Angelcynn: A Very Merry Paralogue

[SB.]

"Well, I mean... ugh." Claire looked away from Cass for a moment to hide her embarrassment. She wanted to say that she had it all wrong (considering she genuinely was a shy person), but it would be lying if she said that she wasn't still interested in more. Of course, when she felt Cass brush against her shoulder once again she quickly looked back at her - noticing the exposed shoulder doing little to relieve her. Her cheeks began to flare up once again, having barely returned to normal after the kiss, and her mouth rested slightly agape as she listened, feeling once again stuck at Cass' mercy.

She tried to distract herself with the less awkward question, although the blush on her face only continued to grow. "Well it just kind of happened at first." she began, eyes fixed on the princess'. Keep it up there, don't look at her dress... "And erm, then my mother sent me away- to get me out of her hair. Not that I minded, but... erm..." Well, that plan lasted about fifteen seconds, before she had to jerk her head back up to face Cass again properly. "But now it's for combat, sort of interest and just solving problems and stuff like that. Magic can do so much, if you're talented with it, it's just, nuts. Maybe one day we could even grow Angus a brain." she laughed nervously, realising that she'd been rambling on and on. She wasn't sure how to handle Cass anymore, but when all else fails: just insult Kearney. This plan had never failed her before, had it?

[Nanami Touko]

"You're adorable," she chuckled out, letting Claire fluster and taking in every cute little second of it. She really wished to push things... But, it just wouldn't feel right, with how distressed Claire was. I can wait~ I can wait... "So you're... Not on the best terms with your mother, are you?" It wasn't an amazing topic to get into, so Cass left it at just that question. "As for magic, I was taught to use a staff because it was 'lady like' and 'proper for a princess' and all that junk. So I suppose I can sympathize to a point, even if you seem quite pleased with your performance, now. You've become a rather fantastic mage, haven't you, Claire?"

Perhaps not to the point of their generous host, but Claire had come leaps and bounds since their little adventure started. Tossing out tiny fireballs at bandits, now slicing through heavy armor with razor sharp winds. Impressive, just thinking about it. Cass hadn't exactly rested on her laurels; her staff proficiency had improved. Warping Adele without displacing her anything was already an impressive task, all on its own! Still, their relative progress was very different... She sighed at the thought, slouching slightly, as her dress slipped just a bit further.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Nanami Touko

[SB.]

"We don't speak very much." she huffed. That was all Claire had to say on the topic. If her mother wasn't going to pay attention to her, then she was more than happy to indulge her and ignore her as well. "I was happy to learn it - I just think that her decision was a little insensitive, to say the least." Her expression had soured as she spoke, and her arms had crossed in discomfort. The compliment on her magic was more welcome - still a little strange for her to hear, but she'd gotten used to them by now.

What she hadn't gotten used to by this point was the position of her dress - now dangerously close to covering very little. Claire quickly racked her mind back to when they entered - she had locked the door to keep Nona out, hadn't she? She frowned, both trying to recall whether or not she'd done so and how exactly to proceed. "You're impossible, you know that?" she sighed. If she just left things as they were, the dress would be gone before long anyway - although that was obviously what Cass wanted.

In that case, she didn't feel too bad about speeding it up. An 'accidental' nudge from the mage caused the strap to fall even further, pulling the dress along with it. "Whoops." she commented, surprisingly nonplussed by the new turn of events. "You wanted to see me without my robes, and well... I suppose it would make things fair, don't you?" She raised an eyebrow expectantly. If Cass wanted it, she would have to take it herself.

