Arley Baratheon
Arley nodded lightly with a content smile, pleased with the response given to him by lady Lannister. Lady Lannister. Not Kaylee; he kept reminding himself. Although for the most part they were on friendly and informal terms, it was still a weight of a very formal setting that could take any additional friendliness the wrong way. It was all a big battle of wills after all.
"Good, good. Wonderful to hear," he mused, acknowledging her words.
"How are you? Have you been taking care of yourself?" Why of course she would ask him such question. It made perfect sense, and yet in his mind the answer to it was miles and miles of tangled strings one needed to follow individually to get out. And if there was anyone else asking him of such matter in such tone, stag's pride would act up. With Kaylee Lannister, however, he has been way overdue to act out. On the contrary, the tone behind the question was surprisingly welcome.
"I...," Arley started hesitantly, then briefly stopped with an exhale and a meek smirk. He stared in front of himself as he weighted out his response. It laid heavy on his heart to lie to her. No, he wasn't taking care of himself. No, he wasn't alright. He played one hell of a part however, and he was just as reluctant to toss away all the effort.
"Define taking care of myself," he finally responded with a jest to break the silence, but he knew very well that the lioness would not settle with it and leave it be. His smirk eventually faded as he faced the uncomfortable fact that he would have to be honest in the end.
"To be quite honest, it gets quiet and lonely quite often, back in Storm's End," the stag admitted, adjusting in his seat and intertwining his fingers repeatedly.
"I am keeping myself busy, mostly. That is the best I can put it. Other times, I get by. But I am still here. Better to be making the best of that, isn't it?" He smiled towards her before subtly changing the subject.
"Feeling confident about the morrow? It will be quite an event".
@Sailor Arti
Hagen Greyjoy
By the time Maddock stepped away from the table, Hagen had already had a few glasses of the wine, stopping only to follow his cousin at the corner of his eye, making sure he was truly gone. At least for the time being. Right after, his eyes drifted back across the table towards the lioness, and for once, he felt at ease with her company.
"Remind me to thank the damn Baratheon," Hagen mumbled and drank up what was left in his glass. Next to him, a young servant pouring wine seemed confused over whether the request was addressed to him, or a rhetorical pondering of the ironborn lord. He however chose not to ask of it, and it seemed to be the right decision because instead of repeating himself or worse, lord Greyjoy simply pointed to his empty glass with a simple order.
"Pour."
The servant seemed hesitant at first, but Hagen quickly repeated the request a bit less patiently this time, and the young man was quick to humor the ironborn. If nothing, then for the opportunity to hurry and move on before the man drank yet another glass, unfazed as if it was water he was drowning his boredom in. And the kraken was certainly bored. He did not do snugly little conversations with people he took no interest in, and he certainly did not keep to himself how much he despised all of those fake grins and pats on the back. Tomorrow could not come and go fast enough. With everyone getting on at the very least presentable terms with each other, including the lioness, the ironborn gradually grew restless in his chair.
After a few moments, he finally made a decision and decisively stood up, finishing the last glass of wine, before he simply left the table, with several highborns glaring at him in disbelief, whispering something among themselves and shaking their heads. Few bowed formally, or simply moved aside when the tall lord made his way down into the group of people scattered across the room, without much thought to how it may have looked.
Something, or rather someone in the crowd, managed to catch his attention just as he was to move along. Visenya seemed busy striking the conversation of her own, but this one was rather peculiar one. The woman standing with her seemed nothing like servant, and yet she had her hands on the entire jug of wine that she generously treated herself from. Good enough to peak his interest. As a matter of fact, anything out of the ordinary that was the mass facade would have been good enough.
"Now that is a clever idea right there," Hagen spoke with a chuckle, approaching behind the redhead, indirectly referring to her, but directly talking to Visenya that was facing him.
"Where would I be able to get a dozen of those?" He asked with a smirk.
@Applo
@DayDreamer
Zea of Lys
This, this place was much more to Zea's liking. Person of her profile thrived in densely populated, urban areas. King's Landing, just like Braavos, Volantis, Lys or any other great city back in Essos. Nevertheless it was just as different, albeit not necessarily in a bad way. Just...unusual. Expected cultural difference. For once she kept quiet, tagging along after the other two well... three, if one counted the dog. Which the Blondie seemed to be doing. Which also made no damn sense to her. It was an animal, and he most certainly treated it like a human being. Perhaps even slightly better than some.
Eloise certainly did not waste her time going about, rambling on about her noble origins that simply had Zea roll her eyes ever so often, and of course, eating as if she never had eaten before. Costing the good man a fortune. See now Zea knew how to handle herself without that same fortune. Granted, Torsten seemed all but amused every time she would smugly confirm she is not famished because she already ate. Now if only they could find this famous brother the girl wouldn't shut up about, so she would finally be able to do things as she pleases and where she pleases it.
As she ventured after the two, further into the King's Landing, Zea found it harder to keep up with them due to the awfuly crowd forming around them.
