+ Where Do Your Loyalties Lie? +

[vitaelamorte]

Who: Everyone
Where: The party
When: 7/21-7/23
Rating: PG-13 (warn if you go higher)
Summary:
The Story:
Orlais' current ruler, Lacie, has invited anyone of name, fame, and influence to The Winter Palace for three days of extravagant festivities surrounding the peace talks between her and Tillie, whose grasp for the throne has plunged beautiful Orlais into a dreadful civil war. Unbeknownst to both a third player, Elsie, has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to obtain her own share of power over the land.

Get ready for three days of fancy food, fine drink, good music, good entertainment, and just a little bit of murder, maybe? Your character has secured an invitation, and will join the illustrious crowd, become privy to the latest scandals and gossip, and observe as the struggle for Orlais' throne reaches its final chapter.

[OOC: This is an open mingle log for the Dragon Age event. The plotting post can be found here and event details can be found on the Bulletin Board.]

Comments

[punful]

[He gives a polite sort of laugh-cough. It's damn funny, but she might be testing him, or someone might overhear him essentially having a laugh at the expense of his betters. That wouldn't go over well for him.]

Perhaps birds are wiser than people.

[There, that's probably neutral enough. Sans pauses as Lapis studies the hydrangeas, hovering patiently nearby. He hopes she doesn't ask too many detailed questions. He knows enough about the gardens to get by, but he's an indoor worker for the most part.]

[She moves slower once she starts walking again, which he's quietly thankful for. His legs are short and cramp easily.]

Here we have the rhododendrons. I believe they are a favorite of Her Majesty.

[ssmisery]

[These, too, are lovely. All of it is lovely. Of course it is, that wasn't in question; why would it be anything else?]

The flowers must be even bigger fools than us, then. They hardly need any prompting to make a production of themselves.

[punful]

[Now that he's getting a better sense of her demeanor and sense of humor, he feels a bit safer in responding a bit more in kind.]

Ah--well--I know a few of the gardeners would agree with you. Particularly with the roses. Apparently maintaining them is...well, to use a polite term, "difficult."

[ssmisery]

And yet there are a thousand flowers out in the fields blooming just as fervently with no one to tend them. Maybe these ones choose to be difficult.

[Lapis knows better than to discount the effort of raising roses, too, but flowers seem so trivial these days. All they have to be concerned about is getting sun and water, the spoiled little fools. And even so, the work that went into all these cute little trellised nooks and whatnot feels a lot less exhausting than maneuvering the current festivities.]

[punful]

Would you say there is greater beauty in wildness, My Lady?

[A somewhat dangerous line of thinking, but Orlais is perhaps a bit more...spirited, than other nations Sans has heard of. Though Orlesians also aren't the biggest fans of the sort of uncouth filth associated with wild disorder.]

[ssmisery]

Perhaps not greater beauty. But if I were a rose penned into these walls, I might choose to be difficult too.

[Ah, there we go, the next cute trellised nook has a bench. Always an easy bet, of course; a garden like this has to have scores of perfectly picturesque seating places in varying levels of secrecy. Lapis doesn't particularly care about secrecy either way at the moment, but even as someone who may or may not necessarily get tired in the traditional sense, sitting down can start to sound real good.]

[punful]

[He smiles despite himself.] I think I understand what you mean.

[Lapis sits down on one of the garden benches, and Sans takes up position nearby, folding his hands behind his back. Sitting down next to her would be incredibly rude, and he needs to stay standing in case she needs him to fetch something. Kinda sucks considering how easily he gets worn out.]

...May I ask if there is a flower you favor more than others, My Lady?

[ssmisery]

[Lapis takes a moment before answering, leaning her head back. She isn't nobility, only a guest or a "guest", and so she's gotten used to having servants around but doesn't actually have them herself. She lacks the ingrained habits of being waited on. And on the one hand, she seems to think nothing of dragging Sans around at her whim, which is the appropriate kind of unthinking disregard one gives a servant, so maybe she's just a natural at it; but on the other hand she thinks nothing of having a legitimate conversation with him like a person, either. And maybe she would be disregarding anyone else exactly the same right now.

In all, though, it's just another weird in-between state that makes this entire interaction inherently awkward at its foundation, and it's still not remotely clear what she's trying to DO here. Well, anyway. So it takes her a moment of thought, but she gives an answer.]

Not anymore.

[punful]

[She's an odd one. Sure, she orders him around like any other noble--and she's close enough to nobility that he knows what's expected of him--but it's all very...casual. She's not condescending so much as she's just sort of--aloof. It's a subtle difference from the other nobles.]

[He tilts his head slightly at her answer. She seems so melancholy.]

I see.

[Normally he'd leave it at that and fall into silence, since servants aren't really supposed to make small talk for the sake of small talk. But...hm.]

Perhaps...forgive my forwardness, but perhaps something new will fill that void.

[ssmisery]

I hope not. [She pauses. She'd probably be equally expressionless with or without the mask, which is a talent some people have and a hard-earned skill for others.] I know who you are, you know.

[punful]

Ah. Forgive me.

[Well, shit. He should have kept his damn mouth shut. She doesn't seem too mad--at least not until she asks that question.]

I'm...not sure I know what you mean, My Lady.

[ssmisery]

[At long last, Lapis smiles, although there's no way to say whether it reaches her eyes. Either way she's a jerk.]

You're the one who spilled that wine yesterday, aren't you?

[punful]

[She's smiling, but it's not easy to tell if a smile is real when everyone is wearing masks.]

[Spilled wine. He's pretty sure that wasn't him. He doesn't have the luxury of clumsiness, but...there was an altercation yesterday that he remembers pretty vividly. One noble tripping another one, wine going everywhere.]

[Maybe it's a code or something, but better to play it safe for now. Maybe she's just toying with him.]

[He ducks his head in mock-shame.]

A rare moment of carelessness, I'm sure.

[ssmisery]

[And with that, her voice finally gets some real expression too, a bitter undisguised sarcasm quite different from the ambiguous deadpan she's generally had going. Like the hiss of a leak sprung from something swelling dangerously out of sight, a little bit.]

You are terribly lucky to still be here.

[punful]

[He smiles just a little. Oh, this is kind of fun. He can't let his guard down all the way, but clearly it's okay to jokes around a bit.]

I know. I'm certainly not going to...wine about it.

[ssmisery]

[Lapis might be as surprised as anyone when she outright bursts into laughter at that. She was caught completely unprepared. RIP.]

[punful]

[He gives the tiniest of flinches, just because the sudden burst of sound is so unexpected. But then he realizes that she's laughing and not mad or affronted or yelling at him, and he relaxes instantly. He even grins behind his mask. Oh man. She actually--she liked it.]

Oh, careful. I wouldn't want you to get a cham-pain in your side.