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]

[ 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?

[ofhope]

I'd hate to ruin the surprise.

[ Which is to say, even for himself. He has nothing planned. But he'll be paying Spike a visit.

He presses his thumb to her lower lip momentarily before leaning down, this time to kiss her brow, his voice dropping to a whisper. ]

I am not one of your pawns, princess. Don't try to play me like one.

[ If she wants a straightforward answer, he'll give her one. ]

I'd keep you if I could, but only when it's what you want.

[lucre]

[ Lucrezia tenses just as he leans close as if he might-- what? Bite her face off? Turn her into a pillar of salt? And all she can think about is how he's her prince and her fool and her knight but she would rather remain as Lucrezia Borgia. All other titles don't cut it.

She reaches up to catch that hand playing with her lips to grant him a proper kiss on his wrist. ]

I will find my way home.

[ He doesn't have his hand around her neck anymore, after all, which frees her to try and sidestep him to return to the hall. ]

[ofhope]

[ He hardly means marriage, but even if he did, just wait for the day Lucrezia learns she can marry and still keep her own name.

He does notice the tensing, of course he notices and it stings. Remarkably so. But he makes no comment on it, instead straightening, smiling again, and reaching for her hand so he can begin to pull her away. She can come back a little later and then find her way home. ]

I'm not that impatient.

[lucre]

[ That would be a beautiful day, maybe.

But there are worse ways to keep her mind off of less pleasant things and she's the one who's impatient. She shifts her hand in his grip so that she can hold him by the wrist instead, walking a little faster to lead the way around, not through, the crowd and toward the one exit she sees. The place is full of noise but not of the kind he hates. That might even prove useful when it comes to it. ]

[ofhope]

[ At least she was quick to understand, and the fact that she's eager rather than reluctant soothes the burn of her earlier tension. That must be due to something else, something he'll think about later, and no doubt draw right back to the source of such unpleasant discussion.

No, he doesn't think of Spike right now or any he might pass along the the outskirts of the party, he thinks only of the sweet and bitter girl tugging him along, and reminds himself several times over of her name as he gazes at her hair.

There are no spare bedrooms on the first floor. Where will they go? He could speed her anywhere, but she seems content to lead for the moment. ]

[lucre]

[ Her hand holds his tightly, afraid of losing him in the thin crowd perhaps, or afraid of losing him in general. She took a risk in even mentioning Spiegel but thinks a lesson must be learned if the man means not to die, and he deserves a punishment to remember. Then again, she may simply be fond of revenge. It is so very sweet.

It takes effort to focus her mind on the here and now, this weaving through the crowd to finally step through the door and conjuring a map of the castle in her mind to figure out where to go. The rooms are on the second floor, some of which are empty and most of which are not. Choices, choices. But once she has made her mind, the rest of the trip is easy: one flight of stairs, two lefts and a right and here they are.

She turns to him just as they reach the door, walking backwards to lean against the nameplate (Stephanie Brown) and place her hands on his shoulders. ]

Here?

[ofhope]

[ When his gaze settles on the nameplate behind her head, making out enough of the beginning and end letters to realize the name, her reward is the slightest flicker of surprise sharpening his pupils, but Joshua's smile sharpens just as much when he looks back down to her.

With one arm reaching down below her waist, the fabric bunches as he hauls Lucrezia up against him so that they're eye level. He can't resist gently bumping her nose in amusement at her gall before stealing another kiss while his free hand turns the knob. ]

I thought you were friends again. Isn't this invading her privacy?

[lucre]

[ Lucrezia understands allies. Those on her side are separated from those who stand against her, her family. But friends come and go and Stephanie, she thinks, should only find it amusing. It doesn't matter that she doesn't plan on telling her anytime soon. Or ever. Perhaps this is for snooping into her own room and reading Cesare's letter.

The reasons are many. But the true one is this: that this way she would have many more things to fear, to worry about, than the one thing she must keep her mind off of. It is less harmful to think of how furious Steph would be to find out than to think of guns and grenades.

She stifles a giggle when he lifts her up, returning his kiss briefly, interrupted by another giggle. ]

Must she know?

[ofhope]

[ Her giggles are like music, in comparison to her earlier hesitations. Those he'll try to wipe from his mind, along with her curious requests, just as she must her own recent fears. Aren't they always planted by others?

It's easy to carry her in, barely remembering to shut the door behind them for the sake of privacy neither care that much about. ]

What if I want to tell her at our next tea party?

[lucre]

[ This idea comes naturally to her. Us against the rest of them. She has no family here, does she? He is the closest thing she has to one, as he has said once, and so this would be her way of proclaiming her loyalty, whether or not he would understand once all the pieces come to light. She is much softer than she would like to believe.

Lucrezia wriggles in his grip so her feet can touch the ground again, but only so she can be the one to drag him by the shirt toward the nearest couch, meaning to fall back onto it with him in tow. It makes her laugh to catch a whiff of Ace. ]

Then be sure to bring her the sweetest things to appease her. Donuts would do. Or kisses.

[ofhope]

[ Joshua doesn't know Ace (perhaps he avoids Joshua with good reason), but he knows the smell of a dog, which he can pick up even more easily than she can when he catches himself with one hand on the back of the couch. It only makes him more surprised she picked the couch.

There's no telling when the last time this place was dusted, anyway, if it's keeping clean they would be concerned about. The ghosts seem to bother less and less with older residents.

Nuzzling into the crook of her neck, he pushes her hair back so that he can trace kisses up to her earlobe. ]

The list of things I owe her is beginning to grow and grow.

[lucre]

[ Lucrezia is as glad to find him playing along, which makes this attempt at distracting herself much easier. She sighs contentedly at the familiar weight of him, turning her head to interrupt his trail of kisses. She wants to really see him, is all. She wants to comb her fingers through his hair just above his ear, where she knows she has earned the privilege too. Some days anyway, not always. It's a test for herself, where she stands with him today. ]

It matters not what you owe her or them. [ Or anyone else. ]

[ofhope]

[ Her comment catches him mildly off guard, if only because it's out of sync with the joking from moments ago. He has no faulty reaction to her attentions, instead nuzzling into her palm to give it a kiss when her hand is low enough. ]

There's only one person I owe, and he's not really someone to talk about right now.

[lucre]

[ But why not? Her first thought goes to Spike, which seems unlikely but anything is possible when it comes to Joshua, and then to the ever-elusive Aion. More likely. ]

Let us talk about us and no one else then.