"Is it always so bloody crammed in here? It is disgusting!" Zea shouted over the crowd as someone carelessly pushed her aside and threw her off balance strong enough that she quickly reached for Torsten and grabbed his clothes for balance, catching up with a line of loud, juicy swears. The moment of lacking attention, and the girl was already-
"Gone again?! What is she made of? Air?!" Zea exclaimed visibly and audibly displeased when once AGAIN, Eloise simply vanished into the crowd. She was about to raise a fuss about it (naturally), but Torsten seemed to have more luck with locating the girl soon after. Or was it his dog. Did it even matter? The Blondie marched on forward, stepping in to alleyway and out of the crowd.
"Thank R'hllor," Zea groaned fixing her dress along the way, hurrying after the man and his dog that had no intention of stopping.
"Will. You. Bloody wait!" she rushed over the cracked pavement, skipping over something that seemed suspiciousy like shit at the last possible moment, all while she kept her dress well above the ground.
"You will find yourself quite miserably wrong about that," the female voice sounded from the alley.
"After all I have Zea, and you are just three men."
"So I get to pay for everything, including that turkey leg you just wasted, but only Zea gets a mention?" Zea heard Torsten complain around the corner when she finally caught up. To be honest, she felt stupidly proud she was acknowledged. Even if the one acknowledging her was a bit coo-coo. It counted!
"Well you know, if you'd just listen to me and steal things instead of buying them, you wouldn't have his issue...ehehoooh hey. What?" she stopped at her tracks next to Torsten, unprepared for whatever the mess Eloise seemed to be getting herself in. And when it specifically has a form of brutes, then it was quite a bit of it.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Zea hissed at Eloise, but the girl didn't seem to batter an eye in front of men. And she'd soon understand why that was. She was unmistakenably expected to do something about it.
"Oh you are NOT serious," she groaned in disbelief as she stared at three brutes and then sighed defeated, catching a glimpse of a small female behind all that mess.
"I suggest you leave darling, this is about to get too ugly for your pretty little eyes," Zea smirked meekly at the girl, gesturing with her hand as she stepped ahead.
"Run along now". One of the men however, blocked her view of the girl and Zea quickly switched her attention to the large figure approaching her as the other two weighted down their chances with Torsten.
"That's it darling. Right here," she teased the man.
"Full attention right here," she pointed at her own face, and after the initial confusion, the man suddenly seemed fixated on her with a rather dull expression in her face. Even with the calls from him intoxicated mates, he seemed to be prefering to stare at the woman in front of him.
"That's a good boy," Zea said cheekily, patting the man's chest and yet he still did not make a move.
"Be my guest, lady Eloise," she offered to Eloise ironically, alluding to her to choose herself what would it be that she wanted the infatuated man to do.
@DayDreamer
@Nemopedia
Yadon Maegyr
The man in a bright red robe certainly attracted quite a bit of the attention and many turned to assess his appearance, some with evident disgust, others with open interest, and mostly those of higher level classes greeted him openly, whispering among themselves when he would pass them by. He was one of those exotic envoys they all heard of but never saw, and even only with his appearance, he was quite the attraction.
As the bright red robe danced with his every step, it revealed and again hid numerous tattoos that decorated the man's body, each with its own story, telling the silent story of the experience behind the serene face to all those that knew how to read them. The First Sword of Braavos took his time exploring the strict center of the King's Landing, reaching out to people willing to strike a conversation and quickly slipping away whenever it would become overwhelming.
Yadon Maegyr was in good spirits, even though the mission that led him to King's Landing was anything but light in spirit. The Sealord demanded the first-hand report from the one he trusted the most. Although perhaps in its nature, the malice did not fail to reach their own either, and the air of Essos was anything but clear of tension. Whatever would happen in King's Landing tomorrow would certainly dictate Braavos' position on the big scale in the future towards other Free Cities and Westeros as well. Allies were welcome and fortunately, the current Sealord seemed to understand the importance of involvement just as much as the Tiger of Volantiss did.
Even with that in mind however, as it always was, Braavosi Sealord and his council saw no further than the political issues, and Yadon Maegyr laid most of his hopes and goals in the people. They were many and even if it did not seem like it, if push came to shove, they would be the one dictating the outcome of the politics, whether the high and mighty ones liked it or not. And he was there to help. Or not. Whatever would seem more appropriate to gain Braavos a significant advantage. As it always was, the tiger did his homework, and more or less already knew what to expect from those presenting significant pieces of the story. The situation was...interesting at the best, chaotic at the worst. If all else would fail, watching Westeros eat itself from the inside out would be a fascinating vision to witness. A shame, but a lesson.
Half way through the busiest street leading from the square, swarming with people, the First Sword stopped and frowned. It was in the air. A familiar sensation of strong magic hit him at the back of his head making his ears ring for the moment. And just like that, he found himself being carried to wherever the sensation would take him. Magic was not what Westeros was able to harvest as much, and when the unusual appearance as such happened to be having a meeting with each other somewhere nearby, it was sure to bring him along.
@DayDreamer
@Nemopedia