@Silmaril

Deena gave Helena the option to leave when she chose. Looking at the position of the moon, dinner would be soon. Rather than make any lies, she truthfully told Deena, "Now would be nice, if you wouldn't mind. I'll have to be back at the palace soon." She mounted the horse and looked down at Deena and held her hand out to the female vampire, "I'll give you a ride." Usually when getting along with people outside of the palace, she forgot about her status and how her royalty could make people nervous at times. In all honesty, Helena was nervous about spending time with Deena and she couldn't exactly figure out why. Deena was really friendly and talented and Helena didn't want to screw up any possible friendship they could kindle. Her heart thumped a bit faster as she thought of saying the wrong things, unintentionally insulting Deena or maybe breaking something in her home. She shooed these thoughts away and returned her focus to Deena, admiring the vampire's face and giving her a smile.

@1Hawkeyes

It seemed incredible to her that she was being given the chance to visit the Royal Castle and not for work, specifically, but in a more friendly manner, she hoped. It wasn't something than happened to any vampire all of the time, and she really liked Helena (probably in more than one way) so she just couldn't refuse such invitation. "Well, that is totally fine to me, yes.", Deena nodded, not removing the smile on her face for a second. "Oh, and thank you.", she added as she was offered a ride as well. She hadn't thought about how she would have got to the castle, in fact, and now she did she realized it would have been hard to pick up the pace since she used to walk her way around the village.
Deena took Helena's hand, fighting back hesitation in order not to give a wrong message to the other through her own nervousness. She was just eager, really. She wouldn't allow herself to have some pessimistic thoughts right then, about how probably Helena's family wouldn't approve least like her, or would she be an inconvenient guest to the castle, or anything of that nature, not when she had a potential friendship with the beautiful vampire ahead.

@Silmaril

"No problem," Helena chuckled, assisting Deena up. Up to this point, Helena hadn't really though of any of her family questioning her. Would they be suspicious of Deena? Surly not if she had been to the castle before and was already trusted. Would they tell her to leave Deena outside? What about an embarrassing question? The vampire didn't speak of her sexuality much and allowed her family to think of her preferences however they imagined, correct or not. She never brought anyone home, male or female, so it left many questions. Helena shook away all of these thoughts, leaving with the hope of being left alone with Deena. The clicking of her horse's hooves rang through the streets as they began on the path to the castle.

"How did you get into the makeup world?" Helena questioned, turning back to admire Deena. Even if this wasn't her best work, she was stunning. How could she look any better? It was hard to notice Deena's nervousness as she fought her own. She was never nervous like this, about messing up and making someone dislike her. "Have you had any formal training?"

@AlicePleasanceLiddell

Although Adam was worried about his relationship with Nik, he was also preoccupied with the wareabouts of Alia. He wanted to know she was safe. "We can talk later, I have to check on Alia," Adam told Nik, giving him another quick kiss. He then exited the shed and saddled a horse kept for general travel, no one vampire's horse in particular. He mounted it, giving a small wave to Nik before following Alia.

Once he finally found her, he greeted, "Bonjour, Madame. Having fun?"

((( Thanks everyone for your kindness. I have to learn to forget embarassement and thank people for kindness. oops)))

@1Hawkeyes

The phantom sensation of blushing crept up to her cheeks, her dead heart seemed to rush inside her chest. She was sitting so close to Helena, she could even perceive her subtle fine scent. All these thoughts were only driving her the more nervous, yet she had to have a hold on herself if he pretended not to scare the woman away. She had only felt this... vulnerable once before, at that was a long, long time ago. She felt ridiculous for acting like these, but she couldn't help herself all together. Deena tried her best to keep her eyes and attention elsewhere, watching instead the changing view by their side as they passed by through the village and towards the castle.
The question made her look back to Helena, meeting her enthralling eyes once again. "Well...", she began, offering her a soft smile. "Since I was a child, I used to see the beauty everywhere, in every little thing. And I liked the idea of everyone else noticing this beauty, too. I remember I used to style the dolls my mother gave me.", she chuckled with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. "Later on, growing up, I... met someone. She was a stylist, too, and became a good friend of mine. She tought me the basics, and introduced me to the world of makeup and 'beauty'.", Deena told her, and let out a quiet sight as her eyes wandered around the scenery. "I went on on my own ever since then, discovering my own 'style' and learning new technics and things to better satisfy the people's needs. So, I started my own little 'business', once I was independent." She said, drawing a smile back on her face.

---------------

|| @Gareth It's qutite alright. The important thing is that you feel comfortable here. :) ||

"You had such noble qualities even as a child," Helena commented, referring to Deena's younger self always finding beauty. It was interesting to hear about Deena's past, especially since something told her people didn't usually hear much of it. At the mention of a "good friend," Helena felt a slightly negative feeling poke at her stomach. She couldn't quite figure out what it was, but she continued to listen and steer the horse. "It's great that you were able to start your own business in makeup," she added, "It takes a lot of guts to pursue your dreams. It takes a... special kind of person to really pursue their dreams, especially without much help." Just seeing the way Deena moved and listening to how she spoke, it seemed she was very independent, even before talking about her business. Helena couldn't imagine how hard it would be starting her own business on her own, even if it was with the help of a "good friend." "A lot of people link makeup and altering one's appearance with vanity," Helena said, looking back at Deena, "but you see it as a fine beauty, amplifying a beauty that is already there rather than seeing it as a cover for... well, for ugliness." She turned to look at the pastures as they neared the horse stalls. She could see Adam and Alia together, chatting, and hoped they didn't see. Her hopes were quickly squashed when Adam spotted her and gave her a wave and a wink. Helena shook her head a bit at Adam's silliness and gave him a wave back. Helena steered her horse (whose name I forgot XD) into his stall and hopped off, holding her hand out to help Deena down. As she thought over her own words, she apologized, "I'm sorry if I'm prying, you really don't have to answer anything if you don't want to."