Queens Rave

A party! A party! The queen was going to another party! She was all too excited. This one, as she found out, was to be something called a rave. Oooh! Nadaline helped the queen plan her delicious outfit for the evening. She would have a pink, skin tight, spaghetti strap, crop top that would be paired with a pair of black skin tight leather pants that had holes here and there, and a pair of low, strappy, black heels. Nadaline decided that a tasteful rainbow belt would match the rest of this outfit well along with a little rubber rainbow bracelet on her left wrist. The queens red little locket was around her neck on a chain once again, hanging nicely just above her guild symbol on her chest.

“Your highness… forgive me for asking… but where exactly do you plan to go for the party? The flyer said all over Fiore there would be these block parties.” The blonde haired servant questioned while brushing the white hair of her queen into a nice neat wavy mess. She placed a little tiara in her hair that easily could be mistaken for a headband instead. The white queen blinks as she tilts her head up, tapping her chin as she did so. Where exactly did she want to go? She gasped as she pointed a finger up. “Hosenka.” She muses as she sways from side to side. “It’s been a while since I went to that beautiful place.” Nadaline smiles as she nods before she puts a light powder on her queens cheeks and looks to the mirror. “There. I think you are ready.” She glanced over her shoulder to her twin brother and raised an eyebrow. He nodded and quickly went in search of the guest the queen would be taking to this event again.

If he were to find the blond in the castle, Bertrand would give him the message to meet the queen in Hosenka for something. If he couldn’t find him in the castle, he’d send a quick message to wherever he would seem to be about the same thing. One way or another, Birch would receive the message to go with the queen.


The white queen looks around the brightly lit place as she bit her bottom lip excitedly. Nadaline and Bertrand didn’t tell her of her guest, once again, and she was ready to head in there on her own. The neon lights lit up the place with some flickering in tune with the music the DJ was playing, and she held her hands together in front of her chest. It was so shiny here. Her eyes instantly trailed to the wall and she gasped at the designs on it. The graffiti reminded her of the ones that Clementine had done before! She needed to remember to go and do something with her little mentee again as well… Shaking her head, the queen looked towards the crowd before her and started to make her way in. The ravers and cyberpunk dressed people were waving around shiny glow sticks and Saraphina determined that she wanted to have some as well.

Before she had left earlier, Nadaline asked the queen if she knew how to dance at a rave, but the queen figured that this would be something easy to do, and looking at all these people seeming to just jump around with their glow sticks and glow in the dark paint just seemed to prove her right! It didn’t require much knowledge of raves to know how to dance to them! Maybe this would become her next favorite type of music that she could be able to dance to no issue without care. Not that she didn’t already dance to her music without care already, but hey, who cared? Definitely not Queen Saraphina!

Kiss the Ground, Bow Down

Birch

Again. Again there was some sort of celebration in this frivolous country, this time for hardly any reason at all. Again Birch was fetched, pulled from his book in the perceived but never truly attained privacy of his room within the castle. Again he was to meet the self-proclaimed white queen somewhere in an obviously romantic set up. And as much as Birch could be jealous even if it was against his will, he couldn't help but wonder if Jester or any other male member of this guild was harassed as much as he was.

This time, he was to go to Hosenka to meet Saraphina. Their last excursion had been a doozy. A fake wedding had ended up more physical than he'd anticipated, a fact that the woman thankfully seemed to have forgotten entirely. It had been a strange encounter all around, ending with neither of them really acting themselves and fleeing from the Rune Knights after slaughtering the refugee Hostians along with everyone else in attendance. The bloodbath had certainly been the highlight of the whole thing in his opinion, though not enough to drown out the kiss and dancing and other happenings that only reminded him to resist more heartily. Yes, it seemed he had a type. He knew it and he hated it. He wanted to hate her. Up until this point, he'd been doing a decent job of doing just that and keeping his distance, though even in that he'd hit a whole new set of complications...

The sane decision would be to refuse to go. Stick to his guns, nip this all in the bud and get on with his goal. Time was running short for him. Yet he also knew that saying 'no' to Saraphina would only make things harder for him. He needed to stay in her good graces a little longer, and as much as he wished he could forego the perilous dance of imperfect manipulation, he was already too far in to turn back now. Birch was committed to this play, even though it was riddled with traps and dead ends and had no clear ending. Would he know when it was time to jump and pull the cord? It was all so messy.

