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Ellior smiled a little when Kyran said that Kyiri hadn't come down because no one thought she could behave and that had pretty much been the case. "Aww..." he commented, sounding more like he just thought it was cute. He wasn't easily offended by any means, and he didn't expect a child, especially a one who was really a cat, to know who to behave and didn't really see how anyone could. "That sounds like a good enough reason," he agreed with a soft laugh. "Nero is the dark dragon you were referring to earlier?" he asked curiously, to make sure. "...I saw what happened earlier...or well the aftermath..." He shook his head a little and sighed, "Some people..." He smiled a little when Kyran wound up picking Kyiri up and then started to descend the stairs a little faster than he had originally intended to. He was going to try to keep up with the girl in case she tripped.
Kyiri nodded her head with a smile when Kyran asked if she meant Celestine. His name was hard for her to say so she just found it easier to call him 'brother'. She tilted her head a little when he said that he wasn't sure if they were still in the dining room or not. That didn't tell her too much, but she did at least gather he was downstairs somewhere. She was all ready to turn around and scurry to the stairs to start down so she could go find him, though he yipped quickly when Kyran grabbed her up. She whimpered quietly when he said that they would get down faster if he carried her. She didn't really like being carried unless she said it was okay, but she just latched onto Kyran's shoulders tightly, clawing her fingers and clinging as if she was going to hang my her claws if he happened to let her go, just like a nervous cat might do if someone they didn't really trust picked them up. "You better not drop me, Ran-ran..." she muttered as she laid her chin on top of her hand on his shoulder and laid her ears back. |
Kyran looked to Ellior briefly when he asked about Nero and then nodded his head a little. “Yes, and the smaller dark dragon is Reyes, his cousin.” He responded. He sighed quietly when he heard him comment on what happened to Nero earlier, or the aftermath rather. “...Yeah ...the kid that did it got what he deserved and probably will still get what's coming to him.” He paused. “Thankfully though, Nero didn't lay a finger on him.” He laid his ears back slightly after he had picked up Kyiri and she latched onto his shoulders tightly. He went ahead and headed down the stairs anyway without paying too much attention to it. He looked at her when she said that he better not drop her and called him 'Ran-ran'. He just kind of stared at her for a moment before shaking his head a little. “I won't drop you.” He told her and tightened his hold very slightly as he hurried down the stairs after Ellior. Once they had reached the bottom and were ready to head down the hall towards the dinning room to look for the others he gently set her back down on her feet. “There. Was that really that bad?” He asked as he smiled at her a little.
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Ellior sighed when Kyran said that the kid who had done that had been dealt with and smiled a little. "Well, that is good...on both accounts. Things may not have gone over too well if Nero had dealt with him himself...not that I would have blamed him for wanting to. Even I probably would have wanted to hit someone for that." Ellior wasn't a violent person and fore the most part was very passive and even a little shy, though he could easily get over that on stage when he was being someone else. It was being himself in front of people that he found difficult.
Kyiri relaxed slightly when Kyran tightened his grip on her and stopped trying to dig her fingers through his shoulders. She let him carry her down the stairs without further complaint and just continued to hold onto him loosely until he started to put her down again, then she let go once her feet were firmly on the ground and he had let go of her...but only after he had let go and she didn't think he was going to pick her up again. "...I guess not," he said quietly, "Its high up there." she was used to being at Celestine's height, or Kanone's at the tallest, so being on Kyran's level was a little different. She started to walk again now that they were downstairs, though she forgot to pull up the dress again, so she only got two steps before she stepped on the gown and fell flat on her face in the middle f the floor. Ellior winced slightly when Kyiri wound up on her face and then sighed and moved over to her, kneeling beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked softly as he reached over to help her up. He smiled weakly ad her and placed a hand on her forehead where the floor had left a nice red mark. He stood up and puled her up with him, pulling her back on her feet gently since she didn't seem to be making a crying fuss out of falling. "Hold your dress like you were before," he reminded her, "Then you wont trip." He smiled a little, finding it rather amusing that she threw a crying fit about wearing shoes and then her eyes didn't even water when she smacked her head off of the floor. |
Kyran merely nodded his head a little when Ellior said that was good on both accounts, then continued to say that it may not have gone over too well if Nero had dealt with it himself. “...Yes, I agree.” He responded to that rather easily. He knew the trouble Nero could get into for laying a hand on any light dragon while they were here. Or well... he knew about the gist of it, perhaps not the real details. He just couldn't believe that Hikari of all people landed a punch in before anyone else could properly react to the incident. Of course he was keeping that to himself mostly because it wasn't something Ellior needed to know, even if he did think that he might find some amusement from it. He glanced to Kyiri after he had set her down and she finally responded to him. He just kind of smiled at her when she said that it was high up there. He hadn't really thought about that when he picked her up but he supposed not everyone, or everything for that matter... liked heights. He waited for Kyiri to start walking and planned to follow after her, at least until she wound up tripping on her dress and letting her face greet the floor. He couldn't help wincing a little himself when she fell. It was obvious someone was going to have to try and remind her from time to time to pick up the front of her dress or else she was going to fall on her face again. He stepped a little closer and just kind of stood watching as Ellior tended to her. He was concerned of course as to whether or not she was alright but there was no need to smother her so he didn't bother kneeling down as well. He smiled a little seeing as Kyiri wasn't making a scene out of falling. She would be alright he supposed, especially if all she got out of that was a red mark to her forehead. “Well... catastrophe avoided, I suppose.” He commented quietly.
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Kyiri shook her head once Ellior had set her back on her feet and then raised a hand to rub her forehead after Ellior had moved his hand. "Ow...." She looked down again, looking a little irritated at the dress, and then picked it up enough that she could walk straight. Clearly, she was not very fond of what she was stuck wearing. if she absolutely HAD to wear closed, why did there have to be so much to them? After a moment she looked up again, mostly giving a pouty look to Kyran since he had been the one to stuff her into this thing in the first place.
Ellior chuckled softly when Kyran commented about the catastrophe being avoided. "Hopefully," he agreed lightly. He reached down and wrapped an arm around Kyiri before motioning for her to go ahead. Once she was moving he stared after her, only guiding her enough to get her to turn down the correct hallway. He started to glance around a little, hoping to find the others in the dining room, though when he glanced inside he couldn't see anyone. "Hmm..." it took him a moment to notice that the door to the ballroom was still half open. "...I guess they went in there?" he said a little unsurely as he stepped forward and pushed the door open a little more to look inside. It didn't take him too long to spot at least one member of the group so he glanced back to Kyran and smiled before motioning him inside. |
Kyran ignored Kyiri's pouty-look for the most part and just tried to smile. He felt bad that she had tripped but unfortunately there weren't a lot of options in the way of clothes... and honestly, the dress wasn't really that bad, she just wasn't used to something like that. He followed after Ellior once he had gotten Kyiri walking again and kept an eye on her mostly, just in case she looked like she was going to fall again. He did glance a little at the dinning hall as they were moving past it, not really surprised that no one was in there. That had been quite the mess to clean up and no one was really going to want to watch a bunch of maids as they scurried to straighten everything out. He continued after Ellior as he directed them towards the other door. He hadn't really said anything but did nod his head a little before heading inside the other room after Ellior motioned inside. He couldn't help glancing around a bit once he had stepped inside. Of course he noticed the others but he'd seen them all before and was a little more interested in the decor of the room. He did finally stop taking in the room though his eyes had lingered on the painting a little longer than they probably should have. Glancing back to the others he was at least glad to see they didn't have to go far to look for them. He was fairly certain that he, Ellior and Kyiri's entrance could easily have gone unnoticed, at least by a couple of the group seeing as both LaRae and Aamori seemed a little more interested with seeing what was outside, without actually escaping out there.
