[color=#D4987F][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/P7enTOf.png[/img][/center]

[color=#035E7B]Time:[/color] Evening 
[color=#035E7B]Location:[/color] Banquet Hall
[color=#035E7B]Interactions:[/color] [@Helo] Leo, [@Lava Alckon] Drake,  [@princess] Charlotte, Duke Gideon, & Duchess Victoria, [@TpartywithZombi] Ariella
[color=#035E7B]Mentions:[/color] [@Apex Sunburn] Sjan-dehk
[color=#035E7B]Outfit:[/color] [url=https://i.imgur.com/QoPP1pz.jpeg]Dress, Hair, and Makeup[/url]

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Thea gasped lightly at Leo’s response, her hand flying to her chest in playful offense. [color=#035E7B]“Leo! That is absolutely a puppy,”[/color] she insisted with a soft pout. [color=#035E7B]“A *very large* puppy. With better manners than half the people here.”[/color]

But her dramatic indignation melted into a pleased smile as she gently touched the side of her hair where Charlotte’s gift was pinned. [color=#035E7B]“And I must say,”[/color] she began, glancing around the table, [color=#035E7B]“Lottie’s gift might just be working magic. I feel like a walking constellation. Thank you all for the compliments.”[/color]

Her gaze drifted to Drake at his compliment, and she blinked once, her breath catching for a heartbeat. [color=#035E7B]“Perfect?”[/color] she echoed quietly, the corner of her lips curling upward while a soft pink crept into her cheeks. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, laughing under her breath. [color=#035E7B]“You’re far too kind, Lord Drake. You’ll turn my head with praise like that.”[/color]

As he leaned down to whisper, she tilted her head slightly to listen, and her cheeks warmed further at his words. [color=#035E7B]“A menagerie?”[/color] she asked, her voice amused but quieter now, touched with genuine intrigue. [color=#035E7B]“I accept your terms and will not request to pet the puppy, but only because it means I get to pet something else.”[/color] The words left her mouth before she could actually think about how they sounded and then she blushed deeply. [color=#035E7B]“Animals! I mean animals! I…”[/color] She trailed off, a bit embarrassed as she tried to find something else to focus on.

Then there was the mention of her birthday party and she decided to focus on that. She turned her attention back to Drake with a glimmer of anticipation. [color=#035E7B]“You [i]must[/i] come to my party now. After all this teasing talk of animals and compliments, I’d be devastated if you missed it. What would I do without my brother-assigned protector?”[/color] she teased lightly, a smile playing on her lips—genuine, if a little shy. [color=#035E7B]“And! It’s on a boat! It will surely be a ton of fun!”[/color] she said excitedly.

Thea caught Leo’s mouthed remark and gave the smallest nod in return, her lips twitching at the corners. Worse than Mother, indeed. A terrifying feat. But as Victoria’s biting words landed on Ariella, Thea’s amusement faded. Her gaze flicked to the young woman, and something tightened in her chest. That tone. That public humiliation. She knew it well. Her fingers curled slightly around her wine glass, irritation simmering just beneath her polished surface. She didn’t speak, not yet, but the look she gave Victoria was cool and unreadable, with a hint of fire behind her eyes.

As Drake took his seat beside her, Thea’s hand brushed lightly against his offered one. After a beat of hesitation, she slipped her fingers into his, giving a small, appreciative squeeze. [color=#035E7B]“Scathing reviews, my favorite pastime,”[/color] she murmured, managing a faint smirk in return, though the edge of her mood still lingered.

Then she felt it, that unmistakable weight of someone watching her.

Her eyes shifted. Victoria. Whispering behind her wine glass to Gideon. His expression tightened ever so slightly, polite mask cracking just enough to confirm what Thea already knew.

The words were about her.

Thea’s jaw tensed, but she said nothing. Her grip on her wine glass remained light, but her thumb pressed harder against the stem as her simmering irritation flared.

A sudden movement caught her attention. Thea turned just in time to see a striking red-haired woman and a man tumble through the grand doors, landing in a tangled heap of limbs and fabric. A gasp rippled through the hall, but Thea winced.

[color=#035E7B][i]Oof… that’s going to bruise.[/i][/color]

Still… the way the man twisted to shield the woman, taking the brunt of the fall without hesitation? It wasn’t just clumsy. It was instinctive. Protective.

[color=#035E7B][i]Romantic,[/i][/color] she thought, before quickly taking another sip of wine to drown the traitorous softness in her chest.

She had only just resumed sipping her wine, the warmth of it curling like confidence in her chest, when she heard it—Duchess Victoria’s voice slicing through the ambient hum of the banquet, a viper's whisper dressed in silk.

"She looked like she’d climb the nearest chandelier if it meant someone else’s husband would look up her skirt."

The words struck with venom, intended for someone else, but soaked in the same familiar tone Thea had grown up enduring—and she couldn’t take it anymore. Slowly, she lowered her glass, her lips still parted with the ghost of a smirk. With a graceful turn of her head, Thea looked across the table and directly at the duchess.

[color=#035E7B]“Duchess Victoria,”[/color] she began sweetly, her voice carrying just enough to turn a few noble heads, [color=#035E7B]“I must say, it’s refreshing to hear your thoughts aloud. Most people wait until they’re alone to sound so terribly insecure.”[/color]

There was a pause, just long enough to let the words settle, before Thea continued, still smiling, still poised. [color=#035E7B]“You speak of dancers and desperation, yet I imagine it takes a truly gifted performer to balance so many masks at once. Jealousy disguised as concern, bitterness as etiquette, and of course, judgment wrapped in lace.”[/color] She tilted her head just slightly.

[color=#035E7B]“Though I do envy your confidence. It must take a certain kind of self-assurance to confuse a woman’s boldness with her worth, or a fall with a failure. But then, I suppose when one is so far removed from youth, passion begins to look like scandal.”[/color] That last sentence came with a sip of wine, her smile still fixed, her tone never once cracking. 

She leaned toward Leo and murmured just loudly enough for nearby nobles to hear. [color=#035E7B]“Perhaps the duchess should start with a mirror before auditioning for a spotlight.”[/color] And with that, Thea reclined slightly, lifting her glass once more. [/color]