The last thing Joryldin expected to break the monotony of scanning the dancefloor was a familiar voice, and especially not said voice directed at him. The Embraced lifted his chin up off of his wrist and blinked rapidly. His head swiveled to meet Eris’ greeting, and a mix of relief and terror all washed up into one package rolled over him.
“Oh, hey Eris. I’m doing fine, mostly just relaxing here on the fringes.” It was impossible not to notice just how fake Eris’ surprise was, but the fledgling rolled with it. If his body wasn’t dead, a nervous bead of sweat would have rolled off his forehead as social activity with the eccentric actor was forced upon him.
“Sorry about being a no-show to the last two studdy sessions. I’ve been kinda swamped with other classes. Is what I send you guys helpful? I stay up real early working on those revisions.”Eris beamed at the Embraced vampire, enjoying his reaction. Alright, maybe his greeting had been a touch too much, but he really was surprised to see Joryldin just hanging around. Or rather, surprised to see him dressed like
that. He made a mental note to dial it back some, crossing one leg over the other as he placed his chin in his hand. Considering he was genuinely interested in him, he supposed he could be casual. His version of casual, anyway.
"You and old what's-his-face being gone has made our study sessions quiet, but your work did make up for it," Not that it was sorely needed; having Landar's descendant alone would've been enough to carry the group. Still, the effort was appreciated.
"Maybe next time I'll get lucky and it'll just be you and me. Aside from my dashing good looks, there is indeed a knowledgeable mind to match." He informed him cheerfully.
Joryldin recalled well that Eris was the walking definition of “Horny on Main”, so that little flirt wasn’t exactly a surprise. Still, he instinctively tugged up his boa to cover his shoulders. The lights, sounds, and movement of the party had Joryldin drained, but on the upside, an actually normal conversation with someone who he at least knew the name of was something that the Embraced was needing more than he was willing to admit.
“Yeah, right.” He decided to test the water with a bit of a jab.
“You sure you don’t just dump all your homework on your partner, there?” He lightly pointed his thumb in Max’s direction, and managed a small smile. At the same time though, it was a test. He waited with cold calculating eyes to see what Eris’ reaction would be to Joryldin’s intentional word choice, how he considers the human whose choice in life was taken away so that the actor could live.
Eris was a little surprised at the question, sitting up slightly with a small frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You mean with technology? Believe it or not, I'm pretty modern compared to the rest of my generation, I can use new computers and smartphones pretty easily." He seemed proud of that fact, though he neglected to add that he highly doubted Maxwell would be willing to type out his homework for him.
Staring for a moment, Joryldin wasn’t sure whether Eris was dodging the question, or simply just as much of a ditz as he appeared to be. He shrugged it off as a failed attempt.
“Well that’s a relief. Too many of my family’s friends are practically illiterate when it comes to anything besides latin. I was starting to think nobody except humans could even get their heads around a typewriter.”He leaned back in his seat, once again unintentionally taking a sultry pose.
”So, I imagine you hang out at these kind of parties all the time. What’re we supposed to ‘do’? Everybody seems to either be dancing, or just mulling about.” Regardless of his intention to remain the wallflower, Joryldin was bored out of his mind.
Max sent a pointed glare down at the duo as the conversation drifted in his direction, though he kept his stance casual. At least Eris had the sense to deflect the question away from him, because the vampire certainly wouldn’t want Max to answer that. That, or Eris was genuinely too enthralled with himself to see past his own nose and actually misinterpreted what he’d been asked. Was technological literacy a point of pride in dusty animated corpses?
The other vampire - seriously, why couldn’t he remember his name? Gerald? Whatever - Jerry’s second question actually got Max to turn his head fully in their direction. Come to think of it, he was pretty curious as to what the hell vampires did at these events. Sure, see and be seen, that was a given, but surely flaunting themselves grew tiresome after the first hour or so. Did they just scheme with each other or was it all gossip and thinly-veiled insults to whatever political rivals are present? Max couldn’t imagine leeches actually doing anything fun for the sake of it, in any case.
Joryldin was full of surprises. Granted, he was recently turned, but he would've thought he would know a little something about socializing by now. Then again, Widow Nailo was more reclusive than most since the loss of her husband, so he shouldn't have found it as such a shock. Eris leaned back in his seat fully, uncrossing his legs as he seriously contemplated the right way to respond without confusing the younger vampire. He really wanted to get closer to the Nailo, so he supposed he would have to genuinely give a little in order to establish a proper relationship.
"Honestly? These parties are pointless," He started with the very blunt truth of it, his hand gesturing to the entire venue.
"My mother used to drag me to hers and show me off to her 'friends' and competitors. An eternal life leaves much to be desired in terms of having fun." He rolled his eyes before he sat forward some, wanting to let Joryldin in on the secret.
"I know you want to ask why bother, so I'll get to the response: you have to set your own goal when it comes to these gatherings."He leaned back again, motioning to the vampires above.
"Socializing among your peers and establishing relationships is one way to go about it. You get to a party and chat up the closest gal, turns out her father operates a well known oil refinery. Chat it up, exchange information, she introduces you to her friends, blah blah blah," He rambled on for a moment before moving on.
"Another way is showing off what you have and humble bragging--or outright bragging if you think no one else can top what you have--while letting your mages display their talents. That said, usually those types of parties are prime for mating and arranging the mortals. Or showing off a really neat trick you think others would like to see."Eris let his eyes roam among the crowd, watching the dancers.
"And for the ones who want to let go and have a nice time...you dance until your feet can't anymore," He shrugged, a forlorn expression on his face until he looked at Joryldin again.
