[ME] Be Merry and Be Dazzled

Hadama followed Nova to the table to add his own presents to the mix, each one small but exquisitely wrapped. It was perhaps no surprise that the Tidebreaker gifted jewelry on such an occasion, made by himself and suited to each of Safrin's children as best as he knew them. For Calypso there would be gold and pearl, for Vesper it was silver and onyx, and for Nova? Nova would find (when she inevitably peeked inside her box with its springy multicolored ribbons) a hair clip styled as a starburst of crystal opals set in silver.

Once his duty as guest was done, however, he turned his attention to the bar. The crowd that had begun to arrive was distinctly of the younger variety - not unusual in the Hanged Man these days, it seemed - and Hadama was content to drink quietly and let the youths enjoy their party until he could find a discreet time to slip away.

Emerald eyes found Jack and the wine spider and... ah. Koa's young cousin. Flora had apprised him of the incident and he stood by the gifts and watched contemplatively as the two men renewed their acquaintance. And noticed Calypso's proximity to Kaisel.

Indeed.

Once the happy(?) couple cleared some space he continued his journey to an open stool at the bar and settled upon it, his ordered thoughts slow and measured as he watched the currents among the other quests swirl and part and come together again with a quiet contentment to see so many Torchers in such good spirits.

"Scotch on the rocks. With a twist," he rumbled to Jack when the captain had a moment.

Nova

People flow around her as Nova enjoys her pink drink, a happy dance and a joyous hum making it obvious she enjoys the rum Jack got her. She doesn't immediately notice the light blush on her cheeks or the way everything starts to buzz pleasantly - she wouldn't mind if she did. Instead, she notices the various pieces of conversation in the bar, unashamedly eavesdropping. Between niceties and juicy drama tidbits, only the mention of being a 'business transaction' has any real impact, dimming her enthusiasm at the brutal and unnecessary reminder of what they mean to Jack - no matter what his actions might otherwise suggest. 

At least there are other things to distract herself with, and Nova pointedly turns away from the bar to listen in on what Vesper tells Colt and Theea, leaning forward to peek a look at where Calypso and Kaisel. Her eyes widen at the news before quickly narrowing to something dangerously intense, the blue color looking suspiciously like a stormy night. If it wasn't her sister she'd be drinking up the information faster than her rum, but if this turns out to hurt her beautiful, smart, golden, perfect sister, there will be hell to pay. 

Glancing at her brother, she asks incredulously, "What was he thinking?" For everyone else, she knows it will sound like a rhetorical question, but he'll know from the glittery brand of chaos in her thoughts that she means exactly what she's said and plans to use the information accordingly.

- Life is a party, and I’m the piñata -
- break me open, and all the fun spills out -

Lately we've been covered by the past

She knows that her siblings are listening, even with her back turned. It’s the way the gentle calm of anticipation creeps in, the way that it feels like eyes are on them even if she can’t catch a glimpse of them in the glittering light of the chandeliers. Her eyes are wholly focused on Kaisel and everything he says, as if trying to peel back the layers before he has a chance to speak.

In the end, she doesn’t say much. Not until he’s done explaining, but her brows rise during the explanation. The amber warmth of her eyes harden away into confusion, where she’s not letting on her surprise of the ordeal despite the fact that it’s very much bouncing around inside her without an outlet so far.

“Overreacted?” Comes the immediate hiss, the pause, the shake of her head that sends her curls bouncing around her shoulders. “This is Torchline, Kai. Nobody’s ever gonna play by whatever rules are or aren’t said. Least of all, fuckin Jack.”

Sucking in a breath to try and ground herself, because while she knew that he often tried to do what he thought was best, this was the stupidest fucking thing she’s heard of. And while she doesn’t have ties to Jack other than the occasional dip in and out of her life, she’d thought he’d know better than to go and pick a fight with a guy who’s reputation preceded her existence by decades.

But there’s something else that lingers, a fruit fly you can’t swat away no matter how much you try, and it’s with a flaring sensation of jealousy she bites down lest she let it slip enough for Kaisel to pick up on (knowing full well her brother would, though). “What friend?”