[Dandragon]

Needless to say, Serge was definitely unnerved by the large man, drinking a literal bucket of Eggnog. And sitting next to him, he could clearly see through the sweat how much muscle he had in comparison. However, it was clear that they were both trying to relax in their own way. So, shifting slightly away from the giant, he prepared to take another sip of his hot cocoa. However, before he could even lift the cup up to his mouth, and arrow flew through his mug, shattering it, and the hot liquid spilt all over his lap. Whatever drowsiness he had near the hot fire was now completely gone with his eyes widening in pain. He had never experienced such an intense temperature upon him before, and he screamed. He turned to see where the arrow had come from, and saw a familiar archer, now drunkenly waving his bow about. Furious, he got up, and, with his pants still slightly wet from the cocoa, stomped his way over to Emmet, and decked him square in the face, knocking him over. "Can I just have one GOD damn day without you FUCKING SOMETHING UP?!" He yelled at Emmet to his face, then sighed. "I need a new pair of pants...possible some underwear."

Edited December 28, 2016 by Dandragon

[Nanami Touko]

So mom was off limits to pry into. Something to hold onto, perhaps. Not that Cass would remember any of this after the party had transpired, but still, it was good to know not to ruin the mood right now with excessive pressing. Not that the mood was going anyway. "Impossible? Oh, Claire. No girl is impossible. Just difficult to figure out."

Whoops, huh. Cass snickered, stepping in front of Claire and pressing up against her, getting right in her face. "Let's not push the envelope, yes? You're going that far without testing the waters, first. Have to see if you can handle foreplay..." With that, Cass pressed their lips together, not giving Claire an inch, as her hands immediately grabbed onto the mage's, entwining their fingers. A curious tongue slipped into Claire's mouth and spent no time waiting to poke around and see if she was ready for the entire ordeal, or if her fascination had simply been skin deep.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Nanami Touko

[SB.]

"Testing the waters?" Claire frowned slightly. "What do you-" She didn't have the time to finish her sentence before hurricane Cassandra stunned her with a sudden, much more animated kiss than the one she had earlier. Perhaps it had been less beginners luck, and more that Cass had taken it easy on her. Not anymore, at any rate.

At first, her eyes widened in suprise as their fingers linked and she almost staggered backwards, but she soon adjusted. Eyes now closed and head tilted slightly to the side, she prodded back at Cass' invading tongue, resisting the urge to smile and break the kiss as she did so. She was still slightly miffed that she hadn't told her what was coming, but more so she just hoped that her greenness with this whole... romance thing, for a lack of a better word, wasn't showing through too heavily.

[Nanami Touko]

Cass only left the kiss for a few moments, quickly taking a inch of a step back and letting Claire breath clearly. "Not this time, then~ I'm confident you're... Not quite ready to go past this." Cass slowly fixed the strap on her dress, while keeping one hand tight around Claire's. Still, the mage received a smile, and not one of mockery. "You taste nice. But even though you're older than me, only by a bit, you seem to only have experience in magic... I want to take you nice and slowly, so I'll leave you with that." Cass applied a wink to the situation, gently resting against Claire again and cradling her head against the mage's neck.

"Buuuuut... My head's getting a big fuzzy from all of that drink, so... I'm going to use you as my resting post, until things stop spinning~ Surely you're alright, with that..."

[SB.]

"Make up your mind already..." Claire grumbled, looking away from the Cass, feeling slightly glum about how it ended. First you go ahead and get me really into it, and now this? Ugh... When she looked back, the dress was back in place as it should've been. She shrugged sheepishly at the comment on her experience - it was what it was. "I told you that I spent more time with books than people, didn't I? There was... only one boy really who I was at all interested in at the academy, and I realised it far too late." Not too unlike her current situation with Cass, she realised.

"And with our party, well, most of the men are at least a little crazy." She resisted the urge to scoff at the mental image Emmet trying to sweet-talk a village girl, continuing with a slightly more relaxed expression on her face. "And I never really thought that I was into girls." And considering her position as the sole heir to her territory, she probably shouldn't be getting too attached to the idea either, but... things happened.

She sighed as Cass nestled herself against the mage comfortably once again, although she at least she wasn't struggling to speak for it this time. "That's fine. Maybe you're just the one who can't handle it after all." she teased, smiling to herself.

