of getting drunk was an understatement.

"If you feel differently, don't let me stop you. Just warn me if you start to wobble, yeah?"

 

[Thraah]

"Shit!"
Thraah had never met this Chasmine person but she had heard that several of the Initiates had died or gone missing soon or after the dance... which brought back her own unwanted memories.
But hey, Maz and her were here now and his cousin was nowhere to be seen and she was in her new and improved dress.
Thraah hoped that Maseno was not carrying Chasmine about like everyone else.
Maybe she just, left. People left didn't they? She almost left herself. Was now the time to bring that up?
"Heh, well,"
Thraah accepted the joint and tried not to stare at the end that had touched Maseno's lips, his nice lips that no doubt were just as soft as they looked.
*BADUMPUMP!*
"... uhhh I could use a little, heh, inner peace myself!"
Stay cool, just take a drag and pass it back.
Shit were her hands trembling?
No, she was cool now, it was cool she was able to lift the joint to her own lips, and took a nice, deep pull. Holding it for a few seconds as she attempted to look cool by staring off into the distance...

*FUCK!*

Stormy had just walked into view, right out of the main building and on the lane towards the Graveyard and them.

Thraah coughed in surprise, tried to hold her cough, failed and began to hack up the contents of her lungs and now very dry throat!
The cloud of smoke she blurst out from her mouth was pale and quickly dissipated. Her eyes watered again, and she was very unable to breathe or talk for a moment.
"Heuuugh! GAGH! FUCK! Kewww Stormy!"
She had doubled over and was pointing at the approaching Stormy who did not look happy and that was not good.
Did she suddenly have an opinion on them?
Was she like, mad?
But there was cake, LOADS of cake! How was she possibly mad at anything?

Maseno Luana
Houri

 

[Zephyrine]

"Happy birthday, Caddel."

Zephyrine paused, turning to see a glass held out for her. She smiled, taking it, but her tawny eyes then widened when they lifted to see it was Ivan who had offered it to her.

"It isn't actually my birthday. Thraah... must have forgotten it's not for another month..." Her eyes looked down to see him pour her a drink. Were her cheeks pink? They felt warm.

She could still taste on her lips the really nice wine Livia had encouraged her to drink before she even got to the party, and so Zephyrine believed this drink Ivan was pouring would be pleasant also.

"What is it?" She asked, seeing him pour himself some. Zeph gave it a sniff and make a face. The wine smelled bad too, but tasted nice either way.

 

[Ivan Skender]

"It isn't actually my birthday."​

"Kress no, Kress no, Kress no, oh Kress no." - Fuck! Had he gone up to the wrong girl?! Oh fuck! Oh no. He could already imagine Livia smirking at his idiocy from across the room when the redhead saved him from a lifetime of embarrassment.
​

"Thraah... must have forgotten it's not for another month..."​

- "Oh." - He was left somewhat speechless at the fact that he hadn't actually been wrong. Or had he? Maybe? Well, not where it mattered anyways. It was a good thing for Zephyrine that she had blushed when she did, for Ivan was himself rather distracted by all the thoughts coursing through his mind to notice. - "Well, then drink for mine." - He said with a smile. - "It was a fortnight ago." - A shrug rolled over his shoulders. - "So, belated, but still works." - He downed his glass of Moonshine, a grimace involuntarily barging into his features as he did so.
​

"What is it?"​

He stared at her blankly.

Though certainly an acquired taste, to put it mildly, he'd expected every initiate ever to recognize the scent of Falwood Moonshine. As far as underground drinking at the Academy went, the drink was probably the most efficient way to get oneself senselessly drunk; both in terms of cost and alcohol content.

- "It's Falwood Moonshine." - He replied, the same warm smile from before returning to his face. He poured a second glass for himself. - "The greatest gift the forest ever gave us." - He completed sarcastically.

He downed the second glass as well, truly feeling the burn of the alcohol as it poured down his throat.

- "I don't think I've ever seen you at a party before?" - He realised suddenly. It was common for him that, even though he might not recognize someone by name, he would recognize their faces from some after-school gathering or other, but for Caddel we was completely and utterly in the dark. It was like he'd never seen her in the decade-and-a-half he'd spent at the Academy.​

 

[Zephyrine]

His word was enough for the innocent soul to down the moonshine in the same fashion he did, but she was not prepared for the burn it dealt her throat. She winced, dropping her glass out of shock and proceeded to cough and splutter. Fuck. She wanted to shrink away now, all of this happening before an audience, and witnessed by Ivan Skender of all people.

