[color=lightgray][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6yZrd18.png[/img]

[@Remram] Nolan

[img]https://i.imgur.com/sPIxd99.png[/img][/center]

[color=burlywood]“You are welcome, Nolan,”[/color] Gideon had replied softly. He did not smile the way others smiled. Whenever expression softened at all, it was restrained, as though he could not afford to show too much without something in him slipping. [color=burlywood] “And you are not required to charm anyone for my sake. You have already done more than many men twice your age, simply by standing here and enduring what you dislike with grace.” [/color]

His gaze followed Nolan’s briefly as the young man looked out across the crowd. Gideon watched the faces as well, not with social hunger but with the old habit of counting exits and intentions. He had not forgotten how quickly a room could turn.

[i]And he had not forgotten this morning. [/i]

The dreadful morning where he had watched a woman he had known for years reduced to ash. The sight did not leave him simply because the music was joyful and the dresses were pretty.  

[i][color=F0E399]This is a ball, Gideon. Not a funeral.[/color] [/i]

How ironic his wife had chosen those words in particular. 

They had chained a queen and burned her in public, and all she had done was alter the color of a tablecloth. If they could do it to the queen, they could do it to anyone with the right name and the wrong rumor. He felt his jaw tighten from the strain of keeping his face composed. For a moment he closed his eyes, just once, as if the darkness might steady him. It did not. In the dark he saw other faces, not Alibeth’s. He hastily opened his eyes again with an inhale, forcing his expression back into something passable before anyone could read what the grief was doing to him.

[color=burlywood] “Small talk is overrated,” [/color] he replied at last, as if the words had just finally registered. His tone was mild enough to sound teasing, though his eyes remained serious. [color=burlywood] “If you choose to speak with someone, do it because you want to have a real conversation. Most people are grateful for it, even if they pretend otherwise. You can always seek familiar faces such as your friend, Lady Vikena. But if you decide you would rather not, then you will not. You do not owe this room anything, my dear boy.”[/color] He kept his tone even, kindly, the way he always did when Nolan began to turn his unease into self-criticism. [color=burlywood]“You are not a fool. Far from it.”[/color]

When Nolan asked about Drake and Ariella, Gideon’s expression changed before he could stop it. He glanced past Nolan toward the entrances, as if the doors themselves were a threat that might deliver bad news, then returned his attention to the young man with effort. [color=burlywood]“They are,”[/color] he confirmed simply. [color=burlywood]“They will join us shortly. Until then, keep close. When they arrive, I want you all to look out for one another.”[/color][/color]