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Leon had taken some time to actually put on formal wear. It was a miracle to anyone who knew him, since he hadn't bothered to go to a tailor since living in Eyris. However, there was something that came over the Lieutenant: a desire to look his finest, handed down graciously from his noble upbringing he had as a child. When one was given luxury, they were expected to flaunt it.

Now, a Watchman's salary wasn't what one would like to call 'luxury', but it was better than a lot of the other jobs in Eyris. Leon could afford to look at least halfway decent, so, by the great Hero Anri, he was going to try. He was careful when he got upon his steed (whom didn't look quite so bad himself with a brand new saddle Leon received from one of the Constables as a present), he didn't want to get his formal wear damaged. While he had his same old boots on, they were much shinier and clean than usual. They actually looked like boots, instead of two muddy... things that went over a man's feet.

He slowed his steed, Anri when he heard familiar voices up ahead. Were they who he thought they were? Yes. Captain Ghis, and his two subordinates, Charice (whom Leon was quite fond of), and Javert. Charice, as always was trying to get Ghis to change, and in this case, quite literally. If Leon knew anything though, it's that a man will wear (or believe) whatever he wants to. There was no changing him, unless he decided it himself. "Oy, Charice. Go easy on Cap'n Ghis, will ya? I think this'll be the first time we've had a real party if ya catch my drift, he ain't used to goin' places without his armor!" He grinned, shifting his gaze to the Captain on the spot. "Why, I'm sure if ya just borrow a bit o' my armor polish, sir, ya won't look half bad. Oh, shavin' might be a good idea too."

There were so many greetings for Sue to make all at once now. It looked like the slow party (as it started) was picking up, with more and more guests showing themselves and having a merry time with one another. There was General Roy... and then... another swordsman that greeted her? He said his name was Joshua, and he wanted to ask her something, but the nervous feeling that gave the nomad was quickly erased with Zairam, another swordsman pulled Joshua aside.

It was still polite to answer the Jehanna Swordmaster though. "Ah, I do remember seeing you, Joshua. My name is Sue. I'm a member of the Host Club, and the crewmember, Rath's daughter." she said formally.

Anticipation? That certainly wasn't a response Ziaram had expected, yet there was no problem with the fact that Joshua accepted the duel in the end. That was excellent in Ziaram's mind, which meant more training. However, he was feeling a little off balanced with the idea of owing him a favor if he lost. "All right...although if I win...ehh the duel would be worth it, so you would not owe me anything. I look forward to that day we duel."

Rhys frowned, taking in what Rath said. Shoot, that's bad timing, we'd just before left for Estarcia, and... Well, as much as he disliked not being useful, the problem had been deftly handled, as evidenced by lack of escaped convicts and overall chaos that was wont to plague Eyris. No sense in worrying about what had already been fixed. Certainly not in this atmosphere.

"You have a point," Rhys said, appreciating Rath's point on the concept of overworking. "I don't think I've ever felt that way, either," he added, taking it to mean that Rath was doing just fine in that department. And that was about as far as he got before Lyre and Lethe arrived, one looking more cheerful and far less barefoot than the other. "Oh! Lyre, Lethe, hello there! It's nice to see you both," he added. Lethe was a new arrival, but his past history allowed him to know Lethe better than he'd known her sister--at least, until Lyre arrived first in Learania by a large temporal margin.

"Lyre!" Amelia stepped forward to give her friend a hug. "You made it!"

She turned her head to Lyre. "Lethe, is it? It's nice to meet you." She happened to glance down towards Lethe's hand, still holding the shoes. It reminded her of the first few attempts she'd made towards wearing high heels, herself--Honestly, how DO women wear these, she'd at first mused--but one got used to the new shoes after a little while. Every so often, she enjoyed looking her best. "So, are you both enjoying yourselves so far?"

--------

It had appeared for the time being that Javert and Charice had prevailed in turning back Ghis when who should appear but Leon! Ghis exhaled a sigh of relief: He was saved. Besides, his primary concern was the bar said to be inside, not dancing.

"Yeah, wha' he said," Ghis said, taking the initiative before his opposition could rally. "When's th' las' time we were at a party? Ne'er, tha's when!"

"...From where I'm standing," Charice said, taking in Leon's classy attire and manliness with interest, "Leon and I have both been in one just a few months ago, and--"

"Details, details," Ghis said, taking full advantage of her loss of resolve. "Now look. There's a bar i' there somewhere, an' ah aim tae find it! Let's move!"

Javert had been likewise inclined to stop Ghis, really. It's just that now the tide had turned from two opposed, one in favor to two in favor, one still opposed, and the last one not entirely in favor but more in the party spirit of "Carpe Diem", thanks to the Lieutenant's timely arrival.

