TDM I

[thetonmods]

The Ton Test Drive Meme I

Welcome to the The Ton's first ever Test Drive Meme!

The game will officially open on the 1st of April (lol) and we will announce this via the game's Plurk account. Applications will open on this date - please do not submit an application before then as it will be ignored until the opening date.

Please note that the Test Drive Meme does not require an invite.

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Arrival

I. WELCOME

You don't remember when or where you fell asleep exactly.

Perhaps it's the tickling sensation of a low hanging tree branch brushing against your nose or the feel of the slightly damp grass underneath you that causes you to awaken but when you do you'll find yourself lying amongst a glade of wisteria trees. You're not alone - nymphs of the trees laugh and dance about you, clearly amused at the new arrival. Along with them, your new loyal servant is here on Pheme's bidding. How this servant looks is different to each arrival. Some are saddled with short, stout butlers, others are welcomed by towering, busty maids. Regardless of their appearance, they introduce themselves with a kindness and warmth that is simultaneously reassuring and strangely impossible to resist when they beckon you to follow them from the grove and out into the city of Andovale.

The closest structure within sight is the Palace and its grounds. It is here that the Lady Pheme resides and from here that she rules over the city, your servant explains to you. You have been selected and brought here personally by her. It is she who assigned the servant to guide you through the regency-inspired city that is your new home.

Eventually, they will bring you to your new residence within the outskirts of somewhere called the "Trade Quarter". You are now the resident of a room within one of the many imposing town houses which make up the Grand Crescent. Throughout your stay here the servant will be your own personal butler or maid. This is where all new arrivals will be living for the time being you are told. Your servant will also give you a crash course on life here and the concept of Thumos - the energy or life force that keeps Andovale and all life within it going - including you now that you are here. It's generated through acts of intimacy, whether that be physical or emotional.

Once you have been shown to your room, you are given two things: a network communication device and a letter. The letter reads as follows:

My dearest reader,

Welcome to Andovale.

The delights of our fair city are yours to explore.

I do hope that you make your stay here a most interesting one. I shall be frightfully disappointed if you do not - and we do not want that, do we?

You will hear from me again very soon.

Yours Truly,

Lady Pheme

You are free to wander about and explore the house and its surroundings as you please. It's certainly spacious enough. As well as your own quarters, each of the townhouses of the Grand Crescent have large communal areas, which includes the kitchens (although why you'd like to go there when your servant can fetch any delicacies you'd like for you!), a dining room, a parlour with its own small library, two drawing rooms (somewhere you can go to chill out basically - harp music anyone?) and a generously sized garden. Strangely, unlike most accurate regency townhouses, there do not appear to be any servant's quarters - perhaps these servants don't need to rest? Or they go somewhere else entirely for that.

Why not introduce yourself to your new housemates? Or enjoy some tea and cakes that have been prepared for you personally by your retainer, which they seem to keep insisting on bringing to you?

---

II. AN INVITATION

Your arrival coincides with the beginning of spring and with it the height of the ton's social season. What kind of social event can signify the start of this better than a grand ball?

Coincidentally you won't have long to enjoy your new home in peace and quiet. Wherever you are within the Grand Crescent your house's assigned butler or maid will track you down sometime during the day. They are not empty-handed and they carry a silver tray, upon which is an envelope with a wax seal bearing the letter "P". Inside the envelope is an invitation. An invitation from your benevolent ruler, Lady Pheme herself.

Each character will receive an invitation identical in wording to the one below:

MASKED BALL

YOUR CHARACTER'S NAME HERE


Is requested to attend the ball at THE PALACE, on 25th of March current, at 9 o'clock p. m.


Do not trouble yourself - masks will be provided upon your arrival.

Lady Pheme

You have already been told that an invitation to the Palace from the lady herself is the only way in. So if you want to find out anything about the tyrant lady then you better get yourself gussied up. Your servant can help you find something appropriate to wear - or not appropriate, the choice is entirely yours after all. The ball awaits.