Trying to keep a brace face, although pained and grimacing, she swooped down for the shards of glass. By the time her hand touched a larger piece, the glass had come new and she straightened up and held it between herself and Ivan. "No... I never have been to a party. I didn't even go to the dance either..." Because she hadn't worn a dress until tonight. Well... was it really a dress? There was a skirt, a shirt, and a fashioned vest to tie it all together, and awfully pretty shoes Livia insisted she wear. If this is what was required of a party, it was with good reason she never attended one.

Clearing her throat, she peered up at the taller Initiate. "They kept me in the class below for a while to make sure I was keeping up with the training and classes... we... actually share Etiquette class... but you stopped attending those..." And the classes he did attend, she had tucked herself to the edges of the room, blissfully forgotten by her peers.

Ivan Skender

 

[Maseno Luana]

Did Thraah... not smoke?

He could have sworn Zaire mentioned she did, back before he'd given it up.

Pushing off from where he'd been leaning, Maz gave her a look mixed by concerned amusement, "Are you... ok? It's not as smooth as some blends-"

"Heuuugh! GAGH! FUCK! Kewww Stormy!"

A blink, "Stormy?" Was that a blend that Zaire had made?

Movement near the church caught his eye and they widened as he spotted his sister coming their way, growing a warm smile, "Houri, how is the cake?"

 

[Ivan Skender]

A grimace formed on his face, as he saw the girl's reaction to the Moonshine unfold.

- "Sorry," - He said, his features twisting momentarily into a bemusedly apologetic expression. - "I should've told you that Moonshine's a kicker. Never goes down easy the first time." - He poured more of the drink onto each of the two glasses. - "Very impressive save though." - He said, pointing with his chin to the remade glass. - "Most of us are tailored for destruction; not so many for creation." - Maybe "recreation" was a more accurate term, but he was sure she'd get the point.

- "Maybe you can touch up my axe some day." - He smiled. The girl's next words though, caught him somewhat by surprise.

"Fuck, we had classes together?" - He usually prided himself on sniffing out a pretty girl from miles away, but somehow, this one had slipped through? How odd.

- "Oh, right." - He rubbed the back of his head apologetically, as though he felt the need to be express remorse he had not recognized her from Perrine Urahil's class. - "Yeeeeah, etiquette was never my, uh, strong suit." - He said, with a grimace. - "And honestly, Perrine Urahil is such a joke that I figured there was no point in it." - A smug smile unfurled across his features.

- "Maybe you can show me what you learned over dinner sometime?" -

Zephyrine ​

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia felt eyes upon her and easily found the guilty pair.

The two-toned stare belonging to Larkin now graced her, but Quinnick crossed her arms and promptly turned her head away.

"Shall we look at the snacks Thraah organised?" She asked Zinnia before motioning towards the other wall, a table boasting different sweets on display. There was at least some fruit and crackers, artisanal breads cut up to be dunked in different dips. "We may as well enjoy ourselves tonight, shall we not?" And on their way, Livia poured them both some wine, unsure if Zinnia's tastes extended to the beverage.

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine grimaced and stifled the coughs that found their way up after downing the second glass of moonshine. It was awful, but it was also offered by Ivan.

She chuckled hearing him talk of their shared class, nodding with him in agreement. "I believe she is wasted on teaching etiquette. She is a Healer, and has been helping me work on using my magic for healing. Where to strike someone to truly fuck them up, now that's what I would like to learn over dancing." She wasn't just suited for creation... well, she was, but her specialty was in weaponry. No matter how many times she was disarmed, a weapon was readily back in hand.

"Wounds are slow... but I am getting there." Especially after she went so long believing her curse was meant that she would be unable to recreate anything living...

But his next words surprised her. Zeph turned to look around, a little bashful now, making sure it was her he had asked.

"You mean... sit with you when dinner is served in the dining hall?" Didn't he sit with the likes of Leander Urahil, and that other tall blond Initiate... Lachlan? They were certainly not the sort of people she would go out of her way to sit with. "I guess it can't be that bad..."

