Spumoni, Strudel and Sweet Potato Pie

[visualspice]

OOC: This Thread has come from: The Dessert Table. See Rules of the Table before joining! Thanks!

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Lord Edward Draven could never decide on anything, especially where liquor or desserts were of concerned- and even less so about his choice to return to society. This was an illustrious event, after all, and quite a big deal. He felt his hands sweating, this was also the first time he left his baby daughter, Britta, home alone with the servants. He made sure she had enough toys to last her to next spring, and instructed to the maid to give her a hot bath..

Even still, as he stared across the dessert table, a glass of champagne in his other hand, he found  himself sighing exhaustedly.
"I keep staring through at the Spumoni, remembering all of Britta's colorful clothing," he said, picking at it with a dessert fork before sighing again and turning to some apple strudel, and then beside, his eyes glanced past the sweet potato pie.

"Audric.... I honestly don't know if I'm ready for such an event. And this costume is stifling." Pulling at the collar of his shirt, he was decked out in royal blue all over- a fancy suit fitted with feathers on his arm,a nd a mask to match iwth a black hooked beak- for he was what he always fancied, a blue bird.

[Ivory]

"I don't think anyone's ready for a party like this," the Duke of Allar answered as he surveyed the room.  His own outfit had been chosen by his wife upon hearing his plans to attend as the Masked Mordecai.  He had thought it a rather good idea, assuming Leif was willing to play the part of the Shrouded Swordsman...  But, instead, Nera had insisted he wear this outfit...which wasn't bad, per se...

To complement his wife's swan outfit, he wore that of a masked prince.  A crossbow, disabled, of course, hung over his shoulder.  It was from a story, apparently...and he was grateful to his wife for her choice.

Bringing all that up, however, would only remind the man of what he had lost.

"Have a drink and just..."  Audric made a vague motion with his hand.  "Stick your toes in the water a bit before you jump in headfirst."

[visualspice]

Edward sighed and lifted up the mask, beak first as he peered over at Audric.
"That's easy for you to say. Your wife is a water bird." Though his joke was a bit lame, he afforded AUdric a grin before wiping the sweat from his nose, then resetting the mask upon his face. Then he sighed.
"I know it's just... I know it's been over a year but I just... I don't know. I still think it's too soon..." Especially considering coming back to society meant, well, that he might be possibly looking for a wife. And although he should, he definitely was not, for his heart ached too much for his late wife.
Sighing again, he lifted his drinking glass weakly to his friend.
"Here's to a new year, new begnnings, and more...parties... like this, I guess." And he gave a gesture of his arm, but ended up spilling wine on it as he sighed.

[Ivory]

It didn't matter that the joke was lame.  After Audric had processed the joke for a second, his grin stretched out, and he laughed.  "Just because my wife can swim hardly means I can."

Which was true on two levels!  Audric remained a bit awkward, socially.  While he could be an absolute gentleman and often was, he sometimes forgot himself and fell back on old habits...like using the wrong fork, taking too many hors d'oeuvres, or letting slip a word that a gentleman should never know, let alone speak.  But, old habits...

"You'll have fun.  And, if you aren't having fun, you're doing it wrong.  First thing's first, if you pretend you're having a good time, maybe you'll forget you aren't."

Seemed like a reasonable theory!

[visualspice]

Edward smiled at his friend through a smile.
"There might be some method to your madness, Audric. But I guess I could always retire early for the night." And as he lifted his drink to his lips, he nearly choked on it when he caught sight of a woman off into the corner. She was surrounded by many people, but somehow, the sight of her made him do a double take.

But even as he stared, he simply replied off the cuff...
"Some interesting costumes tonight..."

[Ivory]

Audric half-turned, expecting to see...  Well, he wasn't at all sure what he expected to see, truth be told...

"Nera wouldn't let me leave the house in the costume I wanted to wear."  He sighed dramatically.  "I thought it would be hilarious to attend as the Masked Mordecai."  His grin, charming though the ladies found it, promised trouble to anyone who knew him well.  "Just to see people's faces."

