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Post by Anthony Cartwright on Feb 19, 2022 22:21:26 GMT -8
Tony blinked a few times, sorting either he was far drunker then he thought or he was suffering from a sensory overload as his emotions pivoted as quick as Golden tugging his arm through the crush of bodies. It gave him the spins in a way where he really wished it really was just overdoing it with the whiskey bottle. The Dragon was rattling off names and attached opinions as he complained a second time about not spotting Wendy (Cinder, apparently)—even a couple Tony was proud of recognizing—stopping for a moment to get his bearings and having little care or attention for the shouts and gasps of the occasional spike of ice startling a group of faeries. The longer Tony stared at any specific mien the more his head pounded with different smells, waves of feeling that crashed into each other like an angry ocean, and pops of colour and sensation that he couldn't possibly track over the occasional bug or flower sticking to his clothes. Animals flew overhead and zipped between legs, before vanishing from existence as the next cascade of pine forest or shock of heat and frost rolled over him. He swatted as shivers and whispering that creeped across his back or caressed his attention, pressing up against the Changeling he sort of knew as he followed the elegant, gesturing hand with helpless giggling.
Tony clung to the Fairest like a lifesaver as he rode the Arcadian high, before seeing Henley tipsily bowing and looking a little worried as he waited for...something. He drunkenly leaned to shout back in Golden's ear, shrinking from the swirling wailing horrors that flickered on his periphery as the Winter Mantle hissed from the warm contact. Had Golden always had horns?
The Onyx sovereign swept a glance and missed Nate Henley's face without the familiarity and other courtiers nervously trying to flag his attention to try and drag the embarrassment off the floor. He asked Tony for clarification while still weighing if he cared that much, before the mundie took the situation into his own hands and drifted from one anchor to the next. Tony might as well have been an astronaut trying to angle from one point of safety to another, moving through the gap and feeling like there was no gravity as the sheer concentration of glamour was like moving through psychic soup. He caught the Ogre and stumbled like he was unsure of his footing, laughing as he greeted Henley and gave him a pat to reassure he hadn't been kidnapped or whatever.
Golden Boy was looking at the reedy Emerald properly now, eyes contracting to slits under the strobe of LEDs and pulsing bass.
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Post by Henley on Feb 20, 2022 13:00:34 GMT -8
Henley clapped the young mortal on the shoulder as he stumbled over. "Hope we don't ruin partying for you, my man. No mortal party is ever going to give you the wild ride this one will." He grinned at Tony, looking to Golden Boy with a smile. "Nate Henley, at your service. Tony's a friend of mine, too."
He glanced out into the crowd a moment. He suspected he didn't have too long before Ivory made an appearance.
"I hate to be a buzzkill, Your Majesty, so I'll only take a moment of your time. I intercepted Ivory and bore the brunt of her initial reaction at seeing Tony here, but I suspect she's going to clear her buzz and come express some Feelings shortly. Just thought you both might appreciate a minute's forewarning."
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 20, 2022 14:41:42 GMT -8
"Why is everyone so attractive?" Tony snickered into Henley's shoulder, somehow managing to sound scared and happy at the same time.
The Onyx sovereign frowned slightly as Henley spoke into the din, blinking to himself before holding a tattooed finger to his lips. The hiss between his lips sucked the noise of the celebration and suddenly Henley's words were loud in the vacuum; not given the chance to adjust his volume from the sudden effect. The silent wails and twisting silhouettes still rippled around Henley, taking in the younger Changeling's new Mantle.
"Thanks, Nate," Golden Boy hummed, trying to put two and two together on who Ivory was and her relationship with the mundie, before remembering Aello and flushing with embarrassment. A helpless shrug was offered at the warning.
"She's allowed to be pissed."
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Post by Henley on Feb 20, 2022 15:02:25 GMT -8
Henley glanced around as the room suddenly got quiet, save for the silent wailing of ghosts surrounding him and drowning the unburdening that Spring's blessings gave off.
"You're welcome. And yes, she is, but the chain of causation started long before tonight. It's my doing as much as it is yours."
He leaned in a little, lowering his voice.
