Mei audibly swallows at sight of the elf, her eyes drawn up and down his sleek form. "C-Cadoras! Stars, y-you look--" she stammers, words cut off by laughter as she's twirled. Feeling self-conscious about her far more casual clothes, Mei directs attention back to the very handsome artist with a grin, "I should be spinning you, fancy pants."

As they come to a stop, she notices his collar has been shifted askew from the movement and, without thinking, reaches up to fix it. Her fingers brush along his collarbone up over his shoulders, smoothing at the fine fabric. "There," she smiles, eyes rising to meet his, "that's better, isn't... it..? Oh." She snatches her hands away with a muttered apology and something about how they shouldn't be late. 

"Hah, we shall see about that, in fact I'm willing to make you a bet that unless he is confronted he won't make any significant changes at all. If he does I will promise to make an effort to be nicer around him." The purple-skinned tiefling states but is then interrupted by the sight of the raven-haired beauty waiting for him, the tiefling going awkwardly silent, his tail swaying nervously, looking for the right words as the more confident Cadoras in the meantime greets the petite oracle.

"I think you look stunning, positively stunning." He says, trying to remain calm but his fiery red eyes can't help but briefly follow the curves of her accentuated curves, then smiling warmly as he notices the rose pin. "I'm not sure I will be able to pay much attention to what is going on on stage tonight, you will have to tell me about it afterwards." He adds with a wink and a playful smile. "When we make that weekend trip perhaps I can get your advice on getting myself something to match your exquistite attire dear." He says, taking her hands and giving her a quick kiss, then struggling to get his eyes off her. "Just waiting for Mae and Larine, they should be down in a moment."

Quote from Culuril >>

 

---

 Larine speaks a bit nervously to Mae once Mei has left. "Sorry. I mean... Mae could have stayed. It's not a problem.  But you dress... um, it's beautiful. I mean, beautiful with you in it."  Her face suddenly looks pale then reddens. "No, I mean, you are beautiful. It's all beautiful."  She just stands there awkwardly hands folded together in front of her.  

 Mae couldn't suppress a bit of a smile and giggle at Larine's reaction, finishing up her dress and coming over toward her at the door. "Thank you," she said softly as she placed a light kiss on Larine's forehead before giving her a very slight nudging bump. "You look lovely yourself," Mae added as she straightened up and smiled wider. "Come on then, I think the others are waiting for us. And thank you again for coming, I hope it will be worth your while." She flashed a broad smile again, a quick wink, and then gently escorted Larine to the floating central disk to head down to meet up with the others, giving Larine's hand a squeeze on the ride down. Once down and with the others she smiled again, "Well goodness don't we all look wonderful tonight! I do hope the play is as excellent or all this fashion will go to waste!" She giggled knowingly as if not being all that serious.

Guardok looks enviously at Quentillius, there were certainly less than subtle undertones of arrogance in his words, but his confidence was to be admired.

"I hope so. I guess it is just that I have never tried to persuade an audience I am someone else before. Whenever I perform, I am really just being me whilst I am doing it. So it is a bit different", he explains. "And getting into costume helps me to get into character, so the earlier the better", he adds with a smile.

"At least we didn't decide to do the love story with the ogres and the talking donkey this time", he says chuckling at the thought.

Some more than others the purple-skinned tiefling thought to himself, his fiery red eyes moving between the others gathered, looking not quite so wonderful himself but he was used to that, his sinister appearance was not any longer a heavy weight for him on social occasions and not one person at Strixhaven had so far made him feel less worthy of attending. It was hard for him to comprehend how far he had gotten with himself and he was always reminded about that at times like this.

"All here then, shall we?" Malvyn suggests in his most polite tone and takes Aurora's hand to lead the way to the venue of the evenings entertainment. "Did I say you look stunning?" He leans in and says softly, winking and smiling as she looks up at him. 

"Well, I can spin myself," Cadoras says. He looks like he's about to spin, but as Mei reaches up and brushes against his cheek he stops, his attention captured by the woman. "It's much better," he says, reaching one hand out to take one of hers. "And I hope you like this outfit," he says, motioning with his other hand to his clothes. "It's all I have at the moment aside from first-year uniforms."  He ever-so lightly squeezes Mei's hand. "Just don't let me get it dirty! I'll need it tomorrow too!" 