Masked Ball

For the first time tonight, the gates of the Palace are open. Whether you're arriving on horseback, by carriage or on foot, you must travel through those gates and down a wide sweeping roadway, lined with immaculately trimmed hedges and roses bushes.

Stone steps and huge double doors greet you at the other end. Once you go through these doors, you will enter a grand entrance hall. You will see this room and the ballroom only. All other rooms are out of bounds and no amount of physical force or magic powers will get you to them.

In the short time that Andovale has been in existence, Lady Pheme has already built herself a bit of a reputation for being rather erratic when it comes to the Palace's interior. She seems to change it on a whim whenever she feels like it. She does so hate being bored after all. The colour scheme she fancies on this particular evening is black, white and silver. The many servants and attendants milling around are dressed all in white and are of course, wearing masks themselves. Every free surface is covered in grand flower arrangements, also in white.

Upon arrival, you are handed two very important items. The first is your dance card, the second is your mask. You will not be able to enter the Palace ballroom without both of these items.










The delight that is the dance card is key to every regency ball experience. Traditionally held by young women, at this ball everyone gets one. The dance card is used to record the names of those with whom you intend to dance each successive dance with at a formal ball such as this.

Got cold feet? Dancing not your thing? You might find that card being magically filled out for you. One second it's completely blank, the next you look down and find yourself with a list of delightful individuals with whom to show off your dance moves. (You have Pheme to thank for that - she's just looking out for you!)

Curiously, there is no sign of your generous hostess herself. Just a throne sitting empty at the top of the ballroom.

As for the masks, well... they're not quite what they seem too. It isn't as though you'll have any choice but to find that our for yourself. As previously mentioned, there's no entering the ballroom without one on. You might be able to persuade someone to swap masks with you or ask a member of the Palace stuff for another one - but they're all about as chaotic as each other.

Hey, at least the drinks are unlimited.

A typical regency ball usually ends around 5 in the morning so you might be here a while.

Note: The images below are just a guide, you can decide exactly what your mask looks like as long as it fits within the colour/animal category described.

Silver Mask

Simple and classic - unless you go for one of the more elaborately patterned ones.

The wearer of this mask will find themselves experiencing only the most pleasant of hallucinations. We'll leave the interpretation of that up to you.

You're also hungry. Really damn hungry.

Blue Mask

Masks of this hue will leave the wearer with an overwhelming sense of sadness. You're just plain bummed out.

Unless that is, you get yourself someone to dance with. In fact the only way to feel remotely normal or cheerful while you're wearing this mask is to dance the night away and you will feel compelled to do just that. Otherwise you're just going to be a giant sad sack all evening and nobody wants that.

Peacock Mask

Wow, so you like to make a statement, huh? Or maybe it was the only one within reach. Either way, nobody's going to fail to notice you in one of these.

Seriously. No, seriously, is it just you or is everyone staring at you? You know the mask is pretty garish in comparison to the others but this seems like an overreaction...

The truth is this mask makes you irresistible to others. So you have the personality of a shovel? Your problems are over, my chum. All of the ton will now be dazzled by your sparkling wit and the positively flawless way in which you conduct yourself. Everyone's laughing at your jokes, even when you didn't make one. Everyone wants to be the first name on your dance card. You might even find yourself with a couple of marriage proposals by the end of the night.

You lucky thing you.

Pink Mask

Two words: MEET CUTE.

Come on, it's everyone's favorite trope! You know that romcom hero or heroine who is delightfully and cutely clumsy? Always bumping into their future love interest? Well, this mask lets you become just that.

You know, after your third spilled drink of the night this could actually get really annoying.

Harlequin Mask

There is no such thing as privacy for those who end up with a harlequin mask. It may take you a while to realise (unless someone else takes pity enough to point it out to you) but this particular mask projects the wearer's innermost private thoughts onto the front of it for anyone else to read.

Let's hope you're not thinking anything too insulting. Otherwise, we might have a fight on our hands.

Cat Mask

This mask causes the wearer to start acting... well, like a cat.

Chasing shiny objects, randomly knocking glasses off the drinks table, rubbing yourself against somebody else's legs... all of that. You weirdo. What will it take to ward you off? A spray from a water bottle? A laser pointer? If only those had been invented...