"I wouldn't normally say such a thing, but I'll tell you a secret, for Imbolc: though he's in a brave new world that he will struggle to understand, if I could go back and change the past, I would still do everything the same way again rather than keep him blind. She's allowed to be pissed, but he's allowed to have a real world, and real friends who can be real with him. It feels brazen to say so to the Winter King, but..." He gestured to Tony and shrugged, a bit of mischief in his eyes. "Somehow, I don't think you'll judge me too harshly for it."
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 20, 2022 15:25:47 GMT -8
Either the Winter King was shy or had some other issue with direct eye contact. His attention roved around the Ogre—maybe watching for Ivory as he glanced rather than held attention. Golden shrugged again, nodding with the sentiment that this whimsy train had started rolling forever ago; namely when his motleymate revealed herself without knowing Cartwright was already 'involved'. Last Yule felt like forever ago, at least.
Time had been stretched, bent, and flipped more than once.
The thought started running away with Golden before he instinctively ticked back from Henley leaning forward, and Tony made some space for a proper conversation. As the Hunterheart's gaze locked, the Wyrd behind the kith pinned the Ogre for a moment with a dizzying flash of shadow and light. "I dunno, I think playing tag with an Arcadian Gristlegrinder tops an angry guardian," laughed the Fairest, playing into the secret trading. "Ever have to stack fate weaves to keep your leg from snapping again? Damn, you guys are nasty with curses."
The mundie had folded his arms and was blearily trying to spot Ivory or Kai, having assumed neither would be at a voluntary rager.
"Deadass? You're a king?" he asked Golden, face twisting as he started registering the scope of a situation, and Henley having to cut in. The Fairest blinked again, looking surprised but also temporarily pleased with himself,
"Oh! Hey, it worked." The praise was for himself; he had started to dabble with wielding silence as Nohoilpi had, and last tweak with the shroud hadn't included the mundie. Tony had not context to what the other was preening about and gave Golden a funny look, assuming he meant the Crown.
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Post by Henley on Feb 20, 2022 18:06:24 GMT -8
Fuck, this kid was strong in the whimsy. His gaze was enough to raise hackles Henley didn't even know he had. Still, he laughed and Nate laughed along with him, ever the courtier. He flipped through his mental catalogue long enough to clock who he was talking about and shook his head at the game of curse and counter-curse that he'd clearly had to play. "No, I'm afraid I haven't. I haven't had an Ogre angry enough at me to have to trade hexes. I don't think so, at any rate." He was fairly certain that he'd be in the Autumn Monarch's good books right now after having ensured the Janus Mirror was recovered. "Deadass, Tony. And that's a good trick, Your Majesty," he agreed. Being able to lock a conversation into silence in a room full of people was surprisingly useful in their culture.
One question arose immediately.
"Forgive me my curiosity. Might I ask how your... game of tag came about?"
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 20, 2022 19:35:56 GMT -8
The conversation moved rapidly past the limits of what Tony knew for faerie slang and politics, but he was ready to learn via osmosis. The amount of visual noise had been reduced, but the tangle of Mantles and miens cast the human's attention downwards and watching Golden's gestures. The connection was made with 'court of secrets' and the Dragon literally shooshing the sound of the rave away with Henley's compliment, and he asked to examine how Golden had marked his hand.
Golden obliged, letting the mundie turn his hand over and look at the stick-and-poke tattoos threaded through the insides of his fingers. "Oh, you took my suggestion," Tony muttered, noting one of the symbols. Golden's head cocked as he continued to listen to the Nymph, and giving Henley a break from the Hunterheart influence now that it was established that he wasn't being flippant or avoidant.
"If I had to guess...?" He reflected for a moment, sharp expression a little glazed as the lights dances across his face. "I'd say that he exercised his divine right over Fear when his worst nightmare came true, and decided he was just going to deal with it by eating it."
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Post by Henley on Feb 21, 2022 17:38:39 GMT -8
Henley grinned at the mortal, glancing back and forth between him and the King of Winter. "You contributed to the ritual? Nice, man. You been studying the Key or something?" Not that the Key of Solomon was the Authentic Source of All Real Occult Nonsense, but it was an in-joke. Tony had been through a lot for a human.
"I mean. Eating things is one way to deal with them." He chuckled quietly and shook his head. "Glad you're all right, Your Majesty. His worst nightmare, though? Nahoilpi stepping down? Or... I assume he's not dead, right...?"
