Twilight Tea (The new IC Thread, open to all!)

"It's been awhile, Ren. You're looking better, I'm happy to see."

She patted Chanson's head with a whisper. "I'd like that very much, ma petite."

Then, she smiled at Adrien again. "Glad to see you doing well, too."

Breathe. I gingerly set the tea cup down, ignoring the urge to stand up and move away. It was just this sort of thing I had hoped to avoid--caught wearing strange clothes in strange company without any viable means of escape. This had happened before (the worst circumstances being Rain's wedding), but I had not meant for it to happen again, not so soon, and with the same particular person.

At the moment, Adrien seemed to be distracted with Aurora, but he was still standing closer to me. Despite the casual air of his entrance, I was quite certain his new position near the table was no mistake. He always did seem to have a whimsical purpose in everything he did, though one could hardly guess at what it was. At the moment, I was not particularly keen on finding out.

The best I could manage was leaning away from Adrien in order to shelter the little boy, hoping that he would not be too intimidated by the presence of these strangers. He was already quite tired, and I began to wonder where he would rest for the night. Where were his parents? I gently patted the boy's back, leaning further over the table to see his face while making a great effort to ignore the scent of Adrien's aura.

Adrien, still smiling at Aurora, said, "Swell, swell."

However, his attention turned to Leonna almost as if he sensed her immediate discomfort at his nearness. He smiled at her too. "Leonna, dear, you look good as usual ..." His eyes narrowed in a tender but shrewd manner. "Hm, I hope you are not still holding the wedding against me."

Ren gave an amused snort at the mention of the wedding. Leita almost squirmed in her seat at the mention of it and Ren's snort.

I leaned back into my chair with a deep sigh, refusing to meet Adrien's gaze as I brought the warm cup back up to my lips. For a moment, I was tempted to ignore his quip, but decided such was too impolite under the circumstances. With a calm swallow, I set the cup down with practiced grace, looking straight ahead rather than at the man beside me.

I did try to keep my posture dignified, but my cheeks grew warm on their own. "Such a gift you have, Adrien. I had almost hoped for a peaceful evening."

Adrien chuckled softly at her comment and her refusal to look at him. "It seems you do still hold it against me. You speak of it as if I always ruin your evenings. It was just the one, I remind you. It need not have been so bad if you had just relaxed in the first place."

"Well, that and then there was Khaz, of course," sneered Ren.

Leita wished there was some dark hole she could have crawled into at that moment.

It was odd. I looked back at Ren with undisturbed composure, the name ringing lightly in my ears. Oh yes, Khaz. I truly had butchured that meeting, and it was not the first time I had done so. There was something about the way he appeared, always in the wrong place at the worst time. Despite having failed to utter so much as a greeting, I did have the satisfaction of knowing that he had not disappeared entirely. Even if this was sudden, I knew it would only be a matter of time before...

My gaze flicked to Leita, whose uneasiness was still apparent. What could be troubling her so when she was surrounded by friends? I might have bothered with asking her what was the matter, but I had a sneering half dragon and a tormenting Ekimmu to deal with. I could not meet Adrien's gaze, for it would feel only heavier when I met those warm eyes. No, I did not need to forgive him just yet.

"You misunderstand me, Adrien. Nothing is ruined, nor can I say it is interrupted, as anyone is welcome in such a public establishment as this. I merely mean to say your timing is perfect; I was just about to leave."

"We both know that was not what you meant to say at all," replied Adrien. He sighed through his nose softly then, his tender eyes slightly heavy with a hint of sadness. "If you must go ... but I do miss the days you did not run from me so. I had hoped such a small transgression would not be held against me for long. After all, I had done it for both you and Rain. Not because I enjoy your discomfort in the least."

"Oh, so she's gonna run off?" said Ren. "That's kind of pathetic. Of course, she did faint. Was being dumped by Khaz such a shock?"

Leita's shoulders were traveling on an inward curve again and her hair fell around her slowly bowing face.

Dumped? That was an odd way to say it. Khaz had simply... disappeared. As if morning had finally come, he had vanished like a dream, gone with the night never to return. I had merely been surprised to see him, surprised that he was there at all, still solidly in the flesh. I had been embarassed for him to see me in such a state, pale and weak from overwhelmed nerves. In one singluar moment, all I had hoped of saying to him, all I had hoped to resolve if ever I had the chance, was trumped by one glance at his eyes. One look, and all the emotions rushed before the words were ever uttered, and then... nothing. He was gone once again.