Golden Mask

This mask will really amp up your Thumos production. When we say really, we mean really.

The slightest touch from another will suddenly feel like ecstasy to you. Even something as simple and bland as someone tapping you on the shoulder is liable to have you feeling weak at the knees.

Naturally this could get a little awkward if you've never even met the other person before. Oh well, at least they can't see your face properly.

Red Mask

Red is the colour of passion. That must be why you're passionately angry at that person. Specifically the first person you lay eyes on once you enter the ballroom. You might even say that they are your nemesis.

Does this person even know that they're your nemesis? Probably not. (Unless they just happen to also put on a red mask and lay their eyes on you at exactly the same moment!) It doesn't matter. Clearly they must be stopped.

Now no decent, upstanding member of the ton would condone actual violence of any kind. Particularly not at a high society soirée such as this. Your fighting must be sneaky, subtle - make them feel like they're simply not welcome here! Throw thinly veiled insults at their attire, literally throw one of the vol-au-vents at them when their back is turned, accidentlly spill your glass of lemonade in their lap... Do whatever it takes. Well, within reason.

How do you like them apples?

The bustling market of Andovale's Trade Quarter is known for having only the finest produce. This week there is a new stall that has never appeared before and it does not specialise in your run of the mill fruit and vegetables.

This particular stall is selling golden apples. In appearance they appear to be literally made of solid gold yet the beautiful woman minding the stall demonstrates that they are perfectly edible. In fact, they're downright delicious - you just can't stop yourself taking a bite. We would venture to say that they are probably the most delicious apples you have ever tasted.

They also come with side effects.

The legendary Golden Apples of the Garden of Hesperides were a wedding present to the goddess Hera from Gaia, the ancestral mother of all life. The apples promised immortality and anyone who ate them would never again experience hunger, thirst, suffering or illness... well, these apples are but a pale imitation of that. No, you won't become immortal but for exactly twenty-four hours after you've taken your first bite you will find that you don't need to eat, drink or rest. Your strength and stamina will increase tenfold and things that would normally cause harm to you cannot. Optionally, you may also be feeling extremely concupiscent, as the locals would put it - aka horny to you and me.

Somehow there's always a bad apple in the bunch though, right? Or several.

Unfortunately some of these apples are Apples of Discord. If you happen to pick one of these, one bite will still give you all of the traits mentioned above but for the next twenty-four hours you will find that unluckiness and chaos seems to shadow your every step...

So maybe you're passing beneath an open window and a maid accidentally empties a vase of water and some dead flowers on your head. Maybe you're in your local inn just trying to have a quiet drink but find that others are constantly trying to start a fight with you. Trying to get lucky with that special someone? Maybe certain parts of your anatomy just will not get with the program. And we advise you to maybe avoid carrying anything delicate and breakable for the next short while.

Wildcard

To assist you with inspiration our full list of Andovale's locations can be found here.

Want to play something that isn't listed here? Go ahead!

Please note that TDMs are considered game canon.

Both prospective and current characters who are already in game will be permitted to top-level on TDMs.

As your first port of call, we would recommend having a read of the premise page, as well as our rules. For any general game questions you may have which are not answered by the FAQ then please leave a comment on the FAQ page - for any questions specific to this TDM then please respond to the questions comment below.

Most importantly - have fun!

Comments

[zemnianjoy]

[ Caleb squints at the card offered and then he picks it up, his limbs feeling heavy like honey but darker, sludgey. And then he casts his eyes onto the card where he sees his name emblazoned, in his.. handwriting? That was his signature, but he does not remember signing his name to anything whatsoever.

He pauses then to pick up his own dance card and then he eyes it closely and there on the top is Essek's name. He'd seen the man write in his spellbook before, when they were co-writing the laws of the spell for Veth. That neat and flowing script was definitely Essek's. ]

How did you?

[ This was like being in the Happy Funball all over again, except it wasn't. The laws of everything were being re-written and he felt all the more confused by it ]

How did you sign this?