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 21, 2022 22:55:13 GMT -8
Tony shrugged, a bit embarrassed, "I dunno- seemed like certain symbols can mean something but then like, an expert or someone who can actually use magic can weigh in so I figured I could help like before?" he rambled, getting a affirmative nod from Golden before returning Henley's grin.
The Winter King didn't return the chuckle on the subject of being nearly eaten alive by Baron Samedi, lost in thought. "Oh, um...Yeah, he stepped down." The frown twitched into a forced smirk.
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Post by Henley on Feb 21, 2022 23:28:40 GMT -8
Henley nodded to Anthony, giving an encouraging thumbs-up, but he didn't get into the magic just now. He couldn't read Golden Boy beyond the surface, but the surface was sufficient to tell the Ogre he had nervously laughed about the wrong thing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make light of something that must have been fucking awful. I've never imagined what..."
Pause. The words were tumbling out of his face faster than they ever would have but for the drugs.
"I hope the temperature has decreased."
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 22, 2022 0:23:02 GMT -8
"It's fine, you're high," Golden responded, not sounding judgmental. It wasn't like he never presented mixed messages to people. "The winter pun is extra dad energy, though."
Tony snorted into a drink that had apparently manifested into his hand, or he was resourceful like that.
"And not really. Like, he might try it again, but I think he's probably coming up with something more complicated at this rate."
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Post by Henley on Feb 23, 2022 11:49:27 GMT -8
Henley shook his head and chuckled at the comment about his Dad Energy. The pun wasn't intentional, but it worked.
"Yikes. The fact that Autumn is swinging at its primary ally is... tough. For the membership of the Court, and the Freehold's stability as a whole."
He had tonight to make sure Gavin was advised. The Razorhand couldn't act on it openly, but knowing that Saturday was swinging on the King of Winter was important for him.
"You're a friend of Tony, so... if there are any interest in making some connections for potential overtures of closer ties with the High Seasons, perhaps I might be able to help through Sir Nimbus's chain. Also, Searce Chasseur is close friends with your man Lancelot, there's a potential bridge there. Couple of angles. If you'd like me to help you, feel free to call after Imbolc."
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 23, 2022 22:40:48 GMT -8
Golden considered what the fae-drink might do to Cartwright and whether it was safe, before deciding the human tasting The Best Liquor Ever wasn't exactly going to change his life forever when he was already entrenched in the fate of the Wyrd. The fact that Tony wasn't Avowed was a little startling, and made the Fairest nervous about what was to come to balance those grander scales.
"Not really the courts... With him it's personal. It's more the symbol of the act than me as like an individual," he tried to explain, grabbing Tony's drink and taking a heavy pull from the ritual drink before the guy put himself on the floor with emotional spins. With the alcohol and Golden's Mantle overtaking the conversation, the mundie started tearing up and shaking while smiling in confusion from the rush the glamour provided. The Fairest temporarily directed Tony's attention to the pretty flashing lights before continuing. "Oh, yeah, Lancelot. He's had a hard time, I think. The offer's cool, thanks. You been good with the Spring stuff?"
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Post by Henley on Feb 24, 2022 13:21:57 GMT -8
"May want to go slow with that, Tony. It's a wild ride," Henley cautioned, glad that Golden pulled some of his drink from him. He nodded to the point about the personal thing and let it drop with that.
"Yeah. I'm Nimbus's vassal, and financially independent in any event. It's concerning seeing the conflict and I am hoping we can get some sort of resolution, but I fear the Crown is likely what's at stake. I wish the conflict wasn't necessary, but..." He shrugged. "It's a culture clash, when you get right down to it, and one that I think is likely overdue."
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Post by Golden Boy on Feb 24, 2022 18:37:35 GMT -8
Tony was currently vibing with the light show and engulfing beats as he contemplated reality and the universe.
Golden Boy frowned at the idea of more crown shuffling — he hadn't exactly expected his own nor the circumstances that awarded it. The idea of Philicia rotating out shouldn't have caused his anxiety to spike, given the court's pattern he had seen for the last six years, but he wasn't sure how more instability would feel on the other side. Actually, he might be getting sick, swallowing some acid as he detached from the tunnel of a budding bad trip.
"Okay, well, if it's necessary I guess," he mumbled as he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, blinking hard as his hands dropped. "Like, you mean Chugunkin wants it?"
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