Post #1741110 in Elphanor: Tipping the Scales of Fate, a roleplay on RPG

This girl was something else, and Nair figured that there were definitely worse things he could do with the next thirty minutes or so, or however long she managed to keep his attention. Nair chuckled as she spoke, his hands moving to his beard as if this was the first time he had even noticed he had it since he grew it out. It wasn't too long, by and means, nor was the mustache, but they were both thick enough to give him a more masculine appearance than his old, baby faced self. Of course, his facial hair had been trimmed and cut to perfection, but it was something that he no longer thought about. At least, he hadn't until Rima had brought it up.

When she spoke, she brushed against him, and Nair felt his heart beat quicken. His heart fell so easy some times, always ready to try the next flavor available. Nair took a few deep breaths, settling himself down.

"Don't apologize. These nobles only become offended when asked their age because it reminds them that they're old and have accomplished nothing, that they wasted their lives on vanity." Nair let out a boyish giggle, knowing he had already done more in his short life time than many of these nobility ever will. "I"m Nair." He was wondering if he should add his title into his introduction, but decided against it. She did not use her own. Looking towards a double door in the back of the large room, Nair noticed servants bringing food in and out. "Come," Nair said, taking Rima by the hand, "let's see what they have hidden from us."

Rima raised her brows in amusement at the man's comments on nobles. While it wasn't out of her nature to say something like that about one individual about whom she knew the truth about, she was often wary about making such generalizing comments. She didn't judge others for doing it, though, and it was possible that this man did know what he was talking about. Rima had barely met any nobles and it was true that almost all of them had been rude and haughty.

She grinned when he laughed, a boyish and youthful sound. He didn't give off the warmth and welcoming vibe that the three brothers did, but there was something there that was quite different from anything she had experienced. He had a deeper voice with a distinct masculine edge that was calming in a weird way and she thought that, when he introduced himself as Nair, it suited him.

When Nair took her hand she did not resist. Vito would have scolded her for being so trusting, but Rima saw nothing wrong with slipping off with Nair and thought nothing about how it would look to anyone who was watching the pair. "Sounds good to me." She agreed, placing the mostly empty flute of champagne on the table, and slipped her long thin fingers around his hand in a confident grasp.

She had noticed the doors as well and kept pace with him as they moved through the crowd, slipping between circles of masked people who talked of politics and war, until eventually they were at the door. Just as she was about to push the door open a young waiter came through with a tray of food and narrowed his eyes at her. "If you would just wait out here I'm sure one of us would be thrilled to get whatever it is you would like." He snapped, balancing the tray with one hand as he ushered a few waiters in and out of the kitchen.

Rima smiled warmly in response, seemingly unfazed by the rude waiter, and shook her head once, "Your hands are full and we don't mind getting it ourselves." She said kindly, watching as the man seemed to weigh his options and quickly come to the conclusion that in order to keep his job he needed to bring food and champagne out. Two strangers in the kitchen was the least of his problems on this insanely busy night. Without another moments hesitation, the waiter dashed off into the ballroom, leaving the path open for Rima and Nair.

"After you." She said, pushing the door open wider so that Nair could enter, while she offered him a playful smile.

Nair thought it humorous when the servant actually seemed to think that he would have any power to stop them from getting what they wanted. Of course, this whole thing could be solved quite simply. All Nair really had to do was intimidate any one of the servants with a "I am Nair, prince of Iroldak, commander of the norther legions, and if I want ale then I will have it!" But, honestly, he was actually enjoying himself, and part of that enjoyment came in the form of their anonymity. All he knew of her was that her name was Rima. What title or rank she held he hadn't the slightest idea. And it seemed that she did not know who he was, either.

Although that was odd, in a way. Nair had the snow white hair held by the royal family in Iroldak, and his suit was made with designs of snowflakes, another common Iroldakian symbol. For anyone even partially versed in the royal families and politics of the kingdoms, it was quite obvious who he was, despite the mask. Nair remembered thinking that his outfit defeated the purpose of the masquerade, but he was never really one for fashion so the simplest solution was to not even bother harassing his people on what they felt like dressing him in. That sort of thing never really mattered to him, anyway. It wasn't what a man wore that made him, but the man himself. Nair felt no need to have a huge, intimidating sword, or frightening heavy armor, preferring simpler weaponry and armor. The same went for these functions. There was no need for him to make himself look opposing in anyway.

