(1311-04-09) Invitations
Summary: Bastien asks Emory to accompany him to a royal wedding.
RL Date: 04-09-2019
Related: None
bastien emory 

**Le Lis d'Or - Night Court **

The salon of Lis d'Or emanates the very air of refinement. Be it through the elaborately done inlay work in the wooden floor, a depiction of the marque of the salon, the golden lily; be it through the heavy curtains of purple brocade with golden lilies embroidered upon them guarding the floor to ceiling windows that look out on a carefully kept garden, where nature pointedly has been subjected to human hands and taste. Be it through the fashionable chaise longues and chairs, carved from dark mahogany, with the purple upholstery and embroidered cushions enhancing the comfort of seating. The walls have been kept to a light mauve hue, adorned with masterfully done paintings of several notable former courtesans of this salon. It is all there, the grace, the poise, the perfection, and sometimes even the frailty that has blended into this salon's canon. A canon so adequately displayed by the courtesans and adepts that can be encountered here.

When looking out of the windows, you see: It is a spring evening. The weather is cool and drizzling.


Bastien enters the salon, shaking off his cloak, which he hands off to a novice to deal with. How easy it is that the minor things seem to take over and show that Bastien is slowly adapting to being a noble and a guest to the salon. He is once again dressed in greens and golds, giving his grey eyes a green hue. As he walks through the salon, he accepts a glass of wine. He carouses as he walks across the floor, to both courtesan and guest alike. As he settles to a spot against the wall, where he has a good view of the salon, he casually sips at his wine, settling in for some people watching.

Emory stands in a small knot of courtesans and nobles, discussing something about one of the noble's horses, and plans to ride along the coast in the not too distant future. He has his usual glass of wine in one hand as he converses, a young noblewoman's arm laced through his as she laughs at something that one of the other nobles says. Tonight he is the courtesan, dressed from head to toe in blood red and black from soft boots that almost reach to his knees, to tight breeches that hug his physique, to the red shirt with the cutout in the back that allows his marque to be seen on full display.

It does not take long for Bastien to spot Emory. As he is dressed as a courtesan tonight, the young noble does not interrupt the courtesan's conversation. It doesn't take all that long before there are a couple of adepts standing around talking with Bastien. The boy comes here to feel like home, which is more than just Emory after all. That being said, Bastien's eyes often find themselves returning to the older man.

Lis d'Or is Bastien's home and he has far more friends than just Emory in residence, and so Emory certainly doesn't seem to expect to have his attention at all times either. He notices Bastien and the Adepts in conversation, and offers a smile, eyes lingering on him for a few moments, and then escorting the young woman on his arm over to another knot of people as she makes her way around the room, likely contracted to her company for the evening.

Bastien, despite his company, watches Emory and the noblewoman move about. His attention is obviously more with Emory than with whatever his conversation is about. He separates from the adepts and walks up behind Emory once he is unoccupied, placing his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Good evening, Emory."

Eventually, the young woman does depart Emory's company to return home. When he feels the hands on his shoulders, there's the slight arch of a brow as he goes to glance over his shoulder, but when he hears the familiar voice and sees that it is Bastien he says, "Good evening, Bastien. Welcome home. I trust you're having a pleasant visit?"

Bastien's eyes sweeps over Emory's marque, both admiring it and feeling a little jealous. His fingers leavae the man's shoulders as Bastien steps around to stand more in front of him. He has a smile on his lips, one that seems to be most natural there. "Oh yes, I am having a very plesant visit. And yourself, are you having a pleasant eventing?"

Emory remains still as Bastien takes in his marque, just watching him over his shoulder until he comes around in front of him. "Good," he says. "I'm glad to hear that." There's a quirk of his lips and he says, "Of course." Though he doesn't elaborate on that. Instead, he lifts his glass and takes a small sip from it, and regards Bastien over the edge of the glass.

Bastien takes a sip of his own wine, "So I have two reasons for coming tonight… To enjoy your company, which is always enough of a reason to come, but also, apparently there is a royal wedding, so I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to it. It is in a few months, sometime in June."

"Then to good company," Emory says and lifts his glass of wine to Bastien before taking another sip. When he mentions the wedding, however, Emory nods his head and says, "It would be my pleasure to accompany you. I will make sure to reserve the date."

Bastien looks at Emory and grins, "Excellent. The idea of wedding makes me more than a little worried. I just know that I am going to embarrass myself. I am sure that you will keep me from making too much of an idiot of myself."

"Why would you embarass yourself?" Emory inquires as he considers Bastien, holding his glass of wine off to one side. A passing novice refills it, and Bastien's too if he seems inclined to have more. "You were trained here as well. You know how to comport yourself well enough to attend a wedding, Bastien. Perhaps not wel enough to negotiate peace between warring nations — but I think you can manage to find the soup spoon without offending anyone."

Bastien shakes his head, "I don't know… I just don't trust myself." He reaches up and combs his hair back with his fingers. "It's not the little things like table settings or the proper titles and manners of address… it's just like jumping into deep water with a fierce undertow when you're not ready for the water. It's not just a wedding, it's a royal wedding between a foreign princess and a Mereliot. If I screw up, then I could embarrass the Mereliot family."

"You won't screw up," Emory says, then, expression softening a bit as he reaches out to gently touch Bastien's arm, giving it a small squeeze. "And I will be there to see that you don't. You can lean on me when you need to, and I will make sure that you don't fall." His voice is low and murmured to Bastien for his ears alone. "And I'm sure that between us we can manage not to spark an international incident."

Bastien chuckles softly, "Thank you. That is why I wanted to ask you to accompany me." His eyes move to the the hand on his arm. As he does, his features relaxes, as the stress from the topic fades away. He lets out a slow breath. "I know I am just being silly. I know that I was trained to be a social animal and that my time as a novice was almost over, but I feel like everything has just been thrown up in the air and nothing has settled down the way that it is supposed to go."

Emory can feel Bastien relaxing, and so gives his arm one more gentle squeeze before releasing him, the gentle touch having had the intended effect. He then takes up his glass and says, "The key is to be able to adapt as the landscape changes around you. Things are never going to fall exactly into place, but they are going to fall, and when they do, if you are ready with more than one plan, with more than one option to dodge or weave, you can turn things to your advantage and make the most of them."

Bastien laughs softly, "You make it sound so easy." He shakes his head slightly as if sweeping away his thoughts, "So, anything exciting happening for you?" He wants to inquire about the noblewoman from earlir, but has the grace not to do so." He pauses, "You know, I have always wondered how bad did the amrque hurt when you received it." Not that it is something that he will ever have to endure now.

"It's not," Emory says with a little flicker of a smile. "I certainly haven't mastered it, though I have gotten quite good at making it look like I have." He leans comfortably against the wall and toys with his glass of wine. "No," he says when asked if anything exciting is happening. "Nothing more exciting than a day in the life of the Lis d'Or," meaning that he likely spent the afternoon in bed with the young noblewoman, and then introduced her to those she wished introductions, before she headed home for the evening. "It hurt a bit," Emory says, "Though not so much as one might expect. But it was done a bit at a time over nearly a year and a half, so the pain was never particularly lengthy."

Bastien nods, "You do make it look easy. I have always been envious at the ease that you make it look." He takes another sip of his wine, looking over at Emory as he does so. "If you are done for the time, maybe we could spend a bit of time just chatting.. about anything you wish… "

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