In the end, the blond was moodily moving through the dancing crowds throughout the painted-neon town, hands in his pockets as he did his best not to actually touch the sweaty, light-waving partiers. Birch was unfamiliar with raves, and if this trip did nothing else, it imparted the knowledge of what one was as that he predictably hated them. The blacklights in the lanterns caused his white button-up to annoyingly glow, disappearing into the void of impeccably pressed black slacks. It was warm out, so his sleeves were rolled to the elbows, but otherwise, he looked as casual as Birch could possibly get. Once he caught sight of his 'date', he cursed Nadaline under his breath. Again the puffy princess dress was missing and instead she was wearing Birch kryptonite. For all his secrecy, the maid had caught on to his preference to the tight, ripped pants and shirts that showed the midriff. It was improper, indecent, and...dangerous.

If only he'd known Saraphina had no idea he was coming and couldn't get mad at him denying her.

Coming up behind her, his low voice struggled to cut through the energetic dance music and cacophony of voices. There couldn't possibly be a scene he belonged less in. "Saraphina."

     

---

     
     

Saraphina had honestly forgotten the majority of the fake wedding she and Birch had been dragged into. She did remember looking absolutely stunning in her dress though. But she didn't remember the kiss, or anything that transpired after that, having woken up back in her room with a splitting headache and Nadaline readying some food for her headache. She half chalked it up to magic casted on her or something as no one else would talk to her about her day out with Birch, making her sad that it had all been a dream. But that had been a while since then, and the white queen honestly forgot about it. Now her focus was solely on doing her queenly doings as she should with her lovely little guild of beautiful people. Or more importantly, tonight she was focusing on this rave and living in the present.

She was honestly oblivious to the people who were around her and how all were acting. She was having fun. Some booths were selling glow sticks, glow paint, glow bracelets, glow necklaces, fans that lit up and misted, and a bunch of other glowing bobbles for the casual raver to enjoy. Some booths were also selling alcohol of various colorful delights and flavors. It made her wonder about if she could have some for her enjoyment while partying here. She had raised her hands up and started moving her hips a little awkwardly with the music as someone came up behind her. She was about ready to jab her elbow back when the voice registered in her mind. She blushed deeply and turned herself around to look at Birch with a confused expression. “B-Birch?” She had gasped before she grinned. “You came to join me at this fun party?!” She had jumped up lightly to give him a hug, if he’d let her.

Looking back over her shoulder towards the stage, she hears the music change. She notices a bar and makes her way over there, slightly swaying her hips as she walked in tune with the pounding with the music. It was one of those songs that had the timed beat for it. She leaned over the counter a bit, smiling sweetly as she picked up the menu. "Ooh! I'd like to have a Sloth Toddy!" She giggles while she put the menu down. The bartender nods before he grabs some bottles and sloshed them in another cup before he shook it all up and poured it in the wavy looking glass. It was a lavender drink and glowing cyan ice cubes. As she went to grab it, the bartender stamps the back of her hand before leaving her be and going to another customer. She takes the drink and sips it a little bit. Sweetness with licorice. Yum! She feels herself already succumbing to the alcohol, even though she wasn’t aware of how alcohol reacted with her…

The queen made her way back over to Birch with her drink if he didn’t follow her, continuing to sip on it as she happily swayed from side to side. She was slowly mellowing out and glanced around the place at all the dancers. “Birch! Dance with me?” She pouts to him before she sips her purple drink before offering some of it to Birch. “It tastes really good. Try some. It’s so… light~ and great~ and… AMAZING!” She nods as she leans in to her companion, getting into his bubble and trying to get him to accept the drink she was offering him happily, giggling sweetly all the while.

Kiss the Ground, Bow Down

Birch

Ah, yes. Again she hadn't even known he was coming, and thus hadn't been expecting him. He could have declined the fetching and Saraphina would never have known. Wonderful. Her cursed servants were quickly becoming his least favorite people. How to play this? Should he make it obvious that he was sent to meet her by Bertrand and, presumably, Nadaline? Or would it serve him best to let that part slide and just hope this would work to his advantage someday? Either way, he was already here. Birch wasn't above turning around and leaving, but that would go over worst of all, he suspected. In the end, a simple "Yeah" and returning her hug served as his answer, leaving him to ultimately follow her as she made her way to the bar.

The music was terrible. In fact, Birch would never agree it was music at all. It was just rhythmic noise and thumping at a decibel that was far above what was necessary to be heard. Perhaps it was his age showing, but just by looking at him it seemed obvious it wasn't his style. All he could hope for was that Saraphina would get drunk quickly like she had before and they could return back to the castle quickly.

