Young Writers Society

Tannis grit his teeth. Of course the other guests would be just as confused as he was. "I'll give these a try and see if they're okay," he said, snatching up a few of the bottles that had smelled the least strong. It probably sounded a bit rougher than he'd intended, but at least it made him look intimidating enough.

He turned around and walked back, watching as Thytes took to the dance floor.



Setting a paw on the god's hip and raising the held hand and paw to their shoulders, Thytes began to move in a slow circle. As he tried his best to match the pace of the snippets of music that floated from a band still tuning their instruments, he kept his steps as quiet and delicate as he could manage in heels. Fortunately, slow and intimate as it was, the opportunity to dance with a god wasn't so, overwhelming.

Flynn stayed with Charlie, watching as Thytes gracefully took his partner onto the dance floor and admiring the same features that must have enticed Bear.

"Charlie, why don't we scoot to the side, pass the time with a conversation, and find something nice, safe and non-alcoholic to consume? Best to keep our wits about us with the audience tonight."



While the couple interrupted, Carter practiced the pronunciation of "Avi'dusa" a few times on his tongue. Carter saw Avi bounce away from the sudden contact of Lark and felt the energy coming off of her. It was a completely negative force, a sort of black hole feeling that was trying to take the energy from everyone else in the room.

And there were far better choices than Avi at a party like this.

Carter wedged himself between Avi and the approached couple, crossing his arms while saying, "Pardon me, and I hope I'm not being rude, but is there a reason you're trying to suck the soul out my acquaintance here? As a law enforcement officer, I am rather concerned about what advances you might trying to be making."

Télos did as planned: he followed Thytes's lead. It had been a long time since he had danced like this - not since before the Great War, at least. The thought of Robra made bile rise from the depths of his stomach, but he pushed the thought away and continued to dance.

It was too soon to start asking questions, even though he was in some desperate need of some answers. He wasn't going to lie to himself; he was more than a little upset that Enide hadn't pulled him aside to tell him, seeing that he had been to her palace and had gotten out of that underground city with her.

But he was used to people not trusting him, so he theoretically could get over it.


"That sounds good to me," Charlie said, even though she felt just a little nervous at the thought of getting near the group gathering by the drinks table. She was especially nervous about interacting with the two who had to be from Earth. They were adults, and their outfits looked so...sophisticated. They were simpler, but there was an elegance in that. It suggested that they were confident enough to not need an extravagant outfit, and Charlie knew she'd feel like an idiot in comparison.

But Flynn was there, so she theoretically could feel okay with short interactions with them.

Avi's eyes widened in shock when Carter put himself between Avi and the woman called Lark. He watched the trio interact for a moment, concerned, but it seemed that the man--Arden--had Lark sort of under control. In fact, Arden had shoved Lark further away from them with a not-quite-human growl and turned towards Avi and Carter.

He bowed. "My deepest, sincerest apologies," he said, and the woman snorted behind him. Arden appeared to ignore her. "My companion is usually on far better behaviour than this. I promise, this is not the kind of first impressions that Valkai wanted to make on anyone." He rose gracefully and gave Avi a bright smile. "My name is Arden Halvar, and I'm an Elder of my race. Lark, my rather impolite companion, is my Second. Please, accept my apology on behalf of my race."

Avi blinked and moved forwards to lay a hand on Carter's arm. While it was through the man's clothes, he could at least convey a small echo of his gratitude and inject some calmness into the situation. "Your apology is accepted," Avi told him, and inclined his head. "I promise, on behalf of my race, that no offense is taken." He would've smiled if he knew they could see it. "I am Avi'dusa ca Baraqis, consort of the late King Neriya Vasant ca Baqiras of the Baqirans. It's a pleasure to meet you, Elder."

"Please," Arden muttered and gestured vaguely as if to dismiss the title. "Just call me Arden."

"Arden," Avi murmured with another inclination of his head. "Well met."

The man--a Valkai, was it?--offered him another smile and said something in a language that Avi couldn't understand, and then chuckled. "My apologies; I said, 'and to you, as well.' I sometimes forget that not everyone can speak Valkairi."

* * *

"If we are... anything like you..." Jacek frowned, momentarily thrown as he watched the lion-man wander off. He returned his attention fully to the couple. They looked... not much different from himself and the other Baqirans, except that their colouring was... rather bland. It confused him. He'd never encountered anyone like these two before. Honestly, he'd seen similar colouring, but that was far brighter and far rarer. It was... almost fascinating. "And you would be?"

Flynn slid his arm into Charlie’s, locking them in place as he made his way across the dance floor. She was nearly vibrating out of her shell when they approached the table, but Flynn touched Charlie’s hand with another calming charm. Later he would have to explain what he had been doing but for now it was working fine.

