~a Little Something For Us All~

[snailfreak]

It was at a small corner bistro where Daxton Poppins Delue sat, awaiting to meet his friend. It had been so long since he had a moment of pure peace and quiet that Daxton found it almost unsettling to be sitting in such a serene and humble sort of setting. His cup of tea sat untouched before him, his gloved hands lay crossed neatly in his lap. Of course on the outside Daxton was as coyly calm as ever, despite his slight inner-apprehension.

His nerves would soon be soothed, however, for his friend was soon to arrive.

It was then that a familiar face peeked in the bistro before stepping inside. It was Cyril Fletcher, with his usual lcautious gait. He looked about, his light brown eyes meeting Daxton’s crystalline ones, before he took a seat in the chair opposite to the blond gentlemen’s.

“Ah, Cyril, long time no see, correct?”

“…Not really…I saw you last week, remember when you pulled be house of my apartment and said you needed help busting someone for opium trafficking…?”

“Oh yes, that,” Daxton said shortly and with a grin, as if he had conveniently forgotten about that whole incident. “I had no back up and you were absolutely the only person in existence that was available and that, thus, I could turn to,” said Delue in his usual complexly put and complexly spoke manner.

Someone like Cyril Fletcher—cautious, shy, but somehow opinionated—had enough adventure for a lifetime, and most of that adventure occurred when Daxton was about.

The two friends had known each other for sometimes now, and thus, knew each other rather well.

For example, Cyril knew Daxton would offer him his cup of tea any moment.

“Here, have my tea, I don’t want it, for it’s not my cup of tea! Get it! Haha!” Daxton said with an elegant laugh, delicately pushing the pristine cup of tea over so that it sat before Cyril.

Cyril looked down at it, his black hair hanging at either side of his face, as if it were a dead eel. Fletcher had learned the hard way not to trust food. Not that he didn’t trust Daxton, of course. Delue had saved his skin on many occasions, and most likely, there would be times in the future when Cyril would be saved by him yet again.

Daxotn looked upon his rather melancholy companion, knowing Cyril well enough to be able to correctly predict that Fletcher would eventually oblidge and take a sip after some hesitation.

“Go on now, drink up-oh my! That reminds me!” Daxton nearly exclaimed, perking up in his seat as he watched Cyril hesitate and then take a sip of the tea. “I was invited to a gala of sorts tonight, dinner and dancing, and I would like very much for you to come with me. When of my friends invited me to go, but I won’t have much of anyone to talk to, so I would appreciate it as vastly as the Atlantic ocean if you were to accompany me, my dear fellow,” Daxton cooed, leaning back in his seat with a light casual air.

Cyril didn’t have much of anything else to do. He had no work to go to today. Cyril now made his living at a library, shelving books and what not. His modest pay was enough for him to be able to rent a decent apartment in London.

“Sure,” the dark haired man replied. At that Daxton stood and took Cyril to the location of this dinner, a large and lavish dancing hall, for it was late evening, the sky was orange, and so it was time to go to this social event.

“Oh, isn’t it a most lovely day! The sky is like a simmering apple pie—“ Dxton began, but was cut off with,

“—it looks more like the insides of the rat I saw squashed by a carriage on the road this morning,” Cyril interjected. Delue paused and then laughed lightly as they ascended the steps into this large dancing hall,

“Ah, Cyril, your morbidly dark-consumed mind never ceases to amaze me, you’re a good friend to have, but so very odd! Although, I suppose, there is a little something for us all in life, a sort of 'to each their own'. Perhaps, no, surely it is your own to be such a way...and that is what makes you a most unique personality,” Daxton said with yet another gossamer sort of laugh.

Cyril didn’t say it, but he thought Daxton was pretty strange as well.

(( There, so that will serve as an interesting enough setting—a big ballroom dinner and dance :D Oh yeah, Sebastian will come in sometime during the next few replies ^^ ))

[Akira]

Hastie had heard about a free dinner and dance and lucky for her (I'm going to use her until it's revealed that Hastie is a guy) the new client she was hired by invited her, but he was not the type of man she'd expect to hire an escort, especially for such a long trip as a three week journey. She was relieved the man was also going to pay for room and board at any inn they had to stop by as well as provisions. Of course, knowing Hastie, she'd pick out the most expensive places, not that I'm sure the man she was escorting would mind too much.

