wintersaurora:
❅
Aurora gazed sidelong at Robin, feeling the way her tone almost taunted. She decided she wasn’t going to be baited, not now. Only inhaling from her nose and quieting as she drank. She wasn’t going to plead for information or guidance in a matter that she had already begun tonight and concerning a person that she had known since he was tall enough to reach her knees, when she had firm doubts that her friend knew his name or his story. Important as Raja had always been, Aurora had honored her promise and kept him far away from anyone in her world, save for herself. It had worked to keep him safe this long, at the very least.
She is taking a drag of her drink as Robin bows, putting on a show of annoyance. And she was abruptly forced to remember that, despite having known her for ages, Robin does not spend much time in her Court and none in her counsil. “Did you take my demanding tone for an order? Do you forget I don’t beat around the bush - if I wanted to use influence on you in any way, Robin, I would have said so very plainly and with indisputable meaning. And why would I do so when I’d known you long enough to ask?” She sighs and puts her empty glass on a passing server’s tray. “‘That is all’ is that is all I have to say and what you may do for him. As he’s my nephew and is not wholly aware of the circumstance that he’s in, that is my jurisdiction to decide. If you have a differing opinion, share it with the consideration that I will only hear nothing of him being harmed. Otherwise, share it. By all means, I have not stopped you from being honest as you know better than to stop me.” She beckoned another server with a full tray of drink. “I’m not your cousin, or aunt, or whatever Fen’harel is to you,” she said, glancing back at Robin as the server changed course towards them. “You don’t need to go trying to read between the lines.”
...
“Why else Aurora? Politics. I am well aware how things work, and I realize we are in a fairly tentative era for the Courts. It would not be unwise to ensure your position is cemented on people’s mind, simply to make it stronger,” the explanation leaves her with a shrug, as the spite leaves her as she puts the logic into words and it clicks as a possible reason. Robin is not quick to anger, but she is not one to back down in an argument, out of instinct. She enjoys arguments, enjoys arguing and teasing out ideologies and beliefs out of others and striking them down if they are wrong. And yet, she also enjoys being proved she is wrong and learning from it. This is not a fight she wants to have, not when she still doesn’t know what is happening in the Courts or in Rome. Not when in all things that matter, she tends to agree with Aurora. “I do apologize for the my reaction, the years apart have not made me any less confrontational.”
She follows Aurora’s lead, grabbing another drink and throwing it back before switching it with another. It won’t get her drunk, but the shock of alcohol going down her throat is enough for her to collect herself.
“And I am sorry for overstepping. The party might be a delight but I almost got a heart attack when I saw there were multiple mortals in a supernatural party,” her admission comes with a sigh, mind wandering to the mortal she had met a few years back. It is likely she would have the same reaction if she found him at the party, but what were the odds? Unlikely, as it was full of supernaturals in the first place. Then Aurora keeps talking and she snorts. “Read between the lines? I need to bring a damn microscope every time I want to try and talk to them. There are layers underneath the layers, and while that is sometimes fun, sometimes is plain annoying.”
"I have heard of you," Robin offers kindly, head tilting on the direction of the newcomer and away from the swamp slowly consuming one of it's sacrifices. A foolish demon that had bothered her as she explored the Otherworld, and one that would not bother her people again. "How curious, that we have seen an uptick on arrivals, now that we have settled on this realm. How fruitful too." The more new arrivals, the less attention Zahrya would put on her theoretical future children. Specially because she is pretty sure this one fit the description of 'breedable' that Zahrya so desired for his hoard of broodmothers. Maybe she should mention him at the tail end of the next chancellor's meeting, actually. "A pleasure, Din'an. Be welcomed to my court. As long as you abide by our laws, you will always have a seat on my table."
where. dusk court, bayby who. @thegoodfellow
The mortal realm reeked of what should be beneath him, of what should have been culled long ago in favor of those with more worth. Humans; they were such vile little creatures, and yet, served quite the purpose when Din'an could not feast upon better morsels. If he wished to find a place within the mortal realm, then he would need to abide by its rules. For now. Which had been precisely the notion when he approached the chancellor, pleasant enough smile upon his lips, "I thought it would be wise to come introduce myself. So that we may get to know each other." Or so that he could avoid suspicion should some of the elves recount any stories of a creature so like themselves, but that which responded as a vampire. "I am Din'an."
wadecalhoun:
“Bit of a gut punch,” he offers Robin a sour expression for if she’s too paint him as a complete evildoer, the Archer is not about to exhaust himself fighting against such imagery. He’d thrived off of fear and anger, it led him to this pivotal moment of their friendship where now they were mere strangers once more, torn apart by violence spurred by hatred and confusion. “You must think I’m doin’ way more than working for them. I don’t have any clearance into those labs,” it’s a half-whisper considering she’s jumping right in when they’re on the line for coffee, but he’ll settle for duking it out with her as he waited.
