10 Mar 2025, 20:08
Whispers of the Dark
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| xx | 𝙾𝙲𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟷𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 | 𝚆𝙷𝙸𝚂𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙺 |
𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙻𝙸𝚂𝙷 | 𝙵𝚁𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙷 |
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| xxx | 𝓐s the game came to a close, Evelynn couldn't help but internally sigh. While she had eventually come to the right conclusion, it certainly didn't feel as though she had won. Far from it. A nagging sort of irritation continued to scratch at the back of her mind. Pericles and Hunt had taken their leave several rounds prior, and she found her gaze once again drifting back to the exit, as though this time they might reappear therein. There was a part of her that had wanted to say something--anything--before they left, to extend some sort of connection beyond the facade of performance for the game's sake; but something stayed her tongue. Pride, perhaps. As far as she was concerned, he had been the one to carve the distance. Therefore, he should be the one to close it. Perhaps a more understanding individual may have recognized the hazing and playful jabs during the game to have been just that. Instead, she stood there at the game's conclusion, an acrid restlessness rising within the hollow ringing of her statuesque frame. The corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptively as @Allister-Jameson MacAllister projected his light-hearted congratulatory oration towards @Winnie Harper, gray eyes sliding towards her before flicking towards Pride and back again. "It was quite clever, really, the misdirection," she agreed softly with a shrug of a brow, her features beset by forced relaxation. With the game's conclusion, there was no reason to maintain any sort of accusatory front. She could freely admit that Winnie had surprised her and was quite convinced that had it been anyone else, she surely would have noticed the inconsistency sooner. Of course, with the game's conclusion, that also meant that the matter of the recent engagement sprang back into the foreground. It had been a good distraction, an opportunity to keep her safe within the reach and supervision of her peers. But that could only last so long, and AJ's request to get food and return to the festivities was was a reminder of her own existing obligations. She tried to fix her date with a pleasant smile, one that would align with an individual who found the game to have been golly good fun and the engagement to be happy-and-not-at-all-supremely-disturbing-news, and replied with a precisely delivered, "Of course. After all, the rain did spoil what I am sure was intended to be a lovely spread." She gestured briefly to the cupcakes and other previously tasty looking items that were now soggy messes. Stepping back to rejoin AJ, Evelynn moved to take their leave, only pausing long enough to address Winnie with an almost apologetic "we will catch up soon?", while leaving the "Are you going to be okay?" unspoken. In part, because she couldn't exactly voice that particular concern. But also because Winnie's earlier deception had left her with the unsettling realization that perhaps she wasn't quite as helpless as they had all come to believe. In that moment, Evelynn couldn't quite help but wonder just how much of the earlier distress had been genuine. Nevertheless, she remained fairly convinced of its authenticity. Then with a glance to AJ and an accompanying nod in the direction of the exit, allowed herself to be escorted back to the main gala. action: exiting the thread |
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