The two of them slipped into the kitchens, and Nair, again, actually enjoying himself, wanted to keep up the fun of sneaking around. For instance, when a cook was about to turn and see them as the lightly walked through the kitchens was immediately distracted when the pot boiling lobster right next to him suddenly froze, encasing the lobsters and vegetables inside in a thick chunk of ice. It had been a while since he had used his magic, and it was always a rush to feel it coursing through his veins once again.

It was not long at all until they had found their destination, and even better the two of them managed to do so without alerting anyone of their presence. The door was wooden and old, but Nair just knew what they sought lie beyond it. "It's through here," he said with a grin, giving Rima's hand a playful squeeze before releasing it to open the door. The door opened up, and the room beyond was in total darkness. Then, Nair heard footsteps coming from behind them. Thinking quickly, the prince grabbed one of the torches on the wall in the kitchen and pulled Rima inside the room, closing the door behind them.

"Well, my lady, I think we just found some treasure." Nair laughed as he stared out as far as the torch light carried, showing shelves of barrels obviously full of a far more heavier drink than the champagne being served outside. Considering it wasn't on the menu, they must have decided to not even bother lighting this room tonight. "Tonight we'll drink from the High King's personal stores. I'm not sure why he brought me here, but dammit will we have drank his finest ale before the night's end." With another laugh, Nair looked towards Rima, noting again her beauty, though this time amplified even more so by the torch fire. "Shall we?"

Rima had stopped briefly to watch in amazement as Nair turned the pot of boiling water to ice in an instant. So he was a Ymir. She supposed the snowflake designed suit should have given that away, but she was never one for fusing over what race someone was or wasn't. All of the races were interesting in her mind, none being above the others, and she was one of the few who honestly did not care about those of mixed blood. In all truth, she was almost jealous for their powers were often far more interesting than her own.

Rima managed to bring herself back to reality and follow Nair down the hall, wondering if he often snuck into kitchens to drink for he seemed to know exactly where to go. A moment later Rima found herself being pulled into a cool dark room as the pair of them avoided being caught by service staff who dashed busily down the hall.

Inside the room, lit only by the torch in Nair's hand, Rima regarded the man before her with interest. Her heart was beating quicker than usual, but otherwise she felt completely at ease. The evening was proving to be much more exciting than she had expected so that when he suggested they drink she quickly agreed.

"Definitely." She said, looking at him a moment longer before moving. The shadows of the torch light played with his features, highlight his angled cheekbones, and lighting his eyes with an alluring glow.

Rima looked away, searching the shelves for glasses. The glasses here were not the fine crystal that were in the hall, but she had drunken from far worse for ware glasses in her life. She selected two without hesitation and moved to the closest barrel. It had the name of a type of ale on the front, one which she had not heard of but could only assume was strong and expensive or it would not be locked away like this.

She quickly knelt down, the vibrant gown moving with her body like air, and filled both of the cups to the brim so that the foam of the ale threatened to spill over the side. It was cool and smelt delicious and earthy, far better than the bubbling sweet champagne that was being served continuously in the ball room. Rima stood up, careful not to spill, and turned towards Nair while offering him his glass before taking a long sip out of her own glass, "Thanks for stealing me away. This is delicious." She said, smiling up at him over the rim of her glass.

The ale was more than delicious, and was exactly what Nair had needed. He found a place to stick the torch, leaving one of his hands free. Silently he walked around, studying the barrels in the dim light. The Ale was aged about a year, giving it a full, rich taste. Nair finished his cup quickly, and walked over to refill it. He was definitely in the mood to get drunk, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Nair couldn't help but fall into nostalgia when placed in a room with firelight and alcohol. They had casual conversation back and forth while they drank, Nair not wanting to go into too many personal details about either of them. It wasn't that he didn't find himself incredibly curious about this woman, who she was and where she came from, but he had no desire to give her much about himself, so with that he gave her the same common courtesy that he wanted from her.