“You know, that does it make me feel a bit better for trusting you for so long,” she muses thoughtfully as she settles by his side to wait for the line to move. It is almost amusing to hear him struggle to half-whisper, not realizing that she had thrown a privacy spell around the two as soon as she had stepped closer. Robin wasn’t careless, for fuck’s sake. She knew the meaning of subtlety, but she also was petty and vindictive, and worrying Wade just a little bit was far too amusing for her right now. “The fact that you do have morals, I mean. Makes it easier to believe you are just incapable to withstanding peer pressure, and not willingly malicious,” she comments carelessly before rising a brow. “The labs are not the only suspect thing of the whole organization and you know it.”
who? @vincenzodives
where? robin’s apartment
when? the morning of the 14th, before the chaos
notes: plot drops?? don’t know them
Preparing for events the mortal way is not an usual occurrence, but Robin desperately needed a quiet moment amidst the search of the missing artifacts, a break and — Perhaps she had wanted to check on Vinny, amidst all her duties. Her work as a Chancellor had lamentably made it difficult to drop by as much as she had wanted, but no one could deny her time to prepare for a royal wedding. She is applying a soft layer of eyeshadow when the door to her room opens and she senses Vinny’s presence enter the room.
“Oh, perfect! Do sit down, Vinny,” she urges as she finishes a swipe of her brush while looking at the mirror. “I need your opinion on the palette I am using, as it is rather more colorful than my usual.”
“I have seen some rather amusing costumes,” she admits with a grin, even as she brushes the image of Zahrya in a changeling from her mind. She had been gone for months, and years before that, yes, but even with what little she had gathered in the last day since her return that was such a foolish idea. One she did not want to dwell on when she could be having fun. Instead, she looks to the Senator and nods in greeting, having not seen her since she had decided to pursue in the States for shits and giggles. “I would apologize that my costume is not as elaborate, but I like it well enough for something that I came up with in less than twenty-four hours.”
location: the steps leading into the palace of pluto person: every single one of yall @senatusstarters
The thing about hosting was that she felt like she never quite stopped moving. When the doors to the main hall had been opened and people had started petering into the palace, she’d stood atop the stairs and met everyone with a smile, pointed them towards the ballroom or the entrance to outside with practiced ease. All of the nerves she’d had about letting just anyone into what she considered her home had quickly dissipated. She’d set a very simple couple of rules in place and everyone had followed them, no one was running around with cat ears and a clown nose yet. Plucking a glass of wine from one of the many attendants, she lets out a breath for posterity and turns to see the next person coming up the stairs. “I do think the costume contest is going to be a nailbiter this year.”
alekgray:
-
Fey and their fucking tricks. Bound through deals and contracts, that just sounded great. Useful, maybe, but that didn’t mean Alek had to like it. “I wouldn’t be surprised, they’re all over, aren’t they?” The lycan stated simplistically, considering their tech and their guns and their equipment it stood to reason that they had to be getting their materials from elsewhere. Manufacturing probably happened elsewhere too, for all their flexing of power Alek had to wonder how much of their development was being poured into it. “I’ve smelled them in there, in the Otherworld. It’s faint, but they’re there enough.” Alek had to wonder how they were getting there, but that might as well have been another fire entirely. “What are you thinking?”
...
“Like cockroaches,” she echoes the sentiment with a scowl. Too many laboratories, too few of her spies to count them all. The entire ordeal is beyond frustrating, but she realizes she has time. Something the lycan before her is sorely lacking, or would have been were he not rumored to be a volatile. A ruthless choice, but one well suited for a man meaning to go to war with an organization almost as old as humanity. “You have?” She had been concerned, but the confirmation of it all is even worse when it comes from someone as well acquainted with the Eye as the former experiment. “I am thinking that the best case scenario is that they have found a door into the Otherworld. The worst case? They made one. It would imply that they do not only rely on technology, but that they also have an in-depth understanding of magic beyond that which they got from stealing from Theneras.”