Calypso

But don't you think that we are made to last

Everybody sour like a lemon tree

That honey touch she'd first given him seems to have worn off. It's a mild way her warmth withdraws, but he can't mistake the blame she directs his way, just like everyone else had. It's getting pretty fucking old being told that getting struck by lightning is his fault when the man responsible is happily smiling behind the bar, no one having bothered to yell at him, or gag him with spice. Is that all it takes to do whatever you want in life, just gather the might of a storm in your hand and you can do fuck all with it?

He presses the ire between his teeth, jaw taut with the bitterness of it. "Yeah well, message has been received loud and clear. Doesn't make him less of a shithead." Coming from the orderly halls of Stormbreak to the lawless abandon of Torchline has definitely been an experience, some for the better, some significantly for the worse. Maybe if they'd passed out a pamphlet at the skyport he'd have been able to brush up on all the native dangers to be cautious of, although given he'd never paid enough attention to his history lessons to start with, he probably would have pushed whatever warnings signs away anyway.

His expression tilts towards confusion when Calypso asks the least important question of all. He'd have done it for anyone he considered a friend, so the who hardly seems a key point here. "Flora, but why does that matter?" he says with a gesture of his arm before it flops against his other as they fold across his chest. There is a guilty current that tugs on him after her name though, because while she had been just a friend at the time, it's certainly become more... muddy now, thanks to one evening. He holds onto the label firmly though, like it's a rope that can haul him out of their murk, because that's what they still are, they'd said as much in the morning light. Maybe he owes Caly a bit more of that explanation too, but he's equally still figuring out what they are. More than friends, that's evident, and what he'd like, but the timing of everything has become a bit messy. He'd prefer to jump over the mud pit and move on from there, like he only expects dry ground ahead.

Kaisel

I'm just smiling down upon my enemies

Lately we've been covered by the past

“Nobody said he wasn’t a shithead.” Caly immediately responds, her hackles raising slightly as she battles with the jaguar that is her soul. The war rages on as the sun within her wanes, sharpening into a crescent, the edges mirroring the frown that tugs onto her face.

Maybe it’s because she can’t relate to the idea of standing up for someone else you were just friendly with. Her siblings, yes, obviously. But to go out and pick a fight with Jack because he’d hurt Flora as it turns out? Maybe she’d expected him to have more self respect for himself than to go all noble for a friend.

Maybe she should’ve seen the signs, too, because when they’d met he’d been there for Flora. He was dressed in an imitation of her. And since then, they hadn’t really spoken of her, but when they had and he’d asked how the Hanged Man had gone, he’d seemed almost reserved with the idea that the Marin’s had made it theirs, even if Flora had told her that’s what she wanted.

The worst part is that she gets it. It’s a cruel strike that lances through her because of her admiration of Torchline’s Queen. The way she’d taken so much into her shoulders, had been so strong while everyone else was still figuring out how to live their lives. ”To girls who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.” Wasn’t that what Flora toasted her with when she’d brought stock of the liquor to the Sugar Tide?

Calypso has done nothing to the extent of what Flora has. And it burns in a way she doesn’t know how to express aside from the short nod, the way she’s sharp when she takes a step back from him. Because while she always felt like she was the sun, it seems he was more inclined to stare at the flowers.

“I get it.” She says surprisingly softly, the breath of air before the weight of it all crushes in. “Just wish I saw it before, s’all.” Because how could she really compare?

Calypso

But don't you think that we are made to last

Everybody sour like a lemon tree

He can't decide if it's better or worse that she agrees he's a shithead. At least he doesn't have to convince her, but then what the fuck, Jack just gets the free pass because SHRUG, boys will be boys? And that it's Kaisel's fault for trying to play tractors when the game is clearly dinosaurs and Jack is the one we don't wanna make fussy?

Fine, he's already agreed not to play with Jack again, but it still rankles something in him.

She's backing up, and like an unpracticed dance he steps in to fill the space, his hands falling in front of him and gesturing out in a frustrated demand for clarity. "What are you talking about?" It's his turn to get to ask that now, because he definitely does not get it.

"Saw what?" he presses, but gentler now as he's trying to understand. She... saw that Jack's an asshole? Sounds like she already knew. Is she worried about having to pick between the two of them? Concern and confusion crease all the edges of his expression, and now he reaches to reclaim her hand softly. He wouldn't make her choose that. "Look—Caly, that's all in the past. I'm sorry I brought it up, I just didn't expect to see him is all. I can deal, I will."

