[Ariyah – Lady Washington – Deck – BoL – Fame 2 – A]
Ariyah tried not to react when the young Toreador nearly jumped out of his skin at her approach.
He’s a skittish one, Ariyah thought, watching as Yuri struggled to pull himself together, I wonder whether he’ll be able to survive the night.
Lambert’s introduction pulled her attention away from Yuri, and she smiled at the taller man. She hadn’t met a Thinblood yet since coming to Seattle, and she briefly wondered whether he was one of the few who had the ability to walk around in the daylight.
She saw his eyes flicker over to the still-recovering Yuri then to her as if giving a regretful shrug. She just kept a placid look on her face, as if a conversation partner suddenly turning their back on the party was the most normal thing in the world. If this was a mortal gathering, she would just erase their memories before walking away. But they were Kindred, and this was Court, and powers were not allowed. She had stupidly put herself in an awkward situation, and now she just had to ride it out. After a moment, the man offered some platitude about needing to find his sire and took his leave.
Ariyah let out a breath of annoyance and turned to Yuri, who had finally turned back to face them. Although from his stuttering, he had yet to fully recover, despite his claim on the contrary.
“A-all is well… How… how are you? Who are you?”
Ariyah tried not to raise her eyebrows at the last question. Did he not recognise her from last night? Although they hadn’t spoken directly, everyone did introduce themselves.
“My name is Ariyah Daniels, neonate of Clan Toreador.” Ariyah tried to keep the impatience from her voice, hoping the semi-formal introduction would help settle the younger Kindred. “We were at the same party last night, but didn’t get the chance to speak.”
She pushed up her glasses before continuing, “I noticed you were having some trouble over here, so I thought I’d help. But,” she waved her hand at the empty space around them, “it seems I misjudged the situation.”
At that moment, Ariyah noticed movement on deck; crew came up from below deck and began moving through the crowd. It seems they were departing.
Ariyah watched the proceeding, feeling the ship shudder beneath her as it maneuvered away from the docks.
After the masts unfurled and caught the wind, Ariyah noticed some of the crowd making their way below decks. She decided not to move yet; instead, watching Yuri to see what he planned to do.