Back, but tired. Give me a bit.

That's alright, I'm in no hurry. Take as long as you need. Hope you had a nice trip. X)
- RR

{Dianne raises a brow.}
Dianne: "Sounds to me like you really don't know your own people. Are you really that scared of other species that you're surprised to see that we're just as civilized as you?"

{Eliza squints her eyes at the pair.}
"Yeah, he does look familiar. Who is that?"

'I never knew what to expect from non-humans,' said the king. 'Before you all came here, and Sargon, I'd never really had any contact with them before. It didn't occur to me that you could be just as... normal... as us humans. But I see I made a mistake.'

Armin shrugged. 'No idea. But I'm going to go and get a better look.' He stood up. 'I should probably go say hello to some other people too, so... see you in a while.'

{Dianne raises a brow, looking unconvinced.}
Dianne: “And what mistake would that be, exactly?”

Eliza: “Ok, well, have fun. I’ll just be around.”
{Eliza smiles and waves Armin off as leaves.}

'Not allowing non-humans to live in this city,' the king replied. 'Not believing that they can be good people. Once, I believed all of you were monsters. Now I know that I was wrong.'

Just then, Armin approached them, glancing between Dianne and the king. 'Hey, what's going on here?'

Dianne: “Good. Maybe once people hear that you’ve changed your mind, people will be less racist.”
{She then turns to Armin.}
“Nothing, really. I’m just having a peaceful conversation with this gentleman.”

Armin looked at the king again, then smirked. 'Sure. That definitely sounded like a 'peaceful conversation'. Who is this guy anyway?'

The king cleared his throat. 'I am the monarch of Sovereign City... though I may not be for much longer,' he added in a quiet tone.

'Oh, you're that guy who ran away and left the rest of us to deal with Sargon? I remember now.'

Dianne: “Yes. We’ve just been discussing the validity of that decision. After all, Sargon’s Army was outnumbered 3 to 1. Apparently, they didn’t even make it past the palace ‘s front arch, so his highness over here could have stayed and been completely fine.”

(Sorry for my slowness, I've been kinda uninspired to write lately, but I'll get on it as soon as I can!)

(No problem. Take your time.)

'Again, how was I supposed to know that?' the king grumbled. 'They were a powerful force of non-human creatures. Outnumbered or not, I expected them to win.'

Armin chuckled. 'Well, I'm impressed that you actually came back. I thought you'd be too ashamed to ever show your face here again.' He then began to walk away, looking around in search of other people he knew.

Meanwhile, Ivy emerged from the crowd and approached Eliza with a curious expression. 'Well, you and the bloodsucker were sitting here together for a loooong time. What were you talking about? Anything interesting?'

{Dianne chuckles as Armin leaves.}
Dianne: "Wow, you have absolutely no faith in your people and no regard for their lives, do you? In your mind, you literally just left them to die."

{Eliza just looks a Ivy, unamused. Then, she smirks.}
Eliza: "Oh, just our plans after this. But, that's boring. What //I// want to know is what you, Dianne, and Pythia were talking so long about? What, are you all //girlfriends// now? You ask her to set you up with a handsome draugr?"

The king started to look annoyed. 'Now you're just repeating things you've already said. Are you planning to spend the rest of the night criticizing me, or you have anything better to do?'

Ivy snorted, folding her arms. 'Them? Oh, they were just angry with me because they don't approve of my methods for finding dates. Apparently they think I'm too /cruel/ to people.' She wrinkled her nose in disgust. 'And don't you even /suggest/ that I'd go out with a draugr! They're a bunch of mindless zombies, and they smell bad.'

{Dianne just stands, chuckling a bit.}
Dianne: "Ok, I'll leave you alone now, I think I made my point. Enjoy what's left of your time here."
{Dianne then walks off, looking to get another drink.}

{Eliza gives a cruel smile.}
Eliza: "Ah, yes, from what I picked up from your conversation, all you care about is getting stuff and being spoiled by your partner. And why not date a draugr? I heard they're loaded."

The king sighed quietly to himself as he watched her leave. With a morose expression on his face, he walked off to pour himself a glass of wine and get some food. //I might as well stay at this party now that I'm already here...//

'I do /not/ only care about that!' Ivy scoffed. 'I date people because I think they're attractive! And draugrs are not attractive! Though, I understand why you think dating a draugr is a good idea. I mean, you're dating a /vampire./ Same thing, right?'

