parties for days

[follow_the_leader]

Holidays are supposed to be fun. Ema is pretty sure that this is true, at least. Her parents certainly seem excited every year. Normally, she doesn't mind it much. She's not that into parties necessarily, but some of it can be fun. The food and drinks are usually good, and the music, and the outfits. She does love watching the outfits. Some are wonderful, some are interesting, and there's always at least a couple that are just hilariously awful. She's still young enough that she's been able to get away with being shy; there's enough of a 'children should be seen and not heard' mentality that this is still considered Acceptable.

Or it was, anyway.

This year, they're going to a different set of parties, and The Twins are here.

Ema has literally never seen her parents this excited. They usually have opinions, of course, she wouldn't want to embarass them by showing up to an event in an inappropriate outfit or something like that. But this time they are so... into it. Ema doesn't get it. They fuss and hover and change their minds about what she should wear and send her to get her hair done and change their minds again and buy her three different pairs of shoes because they can't decide which she should wear, and...

Ema wants to scream at them. She has to try very hard not to be bitter at the twins. It's not their fault her parents think they're the Most Special People in the Universe. But Ema is feeling both overwhelmed by the attention and, somehow, oddly ignored at the same time. Don't her parents think she'll look nice without all this fussing? Or that she'll know how to be friendly and polite without all of their rules and speeches and injunctions about how to treat the twins? She knows this stuff! She's been a good daughter, she learned it all.

For better or worse, this all goes on for a good while before the weeks of parties actually arrive. Worse, because Ema is now thoroughly (if quietly) fed up with her parents. Better, because she's had enough time to process that it's really not the twins' fault, and she thinks she can manage to not feel like she's forcing friendliness if she meets them.

But really, she just wants this all to be over. By the time the Grand Event arrives she's already been going to parties for a week, smiling and making small talk and behaving just as her parents want her to. She arrives at the party, pastes a smile on her face, and starts to 'aimlessly' wander the edge of the party. She's just looking for a good vantage point, really. See-and-be-seen is best done from the sidelines, in her opinion. There must be a reasonable corner somewhere.

Comments

[scry_before]

There are several reasonable corners, the house is very polite like that. Unfortunately, there is exactly one person who very dearly wants one of those, and isn't allowed to have it. Even on the floater up here - people, people, people. All around him, asking if there's anything he needs, asking how he's feeling, is he all right? Is he enjoying the party? Is he enjoying the people? Are any pretty girls here catching his eye?

It would be an understatement to say he is sick of it. He was sick of it when he was ten. Now he's very definitively not ten, and is somewhere between a quiet, seething rage at all of these useless people, and fear. His mother's not here (they wouldn't let her near a large party like this, anyway, too many risks) so that's - something. But that means Veron's not here, either. He and his sister are alone. But at least they're alone together, right?

And the view's pretty. Not the view of the girls, stars above, no, he doesn't think 'pretty' when he looks at any of them now, he thinks, 'is she planning to drug me like the last five?' Scenery, though, scenery is fine. There's some benefit of putting your house in the most absurdly inconvenient location. Not worth putting a house on top of a nigh-unreachable cliff, he thinks, but hey, it's next to a waterfall. So that's nice.

A girl comes up to talk to him, disturbing him out of 'looking on the bright side' mode. He makes it about three sentences into the conversation to look to his sister with pleading eyes, begging for help. He doesn't want to talk to this person. Or anyone, really, but - this person especially not.

[headunbowed]

"Hey, cutie, I like your hair," says Zeviana, grinning at the girl with appraising eyes. "What'd you do to it? It's very pretty..."

"I - um. There was - magic, I - my sister did it, she knows how, I don't have the head for it."

"Aw, but you definitely have the eyes for it, they match beautifully -"

And that is when the girl politely flees.

Zeviana grins at her brother.

[scry_before]

"Thank you," mutters Adarin. "So much."

[headunbowed]

"Yup. Oh, look, clouds!" she says, looking at them and teasing him. "Don't you just find them fascinating? I think later I might go see what it's like to be in one."

[scry_before]

That makes him smile, a little. Got it, she would like to not be here, either.

"Pretty sure you can go flying after you leave the party. If you ask permission and have a chaperon."

In twin-speak, this means: Zeviana would like to slip the leash. Adarin just agreed to help.

[headunbowed]

But they can't exactly do that right now, not immediately. So, until then - mingling. Mingling with boring, boring people that have nothing of use to talk about. Yay.

[follow_the_leader]

Ema has just found an acceptable corner when her parents descend upon her. The Twins have arrived, it seems. Her mother has gone all fluttery with excitement and even her father seems jittery. They don't usually focus so much of their undivided attention on Ema, and it's making her nervous. Why is the twins' extra magic all that important, anyway?

(The thought is rhetorical. Her parents worry about it, sometimes at home, when they think she can't hear; that all the mages will die out, or weaken, or somehow be Lost to the World. Ema thinks it would be rather a tragedy if magic was lost, but that it wouldn't be the literal end of the world, so all the overwhelming concern is a bit of a mystery to her.)

Onwards she is hurried- she cannot quite use the word 'dragged', mostly because they are in public, but her father comes impressively close- to where the twins have been chatting with the other guests. There they wait their turn, as they are far from the only ones who wish to speak to the twins. Ema is impressed by her parents' patience; she would not have expected them to be calm enough to wait, this close to The Twins.