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Kyiri's eyes nearly bulged out of her head when she got a good look at the room. "Wow...I want to move in here," she commented quietly. Her eyes dropped from the room quickly enough when she noticed Celestine standing near the back windows. She smiled brightly and hiked up the dress enough that her feet were just visible before she took off running toward him. "Brother!" she called after him, dropping her dress about the time she got to him so that she could throw out her arms. Again...her foot caught in the excess material and sent her sprawling face-first toward the hard floor. She let out a little shriek when she realized that she was falling again and then shut her eyes tightly.
Celestine had gone out onto the balcony for a few moments to look around, but after a couple of minutes he backed up again. It was a large balcony and all of them could have easily stood outside, but the wind was blowing and he was still trying to keep his hair over his wings so as much as he loved the wind...he'd just have to pass on it this time. He heard the doors open, but he only glanced back just long enough to spot Kyran and Elloir and then looked away again. He was a bit caught off guard when he heard a child calling for her brother. HE turned back around again and looked to see who was calling and kind of expected someone to go to Ellior since...well he was the only one in here that he didn't know if they had a little sister. He blinked when he realized the little girl was coming straight for him, and she obviously wasn't a dragon. "Ahh!" he threw his arms out when she fell and grabbed her up just in time to save her from colliding with the floor. "Careful!" he told her as he sat her back upright again. He blinked when the girl smiled brightly at him and then wound up throwing her arms around him and hugging him. "Uh...um...?" He looked back to Kyran again, clearly a little uncomfortable. "Um...Kyran...who is this?" he asked before he looked back to him. Kyiri smiled brightly when Celestine saved her from hitting her face again. "Thank you!" she told him before she hugged him tightly. She nuzzled her head against him and then looked up to him for a moment when she heard him ask who she was. "You don't recognize me?" She asked, her large amber eyes watering as she looked up to him. Celestine looked down to her again when she spoke and froze. Ah crap, she's going to cry.... "I...," he looked her over for a few moments and then raised his hand to her head, gently pushing her hair back a little, looking at her ears. "...Kyiri?" he asked quietly, looking clearly surprised. He moved his hand to her neck and then blinked when he found the ribbon there that had her little bell danging off of it. He stared at her again for a few moments and then finally smiled weakly. "...Brother, huh?" he asked as he raised a hand to her head and rubbed it lightly. Nanashi hadn't bothered to out outside with the others. Aamoir, LaRae, Selenity, and Kanone were all outside on the balcony marveling at the back yard. He had taken a peek, but then come back inside, and Sri followed him. He had moved over to the piano and was watching her sit on the stool and try to play, though clearly she was only just beginning to learn. She was trying to get him to play with her, but he wasn't comfortable at all touching a piano with someone else in the room. He glanced back when he heard the door open and smiled a little when he saw Kyran and Ellior come back. Well, at least now he didn't have to feel too out of place in these overdecorated clothes. He stood away from the pillar that he was leaning against and then blinked when he saw the little girl. He may have seen her before but if he did he certainly didn't remember her. He stared when she ran up to Celestine and listened closely to their exchange. "...She can turn into a little girl, too?" |
Kyran couldn't help but chuckle a little quietly when he heard Kyiri respond to the room that she wanted to move in here. He didn't think she would like living here too much... well, unless she stayed in her small cat form all of the time. Otherwise she would be stuck in a dress and it was clear already that she didn't like that very much. He wasn't surprised to see her run over towards Celestine once she spotted him... nor was she surprised to see her almost fall on her face again. Once she started to go down he merely lifted a hand to his head and shook his head a little. He doubted Kyiri would ever learn about that dress but in this case she was most likely just excited which was why she had tripped on it again. He was relieved to see that Celestine had managed to keep Kyiri from hitting the floor and started over in that direction less quickly than Kyiri had. He didn't really answer Celestine's question when he asked who the girl was. He figured if Celestine couldn't figure it out on his own then Kyiri would surely fill him in. He finally reached them and came to a stop just a bit off to the side of Celestine and Kyiri. He smiled a little when Celestine finally got it and then glanced to Nanashi when he heard him question Kyiri's ability to change into a little girl too. “Apparently.” He responded. “I saw her do this once before on our way here.” He added. “Most everyone else I think knew about this from that experience... except you, Nanashi and most likely LaRae and Celestine of course.” He paused. “Though I am a little surprised that Kyiri hadn't done this before in front of you Celestine.” He commented quietly. He shook his head a little. It wasn't really important. “She got tired of being locked inside the bedroom and I told her this was the only way we would let her join us...”
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Kyiri smiled brightly when Celestine figured out who she was and then squealed and latched onto him a little more tightly "Right!" she told him brightly as she nuzzled against his chest.
Celestine looked back to Kyran again as he was answering Nanashi, though he reached down to touch Kyiri's head again when she started nuzzling him to death. He nodded slightly in agreement when Kyran mentioned her not doing this in front of him before. "...I didn't know she could change forms at all...," he said quietly. He looked back down to Kyiri again and titled his head a little. "...Why are you just now doing this?" he asked curiously. Kyiri tilted her head a little when Celestine asked why she was just now doing this? "...I never had a reason to," she said simply. "I only use my big form when I have to be mean, and you don't like people, so you wouldn't like me like this before. You like people now, so it's okay," she said brightly. "...Right?" Celestine stared at Kyiri blankly when she told him that he didn't like people. "...I never said I didn't like people...." I'm just not too good at dealing with them.... He shook his head a little and then smiled weakly at her before he raised his hand to place on her head again and then wrapped his arm around her gently. "Right...I guess," he said a little uncertainly. He wasn't entirely sure that he understood her logic, but he didn't think he felt much differently about her now than he had before knowing what she could do. Sri had been sitting there playing contently until she noticed the other little girl. She didn't get to see people her age very often so she was pretty curious about this girl. After a few moments she got up from the stood and scurried around behind the piano, peeking around at Kyiri and Celestine curiously. Of course it didn't take her long to notice that the girl wasn't a dragon, but then she didn't know what she would be. Were those cat ears on her heard? She did notice the way everyone kept talking about her as if she didn't always look like that, so she finally looked back to the others and then pointed toward Kyiri. "Is that a cat?" she asked quietly. It didn't take her but a few seconds to be distracted again when she noticed Nanashi sitting down at the bench. She flew back to his side quickly and almost dove into his lap, but stopped herself just next to him with her hands on his leg, looking up at him excitedly. "Are you going to play now!?" Nanashi looked slightly surprised when Kyran told him that Kyiri had taken on this form on the way here and he, LaRae, and Celestine had missed it. He shook his head slightly and then sighed softly. "...This trip just keeps getting more interesting...," he said quietly. He glanced back to Sri when she got up fro the stool and moved around the piano, peeking around the edge almost shyly at Kyiri and Celestine. He smiled weakly when she asked if that was a cat and then shook his head slightly before he moved to steal the bench. He sank down with a soft sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. He was feeling a lot better since the healer had taken are of him, but he was still feeling a pretty tired and drained so it was a little hard to just stay standing like he had been. He hoped this would be gone by tomorrow after he actually got to lay down and rest for a while, but he did still want to eat before he retired for the day. He blinked when Sri pounced him again and started asking him if he was going to play now. "...Persistent...aren't you? ...I told you...I don't play," he said softly. "Yes, you do, you were looking at it like you wanted to play when we came in," she argued back. She crossed her arms and huffed, looking a little miffed that he was stealing the bench if he wasn't going to play for her. "No one ever plays for me...," she muttered under her breath. Nanashi sighed heavily when Sri started trying to guilt trip him into playing. he had shown some interest in the piano when they came in, but now he was kind of regretting even looking at the thing. He just glanced over to Kyran with one of those 'help me' expressions. He wouldn't have minded playing something for her so much if everyone else wasn't in here too...that really made him not want to do anything. He was all for entertaining the princess, but not at the cost of embarrassing himself. He thought that he played well enough for his own ears and that was about all, he didn't want anyone else listening to his attempts at playing by ear. |
Kyran stood where he was rather quietly as Kyiri latched onto Celestine and the two of them started bantering back and forth a little. He just kind of listened silently though he couldn't help smiling a little at Kyiri. His attention shifted slightly to Sri when she had ceased playing the piano and proceeded to show some interest in Kyiri. He couldn't help chuckling a little when she asked if Kyiri was a cat. After quieting his chuckles he was fully prepared to answer her but it seemed that she had already lost interest, or well... her interests had gone elsewhere. He watched as she started hounding Nanashi about the piano and even tried to guilt him into playing for her. He hadn't been here when they first came in so he had no idea how Nanashi had been looking at the piano. As far as it looked to him at the moment it just looked like Nanashi was interested in somewhere to sit down. He noticed the look Nanashi gave him and sighed softly before edging a little closer to the piano himself. He couldn't play the piano... or well, he had never really tried. He had been more interested in the Cello than the piano so that was the only instrument that he had really bothered to learn. He wasn't really sure how to save Nanashi since he obviously didn't want to play, though he wasn't sure if Nanashi even knew how to play. He didn't think he had ever asked or looked into it so he really didn't know if he could play or not. “You really shouldn't try to make him play if he doesn't play the piano, Princess.” He told her softly and then had a thought. He smiled slightly. “How about we see if someone else knows how to play?” He smiled at her before turning slightly to look back at Ellior. He hadn't really come along with everyone else that he knew of or if he did he just kind of remained silent. Surely an actor would know how to play... or at least know enough to get by and not embarrass himself. “Ellior, do you play?” He asked as he motioned towards the piano. He kind of hoped that Ellior did as a way to save Nanashi... otherwise he was going to have to keep asking around until someone in the group admitted to knowing how to play.