And yet, as a few rounds came and went, Nair felt his world beginning that sweet, wonderful spin. It got to a point where he knew his tongue was beginning to loosen up, so he knew he should slow down, but at the same time he had no interest in slowing down, and drank more. His years of drinking large amounts gave him the distinct ability that all alcoholics gain after so long, the fact that he was far drunker than he appeared. The world was spinning around him, but he was able to stand and move with decent enough precision.

Turning back towards Rima, Nair suddenly lost his breath, the shattering sound of his dropped glass emitting from the ground below him. Instead of Rima stood none other than Jaden, ghostly and pale, with blood on her stomach where her stab wound lay. Nair staggered backwards, tripping and falling onto his bottom, staring up at where Jaden now stood in front of him, whispering her name into the air barely audible. Then, as if she had never been there, the image of Jaden faded away, leaving behind it the figure of Rima. The whole thing startled him closer towards sobriety, though he still felt quite drunk.

Laughing a distant laugh, Nair looked up at Rima, "Sorry about that. For a second you looked like someone I used to know." Nair got to his feet and refocused his eyes back onto Rima. "No worries though," Nair started to walk off towards the exit, staggering into the darkness, leaving the torch back with Rima, unsure of whether or not she was following behind him, though he hoped she was.

Rima had downed quite a few glasses of ale, enjoying the warm heavy feeling her body took on as she drank more. Nair was very handsome and she found herself undeniably attracted to him, an experience which she had never had to this degree before, and found herself wondering what it would be like to kiss him; she imagined it would feel far different than the brief one sided kiss with Antaeus.

The conversation flowed just as steadily as the booze did, talking of non-personal things that weren't terribly important. Rima would have usually asked whatever was on her mind, but something about the way Nair lead the conversation seemed to suggest he didn't wish to talk about himself and she felt just fine not going into her own story. 'Oh, by the way, I was kidnapped when I was ten by some crazy elf who wanted to use my blood to curse my family and destroy my kingdom but it sort of backfired and he disintegrated into nothing... then I lived in the forest for ten years, not knowing who I was. How was your childhood?' It really wasn't the lightest subject to touch on.

Nair continued to drink with growing enthusiasm while Rima began to slow her pace, sipping slowly from her current glass. She knew that soon enough she needed to head back to the ball room to be engaged to some stranger and it was probably best if she could walk and maybe speak coherently. Rima finished her drink, placing the cup on the shelf, and turned her attention back to Nair to suggest that they head back when suddenly Nair gasped, dropped his glass, and fell to the ground with an expression of pure shock on his face. His lips moved, shaping a name that she could not make out, as he continued to stare at her.

Rima had jumped in surprise at first, taking a step back and jamming her shoulder violently into the tap of one of the barrels. The pain was instant and she swore harshly, knowing for certain that it would blossom into a dark bruise by the morning, but quickly turned back to Nair as he spoke. His voice was steady and not alarming, but his words triggered a sense of unease in her. She opened her mouth to speak, but was struck silent as he stood and walked out of the room, leaving her standing alone in the dark. Someone he used to know? He had looked like he had seen a ghost or something truly terrible. The sense of enjoyment and ease vanished quickly and she was left with two options: Stay where she was and let Nair leave and wonder drunken and alone back into the ball or wherever he was headed... or she could go after him. For Rima, there really was no option; she had to go after him.

Turning quickly she extinguished the torch and slipped out of the room, dashing gracefully after him. She caught up with him within seconds, glad that the hall was empty, reached out and took his hand in her own without hesitation. It wasn't a clingy gesture, the way some girls grasp at a man's hand for attention and praise. She simply grasped his hand to get his attention and slow him down, but it did not feel awkward to do it, "I think we almost drank the majority of the king's prized ale. At one point I thought you were my Uncle Sheldon, but his beard is not as fine as yours and it would be very weird to be drinking in the dark with him." She teased lightly, her expression kind. Something told her that if she asked what was wrong he would brush it off and she knew from experience not to press people into talking about things they didn't want to talk about. So, instead, she did what she did best and tried to lighten the situation as she directed him back towards the ball room. She was able to walk much straighter than Nair, so she casually used the side of her body to direct him in a straight line back to the ball room and away from whatever dark place Nair had just ventured.

Snippet #1741110

located in Ballroom, a part of Elphanor: Tipping the Scales of Fate, one of the many universes on RPG.

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