The look Theodore gave Fletcher was completely scandalized. Behave? Him?! He was the one with the parasite attached to him. How was he in the wrong here?

Desperately he attempted to peel the other woman off who seemed to cling all the tighter. "Lady Obower can we not get my best bodyguard fired please? He is meant to be our chaperone. This behavior is most unbecoming!"

"Oh Teddy must you be such a spoilsport? We're engaged and it's nearly Yule? Can't I even have just one kiss? We are to be married after all. What could one kiss hurt?"

Again he looked in panic to Fletcher before yanking her hands off his person and holding them firmly in his own. "As the lady wishes." Theo bent over their joined hands and kissed the back of each of hers. "There. Two kisses for the twice as lovely lady. Now shall we rejoin the others?"

Edwina pouted by latched onto his arm all but dragging him back off the balcony. Theo for his part made a half-hearted attempt to reach for Fletcher's blade again, wanting nothing more than to put himself out of this misery. 

Fletch jumped at her sudden arrival and narrowly rescued Theo's second drink from spilling over the side of the balcony. He scowled, watching irritably as the girl brazenly pushed his lover around. And oh, the audacity of her words. Like Theo was hers to command. They weren't even married and here she was openly trying to involve another man. "He doesn't wish," he snapped without hesitation before sliding back into playing his part. "Sir, really. I could get fired for this. Can't the two of you behave?"

Saoirse blinked at him for a moment, ignoring the obvious red light blinking on his figure in the moment. If it was important to her own personal wellbeing he would have told her what it was about, but also she had a sneaking suspicion it was very similar to the ring she had given to the priest months ago back in that town in Connlaoth. She assumed it had a pair, or multiple pairs, that linked together to send a signal. Was she curious? Sure. Would it consume her? No. She was over one hundred years old and time passed much differently to her than it did to humans. The answers would come to light in their own time and she would worry about it – or not – at that time.

Then she laughed, a pure crystal-like laugh, and looked down at the swan neck and back up to Dao.

"I suppose gourds look like swans, yes." She admitted, and then continued to sweep the blade masterfully across the wood until a rudimentary swan body complete with a lightly fluttering wing began to form.

"Here." She handed the piece back to him, "You can finish it if you like or toss it in your pile of rejects." Her words were warm and kind with not a small amount of mirth mixed in. It had been a long time since she had woken from uninterrupted rest and everything about her seemed to sparkle because of it in a way that none of them had seen before. The gold in her hair was practically stardust against the sunlight and here eyes bright and alert. The last time she had felt like this had been that night she had met Opus for the first time. Now, with sleep finally acquired, she practically exuded her elfishness like an aura that encompassed her and not just because her ears were prominently poking through the braids in her hair. Even her skin seemed to glow, though that only every really happened in moonlight.

She eyed him again when he suggested a drinking competition and pondered for a moment. On one hand it seemed like it could be fun – she'd never actually tested her constitution in human liquor though she had drunk a few ales here and there and determined them to be....mediocre at best.

Finally she shrugged, "As long as you recognize you're not up against a weak human and doing this isn't going to cause Opus to throw you into the sea, why not?"

She leaned forward until her face was close to his and smiled mischievously, "I hope that vampirism thing gave you some extra help."

Jin smiled widely as she ate, his grin expanding when she realized just how delicious the buns were any why he had insisted on returned to this location just so he could share in that experience. It was godly! He wasn't a religious man, but when it came to good food it was like he was experiencing the divine and believed, if only for a moment, that some giant sticky-bun in the sky was smiling down upon them.

The family that made these must be made up of prophets sent to spread the word of the great lord Bun.

"Good, yeah? More than good! That'll sure make Lord Bun proud of our worship no matter how you shake it." His grin got even wider, "It'll put hair on your chest! But the good kind! The kind that's covered in cinnamon and sugary goodness."

Oh blessed Bun he was glad to see her smile.

"Hey." He sat down at the table and leaned eagerly on his elbow while looking straight at her with a kind of innocence you just didn't see in people these days – and it was sincerely. Jin was exactly the person people saw. He was completely and unapologetically him.

"I have a question for you, but I don't want to be all rude like." He leaned forward a little more and took a big slurp of frosting off his finger before continuing.

"Is your name really Necklace? Seems like a right odd name to me – no offense! You seem like a really nice lady and you can't choose your parents or what nonsense they decide to name you!" then he thought for a moment and bit his lip, "And if you named yourself then it's real pretty." He added as a quick afterthought.