He shrugged. Sometimes, you took the loss, no?

"Carpe Diem, I guess," he said, secretly pleased to be using words that sounded fancy and intellectual. "Plus the party's already going on without us. Shall we head in?"

He turned toward the entrance as Ghis added, "Arrrmor polish? Ye brought some? ...'Cuz that might help mah case, act'ully, an'..."

Drinks! FD wanted ‘em, Mel wanted ‘em, even the Bishop Victoria, a holy woman, wanted ‘em! Better yet, more and more people were arriving at the celebration! Before he knew it, Roy had come from behind FD and Nils to greet the pair. “Just managing the bar, Nephew!” he told the young lord. While Nils and he might not be married yet, Roy already called FD Uncle, and FD called Roy Nephew. There was so much irony in them becoming relatives when you considered that the Lord’s parents had almost killed FD, but they didn’t have many others around to call family. “You want a drink, Roy, my boy?”

As he offered his nephew the drink, Victoria requested a martini whilst Mel arrived, in search of the best goods they had. “This should satisfy you then, he told the Bishop, handing her a lavender martini. Strong stuff, fruity flavor – you’re gonna love it.” The Dragon then turned his attention to Melethia. “Mel! What exactly are you looking for, my friend? We’ve got it soft, we’ve got it hard, we’ve got it strong. You want Vodka, Scotch, Ale, Beer, Whiskey, a martini? You name it we’ve got it!” he told his fellow dragon, loading his own glass up again to down in one drink just afterwards.

"A drink sounds good, Uncle FD." said the young lord, taking a seat at the bar. "As for what drink...I dunno. Surprise me."

Screw the legal drinking age. It was a New Year. It was a party. He had (semi-) responsible relatives with him. Dammit, he was going to drink!

He looked over at Mel and smiled. She had offered him a drink.

"Sure, I'll join you for a drink, Mel."

(( Screw my posting formats, a little girl is coming in this post. ))

Nils' face brightened even more (if that was even possible) upon seeing his Nephew. The only one missing now from his family was his sister, Ninian. There's no need for me to worry about that, though... She can come if she wants to. He gave Roy a slight nod. "Just stayin' with Hikaru. I haven't been yelled at to go anywhere else yet, so..." He shrugged his shoulders, a slightly mischievous grin on his face. "I figured, why not stay here?" The bard's eyes flickered towards FD before turning back to his Nephew. "If I'm needed elsewhere, they'd find me."

He not-too-subtly glared at the young lord; someone had to be the parental cop for Roy, and since Ninian was absent, the job was passed on to Nils. "Aren't you a bit... I don't know... young to be drinking?" His eyebrow raised. "I wonder if your mother would like to hear that her son was drinking..."

---

"It's so pretty! Aki, Aki, come on, come on!" A young, overly excited girl exclaimed, practically dragging her unfortunate chaperone around the room. Her gloved hands were wrapped around her companion's hands, tugging insistently. "Stop being so slow!!"

"I-I'm going as fast as I can, Amara...!" The chaperone, none other Amara's uncle, Akihi Kaua, complained. "Y-you need to slow down a bit so you don't get--"

The mage's sentence was left unfinished as the little girl ran off, leaving him behind. "Amara...!" He groaned to himself, shaking his head slowly; she was already too far away to hear her uncle's cries. "... And this is what Alihi has to deal with every day...?"

Meanwhile, Amara found herself wandering around, accidentally bumping into Sue. "I-I'm so--" She began to look up at the person as she spoke; her eyes widened as she realized who it was. The apology stopped short as she let out an excited squeal. "Sue!!" She hugged the green-haired girl tightly, giggling to herself. There was no room for Sue to protest this sudden hug; Amara wouldn't let go even if Sue did!

I shall now demonstrate the law of Sacae...
all our tribesman banding together against our invaders!

And so Sue was about to answer Joshua's offer about a duel, when she was... hugged. Amara surprised the nomad girl like she surprised everyone else, always beaming full of energy and making happiness abounds. The young tribeswoman couldn't help but let a little bit of Amara's excitement rub off on her, and she laughed heartily. "Why hello there, Amara! It's really good to see you!" She knelt down to be more on the redhead's level. "So, how has your mother been doing? I bet her mind is as brilliant as ever!"

She looked up, and then between the redheaded swordmaster and the child. "Oh, I need to introduce you now. Amara, this is Joshua, he's a swordmaster..." she begun, and then she gestured the opposite. "And Joshua, this is Amara, the daughter of the Tactician Alihi." She backed away, hoping for the two to exchange a handshake, or even... another hug from Amara. She was so adorable and easy to talk to, who wouldn't want to be hugged by her?