Bite they little heads off! Nibble on they tiny feet!

[baedalites]

Who: EVERYONE.
What: Catenrat party.
Where: The Apache and surrounding environs.
When: Givdi the 22nd of Toidaren
Notes: The topic threads are just suggestions; if you've got somewhere else that your characters simply must be, make your own thread. When your characters are ready to leave, they'll be given a little wooden cheese, a glass fish, and a voucher for a big basket of snacks.
Warnings: None yet. Please put warnings up on individual threads.

The Apache is much the same as it always is: dimly lit, with the jukebox playing in the background, and the bartender serving whatever's on tap. Above the doorway and wound through a few of the sets of antlers some enterprising soul has placed a garland decorated with little blue and green fish.

Comments

[rhinemaid]

It's more of an accusation than a question, and so Ilde opts not to treat it as the latter; the fingers of one hand curl under her palm, tightly, and her expression blanks interestingly. No distress, no upset, but no response, either, just-- cool distance, like she's not even there.

"No," she says, matter of fact, her eyes on his hands and her lighter. A pause, quieter, "No."

Explaining this is not something she really wants to have to do, but she's not entirely sure how to get out of this conversational pot hole again; it's much easier if she can make sure people don't notice anything in the first place. That's how it usually works. She's good at deflecting, when she's more in control of what people see, but the absence of any reaction is indicative of just how uncomfortable she is.

"I...decided to stay. For a while."

[wearethewilds]

The fact that Hilmi notices the way her expression blanks and thinks nothing of it is just another tally mark for him either in his complete inability to be empathetic with his comrades or in the long column dedicated to self-centered behavior.

He does better with words than with reading emotions - and it is he reply that puts him off lecturing her about keeping her promises or some other such silly concept. There's something wrong with how she's responding, even if he can't put his finger on it.

So he goes for the most obvious route: asking. "You okay?"

He asks curiously, with a hint of concern he rarely shows anyone, much less Ilde, whom he once called a bitch for some stupid reason or another, who cockblocks him and makes him feel guilty for enjoying his privileges in life, who drives him up a wall and makes him hate whatever the hell his life has become. Ilde, who is screwing a vampire and is right now very much and very obviously not okay. "You seem upset."

[rhinemaid]

The attempt she makes at a half-way reassuring smile here is small and taut, if not outright unconvincing. There's a brittle-thinness to her mood and manner, a tightrope walker made of glass, and it's not as well-hidden as she'd ordinarily like.

"I'm fine," she says, because she always does, "It's just a little busy in there for me." That's almost normal. Finding the quietest place at a party was a knack even before she started feeling the need to do it for her own mental health. She's slipped out of parties in Baedal before just because there were so many people-- she feels oddly reassured by her reasoning, even if it doesn't release any tension.

[wearethewilds]

Hilmi studies her long enough without smoking that when he finally remembers to ash, the cigarette's a quarter wasted. He looks away and gives it a practiced flick with his thumb.

"You know," he starts with a frown, "If you need to talk..."

The offer hangs there. It's not a good offer; it's rather the sort given by someone who doesn't know how to handle being a shoulder to cry on. If she needs to talk, he'll listen, but he's not sure what he can do to help.

[rhinemaid]

What it lacks in general usefulness, it slightly makes up for in 'being startling' and 'evident sincerity'; Ilde scrutinizes him like she's trying to find a flaw in that, momentarily bewildered by the attempt at thoughtfulness. That, at least, is more commonplace than not -- Ivan's remarked how she always seems disappointed when she can't pick holes in something he's just said, and he's not wrong. In this case, though, it's more momentary puzzlement as it dawns on her that he doesn't appear to be screwing with her.

"...thank you," she says after a moment, with some effort; she wants to dismiss it out of hand, she wants to say I don't need that because she doesn't, she's fine, she'll be fine, there are so many ways in which this is not a subject open for discussion. She also, on the other hand, wants to continue poking Hilmi in the direction of decency, and not discourage any efforts he makes on his own. Like 'caring about her', however odd and unexpectedly.

She exhales smoke, wrapping her free hand around herself, and says, "It's okay." It's not. "But thank you. I'll probably be home tomorrow."

[wearethewilds]

Stubbing out his half-finished cigarette - a sign of wastefulness he hasn't yet managed to overcome - he then shoves his hands in the pocket of his coat. He no longer wants to be out here because this is awkward for him. Ilde is one of two constants here in Baedal for Hilmi, and she is behaving oddly. He wants to go back inside where there's too much noise and too large a crowd and lose himself in it so he doesn't have to think about why the woman beside him is so obviously not here.

But he can't just leave. It isn't concern, but his own pressing need for reassurance. "You sure about that?"

Promise? he means. If he were a child, he would sound wheedling and hopeful. Instead, his query is just...dubious.

[rhinemaid]

"Tomorrow," she repeats, trying to sound slightly more solid in her decision; she can't hide at Ivan's forever, after all. (If they were ever moving in together, Ilde accepts it as a given that he'd be obliged to move in with her; his apartments are about as personally significant as hotel rooms.) "I'll see you at home in the morning."

[wearethewilds]

That satisfies him enough for the moment; Hilmi is quite a simple creature, or so he believes of himself. Though there is some niggling doubt in the back of his mind (something is wrong, very wrong) he decides it's probably just the time and place and possibly Ilde's period.

Or something.

In any case, he's off the hook where emotional support is concerned, so he gives her a fleeting smile in lieu of a farewell and turns to head back in.