Kaisel

I'm just smiling down upon my enemies

Mateo

Should'a seen what I wore
I had a cane and a party hat

"Oh, gatecrashing? I can appreciate that sort of ingenuity," Mateo says with a musical laugh, taking another long sip from his drink and getting comfortable on his seat beside Hawthorn, even as several shades of shit begin to kick off across the bar. "I only really know that one," he continues, pointing towards Vesper. "And in the usual way - sex, drugs, rock and roll. You know how it is." He winks, reaching across to clink his glass with the other man.

"I did not know he was as much a penchant for gossip as I am, though. Little concerned that the conversation is starting to involve my sister, though." Wrinkling his nose and downing his drink, he gives Thorn a nudge. "Want to see something cool in one of the supply cupboards?"

I was the king of this hologram
where there's no such thing as getting out of hand

if you try and chase the sun you're never gonna catch it

Vesper’s grin has long since faded into something cooler, flatter. Still pressed to the bar, one arm casually slung around Colt, the other resting near his drink, he appears relaxed—just another face at a party, sipping whiskey and catching whispers. But the truth is deeper than that, quieter. His mind is open, sifting through the undercurrent of the room like a net dragged through dark water. And when the ripple hits—Kaisel’s guilty flicker of thought, sharp and unguarded—it snags. Flora. Flora and Kaisel. More than friends.

The words aren’t spoken, but they don’t have to be. Vesper feels the jagged edges of the memory just beneath Kaisel’s composure, the shape of a night that neither of them wanted to define but both keep circling like wolves around a campfire. The glass in his hand stills mid-lift. His gaze doesn’t snap. Doesn’t narrow. He just lets it drift—lazy, innocent, like a breeze moving through the rafters—as he glances over his shoulder toward Jack behind the bar. His brow arches high, slow, like a curtain rising on the third act of a play.

Then he turns back to Nova, all drawl and danger dressed up in sugar. "If I had to guess what lover boy over there’s thinking..." he murmurs, swirling his drink once before lifting it to his lips, "I’d say he figured he could have his cake and eat it too. Worse, I bet he thinks he's bein' real fuckin' clever about it as well."

When Kaisel's voice, rarely the sort of thing you'd ever describe as quiet, reaches Vesper's ears, he doesn't miss a beat. Straightening, he leans slightly off the bar, and calls across the space with bone-dry precision: "That so? Then why don’t you come over here and shake Jack’s hand and apologize for runnin' your mouth, then?" There’s no heat in it. No raised voice. Just that cool, silvery tone that slices sharper than steel when it’s soft. A trap cloaked in civility. A noose made of charm. He takes another sip, then adds lightly, "Y’know. If it’s all really in the past."

And now it's turning out to be the worst of my bad habits

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

COLT

"You're holding a box and I'm in a skirt," she murmurs back to Vesper with a tilt of amusement, a spark setting in behind her eyes. "Didn't realize I had to write it down for it to count, but if that's the rules..." the dry tone drags out with a click of her tongue, "then I guess you're outta luck."

Although it certainly seems like no one will be cashing in much this evening, with the way things begin to unfold. He shifts beside her, his arm her preferred style of scarf, so she moves with him. Her back rests against the counter as well, though she leans back on her elbows like she's settling in for a story that might take some time. She's tilted into the open nook of his side beneath the span of his arm, drink in hand as she listens to Vesper lay it all out plainly.

He's all practiced calm at the moment. It had always seemed effortless on him, but this feels different, dangerous, the same way a hot horse is right before you step into the stirrup, an explosion in waiting beneath a thin layer of skin. She can't tell what he keeps catching on, the sudden pause of his drink the indicator she notices, not the precursor. The couple is a little too distant for her to grab the words clearly, or maybe it's because she's wedged in with the bar chatter and has significantly less investment in the outcome of the pairing, though the way Calypso steps back and Kaisel's hands flare out is obvious enough that it's not going well.

She changes the hand her drink is in, freeing up the one closest to him so she can tuck it behind his back along the counter. Her fingers splay a bit against him, something steadying for the energy he's got pooling in the name of his sister. She knows, maybe not fully, but enough to recognize he can't talk about them the way he does without fighting for them in equal measure. Nova's fuel, the spark Vesper flings out, it's all gonna break soon. Colt tucks the expectancy of the inevitable detonation behind a sip of her paloma, gaze sliding towards Hawthorn and Mateo, the only pair that seem like they might avoid the ricochet of everything.