[Nanami Touko]

"Too teased, are we? Your fault for focusing too hard on books~ If you hadn't stumbled over from something as simple as a kiss, perhaps we could be doing more." Cass chuckled, and yawned. Of course, there was one amusing thing to come of this. "Well, obviously it just means you have to steal Owen away from Sidney, hmm? He's the only sane man left, and unless Adele kicks it, I'm still taken, despite drunken persuasions. You'd be waiting quite a while for that one-- or not, if a battle happens to go sour; but who knows for that. I can't see the future~"

"Still, Owen likes you, and I'm sure riding some of that princely prestige, if you know what I mean, would give you all the experience you need. Just take him~ It's not like he's all that into Sidney, anyway; she intimidates him. You're far more his speed."

[Jotari]

Emmet was still trying to figure out where exactly his arrow had gone when Serge punched him. The attack came out of nowhere and easily knocked Emmet to the ground. He tried to get up but the room still hadn't decided to stop spinning. He alternated between muttering "the vial" and dry heaving. Hopefully someone would help him up.

[SB.]

Claire had to stop herself from shaking her head in indignation, thanks to a certain someone leaning on her, but she had no retort. Maybe she's right about it, but ugh... She didn't want to admit that out loud. Still, when the conversation switched gears and Owen became the subject, the mage couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. How does this girl's mind work? She was still of the opinion that a drunken Cass was almost impossible to figure out, despite her earlier insistence.

"Geez, Cass..." Claire sighed. "You'd almost think that Owen wanted you to try me out for him. Hah..." It was an unlikely scenario, but the quick shift had taken her by surprise. Do I even like Owen? Maybe... Her face was pensive for a few moments as she stopped to consider. She'd never really given thought to the idea considering, well, Claire was Claire. Her behaviour with the princess this evening had been the exception, not the rule. And Charlotte was in the picture as well, even if Cass wanted for her meddle... Ugh... "I'll think about it." She decided. Although Cass seemed to think otherwise, this wasn't the kind of thing you could just decide in a heartbeat.

[Nanami Touko]

"Try you out? Silly, not at all... In an ideal world I would have both you and Adele, but I'm already pushing boundaries as it is. I just know it as it is~ My brother likes you, and you make him feel comfortable; you wouldn't be throwing yourself at him and pushing his buttons over a lack of returned affection, no no~" Cass yawned. She was getting tired, and Claire was comfortable. "It's your status, really... He already likes you as a person; a friend he can talk to, but then you're a low ranking noble. And from Wyke. That makes things far easy for him than... Whatever Sidney is, really. Take that all as you will, and talk to him, ahhhh... So tired... Good night, Claire." Cass closed her eyes and slumped against Claire, starting to slip into dreams.

[SB.]

"Both of us? I'm not so sure about that..." Even ignoring the social outcry it would end up causing, Claire really didn't want to have to try and share. Regardless, Cass' points about Owen and Charlotte's relationship kind of made sense, considering what she could remember from the Farmer's Boot, although she wondered just how far the princess was projecting her own feelings of Claire onto Owen's impression of her. She wasn't left with a lot of time to consider however, with Cass beginning to slip away into dreamland where she stood.

"Come on now, you can't just fall asleep standing up there..." Claire laughed quietly, shaking her head in disbelief. "Let's get you set down first, at least." The mage quickly got to work, carefully lowering Cass down with her to rest on the floor, leaning her against the wall. Somehow, the mage's shoulder remained as Cass' pillow, but she really didn't mind - although it did mean that she was stuck here. "I wonder what the others are doing..." she remarked, not sure if her companion had fully drifted off yet or not. "Hm... probably nothing interesting."

Edited December 29, 2016 by SB.

[Shin]

Steve?

The ghost of Jeeves hovered over towards Serge, offering him a napkin to mop up the scald. "Master Gerrard, I would strongly recommend against such language... lest you get in trouble with law enforcement officers." Baleros on the other hand was rather amused by Serge's cries, drinking merrily from his bucket. "Small man... need chill." Baleros chortled, more than content to sit and enjoy his own drink.

