sirenspull_logs | sweetly, those will come

Who: Alois (

faking) and 'Maddy' (

fridgetothefire).
When: Wednesday the 18th!
Where: Alois' faaaabulous mansion, of course.
Summary: Tea invite turns to a promise of a lavish dinner.
Warnings: None to be thought of!

He's excited to greet her - new friend, new someone and something. Alois Trancy wants desperately to impress this girl, to endear her, and then they'll settle down in a field of flowers and watch the sky and understand each other, ...or something. Well, he fantasizes a lot. But his offer was serious, and it's definitely upheld: ten minutes before seven, the platters are placed out. It's not a particularly large dinner because not everyone is eating - the household has such a varying schedule. But it's rich for certain, and there's wine off to the side, and then a cart with bottles of juice on ice.

He's eager and antsy, clicking round the entrance hall in his boots, trying not to bite his fingers. If he were six years old, this would be his equivalent of a play date. It's going to be the best ever, he decides.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I think building a home with somebody else might be even harder than doing it yourself," she observed quietly. "And, well, either way, it's lovely."

She sits with the sort of unthinkingly perfect posture that comes from being harshly reprimanded whenever one slips, and avoids being prim only by dint of her expressions, a little warmer, a little more shy than the composure of her body language. She starts on the salad, musing between bites.

"Our house was always filled with people, at home, and most of them didn't really like me, but I liked to listen to them when I could. It was the same way, it was like - at least I could get glimpses of the world, you know?"

You know? she asks, and Alois fiddles with his fork, wondering if he does know. The son of the late Lord Trancy ought to, but Alois has to think of his supposed past on the fly, sometimes. Finally, his mouth opens, but it hangs that way for a moment before he speaks.

"I think... Yes. That's the way it is now. My household - they're not really mine, or, they don't know how they are. They don't much like me either, I think. I'm tolerated... but we share things, right? These people and me? I guess that's what makes a household. You've got the same air in common, the same sense of space and being."

Loose shrug, and he puffs out his cheeks, toying with his food in a way that any Manners Mistress would weep for.

"But it's difficult, being young... when grown-ups rule the world."

"It's a nice thought," she murmurs, even though it isn't, really. "At home it was always - we did share the same air, but it was very...there was resentment, the sense that it didn't mean we had anything in common, that I shouldn't presume too much on their toleration. But there's more give and take here, I suppose, you have some leverage if you're even part owner, and then - you can work with that, build together." She frowns, her mouth twisting more a moment into a dour shape before she takes a gulp of water and tries the salmon, momentarily distracted with a little moan.

He can't help but stare just a little, and wonder. When Alois leaves the house, he's a crowd-watcher by nature, and often he enjoys planning their lives for them, and coming up with their pasts. It's admittedly difficult not to do that to people he knows... even people he knows well, as though he's deciding he has the right to rewrite all the time they've spent. Maddy, though, is new enough that he can mold her background pretty freely in his mind. Was it mostly terrible? Or were there lots of lovely things, to match her face?

But secretly, he wants to know her truths instead. That's the danger of meeting people here.

"I like your air!" he announces suddenly, with a little start. "I would share it! And I wouldn't resent it, either. So—" But he squirms a little in his seat, suddenly staring at his fork, instead, slightly wide-eyed in embarrassment. "You're right, though. And I didn't realize it before, but wanting something feels better when you're giving something too. I don't know, you sound wiser than I do."

She laughs, ducking her head and blushing a little again. She doesn't say that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, because even if it's maybe true, it's still far too revealing. But she smiles when she looks back up at him, bright and real, happy crinkles in the corners of her eyes.

"You're really sweet, Alois," she says instead. "I'd like that. And...I don't know if I'm wise. I spent a lot of time thinking about this stuff to myself, and now I finally have someone to share it with, that's all."

sweetly, those will come

/slowest sob orz

pfff that's me!

/skips off with. Slowly.

slowly but surely!!

onward brave taggers