"Theea, was it?" Colt asks low and slow, attention drifting back to the girl at her side. "Might wanna pace yourself sugar, wanna be able to stand and walk a while longer yet."

Everything I hold dear resides in those eyes
You got that power over me
The only one I know, the only one on my mind

last couple of months kinda been a disaster

Blissfully unaware of the drama going on right in front of them, Thorn’s attention lingers on Mateo’s response – his smile brightening even as he casts his gaze over toward Vesper, standing close enough to Colt for the moment that he does pick up on something happening down the bar that everyone seems to have their focus on.

Ah well, he’s sure Colt will fill him in later. “The usual, yeah?” He teases Mateo, because it was, after all, how they also knew one another. But with the mention of sisters and a certain protectiveness that Thorn can’t relate to suddenly stifling the air, the nudge and the offer is one that Thorn’s glad to pick up on. He downs his drink, too, leaving the empty glass on the bar as he steps closer to Mateo and leaves all the drama for the night behind him. “Do you gotta ask?” He waggles his brows, letting the botanist lead the way, catching Colt's gaze momentarily as she approaches Theea back at the bar. He offers her a wink and a lopsided smile before slipping away.

Hawthorn

tell all my friends i'm asleep if they ask ya

Lately we've been covered by the past

Saw what? Like she’s still talking about her dad, of whom she’d been very specific in that yes he’s her dad and he’s there but he’s not like a dad, dad, and not talking about the fact that he decides to go and pick one of the biggest monsters of Torchline to start a fight with and complain that it wasn’t fair because of Flora.

He fills the space she leaves and she straightens up, blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders as she shakes her head, a huff of a laugh leaving her that’s a precursor to a storm as it wars within her. It flips something, even as Vesper adds his two cents, still stuck on Jack when Caly’s so far past whatever happened with the Captain that she nearly feels like she’s stuck in this game of 3D chess.

She lets him claim her hand, though, even if the smile that flashes across her face dazzles with the sharp set of a mask in place, steel, because for a moment she feels fragile and inferior and it’s a sensation she hasn’t had to deal with before and she loathes it. “I’m not talkin’ about Jack.” She pauses, steeling herself with a slow and deep breath, that saccharine smile twisting a touch too real before she continues. “I’m talkin’ about Flora.” Her amber gaze, still masked with that careful sharpness scans him for a few moments, seeping warmth from his hand before she pulls it away and takes another step back. “It’s not the first time y’picked her first.”

And gods, she gets it. But for the first time, it hurts something fierce amongst the cacophony of fire burning under her skin. So rather than prolong this in a public space where her brother and sister are there to judge, the attuned smooths out her dress and straightens up her posture, chin held high as she looks up at him. "Thanks for the cupcakes, Kai. But I think it's best if y'go. We can... Talk about it later, okay?"

Calypso

But don't you think that we are made to last

Everybody sour like a lemon tree

A glare cuts over his shoulder towards Vesper, a brief shift off Calypso before it returns, his jeer starting to dig under Kaisel's skin now that his hackles are beginning to lift. The offer is an immediate wedge in his throat, something too big to choke down or cough up, but he'd do it, if he had to. Thankfully (?) Caly isn't asking him to though, doesn't seem interested in the offer even, because as she clearly spells it out now, it's not about Jack.

Her hands in his feel more like ice than they had managed to even in Halo. Her smile returns, but it's not the soft one he recognizes, too full of teeth and all their corners. It's even colder when they're gone, and his fingers remain in the air where they were, holding onto the ghost of her.

"What?" he repeats, clarity still not quite settling. "I never picked her over you," he breathes, voice gone low with the sudden twist he feels in his gut, like something leaden has settled and disagrees with him. "The dance—" his voice starts to climb, eyes widening with the recognition at last that she's stepping back from him, that all her warmth has blown away beneath his words.

Something in her shifts a bit more. Something hardens, enough that it almost reflects back at him, metal glinting in the right light. It's softer than he expects, the blade she delivers to his chest with her dismissal of him.

