"Oh, Vincent, I'm offended," Marlin said, his attempted chiding tone completely ruined by the smile that tugged aggressively at his lips, pulling his expression out of a mock pout. If there was any other member of the royals that Marlin would willingly choose to spend the day with, it would probably be the Prince of Scorpio, a man after his own heart. "Or I would be if it wasn't completely true, sweetheart" He enunciated the little term of endearment, a laugh escaping from him at Vincent's attempted imitation. Attempted, of course, because no one could quite mimic a character like the Prince of Pisces.
He slipped into his seat to Vincent's right with one fluid motion, leaning his elbows on the table in such a way that his etiquette instructor would be chiding him for weeks about. However, here he was among friends, at least for now, with a noble beside him who wouldn't be offended in the least by Marlin's mercurial ways. It was nice, in a way, to have someone who understood the pressures of ruling a kingdom and being a human at the same time. Only behind the scenes, away from the expecting eyes of his citizens and the eyes of other nations, could he just be.
"And thank you. Hopefully this can all be discussed soon enough. I'd rather spend my time having a bit of fun now that they've let me out of the castle," He said with a laugh. They talked for a while, trading retorts without any edge to them and generally conversing about the little things that involved their daily lives as opposed to stuffy "And the wheat crop has had a surprisingly good yieldโฆ" business talk that was meant for the normal, stuffy meetings Marlin found himself enduring as a Prince. That is, until the next guest arrived.
When Princess Leo made her grand appearance, Marlin straightened up to his full height, no longer slumped lazily over the table. The smile drifted off his face, schooled to a look of polite indifference. She looked positively wild, covered in bandages and sweating, dress torn in areas. There was no way she hadn't drawn attention to herself, looking more like she'd just ridden out of the war than to a summit to avoid it. Then again, given the rumors swirling around her...
"Oh, no, the pleasure's all mine," He said standing up and bowing before seating himself stiffly once more, completely on autopilot, recalling courtesy lessons that had been engrained in his mind since the day he was born. The atmosphere was tense for a while as Princess Leo got straight to business looking as if peace were the last thing on her mind. At least, until Princess Sagittarius made her arrival. Marlin's lips twisted into a smile, standing up and bowing once again at her arrival.
"Hello, lovely," He greeted and meant it sincerely. Gwen was a delight and, much like his adoration for Scorpio, fit with his personality quite neatly. However, now was not a time for pleasantries as the last of the rulers filtered into the room and took a seat. It was vaguely disappointing that only four were here for a conference on peace rather than war, but four was assuredly better than none or, in Marlin's case, one. However, no sooner than Prince Scorpio had introduced the matters at hand than one of the guests showed their true colors. Marlin wasn't quite sure why he was surprised at Princess Leo's inclination towards war. Nevertheless, her nonchalance towards the fighting, her attempts at blackmail only served to ignite the passion in Marlin's heart not for fighting or for peace, but for his people.
"I've always said that blackmail is the classiest way to compromise," He sniffed, pink eyes narrowed in an unnatural expression of distaste. "And how, Princess Leo, are we going to be sure that one of the sides won't offer you more money? Then you'll have all of our money and get your war too. It seems to me that, money or not, you and your kingdom are sitting pretty while the rest of us are left to our own devices regardless." It wasn't logic that drew that conclusion, but an intuition guided by Marlin's understanding of the Princess Leo and her people. Her mistake, he was sure, was that she thought they were idiots.