Mr EEEEEEE

As Claire and Cass enjoyed... the night, a group of men had gathered around the corner. Esclabor, joined with Gringolett, Valter and Morgan were all spying on Cass, furiously writing notes as they plotted together. Esclabor whispered to the others. "OK, whichever one of us is Mr E, we need to put a stop to that." he hissed, pointing to the pair covertly. "If we let stuff like that happen, we'll never be able to steal Owen's pants for our own nefarious needs."

Morgan laughed, patting Esclabor on the head. "It's OK, I can always get a pair from Eowa, she says she keeps a couple of spares for him in her bedroom." he replied, his attitude more relaxed compared to his fellow suspects.

[Nanami Touko]

"Mmmnnn..." Cass groaned as Claire moved, pulling her down to the floor with her. A shoulder was a terrible pillow! And Claire had a nice set, so why not use that? Cass slowly groaned and slid onto Claire, resting her head against the mage's chest, and nuzzling up against her, before sighing and trying to sleep again. She wasn't quite asleep, but she definitely wasn't awake. If Claire was bothering to pay attention, she might've heard Cass mumble, "No, Adele... Let me eat breakfast, first... Mmm..."

[SB.]

As it turned out, Cass wasn't quite out of things just yet. At least, she was awake enough to choose a different pillow. She supposed that her lap and chest were much softer, and the princess snuggling up against her was proof enough of that. Now I really can't move. Hah. The comment about Adele made the mage slightly worried about if they were discovered, but she was content where she was. I can't just leave you on your own here either, can I?

Cass' drowsiness appeared to be rubbing off on her either way, as Claire felt her own eyes begin drooping. With her adrenaline fading and her conversation partner now off in a world of her own, there wasn't an awful lot to help keep her awake by this point. Covering a wide yawn, she took another look down at Cass. We probably shouldn't both be sleeping here, but just closing my eyes for a few minutes should be fine...

[Xinnidy]

"Oh, this apron... I had to do some gardening." Owen sighed, taking off the piece of clothing and standing up from his chair. "I say, I didn't expect Cass to be that friendly with Claire..." He noted, having caught the two leaving the rest of the party, "For some reason, I'm feeling compelled to chat up Esclabor and the other Es about that... but at the same time they've been looking at my pants suspiciously. I can't have that." He frowned, adjusting the aforementioned garments. "Maybe I can pass a law against that... 'thou shall not covet the prince's pants'..." He mumbled. Eh, they weren't in Wyke right now. It wouldn't matter.

Whether or not Sidney was drunk was up for debate, but Owen could clearly make out somebody that had one too many drinks not too far from him. "Good grief, Sir Emmet. Take a rest, will you?" He walked over, grabbing the man by his arm and trying to pull him to his feet. "You sure about drawing your bow right now? Have you seen your hit rates when not drunk?"

[Jotari]

Emmet was lurched upwards. Probably gently but his body was too confused to understand such concepts. As a result the contents of his last meal found itself spilling forth all over the prince.

[riariadne]

"Gardening? That must've been nice, and it makes sense to wear an apron for that. So you just forgot to remove it?" Charlotte shook her head at Owen's statements. "Well, it's party time, never know what people are going to get up to... Lady Adele prooobably wouldn't be happy, so let's probably not mention it to her, probably..." She laughed at Emmet's bow-using buffoonery. "Are you even suuure he is drunk, Prince Owen? Seems about par for course with how he uuusually shoots! You r-really can't substitute when it comes to the best archer around, and that's me, of course, Lady Charlotte Montana!"

She sauntered up towards Owen as he tried to help. "Gosh, he suuure iiis hopeless! That's not any way to repay the prince for his kindness. You should draaag him on over to Esclabor and those other people, so they have a new problem to deal with, certainly! Then they can't be giving you any trouble about your pants. I'd never bother you about those sort of things, that's why you can always rely on meee, Owen. We could go off towards another room, and then you could hide your pants away somewhere else, hmm? Then you can get rid of the ruined clothes toooo, so it solves aaallllll of your problems!"