[kleineklementine]

Riley was not proving to be the best escort. It was no surprise that he'd wanted to make a b-line to the dessert table as soon as they arrived. No doubt fancy cakes would be one of the highlights of the night for him. But Dahlia was not excused from social convention in the same way a ten year old boy was and she was soon snatched into a  knot of party-goers by an older woman who was an old friend of 'dear Helen,' a she insisted upon calling Dahlia's mother-in-law. The woman was dressed in a truly terrifying costume that she claimed was a unicorn. The idea was perhaps better than the execution and the result – a giant, white crinoline skirt and bodice laced with gold, and a mask that somewhat resembled a wide horse-like horned mask – left her looking more like the bride of a hippopotamus than the desired unicorn. The rest of the costumes – dragons and fairies and even one man who managed to be a knight and horse in one – left Dahlia looking rather understated. Her red-winged blackbird attire consisted simply of a strapless black dress and long black gloves, adorned only by bright sheets of red and yellow silk that looped from the dress's bodice to her wrists and a black feather mask that covered her eyes.

When she got a break from nodding politely and saying 'hm,' 'mhm,' and 'oh!' as the gargantuan old woman held court about this thing or that, Dahlia shot a glare at her son. Riley, piling tarts and cream puffs onto his fancy little plate, gave her a sheepish grin in response. She was on her own. Once upon a time, Dahlia would have enjoyed this interaction. At things like this, her and Kerry used to keep careful track of all the ridiculous stories and self-flattery told by people like the unicorn woman, and then share their jokes when they got home, sending each other into stitches. Kerry was exceptionally good at it and always knew what questions to ask, ever-so-charmingly, to egg the person on.

"Dear? Dear?"

Dahlia's attention was snapped back as a spindly old woman dressed as some sort of flower called repeatedly to her. It seemed the woman had asked her a question, and eyes were expectantly on her. "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was saying," the woman repeated pointedly, "how sad it is to see a pretty thing like you here all alone. What a waste! Surely, you must be looking for a man?" she asked in that sweet voice that meant what she really wanted was gossip.

Dahlia just stared at her for a beat before pointing to Riley and responding diplomatically, "Oh no. My escort is that tiny little falcon over there stuffing his beak with cream puffs."

[visualspice]

When Edward noted the child nearby, nearly stepping on his boots in order to get to a pile of cream puffs, he found himself smiling and, with some nonchalance, reached across the table and pushed it nearer to him.Then he pushed another serving plate even closer to the child and whispered, so that only he could hear (though since Audric was nearby, his friend could probably hear it too,)

"The ones in the back are really good- filled with vanilla truffle. Though the ones in front, with the red sprinkles, are filled with cherry. I heard they are both excellent choices." And he grinned down at the child to let him know it was ok to add more to his already towering plate. Might as well let him enjoy it. He recalled being younger at such occasions and being stifled by adults at every corner. One vow he had made as a father, was never to be that dad.

[kleineklementine]

Riley stopped when the man stooped to talk to him. He was something of a frank child and he paused to look Edward over. Rather than sticking to the topic of desserts, he stated matter-of-factly, "I suppose you're a blue bird. I'm a falcon. I'm actually a peregrine falcon," he corrected, and now reached over the table for the various desserts Edward had suggested. One of each. "Peregrine falcons are the fastest falcons on earth. When they're diving during a hunt, they're one of the fastest animals in the world. Maybe there are some dragons faster than them, I don't know. I'm not really interested in dragons. You can't hunt with dragons, can you? You can hunt with falcons. I have a kestrel at home. They're smaller than a peregrine falcon. They're better for hunting with, though, because they hunt small land critters. But peregrine falcons," with his plate full again, Riley turned back to Edward and continued talking with a mouth half full of the vanilla cream puff, "hunt mostly other birds. Pigeons and songbirds like," he gave Edward an impish grin, smudging some frosting from his face, "blue birds."