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Sri looked up when Kyran told her that she shouldn't try to make Nanashi play if he didn't want to. She just looked up at him for a moment with an almost pouting expression on her face and then sighed quietly and crossed her arms. "Fine...," she agreed almost sourly. She looked back to Nanashi again and then turned her attention back to Kyran again when he said that they should see if someone else knew how to play. "Just don't ask sissy," she told him simply, "She said the next person that tries to make her play something is going to get hit with the bench." She looked over to Ellior when Kyran asked him if he played. She already knew the answer to that one. Ellior did almost everything as far as she was concerned.
Ellior had followed the others over to the piano and was standing there with them, though he had somewhat spaced out on everyone while staring out the window. He blinked when he heard someone say his name and glanced around for a second before his eyes landed on Kyran again. "Hmm? Oh! Er...well...that depends on who you happen to ask," he replied with a weak laugh. "I suppose I can...a little." He was by no means the best, but he could get by on one if the song wasn't too complicated. Of course his mother said that it was a waste of time learning and all of that and had no trouble telling him that he sounded horrible and was missing notes, but most people wouldn't really notice his mistakes...well unless they were looking for them the way she seemed to. He looked back to Sri and smiled slightly. "Would you like me to play something?" he asked lightly. He didn't really mind...he was in the profession of entertaining after all though...he was pretty sure he was a better actor than he was singer or pianist. Sri looked at Ellior for a moment and thought about it before shaking her head. "...I've heard you play before. I wanted to hear something from somewhere else." She knew that all of the dragons had their own languages, so she wondered what their music would sound like. She would rather hear someone that wasn't here all of the time anyway. She knew what music from her clan sounded like, they played the same things so much at the parties here she knew most of them by heart. "All of the stuff anyone here plays sounds the same, I can play that myself." Ellior smiled slightly when she pretty much said that anything he could play she could do herself and then laughed softly. "You are as bad as your sister," he told her with a soft chuckle. From what he had heard Princess Selenity was more fond of foreign music as well, and tended to try to get anyone that she could from other clans who knew how to play something that was a little more exotic than what they tended to play here to come and play at her parties whenever she was able. Of course they had their own traditional music at those balls and banquets as well, but she always seemed to try to slip something else in if she could manage. Nanashi was relieved to no end when Kyran stepped in and decided to save him and gave him a weak 'thank you' smile before he sighed. He was a little surprised when Sri let off so easily, even though she didn't sound pleased about it. He wasn't about to gripe. He just wasn't very comfortable playing anything n front of people. He wasn't even supposed to know how to play... Well hell, he wasn't even allowed to touch the piano at his aunt's home, he simply played with it when everyone left. He was lucky that he was quick to pick up and remember things, since that was really the only way that he knew how to do much of anything. No one bothered teaching him anything, he just had to watch and observe then practice when he had the chance. He looked over to Sri when she started telling Ellior that she didn't want him to play...she obviously wasn't gong to be happy unless it was someone else from the group her sister had brought back. He sighed softly and shook his head weakly. "...Alright, alright," He hated that disappointed sounding tone she used, though she no longer looked like she was pouting. She just sounded a little defeated. He glanced up again, seeing that Kyiri had apparently decided to drag Celestine outside onto the balcony. He glanced to Kyran for a moment and then sighed before he shifted positions a little. He finally just caved and raised is hands up to the piano keys. Rather than have her harass everyone in the group, he figured he may as well entertain her while...well most everyone was out of the room. He already looked embarrassed before he even touched the keys, though once he pressed one down to make a sound he ducked his head a little and closed his eyes. He could feel the heat burning in his cheeks as he tried to get a feel for the piano again. It had been a long time since he had played anything. After pressing a few keys lightly at random to see how they sounded he relaxed a little and opened his eyes again so that he could see what he was doing and started to play a soft, melodic tune. He was hitting the keys very lightly as if he had no desire to make much sound, butt he notes still echoes through the wide empty room. He still kept his head down, looking half like he wanted to crawl under a rock. He had a feeling anyone who heard him was going to be thinking he had no business sitting there playing anything. Of course Nanashi never really thought that he did anything well no matter how well or poorly he did, he always assumed anyone else could do a better job. That was just how everything always seemed to turn out in his mind. Still, he at least hoped this would satisfy the princess. He didn't even say anything before or after he had started, since he was a little too embarrassed to even speak at the moment. For the most part he was just waiting for someone to tell him to stop because they couldn't take it anymore or something like that. The tune he picked was simply and sweet, and couple probably easily put someone to sleep if they sat listening to it long enough, though that was kind of the point seeing as it was a lullaby. |
Kyran was a bit relieved himself that it didn't take too much to get Sri to back off and leave Nanashi alone. He ignored her sour tone and the fact that she was disappointed, or at least he did for the most part. If there had been a cello readily available he would have happily played to entertain her... but... well... there was a piano. He looked to Ellior once he had started to respond to his asking if he played. He expected Ellior to know a little something. He couldn't help but look away all together and roll his eyes a bit when Sri shot that down once it started going somewhere. He had forgotten what it was like to try and please a little girl... his sister had been grown for years now so it had been some time since he had to deal with little girls like this. He wished she had just accepted Ellior playing because he didn't want to force Nanashi to have to try and play and he certainly didn't want to go and inquire to the rest of the group to see who could play. The only other person he knew could play something at the moment was Kanone. He had played a fiddle... or violin back in his territory but again, there wasn't one readily available that he knew of. He was trying to think of a solution when he heard Nanashi cave. He turned back to look at him almost curiously. He hadn't known that Nanashi could play the piano so he was a little surprised to hear him give in. Since he gave in of course he thought that meant that he knew how to play which did kind of surprise him. He stood silently while Nanashi warmed up to the piano and eventually started playing. He probably looked as surprised as he felt. He wasn't bad and he actually knew how to play and without sheet music no less. He had already gathered that Nanashi was pretty impressive in his own ways but this was completely unexpected and he couldn't think of anything to say really. He was just so blown away by it that he didn't have words for it.
