[color=lightgray][H3][center][b][color=AFDCE0]Count Landon Monet[/color], [color=ab274f]Prince Wulfric Danrose[/color], [color=hotpink]Lord Leo Smithwood[/color], [color=9354FF]Count Fritz “Ryn” Hendrix[/color], [color=greenyellow]Lord Drake Edwards[/color][/b][/center][/H3]

[center][b][color=AFDCE0]P[/color][color=B4B6D1]a[/color][color=A9BAC2]r[/color][color=9FBDB4]t[/color] [color=95C1A5]2[/color][/b][/center]

Drake took his seat, smiling pleasantly to those present. [color=greenyellow]“Very well. But someone else must shuffle. That is only standard rules of fairness, right?”[/color] He playfully suggested. 

Smirking, Wulfric extended a hand towards Count Hendrix, palm open and facing upwards, pointer finger beckoning in a ‘come hither’ motion. [color=ab274f]“Do pass them over,”[/color] he said, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. Fritz easily obliged, and Wulfric quickly if thoroughly inspected the cards. There was no tempering, and so he shuffled them. [color=ab274f]“Do you wish to cut, or to reshuffle?”[/color] He offered to Count Monet, since he was the host.

[color=AFDCE0]“Yes. Let me reshuffle.”[/color] Landon said hastily and took the cards with an eagerness that reached his eyes. He began to shuffle them as a male waiter began to place numerous alcoholic drinks alongside a few non-alcoholic options on the surface of the table. Then, he distributed five cards to all. [color=AFDCE0]“I’ll go first. Then, around the table: Lord Leo, Count Fritz, Lord Edwards, then Prince Wulfric.”[/color] He gazed upon his cards for a moment before asking, [color=AFDCE0]“'Ave any nines, Lord Leo?”[/color]

Briefly Leo took a look at his cards, rearranging them in his hand while wearing an empty expression. [color=hotpink]“Go fish.”[/color] He replied to Landon. [color=hotpink]“And good to see you, Drake, got any eights?”[/color]

Drake, feigning a look of shock, reached for his cards and grabbed an 8 of spades. Between his two fingers he handed the card over to Leo with a grin. [color=greenyellow]“I only just sat down and I am already being cleaned out of all my cards! Good to see you and your…pink self?”[/color] He both stated his thoughts and semi-transparently asked what the heck Leo got into that would cause such a thing. Then his gaze looked elsewhere, and he decided to look at Fritz. [color=greenyellow]“Good sir. May you have any 3s by chance?”[/color]

When Lord Edwards asked for a card, Ryn’s gaze flickered to Lord Monet, gauging his reaction, before moving down to his cards. This time, it was Ryn who feigned shock. [color=9354FF]“Lord Edwards!”[/color] he exclaimed, [color=9354FF]“You’re one to talk, sir!”[/color] Then, with a smile, gave him a three of spades. [color=9354FF]“Oh yes,”[/color] he continued, [color=9354FF]“you missed the earlier invitation. Lord Smithwood and I—and quite possibly His Highness—have plans for the spa later this evening. Would you like to join us, Lord Edwards?”[/color] He turned to the final player at their table. [color=9354FF]“Your Highness, do you have any 7s?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“None, go fish,”[/color] Wulfric replied curtly. He’d not even glanced at his cards, having memorized them. After Count Hendrix, it was his turn. [color=ab274f]“Count Landon, any fives?”[/color]

Count Landon smirked, his confidence evident. [color=AFDCE0]“Do I ‘ave any fives?”[/color] he echoed, a haughty tone creeping into his voice. [color=AFDCE0]“Not a single one, Prince Wulfric. Looks like you’ll ‘ave to ‘Go Fish.’”[/color]
Landon leaned back in his chair, a smug expression on his face. [color=AFDCE0]“Better luck next time,”[/color] he added, clearly enjoying the moment as he picked up a shot glass and downed its contents. [color=AFDCE0]“’Ow about you give me zose sevens, Fritz?”[/color]

Count Monet said it with such confidence, Ryn felt bad to disappoint him. [color=9354FF]“I apologize, Count Monet, but I’m afraid you’ll have to ‘Go Fish’ this time around.”[/color]

Landon groaned louder than necessary and whirled on Ryn. [color=AFDCE0]“Huh! But you asked for sevens! Why ask for cards you do not need?”[/color] he complained. 

[color=ab274f]“To trick someone into revealing which cards they want without risk to himself?”[/color] the prince arched an eyebrow, mildly suggesting what seemed obvious. [color=ab274f]“It strikes me as a valid strategy, and within the rules you’ve delineated. It may prolong the game but as long as we aren’t brought to a standstill, is it not fine?”[/color]

[color=AFDCE0] “ Whatever. I guess.” [/color] Landon grumbled.