[dunamagic]

[He'd thought that to be Caleb's handwriting - it wasn't a difficult guess when all of the names on his card were seemingly written by different hands. Yet, when he sees his own signature on the other man's card, he can feel a coil of unease curl in his stomach.]

I did not.. I've not signed my name to anything since arriving here. [Bringing a curled finger to his lips, he thinks carefully. How was it possible for something to forge his signature with such precision while never having seen it before? Had this being been stalking them both? He had his spellbook here with him, but it had seemed untampered with..]

Forgery is not a particular skill of mine, [he outsourced that.] I can only guess that the being that brought us here is.. perhaps more omniscient and powerful than I was previously giving her credit for.

[Although he speaks academically, there is a tone of unease, his stately posture more obviously rigid with how much skin of his shoulders is exposed.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ This was curious indeed and for a moment he could feel the weight ease but only slightly, really it only felt like this was some very strange magic at play. Something from the feywild-- something chaotic and it was hard to think of how this could play out. He let his card drop back to where it hung, held by a string from his belt ]

And why us?

[ That Essek was here and not the Nein? That he was here, and not everyone else? By his own reasoning, they had been in the dome, and that magic should've either 1. kept them all safe or 2. brought them all here. ]

Scheiße-- this is confusing.

[ And then Caleb Widogast brought his fingers up to rub his temples just behind the blue mask. For a moment his scholarly indignation seeming to power through whatever force this mask had a hold of him. There were other things, involving his arrival; but he didn't want to admit that to Essek-- that felt too personal and private ]

[dunamagic]

[Yes, confusing was a word for it. There could be many reasons for this chain of events, that could have led them here, but Essek was leaning towards the whim of some exceedingly powerful creature. Perhaps even a deity.

Yet, that's what made it more confusing - the name, Pheme, was not of their pantheon nor any lesser one he's read of. If this was a deity at play, then..it was from a source unknown to them. Even after he collected as much information as he could from his servant, he was still lost on what all this meant.

His eyes dart to Caleb, though still he returns his gaze down.]

Did the servant you were granted tell you that.. we are meant to provide a-- ah, energy source called Thumos? From my understanding that is the primary reason this being has drawn people here.

[An energy created via intimate acts. Physical or emotional... perhaps that's the reason for the dance card -- encouraged interaction.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ There had been talking but he'd been barely paying attention, and when he tried to think back to what was said, he drew a blank; because the only thing he could see was auburn hair, amber eyes and a warm smile and a voice that hummed in zemnian. He turned his head away for a moment, one arm crossing over his torso ]

It was difficult for me to pay attention.

[ Not when she had looked so like his mother, and her name. Her name was "Una" which felt like such a sick cruel twist of coincidence that it really just could not be one.

He'd not been this emotionally overstimulated in a while, this Lady Pheme? Yes, he was quite sure that he would like to talk to her about whatever this was ]

I received a letter but I only looked it over in passing, there was too much on my mind. [ So much that his keen mind had forgotten how to function ]

[dunamagic]

[The defensiveness in Caleb's posture isn't lost on him, so he chooses not to press. There could be any number of reasons for it and if the man was not forthcoming with saying what it was, then he figured he was not privy to that information. Even if he feels that coil of unease tighten further, this distrust was the consequences of his own actions.

Luckily, he did not have the same level of struggle that Caleb had already endured and was able to impart the information to the man.]

The being calls herself Lady Pheme. She spoke of the city being ours to explore -- as well that we best make our stay interesting, veiled threat and all. [He wasn't particularly bothered by the letter's wording, but he was bothered by needing to meet this bring's definition of interesting.]

The second was the invitation to this.. ball.

[zemnianjoy]

Interesting? There is many definitions that could fall underneath the blanket of interesting, ja-- I will have to go over it again, perhaps when I get back to my room. But ah, it makes me feel rather like a puppet if that is the case.

[ Caleb was not precisely sure how much he could trust Essek, he wanted to trust the Drow but there had been so much and he was still reeling from it, and coupled with everything that happened; it was clear that they were placed within this plane together and as such it may behoove them to work together.

To figure out the secrets.

