[ open: all arise! ]

[vorbratta]

WHO: you. yes, you there. you're invited
WHAT: Sonia is throwing a big party, because everyone needs an excuse to get good and drunk together right now. And dancing. There is always dancing.
WHEN: Justinian, shortly after the return of the jungle crew
WHERE: The suite at the top of the mage tower
NOTES: ♫ have some party jams ♫

The month in the jungle was a long one, made longer by the total lack of any alcohol to mitigate the experience. Utterly unthinkable. Sonia is addressing a public need by throwing a grand party -- a public service, even. Besides, it's what she does. When was the last time she got to plan a party, anyway? Granted, this is not a Denerim soiree for the young nobility, but the venue doesn't matter. Only the people and the drinks, and Sonia is assuredly rich in both. It is also a fantastic excuse not to think about any of the bad things that have happened since she was last in Kirkwall.

The decoration in the residential suite at the top of the mage tower would be best classified as improvisational -- one of those drapes tacked along the wall for ambience may be a bedsheet -- but it's the spirit of the thing that counts. One makes do with what one has. In one corner are a few tables laden with spirits, some provided by Sonia, others by generous partygoers. There are a few Barra vineyard vintages in the mix, highlights of her personal collection, a testament to the celebration she considers tonight to be. There's a small selection of food nearby, mostly for snacking to go with the drinks, though guests are free to bring whatever they like to share.

And there is, of course, music. Someone here has brought a fiddle or a flute or a bunch of pots masquerading as a drum set. Maybe you've brought your very own a capella choir. Whatever the accompaniment, there's something to dance to. Sonia makes sure there is dancing.

Tonight is not for licking wounds or swapping grisly stories of terror and survival. Tonight is for feeling alive, getting properly and delightfully drunk, and having a good god damn time.

Comments

[hassaran]

"I'd prefer you didn't imagine me at all," Yseult deadpans in reply, looking up at Byerly from her quite comfortable position, a half-full glass of sparkling wine in one hand.

But with a sigh and a distinct air of doing a great favor against her better judgment, she sets her glass aside and rises. She even takes his hand. "Very well. Just the once."

[bouchonne]

Ah, so this is to be the mood of the evening, is it? Well, so be it; he's smiled through considerably worse.

"You honor me," he says smoothly, and with an air of complete sincerity. And then, with a graceful step, he leads her forth onto the dance floor, and then places his hand on her waist to begin to dance, the music a decently quick waltz.

"A pleasant evening, no? My cousin has a talent for this."

[hassaran]

It was mostly teasing, the ease with which she agreed meant to give at least some lie to the reluctance. Amazing how difficult some people find it to detect her sense of humor just because she spends most of the time pretending she doesn't have one.

She sets a hand on his shoulder, quickly proving familiar with the steps and content to follow his lead. "So it seems," she agrees, "And she chose a good moment for it. It seems to be what many needed."

[bouchonne]

The slight prickle of offense is smoothed slightly by Yseult's easy praise of Sonia. It's difficult to maintain a bad mood when someone is being so overwhelmingly correct as to admire his astonishing cousin.

"I'm thinking of giving her a position within Diplomacy," he says. "She'd do quite well." And he waits to see whether Yseult will object to the nepotism.

[hassaran]

"What sort of position?"

[bouchonne]

"Well, she's a bit inexperienced yet for me to abdicate altogether and give it to her." A joke. Mostly. "An assistantship of some ilk. Something to make us look a bit more respectable. Since I do not precisely bring much respectability to the table. But Sonia - " He twirls Yseult easily, with barely a pause in the conversation - "Is in good standing in her family. Or close enough to it.

"So I was thinking to train her a bit more in our dealings with respectable people. Get her onto the circuit of balls and events, wherever they're still being held. Make connections."

[hassaran]

"Is that not already the work of a member of Diplomacy," Yseult replies as they execute a series of quick turns, proving every bit as light and graceful as she seems like she ought to be.

"I'm sure she will be an asset to the division, but it doesn't sound as if any special position would be necessary to accomplish that."

[bouchonne]

"A special position," he responds, "would put her in place to potentially take over when I must inevitably be removed from the post for some reason or another." A shrug. "She's the most appealing member of the division by far."

[hassaran]

"And the newest. However capable she may be, you can't imagine any of us will be swayed by you gifting her titles before she's earned them."

[bouchonne]

That comment gets an arched eyebrow in return. "Because Eshal was so rich in experience before you stuck her into the position in a desperate attempt to counterbalance my inevitable incompetence."

[hassaran]

"A questionable decision," Yseult allows, "All the more reason not to repeat it, and with someone who doesn't provide any such diversity of background."

She hinges away, and back, and away again, and on her return says, "Byerly, I'm not impugning your cousin's charm or ability. And I'm not suggesting she needs years of experience with us to prove herself. But she's hosted a single internal party. If you want her to be viewed in the best possible light, then let her do at least a few months of regular work before you attempt to anoint her your successor. Do it now and it will be clear to everyone that she's in your pocket and anything that forces you out of office may stain her as well."

[bouchonne]

It's...reasonable, he supposes. Fucking irritating, but reasonable. Still, there's a bit of sourness in his manner when he says, "I thought you'd have been springing forth joyously at the chance to find a replacement."

[hassaran]

Perhaps more irritating still, this makes her laugh. "I voted for you to have the position," she tells him, amusement lingering in her voice and the shape of her mouth. "When you asked me afterwards and I told you Flint had argued too strongly for your appointment to overcome, I was joking. Flint couldn't stand you, you knew that."

[bouchonne]

"Of course I knew that." But - He doesn't miss a step in the dance, but it's clear that he's genuinely taken aback. "You voted for me?"

[hassaran]

"Yes." She says it more slowly, like that's the problem. "There were only three of us. Flint didn't want you." The angle of her head says do the math.

[bouchonne]

He shakes his head. "Forgive me. You're overstating things somewhat, yes? I assume you mean that you permitted it to move forward."

[hassaran]

Yseult nimbly dodges around another couple careening across the floor past them, but answers the question quite directly all the same: "No."

[bouchonne]

He's definitely dancing less well now. Not badly - he's too good at this for that - but he's clearly distracted. "But you - Your regard for me is - rather limited."

[hassaran]

Yseult is more than capable of picking of any slack, but mostly she's just observing and only very thinly concealing the fact that she's finding this quite entertaining.

"In some respects, yes."

[bouchonne]

This is all very displeasing.

"In what respects isn't it?"

[hassaran]

"Not your manners, if you're going to demand compliments."

[bouchonne]

"I'm not demanding compliments." He shakes his head. "I would simply be - surprised, shall we say - if you were able to come up with anything you find tolerable about me. Which is not a criticism, by the by; I do not pretend to be tolerable."

[hassaran]

"No, you pretend to be intolerable," Yseult replies, dry, "And succeed only in being irritating. Surely you didn't expect me to believe your act for long. I wonder that you even bother to play at it, after the business with Devigny. What does it gain you now?"

[bouchonne]

"I did next to nothing during that business with Devigny," By says. "Others handled the whole affair." And he could let that stand, and let it devolve into a little squabble over yes-or-no, but instead something compels him to continue -

"I am intolerable, Scoutmaster. It is not an act."

[hassaran]

Just as well, since her response to that assertion--as if she was not there observing his dismay herself--is a roll of her eyes.

"I thought you had some respect for my skills. Are you suggesting I'm not a good judge of character?"