If he was to bear this scene for however long they were here, though, he would need to drink. Nothing on the menu looked familiar and they apparently didn't have whiskey or gin at this particular vendor, so he just ordered the same as Saraphina, a Sloth Toddy. Stupid name. However, as the second bartender took one look at his sour expression, he was instead given a disgustingly bright pink drink that she tried to elevate by adding a pointless sprig of green. On what planet did it seem someone of his stature and demeanor would want a drink such as this? However, after peeking at the lavender mess with the ridiculous ice cubes, he'd take his offering and stamp without much fuss and suck it down. All the drinks would clearly be as insane as this party.

The blond did have to admit that the drink wasn't bad. After he sipped it, he couldn't stop himself from draining the glass of its surprisingly delicious contents. Unbeknownst to him, his skin was starting to glow, starting in his belly which was thankfully beneath his shirt. In the short time it took him to rejoin Saraphina, all of his skin had taken on a dull glow that was only growing brighter. The side-effect Birch was more acutely aware of was a sudden, god-awful thirst that overtook him, so strongly in fact that he gripped her hand with the drink with which she invaded his space and pulled it to his lips, taking a hearty swig before releasing her. "God, that's so sweet!" he cringed in response, yet he couldn't say he wouldn't drink it all down if she offered again. So. Thirsty. His throat felt like a hot spot in Desierto, and he was craving the ridiculous pink drink as if it was god's nectar. In fact, he spotted them being elevated on a tray and carried through the dancing crowd. "Let's...dance that way," he pointed, not yet jonesing hard enough to head back to the bar to order one, but if he just happened to grab a random drink off a tray...

---

As Birch grabbed her drink, Saraphina slightly noticed the glow to his skin. “Your skin looks so… beautiful.” She muses as she leans more into him, slightly leaning on him if he let her while he sipped her drink. His comment on the drink made her giggle rather happily as she nodded. “Yes! It tastes so sweet and great!” She coos at him as she sways from side to side. She grabbed the drink back from him delicately and begun sipping it again. Her cheeks were starting to get a light shade of pink already even though she hadn’t had much to drink yet. She would have to get her maids to recreate this drink and make it just as great! Would the bartender give her the recipe? She sure hoped he would! Those thoughts were quickly derailed as Birch suggested dancing towards the crowd some, and her eyes lit up. Her eyes lit up rather brightly as she grabbed his hand and started pulling him along in the direction he wanted to go in.

She stopped in a slight clearing and begun doing some weird movement that mostly involved her hips swaying just barely in sync with the music. Her drink was raised up above her head to prevent it from spilling, though she wasn’t holding it too well and it was spilling regardless. While she was doing her weird little dance thing, people in the crowd started to move aside for a bit larger man as he came through. The presumed man was dressed in full cyberpunk gear. In all honesty, he looked like he could be a robot, if he wasn’t one already that is. As the current song started to come to a close, he drew closer to Saraphina and pointed a finger at her. The white queen blinked as she brought her drink over to her lips once again. She perked an eyebrow up and snickered some. Without asking, she passes her drink off to Birch after she took a slightly bigger sip, nearly finishing off the glass with about a third left in it.

“You’re wanting to dance? Come on!” She questions in a rather giggly maner. The alcohol was starting to settle in. As the song changed to another, the cyber robot man thing started to move and dance before Saraphina. His moves were robotic, and went in perfect rhythm with the song. She tilted her head a bit as she held up a hand and slowly tried to copy one of his dance moves. It honestly wasn’t going too well for her. She waved her hand, not wanting to bother with the strange dance, figuring she could just sway her hips from side to side and enjoying herself. She had done a couple body rolls while she danced, having seen some other female dancers doing them, but with her being inexperienced with them, they actually seemed more like rolling body stutters. Her dancing seemed to slow down a bit though the more she progressed with it against the cyber robot man. The alcohol was starting to settle in, but she was unaware and felt like she needed more. “This is boring.” She said after a little while and decided to just quit the dancing as the song was close to ending. The crowd was honestly confused at her actions and were murmuring to one another. Some were assuming that she was aware that she was a bad dancer, but in all honesty, she just didn’t care. The sloth toddy was still in her system, making her feel good still.

She was going back over to Birch, if he was where she left him, or elsewhere (in which she followed the glow of her handsome companion). She clung to his arm and sighs rather deeply after she was back to him. Just then, the DJ turned off the music and held a microphone up to his lips. “Ey yo pe-pole!” He calls out while waving up his hand with only his index and pinkie stretched out, the rock on symbol. “Is there anyone in the crowd who wants to volunteer being a DJ?!” Saraphina gasps as she grabs Birch’s arm with both her hands, shaking it a bit. “Biiiiiiiirch~!” She calls out as she quickly looks up to him, leaning her head on his bicep as she did so. “Can you go and DJ for me please? I want to see you DJ. Pretty Pleeeeeease?!” She jutted out her bottom lip to him before she reached one of her hands up and gingerly touched his cheek with the tips of her fingers. Oh, how she wished she could just kiss his lips. If she were to drink just one more sip of alcohol, she would probably assume that she dreamt it again. Right now was more teetering on the edge of dream thought and reality.