Tati Gabrielle as Prudence Night The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
zahryaofspring:
✿*゚ ‘゚・
Here he was, pulling off a feat that most couldn’t even fathom, and yet again Zahrya had a sneaking suspicion his miracles were underappreciated. While this normally would bother him, he’s enjoying himself too much. The looks of shock delight him, the expressions of disgust are committed to memory. He wondered if those same individuals would still look at changelings like that if they were to become one…
Robin unintentionally saves someone from being whisked away and made to find out by Zahrya’s hand with her statement. It’s strange the customs mortals come up with to celebrate their insignificant holidays. “I would never take part in such an activity,” the creature groans out, its noises resembling speech as closely as Zahrya could compel. “Leave the bones of the deceased in the ground to feed the plants. Throwing them at me would do no good.” The young ones were always trying to get him to assimilate. Why would he want to be associated with a species who found pleasure in tossing the remains of their fallen at each other?
...
For a moment, Robin is so very glad that she has become quite adept at maintaining what humans call a poker face, because if she had not, the possibility of her bursting into inappropriate laughter after Zahrya’s retort would have been a reality and not just a possibility. That wouldn’t have done. While she quite enjoys talking to the Chancellor as if they were her pears, she would never openly insult them without a built rapport between them. Aurora is a rather different case, as they were friends and occasional lovers before she became Winter Chancellor, but Zahrya? As she is not of the Spring Court, and nowhere near his age, she is not as close to the Chancellor. Insulting him with inappropriate laughter wouldn’t do —
But revealing what she meant would. After all, she did mean her comment as it had been honest. Perhaps relieving some of the tensions he has been carrying since Titania’s imprisonment would help calm down the near manic energy the spring eladrin is exuding.
“Pardon me for the misunderstanding, Zahrya, ‘boning’ is a mortal euphenism for sex,” she explains patiently, an innocent smile on her face as she speaks, showing no hint of shame at the topic of conversation. “I am just suggesting that perhaps having relations with an attractive individual might help you enjoy the festivities, as many chose to do in Hollow’s Eve.”
The heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true.
chancellorxlaer:
-
Matters of Fall weren’t really his concern, but a threat to one of the chancellors was a threat to all of them. “You should brush up on your combat skills as well, we’re at war, you set the tone for your court. If you can’t hold your own, someone will replace you.” It’s not a warning or a threat, just a word of caution that reputation was everything, if and when (because with fey it was always a matter of when) word got out that Robin had been bested by a single mortal man, it might not end well for her. Laer returned to the task of adjusting some of the aesthetics of his court, the castle in the sky that loomed ever present over the barren wasteland of Summer’s sands below. A very clear metaphor for the ego of eladrins. “Let me know if I can support you in any way, Summer is always here.”
...
“Any recommendations on who to turn to? I had considered a good enough fighter, but it is clear to me that I need to be better, and a teacher is always appreciated on these situations,” Robin comments, usual levity gone from her tone as she goes through the list of people she knows would provide help. If it were up to her, she would ask Aurora for help, but the Winter Chancellor is rather too busy for that. She hopes that Laer might have a suggestion or two, because despite her own lack of aspirations for leadership in the past, now that she has been given the position of Chancellor, she refuses to be deemed a failure. Not when she is making an effort to be better.
chancellorxlaer:
-
“Fortunately he’s apparently less skilled at hunting fey than he is demons, one would assume anyways.” Came Laer’s simple offer, he was glad that Robin was still alive, they didn’t have much in the way of a personal connection but she was a chancellor and any loss of fey life was a tragedy. That a single, simply human had gotten the best of her was worrying, “You should keep this encounter to yourself, I won’t tell anyone else.” He could only imagine how people would talk, how opinions of her place among the chancellorship might change. Zahrya, Aurora, and himself would have returned with the human’s head or a newly-minted changeling had they been placed in Robin’s position. Weakness of youth, mortals deserved little consideration as far as the Summer chancellor was concerned - particularly those that had affiliated themselves with the Eye. “That alpha was adamant that we should focus our efforts on the Eye, maybe you can bend your vengeance towards his. I can only imagine that there are copious amounts of our own kind in their cells.”
....
“I had enough foresight to at least keep it that way,” she offers, a grim smile on her lips as she avoids the entire truth of the encounter. There is no other survivor but Wade, after all, and bringing further vengeance upon him will make her plans useless. She needs to get to the Eye through him, meaning he is only useful to her as long as he is alive. And when he stops being useful? Well, Robin had seen how conflicted he had been at hurting her, she had taught him that not all supernatural creatures were evil, knows that he believes so. What better way to get revenge but to show him that he is the same sort of monster that had killed his family? When she sees the despair on his eyes, when she sees that he realizes how far he has fallen, that is when he will deny, tortured by the reality of his actions, rather than alleviated by the salvation that fulfilling his self-assigned mission would bring him. “I will keep it to myself, yes,” she nods in agreement. ‘And I have heard the alpha’s argument. I am thinking on reaching out to one of the members of the pack to begin the planning in a few days.”