A Good Lie Builds Great Friendships in the Weirdest Way....

"Please tell me you're making fun of me right now..." Lanshu uttered out in terror.

'I wish I were based on the look on your face, but I am not. She has been asking for your whereabouts all night. Were you supposed to be doing something important?' Destiny signaled with her delicate fingers that flowed like the water she bore from.

"...Fuck..." he grunted. "I am supposed to be keeping one eye and ear out, but it was boring and I wanted to get away for a minute. I must have been in here longer than I thought..."

'I'd say. The night is half-way over...and you smell of smoke...' she informed him as her eyes ran up and down his dirtied uniform.

"Yeah... Now I just need to think of a good excuse before Adelaide murders me..." he muttered to himself.

'Well...you can just say you followed me out here because it was suspicious. She doesn't need to know that you didn't know who I was until a few minutes ago or anything - just tell her you followed me out when I looked distressed, and I made you lose track of time.' Destiny informed him with a lackadaisical expression.

"...and if she yells at you?" He wondered with curiosity.

'What could she possibly yell at me for? I'm already going to be in trouble with my father when he finds out Vincent isn't going to marry me. Whatever Queen Adelaide has to say to me will pale in comparison.'

"As much as I appreciate your offer, but I feel the need to warn you that my Queen's tongue is sharper than a knife or sword. She knows exactly what to say to push someone's buttons. She's a fierce business woman, and from what I understand, this marriage was supposed to work out well for her somehow." Lanshu sounded as though he explained something to an invisible audience, for he muttered far more than he spoke towards the end of his words.

Destiny signed towards him, but his attention was spent elsewhere as thoughts churned in his head. So, to get his attention she reached out and touched his shoulder, and when he turned to her - she had not expected for her heart to leap into her throat again like it had.

For whatever reason, his eyes commanded all of her attention and made her stomach react in eruption after eruption of butterflies. The way he breathed, the way he looked at her with genuine curiosity - it was all right out of a raunchy romance novel she'd sneak from her sister's rooms from time to time.

'What do you mean this was a good deal for her? Protea isn't aligned with Chimora, is it?' She asked Lanshu with furrowed brows.

"I'm sorry, I said too much. I'm not at liberty to say at the moment. I fear things may be a little...tense... now, though. I can't imagine she's happy about this. She's probably been looking for me all night to get a status report on how the other royals feel about this move...damn it... I should have been doing my job..." He lamented and ran his hands through his wavy bangs in exasperation.

'So you're just going to plop something about me into my lap in a closed box, and not open it for me? Really?' She questioned with heat in her eyes as she realized he hadn't jested in his response.

"As cruel as it is... yes..." He admitted with shame and cast his glance away from her. "I don't know what is going on as of this moment, so it would be impossible for me to say anything accurate right now. Let me actually do my job, and I'll let you know what the gossip is all about."

Destiny's lips curved down harder, and this time not in frustration - but sadness and a bit of disgust. She hated these royal games. It was stupid how they used each and every one of each other like pawns on a board instead of people.

...and boy did she feel like a pawn right now.

'At least you said the right term for it - because, yes, it is cruel.' She finally signed to him and rolled her eyes at the situation.

"I'm sorry, Destiny. If you'd like, I can return back to the ballroom and pretend I didn't see you, so you can have a little more time to yourself, if you'd prefer." He offered as though it would help her wondering mind at all.

She denied him with another head shake and signed on. 'I'm fine, really. I think you need me more than I need you. Are you sure you don't want a convenient lie? I know I would...'

He gave her a stone stare for a brief moment, and then gave in to her suggestion. "I really, really would - yes. She'll think I was doing my job instead of slacking off here doing things I shouldn't be doing." Lanshu gave a soft laugh of discomfort as it wasn't lost on him how terribly this all would have turned out if not for their chance meeting.

'That's what I figured, big, powerful, tall, man....' She grinned at him and reached up to move a small leaf of some sort off of his jacket's sleeve - probably whatever he was smoking.

"Alright, alright - I earned your little jab. I guess it's pretty funny for a giant like me to be afraid of someone as small as Adelaide...but she's terrifying, truly." He sounded as though he were in an attempt to convince her.

'I can imagine. She's the oldest living being alive. I think it was the old Lord, Al'Hazier before her - right? Isn't one of his wives still alive? I wonder how that worked out....' She enjoyed being able to speak with someone for once. This was the longest conversation she'd ever had with someone outside of her kingdom before, and unlike all the other tired lines she shared with other officials, Lanshu was pleasant to talk with.

"Unfortunately, she's the reason he decided to find a way to die. Once she passed, he didn't want to live anymore. Even with his daughters, and grandchildren alive - the old man was tired. I don't blame him. He was here before the Humans - so it's weird he was here after them, too. It feels like a legend burning out..."

'Mmhm,' she agreed with a gentle nod. Now she didn't want to go back to the party. This right here was something she enjoyed far more than the idea of a dance, or any kind of party.

"Ready to go back and make an appearance?" He asked just as she started to gain some courage to request he stay out here with her just a little longer....but his insistence was correct. They did have to go back or they'd both be whispers in the ears of everyone else for the rest of the evening.

'I suppose....I'm not looking forward to having to sit and watch other dance some more...' Destiny admitted and once more crossed her arms, but this time because she became cold.

"So then don't watch, and dance with me. I promise I won't step on your feet too much," he joked and before she could reply, he removed his coat and put it over her shoulders.

The scent pulled her town into an intoxicated daydream of being in his arms, and being kissed by his lips, and squeezed by his hands. The ash, wood, and jasmine that erupted from the silky fibers on her skin made her quiver more than the chilled air.

If she could, she'd have stolen it and never given the cloth back - for it comforted her far more than anything she brought with her from home -- including the stuffed whale she had tucked away for those lonely, sad nights.

He must have tried to get her attention for a while, because it wasn't until he put a hand to her arm that she jolted awake from her naughty and brief daydream about being surrounded by his scent underneath his bare body in his bed.

She had to shake the thought from her mind it was so potent, and played innocent with a, 'hmm? I'm sorry. I got distracted by a shooting star' line.

"Oh? Are you sure you're not just distracted by being cold? Your scales are a bit raised. We should get you inside before you catch something - or worse." He offered his arm to her, and without hesitation she gently lay her arm under his and allowed him to escort her back into the castle where music still blared out happily, and the party was still in full-swing.

...What a funny night... At first she desired the attention of a man who was so aloof to her that she may as well be paint on the wall -- and now, all she could think of bitterly is how much she didn't want his eyes on her anymore. Instead, she would have killed every single enemy in her father's war in order to stay in the arms of Lanshu, who had swept her off of her feet far faster than the rolling waves in a storm.