So perhaps it would become a matter of necessity. ]

I think that it it would serve in our best interest, for the time being, to work together. [ Despite everything.. ]

[dunamagic]

My concerns as well, her terminology is.. disquietingly ambiguous and I believe her intention is for it to be.

[Like cattle kept for their resources - they would be kept for as long as they were useful. Puppet was not an inadequate term either. It was rather disturbing to say the least. He cannot tell if there is a quota or if those who are useless are discarded, but he was nervous to try anything too rash without more information.

He'd almost been able to look Caleb in the eyes again, too caught up in everything they were talking about, but as soon as he hears that his gaze shifts away in guilt. The distrust was deserved.]

For what it's worth, I have no ulterior ambitions here. [For the first time in the evening, there is something nervous about his posture. As if the weight of his shame and talking to Caleb are finally too heavy for his regal presentation.] I do not expect or deserve your trust, but if it is within my capabilities to get you home to the Nein-- I will, Caleb Widogast.

[zemnianjoy]

[ Caleb looks over to see Essek's profile, the gold mask that rests there; he'd never seen Essek in gold before; silver and purples but never golds. He feels chagrin and a bit of guilt for how he himself feels but he knows that he cannot force this and neither can Essek. He takes a deep and fortifying breath ]

I do not think you do, not with how each of us entered into this pantomine. [ He clasps his hands before him, massaging his own thumb into the palm of his other hand as he thinks about it ] I believe you when you say that, at the very least I believe that.

[ Caleb could believe that, right? Could believe that Essek would want him to go back to the Nein, back to his friends; that was easy to believe and with how Essek held himself, it was authentic ]

[dunamagic]

That is.. more than enough for us to effectively work together.

[He did not dare to ask for more -- though he wanted more. The amount of trust they once gave him was enough to shake the very foundations of his life and set him on a spiraling new course. Essek is not and can never again be the man he once was after the Mighty Nein.

Taking a deep breath himself, he steeled his composure and righted his posture once more - the stately and regal demeanor put back in place. The Shadowhand came so naturally to him, like breathing. He did not want to get into any further personal details in the middle of a ballroom, nor let his presentation slip.]

I believe that the etiquette of a dance card along with our expected procurement of Thumos dictates that perhaps.. [He gestures to the dancefloor.] Shall we?

[zemnianjoy]

[ Essek looked very beautiful and regal, stately-- standing there. Just like a Shadowhand ought. Without the rest of the Nein, he could not fall back on Jester or anyone else demanding to know how he was-- he quite simply was not extroverted enough where that would be an option to him. His eyes cast downward at the dance card and the name still hovered there even though the song had switched several times.

It was rather clear that the name would not disappear until they had danced.

He took a deep breath; no-- it would not be unpleasant to dance with Essek. For all that had transpired between them, he could enjoy a civil dance between two peers. They were peers in magic, after all. ]

It rather sounds like we are batteries for a god, ja?

[ No matter, he offered his gloved hand, palm up to Essek. A wry smile though there was something behind that mask that seemed melancholy; eyes that were always melancholy unless studying magic, it it rather seemed amplified. ]

A dance it is, you may be surprised that I can hold my own on a dance floor; so I will not embarrass you needlessly.

[dunamagic]

Seems that way, yes. [Essek isn't pleased about it and lets his tone fully express that fact, but it seems as if they are trapped to this being's whims for the time being. It would not do to displease their host before they have a chance to find a way to contact home, if not send Caleb back there.

As it stood now.. Essek is unsure where he stands on the matter for himself. He's likely not to find a safer place than where he is now, yet--

Those were thoughts for another time. For now, he needs to play a part and if there is anything Essek is especially trained at, it is playing a role and doing so to perfection.]

I admit, the dances I've seen thus far are wholly unfamiliar to me, but I am.. good at following a competent lead. [Meeting Caleb's eyes is still difficult, but he does catch the melancholy there for a second before averting them once more.