It was a lovely night, the sun was setting it was cool but not too cold and to make it better, the man that she was escorting was a total hottie. It seemed almost as if inviting her to this ball was like asking her on a date. She giggled with the thought, though kind of sad that she did not have a proper dress for the occasion; but oh well, she liked what she wore, it was cute and it made her look defenseless, which was perfect.

She almost could not contain a squeal as she came to the place where the ball was being hosted at. She starred at it for awhile, reminiscing on how she used to attend such things when she were younger. Oh those were the days, she thought to herself looking up at the building with a grin.

[snailfreak]

(( Aw, Hastie is such a darling! ))


“Hello, hello, care to give me a donation? Change, any change is fine!” a man’s voice, but a delicate tone and theatric tone, suddenly sounded to Cyril. The dark haired man turned around to face the source of the voice, which was a figure shrouded in a brown cloak.

“Um, I’m sorry, but I don’t’ have any money, not on me,” Cyril answered, in honesty. Daxton wasn’t at his side at the moment, for Daxton had gone to get some drinks.

Suddenly the figure reached out to Cyril’s head and procured a coin from behind his ear. Then off came the cloak to reveal all that was the actor Sebastian Ackart. His eccentric outfit ((the one in the drawing)) was a bit mind boggling at first, but eventually Cyril stopped staring.

“Allow me to introduce my self,” Sebastian said, bowing until his nose nearly touched the floor, “I am Sebastian Ackart, an entertainer of all sorts, but mostly an actor, one could say.”

Fletcher was about to ask how Sebastian had taken a coin—that had not been there before—from behind his ear. He had always wondered how magicians did that. He also wondered who the hell would pose as a beggar just to do that. Sebastian was strange man, that was for sure.

Before Cyril could ask however Sebastian was already gone, having gone off somewhere else in the crowd.

It was actually that something had caught Sebastian’s eye. Lots of new people were coming in, and oh how Sebastian wanted to meet them all. But then one caught his eye in particular. It was a girl (he thought) with another man.

“Oh, ‘tis a shame for someone such as yourself to be without a rose on such a romantic night,” Sebastian announced to Hastie, stepping up to her. “Ah, but what, what is this?” Ackart asked as he pulled something out of his sleeve, as if he hadn’t known it was there. It was a rose. He presented the lush rose to her, and then handed it over.

In the meantime Daxton had gotten two glasses of wine, and he gave one to Cyril (although he knew that Cyril didn’t really drink).

“I have a feeling tonight is going to be quite the long, as well as interesting night, my friend,” Delue observed as he took a sip.

[Akira]

Hastie was caught off guard by the strangely clad man that came up to her, the man she was with seemed to pay no mind to him and casually just patter her shoulder and left to converse with others and drink.

Hastie could feel her cheeks start to burn and she held out her hand to take the rose. When she took it, she placed it to her lips, covering her grin. "Why thank you." she giggled. "And... who might you be?" she asked, lowering the rose, still smirking and watching the eccentric man with a lot of interest, but only interested as he was so strange looking she could not help but be interested in him.

[snailfreak]

Sebastian flickered a smile of sorts under the marionette-like make-up he wore. The entertainer then bowed before her, and once he was standing up fully again he introduced himself.

“I am Sebastian Ackart, and who might you be? What is the name of the person I have the utmost pleasure of meeting?” he asked in a lightly-theatrical tone. This was, actually, and surprisingly to normal people, his usual mode of voice.

Sebastian was a true actor, that was for sure. And an entertainer as well. It was something about how people’s faces lit up that he liked. And that hidden grin on the woman’s face, and those slightly flushed cheeks. Sebastian liked it when people did that as well.

As he stood there, his eyes never once left hers to look at all the other various people strutting about, not even once.


