Courage as deep as despair
#1
About halfway through the night

Despite all her reservations about the party and the people and the crowds she had managed to relax and calm down a little bit. Helped a lot by Temo's constant presence throughout the night. Neither of them were very good dancers but they had a such a fun time trying together, it was almost magical. Jace still kept her polar bear fur coat close to her body, feeling unusually cold despite her thick fur and the warm night. The woman looked almost regal as she walked about the less congested entrance hall, having a small breather from the throngs of people inside the main hall.

Her impromptu meeting with Jazper had gone surprisingly well, she hadn't seen the black giant in a long long time so she was surprised to still remember him. Although she supposed it was not easy to forget somebody so large and so imposing. Thinking of him brought her to when Noah had almost died at his father's hands and onto how Noah now hated her. Suddenly Jace wanted to cry for the lost relationship with her brother of hearts. She sniffed unhappily and tried to control her rampant thoughts.

The ice queen looked about herself just to make sure nobody was especially close by and tried to discreetly wipe at her eyes.
#2
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through the madness we find
loyalty is no match for power

Word Count → 339 :: *swoops in on AW thread with Lev and NPC'd Wayne* Lemme know if you want me outta here! :o

Being a social creature at the core of his being, Levent greatly enjoyed himself. He doubted he would remember most of the wolves he waltzed with and wooed, but he knew that he should stick out -- a flamboyantly outgoing, short man with a Turkish accent and a feline smell. At best, his first impression was a great one, and at worst, he was a tad annoying. However, he was confident that some good would come out of the ball, even if he did a lot of moving from luperci to luperci and excusing himself to subitize the gifts on the table. He didn't know if he should snatch up one of the intriguing items or wait until the night was over. He did bring something, so it wasn't as if he was freeloading.

As he lingered, the wolf felt eyes lingering on him -- and not the sparkling deep kind. He turned to meet the stern brown gaze of the cowboy he'd seen earlier, one who'd greeted him with enough courtesy but kept up a pretty stony front. It didn't look like the Labrador mongrel had moved from his spot at the edge of the ballroom.

Hey again, cowboy, Levent crooned, admiring the tallness of the dusty-yellow male. Even if his mind was absorbed with a woman present tonight, there were too many good-looking guys in Casa di Cavalieri to ignore.

The man didn't bat an eye; either he was clueless, or he was used to ignoring even non-serious advances. You're the fella who smells like cat, he observed.

Levent feigned excitement. You remembered! he exclaimed, and was about to pester the closed-off man some more when the stranger's ears pricked, causing his old cowboy hat to shift. He turned around, following his gaze to a patched woman rubbing at her eye. It was an innocent enough gesture, but the extroverted vulture in Lev urged him to swoop toward her.

You okay, bayan? the Turkish wolf asked, grinning innocuously enough. Behind him, the mongrel watched with scowling concern.

table by raze; image from wikipedia commons

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#3
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If it weren't for the fact that Hotaru was a high-ranking member of d'Arte, she would have never gone to an event such as the ball willingly. It wasn't that Hotaru disliked the idea. In fact, when she was younger, parties were always a welcome distraction from the world. However, Hotaru was a a changed wolf and her sensitivity to noise and smell made such exciting events less than enjoyable. The constant noise bombarded her, making her ears ring and her head pound. The overwhelming number of scents made it impossible for her to figure out where she was and who was with her. The world had become a convoluted mess of noise and smell that made the blind wolf feel confused and lost. Her connection to the outside world had effectively died as her limited perception of destroyed.

With the combined help of Fawkes (who directed the female from a distance) and Kelia (who directed Hotaru from her shoulder), the blind wolf was able to make it from the main chamber to a quieter hallway. Hotaru couldn't tell where the two birds had led her, but she didn't really care as long as she wasn't bombarded by sound and smell. With the quieter atmosphere and less congested air, Hotaru was able to recognize a single voice.

Red ears twitched forward and her heart both soared and sank at the same time. The grey female nearly called out Levent's name, but the memory of her time with him stalled her words. She had done something terrible and had so shamelessly pursued the male. Desperate to be both with him and away from him, Hotaru clung to the wall and kept within earshot of Levent. She thought she had picked up on another familiar scent, but with everything so overwhelming it was hard to tell.

Table by Skye

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#4
Her pity party was interrupted however by two males who came over to talk to her. One a d'Artesian and the other a Casa member. The one with the hat looked quite unhappy with the D'artesian man's presence, either that or they were having a lover's tiff. Jace wasn't homophobic so this thought didn't bother her, she was quiet as she spoke, his foreign voice making her more aware of her own strange sounding accent,

"Oh. yes. Thank you. I was just remembering things that I shouldn't be." Her mouth pulled into a frown and she looked away from the two of them for a moment trying to compose herself again. When she looked back at them she was more like her usual self, strong and solid with a regal grace about her,

"I am Jace by the way. Jace Wolfe. May I know your names too?" Polite and courteous, that was her name. Just then Jace noticed another figure sneaking into their less occupied corridor, one that she had had a past transgression with and did wish to apologize for it. Hotaru looked so lost and overwhelmed, she turned to the two men before they could answer her first question,

"Excuse me a moment would you." She again didn't wait for their answer and padded towards the higher ranking woman, her voice was hesitant and inquiring,

[color=purple]"Hotaru. Are you okay?"[.color]


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