"Mal, you'd best pay attention to the play. That wouldn't be fair to Guardok!" Aurora says.  Her voice sounds stern, but in moments there's a slight grin to reveal she was just teasing. When Malvyn gives her the quick kiss, she slides over to stand so she's leaning slightly against him.  

Upstairs, Larine gives Mae a brief bump after the other does.  "Oh, I'm sure it will be worth my time. This should be nice," she says.  When Mae grasps her hand on the way down, she seems to be a little bit more at ease. The green-haired girl doesn't say much as Mae comments on all the outfits, but she does appear to be ready to get going with everyone.  

Soon the three pairs of students are making their way across the campus to the auditorium. There is a small crowd outside, but it certainly is not packed yet.  You still have a few moments before the doors will open.  

Rubina nods to Guardok. "That makes sense to get into character like that." She laughs as he mentions the one with ogres and a talking donkey. Quentillius doesn't laugh, commenting, "I'm afraid that is one I've not heard of. I don't think I care to either." 

After a few more moments, Rubina says, "I should probably go get into costume. I'll see you soon everyone. Break a leg!"  She moves to her dressing room. 

Quentillius nods, "Yes. I must go through my preparatory routine now. Excuse me."  He too disappears somewhere into the back of the theater.  

On the walk over, Mei shared her encounter with the followers of Disyn in Silkmeadow with Larina and Aurora. Cadoras, of course, had already heard the story by now.

"I still can't get used to seeing in the dark," she says, then adds with a laugh to Larine, "Humans really get the short end of the stick, don't we?"

"Guardok is connected to the elements, Malvyn gets a tail and innate spells, Cadoras gets to live for hundreds of years, Mae glows and can heal people with her touch, and Aurora--" she looks quizzically at the other woman, unsure of her lineage, before another thought crosses her mind and she spins on Cadoras. "W-Wait. How old are you? Because we're supposed to respect our elders," she teases, biting her lower lip at a widening smile. Distracted, she nearly runs into someone else in the small crowd.

"Well, if Guardok finds out I will blame your choice of attire." Malvyn retorts with a playful chuckle, his arm around Aurora's waist as they walk with the others. "But don't worry, I will read up on the play afterwards if necessary." He adds with a wink.

"You would have wanted a tail?" The purple-skinned tiefling chuckles a bit more bitterly. "Have you considered the social stigma one could face with a tail such as this?" He continues, waving his tail behind him. "Apologies, of course you don't know..." He continues a bit sheepishly after a moment of awkwad silence. "...it's just that I haven't ever found it to be anything but a nuisance at best. Just think about all the situations it is just in the way, not to speak about not being able to wear normal pants and underwear." He adds with a grin, hoping to smooth things over a bit.

Mei's cheeks flare with embarrassment. She's only ever viewed tails as a beautiful extension of their owners, which she realizes is a naive perspective. "Ah, s-sorry! O-Of course! I didn't mean to say it's easy, just that it's--th-that humans are--" she clears her throat and shakes her head. After an apologetic smile to Malvyn and the group, her gaze drops to the ground. "I'm sorry. That was terribly insensitive."

"No, don't be sorry Mei, it's just that due to some less than pleasant experiences before I arrived here at Strixhaven I might be a tad bit over-sensetive about my...inhuman appearance." The purple-skinned tiefling hurries to say with a quick aplogetic smile, but there is still a hint of sadness in those fiery-red eyes. "Anyway, being a part of the normative race can be a bit dull I suppose. And I suppose your particular gifts are not always a blessing Mei." He continues with a small empathic smile, thinking about her sleep deprivation and struggle to stay awake during classes.

Mae had learned a long time ago that it often mattered less what was on the outside, compared to what was on the inside. She watched Mal and Aurora together and as stunning as Aurora was, she felt Larine's hand in hers and it grounded her, like an old familiar song. She was happy and content as she was, even if the thought of performing again with Aurora was out there, she was glad to be spending time with Larine. As they arrived at the hall she lifted Larine's hand a moment and clasped it between both of hers with a smile.