Ivan Skender

 

[Ivan Skender]

"You mean... sit with you when dinner is served in the dining hall?"​

- "Uh, sure." - That had not been quite what he'd meant, but in any case, he wouldn't mind having dinner with this girl on the grand hall. - "If you don't mind putting up with Leander Urahil for half-an-hour." - He smirked slyly. - "Though I don't think the dining hall really is the best place for a proper dinner." - A grimace flickered through his features at the mention. Really, with the initiates, he reckoned it would be likelier for them to witness a food fight, rather than any semblance of civilized eating while in the common canteen.

- "There's some nice places down in Viret, though. If you have the patience for the journey." - They'd need some time to get down there, but in between training and theoretical classes, it was always possible to get enough of a break to make it to the coastal town. - "Much more appropriate." - He smiled. Especially now since, after his mission with Livia, he did have some money lined up in his pockets.

- "Have you ever been?" -

Zephyrine ​

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia's eyes flicked from Larkin to Livia as she finished the last bite of her cake. If there was something going on there, she had no idea about it. Instead she nodded to Livia and quietly followed her along. Snacks were always good. Keeping her calories up to match her exercise was ever important.

Ah, but then wine was presented to her. Hmm. It was a party...
"M-may as well, yes!"

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine shook her head. "Vel Luin has been the closest place for me to see the coast. What's Viret like?" Despite the many cities and towns she had come across in the missions she was sent on, the Initiate barely held appreciation for them. She had often been too focused on the task at hand, or not staying long in the city to have explored what it offered. The only city worth talking about was Vel Castere. She had spent a month there training in the forge, but the extended time gave her time to appreciate and learn about the fortress city.

"I think I have a mission to some town between Viret and Vel Cirak. A storm damaged a lot of the bulding foundations of the guard towers there." And who better than her to be sent out to fix things?

Zephyrine chewed her lip, cradling her empty glass to her chest as she cleared her throat. "I leave in a week when Anirian Guard prepares the supplies meant to go out to the town, me with it. Want to tag along?" It was clear the moonshine wasn't at fault when her cheeks coloured of their own volition, but Zephyrine did her best to sound casual and indifferent of her admiration for the boy speaking to her.

Ivan Skender

 

[Ivan Skender]

What's Viret like?​

- "It's pretty enough." - He said nonchalantly, as he poured both of them another glass. - "The Viraks own the place, so they make sure it has some.. uh, shine to it." - He continued. - "So it's a nice place to be." - He shrugged - "Well, if you ignore all the manticores going around." -

He downed his drink as Caddel - whatever her first name was - invited him to a... mission? Well, that was a first. Usually girls invited him to activities indoors, not in the outback.

"Huh, that's new."

- "Sure," - He said after a moment's silence. - "We can take the long sea route down to Viret, and pivot to your village after that." - He set his empty glass aside. - "Though I'm not sure I'll be able to stay. The Academy still has a way of not letting us do whatever we want." - He winked at her.
​

 

[Livia Quinnick]

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

 

[Zephyrine]

Zephyrine gave Ivan a small smile, as if she knew something he did not.

"The Proctor that signed off on this mission happens to like me. I am sure Proctor Urahil can overlook your lack of attendance to her class to allow you to accompany me and the other Dreadlords assigned to escort supplies." Even Thraah managed to wrangle the Proctor permission to accompany Zeph to Vel Castere, a visit that took up almost nine weeks away from the Academy.

The third time the moonshine went down, the less it burned her, but Zeph still managed to clear her throat after. She moved to sit, but a chair was not there to catch her until the last moment before she was shy of just falling, a chair made of wood came into existence, piece by piece.

Her hand had disappeared into the pouch still at her side, one she would never be without. It housed all her scrap metals and wood, an anchor or morsel to be used to created the strongest recreations her magic could work. Zephyrine snorted, "I am usually much quicker than that... but I think your drink is making me become slack." She fished around in the pouch once more, her sense of touch now well versed in the different textures she was looking for. Wood was lighter, more coarse under her fingertips. The soft clinks and shifts of metal ceased as she drew out a splinter of dark wood.

She rolled it between thumb and forefinger, and a seat in the similar fashion as her own nudged his leg.

"Shit. I think that chair is uneven in the legs." Zephyrine winced, slightly embarassed that her handiwork came with a flaw.