This post has been edited by snailfreak on Oct 5 2007, 05:27 PM

[Akira]

Hastie giggled for a moment, that was sure something new that someone's said to her in a while, but it would be fun to make him guess. She loved it when people had to guess things about her. The crowd of people around and walking around really didn't catch her interest at the moment as the man before her was just so strange looking that he made everyone else at the moment look rather plain.

"well... why don't you try and guess?" She smiled and put her arms behind her back, holding onto the rose with both hands and still smiling. "If you guess... I'll give you a kiss." She winked.



The man she was with, Veld Dorian Lasife, had made his way over to the drinks, so many choices. He ended up with a deep blood red wine, which seemed to fit him perfectly, of course he chuckled to himself as he drank the glass. As he looked around the room, something caught his eye and before he knew it, he was off, glass of wine in hand and he was now in front of two men, one looking worried and the other, well, he didn't pay much attention really.

"That is a lovely watch." Veld said, taking the man's watch and examining it.

[snailfreak]

Another smile flickered from Ackart’s lips and then came a laugh. One hand aimlessly messed with the frills of the sleeve as the actor spoke.

“That is a very hard task you set before me….but I am more than up for the challenge.”

“Ah, lets see, lets see,” said he, beginning to circle around her, as if he could guess her name simply by observing her countenance.

“I can’t see you as being a Vanessa or Valerie….so no V-names. A Brittany or Bridgette? Oh no, nom that will not do for you at all. Your name would be something…..innocent, simple, concealing…”

He then stopped pacing around her,

“Not an A or and S shall be the start of your first or last name, for those are that starts of my first and last name.”

He went through nearly all the letters of the alphabet in such a manner, but he managed to narrow it down.

“H…hm….no..not H….” There was a paused, Ackart observed her for a moment more and said, “Actually, H will do, H will do. Or maybe C. How about H or C? One of those could be the first letter of your first name.”

“How about a hint now….hopefully I guessed the right letter,” said the actor, standing in front of her now.





Cyril, of course, was quite startled when this flash of color came before him. This time it wasn’t an eccentric actor, but it was somebody else altogether. An aristocrat of sorts, by the looks of the man’s outfit. Fletcher had no clue why the man would speak with him though, if the man were asn aristocrat.

“….I found it, a long time ago,” Cyril eventually said in a shy but well placed sort of tone, his eyes falling from the man’s face and to the watch. Then he looked to the blood red wine. As before with the sun and comparing it to road-kill, Cyril would surely compare this wine to blood. He had seen enough of that for a life-time, so briefly his light browne yes stared at it, he couldn’t help it.

[Akira]

Hastie smiled and giggled as he moved around her, trying various names to try and guess hers. She had thought of many names for herself, but ended up picking something close to her actual name, but that was in the past and the present was now, with the oddly clad man making circles around her.

She smiled, "Why yes, you have... but does my name start with H? Or C?" she smiled again and placed the rose over her lips in a teasing manner.



"Really?" Veld said, opening the watch to see the inside. "And it still works too! Or did you perhaps fix it if it were broken when you found it?" he asked face full of curiosity over the watch. He closed it and placed it back where it was before moving his wine glass about and taking a sip from it.

[snailfreak]

Sebastian crossed his arms in thought, looking off into the distance as if deeply considering the question.

“H or C…..well, a C-name would be something like Carly, or Charlotte….no, none of those would do for you. I suppose I could venture out on a limb and say that your name begins with an H,” Ackart finally decided, uncrossing his arms and nodding his head out of more self-assurance than anything else.

He didn’t know how he could guess from there though, so he awaited for a hint that he would, hopefully, receive soon enough.




“It was broken, I think somebody stepped on it, or something like that, and then I found it and fixed it,” Cyril answered, wondering why this man was so interested in a watch. Maybe the man was just looking for conversation, but Fletcher didn’t know why he would want that from him.

“…What’s your name?” Cyril asked with a sudden looked of curiosity in his bright eyes.