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Sri smiled brightly when Nanashi finally gave in and started to play for her. She stood beside the bench with her tail dusting against the floor happily while she hovered over his shoulder. She smiled as she watched him and then looked at the music stand, noticing herself that he wasn't playing what was there. The book wasn't even open. "Pretty...," she commented quietly. For being so demanding, Sri was rather easily amused. She had never heard this song before and she liked it. She was also fairly amused that he didn't need music to play it since just about everyone that she ever saw had to sit and stare at a piece of music and flip pages. For the time being she didn't say anything and simply hovered close behind him and watched his fingers while he played. She absently put her hands on his shoulders and tiptoed a little to rest her chin there as well while she watched him play intently, still wondering how he was able to so it without the music. She knew she definitely couldn't.
Ellior smiled weakly when Nanashi caved and started to play. Even he was a little surprised, especially after seeing the look on Kyran's face. He hadn't expected Nanashi to know how to play for whatever reason. It just didn't really seem like something that a dragon half would know how to do. As much as he tried to be nice to them, he had still had the impression of the breed being inferior and less capable in many ways, though Nanashi had already displayed some higher intelligence by speaking his language. He didn't know why playing a piano should come as a surprise, even humans could do that. He smiled after a moment and simply stood quietly and listened while he played. He was also a little impressed that the was still able to play with the princess hanging off of him like that, though he did chuckled softly when he made a mistake. Not because of the mistake, but the face that he made when he made it. Nanashi kept his eyes on the keys while he played and tried his best not to look at anyone else. He really didn't think anyone would be impressed. Honestly, he thought they would probably be wishing that would hurry up and stop making racket. He was trying to do his absolute best so that he didn't embarrass himself in front of Kyran, not that he wasn't already, but he didn't want to make it worse. He was a little surprised when Sri commented about the music being pretty and put her chin on his shoulder. He looked over to her for a moment when she did that looking both embarrassed and surprised, though that expression turned into a cringe when he missed the key he was aiming for and hit an obvious wrong note. His face turned red again and he looked away from the princess and back down to the keys, trying to keep himself from getting flustered and screwing up even more. He finished off at least the verse that he was on and then sighed and dropped his hands away from the keys, still looking utterly embarrassed. Sri was still hovering over Nanashi's shoulder, though she moved to wrap her arms around his neck when he stopped playing. "That was pretty! Was that all? It's a really short song. Will you play it again?" she asked with a smile as her tail swished beneath her dress. "What's it called anyway?" "...I don't know," he admitted quietly, still looking like a cherry in the face, "...I've heard my cousin play it, but I'm not sure what it's called. It keeps going, but...that's all I could remember of it right now." He glanced to Sri again when she asked if he would play it again and smiled weakly, "...Maybe later.... I don't think we need to subject everyone else to my noise." |
Kyran probably didn’t need to be as surprised as he was at Nanashi’s ability to play the piano and play it well… but he couldn’t help it. He would never really suspect that a dragon half would have the ability… let alone have the means to practice. Most of Nanashi’s kind wasn’t treated very well and or they didn’t live very long… so it really was a surprise, even if Nanashi had already exhibited a higher intelligence with his ability to speak a couple different languages. Honestly, it really was almost amazing to him, especially since Nanashi couldn’t read. He did slowly get his expression under control as he listened and watched the princess. He did have to agree that the song was pretty, even with Nanashi’s little mistake. Once Nanashi had finished up and had answered the little princess’s questions he smiled and looked at Nanashi. “You play quite well.” He told him before cracking a bit of a weak smile. “I should apologize for automatically assuming that you had no idea how to play.” He added quietly. Nanashi had never spoken of this ability before and considering he had wanted a way out of playing for her, he had just kind of assumed that Nanashi wasn’t any good and didn’t know how to play. Add in that he couldn’t read… and you really did believe he wouldn’t have been able to do something quite like that. “I am also pretty sure that no one would object to you playing the song again if you would like to.” He paused. “It was pretty music, not just noise.”
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Nanashi glanced back to Kyran momentarily when he spoke up and said that he played well. He felt his cheeks reddening again almost instantly and the averted his eyes. "...Thank you," he told him quietly. He figured that Kyran was probably just being nice. He knew for one he had messed up and for another he was simply guessing at what he was doing. He looked back to him again when he apologized for assuming that he couldn't play and smiled weakly. "...It's alright," he said quietly, "...No one knew.... It was just something to do for fun when everyone left. I used to watch my aunt teach my cousin how to play. I wasn't allowed to touch the piano but......" he trailed off and smiled sheepishly. Obviously, that was one rule he didn't listen to. He learned how to play by observing and then playing around when he could get away with it. He smiled again slightly when Kyran said that no one would object to him playing again. "...Really?" he asked almost skeptically.
Ellior smiled at Nanashi while he answered Sri's questions and remained quiet while Kyran spoke to him. "Indeed...," he agreed with Kyran when Nanashi asked if no one would really mind. He chuckled softly and shook his head a little. "You're too modest, Nanashi, give yourself a little credit. Surly if you can play by ear so well you can distinguish your own sounds from simply noise. You're quite talented to have learned without proper lessons, while sneaking behind someone's back no less." He laughed again softly and shook his head, "Feel free to play again if you wish. You look as if you enjoy it." Nanashi glanced back to Ellior for a moment and blushed again when he told him that he was too modest and to give himself some credit. He didn't give himself much credit since most people didn't bother to give him any. He didn't see a point in patting himself on the back for something no one else cared about. He smiled slightly when Ellior invited him to play again. He didn't argue...he did enjoy playing. As embarrassing as it was, it was actually kind of nice to have someone listening and actually praising him for it. Nanashi was a bit of a sponge when it came to praise, even a pat on the head and a good job could make his day. After a moment he placed his hands over the keys again and started to play again, though this time it was a little more confidently. He still kept his eyes on the keys, but he didn't act like he was afraid that they were going to bite him or something, and he was actually smiling a little as he ran over the keys again. It really had been a long while since the last time he played and he was feeling a little rusty, but it was still good to be able to play again at least for a few minutes. He had enjoyed it when he was able to slip behind everyone's back and play with the piano, but It felt better to play without worrying that someone was going to come home and yell at him...or worse. Sri giggled when Nanashi started to play again and continued to stand behind him, though she did eventually shift to sit on her knees behind him since he was kind of on the edge of the bench. She kept her arms around his neck as well to help hold herself up while she watched him. "So you can play just by listening to someone else play?" she asked curiously after a few moments. Nanashi nodded his head slightly in answer to Sri's question. "Usually...Sometimes I have to hear it a couple of times first," he answered quietly. "So I can teach you one?" she asked curiously. He smiled again slightly. "...If you want to," he answered simply. |
Kyran was if anything a little surprised to hear how Nanashi had come to learn how to play. It wasn't so much that he went behind someone's back to learn but more the fact that he had learned how to play just from observing someone else playing. That kind of made sense he guessed since Nanashi couldn't read. It was kind of impressive as well since he thought learning the piano could be quiet challenging for some people. He nodded his head slightly after Ellior had told Nanashi that he was too modest and that he needed to give himself a little credit. That was the truth... Nanashi was pretty good, even with the little mess up and he certainly wasn't as bad at this as he must have thought he was. He was kind of happy that they had found something that Nanashi did appear to enjoy doing. He had been through a lot of crap since this trip started so this was really kind of nice and he didn't think anyone would really object to letting Nanashi play the piano when he wanted... or well... the Princesses would probably cease any objections from people who didn't approve of a dragon half touching a piano. He remained silent once Nanashi had taken to the piano again with a little more confidence and merely smiled a little. He was also glad to see that the little Princess didn't appear to have any issues with Nanashi. Granted, this was the light clan... the one clan with the least amount of discrimination... but Nanashi was still a dragon half. He was different than just being in another clan.