Kiss the Ground, Bow Down

Birch

  Birch wasn't drunk enough to think the movements Saraphina was doing were anything but terrible. While he didn't understand the robot, or robot-like person's dance and how it was either better or worse, he could at least cringe a little over what he was seeing in general. The crowd had a right to be confused. She looked a little like she was having a seizure, but was too drunk to really get into the convulsions. Actually, it reminded him of a woman he'd met in a traveling tent that had once come to his kingdom. They'd had exotic bellydancers and other services, but this one girl, in particular, had been without rhythm and the heart for any of it. Half-hearted belly dancing was a true tragedy. It was painful and empty. Like if obligation was a dance. It wasn't as enjoyable to watch and even someone like Birch felt a twinge of sympathetic embarrassment for her and everyone who was witnessing it, just as he was for Errings Rising's Queen just now. Soon enough, as easily as she had wandered into the center and tried to dance battle the robotic man she wandered back out, over it all. Her attention span was really very short, only playing into that petulant brat persona he generally disliked.

The tight-pantsed woman returned to his side, snuggling to his arm and dragging him off. It was only mere moments before her attention was on something else and she was begging him to DJ? What did that even stand for? Slow thoughts trickled through his Sloth Toddy brain, which meant the overt hostility he held for most things, especially those he didn't understand, was missing. Birch really was genuinely trying to remember what to stood for because he felt like he'd known at some point. Dirt Jester? Drop Johnny? No, this type of thing used to take records right? Another word was...Disc. Disc...Jockey. Yes, that's what DJ was. He still wasn't sure how jockey related to discs, but it didn't matter. People these days didn't use records or even discs. It was all electronic and...computery. Admittedly, most technology was completely lost on Birch. He'd certainly been around as it was invented and progressed, but he'd lived way longer without it and didn't have the patience to sit down and learn to use it for himself. It also opened people up to giving out too much info or getting info hacked and stolen, so for someone as secretive and paranoid about said secrets as Birch was, technology was just a no go. He didn't even have an iLac.

He did, however, have a little music play loaded with only a few songs. Birch occasionally liked to listen to music, especially when traveling to drown out all the chit chat around him. It was impractical to drag his record player and records with him, and his more portable disc player had been smashed on a job. With the help of one of the many maids around the castle had ultimately helped him acquire and put music files on his little lacpod, which he'd deemed safe due to its inability to hook to the net or communicate with other technology in any way other than via cord to a computer, and even then he'd bought the thing with a fake name and certainly put no information about him on it. The only thing someone could get from it was what style of music he liked.

So at Saraphina's urging, Birch smiled down at her and gave in with a little nod, then volunteered. This was a good idea anyway. At last, he could play something more his speed instead of this pounding, classless, garbage. Once he was stamped and handed a cord, he plugged his little device in and scrolled the wheel until he got to just what he wanted. The thumping, electronic dance music everyone undulated to abruptly stopped. In its place, the expert notes of an old, long-dead pianist began to twinkle out. A placid smile passed over the blond's face as he stood there, hearing classical piano music in stereo from high-quality speakers, echoing off the buildings that formed the walls of the rave. It was a beautiful moment. A well-timed breeze dramatically fluttered his shirt and wavy locks, as if the spirit of Chopin rushed down from heaven to embrace him. Music at last. Something of substance instead of mindless drumming and random noises!

The energy of the party took a giant nosedive. A murmuring started. People wondering what was happening, some calling Birch and the music gross and weird, others waiting to see drama unfold. "BOO!" someone toward the back called, escalating the murmur to a more urgent pleading for the DJ to reclaim his equipment and change it back. "Get off the stage!"

He complied, though not for the reasons they thought. Strangely, the DJ didn't move or speak, just standing there as if frozen in fear from the look of it. Birch floated down in ethereal bliss to approach Saraphina, bowing and offering his hand. "Now, this is some music we can dance to, m'lady," he spoke, easily heard over the classical tunes. The tall, normally broody and cranky man was absolutely serene and smiling as if he wanted nothing more in the world than to waltz with her right in the middle of this rapidly souring horde of intoxicated bimbos and gaudy neon graffiti.

     

---