rakta | salt inbox

i do know him. why do you ask?

They are feting in his honour sometime in the coming weeks. I would like for you to attend with me. We, together.

[ oh! she can feel herself getting flushed and warm. ]

i think i would enjoy that a great deal. i would like to go with you.

I'm delighted to hear it.

The host insists on something called 'pink tie' for the dress. I should try to understand what that means, so that we might dress appropriately.

Would you mind if I brought you a favour?

[ is this what courting proper is like? he is not opposed to the feeling. ]

as soon as you know, please educate me. i would enjoy if our outfits match and compliment one another. i believe that is the correct thing.

and, no. i would not mind. it would please me, to wear it, aemond.

[ he'll need to ask immediately, about this manner of dress. a man's clothing is easier by some measure to put together compared to that of a lady's; he would not deprive lauralae the time to feel satisfied with her own dress. ]

Do not laugh, but what are your favoured colours again?

why would i laugh?

i have a preference for dark colours. black, blue, green. like forests.

Black and green — the colours of my Houses. Surely we could wear some accents over this pink. In keeping with the spirit of the dress code.

It's nothing. I'm told that asking after one's preferred colours is a marked lack of creativity.

it seems foolish to call it a lack when we have never had reason to ask it before. i have been told asking questions is a good way to get to know someone, so it does you well.

i would wish to wear your colours, aemond, if we are to go together as a pair.

I'm of the same mind. Truly a strange thing to advise another, specially when we are all of us strangers here.

[ he thinks, perhaps, of making themselves each a braid of black and green ribbon to pin to their sleeve or lapel. perhaps a bit of gold, too, in honour of aegon as aemond's king, and blue for lae's remaining preference.

it would be a clear association, if he can figure out how to make a presentable pair. ]

Are there questions you would like to be asked?

i imagine they think we would learn more of each other in their strange games. but i would prefer to converse a little, to know a breath of the heart of someone.

[ not that she’s against the intimacies of this place either. it just seems easier when you know your partner a little. ]

i could not say what i would wish to be asked. i would not know it until it has happened, and i have been apart from people for some time. i am pleased to have been asked the question of accompanying you, however.

Difficult it would be for us to find common ground if we are constantly under attack by what they consider as games. We are the entertainment in this case, not the audience — surely that must count for something.

[ why shouldn't they press for some familiarity? some softer comfort? death is not an easy game to play, or a sweeter taste to swallow. ]

May I try, then? To happen upon what you might like?

i was speaking to another before. he thinks the games are a distraction, so we cannot unite against those who have trapped us here. it seems a sensible thought to me.

[ everything here is new and strange to her, so it’s hard to judge, but she knows how much isn’t right. she can wrap her mind around that. ]

you may. i believe i would enjoy your attempts, very much.

It is a sensible conclusion to come upon, agreed. A distracted smallfolk cannot unite against their lord or king, I do not imagine this tactic being any different here. 'Tis the purpose for the distraction that concerns me.

[ all of this strangeness must lend to it, in hindsight. not that this place isn't familiar to others; aemond and lauralae seem more the outliers, having come from places too different. it is the other queer aspects, like the changing halls, the hidden rooms — all seem intent on addling one's senses and bearings of the place. ]

Do your gloves warm you?

it is so, especially when the leaders of this house seem equally victim to the games of magic.

[ it had seemed that werewolf had been intended to be light fun; something had twisted it into a more real game. ]

they warm me, but also ensure that my hands do not harm another.

Perhaps they are victims now. Do you believe they always have in? Such a magic needs be allowed in, I would wager.

[ have the balfours gone from collaborators to hostages? ]

Would you like for a new pair of gloves? What sort of cloths do you prefer?

i wonder. magic comes at cost, and it may be that they have paid an unexpected price.

if you would like. as long as they will cover up to my elbow, i would be pleased. i have a preference for longer dresses, too, though a simple design. i see no need for complication.

[ it is the only logical conclusion, in the absence of all other information that they might know. troubling. ]

Velvet, then? Or a warm cotton, with a leather outer lining? Perhaps a light linen and silk? Simple need not be plain, I'm sure we can find something to your preference.

all of these materials would do me well, i think. if it is for the party, then perhaps velvet would suit? unless you intend to wear leathers, then i would choose to match with you.

Leathers are riding. Perhaps another time, for the leather and the leashes.

[ velvet or silk? if he could ask his mother for help, he would, but they are still at odds. were helaena here she could help him instead, may even fashion the articles herself for him.

matching with her, though — the thought warms him, but not with the sharp heat of lust. what a strange thing, this feeling. ]

Will you be braiding your hair? If so, I could match the wend too, if not the style fully.

there are horses here. we might ride together, though i can magic mine own.

[ More and more matching. Each offering has her feeling a strange giddiness, and she wonders if she ought to be fearful of it. The last time she had felt this way it had ended in such disaster…

Aemond is not him. He is better. ]

would you help me braid it?

If you teach me how it is done, I would and happily. You need not ask.

[ she is allowed her liberties, his little dragon, his lady of the darkened touch. why can he not take her with him back to westeros, and make her his queen? why not her instead of the baratheon girl he cannot even name if he tried? ]

Perhaps we could together but alone. I should like for that to be just ours, and not with others.

then we might do hair for each other, if you would permit it.

[ Perhaps she should be shyer, more careful with things, but she cannot resist it. He draws her sweetness out so easily. ]

on the night of the party, let us prepare together. hair and clothes, to ensure the symmetry.

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