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Nanashi hardly looked up again while he played since the princess had taken to listening and hanging off of his neck rather than asking him questions. He really didn’t seem to mind the little girl’s company in the least, honestly he seemed to be enjoying that about as much as being able to play for a while. Nanashi was clueless when it came to playing games since he had never really had anyone to play with. His older cousin never wanted anything to do with him, and the younger one…well it was just a little hard to play with her, though he still loved to spend time with her since she seemed to be the only one in the family who liked him. That was the one and only thing about home that he missed, but he thought by now she probably didn’t really care to see him anymore. In his mind he was easy to forget and easy to not care about, so of course he doubted that the girl really missed him when he left even though he still missed her. He was a little lost in thought while he played this time, though his fingers at least seemed to know where they were going. He liked to play this song when he could, so he knew the keys pretty well.
It wasn’t long before the doors opened again and Akito stepped into the room with Ellior’s mother practically on his hip. He looked around for a moment, eyeing the piano specifically since he heard someone playing. He didn’t really mind, he just wondered who it was and was rather surprised to see the halfbreed sitting there with his youngest daughter handing off of his neck looking enthralled. The music didn’t last long after he entered the room seeing as the instant the halfbreed noticed him he choked up, miss-keyed and stopped playing altogether. He shook his head a little as he continued further into the room. “Dinner is served…once again,” he said simply as he got hearer to the small group by the piano. “Sri, you really shouldn’t hang on people like that, it is very unladylike.” He tried to keep both of his daughters in line and make them behave properly, but Selenity was a hand full…and Sri was just like her. He gave the girl a stern look when she only stuck her tongue out at him in response. “Now, young lady.” After that she laid her ears back and slowly got off the stool and clasped her hands behind her back, looking a lot like a scolded puppy. Of course Keren had a disapproving look on her face as soon as she saw who was behind the piano. She might have liked the song had it been played by her son, even though she found entertainment to be beneath him, but she wasn’t going to enjoy anything that was played by some filthy halfbreed off the streets. She also didn’t seem too pleased with how close the princess was to him and once Akito had run the girl away from him she had an almost smug look of satisfaction on her face that caused Ellior to raise his hand to hide his face and duck his head in shame for a moment. Of course Keren didn’t really notice that reaction or the apologetic look Ellior wound up flashing Nanashi…or at the very least she chose to ignore it for now. Nanashi remained seated stiffly where he was until Sri finally listened to her father and released him. Almost as soon as she was off of him he stood up and moved away from the piano and practically glued himself to Kyran’s side. Obviously he still wasn’t very comfortable around these people, though with Keren amongst them it was pretty hard to be comfortable around anything. He didn’t say a word to anyone and naturally his eyes found their way to the floor where they could preoccupy themselves with the designs found there. |
Kyran listened quietly while Nanashi played once again though his attention was snagged easily enough when he heard someone else coming into the room. He lifted his head and looked towards the door only a little surprised to see the King himself coming in to say that dinner was being served again. He had half expected a maid to come and let them know. Almost as soon as the King had gotten closer to them he bowed his head and upper body slightly. It was a habit that he had had forced into him courtesy of his job. When someone of such high standings entered a room and or approached you it was a sign of respect to bow slightly. Honestly even in his opinion it was almost rude to completely ignore the formal gesture when a King came into a room, especially if he hadn't originally been in the room. He straightened up easily enough and tried to keep his eyes from trailing to Keren but it was nearly impossible since he felt a bit protective of Nanashi. He hated that she even showed distaste on her face towards him. She was supposed to be upper class and upper class were supposed to be able to hold their tongues and keep their faces straight... obviously she had no problem tossing out either of those things because she had spoken disrespectfully of Nanashi and she didn't exactly give him stone faced looks. He was at least glad to see that Ellior felt bad about his mother... though he didn't think Ellior needed to try and clean up after such a woman. He almost wished that Nero would come walking in... he'd like to see her have the guts to give him a dirty look. He shook his head slightly and glanced to Nanashi briefly, seeing how close he had gotten before looking back towards the King. “Thank you, your Majesty, for letting us know.” He said in reference to dinner being served again.
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Nanashi still wasn’t too sure what to do with himself in the presence of the king…which was likely painfully obvious to everyone by the way he wound up practically hiding behind Kyran once he was able to get up. He had that look on his face of someone who wanted to turn tail and run the other way as quickly as their legs would carry them. His eyes widened for a moment when he realized that Kyran had bowed a little and he hadn’t, so when Kyran thanked him for letting them know about dinner he bowed a little, similarly to the way Kyran had, only he was still as a board in doing so. He felt his cheeks flush red when the king laughed at him…again. He straightened up and shifted positions uncomfortably somehow managing to get even closer to Kyran’s side.