[color=9354FF]“If it would set your mind at ease, I can show my hand to you or another player for confirmation. If I do, I hope it is within reason to request that whoever views my cards refrains from asking for them in subsequent turns.”[/color]

[color=AFDCE0] “…I don’t need to see them.” [/color]

[color=hotpink]“We’ve learned something about Count Fritz, he plays to win. Got an ace in that hand, Hendrix?”[/color] Leo asked. He noted but didn’t speak it aloud, that they’d also learned Count Monet held a distaste for deception, even in a low-stakes card game. 

[color=9354FF]“Go Fish.”[/color]

As the game progressed, Landon grew increasingly aggressive and competitive, his demeanor fueled by the alcohol he consumed. Ultimately, Lord Leo Smithwood emerged victorious. [color=AFDCE0]“Cheater.”[/color] Landon muttered at Leo, disguising his comment with a cough.

On the other hand, Wulfric had been playing patiently and calmly. When the winner was proclaimed, he turned to Leo with a challenging smile. [color=ab274f]“Well done for this round. I hope you’ve thought of an exciting reward?”[/color]

With the conclusion of the game, Drake sighed as he placed his hand of two cards on the table. Revealing a pair of Queens. [color=greenyellow]“Ah rats! It seems we have been bested gents!”[/color] He chuckled. [color=greenyellow]“So what is this I hear about a spa day between gentlemen? Can’t say I’ve ever partsken but I would not be opposed. Can you share more, Count Fritz?”[/color] To which the count happily filled in the details. 

Leo grabbed a shot glass from the table and downed it as he thought about a question to ask the group. [color=hotpink]“Share your strangest experience. Mine’s likely obvious; memory loss followed by having a chipmunk voice, and then turning pink.”[/color] He posed his question to the table, hoping to uncover more strange occurrences in Sorian. Maybe something useful, or even something to feel like he wasn’t alone in experiencing weirdness in Sorian. 

Ryn paused, considering the question. The peculiar and uncanny were such constants in his life that singling out one instance proved challenging. He wondered: does the strange remain strange when it becomes routine?

He canted his head, first left, then right, a soft hum escaping him. [color=9354FF]“Just the other day,”[/color] Ryn began, [color=9354FF]“I visited a charming café and ordered their daily special: a steaming pot of tea with five cookies. But when my order arrived, there were seven cookies on the plate.”[/color]

Ryn smiled. [color=9354FF]“A delightful surprise, one might think. But then, that very same evening, while dining at a restaurant, I requested a scoop of vanilla ice cream to cap off my meal. To my surprise, it came with two additional cookies not listed on the menu.”[/color] The count’s expression turned grave, his voice dropping to a hushed whisper. [color=9354FF]“Stranger yet…”[/color] He leaned forward. [color=9354FF]“The extra cookies were all snickerdoodles.”[/color]

Leo followed the shot with a long drink of beer, using it to hide the look of annoyance as Count Fritz rambled on about extra cookies. Such a mundane tale was the last thing he expected to hear from one of the strangest nobles he’d met. It seemed to have an obvious explanation; servants who weren’t bright enough to count correctly. Leo wondered what was so strange about snickerdoodles.

Count Landon Monet sat there, brooding, his fingers drumming a relentless rhythm on the table. His loss in the game had put him in a foul mood. [color=AFDCE0]“Ah, cookies and pink skin,”[/color] he muttered. [color=AFDCE0]“Truly, zis is what we discuss?”[/color]

He took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing as he looked at each of them. [color=AFDCE0]“You want strange? Let me tell you about my childhood, about my father,”[/color] he began, his tone dark and intense. [color=AFDCE0]“Count Bruce was a man who thought ‘e was invincible. And I, I was ‘is eldest son, ze one ‘e expected to be just like ‘im.”[/color]

Landon's voice grew quieter, more menacing. [color=AFDCE0]“I remember being a child, no more than ten, and ‘e would yell, threaten, berate me and my brother Dion. ‘Is words cut deeper than any blade. ‘E would tell us we were worthless, that we needed to toughen up. And if we didn’t meet ‘is standards, ‘e would make sure we paid for it.”[/color]	

He clenched his fists, the knuckles turning white. [color=AFDCE0]“There was one night... one night I’ll never forget. I had failed to memorize a passage from some Primitus text. ‘E was furious, dragged me out into the courtyard. It was winter, freezing cold. ‘E made me kneel in the snow for hours, reciting that damned passage until my lips were blue and I couldn’t feel my legs.”[/color]
Landon's eyes glinted with rage. [color=AFDCE0]“And you know what the worst part was? ‘E stood there, watching, making sure I didn’t move. If I faltered, ‘e would strike me across the face with ‘is cane. That night, I thought I would die there, in that cold, dark courtyard. But I didn’t. I survived.”[/color]

