The Festival of Lifae

tagged: party people

While it was true that Charlie would've stumbled onto the suspiciously placed marble, she had already taken a seat. With her attention directed elsewhere, the beastwoman had neglected to notice the offending sphere, though she still felt as if a pair of eyes had been directed in her general direction. Curious, her head spun around to scan the crowd for the culprit, however the optical scour proved futile.

Thinking nothing of it, her gaze returned to man who had invited her. Oh right, probably should've said hello. Grinning apologetically, Charlie bobbed her head in greeting. "Likewise." Knowing that social etiquette was certainly not her forte, the woman hadn't put much effort into acting like she was dressed.

"One can only hope." She added. Raised in a technologically advanced society that had no place for religion, Charlie didn't care much for deities. That wasn't to say that she wasn't interested in the stories about divinity, but they remained just that – stories. Despite her earlier remark, the female didn't scoff at the beliefs of others: they were merely an item of curiosity. And based on his reply, it would seem as if Alfonse was part of those who supported the beliefs.

Gripping onto the man's palm, Charlie smiled upon receiving the compliment and shrugged in regards to his comment about the effect of her eye patch. It seemed inappropriate to wear it for the event – or as she perceived it. It was already painstakingly obvious that the woman severely lacked experience in attending formal events. If she had not been invited, it wouldn't have been surprising for the woman to miss the festival.

"You could say that again. Anymore and I'd say that people came for the bargain prices instead of the festival itself." As she spoke, her gaze followed in the direction of Alfonse's and she caught sight of a group of people who seemed to be in the midst of an argument. A frown lanced through the beastwoman's face. Tension already? Nonetheless, her attention travelled beyond them and towards a store housing shallow tanks full of shimmering goldfish, where a small number had already gathered.

"Fish scooping seems fun!" With that exclamation, Charlie would drag Alfonse away by their entwined fingers.

371 words | rocking with flowers and fish!

made by CAPTAIN of GANGNAM STYLE; edited

And then there appeared to be some sort of argument. Great. Xara couldn't really tell what was being said to who, but if it was enough for the princess to start walking away, it couldn't be a good thing.

Maybe some food would cheer her up. Or not. Either way, it would be a waste to throw it all away. She went straight for Lycoris and bowed her head lightly at spotting Adell, although her focus was on the former what with the running and all.

"Deep breaths, milady." Xara offered the sticks of food to the princess and the noble, glancing towards the four she had retreated from before turning back to her. "Eat something, calm down, and tell me who's eye to put these in." Even though the maid spoke with an unnatural calmness, her knuckles were already starting to discolor from her grip on the food sticks.

Holly didn't know what she wanted to be more frustrated about: Fayt's deliberate finger pointing and thinking he needed to know every tidbit about her life, Wynter's immediate apology to her brother for doing nothing wrong, Briar's butting into the conversation that she knew wouldn't help anything, or the princess's obvious incest comment and fleeing from the argument. Keeping calm became harder and harder as each person spoke.

She should have felt bad for making Fayt feel the way he did or have some guilt about Lycoris running away. Her frustration, however, didn't give her many positive thoughts. Fayt wasn't the master of her life and she didn't need his word to go out with whoever she wanted to. If this would have come up while they weren't at the festival, she might have thought it was cute that he was being protective of her with Wynter. As it were, she forced herself to bite the inside of her cheek and ball her hands into fists to keep from saying every nasty word on her mind.

And Lycoris? If she didn't think there would be a retort waiting for the comment she had made, then there really was something wrong with royals of Heim. If she wasn't prepared the for what she had to say after her little statement, then she she shouldn't have made it in the first place.

It was when Adell showed up that she finally snapped. She completely ignored the guard. "You're not the master of my life, so I don't get why you're getting so worked up over it. You know Wynter and you know that he wouldn't hurt me, so you obviously know he's better than anyone else I could have gone with. You don't see me interrogating you about Lycoris, I was just defending myself against her comment-- thanks for the help with that, by the way," her voice practically oozed with venom sarcasm. Hot tears stung her eyes from where she tried to hold them back. "I just... Never mind. Because whatever I say is going to set you off again anyway! Thanks, Fayt."

With that, she spun on her heel and walked away at a normal pace. She tried to look as composed as possible, because she was determined to not blow up like her brother and not run away with her tail between her legs like Lycoris.

And Elwyn had noticed him. Glancing over, Tempest let out a sigh before doing a double-take when he noticed the young woman that he had grabbed and pulled to his chest. With her back to him, he had not recognized her, but now that he could see her face...

The fact that the princesses had been sent to the town under his charge had, of course, been a message passed to him. His duties had been expanded to include provisions for their comfort and safety. He, personally, had lived with Elwyn long enough to know that he was a provision for neither comfort nor safety. Hurriedly coming over, he took off his hat long enough to bow to Rhiannon. "Forgive him," he said quickly. "Propriety is not, and has never been, Elwyn's strong suit."

Placing the hat back on his head, he looked at his temporary roommate with a heavy frown. "What in the world do you think you are doing?"

This wasn't how anything was supposed to work. Really, he should have gone after Holly, tried to make her understand exactly why he was mad. But she clearly didn't care. And it wasn't as though he could make her care, either. Did he even really want to try?

At least Lycoris was easy enough to catch up to, and Xara didn't seem ready to rip anyone's face off... yet. Before he could even say anything, Lycoris had held her hand out to him and had said one very simple, easy to understand word.

Run.

There should have been hesitation. He had an angry family here that he may have hurt with his words, and he should have been going back and apologizing. He should have been siding with them, not going after someone that was considered to be an enemy of the state by so many of his countrymen. But there wasn't any hesitation. There was no question asked, and not even a verbal response given.

Taking her hand almost immediately after it was offered, Fayt held it, starting to run with her. Disappearing the way most people had come would be easy enough, and frankly, he knew this area far better than either Xara or Adell if they decided to come looking for them. Getting away wouldn't be a problem in the slightest. After that, he could figure out what it was he was doing.

"Oh, that was an understatement." Briar watched as Fayt ran off after the princess, her lips turning upwards. Amusement flickered in her eyes, hardly upset or wounded by the blonde's words. After all, he was right, and only he had the nerve to actually say it to her face. "An interesting way to start a festival..."

There was no need to worry about Holly. If Wynter rushing off in the direction she had walked was any indication, there was no need to. She was sure the boy would do his part well in sorting everything out.

Instead, Briar directed her gaze back to the brunette who had come in at the end of the heat of the moment. To see Adell there proved to be a good distraction, and a step forward was taken to place herself at his side. She tilted her head curiously, fingers reaching up to twirl idly around a strand of her hair.

"So, you did come after all. I was wondering if I would be seeing you." Her eyes lowered to take in the sight of the silver ring adorning his finger. A very familiar ring at that, her own handiwork. "I see you're wearing the ring I made."

"Holly, wait!" Breaking through the crowd, Wynter reached out to grab Holly's wrist, hoping to slow her down as he caught up to her. His breath came out in heaves as he wiped his forehead, frowning as he held into pale wrist.

"Just... just give him time. I should have talked to him much sooner, it's my fault." Loosening his grip, he tried to get her to look him in the eyes, pulling softly to try and turn her around to face him. "Don't be mad at Fayt. Are you okay?"