Truth or Dare: Side Party for Servants and Scoundrels

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone!
WHAT: A party for people who might scare the nobility, are deathly afraid of chandeliers, or fled the soiree with cheeses hidden in their clothes and need to make a clean getaway.
WHEN: During (and after) the soiree.
WHERE: The valley beyond Skyhold.
NOTES: Drinking, revelry. People might make out or something. We're not responsible for your actions.

The soiree might be fun, if you're into that sort of thing, but that isn't what it's for. It's for impressing the powerful and opening their pockets—and, necessarily, some people aren't invited. In some cases that's personal. In others, it's just understood. When they're done helping to set up, most of the servants and workers who aren't needed to serve make themselves scarce. The usual trickle of refugees to and from the fortress slows. Some people used to sleeping in the stables may find their "beds" occupied by nobles' horses or the rooms they had been squatting in cleaned and prepared for someone else to stay in.

There's no resentment. (Or at least very little.) That's how these things go. And in the valley outside the fortress' walls, there are foot soldiers and refugees and a number of miscellaneous exiles who welcome the company with large fires, cheap but freely flowing alcohol, and whatever music can be wrung out of instruments exposed to such low temperatures. The crowd thins and dwindles as the night wears on, but even after the last person has left the Great Hall in Skyhold, there's still a sizable gathering near the river with no intention of going to sleep before sunrise.

No masks allowed.

Comments

ruby | open

[eviscerates]

Ruby's never been big on the fancy parties.
She'd longed to see what they were like, Before, of course. Sort of like how she longed for adventure and magic and seeing the world, for thrills and adrenaline and escaping danger. Brushing shoulders with nobility had been part of that. Somehow or other she'd gotten all those things, and not a single one of them had ever really taken away that painful pang of guilt and disgust. Forgiving yourself wasn't easy. Sometimes it just kept going on and on, unravelling and occasionally getting all knotted up and tangled.

Honestly, she might not have been at this party, either, but she and Emma sleep in the barn, and suddenly the barn is a lot more occupied than it used to be. Nobles horses and their servants and... whatever, really, it's pretty much fine because she's here at a different party, and Emma's around somewhere, and for a little while she can maybe just be Ruby instead of being Red who was on a council to help govern a kingdom, and the Wolf who helped win battles.

She's wearing her standard fare, sans her cloak until its gets too cool to do without it. Odds are she'll accept any offers for a dance, serve up and offer drinks, and enjoy sitting by the fire for a while, here and there.

[easternseaqueen]

It took a bit to slip out of the main party, but Isabela was not about to miss the real fun. And this was definitely bound to be a better scene than what's happening in the hall.

The red cloak stood out, and Isabela couldn't help but wander over.

"You look entirely too pretty to be a wallflower, dear. Join me for a dance?"

[eviscerates]

"Admiral," she replies, with bright smile and a little curtsy, both gestures playful and amused. She's had some cider and ale and she's feeling kind of good. It's a nice difference from how she'd started feeling in Storybrooke, most of the time.

Being approached for a dance? Kind of a nice change from being forgotten, too.

"Well, you know how to flatter a girl, I'll give you that." She unclasps the cloak and drapes it over a chair, before stepping forward. "Ready when you are."

[easternseaqueen]

Isabela laughs, and sweeps Ruby into a dance.

"I just like people to enjoy themselves. Now... Tell me, my dear... How well can you keep up in something fast?"

[eviscerates]

My dear. It's a strange reminder of Regina, and though she doesn't pull away or tense up there is the barest moment where she has to remind herself to smile. It's a different tone, a different world, and even Regina doesn't say dear like she's about to pull out your heart, these days. At least, not to her, not that she knows of.

"Fast is safer to slow, in my experience. Especially with someone as charming as you."

Who knows what Isabela could do with a slow dance. (Flirt more, probably.) Red's never been a great dancer, but she knows enough to have fun, and that's really the point, right?

[easternseaqueen]

"Good. Try to keep up if you can."

Isabela's steps are quick and sure, her movements almost dizzying, and filled with style and flourish.

"Not bad, not bad... You're even more impressive than you look."

[eviscerates]

"I will accept that challenge." Bright and cheery, and although she does reasonably well at keeping up, she is out of practice with this kind of dancing - with dancing in general, honestly.

"Thank you," she replies, laughing, although she is definitely still watching their feet rather than looking at Isabela. Ruby is going to get through this without treading on her feet, even if it kills her. "I'm going to assume I look very impressive, to make that sound better."