[visualspice]

Edward hadn't expected the child's dialogue, and his smile twitched into something bigger. And, not feeling the need to go back and comment on the child's commentary on birds, he stooped down even further so that he was more nearer to Riley's eye level and looked at him- bird to bird.

"Should I be worried?" he whispered, catching the boy's grin on his frosted smudged face, and returning it with an equally playful grin of his own.

[Vivi]

Why oh why had his mother thought this would be a good idea? Realistically, he knew she'd wanted a united front for Braxton's sake, or maybe just as many good examples at the party as possible - though how she'd said that with a straight face, he'd never know. He knew this on an intellectual level, but he still despaired of how she expected them to achieve that objective.

No sooner had he arrived than he was swept up by what seemed to be a crowd of his mothers friends, judging by their age and the fact that they were about three seconds from pinching his cheeks. Hadn't he grown? How were his studies? Had he made acquaintance with any of the ladies here yet? Out of the loop of nobility as he was, the questions soon became repetitive, and judging by the rather fixed smile beneath his mask, even he was struggling to come up with something other than pleasant banalities. Granted, he was good at them, twittering away reasonably well at first, but after a while it petered out to be replaced by answers of a few words and fervent nods where appropriate. Goodness gracious, he was just no good at this schmoozing lark. He'd much rather be in the common room with the other lads his age, or reading in the college solar as the stars came out - something infinitely more fulfilling. Instead, he'd been trying to inch over to the dessert table without straight-up abandoning them for about ten minutes, but it wasn't going all that well.

"And you look so handsome in that costume, my dear boy." A woman dressed as what was either a weasel or an elongated cat reached out to adjust his lions mane, either forgetting or not caring that it was growing out of his head and not the mask. He set his smile against the tugging, and waited for the tirade to subside. "How you can hide yourself away in that college when so many young ladies simply cry out for lads like you! It's such a shame!"

I am twenty five God-damned years old, woman. Rang a little voice in his head, far more catty and acidic than he would ever be aloud. It wasn't polite, and it certainly wasn't pleasant, but it calmed him down to at least think it. On the outside, he shrugged, re-adjusting everything she'd upset when she finally stepped away. He turned to survey the room - still looking for an opportunity to grab something to eat - when his eye caught a flash of black and yellow. Dearest Dahlia stood in what looked like a similar predicament to him, lorded over by a woman in a monstrous... was that a narwhal costume? He'd seen those in a bestiary once. Whatever it was, he could see his poor sister wilting from here. He begged the ladies pardon, escaping before one of them could play with his hair again. Looked to be a case of saved by the siblings, in more ways than one.

"I doubt anyone here could beat our Riley in the escort stakes." He chimed in, stepping to his sisters elbow. He grinned from underneath the gold of his mask, nodding a hello. "Dahlia love, how are you? I've been meaning to say a proper hello since we arrived!" It was a lie, of course, since they had all arrived together, but what was a lie when his poor sister was being threatened with a narwhal-thing?

[kleineklementine]

"Probably not," Riley answered, the grin being replaced by the same earnest expression he'd started out with, "you're much bigger than me."

He bit into the cherry-filled puff and looked over to see how his mother was faring. He'd been thinking that he probably ought to rescue her soon – it was his responsibility, after all! - but just then Oscar showed up and swooped in. Excellent. Riley could spend awhile longer with the desserts!

That settled, he turned back to Edward and looked him over again before asking with all the magnificent bluntness of a child, "So why are you hiding by the dessert table? I'm too short to dance properly with any of the ladies. I have to wait until they've all had a bit more to drink. Then they won't mind and everyone will want to dance with me." Riley shot a glance back in his mother's direction. Though delivered deadpan, he knew this last remark was cheeky and would probably earn him a swat on the head if she'd heard it. But she was still in the grips of that social knot, so he was safe. He took another cake and looked back to Edward. "So I may as well eat cakes until then."


