HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[paradisamods]

All that clamor from the lion dance prancing down the halls should be enough to draw attention to the party, even without actual invitations. If not the noise, then perhaps the delicious smell wafting under every door and leading back to the ballroom.

The castle is vain, if nothing else. It has decorated the ballroom in the deepest red and brightest gold with auspicious greetings in the common language tastefully posted about the hall. May your happiness be without end, one says, while another goes May all your wishes be fulfilled. Small order, all things considered.

Round dining tables (with the turning glass part) are set up in the middle of the hall, each with about ten chairs and piles of food fit for a whole village. There are two more lion dance teams hopping about the hall and making a racket while occasionally nabbing that dumpling straight from your chopsticks. That should the least of your concerns, however, with many residents still aiming to settle their grudges before the new year.

Watch your back.

[ ooc; IC mingle log for Lunar New Year plot, feel free to make your own threads! ]

Comments

[lucre]

That would be a pity.

[ Or should she say good, then you won't stray? Only she doesn't think he would ever leave for good and she doesn't mind gaining another lady friend or two out of it. They have no claim on each other, which is why she can choose to stay. ]

I would rather watch you frolic with lovely ladies, but I suppose a plate of omelets is an acceptable trade.

[ofhope]

[ Sometimes she still has little surprises for him, something someone like Joshua appreciates in spades, as it reminds him of how to laugh genuinely. ]

You want to watch me frolic? It's too bad most of the ladies here aren't my type.

[lucre]

Only most?

[ She moves to rest a hand on his shoulder to help her look past him and at the hall to spot the exceptions. ]

Are you an adventurous one?

[ofhope]

Aren't all explorers?

[lucre]

[ She steps closer, enough that she can almost kiss his shoulder if she just leans slightly forward. ]

Perhaps the red-haired ones or the dark and mysterious ones for a change.

[ofhope]

[ This rings back to a conversation in regards to Cassandra, and Joshua shakes his head with a smile and a tease at her hair, tickling just behind her ear. ]

Do you think it will make us more even? You can't be feeling guilt, and I have nothing to be jealous over, so why bother?

[ Really, Joshua has no interest in such things. ]

[lucre]

[ Guilt? Never. It might be something else though, the thought that if she is free then he should be too. Perhaps that is guilt. ]

Are we not even, now?

[ofhope]

[ Definitely not if one is keeping score of lovers and people she's kissed, but Spike is the only one Joshua cares about. It doesn't show. ]

You tell me.

[lucre]

[ She drops her act to search his face and read between the lines. Pity she doesn't have any of his or Cassandra's skills. This might be much easier then. ]

Perhaps you should ask me to be yours and yours alone.

[ofhope]

[ He raises an eyebrow, wondering what she's getting at. She certainly can't be feeling neglected. ]

Haven't you been trapped enough?

[lucre]

[ It's true. But security often comes with tall walls and heavy locks which resemble a trap, and she's never sure if she prefers to be within or without. She prefers not choosing. ]

Not enough, it seems.

[ofhope]

[ Again he brushes the hair behind her ear, before grazing his knuckles down the side of her neck. His eyes are calm, his smile so ever present it might have been more fit for a statue. ]

You're the one who makes the wishes, princess.

[lucre]

[ Her cruel heart prefers to see something more, even if it's a frown, some hurt in his eyes. Even that would be better than his placid smile. ]

No. [ No to what? She isn't sure. Not this. ] You are more than that.

[ofhope]

[ Again she offers a puzzling response, and his fingers linger at the nape of her neck, thumb pressing near the base of her throat. She truly does have such a tiny neck. ]

More than what?

[lucre]

[ Than some sort of pageboy here to fetch for her anything she might wish for. She swallows once and rests a hand on the wrist close to her neck but doesn't push him away. ]

You must want for something.

[ofhope]

[ He hardly thinks of himself in that manner, but he rarely puts himself out too much over her. Joshua is a creature of pleasure himself, but maybe they tend to be simpler pleasures. He's used to extravagance, but he doesn't require it. ]

I wanted your company, and you gave it to me. You keep asking me what more I want, like you aren't enough.

[ What else he might want she can't give him, and the castle probably never will. ]

Do you want to change the agreement?

[lucre]

[ It sounds strange even to her when he puts it that way. Like she isn't enough? What a thought. But as aware and proud as she is of her beauty and charm, in many ways she distinctly understands that, yes, she isn't enough, is she? There should be large dowry involved somewhere or at least a favor, the promise of Papal armies coming to aid when the need arises. Why else would anyone bother associating with the Lady Borgia?

There is such a wide difference between knowing and accepting. Lucrezia clenches her jaw before taking a deep breath, bracing for his answer. ]

How would you see it changed?

[ofhope]

[ All of which is meaningless to Joshua when he's an army himself, and thinks nothing of organized religion or marriage.

Now, Joshua understands traps. He sets plenty of them himself. ]

That isn't an answer to my question.

[lucre]

[ As much as she rails against traps, she would rather live in one than be alone. Choosing the lesser evil. She still doesn't answer his question, but perhaps an easier one for him first. ]

What will you do to Spiegel?

[ofhope]

[ It is enough to make the smile fade. ]

Why do you think I'll do something to him?

[lucre]

[ While her own smile returns, thought this time it's sharp and contrived. Better fake than none to speak of, right? ]

You would if you love me.

[ofhope]

[ Hardly. Joshua is one of the few people who knows her masks and sees through them like glass, so it's more insulting than anything. But she needs her little wins at times, else she would be too full of cracks.

Love. There's that word again. ]

Am I supposed to do something to Cassandra, too? To all the others who have been with you?

[lucre]

[ There's a joke somewhere in this; people talking of love like they know what it is, how it works. But then, who does? ]

Should? Would you ask for my permission now?

[ofhope]

[ They can pull from poets, as they tend to, but not even poets can agree, can they? ]

I'm not interested in hurting them, or trapping you.

[ His hand releases her neck, only so he can grip her chin, gently enough so that she can pull away. ]

But I have expectations for Spike, and he's suddenly fallen short.

[lucre]

[ Fallen short is one way to put it. Lucrezia thinks Spike owes her a great debt for having her focus all her mind on thinking about that time with the gifts and the mistletoe and the accidental kisses (and not about the grenades placed in her hand). No. Only the kisses, see?

Perhaps a rap on the arm would do the man some good. ]

Then, what will you do?