He took two crystal glasses from the stack, filling both with ice and his own glass with seltzer and lime.

“Is there anything in particular that you’d like to drink, Charlie?”



As they stood there before Lark and Arden, Avi’s hand remained on Carter’s arm. He could feel the rapid issue of energy in the moment and laid his free hand over Avi’s.

Arden had a similar feeling about him in relation to energy but not the same hunger and emptiness as Lark. Carter had planned on shortly departing, but Télos was still more than occupied on the dance floor. And even just meeting these people for a few moments, he didn’t trust to leave them alone with Avi’dusa.

“That’s all a well and good introduction, but you still haven’t answered my question about your intents for this evening? I hope you don’t wish harm against anyone present at this gathering.”

Carter slid his jacket open as he asked the question, revealing his badge, gun, and silver knife strapped tightly in its sheath.

Lark's gaze darted towards the young man--Carter, apparently--who was now brandishing a gun and badge, and a silver blade at her. She hissed and narrowed her gaze at him. She moved up beside Arden only for him to put an arm in front of her. Lark pressed against it, gaze still locked on the man.

"You....your energy signature is different," she said, lowly, and then glanced towards the white-haired man who'd introduced himself as Avi'dusa. "And you... yours is layered over another....smaller....new.... Mmh....fascinating."

Arden turned on her again with a growl, eyes flashing red. "Lark, what did I just say?"

She blinked at Carter and Avi'dusa and then turned to give Arden wide, innocent eyes. "But, Arden," she pleaded, "I'm hungry."

"Then you should have fed before we left our ship!" he hissed, sounding angry now. "This is your own damn fault, and we do not feed on people at important diplomatic events! Especially not without permission."

Lark pouted at him. "Arden--"

"No," he told her sternly and grabbed her arm. He turned to face the others. "Excuse me." With that, he marched her off away from the crowd and over to an isolated corner.

* * *

Avi watched them go, concerned. He could feel Carter's emotions through their skin-to-skin contact. A sense of protection and duty that he could appreciate. Once they were away from the main group, he slipped his hand out from beneath Carter's and cleared his throat.

"I'm...sorry if I influenced you in any way that you did not want," he said, bowing his head. There was still a lingering emptiness from Lark's presence; it had eased with distance but not dissipated. He frowned, reaching up to touch his mask and then stare at the hand Carter had touched. Not many would dare to touch him without permission, but Avi had to admit he'd instigated it this time. "I... we... my race does not normally do that without consent, not unless the situation is urgent enough to justify it..."

Carter still held Avi’s hand in his as Lark and Arden left the premises. A second after they were gone from sight, the hand was gone and Avi had returned to the chair they had risen from.

There were a few details to promise from what Lark said as she revealed the ill intent Carter had suspected. She had noted the same energy reading that Carter had found with Avi but she identified it as two life forms. He had just put it down to an unfamiliarity with the Baqiran species.

Carter added up the timeline in his head, noting the part of the story where Avi’dusa was a widower, and tucked the formed question away for once they were more relaxed.

Keeping a close distance but still wanting to retake the hand that had been laid on his arm, Carter leaned in to softly ask, “When the life of you and your child is being threatened by a leech with legs, do you not think the situation is urgent enough?”

He wasn't going to tell Enide this, but Thytes was relieved to be with someone who could actually dance. Granted, it wasn't a complicated dance, but the god matched his steps perfectly. The lion didn't have to be any more afraid of tripping or falling onto the floor (he really should've found smaller heels). If it wasn't for Carter or Enide, Thytes would've loved to dance with the god all night.

Still, Thytes couldn't help but get the sense something else was going on. As much as Télos appeared to like the dance, something about his face looked pensive, hesitant. Given how Télos had been rebuffed by Enide, Thytes could guess why.

Moving the god's hands to the lion's sides, Thytes set his other paw on Télos's hip and pulled him closer. "Is there anything you would like to know?" Thytes whispered into the god's ear, their dance shifting from a circle to more like rocking from side to side.



Setting the bottles on a table, Tannis poured the contents of one into the nearest glass. He stared at the glass hesitantly, then reached down, picked it up, and took a sip. Not bad, actually - it burned a little in his throat, but was surprisingly sweet. As he took another sip, he leaned back against the table and watched the drama unfolding around him.

Nadira slipped further into the roles they had rehearsed, flashing yet another smile as Codix introduced the two of them. It was a stereotype, but a well known one that had even affected his world when he had still be a part of it. There was no need to be revolutionary when something like this would help them blend in better.

“I’m John,” he said. He held out his free hand in greeting. “John Moore. And this is my wife Emma.”