No no no no no, not like this, not over this, not on her fucking birthday, not ever. He wants nothing but her happiness, wants even more to be the one to deliver it. He won't go, not like this, he won't leave her like this. "The dance was just a promise I was keeping!" He steps forward again, unrelenting, though his gestures are getting bigger with the urgent need for her to understand. "I told you I always keep those. Want me to prove it? Ask me for a promise, I'll keep it, for you."

Kaisel

I'm just smiling down upon my enemies

if you try and chase the sun you're never gonna catch it

Vesper doesn’t flinch when Caly says Flora’s name, already knowing what he does, but he feels the way it reverberates through his sister. The cut of it in her chest, the way she braces behind the words like they might recoil on her, or worse—land true. The shadows behind his back thrum low and steady, a heartbeat darker than the dusklight spilling across the bar. His fingers curl just slightly where they rest behind Colt, a tether against the pulse of fury rising in him. Not for the fight—not yet—but for the fact that it’s come to this at all. On her fucking birthday

His eyes never leave Calypso, not even when Kaisel tries to play the martyr, all wide-eyed and louder now, like noise might clear the smoke. Vesper knows better; there’s no storm coming—they’re already in it. So when he speaks, his voice is cool and velvet-smooth, carrying across the room without needing to climb. A blade doesn’t have to yell to cut.
"Hey, lover boy." He tilts his head, the drawl like ice slipping down the spine. "You deaf, or you just slow? ‘Cause the birthday girl asked you to go."

The shadows rise with him. Not dramatic, not a threat, just a low, languid spill around his heels, brushing along the floor like something old and hungry starting to stretch its legs. They aren’t pointed yet, but they’re curious, coiling near Kaisel’s boots like smoke deciding whether or not to choke the fire out of a candle.

Vesper lifts his glass again, the ice clinking softly. "You wanna show what kind of a man you are? Start by listenin’ when a woman tells you no." And though his expression doesn’t shift, his mind opens just wide enough for one person— Jack  —to catch the flicker of his fury. Not loud. Not messy. Just a sharp flash of brotherly rage dressed in a tailored suit of shadows.

And now it's turning out to be the worst of my bad habits

Code 100% taken from the queeeeeeen herself, Sky <3

Theea

yla

I glance between them— Kaisel , Calypso , and Vesper ’s voice slicing through it all like moonlight gone cold—and the drink in my hand feels a little too light. “Oh, I was there,” I say offhanded. “At the last party. When Kaisel danced with Flora and me. I guess I didn’t realize how serious things were when it came to Calypso.”

My voice is a little unsure, a little too careful, not because I did anything wrong—but because I feel like I’m stepping into a story mid-chapter and trying to pretend I’ve always known the plot.

My eyes flick instinctively toward the bar—to Jack . He’s watching, impassive. Sharp lines and darker edges. My chest tugs a little tighter when I realize he struck Kaisel with lightning. I didn’t know that kind of violence lurked in him. Not behind the dry quips and the way he’d remembered me, even poured my drink without needing to ask.

It rattles me. But it doesn’t scare me.

My parents were assassins. I grew up knowing gentleness and danger could live in the same body. That kindness doesn’t mean softness. That a smile doesn’t mean safe.

I take another sip of my drink—nearly gone now—watching the drama unfold like it’s been staged with glitter and birthday hats and too much tequila. I’ve never been this involved in other people’s stories before, even though I’m not really. Not even technically. But I know them now. Calypso and Kaisel. Jack. I’ve met them, watched them, drank with them. We’re not friends, but I’ve been welcomed. And something in me is slowly softening to it. Letting it become my new rhythm. My new way of life.

When Vesper goes cool, slipping velvet over razors for his sister’s sake, I don’t move. Just tip my glass and sip, happy to watch him work.

Colt leans closer and speaks low—“Might wanna pace yourself, sugar…”—and I glance down at my glass, blinking. Yeah. Almost empty.

I let out a quiet laugh, cheeks warm, and nod. “Yeah, good point. I only had my first drink at Flora’s party.” I pause, glancing back at her with a dry little smile. “I took one of Frey’s aging shortcuts. Emotionally catching up might take longer.”

Know I'm gonna get there somehow, take it all in and breathe out
I got everything I need now, think I'm done looking down,
got my head in the clouds