[Akira]

"Yes, my name starts with an H." Hastie giggled, awaiting to see what his conclusion of her name would be. "Any guesses?" she asked, keeping the rose to her lips to hide her smile.




"Oh? You fixed it..." Veld asked with a surprised look on his face. "Veld, Veld is my name..." he pulled a watch out of his pocket and dangled it by it's golden chain. "This watch is broken, do you think you could fix it? Are you a clock maker?" He asked.

[snailfreak]

Sebastian tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling in thought, staring at the massive glass and gold chandelier for a moment.

“Ah….H….hm…Hannah…no…Helen? no, not quite.”

“Hortence?” he then guessed jokingly, looking back down at her, he was just messing with her with that guess. A name like Hortence is a very unattractive name, so it wouldn’t match up with this woman at all.

“Heather? Hattie? Hazel? No, no, and no.”

Guess after guess came, but Sebastian didn’t’ seem to think any of them were right. Then came a sigh and a delicate frown,

“I guess I lose then…”



“No, no, I’m not….I just like to know about things, I like to know how things work,” Cyril said in an almost humble tone, taking Veld’s watch into his hands and opening it. “I’m Cyril, by the way,” Fletcher said as though it were a side-note, as he examined the other man’s watch.

“I…think I can fix it,” Cyril said after a few moments, closing the watch and looking up at Veld. What a strange person, Cyril thought, but strange in a way that is somehow different than most.

[Akira]

Hastie chuckled a bit and leaned over to him, kissing him on the cheek. "No, because my name is only common to myself." she said with a grin. "Hastie, Hastie Labrim." She smiled before backing away for a moment to look at him agian. "Thank you very much for the rose. It is much appreciated." she started to walk past him but stopped when she was next to him, "See you around, Sebastian." She giggled before disappearing in the crowd.



"You can?" Veld took the watch and Cyril's hand and placed it into his hand. "I would greatly appreciate it if you can and I will pay you handsomely. It is... a family heirloom that I cannot replace and if my father knew that it was broken see... I would be in a lot of trouble." He smiled then looked over at Daxton, he placed a hand on his chin, and moved his finger over his mouth momentarily before placing the hand on his hip and started grinning.

"So who is your adorable looking friend?" he asked, still grinning, his thin body was standing straight up and he had his head cocked slightly to the side to keep a better look on this... other adorable person.

[snailfreak]

Sebastian of course made a light smile when he received the kiss from her. Not only was he happy about that, but now he knew he name. He supposed he didn’t do too badly, he did at least guess the letter correctly.

“Farewell then, fair Hastie,” Ackart said as he bid farewell to her. Watch her disappear into the crowd, it was then that he turned around and went off elsewhere to meet new people. Still, none of them were as interesting as this ‘Hastie Labrim’ was.




Cyril paused for a moment, for he the other had referenced to Daxton as being ‘adorable’. Cyril had never thought of Daxton that way….although, Daxton had referenced to Cyril as being ‘adorable’ before, no doubt about it.

“That’s my friend Daxton,” Fletcher explained, motioning over to the blonde who was chatting with a few other people. “I can introduce you, if you like.”

‘Oh…you don’t have to pay me,” Fletcher added a moment later, again as if his not taking money would be an unimportant side-note. Suddenly someone bumped into Cyril, and Cyril turned rather pale.

“Oh-! Excuse me! I hardly meant to bump into you, Cyril, someone just shoved me because I guessed their card right. It was a simple card trick, that was all,” Sebastian apologized in his grand sort of tone.

A wide-eyed Fletcher merely nodded his head in response. He was easily startled, and he didn’t much like people touching him suddenly out of the blue.

“But it is of no matter or consequence,” Sebastian said with a laugh, brushing dust from his shoulders, “The man’s only mad because I made him feel stupid.”

The group of people Daxton had been talking to wandered off, so Daxton then returned to Cyril,

“I think I haven't talked to enough people as of late, or something of that sort of issue, because I’m finding conversing with these people rather boring, and very uninteresting,” Daxton said to Cyril, his eyes then looking to the unfamiliar face that was Veld, and then at Sebastian.