She took another sip of her wine and gave a slight, warm nod of the head. She had told him not to go too much into their relationship - it made it seem forced rather than natural. But Codix was nervous, and it was a bad habit of his. She just had to hope that no one would pick up on it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, holding the glass at her side.

People arrived from behind. She hadn’t paid much attention to them before this point (though she knew she should have) but it was the utterance of an all too familiar name that made her falter. Charlie. It was a name that anyone could theoretically have. It wasn’t exactly a unique one by Earth standards.

But then the mysterious Charlie spoke.

“Soda sounds good,” a somewhat familiar voice said, though it was a little...off. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why. But it was enough for her to worry just for a moment that the Charlie behind her was their Charlie, and a glance at Codix showed that he had just come to the same horrifying idea. “But I’m okay with getting it.”

She heard Charlie take a deep breath. Their Charlie got nervous around strangers, and she had heard her do that countless times. There was a sound as Charlie presumably took a glass from the other person, and then a quiet, “e-excuse me” as Charlie squeezed between the table and Codix to retrieve the bottle of coke from its spot on the table.

Codix stiffened.

Nadira would have, too, if she wasn’t made ready for this sort of thing. Though her face was obscured by the mask, it was undoubtedly Charlotte “Charlie” Hart underneath it - she recognized her hair and facial structure.


He knew it was for the sake of asking the question, but Télos felt his face grow warm as Thytes suddenly moved closer to him. He had expected the intimacy to happen at some point, but he hadn’t expected that point to be so soon.

But he got over his emotional discord. He was thousands of years old; he wasn’t a kid anymore. And Thytes had given him the opportunity he was looking for - he could finally get some answers.

“Who are you really?” he asked, leaning in just a bit closer. “You’re not Enide’s husband. I met him before, and I know that his name is Shiruba.”

Whoop, those steps were a little less perfect - Thytes must have caught the god by surprise. The lion decided that, if he were to do anything else, he'd let Télos know first. "Ah," Thytes said, "So, she did tell you at least some of her story. I must imagine that you caught her alone - in public spaces like these, she has a much harder time revealing anything. But yes, I am certainly not her husband. I am not even any kind of a distinguished man, though my father was. I cannot say it ended too well for him."

"Actually, I found that part out in the middle of her palace," Télos admitted, a sheepish smile appearing on his lips. "One of my chosen has a tendency to get into fights, and he managed to get into a fight with Shiruba. You'd be surprised how much people let slip when they're angry."

He fell silent for the next few moments, making sure he didn't fall out of step with the dance. Once he was sure he could do it without putting too much thought into where his feet were going down, he voiced the next question.

"So why are you pretending to be family?" he asked. "Why not be yourself in a place like this, masks aside? You'll probably never meet anyone here again, unless you get transported to a strange place in the middle of nowhere - which happened to me three times, so maybe that's not as crazy as it sounds."

He grinned.

"But you get my point."

"It is not exactly difficult to provoke Shiruba into a fight, so I suppose that makes sense," said Thytes. "Enide is used to lying, especially to the people unfamiliar with her title. Because, of course, that title carries so much weight and makes her so much of a target. Hence why we have to create these identities in such a formal occasion as this. Of any of us, it will be almost certainly be our 'son' who would find himself in danger, which makes plotting a fight or an escape route that much easier."

He paused, almost forgetting that he was in the middle of a dance. Thytes caught himself just in time, however, and waited for the nervous jolt to pass before he said what he'd thought of. "I cannot say I am a fan of the lying, however - I would be much happier if I were myself."

"It's hard to imagine needing to do that," Télos admitted. He didn't draw attention to the brief lull in their dance, instead continuing it with the same focus as before. "But I'm still getting used to the whole ruler thing, so that probably explains it."

Thytes sucked in a breath. "I am not sure I would go so far as to say that. The Court of Foxes is, rather infamously volatile. My father rarely had to be so meticulous and calculated and guarded. If his, habits are anything to go by."

That was not.... exactly what he had meant, but at least he had names now. Jacek frowned, and let his gaze drop to the bottle. "I see," he muttered, vaguely away of the girl dressed like a man inserting herself between the man--John, was it?--and the table. He stiffened almost immediately, but the woman, Emma, seemed to be very distracted by this 'Charlie' girl. He glanced between them.

"Jacek," he said, and inclined his head. "Though that is not... exactly what I meant..." He sighed and tucked the bottle beneath an arm, then offered 'John' a hand. "I was inquiring as to your race. I am Baqiran, an alien. You are?"

* * *

Avi froze half-way into his seat. How had Carter...? What Lark said registered and he groaned, fully taking his seat. He stared up at Carter, wondering if his... delicate state would bother the man or not. Apparently not, considering the look Carter was giving him.

"I...suppose it is," Avi said lowly, and then leaned closer. "How could you tell?"