"Well, isn't he just darling," cooed the spindly flower woman.

Dahlia looked sidelong at her younger brother. Her first feeling was gratitude that he'd throw himself into the pit with her. But it only lasted a minute. If Dahlia needed anything to pull her out of sad memories of parties she'd attended with Kerry, it was the opportunity to have a bit of fun with one of her siblings. By which she meant, throw her brother under the bus. ((Or medieval equivalent of a bus. It's late!))

She turned to Oscar with a loud tut. "Dahlia? Who's this Dahlia you speak of? The whole point of this evening is that anyone could be anyone." She laughed off his faux pas in a performance for the others and put her arms around Oscar. "Did you know," she asked animatedly to the Narwhal and the Spindly Flower, "that this young man is still unmarried? He isn't even betrothed to anyone. He told me before we left," she told the women in high confidentiality, still holding onto him, "just how much he's hoping to meet someone tonight. You don't know any nice young ladies unspoken for, do you?"

This set all the women, not just the Narwhal and Flower, into a titter. How could such a handsome young man still be single? Wasn't Lord So-and-So's daughter still unbetrothed? Which did this lion prefer, blondes or burnets? Lady Narwhal had a grand-niece that was just a little peach of a thing! Would Oscar like to meet her?

While the women chattered excitedly, Dahlia gave Oscar a squeeze and a smirk. You're welcome! it said.

[visualspice]

Well, wasn't this child a charming little rascal! Boys will be boys! Though boys like him, he knew he'd have to be careful for when his daughter became of age. For now, she was nothing more than an infant, but give the child a few years and he just knew she'd be as beautiful as her mother.

"You know, when I was your age, I also liked dancing. Though I was fortunate enough to have a partner in almost every event." After all, he and his wife had been sweet since they were young, though as they got older, these sorts of events were used as excuses to hide away to sneak in a kiss or two!  He smiled a bit more at the memory.

"Just be wary of those cream puffs. If you eat too many, you might get sick before you get a chance to dance."

[kleineklementine]

Riley didn't respond to Edward's comments about the number of cream puffs he was eating, but when he finished the one currently in his hand, he didn't pick up another.

Instead, he looked frankly at Edward and insisted, "You didn't actually answer my question." Then, thinking that this might have been a little rude, he added hastily, "Sir."

[Vivi]

How poor Oscar hadn't seen this one coming, he had no idea. The word 'unmarried' was like a lure to these women, and his own sister had thrown him in! Though, to be honest, that part he definitely should have seen coming.

He twisted in Dahlia's grasp, eyes wide with horror behind his mask. "You traitor!" He hissed, but it was too late: for all his good intentions, he now found himself in an even worse situation than he'd been before. Not just the gossiping Narwhal or the elongated cat-weasel from before, but now all of them converged on him as though they were sharks and he were bloody meat, wittering ten to the dozen.

Bloody Dahlia.

"I... I..." Oscar's smile was wide and brittle, stammering in his attempt to keep up with them all. Did he like the look of this daughter, or that niece, or how did he think another young lady had been getting along - very nice, wasn't she? He tried desperately to deflect, to be diplomatic. "I-I really couldn't say, everyone's hidden under their masks and I'd hate to be improper..." But that just made it worse, because if there was one thing better than a single young man, it was a single young man with manners. He caught his sisters smirk, sending back a rare glare of his own. Oh, he was going to get her back for this one, just see if he didn't.

[visualspice]

Edward's brows raised at the boys question before his lips turned up into a quirky, leftward smile.
"Well, I, that is to say," he began, clearing his throat and moving a hand to ruffle Riley's hair "That not only children like desserts. I, myself, am a connoisseur of desserts, and thus felt it my duty to remain here... all night." He said with a wink to the boy. "Besides, if you must know, " he added with a playful laugh. "I am dreadfully awkward at these events. Not all of us adults are perfect."