"Thank you again, Larine." She blushed a bit and started like she wanted to say more, but then let the hand drop and looked at the others. "Well we might be here primarily for Guardok, but I hear Rubina is quite the tour de force, I look forward to seeing her as well. I just hope it's better than the play I went to the summer I was eleven years old. Hm." She giggled once. "And perhaps we'll find some new material to sing about, right Aurora?"

Aurora nudges Malvyn, "Reading about the play would hardly make up for not paying attention to Guardok's performance.  I'm sure you'll manage."  She listens with some interest to Mei's description of this Disyn. "This doesn't seem like the usual behaviors of the gods. Are you sure something else isn't going on?" she asks. "You've had these... abilities since last Saturday? Any thought how long it will last?" 

Cadoras grins at Mei's question about age. "Oh no. I'm no elder!"  As Mei almost runs into someone, he pulls her close, trying to make sure she doesn't hit them. "I am a mere 80 years old. Just on the cusp of adulthood really. Barely able to be trusted out after sunset!" 

Larnie nods to Mae as she talks about the play. "Yes, I have heard that Rubina is a good actress.  It will be interesting to see how it goes." 

Aurora's attention is then pulled to Mae when she mentions new material. "Some sort of musical summary of the play? Hmm, perhaps.  Though, I wonder if you should tell me about that play you saw at 11.  That might be the more interesting song!" she says with a laugh. 

In almost a whisper, Larine asks Mae, "What happened? Was it really bad?" 

"The troupe they rolled

And took a chance,

And now they're gone

With the Mayor's pants!"

Mae chanted softly at Larine and giggled. "It was, disastrous. But in a rather entertaining way, if you weren't directly involved." She winked and smiled. "Of course if you asked anyone about it now, it comes with an awful lot of embellishment. But I'm sure the play tonight won't be nearly so bad."

Mei squeaks as she's pulled closer, trying very hard not to think about the warmth radiating from the elf. Even more so about how, in another 80 years from now, she'll have already passed through the Veil. "It's a-after sunset now, so I'll have to keep an extra c-close eye on you," she tries to tease.

When Maeleve does the funny chant, she hides a sharp laugh behind her hands. A play so bad it's good does sound entertaining. "I'm excited to see everyone's acting prowess. Oh! Maybe they're doing the play about the love story with the ogres and the talking donkey! I love that one," she says with a dreamy sigh. "Th-though I'm sure whatever they're doing will be wonderful. And if something goes poorly, they can just blame it on the theatre ghost." Mei looks back at the doors, excited to go in--especially knowing there's no risk of falling asleep during the play.

Malvyn didn't comment on the theatre references, instead searching his mind for what he might know. He hadn't actually seen a play before, ever, but he had done various reading and read much that he knew was based on plays and vice versa, and he could vaguely recall something about someone turned into a donkey, intriguing faeries and a play within a play, a fairly famous play in Arcavios if he wasn't mistaken. 

Guardok paces back and forth, muttering his lines under his breath as he waits for his fellow actors to get ready.

Larnie had clapped along to Mae's song, then applauded at the end. In almost a whisper she asks, "Did they really take the Mayor's pants?" 

Cadoras responds to Mei with a sly grin. "Ah, yes, keep your eyes on me as much as you like! And I'll keep my eyes out for that theater ghost!  I didn't even know we had one of those."

 A small bell rings and it is time for everyone to head inside to their seats.  Aurora takes a firm hold of Malvyn's hand as they wander in to find their place.

Backstage, the director comes around and motions for actors to get ready.  The opening scene features Quentillius, so really the rest just need to have themselves prepared backstage.  Rubina comes by, patting Guardok on the back. "Here we go!" she says quietly.  She heads for the opposite side of the stage, as both she and Guardok enter in scene two from opposite sides.   

"I'll grab us seats!" Mei hurries into the theatre, Stepping ahead of the crowd if needed, to secure the best seats for their group. (Investigation to decide on the best seats to enjoy the play from if necessary! 14+6 20)

Mae just smiled at Larine and gave her a wink, before the doors opened and she put her arm around Larine's shoulders and walked in with her. She dimmed her natural glow as they followed in and looked for seats together, hopefully near the rest of her floormates.