Akito smiled slightly at Kyran when he noticed him bow a little and nodded his head to him in acknowledgment. Akito wasn’t all that big on being overly formal all of the time. He only tried to be formal at formal occasions, otherwise he really did not mind. As far as he was concerned the palace was more or less his home, the guests that intended to stay there need not bow to him every time they ran across one another. Besides these people were not exactly here on any formal occasion. They were simply his daughter’s companions whom he was going to have to put up for a little while. Of course he said nothing to either of the other two about not bowing to him. Ellior knew it was unexpected and…well the halfbreed didn’t seem to know what to think. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly when Nanashi gave him another stiff bow after Kyran had thanked him and then turned red. He shook his head a little and smiled back to Kyran for a moment. “Not at all,” he responded simply. He had thought he may as well talk a few feet to get everyone himself rather than send a maid to do it. After all, it wasn’t as if it was that far out of the way and he wasn’t crippled or entirely lazy. He looked back to the halfbreed for a moment and half smiled. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of him. He had never really come fact to face with a halfbreed before so this was a bit interesting for him. He was trying not to be judgmental, but like most dragons he naturally made assumptions about him based on what he had heard. “…Nanashi, was it?” he asked and paused long enough to be acknowledged, “I suppose this is your first time in a palace?” Nanashi was trying his best to stand beside Kyan and make himself invisible, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when the king asked about his name. “A-ah….y-yes…” he stammered as he bowed again slightly, looking obviously flustered. “…Y-yes, Sir…er…I mean—” he broke off when he heard the king laughing again and nearly froze solid when he actually touched him. Akito couldn’t help but laugh at the way Nanashi answered him and wound up bowing again. He took a couple of steps closer and reached over to place a hand on his shoulder lightly. “Relax,” he told him simply, “You act as if you think I am going to have you beheaded.” He patted his shoulder gently and then pulled his hand back. “You are my daughter’s guest here as much as the rest of your group. Since this is not a formal visit, I cannot honesty say that I expect formalities from all of you. To be honest it grows tiresome before formal with everyone at all times. There is no need to look so stressed.” Nanashi continued to stand there stiffly half bend over through most of what the king said though he did finally mange to straighten his back. His eyes remained low however and he only nodded his head weakly in response. “…I’m sorry,” he said quietly…mostly because he couldn’t seem to shake that nervous look. He was completely clueless as to what was expected of him, so he was afraid he was going to do something at some point that was really going to offend someone. Akito shook his head again slightly. “No need to worry about it,” he told him simply before he glanced back to Ellior for a moment. He was trying his best to ignore the thinly veiled look of displeasure on Keren’s face after his small exchange with the halfbreed. He didn’t particularly care to be as rude as she was at times. After a moment he turned and started to stroll toward the open balcony window so that he could inform the others that dinner was ready, and was partially glad to be rid of his extra attachment since she neglected to follow him to the door. Nanashi let out a breath when the king turned and walked off before he wound up leaning back heavily against the pillar behind the two of them. He looked like he wouldn’t mind just sitting down right there and curling up for a while, though he knew better than that considering that dinner was in a few minutes. |
Kyran glanced to Nanashi momentarily when he noticed him bow, a little late than never. He was just so used to being formal that he never really thought twice about it... though of course seeing Nanashi bow like he did reminded him about it. Nanashi didn't really know what to do in these situations so of course he was going to mimic him... or the next person he possibly could. He looked back to the King when he responded and then soon started to speak to Nanashi directly. He smiled slightly when he saw that the King wasn't being discriminative at all... though he didn't really expect him to, it was just nice to see him being nice and friendly towards Nanashi. Of course... that was going to be new to Nanashi seeing as it was King being nice to him. He just kind of chuckled quietly to himself when Nanashi wound up stammering his first response to the King and started looking rather flustered. He wasn't laughing at Nanashi, it was just kind of humorous to see him respond the way he did even when someone was being nice to him. He wasn't at all surprised to hear Nanashi say that he was sorry when he did. Honestly... with as much as he apologized, he would be more surprised if he didn't say that he was sorry. He merely nodded his head a little when the King had stated that he didn't expect formalities from his daughters guests. He would try and remember that but it was practically drilled into his head so he might slip up and still bow or be respectful on occasion. He wasn't at all surprised to notice the displeasure on Keren's face either... but he had kind of wished that she wouldn't so obviously hate someone she had never met before... unfortunately that was the fate of being a dragon half in this day and age when everyone thought badly of them. He watched as the King started to head for the balcony where the others were. He glanced to Keren only momentarily seeing as she hadn't followed after him and then looked to Nanashi as he was leaned back against the pillar. He smiled a little and shook his head slightly before moving enough that he could rest his hand lightly on his shoulder. “You did fine, no need to stress it.” He told him quietly. “...and I believe the King won't mind so much if you just act like yourself.... so you don't need to push yourself to mimic what I do, alright?” He told him with a slight nod.
Neither LaRae nor Aamori had ventured off the balcony just yet though both of them would have loved nothing more than to do so. Both were quite impressed with the layout the light clan had right here and honestly either one of them could probably have gotten lost out there for hours. Considering that they had both refrained from venturing past the balcony since dinner wouldn't be too far off and it would be rude to make someone search for them once it was ready. Needless to say both of them would be finding their way back here once again when there was a moment of free time. |
Nanashi raised his head slightly and looked back to Kyran when he felt his hand on his shoulder and then smiled weakly when he told him that he had done fine and there was no need to stress it. He was just stressed out, period. Being here, meeting all of these new people, and not to mention all of the crap that had been going on since the beginning of this trip could pretty easily wear on someone like him. He was shy, flinchy, and had little to no self confidence so naturally all of this was kind of overwhelming to him. He startled slightly when he hear Keren snap something at him in her native tongue, which more or less summed up to the king was too kind and that he needed to learn to show respect in front of his ‘betters’ and stop being so lazy that he couldn’t even stand up straight without dirtying one of the pillars. Of course Nanashi didn’t say anything and merely sighed as he straightened himself up tiredly before stepping away from the pillar, even though Sri yelled at Keren in the common language that he could stand how he wanted. He really was starting to feel more and more like going back upstairs and completely skipping dinner altogether. He was too tired to put up with this right now. Even though what the healer had given him healed his wounds and gave him a bit of energy, whatever she had him drink felt like it was wearing off and he was ready to just curl up and call it a day.
Ellior was glad as well to see that the king granted the same courtesy to his other guests as he had to him and his mother, even if one of those guests happened to be a dragon half. He hated to see Nanashi so uptight and nervous all of the time, so it was nice to have permission granted for him to just act as a friendly guest rather than a formal one. He almost slapped his own forehead when his mother started chewing him out. He usually tried hard not to snap at his mother, but this time she was just carrying on a little too much for him to keep quiet about. “Mother, please, leave him alone!” he said finally in a stern voice that sounded a bit strange coming from him since up until now his voice had been very quiet and friendly sounding at almost all times. “This palace is not your home, it is not your place to tell everyone inside it how to behave.” Keren could ignore Sri easily enough, though when Ellior spoke up to her she looked almost stunned. Obviously, she was not used to having her son backtalk her, but that only seemed to set her off a little more. That look of satisfaction at having Nanashi listen to her so easily was replaced by irritation at Ellior’s words. “Ellior, I am your mother and you are not to talk back to me that way!” she said in an equally stern voice. “You are engaged to the princess for crying out loud, when are you going to start acting like it?” she asked as if she though that he should change his way simply because his rank in the social circle had just been booted up quite a few notches. As far as she was concerned he spent far too much time mingling in with commoners as if he were one of them. Ellor narrowed his eyes a little when she mentioned his engagement as if that meant that he should start acting as if he was better than everyone else and start bossing them around simply because he would soon have the power to do so. “I—,” he started, though that was about as far as he got before he heard a rather familiar angry voice behind him cutting him off. Obviously Akito had already delivered his message and everyone had started to file back inside…or at the very least…Princess Selenity had stepped back inside in time to hear his mother’s comment. “WHAT!?” she demanded in an almost shrill voice as she eyed Keren angrily. She really was getting sick of people trying to run her life for her, and she especially didn’t want this woman telling me who she was marrying. “For your information, I am engaged to no one, Keren. I would appreciate it if you would stop making assumptions based off of your delusions." Akito hadn’t wanted to waste time outside so he told everyone that dinner was done and then followed Selenity back inside. Unfortunately…once he got inside he wished he had lingered on the balcony a few moments longer before bringing them back inside. He was really starting to wish that Keren would watch what she said…at least part of the time. He had intended to tell her of this...later...and in private where no one would have to witness her upcoming tantrum about it. He gave Selenity a stern, disapproving look when she shouted at Keren and started to get onto her the way that she did. He tried to handle everything properly, especially in front of guests, so having her blow up in Keren’s face like that did not sit very well with him. “We will discuss this later in private, Selenity,” he told her in a stern voice. He really did not want to make a scene in front of all of these people…though it seemed that Selenity was a bit beyond caring what kind of scene she made. Selenity’s eyes widened for a moment when her father said that they would discuss it later in private. That…normally meant she was going to be told to do something whether she liked it or not. This was one time she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. She spun on her father and glared at him just as angrily as she had glowered at Keren. “No we will not discuss it later! I am NOT marrying some man whom I first met today after he ran me over in the street! How dare all of you to make such presumptuous assumptions while I am away!” Akito wound up narrowing his eyes right back at Selenity when she turned around and started yelling at him. He was clearly struggling a little to keep his face calm, but there was still some definite irritation creeping into his features. He did not appreciate being back talked by his children at all, but especially not in front of guests. By the time she was finished he finally lost it a little. If she didn’t care to make herself look like a temperamental brat in front of her friends, so be it. “You will do as you are told, young lady!” he told her sternly, only raising his voice just enough to make his word sound absolute. “This has already been decided and arranged. I gave you plenty of time to decide for yourself and you have continuously turned away every man who has come to call. I gave you your choice for years, Selenity. You will be twenty-one in less than a week, it is past time for you to be getting married.” |
Kyran figured that everything that was going on was stressing Nanashi out, at least a little. Honestly, it probably stressed everyone out to some degree. The only other person besides him that was somewhat comfortable in these types of situations was most likely Aamori, considering that she had spent some time with Royals before and she had lived a roughly, maybe very roughly similar life style. At least as far as the number of people in it and the respect towards rank went. He didn't think that it was too much of a big deal that Nanashi had been leaning against the pillar but then again he knew Nanashi pretty well and he could understand that he was just taking a rest. It wasn't like he was doing anything to the pillar anyway. He stared over at Keren for a moment when he heard her start on Nanashi. He couldn't understand a word she was saying but he was pretty sure it wasn't something pleasant. He was pretty sure the woman would never have a kind word to say to or about Nanashi since he was dragon half. He sighed almost heavily as Nanashi started to stand up straighter and Sri started to yell at Keren. If the little princess was yelling at the woman than surely what she had said hadn't been pleasant, though it hadn't surprised him. He was a little surprised though when he heard Ellior take the reigns and start on his mother. Ellior certainly hadn't seemed the type to just start raising his voice at someone or to talk so sternly for no reason. It looked more like the guy preferred to not ever use that type of tone so he really was surprised, especially seeing as he was sticking up for Nanashi. He supposed one could only take listening to his mother bad mouth someone for so long before finally saying something. He was glad that Ellior was sticking up for Nanashi seeing as he couldn't really do it without knowing what the woman had said and Nanashi probably wouldn't have told him even if he had asked.