It's their first year at this sort of a party, and Ema doesn't recognize most of the guests, but as they wait, they're joined by an older man who Ema actually thinks she has seen her father talking to before. Only recently, she supposes he hasn't known her parents that long, but he greets them with a friendly smile and offers to introduce them. Well, that explains why her parents didn't mind waiting in a line, she supposes. She calms slightly. The prospect of just- going up to these people and introducing themselves- that was much scarier. Introductions are less... pushy.

(A little less, anyway.)

"Adarin! Zeviana! There you are!" The man says jovially. Ema is being very well behaved and will not be saying anything snarky tonight, she promised, but she can't help at least thinking how you could possibly miss The Twins when they've attracted this much of a crowd.

"Have you met the Milaris family?" The man says, then continues straight on without waiting for the obvious answer. "It's their first year here. Adarin and Zeviana Sorelas, meet Bilanoth and Eladine Milaris, and their daughter Emarila."

Ema's parents make polite noises with equally polite smiles. Ema's grateful that at least they're not being too obviously fluttery, but she's also very uncomfortable about that emphasis on that 'their daughter' bit. Well, she can't do anything about that now, not when she promised she'd behave. She smiles at the twins rather awkwardly. "Um. Good evening, nicetomeetyouboth," she says shyly.

[headunbowed]

"Hey," says Zeviana in a bored tone. She does not sound like she particularly cares who the Milaris family is.

[scry_before]

"Good evening," says The Other Twin, more politely. He has the urge to back away when 'And their daughter' is mentioned, but - no, no, he'll refrain. There is his polite smile, plastered right on his face and only looking a teensy bit forced.

[follow_the_leader]

Ema suppresses a smile. She is behaving, not inexplicably smiling. But it's nice to know that even The Twins can be bored at parties too.

Well, Zeviana, anyway. Adarin was perfectly polite, but Zeviana looks and sounds about as happy to be here as Ema feels. Solidarity!

Unfortunately, this would be an exceptionally poor conversational choice when directly in front of her parents and her father's friend. So, mundane party topics, right. She knows those, really she does.

"The party seems to be quite a success?" she tries. She winds up sounding a little more hesitant than she wanted, and a lot more vapid, but she meets Parental Standards for Polite Behavior and is rewarded with pleased and encouraging smiles. (Ugh.)

[headunbowed]

Vapid, hesitant, and boring. Zeviana is not impressed.

[scry_before]

"... The view's nice," agrees Adarin.

[follow_the_leader]

Ema nods. "The waterfall in particular. I've, um, never been on one of those platforms before, it's a fun way to see the river."

[headunbowed]

"Probably only fun until someone trips," says Zeviana, with a shrug. "And then, boom. Way less fun. Unless you know how to fly, then it's skydiving."

[scry_before]

"It's an extremely bad idea that they're missing railings entirely."

[headunbowed]

"They like to live on the edge!"

[follow_the_leader]

Ema boggles at them. "Wait, I thought- um. Are there not safety spells at all?"

"It's not a small platform, Ema darling, it's perfectly safe," her mother hastens to assure her.

[headunbowed]

"It's really not," snorts Zeviana. "Big gust of wind, and fwoosh! Everyone goes tumbling off."

[scry_before]

Adarin rolls his eyes. Yes, thank you, dearest sister, for the commentary. At least they're getting ahead on scaring the daughter away.

[follow_the_leader]

'Away' is debatable, but 'scaring' is accurate enough. "Is there, uh, another way to get down?"

"Ema!" Her mother sighs. Ema can tell she would be scolding if they were in private, but- politeness. Just sighing... for now. "The platform is lovely. And our hosts are very gracious for letting us use it, to visit their charming estate."

"...yes, Mother," Ema says quietly.

[headunbowed]

"Nevermind that a portal would be faster, safer, and way easier. Just less showy. Yes, thank you, gracious fucking hosts, for the wonderful death platforms."

[scry_before]

"Thank you, Ana," sighs Adarin. Which is a very polite, brotherly way of saying, 'Zeviana, stop talking, you will get in trouble and get hurt again and I don't want that.'

[headunbowed]

"Yeah, sorry," sighs Zeviana. She goes back to looking bored and annoyed with the party. If she goes and upsets people now, she won't be able to escape later.

[follow_the_leader]

"It's okay," Ema says shyly. Zeviana doesn't seem like she's trying to frighten Ema, it's just- a side effect of her ranting. Ema does not think this worth saying out loud, though, and certainly not in the middle of a party.

Ema's parents, meanwhile, are somewhat taken aback by Zeviana's whole... thing. Attitude, language. This is clearly not quite how their meeting The Twins went in their heads. So, rather than attempt to adjust their mindsets to handle the conversation as it has actually occurred, they just change the subject. "Have you been studying portal making, then? Our Ema's been studying some magic herself!" her father says proudly.

Given that she is at her very best merely barely adequate as a mage, and is in no way close to as powerful as either of the twins, this makes Ema uncomfortable all over again. He's trying to brag about her and it's not even impressive. Hissing at him would be slightly too obvious, though, so she goes for the secondary option. "Motherrrrrr!"

She gets a polite smile and a nudge in the ribs for her trouble. Right. Behaving. She pastes a smile back on her face, silently sighing. Maybe she can duck out of the party for a bit later. Alone time is sounding great right about now.

[headunbowed]

"Haven't, but I've had to listen to a fuck ton of teachers talk nonstop about it, that shit eventually does stick. And, good for her."

Zeviana does not care.