[kleineklementine]

Riley frowned as Edward ruffled his hair, but since this was a Best Behavior affair, he managed not to recoil. He took a moment to un-ruffle his hair (and feathers!) and asked, "Which adults are 'perfect?'"

Repreened and somewhat recovered from the indignity of the ruffled hair, Riley straightened again. "I actually am escorting someone," he said with an airy importance, "but I'm hoping she finds someone else to dance with her."


"You'll have to forgive him," Dahlia told the assorted crowd as Oscar stammered, "he spends all his time at the university with books and scrolls and charts, so he's awfully shy."

This illicited a round of cooing sympathy from the women. What could be more adorable than a shy, handsome, polite young man dressed as a lion?

"What's that you're studying, darling brother? Stars or some such?" Dahlia knew full well what Oscar's work was, of course, but this allowed her to turn to the women and add, "He spends all these long nights alone, gazing up at the night sky and tracking its celestial bodies. Very romantic, isn't it? But it doesn't make him very good at talking to women."

One of the men chimed in now. A large man, if not tall, with an impressive handlebar mustache dressed as a badger. "Harumph! That's what shutting yourself up in a university will do for you, boy! You need to get yourself in the army. Nothing raises confidence like a uniform and a proper weapon!"

Another man, the one dressed as a knight on his horse, gave a hearty laugh. "Oh-ho! The army is a fine career, to be sure, but for a spindly star-gazer like this one? Oh, no offense intended, of course, lad," he added hastily to Oscar. "All the boy really needs is some liquid courage! Does the trick every time. I know I wouldn't have my darling here without it." At this remark, he pinched the 'tail feathers' of a plump little woman dressed rather comically as a damsel in distress. "Let me get you something, lad," he said with another booming laugh and returned a moment later with a glass of champagne filled to the brim for Oscar. "There you are! Drink three or four of those and you'll have the ladies falling at your feet, I'm sure of it!"

Dahlia smiled sweetly at Oscar, scrunching her nose and eyes. "See, baby brother? And I'm sure once you pluck up some courage everyone here would be happy to help introduce you to all the fine young ladies here tonight."

This was met with a chorus of eager agreement from the women. Dahlia was, finally, enjoying herself!

[visualspice]

"Oh?" Edward said curiously, giving the boy an even warmer smile as he assumed.. "Having come here with your mother?"
After all.. he was too young to have brought any one else!


OOC: Sorry, short post is short D:

[kleineklementine]

"Yes," Riley answered. If he was meant to be embarrassed by this, he showed no sign of it. "My older brother just left for the army, so I'm here even though I'm the youngest." The boy looked back in the direction of Dahlia, Oscar, and the small group of terrifyingly-clad party-goers and frowned. "I'm not doing the best job," he admitted, "but that unicorn woman was terrifying. And my uncle's there now so..."

Suddenly, Riley realized what Edward might have meant in his question and turned back at the man. "Oh! I don't mind dancing with her," he corrected. "I just think she needs to dance with someone else." Hm. Riley looked at Edward anew, clearly scrutinizing him, and asked, rather bluntly, "Who are you here with?"

[visualspice]

"Ah, I see.." and his eyes followed Riley's over to..
Oh... the lovely woman in the bird costume from earlier. The others were just decorations to him in that moment, he, not caring how garish the narwhal looked or how terrifying the cat-thing really was. He just saw people having fun.
And a swan..
er! Red bird! Red bird! Yes.. he saw a red bird, a pretty little red bird and somehow, it reminded him of his wife. His eyes visibly showed a glow that quickly softened into something sadder, and at that, he almost missed the poor child's question. But naturally, he turned to him with haste, blushing a bit so as to respond and not be rude.

"Oh, I'm here with the Duke of Allar-" and when he turned to make his point- Audric was gone. Blinking, he gave a sheepish look. "Though it seems apparently I am now here with no one. He was kind enough to escort me, as you see, I am dateless this evening."