This isn’t Stephen’s territory or stomping ground — he’s a fish hopelessly out of water — and so he inevitably takes his cues from her, for better or worse. And more importantly: this guy is clearly bothering her. So after the initial introduction, there’s a tightening of Stephen’s expression beneath the mask the flatter and more curt she becomes. He’s unconsciously moved even closer to Gwenaëlle’s side, shoulders angled so they make an impenetrable wall with hers.
Once upon a time, in Halamshiral, she had saved him from another Clothilde, and so this time:
“Speaking of dancing, we haven’t actually had a turn ourselves tonight,” he says, his head turning to look at Gwenaëlle instead of the upstart lord. If there’s another world where Stephen cranks up the charm and tries to smooth things over between these two, then he’d be hard-pressed to imagine it. She clearly wants absolutely nothing to do with Lord Marcellin Roux, and so Stephen instinctively closes ranks.
no subject
This isn’t Stephen’s territory or stomping ground — he’s a fish hopelessly out of water — and so he inevitably takes his cues from her, for better or worse. And more importantly: this guy is clearly bothering her. So after the initial introduction, there’s a tightening of Stephen’s expression beneath the mask the flatter and more curt she becomes. He’s unconsciously moved even closer to Gwenaëlle’s side, shoulders angled so they make an impenetrable wall with hers.
Once upon a time, in Halamshiral, she had saved him from another Clothilde, and so this time:
“Speaking of dancing, we haven’t actually had a turn ourselves tonight,” he says, his head turning to look at Gwenaëlle instead of the upstart lord. If there’s another world where Stephen cranks up the charm and tries to smooth things over between these two, then he’d be hard-pressed to imagine it. She clearly wants absolutely nothing to do with Lord Marcellin Roux, and so Stephen instinctively closes ranks.