He leaned forward, his voice a low growl. [color=AFDCE0]“You want to know strange? Strange is knowing your father was poisoned, and feeling relief instead of sorrow. Strange is taking over ‘is role and realizing you’ve become what you hated most. I try, you know? I try not to be ‘im, but sometimes I see ‘is shadow in everything I do.”[/color]

Landon’s gaze turned to the whiskey in his glass, swirling it absentmindedly. [color=AFDCE0]“Every day, I battle with ‘is ghost. I see ‘im in my reflection, hear ‘is voice in my head. And no matter what I do, I can’t escape it. So, yes, strange things ‘appen, but they are nothing compared to the darkness that lingers inside, waiting to consume you.”[/color]

While Count Hendrix’s account had received a raised eyebrow, and a slightly bemused smile, Wulfric grew thoughtful at Count Monet’s tale. Silently, he found himself comparing Landon’s experience with his own. Edin wasn’t so inclined to berating - unless the target was Callum - and he would never risk inflicting easily visible injuries, or going so overboard he might endanger his progeny. Yet, he too was prone to [i]encouraging[/i] proper behaviour with punishments, believed himself [i]invincible[/i], and had a talent for inspiring hatred.

[color=ab274f]“You are not him,”[/color] he stated simply, meeting Landon’s eyes. [color=ab274f]“And if you do not wish to be like him, then you will have to keep fighting. [i]Every single day[/i],”[/color] he said intently, and might as well have been saying it to himself. Thankfully, he had never hated himself. Regretted his own past actions – or [i]inactions[/i]? Certainly. But [i]hatred[/i] was an emotion he reserved solely for his sire.

He laid a companionable palm upon Count Monet’s shoulder. [color=ab274f]“From what I have seen, you are a wonderful father. You would never treat your children the way your father treated you, would you?”[/color] He smiled, but there was a cool expectation in his gaze as he leaned closer to the man, gaze intent. [color=ab274f]“Besides…”[/color] his voice lowered, and the grasp on Landon’s shoulder became slightly firmer, though not uncomfortably so. Briefly, he leaned into whispering distance, and relayed something to the count.

That said, he patted Monet’s shoulder, and settled back into his chair. [color=ab274f]“Besides, as humans, we have the unprecedented if often wasted capacity to rise above our worst nature,”[/color] he concluded.

Anger initially flared in Landon’s expression. Was the prince suggesting he wasn’t fighting every day? But then the prince’s next words soothed him like water quelling a fire. Landon gave a respectful nod.

Ryn observed the men’s exchange before signaling a nearby server. He leaned in and whispered, [color=9354FF]“I think Count Monet has had enough to drink tonight. Could you please make sure his drinks are alcohol-free from now on?”[/color] The man gave a subtle but knowing nod. [color=9354FF]“Capital. I’d like to order some warm drinks and a light snack for us.”[/color] Hopefully, something warm would soothe the count’s troubled spirit, if only for a moment.

As the server left to get their order, Ryn turned his attention back to the group, focusing on Count Monet. [color=9354FF]“Landon, you are who you choose to be.”[/color]

[color=9354FF]“Your past and its consequences will be with you, but every decision you make is a chance to be a different person than your father was. It may not be easy, but imagine the day when you can look in the mirror and see only yourself, not him.”[/color] Ryn smiled warmly. [color=9354FF]“The sweetness of that victory.”[/color]

[color=greenyellow]“Manners maketh man, Count Monet. A man with poor discipline like that is a rather poor definition of manhood and fatherhood alike.”[/color] The glass Drake held swirled autonomously in his hand as he swished what was left in the glass into his gullet. Not even a blink in his eyes as he gestured for another glass to be brought to his seat - politely of course. [color=greenyellow]“I think the lovely gents here have done a proper job laying their seeds of advice and consolation. And I would offer mine own condolences for having such an upbringing.”[/color] The lord raised his now refilled glass and offered a solitary toast. [color=greenyellow]“To the count! May he have the strength and character to leave the embers of his fiery childhood behind him in the days to come.”[/color] Drake took another healthy sip of his whiskey, almost as if he intended to wash something away with it.

Leo said nothing, continuing to drink his beer, and wondering which Caesonian count was more unpleasant; Monet or Damien. At least Calbert could fake some decorum, but it seemed it took only a whisper of alcohol to turn Landon into a depressing mess of a man that rivaled the youngest Danrose. Leo offered no words, not wanting to feed into the uncomfortable conversation, and simply raised his nearly finished glass as Drake proposed a toast. He hoped they could return to more appropriate conversation topics. 
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