Yeah, that about covered it!

Snarg didn't even blink when the man decided to start shouting. He knew this kind of person. He worked with and against his kind nearly every day on every job he took and was so comfortable with being yelled at he didn't even flinch when bits of spittle landed on his face. If anything, it just made him more tired and caused his pounding head to threaten to split open at any given moment. Snarg might be a dog, but this man was a gnat; annoying but easy to ignore and easier to squash.

There were a dozen was he would be able to bring him down without killing him, and at least two dozen ways he could die. It would be so easy to snake an arm up and squeeze his throat until his neck snapped, or he could throw his blade directly into his eye...Snarg was good at killing. Killing is what brought him to this particular reality and was the only skill he had left anymore.

He was a monster.

And yet he just sat there, unmoving, barely giving the man any attention other than his initial comments which had only fueled his vitriol.

Obvious. This man was so unoriginal. He would die forgotten.

And then....the sound of soft plops in the sand brought Snarg's attention back to the situation at hand and he looked down to his right to see a number of sausages. No...not sausages, fingers.

He raised an eyebrow as the screaming began and spent just enough energy to raise his head an look at Kiri who now stood.

Huh. Well, that was unexpected.

But what had he expected? He didn't know this woman or her tendencies towards....whatever this was. Was she protecting him or was she just looking for someone to maim?

"I'd run, if I were you." He murmured softly, still staying seated in the exact spot where he was before with his blades undrawn.

Dao blinked and cocked his head. The little piece of wood now had a more obvious shape to it than the splintered lump he had been widdling. His smiled, of course, Dao was always smiling, but before he could say something a simple, small ring on his finger began to pulse with a soft red light.

Dao looked towards the light a moment, lightly touching the ring, and the pulsing light had stopped. Then he went back to examining this swan.

"I dunno.. " he went on, rubbing thoughtfully at his chin. "Looks more like a gourd to me."
He shrugged and smiled, returning his gaze to Saoirse.

"We still have some time to kill.. want to see how many drinks it takes for us to get drunk?"

Theo blushed slightly and hid a giggle behind trying to cough and eat at the same time. "Later," he signed while nodding at the rest Fletcher was saying. "It would make me feel better knowing my bodyguard is well-prepared for trouble instead of nursing an empty stomach—"

His teeth clicked shut with a sudden snap as his current wife-to-be pushed past Fletcher to get to him. "Here you are dearest! I've been looking all over for you, even checked the library. Had I known you'd been out here I would have snuck away to be with you sooner," Edwina twittered. Her arms came around his waist suddenly as she leaned in close and rocked against him with loud giggles.

"You really don't like these parties do you? I had heard you didn't but thought it might be you were shy around all the ladies like me." She clung to him and twirled them about in a circle before resting her head on his chest and nuzzling in, completely oblivious to the way his eyes bulged and threatened to leap right out of his head. 

"...I find all of the people and vibrations very overwhelming, yes. I'm sorry for abandoning you for a bit of cool air and respite—"

"Oh no, no my dearest you needn't worry," she cooed cupping his cheek and leaning up on her tiptoes. "Once were we'd there will be no need for you to attend any of these. You can hide away in your study for all I care. Perhaps you'll even let me join you.~"

Edwina leaned further in as if to kiss him even as Theodore leaned further back over the rail to avoid it. "I don't think this is appropriate right now, Lady Obower. People will see and Mr. Daw is present—"

"Oh," the woman giggled again while persisting, "he can join if he so wishes. I don't mind." She peeked over her shoulder at the other man even as Theodore cast a completely horrified look towards his own lover. 

"You didn't, no. But I am struggling and need to be strong. I can come undone at home where it's safe. Here is a pit of vipers. It's dangerous."

Theo grinned softly and tilted his head slightly, looking at Fletcher with such deep warmth and affection where only the man could see. "Is it so wrong to want to see that my boyfriend is equally cared for, simply because I care for him? You take care of me so much. It goes both ways."

He made a point to exaggeratedly pick up another bite of food and eat.

"I'm not fussed. I didn't say any of that." Fletch grimaced again and began to look rather sheepish. "I...didn't. What, I take care of you and you turn it around on me? Eat your damned food, Theo. I'll do the same when I've got a minute."