Placing his hand in Caleb's, he pulls it away as if touching a hot stove almost immediately. His eyes are blown open as he feels an intense surge of pleasure course through him from the contact. Living his whole life mostly untouched, he was exceedingly sensitive to it, but never to this degree. Never to the point that his knees felt weak and he needed to grab onto Caleb's hand a second time to steady himself, a gasp escaping his lips inadvertently as goosebumps travel up his arm at the odd ecstasy of the prolonged second touch..]

Apologies.. I-- [He tries to take a fortifying breath, trying to figure out what exactly was happening to himself.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ He feels that sudden grab and he steps back for a brief moment, his eyes glancing at Essek to ascertain that he is alright; and perhaps his hand keeps hold onto Essek's a trifle tighter so that the drow may right himself adeptly. One cannot see the furrowed of his brows behind the mask but he's assessing the situation ]

If you are not well enough to dance, I.. well I am a sufficient lead and this sort of dance is not unlike the court functions in Rexxentrum.

[ Trent had a dancing master hired for him, Astrid and Wulf; for the role that he hoped that they would one day play. He'd only ever had a practical application to it within a social function, that had been on the eve of their 'graduation test' when Trent had passed them off as his clever proteges. ]

[dunamagic]

[Essek considers sitting out - the ecstasy like feeling he gets from their contact is almost overwhelming - but he also is loath to admit weakness in a social situation like this. This was the eve of their debut into this charade, he was sure this Pheme was watching.. wanting to be entertained by something interesting.

Perhaps this was a ploy.]

Then I shall follow you, Xhorhasian dances are quite different. [He comes down from his float, their height difference more noticeable now that he's lost several inches as he follows Caleb onto the dancefloor.

If his smile is a little weak, his word a touch breathy, he doesn't seem to acknowledge it. Though Caleb will clearly see the hand motion and the muttered words of dispelling magics that Essek casts on himself as subtly as possible. To his chagrin, it changes nothing, somehow Caleb's touch seems deeply intimate despite their hands both being gloved.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ Caleb's keen eyes caught the magicks though he made no mention of it as he guided the two of them to the standard position. Essek's hand on his own and then he holds his hand at the very proper spot against waist, neither too high or nor too low and then he starts to lead Essek out into the waltz; and he is able to keep time flawlessly.

He feels strangely bouyant within the dance, not even realizing that he'd met the criteria of his own mask, and that was to dance. The heaviness started to slip away the more he took to the floor, leaving it behind where he had been standing. And Essek was effortlessly light on his feet so it was an easy lead-in indeed. But also his keen mind was starting to flow back into step-- to spring forth despite the day he'd been having ]

[dunamagic]

[Following Caleb's lead is exceedingly easy, the man moves with the grace of a well taught dancer. It seems it wasn't lip service when he claimed to be able to hold his own on the dance floor. Essek was well taught in the dances of Xhorhas as well as the artistic ballet, but it was seen as uncouth to learn Empire dances like this.

Funny, he's doing yet another thing that could bring shame to his Den and Umavi. Perhaps they would forgive it considering Caleb is a hero of the Dynasty in many ways.

Odd to think about how a hero like Caleb would even consider a dance with the traitor of the Dynasty.]

Sufficient lead? You sell yourself short, Caleb Widogast. [Essek was able to follow almost flawlessly because the man was able to telegraph well that soon he had found himself capable in Caleb's hold.

A hold that still made his knees feel weak and his words breathy - a touch that make his cheeks and ears slowly grow flush with warmth.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ He had gone under the shave tonight, had sat their torturously as his retainer shaved him; after the wilds of Rumblecusp, everything had grown a tad bit wild and unkempt. So at the very least he was glad that he wouldn't put shame to the way that Essek looked, like a thing of beauty though he kept that thought firmly to himself.

There had been once upon a time, not so long ago where perhaps he had worn his heart more on his sleeve than he would've liked. But he was trying to be better at that, and perhaps it was easier now because his heart was on sleeves in different matters. One could only process one aspect of sadness in a single setting ]

Trent Ikithon taught me well.

[ He dropped this casually as he made the circuit around the floor, and they passed by the spot where they had found each other ]

We were taught dancing as a part of our.. duties.