Ivan Skender

 

[Houri]

Houri had desperately wanted to be alone. Or, at least, as alone as she could get with the voices in her mind, but it had always been hard to ignore her little brother. She saw that others struggled too, drawn to the warmth of his personality like moths to a flame. People wanted to be around her brother in a way they had never wanted to be around her. He was something to be cherished forever whilst she was to be played with and discarded when something more serious came along.

She forced herself to stop instead of rudely walking on, knowing it would spoil his evening if she appeared upset. The fake smile was growing easier to conjure, too.

"Good, Thraah has been learning a lot from our lessons," her eyes slid to the girl, unsurprised to find her in Maz's company given the feelings she had made clear. Feelings that probably meant her friend didn't want her around "cramping her style." Her eyes drifted to the joint being shared and tried to pin her smile more firmly in place. "I shouldn't interrupt you, I was just looking for someone..." she excused, stepping back to leave.

 

[Thraah]

Thraah finally got a hold of her hacking and tried to adopt a casual stance, leaning on a headstone as she held the joint in her fingers.
"Kuh, heh, yeah. I forgot to tell you Maz, I'm an *hack* amazing chef now!"
She smiled invitingly, offering Stormy the joint.
"Hey, do you want some? It's way better than I make it look."
Her eyes were a bit red but she hoped the dark his it and a light stream of tears lined her face which she rubbed off with her free hand.
She didn't know who Stormy was looking for, or what drove her from enough free cake to fill a cow but she was wary enough to not let her go without... something.

Maseno Luana
Houri

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Mhmm," - He murmured as he tried to divine how in the fuck he'd gotten cornered into volunteering for a mission he didn't want to go to. - "well, I'll have to take you up on that one later." - He said. - "In case you don't know, I don't exactly have a good reputation with the Proctors." - Well, with any Proctor, really, it was just that for some of them, like Perrine Urahil, his disdain was rather obvious.

He leaned against the table, a raised brow as he saw the girl conjure herself a chair out of seemingly thin air.

- "Well, that's a neat trick." - He said, as his gaze deviated towards the new seat Caddel had just fashioned. His lips curled slightly upwards as he saw her grimace when she realised the chair was uneven.

- "Huh, very impressive still." - His eyes lifted towards her, his faint grin turned into a smirk. - "But no worries, that I can fix." - He snapped his fingers, and a black smoke materialised out of his fingertips; it scurried forth towards the longer legs of the chair, rotting the wood. He then sat on it, his weight causing the rotten wood to collapse and evening out the whole thing. Ivan though, did not seem to mind his magical display too much, his gaze still fully focused on the girl. - "Hey, we could make a good team." - He shook his head, reaching out for his glass again, and pouring the two of them yet another glass.

As per habit, he downed his.

He fully felt the liquor on this one though, his body starting to feel warm as the handful of Moonshine shots finally caught up with him.

- "So tell me Caddel," - He said, squinting slightly at her. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, or maybe it was just his curiosity taking the better of him. It mattered not. In that moment, it just felt right to ask. - "why is it that I never saw you before?" - ​

 

[Zephyrine]

Zeph let out an uncharacteristic laugh, that almost passed as a giggle as she saw Ivan help her magic become an even sitting before he took a seat before her. This time, she took measured sips from the newly poured glass of the moonshine. She was sure it numbed her taste already, but it did not numb her smile.

"You can call me Zephyrine. Or Zeph. Friends call me Zeph." Another sip and then the red head was laughing again. It sounded so odd coming from her, but the drink Ivan kept pouring her seemed to work quite it's magic when there was wine already inside her. "But... well, um..."

She looked around, tawny eyes spying that the room had changed, at least the people in attendance were now elsewhere. Livia and Zinnia were looking at the snack assortments, something Zephyrine should have looked at earlier. Kor and Larkin, still chatting amongst themselves. Houri was nowhere to be seen, but she figured the Luana girl went outside.

Turning back, Zeph looked at Ivan, noticing the slight surveying of his stare. "I grew up with private training. You know, no distractions... no unneccesary bonds... but, I realised I could learn more if I were integrated back with other Initiates." It was the brisk explanation, more or less, but even in her inebriated state, she knew not to burden someone new with her past.

She downed her glass, clearing her throat and aveting her gaze to the chair legs to the chair Ivan sat on. There was some discolouration remianing from his magic, and she stared at it a moment. "And the Proctors thought it best I learn to socialise better before graduation." And she found two friends that helped her overcome her obedience of being a perfect Initiate.

