[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YGxzxVR.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/AVwIuBJ.png[/img][/center]
[color=D0B4EC]Time:[/color] Evening 
[color=D0B4EC]Location:[/color] Castle Dining Hall
[color=D0B4EC]Attire:[/color] [url=i.imgur.com/ErZIgzY.jpeg[/url]Dress[/url], [url=i.imgur.com/2SBcciZ.png]Amulet[/url]
[color=D0B4EC]Interaction:[/color] [@Apex Sunburn] Sjandehk [@Oso] Cassius [@FunnyGuy] Lorenzo
[color=D0B4EC]Mention:[/color] [@Tae] Kalliope 
[/color] 
[hr]
[color=lightgray] 
The wine no longer looked like wine.

Charlotte's hand still clutched the stem of the glass, her fingers numb from how tightly she held it, but she didn’t dare let go. It was [i]changing.[/i] Red turned to blackened garnet, and then, beneath it, an unnatural hue surfaced...A pale, sickly blue. [i]Like ice.[/i] A sudden cold settled in her lungs like frost creeping through cracks in stone. It filled her bones. Her skull. It was the kind of cold that didn’t touch the skin but dug deep and [i]stayed[/i].

And worst of all, it was somehow familiar.

A voice barked near her ear—loud, close, furious: [color=7bcdc8][i]“Stop thrashing!”[/i][/color]

She flinched hard, her heart slamming against her ribs, and her head jerked up. Panic rushed to her eyes and she found herself meeting the gaze of Lorenzo, who was looking at her with concern. [color=salmon]“Lottie, would you prefer white, instead?”[/color]

Charlotte blinked and quickly summoned a smile that was perhaps a touch too polished to be real.[color=D0B4EC]“Oh—no, thank you. Truly, I’m quite all right.”[/color] Her tone was lilting and wrapped in her usual warmth. Her fingertips grazed the stem of her wineglass with graceful indifference, as if it hadn’t nearly slipped from her trembling hand moments before. She then averted her gaze, and that was certainly a mistake.

Because as her gaze shifted across the table, it collided directly with Alexander Deacon’s. He was already looking at her with a smile from the underworld itself. It stretched too wide, too slow, as though it had been peeled across his face rather than formed by genuine expression. The corners of his mouth didn’t stop where they should have—they climbed a little too high, just enough to make her stomach turn.

And his cold eyes didn’t match the expression at all. They gleamed with a dark, unspoken satisfaction, like he knew something she didn’t. Like he had already won, and was simply waiting for her to realize it.

Charlotte’s breath caught. She tore her gaze away, her brows knitting ever so slightly, as if the gesture alone might hold her together.

[color=D0B4EC]“...I’m just dandy.”[/color] 

The words slipped from her lips before she could stop them. Lorenzo hadn’t even asked how she had been doing.

[color=D0B4EC][i]Has Deacon done something to me?[/i][/color] The thought came unbidden, quick and sharp as glass. [color=D0B4EC][i]No—I have to stop letting this get to me. Whatever this is… It’s not real.[/i][/color]

Her smile faltered slightly, the edges softening into something sadder. [color=D0B4EC][i]If I keep slipping like this... I'm going to be the one embarrassing him this time.[/i][/color]

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Though the contact was gentle, Charlotte had flinched in her seat and gripped the sides of the chair. She glanced over her shoulder nonetheless, with eyes that shimmered with the weight of her fear, reddened just slightly at the rims.

[color=1E90FF]“Hello, good evening. You are Charlotte, yes? I am Sjan-dehk. We have met before. Sorry to surprise you, but you look…”[/color] He trailed off before continuing, [color=1E90FF]“Not very good.”[/color] Charlotte’s expression faltered, her lips parting in surprise, but before she could reply, he stumbled over himself to amend the statement. [color=1E90FF]“Sorry. You do look good, in the pretty way. What I mean is, you do not look well. You are…Are you okay?...You drink too much? ...You need…I mean, do you need water or something? Or to go some other place to rest?”[/color]

[color=7bcdc8][i]“You’re not dying. You just need to lie still.”[/i][/color] The voice was softer than Sjan-dehk’s, and it did not belong to this room, to this moment.

Charlotte hesitated, her smile frozen at the corners, and then she seemed to suddenly animate again, [color=D0B4EC] "Ah, hello! I remember you Sjandehk. Last we met, I believe, was over a rather impassioned discussion with cheese."[/color] Her eyes sparkled faintly, as though she meant to jest, though there was a touch of weariness behind the warmth.  [color=D0B4EC]“You're very kind to worry, but I assure you, I’m quite alright. Just a touch lightheaded, nothing more.”[/color] She paused then, her expression softening with quiet gratitude, a warmth blooming behind her eyes. There had truly not been many in Caesonia who would have gently checked up on her in such a gentle manner. After a beat, her mind wandered back to when he had also defended her at the beach, and she found herself admiring his consistent thoughtfulness.

With the kind of tender care a grandmother might offer while taking a child’s hand for reassurance, Charlotte reached up and enclosed his hand in both of hers. She offered a small, sincere squeeze as she added, [color=D0B4EC]“But truly, it’s very thoughtful of you to check on me.”[/color] Her smile lingered, gentle, though her hands retreated and her fingers moved underneath the table to tightly wind themselves in her skirts. [color=D0B4EC]“You came all the way from Viserjanta, yes? Tell me—how have you liked it here so far, and what have you gotten up to?”[/color]

Sjandehk's company was comforting at the least. Yet despite all the strange things she had been seeing and hearing, her mind was most haunted by the incessant presence of [i]his[/i] name. She had made it a few moments now, thanks to the supernatural mishaps, without glancing his way. Charlotte had even told herself it didn’t matter. That she had made peace with it. But strength was slipping through her fingers like water, and in the quiet of waiting for Sjan-dehk’s answer, she let herself turn her gaze.

It was meant to be brief.

But the moment her eyes found Cassius across the room, she couldn't tear her gaze away. He was leaning against a stone column beside Kalliope, their bodies close enough that someone might assume it was flirtation. Kalliope’s posture was easy, a smile ghosting across her lips as she looked up at him. Cassius had one hand braced above her on the wall, his head tipped low as if whispering something only meant for her. From where Charlotte sat, they could have been any beautiful pair in any ballroom across Caesonia.

And then, he looked right at [i]her.[/i]

Their eyes met, and for a heartbeat, the world felt unbearably still.

He didn’t smile. Neither did she. 

Then, just as quickly, he turned back to Kalliope, offering her a hand. 

Charlotte felt something tighten in her chest, a quiet ache that settled beneath her collarbone. She lowered her gaze, lashes casting shadows on her cheeks, and folded her hands in her lap to still their trembling. All she could do was try to make herself hope he would go sit somewhere else with her.
 [/color]