[dunamagic]

[Any pleasure he might have been feeling due to the mask's influence on the contact happening between them is quickly thrashed at the name that leaves Caleb's lips. The visceral flinch and recoil at hearing Trent Ikithon's name causes Essek's unerring grace to faulter and him to miss a step, having to catch his footing with a tighter grip on Caleb's shoulder and hand.

Essek had suspected that Caleb was more involved in the scourgers than he let on, more involved with Ikithon, but he kept that to himself. The archmage was worse than a leech and Essek had nothing but absolute distrust and contempt for him.

His starlit eyes, which have still had difficulty meeting those sapphire blue ones, shift their gaze to Caleb's clothed arm. The scars he's noticed before under there.]

I know something of.. learning to dance for one's duties. To be molded, though perhaps not in the same ways as you refer. [Another similarity that's still yet not the same.]

[zemnianjoy]

[ That talk on the dock, where Caleb had told Essek that he had not been born with venom in his veins, he had learned it-- that their similarities sharper than a razor's edge, and as fine as one. It was the first time that there had been mention of anything deeper; inherently from Caleb's lips. Perhaps Essek would've suspected with the interest that Caleb had in the Volstrucker guarded within Penance, or the words exchanged; but mention Trent Ikithon's name was confirmation enough.

He twirls Essek around the room once again, mindful that Essek can not meet his eyes. It is hard to look at him as well-- but Caleb can scent the drow and he is aware of the weight in his arm that allows himself to be guided throughout the figures of the waltz ]

Clearly though, we are not in a world where that exists at the moment so I will not bring it up, the most important thing is moving forward and investigate this Lady Pheme.

[dunamagic]

[It was not that Essek would not talk about such things, but here and now, with how they are at this time it felt uncomfortable. He didn't wish to bare something or ask the same when things are broken between them. Not that Essek did not trust Caleb, he did, but he knew it was not returned.]

For the moment, yes -- learning who this Lady Pheme and her goals in brining us here are priority. [He needed to get Caleb home at the very least.

But the pulse of ecstasy is becoming overwhelming -- touch was not something he was used to, touch causing such a visceral bodily reaction from him is unbearable. If it were more mild, he might think it was merely Caleb and the feeling the man's touch often brought him, but this was too intense, too overwhelming. The flush of color and heat on his cheeks was crawling down his neck, his words breathier -- he could feel so keenly the hand on his waist, the wobble to his knees.]

I need to step outside..

[zemnianjoy]

[ Understandable. Caleb had noticed that Essek looked a bit peaked and thus he did one more circuit, though quickly-- a murmured apology at how he had kept Essek even this long. He was concerned but at this moment, he did not think that it was within his right to interfere; things were tense and he would express concern but then promptly allow Essek to do what needed to be done

He came to a slow and gradual stop in front of a pair of double doors leading outside into the evening air and then he removed his hands. A sweep of the ballroom before he serviced a bow in Essek's direction. Once he stopped dancing, the melancholy returned back in full force. ]

We shall talk more then.. later.

[ and then offering this, it was not trust but it was something. They were the only ones who knew each other from beyond this place, and he knew how connections worked ]

I am 'Catwizard' on the Network-- and ah, you look very nice tonight, ja.

[dunamagic]

[Essek waves off the apology with a raise of fingers - grateful for when the dance was over and how the man did not ask further about what ailed him. It wasn't something he wanted to discuss, not with a man he knew he was attracted to. Because yes, let's tell Caleb how dancing with him was uncharacteristically erotic and how his body was reacting accordingly. No thank you.

He cannot hide the sigh of relief he lets out when he feels those hands removed from his person and the tingling pleasure starts to die down. It leaves him feeling edged and uncomfortable, but glad for it to be over.]

We shall.

[The offer was noted with a nod, not surprised by the name, but he is glad for the extension of.. cooperation the ginger was offering.] Thank you, as do you-- I have to say, the fashion here suits you.

[With an enigmatic smile, he comes to a float and retreats for the doors. He did not want to linger, he needed cool, fresh air to clear his mind.]

You will know me when you see me. Goodnight, Caleb Widogast.