"So just like I said: pointless. Make the best of it and see if you can get something out of it or at least go home with something cute hanging off your arm."He realized he ended it on a dour note, deciding to add,
"At least talking to friends is always fun, am I right?" He asked him.
The new-blood was mostly being told things he already knew, and things that disgusted him. Joryldin had no interest in political carousing or trying to get laid, and his nose scrunched up in disgust at the idea of breeding mages like cattle. When the sound of the statement crossed his ears, he couldn’t help but mumble,
“What my partner does with their free time is none of my damn business.” He shook the thought out of his mind, and looked back to Eris.
”Yeah, a bit of chatter isn’t half bad. Not gonna lie, I’ve been giving myself cabin fever these past two weeks.”Max leaned in toward Eris, draping himself over the back of the vampire’s chair languidly.
”So, Eric, which of those is your MO?” Max started in a tone that was far too expressive to be anything but dripping with sarcasm,
”Am I to be raffled off to the highest bidder for marriage here, or do you just want people to see that trick I can do with the spoons?” No such trick existed, of course, but Max pretended he had some parlor trick up his sleeve that Eris was in on. Eris said to make the best of it and have fun, right? Well Max was gonna see if he could make his partner squirm in public for a change instead of the other way around.
Eris opened his mouth to respond to Joryldin's question though he quickly closed it as Maxwell interjected. He almost forgot he was there, if only because he expected the kid to get bored of him two paragraphs ago and take his leave without a word. He clicked his tongue as he contemplated what to do and how to present himself; the turned was still attached to the mortal freedoms his own mage had, apparently.
"You know, that's the second time you've asked me about marriage. I'm going to have to find you someone sooner than later," Eris mused almost jokingly, turning slightly in his seat.
"If you think your trick is ready, I don't think Joryldin would mind seeing it." He turned it around, batting his eyelashes at his mage. Go figure, he expected a little back and forth from a vampire but didn't think his mage would be the one to remind him that he needed to be on his toes and aware.
Max popped back up to his earlier upright stance, taking a long sip from his not-champagne as he considered his options. He was fully expecting Eris to call his bluff there, but that raised the question of what to actually do. Ah, of course, be annoying.
”Well when you get me all dressed up like this, I assume the intent is to show me off. Oh well,” he mused in a feigned tone of disappointment as he pushed off the chair. The mage walked over to a nearby table, finishing his drink in a quick gulp before trading the cup for an ornate spoon. Max approached Eris’ chair from the front, holding the spoon upright before the vampire’s face. The fingers of his free hand flexed outward a bit at his side as the spoon started to vibrate in place. Max let it tremble for dramatic effect for a bit before releasing his hold on the spoon, causing it to fly forward and smack Eris on the nose hard enough to cause irritation. Rather than fall, the utensil simply stayed adhered to the vampire’s face and mask for the time being.
”Ta-da, magnetism. Now you’re an elephant instead of a bull.”It was at that moment that Joryldin remembered who Max was.
Eris didn't know whether to laugh or yell, keeping his eyes closed as his lips curled into a smile. Go figure, his choice in having a more open mask backfired spectacularly, his nose aching as he slowly pulled the spoon off and placed it gently on the table. When he opened his eyes, they were a touch darker than his usual shade, though he put on a more decent show with his grin.
"We'll have to work on that," Eris said simply, turning towards Joryldin and fighting the urge to rub his sore nose.
The Embraced stifled a laugh.
”Yeah, definitely put some polish on it.” He shifted in his seat again, and glanced around the room.
“I’m not much of a fan of political maneuvering, and I’m certainly not a dancer… You guys wanna change back into some normal clothes and go play some video games? Probably beats sitting around here.”Max’s mouth quirked up in the beginnings of a smirk as he moved away from Eris’ face and back into his prior position. He may not be a fan of the games leeches like to play at these events, but winning a backhanded exchange like that did brighten up his day a bit. He might get chided for it later, but it would hopefully show Eris he wasn’t totally helpless in their little public word games.
”My bad, my control’s still not quite at the level I want it to be yet.” It wasn’t technically a lie, but the tone he was using was still faker than Eris’ tan when he was acting in that Starag movie. As… Joey? - chimed in, Max let out a muffled snort. He wasn’t even
pretending to belong here, was he? The mage kinda admired the boldness of that, but it seemed a bit foolish with all the schemers floating about. Once some noble caught wind of that, he’d be drowning in political machinations faster than he could claim it was a joke.
”Sorry, I’ll pass,” Max offered with a dismissive wave of his hand,
”I’m gonna get some air, my phone’s on if you need me Eric.” If he remembered anything from high school, it’s that there’s always some sleazy guy hiding out behind the party venue hoarding the real liquor. Max had already gotten a glimpse of the way the Noila dogs were gatekeeping access to the wine, and he doubted that would do anything to get him through the night anyway.
The mage getting himself out of the way almost made up for his little stunt. Almost. Eris frowned slightly at Max, feeling like he probably should try to keep him around, but instead he nodded at the mage.
"Alright, then," It was probably an uncharacteristically short response, but he then looked at Joryldin, patting his knee.
"Just you and me, then. But you're going to have to explain how those things work--computers are easy, but those controllers…" He pretended to move the joysticks with his thumbs, shaking his head..
”Not one for games?” Joryldin rose to his feet and adjusted his ensemble.
”No problem, I can teach you! It’ll be like a break from putting on more masks than the ones we’ve got on our faces.” The fledgling waved for Eris to follow, and started walking.
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