He wasn't really that surprised to see Keren turn her attention back on her own son like she did though he was pretty stunned and even choked on his breath when he heard her say that Ellior was engaged to the princess, or at least she had said it while asking him a question. The look of surprise only registered on his face for a few moments before it started to fade. He knew he probably shouldn't have that look on his face, one that read that he couldn't believe the woman he loved was engaged to another man... a man he had thought was a pretty stand-up guy. He wasn't from the same clan as them, nor was he anyone with a high social standing... so he didn't really have any rights to her, he knew that but it still kind of hurt a bit. He couldn't help but stare between Keren and Ellior as the two of them, at least until he heard Selenity. The news obviously surprised her as well, which meant she hadn't known. But of course she hadn't known. She wouldn't have invested anything in him had she known that she was engaged to Ellior. He tried to keep his face neutral even through Selenity's obvious outrage at Keren's statement. He could only hope that there was no truth behind what Keren had said and honestly from what he had seen of the woman so far he wouldn't exactly put it past her to make something like this up just to say it enough to make it true. He felt that little flicker of hope get snuffed out when the King had said to Selenity that they would discuss that later in private. He wasn't an idiot... he knew that meant that Keren wasn't lying and it took him a moment to shift his expression back to neutral since it had slipped momentarily. He couldn't say that he was surprised to see Selenity... er no... that was more Hikari than Selenity right there. He wasn't surprised to see her blow up about this, nor was he surprised to hear her bring up that Ellior had run her over in the street. He had originally tried to assure Ellior that she didn't hold that against him... and yet here she was using that as a bit of a stab. He shifted his glance from Selenity to the King when he started to respond to her little fit. His eyes probably looked like they were begging for this not to be true, unfortunately he couldn't entirely hide his emotions from his eyes but thankfully it wasn't always easy to tell what he was thinking or feeling just by looking at him. He hated the idea that she would have to marry Ellior just because she was told to... but it wasn't like he could step up and ask for her hand even though he would. He had no standing in this territory, or even in his own... so he couldn't stop this from happening and it was painfully obvious to him. He barely even paid attention to the King mentioning that her birthday was less than a week away. He heard it, it registered, but he was far too lost in the thought of her having to marry Ellior. If he hadn't loved her, he would almost without a doubt have said that Ellior was a good guy. Or at least he had felt that from the little time that he had spent with the guy, then of course he had stuck up for Nanashi which had given him a few brownie points.... though.... the guy wasn't standing so high in his opinions anymore. LaRae had of course started to head back inside with everyone else once the King had come to tell them that dinner was ready, again. She had wanted to go and explore the vast backyard... for lack of better things she could think of to call it right now. She still wanted to go and explore... but she was hungry and would much rather change her clothes before going out there. She just couldn't talk herself into wanting to head out there in this dress. Aamori had wanted to go too of course, both of them would have jumped at the offer but refrained. Once they had started back in and Selenity started to have a bit of a fit she couldn't help but just stare, almost gawking at the topic. It wasn't a secret to anyone in the group that Kyran and Hikari liked one another... so this... was... wow. She and Aamori exchanged glances momentarily but just stared rather speechless. She wasn't sure if she was more surprised at Selenity getting as pissed off as she seemed or the news itself that she was engaged to Ellior. She supposed the other part of her was maybe just a little surprised that she was talking to her father like that. If her father weren't the King this wouldn't seem as alien to her... but who actually had the gall to speak to a King like that? Her obviously... but still, it was hard to shake that it was King she was talking back to and not just her father. |
Ellior was a little too preoccupied with his mother to notice Kyran’s initial reaction to what he she had said about his engagement. This engagement was by no means his idea, which probably would have been made obvious had he been given a chance to speak before the princess started to freak out on his mother. He sighed softly and laid his ears back a little when she started yelling at her father for deciding this for her. He looked at her sympathetically since he could kind of imagine how she felt. He was the only one who had a say in the matter…and if he still wanted to live at home in peace he didn’t have much of one. He glanced around uneasily after a moment and then sighed. For an actor he really was a bit self conscious, and he really didn’t want Selenity’s friends to think badly of him over this. He didn’t want to marry her any more than she wanted to marry him, but they were kind of being shoved at each other a bit forcefully. He was at least willing to try to make it work and get along with her, but he was starting to think he wasn’t going to have a very easy time of it. He blinked when he caught a disturbed look on Kyran’s face. He started to develop a bit of an idea as to the underlying reason that Selenity was pitching such a huge fit over this. …Were the two of them involved? He didn’t know why else Kyran should seem upset over the news. Of course he didn’t say anything since that could very well cause a whole lot of unneeded trouble, but he was curious now. He cringed a little when he heard Selenity bring up earlier in the day. …He knew that was going to come back and haunt him. He sighed softly and shook his head a little before he glanced away altogether since he just…more or less wanted to go crawl under the piano and hide from all of this.
