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lir-tow replied to your video
aaah they’re so cute
They are so sleek-looking?? What smooth feathers! Also the beak clicking when they both hop onto the nest. I mean. They just cling there and click at each other?? What excellent dinosaurs. What marvelous birds.
Had Natalia known, she never would have attended the ball.
~*~
All she wanted was a night off; a mere few hours toescape her life of drudgery, a glimpse at what lay within the palace walls… one night to forget her troubles, her beginnings, her identity, and her misfortunes. Her wish was granted – by what powers, she did not know, but she blessed them all the same- in the form of a silver, glittering ball gown, Venetian mask, and glass slippers, items she once thought lost forever, when her stepmother ordered all traces of her beloved mother gone from the manor. Talia did not know if she truly believed in magic, or in fairy godmothers, but if she had one, she thanked her tenfold that night as she rode upon horseback to the palace. Upon her arrival, she bashfully (nervously) “explained” to the guards how a wheel on her carriage broke en route to the event, but she did not wish to slight his Majesty, the King, by disobeying his direct instructions for every eligible maiden to attend the ball. Before anyone could press on, inquire about her lonely, unaccompanied arrival, Talia added further details: She was close enough to press on by herself. Her footman, and driver, were set on repairing the damage to her carriage. They would collect her by the end of the night.
Miraculously, they took the young woman, whom introduced herself with her mother’s maiden name, at her word, allowing her entry into the castle.
In her wildest dreams, Natalia could not imagine a grander world. Elegant dresses, graceful ladies; charming gentlemen; delicacies from places she only ever heard of from her father, or brothers… lands she’d read about in books! Awe-struck as she was, the girl did not blend in easily – partly due to nerves, which only heightened when particular lords and ladies gazed at her as if they knew, and partly due to the discomfort which stemmed from the lies she told to maintain her ruse. She relaxed, however, after meeting kind souls.
Korra was a duchess from an Eastern land. India, Talia remembered that distinctly. Korra was kind, funny, and… not entirely lady-like, but she was charming. She did not attend with the intent of becoming queen. Her father had diplomatic matters to discuss in His Majesty’s court. As his heir, she accompanied him to acquaint herself with foreign dignitaries and nobles.
Bolin, a young man serving as knight to Sapphiro, a noble in attendance with the lady Shen, was another. He was very much a soldier, as far as Talia could tell from his stance. But he was also friendly and outgoing. Bolin put Talia at ease with his stories and jokes.
She also met Noelle, a French noblewoman, who, like Korra, was in attendance for the sake of politics, not marriage. “I look not to marry.” She’d said, chuckling as her beloved approached. “For my husband is very much alive, and very dear to me.”
There was one who captured Natalia’s interest. Lir, a prince from the Scandinavian countries. He was in attendance with his elder brother, his mother, and his stepsister (the latter of whom was clearly unimpressed with the noblemen’s attempts to catch her eye). Unlike the others, he did not wear a mask. His elder brother, Elof, gently jested at his younger sibling’s expense, claiming that Lir accidentally dropped his into the pond earlier, and so ended up underdressed for the ball. Natalia did not think so. He was handsome, this Lir… And perfect gentleman, if not a bit awkward. But Talia was not one privileged to critique. After all, she could not move fluidly among the court past the few people she befriended. They spoke for what seemed hours, and danced for almost the same amount of time—until the prince cut in. It is here where bliss melted away, and fear began anew.
Like Lir, he did not wear a mask. Why would he? Juan was the royal heir, after all. He wanted people to know who he was, the power he held. The word throughout the kingdom was that the prince was charming, as princes were wont to be. And he certainly seemed as though he was, but it also appeared there was something darker hidden behind that perfect smile. It showed, in the manner he kept Talia close to him for the rest of the night. Others, including Lir, would make attempts to cut in, and she would feel relief wash over her, as trembling fingers reached out to those who could save her, only to feel him tighten his grip, while smiling at the others in that agreeable manner. It frightened her, to see glimpses of that cruelty, even more so to know he was an excellent actor.
Bolin, Korra, and Noelle were the ones who gave her the opportunity to run. At midnight’s, the knight fetched Natalia’s horse, while both noblewomen engaged in a faux, but heated political debate deliberately orchestrated to draw all eyes towards them. Positioned right beside the prince and his fearful captive, Korra subtly signaled for Noelle to push her into the pompous prat, allowing Talia time to run the second he released her from his grasp, disappearing into the shocked crowds. When she fled, Lir followed to ensure she made it out safely.
Skirts gathered into her hands, red hair falling loose from its elaborate styling and flowing behind her, Natalia ran, stopping for no one, not even Lir, who called out for her to wait. She slowed only when her steps felt awkward, uneven, almost as if she’d lost… A shoe! Blue eyes widened in horror at the realization, but escape was too close, and her slipper, too far, to reclaim. She had to leave. She had to leave now. Finally reaching Bolin and her horse, Natalia thanked him quickly before riding off for home, feeling little other than fear and regret.
Lir arrived in time to see the young woman ride off into the night. He stood there left with nothing but a glass slipper in his hand, and questions as to the beautiful, sincere woman’s identity. Still… at least she escaped.