Ivan Skender

 

[Ivan Skender]

"Zephyrine, so that's her name." - He made a mental note to remember the name, though with all the moonshine coursing through his veins, he knew it to be a tall order that this memory would reach the next morning. - "Sure, Zeph." - He replied, his grin widening ever-so-slightly.

It would be the follow-up to his question though, that would really catch his interest.

- "Private training?" - He raised a brow at her, his interest piqued. As far as he knew, only the really high-ups like Leander Urahil, or the Luanas, had access to such luxuries as private tutoring. - "Are you, like, related to one of them?" - He asked, motioning with his head to where he'd spied Houri Luana leaving the room, just moments prior.​

 

[Zephyrine]

Tawny eyes stared at Ivan, her head even tilting a little and some of her hair falling into her face. A nervous laugh left her; the hand not occupied by a glass fidgeting with the skirt tucked under her thigh. "A noble? No... I... came from Vel Zrada. I remember very little of the family I was born to, but came to the Academy at three years old." She spent four years with a nullifer cuffed at her wrist, until she reached an age where she could understand magic. They had feared whether or not it would atrophy, but her magic had always been strong, obedient, quick to master.

"I guess they saw potential in me. The Proctor that cared for me, I saw him as a father." She had taken his name, a prize of how proud he was of her fast progress. Zephyrine was worthy of being a Caddel, but now it was a reminder she was the only one left.

"Actually, I used to think it a game how no one seemed to notice me when I would step out in the open. Felt like I was a ghost, walking the same grounds as the other Initiates, but lost to them. Maybe that was just a coping mechanism... but it felt like a good defense to have too." No distractions, Zeph had worked herself to the point that she would be a very challenging opponent on the mat or in combat.

The pink remained at her cheeks as she remembered the first time she had seen Ivan. It took her until later that day to know his name, how old he was, and that he would be an interesting opponent to challenge herself against. "You said it was your birthday not too long ago." The words haed been said before she could stop her loose lips. She cleared her throat, "What did you do for it?" Zephyrine hadn't celebrated a birthday before, even if this party was for her, she was unused to the feeling.

Ivan Skender

 

[Ivan Skender]

- "Huh, impressive nonetheless." - He could understand why she'd done it; why Zephyrine had attempted to hide herself from others in the pre-Revolution Academy. She hadn't been the only one to try that, nor had she been the first: Back then, the Academy had very much been a world of natural selection, where the strong ruled, and the weak got crushed - it was still somewhat like that, though to a much, much, much lesser degree. No, he did not find surprising that she had hidden herself, but rather that she had succeeded in doing so.

Ivan knew fully well that - in those bygone days - those that had attempted to go through the Academy unnoticed tended to be uncovered - and brutalized - very reliably. He knew that, of course, because he'd carried out plenty of the bullying himself, urged on by peers and proctors alike. The fact he hadn't even noticed this girl - and a red-head at that - really did speak of her subterfuge skills.

- "I bet you could take any one of us out without us even realising you were there." - He flashed a sly grin, before turning to the Moonshine bottle.

He was facing away from Zeph, filling up his glass, when she asked about his birthday. A grimace she wouldn't be able to see flickered through his features momentarily. He recalled that day, the trip to Valdorren, the ancestral seat of his House, and all that he had gone through back then. It was in the past, of course, but the memories were so very vivid still.

These recollections though, would be for another day.

- "Not much. Just a slow day." - He lied. Though veering towards drunkenness and comradery with this Zephyrine, he wasn't about to confide all that had passed with a stranger. Instead, he let his expression ease into a grin. - "I guess I should've hit the training grounds instead." - ​

 

[Maseno Luana]

"You are not interrupting at all," Maz warmly assured her, "please stay. I feel I haven't spoken with you in so long..."

Plus it would be nice to hear more about how Thraah and his sister were getting on as friends. Since he first learned they had been spending time together it had naturally piqued his interest in what it was they got up to. Cooking, apparently? Who knew!

"Is that so?" he asked Thraah with a bright smile, "I am not much for sweets, but I will be sure to try the cake, then, if you made it."

A moment taken to picture Thraah and Houri busily mixing up cake batter or icing. Decorating a cake. How wonderfully uncharacteristic. The Initiate rubbed at his chin in thought, "Do you use your flames to heat the oven?"