Nanashi was practically as stunned as Kyran was to hear that Ellior and Hikari were engaged…er…Selenity. He stared at Keren for a moment and then looked back up to Kyran for a moment. He looked at him sympathetically for a moment but he did at least have sense enough to realize that Kyran and Hikari weren’t really meant to be together, even if they did love one another. Still, he felt bad for them, especially since he knew how Kyran felt. After all, LaRae had showed him that letter that more or less said that she was Renzo’s property. Honestly, Kyran had it just a hitch better than he did since at least Ellior was a decent person and seemed as if he would treat Selenity well whereas Renzo had already willingly and knowingly hurt LaRae several times. Not to mention Kyran had a better chance of finding someone else than he did. Still, those little details weren’t at the forefront of his mind. Either way, he knew it was a painful piece of news and he wished there was something he could say to make Kyran feel better. Unfortunately, all he could do right now was stand there silently, though he did look down when he felt a small tug on his clothes and noticed that Sri had come back to him and decided to hide behind him looking about half ready to cry when Selenity and their father started going at it. He looked down at her for a moment and then reached over to place his hand on her shoulder gently and sighed softly when that led her to wrap her arms around his legs and hide her face in his side. Of course Selenity was no pleased at al to hear that she was going to do as she was told. She was rather used to that and normally did so, but this was one instance where she didn’t think anyone had the right to tell her what she was going to be doing. When her father started to tell her that it was past time that she should have been married she honest to goodness looked like she was about ready to hit him but instead wound up balling her fists at her sides. “I can’t believe you would honestly go behind my back and start making decisions that involve my future! I am not some object to be passed off to whomever you deem worthy!” “I am through arguing with you, Selenity!” Akito snapped after a moment, “If you want to discuss it further you will do so when you can manage to keep that temper of yours in check. Now go back to your room before you embarrass me further!” he told her sternly. He watched as she balled her firsts a little tighter as if she would love nothing more than to hit him and then sighed softly when he saw her eyes water just before she spun on her heel and took off toward the door at a jog, her dress billowing behind her as she did so. He had hoped to avoid this sort of thing and talk to her about this first, as well as give her time to get to know Ellior. As bitchy and annoying as his mother was, he knew that Ellior was a decent man, which was why he agreed to the arrangement in the first place. He cleared his threat a little and sighed again softly. “Please excuse that outburst…it seems my daughter has forgotten her manners while she has been away.” Ellior looked back to the king again when he heard him apologize for Selenity and then glanced back to the group by the doors. Kanone and Celestine were both standing there gawking, and Kyiri was latched onto Celestine for dear life. He shook his head a little after Keren had responded to what Akito had said with a huff. “…With all due respect your majesty…can you blame her?” he said simply. He still had that look on his face of someone wanting to go crawl under a rock. “…I’m not sure—,” “Oh, she will come around,” Keren said surely, cutting him off mid sentence. Ellior sighed heavily again and nodded a little. “…Yeah…sure,” he muttered quietly before he bowed respectfully to the king. “…Forgive me, but I believe I have lost what little appetite I had.” He really didn’t think he could stand sitting at the table and eating with everyone after all of that, and he really had lost what little appetite he had in the first place. Once he straightened up he just started to talk back toward the doors that led to the balcony so that he could go find some place out back to hide for a while. He was still stuck here for a bit, but he didn’t think that meant he was required to attend dinner. Akito sighed softly when Ellior excused himself and shook his head a little. “Very well,” he responded simply. He supposed it would be a little hard to want to eat after getting turned down flat, though if he still wanted to go through with this, Selenity was marring him one way or the other. |
Kyran continued to remain silent while he stood there and watched Selenity blow up at her father. He could understand her being upset and half of him wanted to say something and try to calm her down, especially after she had finally left the room so quickly after being told to return to her room. He wanted to follow her, every bone in his body wanted to make him move to go after her but he knew he couldn't. As far as anyone else here was concerned he was just a traveling companion, a friend, someone who would go away after all of this mess of a trip was over. He was tense as he stood there and barely noticed that he hadn't been breathing as evenly as he should have. He glanced over at Ellior momentarily after Selenity had left the room and he started to defend her a little only to be cut off by his mother and her mouth. He just kind of rolled his eyes slightly before looking away all together. He couldn't blame Selenity and her outburst and honestly... he found a small amount of offense in the King saying that she must have forgotten her manners while she had been away. She hadn't forgotten them... it was just rude to set her up with someone she had never met and then take away her power to choose what she wanted to do, especially when she did already have feelings for someone. He finally just let out a heavy sigh when even Ellior had excused himself. He thought that would be nice to do, right now he kind of just wanted to go back upstairs and be alone to think. Unfortunately as he was standing there and thinking about it he probably shouldn't do that even if he really wanted to. He wasn't supposed to be involved with the Princess... so this shouldn't bother him at all and taking leave like Ellior did would probably only raise suspicion to some extent. Maybe he was thinking it over too much... but he did think he should try and sit through dinner unless the King decided to just forgo it all together. He shook his head very slightly. Sitting through dinner was going to be such a pain in the ass, especially if Keren decided to run her mouth further on this whole mess.
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Akito really wasn't that surprised that Selenity had quite a few complaints about this, but he did still expect her to keep her composure while in the presence of company. They all got stuck doing things or putting up with people that they didn't care for, but they were expected to keep their cool and tolerate it. If she wanted to blow up at him for this, she should have at least waited until they were not in the presence of her travel companions or her fiancé and his mother. He looked around for just a moment and then sighed again. "...Well...this is sufficiently awkward...," he commented quietly. Even he looked a little uncomfortable standing there now. "...If any of your are still hungry, feel free to come to dinner...if not, I will not expect to see you there," he told them all before he started to make his way toward the doors so that he could head back tot he dining room. To be perfectly honest he really wasn't hungry anymore either, but he couldn't very well just abandon the table after everything had to be prepared again. Of course he had Keren on his tail once again since she seemed to be content clinging to him since Ellior had taken his leave. He sighed again softly...half wishing the woman would just go home. He could only take so much of her for one day, but he was trying to be polite....
Nanashi continued to stand there silently beside Kyran while people started to file out, though he did glance at him occasionally. He did notice that he was struggling to keep his composure. He still wanted to do something to comfort him, but he didn't have much time after the king had started to move away before he actually found himself falling into Kyran's arm. "Oh!" he gasped quietly, as he tried to catch both himself and Sri. "Careful, princess...," he said quietly. He wasn't as steady as he would like to be and she was leaning into him a little too much for him to stand upright easily. He looked back to Kyran with a more apologetic look that seemed a little more than necessary for falling into his arm. "I'm sorry," he told him quietly. It seemed like he was apologizing for a little more than just staggering into him, but of course he wasn't saying anything more. Sri whined softly when she caused Nanashi to start to fall and tried to pull him back upright again, though of course she wasn't strong enough to do so and he had to save himself. "Sorry," she mumbled quietly when he told her to be careful, but once he had straightened up she went right back to nuzzling her face into his side. "They always fight...," she complained quietly, "I wish they would get along." She already had tears welling in her eyes and trying to trail down her face, though they were catching in Nanashi's shirt. Nanashi looked down to Sri again when he heard her and then sighed softly and reached down to rub her back gently. "...I know...it would be nice if everyone could get along," he said softly. He hugged her back after a moment and looked down at her before he moved his hand to her face. "...Don't cry," he told her quietly. He smiled weakly at her when she sniffled and pulled away from him long enough to wipe her eyes. Kanone continued to stand where he was by the door in an awkward silence for a good while before he glanced around a little. After Nanashi got Sri to stop crying he cleared his throat quietly. "Well....I'm........still hungry....soo......," he reached over to snag Aamori's arm and gave it a light tug, obviously intent on dragging her with him. He didn't want to go in there by himself, and his stomach felt like it was about to eat itself, so he didn't really want to skip dinner. He did feel bad for Kyran but...well that was just how things went when you tried to go between clans or go for someone higher ranked than you were...and he'd done both. Then again, so had he, but Aamori wasn't interested in him anyway, so that didn't really matter. Kyiri had practically no idea what in the world was going on with everyone, but once all of the yelling died down and Kanone mentioned food she grabbed onto Celestine's wrist. "I'm hungry too!" she told him as she started to try to pull him toward the door. She whined when Celestine shook his head and looked up at him with watery eyes. "Come ooon...I don't wanna go by myself," she told him. She smiled when he sighed and caved in and then picked up the front of her dress and started toward the doors as well, still practically dragging Celestine behind her since he still obviously wasn't very thrilled with going back in there. |
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