~*~
Talia found herself shaking in terror at her stepsisters’ gleeful announcement. “The prince has a slipper in his possession! The girl whose foot fits perfectly will be his bride!” For moment, Natalia thought herself safe. Her stepmother would never allow her to try on the shoe, no matter what. Neither would the king’s servant, she guessed. But suppose the king’s instructions, to have every girl try on the slipper, were taken to heart, no matter the woman’s station? And if the prince himself was present? She would truly be lost. Who had the right to say no to royalty, when they lacked power?
The sound of heavy knocks on the manor door shook her, as though each knock signed her sentence to life in a gilded cage with a frightening man in charge of the key. “NATALIA!” Barked her step-mother. “Open the door!”
“Y-yes, madame.” Natalia all but squeaked, her voice barely audible as she opened the doors, planning to avert her gaze from whoever stood on the other side in hopes of remaining unnoticed, and unrecognized. “We are here upon his royal highness’ orders.” All plans lay abandoned at the sound of the familiar voice, and the familiar face. Lir himself seemed taken aback by this young woman, meek and terrified (yet familiar), it seemed, who opened the door to this old manor. He composed himself quickly, however, addressing the elegantly dressed ladies instead. “You’ve heard by now, of Prince Juan’s search?”
Natalia’s stepfamily nodded eagerly.
While her stepsisters struggled time and time again to make the shoe fit, Talia stood to the side, silent as a mouse, and her gaze avoiding Lir’s. He, in turn, also avoided looking at her, if only to maintain both boundaries and the illusion that he was truly interested in finding the runaway beauty of the ball. Lir only volunteered to lead the search in order to prevent the unhappiness of an unwilling woman.
“My lady, we have confirmed that neither of your daughters are the owner of this slipper.” Lir repeated exasperatedly to the matriarch, who desperately sought to keep Lir and his men around a while longer. “No matter how many times they try it on, it won’t change anything. We must take our leave now, I bid you and your household...” A subtle glance in Talia’s direction. “A good day.”
And so it went, as the entire kingdom heard, that the owner of the slipper was never found, much to the frustration and ire of the prince, who fixated upon the beauty he’d met at the ball. Where Prince Juan found aggravation, Talia found relief, even amid her step-mother’s wails of lost hopes. She carried on with her life, then, never daring to dream of glittering palaces and lively balls again, but always wondering about the friends she’d made, and of Lir.
He thought about her, too, she soon learned one night, when she found her glass slipper carefully wrapped in cloth at the foot of the property’s gates. With it, she found a note.
It’s time this was returned to you.
- Lir
lir-tow replied to your post:.n.
hey you. how’re you doing? /nuzzles.
:'I mehff /petsface.
STARSHIPS WERE MEANT TO FLYYYYYY [aka firefly au part one]
"Jasper, go!" growled Anita through gritted teeth, lent into the side of the cargo bay as the door clanged shut. She heard the engines rev up and slid the mic back onto it's slot. Next to her, Carmen lent against the wall with a grunt, her dark hair falling around her shoulders and into her vividly present eyes. As her heart rate slowed, Anita became aware of both of their breathing- heavily, since they'd sprinted to the ship. There was a scratch on Carmen's cheek, just below one of her eyes.
moineau-tow replied to your post:[topples in]
:’| I see sleep worked well.
well, I have to go get my bus soon anyway, so it's not that big a deal anymore, I can sleep on there
lir-tow replied to your post:[topples in]
/picks up and cuddles.
<333 Katieeeeee hello dearest heart
lir-tow replied to your post:Katie: bonus points if it’s a wooden-panel, ugly...
/snorts loudly he would wouldn’t he?
"It is a noble combination of natural materials. Sturdy. Well-built. What more is there to ask of a 'steed' such as this?" : |
umm Lir and Elof on a quest/adventure/road-trip together maybe?
"We are not lost. I do not get lost, Lir." The younger of the two widened his eyes at the map and sighed audibly, pulling the scrunched-up piece of colored paper away from himself glance at it more thoroughly.
"We've passed the same rest stop at least twice now."
"That's impossible. I didn't take a roundabout or an exit."
"Well, science can't explain it, but poor driving might." Elof sharply jerked the car to the right to plant Lir against the passenger's side door, effectively jostling his already-exasperated younger sibling.
"Odin's beard--" Lir's complaint was met with a soft laugh as he sat up, disheveled and disoriented. "What was that for, I wasn't the one who got us lost! And who taught you to drive?" Elof glanced sidelong at Lir and said nothing, waiting for him to click it.
"...Ah. It was me," Lir noted wryly, screwing up his face and huddling on the seat, looking around the rest of the car's interior with a rueful expression. "That being said, I think I learned quickly, all things considered."
"You drove into camp and ran over Astrid's tent."
"She wasn't in it, at the time!"
"I'm sure you were disappointed to learn that." Elof grinned as he felt the balled-up map strike his cheek, Lir sinking back down in the passenger seat with a faint smirk of his own.
"Horses next time, though."
"Oh, ja, definitely horses. Or just, you know. Raven-shape. Wolf. Anything not involving a sticky shift...stick...you know the thing, right here. That."
"Ja. You got that right."