[Akira]

"Really..." Veld stroked his chin as he watched Daxton with interest, he then turned back to Cyril when he mentioned not having to pay him, "oh but I insist." he said, hands extended out to the sides and he stood up straighter before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a purse. "Here..." he started to rummage through it and pulled out a sufficient amount of cash, he then handed it in Cyril's direction before pulling it back when someone bumped into the other man.

He waited until Cyril seemed a bit less surprised from the bump before extending the money back out, but grew a bit impatient and placed the money in Cyril's hand of which he took and closed. Veld then turned to Daxton, as he had come up.

"Why hello there," he took the mans hand and kissed the back of it, gentlemanly-like and with a short bow. "I'm Veld, I heard that you are called Daxton?" He asked, standing back up with a grin.

[snailfreak]

Cyril could sense that certain amount of impatience by how Veld had closed his hands. It reminded him of Daxton, just slightly. But. Speaking of Daxton, the blonde made a slow sort of smile, as if he was unsure what to think of this Veld for a moment. But then Delue seemed to make a decision on how to approach things, and the smile flared up, and then faded away.

“Yes, Daxton is I,” he said to Veld with a small nod of sorts. His crystalline eyes were latched onto Veld, assessing him, most likely.

Cyril, standing there with a wad of cash in his hands, felt he didn’t deserve the money, so thus he felt a bit strange. He briefly observed the exchange between Daxton and Veld.

[Akira]

"It is a pleasure to meet you... I could go and get you a drink, perhaps?" He asked, holding his smile towards Daxton.

"Oh! Earl Veld!" Hastie called from a small crowd, waving her hand and then after excusing herself, made her way over to Veld. "There you went, I was looking for you." She said with a smile before taking his arm. "Want to dance?" She asked smiling.

"Ah... no, right now I am getting to know new friends." he said smiling back towards Daxton, Cyril and Sebastian.

"Oh," Hastie smiled, "we meet again, Sebastian."

[snailfreak]

“You could, if I didn’t already have one,” Daxton answered lightly, gesturing to the drink already in his hands. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether or not Daxton meant something in a blunt way, or a mean-spirited way, or a factual way, or any number of ways. This time, it wasn’t meant in a mean spirited way, not really.

“That we do, Hastie,” Sebastian said with a gallant smile to her as well as a low bow, his eyes briefly looking at Veld.

Both Daxton and Cyril exchanged glances at Sebastian’s arrival. The two were good friends, they could merely communicate with looks. But these looks were far from looks of disdain, it was most likely that the two found the eccentric actor to be interesting, especially compared to the other dry-talker sort of ball-goers.

[Akira]

"Perhaps..." Veld said with a heavy sort of sigh. He then put a hand to his chin and smirked., "I could get you a refill?" he said. "It looks rather... going to be empty."

Hastie giggled and nodded her head towards Sebastian. She then looked at the other two with interest as well, "so who ARE you're friends?" she asked with a grin. "I'm Hastie," she said, pointing to herself, "I'm Earl Veld's escort."

[snailfreak]

Daxton made a grin and let out a laugh at that. He thought it awful slick of Veld, so he decided to oblige him, not to mention his glass was about half empty now. “An astute observation!” He then handed his glass over to Veld, still observing the other man’s countenance, remnants of the grin still on his lips.

“Ah, my new acquaintances! Well, that interesting blonde fellow is Daxton, and this lovely man here is Cyril.” Sebastian explained, introducing the two to Hastie.

Fletcher, looking at Hastie, realized something. Was that really a girl…? It was just a small feeling he got, one of those instances where Cyril could be surprisingly observant.

[Akira]

"But of course, I am a very observant man." Veld said with a small bow before taking the glass and going through the crowd, towards the wine selection. He looked through the wine, thinking of what kind the man was probably drinking. He smelled the contents of the glass before taking a sip and then nodding to himself, picking up a new glass he filled the wine glass full of new wine.