"Indeed." Was all I managed, picking the cup up again with an unsteady hand. Quite suddenly, the teahouse felt cold, pricking at my skin as I struggled to swallow the tea. Ignoring Ren, I still remained turned away from Adrien, studing the patterns of the wall.

"It is not ill meaning I could accuse you of, Adrien, but of too much good. And it is other circumstances that bid me leave. You see, this child is quite tired, and we have yet to procure a place for him to rest."

Aurora sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb. "Is all this really necessary at this moment? In public? In front of at least three people who have nothing to do with whatever tension just walked in with you two." She glanced at Lex, Chanson and Cey as she spoke.

She levelled her gaze at Adrien, though it was more ironic than harsh. "Do all your kids have to carry around so much baggage that they randomly drop it while some nice people are just having a cup of tea and some genial conversation?"

Cey peered up slowly at the two newcomers, his eyes tired and only half open. Then he turned away and leaned gently against the kind lady. "They don't look like very nice people," he murmured, his eyes already closing. His breathing deepened as he began to slide into sleep, and with that, he was away.

Adrien gave Aurora an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid that's mostly just Ren."

"Oi, what does this have to do with my baggage?" said Ren, glaring at the two of them.

"Perhaps the fact that you can't seem to go more than five minutes around others without insulting them or making them terribly uncomfortable," replied Adrien, with warm factuality. Ren narrowed his glare. Adrien returned his gaze to Leonna. "My apologies, dear, for bringing this up around Ren. Please, do try to enjoy the rest of your evening with the young lad."

Chanson felt they were picking on Leonna. Even if Adrien seemed sad now, she remembered when he kept smiling at Leonna's miserable state at the wedding, and now it seemed they were going to continue. Especially Ren. She had gotten carried away with speaking with Aurora, so much so that her thoughts were her voice, and in that brief moment she lost the fact that only Aurora could hear her. "That's enough of that!" she glared firmly at Ren and Adrien, for the moment, not aware that they hadn't heard. But she had come in mostly late, after Aurora's intervention and in the midst of Adrien's apologies, even if it sounded like he wasn't truly sorry.

Aurora patted Chanson's shoulder. "It's alright." She looked at Leonna. "You can always have the Domerii put an extra pallet in your room for Cey."

Then, she turned to Ren. "You are more than welcome to sit and visit with us, but if you do not find yourself able to be civil or to play nice with the other children, you may feel free to take your animosity elsewhere."

She refilled Leita's cup with a smile, and looked to Lex with the smile of a good hostess. "I apologize for that, Lex. Would you like a refill?"

"It's alright." She said. Chanson was still a little irritated, but Aurora's forever calm demeanor made her turn around, back to her original position, facing the table and looking at the ceramics and snacks. She remained quiet now, not really pushing anything Aurora's way.

Aurora refilled her own cup and rested back in her chair, stroking Chanson's hair comfortingly.

It was comforting, she admitted. With that, she wriggled closer to Aurora, but she found it hard for conversation again. Perhaps they could continue the game they were playing before. But what would she ask, though? Chanson thought long and hard.. "Do you like music...?" She asked, "I like most kinds. Once I can dance to them."

"As do I," she answered, looking down at Chanson. "I love to dance. Perhaps that is something else we can do together."

Adrien's eyes went to Chanson, but they did so placidly. It seemed he was perfectly aware of what she had just said to him. Of course, she would think him being unfair to Leonna. But misery was optional, and Leonna simply chose misery, while he preferred not to. Speaking of those who choose misery. His eyes went next to Ren as Aurora conversed with the spirit child.

Ren merely snorted at what Aurora said. "I don't like tea." He turned around to leave as it seemed he was no longer going to be allowed to bully Leonna.

Once he left, Adrien said, "Hm. One wonders why he came in the first place then."

"At the cooking party." She thought, pushing it over to Aurora, "We'll play lots of music and eat lots of food! What about Halloween? Do you like Halloween?"

"To find the only person he knows he can make more miserable than himself." She glanced at Adrien as though this were obvious. "Misery loves company, and causing others discomfort is his maladjusted way of forgetting about his own."

Then, she looked around the room. "Time for a change of subject." She waved a hand, and the room seemed to shift slightly, to include a piano in one corner. It didn't alter the seating or ambiance in the room at all, but it's black laquered surface shown and seemed to even add a certain artistic warmth to the room. Next to it appeared a stool with a classical guitar propped against it, both a shining laquered black. "Nice choice." Aurora smiled in approval and looked at Chanson. "I really don't know much about your Halloween. Would you like to play now instead?"