{Eliza's smile drops right off her face.}
Eliza: "...So, did you just decide to be a racist recently or were you just born an a.sshole."

Titan (Poking his head through the window.) : "I take offense to that. We are not the same thing."

{Dianne, getting a drink and some food, turns to watch the exchange.}

'Definitely not the same thing,' Wendigo chipped in, nodding solemnly. 'Draugrs are cooler than vampires.'

Ivy smirked. 'Racist? What a horrible thing to suggest. I have nothing against vampires or any other species here. I just needed to get you to shut up about my dating habits, and it seems to have worked.'

{Dianne snorts at Ivy's statement. Eliza just glowers at Ivy.}
Eliza: "You know what, you should date a draugr. Because they're just as rotten on the outside as you are on the inside."

Titan: "Wendigo, do you really believe that?"

'Yeah,' said Wendigo. 'But only because /I'm/ a draugr, and I wanna be cooler than other people.' He grinned apologetically.

'I'd rather date someone who's actually /alive,/ but thank you for the suggestions,' said Ivy coldly.

'Hey!' said Wendigo. 'Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I'm not good date material!'

Armin, who was too far away to hear this conversation, had wandered over to where Jerry was. 'Hey, Jer, how's it going?'

{Titan chuckles at Wendigo’s response.}

Dianne: “I wouldn’t let you date my draugrs. They might be ugly, but they’re far too good people for the likes of you.”

{Jerry looks up at Armin and grins.}
“Hey, Armin! I haven’t seen you all night! I’ve just been here, playing cards. What have you been up to?”

Ivy turned to glare at Dianne, having not noticed she was watching until now. 'You again! Don't you have anything better to do than criticise my love life? You're probably just jealous because you don't have one.'

Wendigo snorted derisively. 'Not having a love life isn't a bad thing. I didn't have one when I was alive, but I don't regret it.'

Armin grinned back. 'Drinking, watching the draugr band, and chatting with Eliza. Have you really just been playing cards all evening?'

{Dianne just smiles.}
Dianne: “I don’t have a love life because I don’t want one. It’s far more trouble than it’s worth. Believe me, I don’t envy you in the slightest.”

{Eliza crosses her arms.}
“I think you’re just mad that we’re calling you out on your bull. You might be able to dish it out, but you sure can’t take it.”

Jerry: “Heh, yeah. I mean, I always do this when we’re all together. You should join us.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. 'If you think it's that much trouble, then maybe you just haven't been dating the right people,' she grumbled. 'Having a love life is /supposed/ to be fun and interesting.' She ignored Eliza completely.

'I think I'll pass,' said Armin. 'I don't know any card games. One of the few things I /haven't/ learned about during my almost 300 years of existence.'

Dianne: “I think we have differing views because there is no love in your definition of ‘love life.’ You focus only on the material and the lust of the flesh. Normally, there’s an inherent and intimate trust between partners, but that doesn’t seem to exist to you. You’re just a pleasure seeker.”

{Jerry laughs.} “Yeah, I guess so. I guess I’ll take a break to get some food.”
{Putting down his cards, Jerry stands and stretches.}

Ivy opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. '...Yeah, maybe you're right about that,' she admitted at last. 'I don't think I've never /truly/ loved anyone. I don't even know what /real/ love is supposed to feel like.'

'Alright. I'll go with you, then,' said Armin. He eyed his almost-empty wine glass, making a mental note to refill it when he got back to the food tables.

Dianne: “I know you don’t. I can tell just by the way you speak and act around others. If I were a more optimistic person, I’d say that there’s someone out there for everyone. But, I don’t actually believe that.”

{Jerry nods and walks over to the food.}
“So, hear anything interesting tonight?”

'Well, I don't know if there's someone out there for /everyone,/ but I do believe that there's someone out there for /me,'/ said Ivy. 'Someone who I'll have real feelings for. Someone I can be loyal to. I'll find them one day.'

Armin walked beside Jerry, drinking the last of his wine. 'Well, see the guy sitting over there?' He pointed at the king, who was sitting alone eating some food. 'That's the runaway king of Sovereign City. He just came back, apparently.'