Hastie looked Daxton up and down while Sebastian said his name, then she looked over at Cyril and did the same, sizing them out, observing them and how they looked, she grinned. "Well, they are both good looking," she said with a smile and then a soft giggle. "What is it that you two do for a living?" She asked looking at Cyril and Daxton.

[snailfreak]

Daxton watched the other man leave, but then looked to Cyril when Hastie made that compliment.

Cyril muttered something shyly about working at a library, and Daxton merely smiled and said that he worked for a living and got well paid for it. Then the blond moved on, asking Daxton what he did for a living. He was quite interested in what sort of job came with such an extraordinary outfit.

“Ah, I’m an actor…” Sebastian said, reaching to the inside of his jacket and getting out a masquerade mask, then holding it up to his face “…of sorts!”

Cyril made a slight smile of amusement at that, but said nothing, for he was a rather shy man, after all.

[Akira]

"You said you were also an entertainer, right?" Hastie asked with a smile, crossing her arms and tilting her head a bit.

Veld came back and extended his hand out to Daxton, offering the full wine glass. "For you... Sir." he said with a grin and a light chuckle. "And for my escort," he handed out a glass to Hastie who nodded and thanked him. He brought the last glass he had to his own lips, sipping from it and smiling at the group.

"This is..." Hastie thought for a moment, "Dark Chambraline, right?" she asked, and Veld nodded.

"You know your wine... I like that in a woman." he said with the same grin he had when he looked at Daxton.

[snailfreak]

“Haha, that I did, that I did,” Sebastian answered, smiling at Hastie, “I am both an actor and an entertainer. They both go hand in hand, but acting involves more lying and less humor, I suppose.”

Daxton, who really was quite a sharp person, caught the grin Veld had made to Hastie, the similarity in it. Instantly the blonde’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like people like that at all. He knew Cyril wouldn’t notice such things, and that he would have to be Fletcher’s eyes when it came to such things. So, Daxton set down the wine glass that had been given to him on a nearby table. Then, Delue linked his arm with Cyril and said to him as he walked away from Veld and the others, “Come along with me, shall we?”

Once they were a good ways away from the group, Cyril asked, a confused look in his eyes, “Why did you do that, Daxton?”

“Because, Cyril…just because. Trust me on this, all right?”

[Akira]

Veld watched as the two left, his eye brows raised and he smirked, picking up the wine glass, "excuse me." he said to the entertainer and Hastie. He followed Daxton and Cyril until he was right behind them as they had stopped.

Veld had put a hand on Daxton's shoulder and extended his other arm around him, his face right next to the other mans. "You forgot your wine, Daxton." he said with a slight chuckle.



"What do you mean by lying?" Hastie asked, she just nodded at Veld as he left and she then took a drink from her wine. "I thought actors read from lines of a play, or story? At least the actors that I had seen preform did... I think..."

[snailfreak]

“Yes, indeed, I did leave my wine, seeing as I set it down and purposely left it, for I didn’t wish to drink from it any longer,” Daxton said in a nonchalant but somewhat emphasized tone, turning around as he put his hand on Veld’s hand in order to remove it from his shoulder, as well as taking a step back from any sort of contact.

Cyril noticed that Delue didn’t seem to like this man at all. Fletcher almost always trusted the blonde’s judgment. He turned pale (well, paler than usual) for if Daxton didn’t like Veld, there must have been something terribly wrong with Veld, then. But Cyril, suddenly clueless, had no idea what that could be.

“Now, you don’t have to smirk, act gallant, and make unnecessary contact to make yourself blatant,” Daxton said, looking into Veld’s eyes. He kept a calm, but complex, manner of speaking, but there was just the slightest edge to it.

In the meantime, Sebastian found himself smiling yet again.

“You are correct yet again, that is what many actors do. But isn’t the very definition of being an actor lying? I mean…if you’re an actor, you’re pretending to be someone you’re not. That’s a lie. I good actor must be good at pretending to be somebody else. Therefore, an actor must be good at lying.”

“Not that I mean to say…” Ackart continued, taking a fold out paper fan from his pocket and fanning himself with it, “….that acting is somehow an amoral way to live life.”