{Dianne just nods, taking a sip of her drink.}
Dianne: “Just...choose wisely, while your true love will bring you happiness and fulfillment, a false love may scar you deeper than any blade.”

{Jerry looks over, a bit surprised.}
"Really? That coward came back? What does he want?"

Ivy nodded thoughtfully. 'Oh, don't worry. I'll know the right person when I find them.'

'This is stupid,' commented Wendigo. 'There isn't someone out there for everyone. I mean, look how many people there are in this room who don't have a partner.'

Armin shrugged. 'Nothing, I think. He doesn't look like he wants to be noticed. He's probably gonna resign as the king after this, considering he pretty much abandoned his people to fight alone.'

{Jerry just shrugs and sips his drink.}
“Oh, ok. Better than him trying to stay in power and the people having to forcibly remove him.”

{Dianne nods at this as well, while Titan looks over at Wendigo.}
Titan: “Are you sure about that? I mean, just look at how young everyone is. There’s still plenty of time to find someone.”

'Hmm. I wonder if they'd actually try to do that,' said Armin thoughtfully. 'I mean, he's sitting here in this room and hardly anyone seems to notice or care.' He found a bottle of wine and refilled his glass, humming a song cheerfully under his breath as he did so.

Ivy slipped back into the crowd around Magnus. Wendigo looked unconvinced. 'Maybe, but I'm sure not /everyone/ here will find someone. We're not living in a romance movie; things don't always work that way.'

{ Jerry nods understandingly, then looks at Armin’s wine. }
“Well, maybe abandoning his people is normal behavior. Speaking of normal, why are you shotgunning wine? What’s that, your fifth glass?

{Titan shrugs.}
“Maybe. I mean Dianne’s been around for a good while, and I’ve never heard of her even mentioning any kind of suitor or partner. I guess time isn’t necessarily a factor.”

'I'm at a party,' Armin said, 'and there's an almost infinite supply of good alcohol here because we're in the royal palace. So I'm just indulging. Don't worry, vampires process alcohol /way/ better than you weakling humans.'

'Maybe she'll find someone someday,' said Wendigo with a grin. 'Actually no, probably not. She just doesn't seem the type for romance... And speaking of old people who can't find love, HEY FREDERICK!' he suddenly bellowed across the room.

Frederick emerged from the crowds. 'What?'

'You've never been in a relationship either, right?'

'No,' said Frederick. 'The idea never really appealed to me.'

“Weakling humans?”
{Jerry repeats unamused.}
“Yeah, I think that wine of yours is going right to your brain. When Sargon attacked the city, there were no non humans on site, and we still kicked his ass. We’re anything but weak.”

{Titan looks down at Wendigo.}
“No? Why so?”

Armin considered. 'Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that. I don't really think humans are weak - I mean, sure, they're physically weaker than vampires, and they die a lot more easily, but I know you can stand up for yourselves when you need to. Sargon definitely underestimated you guys.'

(Wait, is Titan meant to be talking to Wendigo or Fred?)

(Um, Fred, sorry.)

(Ahh, OK.)

Frederick shrugged. 'I guess I've never found someone I liked enough to be with in that way. I've always been content with just having friends.'

'You don't have any friends either, except me,' said Wendigo, but Fred ignored him.

{Eliza walks past Fred, behind him, wearing a mischievous smile.}
Eliza: “No friends? Neeeerrrrrrrrd!”

{Jerry just chuckles.}
“Yeah, he did. And it bit him in the ass. Now, here we are, enjoying our well deserved spoils while he is lying headless in the street.”

Wendigo burst out laughing. Frederick just sighed, not sounding annoyed. 'I'm not good at making friends,' he admitted.

Armin drank about half of his wine, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment. Then he said, 'Y'know, that reminds me... I never remembered to thank you for teaming up with me to defeat Sargon. You and your family helped me fulfil the goal I've been hoping to achieve for most of my life. So, thanks.'

{Jerry pats Armin on the back.}
"You don't need to thank us, Armin. Taking down homicidal individuals has been the Garvey family's specialty for generations."

{Titan laughs with Wendigo.}
"Heh, I guess your social skills need work.

(I'll be posting a new room sometime over the weekend, so we can continue there when you're back!)