Manzanilla

What Are You Listening To?

_{I know nothing about the game but I love this song.}

When Royalty Collides

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It looked like everyone had arrived at the ball. He knew things were only getting started when he saw his brother blatantly flirting with one of the Princess of France. Even from his little corner, Henri could see that the French royal was having none of it. It wasn't going to take long for Elias to be asked to stop. He would have assumed that would be the first thing to happen in this ball but to his surprise, the two betrothed royals from Arcenia and Austernud. Henri had seen them approaching the same people when they met each other in the middle before reaching their destination.

It had all been quite a scene, really- it was almost amusing for Henri. It was no secret that those two disliked each other, but seeing them argue while trying to avoid making a scene was comical. It almost made him feel better about himself. Almost.

Henri had seen when Raiden and Ryn walked in together, while that came with no surprise the thing that Raiden had over his shoulders made him want to run. Asshole really wore something Henri had designed to a public ball then proceeded to smile at his betrothed- Beatrice. Henri didn't know if he was more upset about the coat, or that woman, or that he was taking it all too seriously. Henri felt like a foolish little kid, but he couldn't stop his feelings. Perhaps talking to someone would, and ever since Phillip's and Gen's arrival, he wanted to go over and say hello.

Watching everyone come in and make friends had already become boring, and he hadn't spent enough time inside the ball to excuse himself out for a smoke, so he took a very small sip of his champagne and forced his feet forward. He walked past the Prince of Asternud towards the royals of Maris and the Princess of Massylii. It looked like they had just finished talking to Cassandra O'Brien, so it was a perfect time to slip into the group and say hello.

"Princess Imani, Princess Gen, Prince Phillip- it's nice to see you all again." Henri greeted them all with their proper titles and bow. Both Imani and Phillip were in a higher status than him, so it was only appropriate for him to greet them like this. Stupid protocols and etiquette.

"Congratulations on the engagement." Henri looked at Phillip as he talked, giving him a small nod- his face turning red just the slightest. He couldn't even look at the man without being reminded of what he had seen months ago. Which only confused him more as to why the hell was Phillip set to marry Imani if he and Alejandro were clearly involved.

"I hope you don't mind if I borrow Gen? Henri continued as he glanced at Gen and smiled at her. "I haven't seen you in a few weeks; I would love to catch up." They had both been to busy getting ready for the ball to really talk over the phone or text one another- and speaking in such a proper way was getting tiring. He just needed his best friend.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

_{LOCATION & TIME : THE COFFEE POT , MORNING
INTERACTIONS : ASSOCIATES
MENTIONS : ATLTAS - @SamaraJayne96}

---

Alejandro had been rubbing his chin when the smaller male with the silver hair approached them. It made him smirk how much he was trying to look intimidating. While he was not much shorter than Alejandro, he was still pretty slender. Not that he was complaining about it, of course. The waiter was not bad on the eyes one bit. So as he scolded him and John- who only rolled his eyes- Alejandro gave the waiter a wink.

"Sorry to cause you trouble, my associate here is just a bit too excited about breakfast. He sometimes forgets that we are in public spaces." Alejandro patted John's shoulder with a grin. "We'll behave, wouldn't want you to kick us out. Not when our waiter is such a good looking guy like yourself."

"Uh-huh." John pulled away from Alejandro opened up one of the menus to bury his nose in. It was clear he didn't want to get in the way of Alejandro's very blatant flirting. John just wanted to eat a bagel- no two bagels and leave.

Alejandro waved, as the waiter returned to his previous customer. "What?" He looked at John, who was staring daggers at him.

"I would punch you again if I could." John rolled his eyes and looked back at the menu before him.

"I'll fire you." Alejandro grinned and gently slapped his shoulder.

"You can't fire me. I'm the only one who can satis-" He couldn't finish his sentence.

Alejandro laughed and put a hand over John's mouth. "Shut up! Find what you're going to order already. I wanna go to Central Point and shop around." He rolled his eyes and opened his menu.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

_{LOCATION & TIME : SPORTS CENTER & SMOOTHIE BAR
INTERACTIONS :ARIA - @KatKook , MARINALIA - @PrinceAlexus
MENTIONS :}

____________________ ~*~ ____________________~*~ ____________________ ~*~ ____________________

Lilith didn't know what to think of this... Marlin chick. After listening to her BBC English accent almost made her seem fake. Like she was trying too much? Lilith couldn't quite put her finger on it. Everyone in Sol seemed to be pretending. Maybe that is why she had liked Aria so much. Aria had been genuine. She had problems, and a fucked-up life like real people did. Was it the accent? Lilith tried to imagine Marlin talking without an accent, but even then, it sounded even faker.

"Hun, I'm a high-end stripper, not an idiot. I read- I went to college." Sure, Lilith didn't finish college, but she wasn't going to tell "Ms. I'm The Cutest Because of a Poll" that. How that sentence had really buttered her egg roll in a way, she did not enjoy one bit. "Not everyone has a fancy name like yours, babe. It ain't hard to connect you to your very wealthy family. And I know all about my name- bible shit- storm goddess- blah blah blah." Lilith seemed nonchalant to be having a conversation with such a wealthy person, or someone with a wealthy family. She was used to it, and it was always fun to tease these kinds of people.

"Tell me, Mali- are you always a prude?" Lilith leaned forward, pressing her chest together with her arms to give Marlin something to look at. "I mean, I don't know you- but I have met people like you. Pretending not to look. You do look. Like everyone does." She took another drink from her smoothie and licked the straw without breaking eye contact with the woman in front of her. While she wasn't trying to start shit with Marlin the way she just gave off the "I'm too good for you" vibe wasn't sitting right with Lilith. "I've seen you look." She winked at her before she leaned back on her chair and crossed one leg over the other.

She may be a stripper whose main clients were wealthy people, too, but they were there to unwind. Show how fucked up they were. Sometimes those clients would book her for private sessions, but instead of having Lilith on the pole dancing half-naked, she would be sitting with them over a cup of a hot drink talking. At some points, she wondered if she really was a stripper for them or someone they could just dump their problems to. Perhaps that is why she was acting like this towards Marlin.

Whatever.

"Nothing taken the wrong way, babe." Lilith gave the blonde a grin as she brushed her hair off her shoulder. "Just know friends are always welcomed in the Pink Kitten. With girlfriend or not." She gave her another smile just as her phone ran in her pocket.

"Aw, well, would you look at that. So cute." She smiled down at the photo of Aria but made no effort to show Marlin the absolutely adorable picture. "Don't mind me." She lowered her phone and looked down at it with a similar pose to Aria's but instead gave the camera a kissy face.

_{To: Ariaaa 💘
Attached Image
Had to leave early to the Sports Center- can't miss a workout day or my thighs might get too thicc.
I took your mustard yellow one :b Wanna meet up later? I'll give you back your hoodie!}

After writing the message and hitting send, she brought back her attention to Marlin. "Anyway, how long have you been with your girlfriend? Man, my last relationship was crazy. The dude was a major asshole and broke my window after I broke up with him. Seriously." She rolled her eyes as she continued to tell Marlin her story. "Dude went crazy when he found out I was a stripper- like how fragile do you have to be to get mad over that?"

At least now she knew that Aria was okay with it. If Lilith hadn't told her since their first date and she had been cool with it. Lilith wouldn't give up her job just because of a partner. Nah, she had earned so much from that job alone. Hell, some of her clients had offered to be her damn sugar mommies and daddies. Lilith had said no because- well, she didn't really need to. While her start at the club had been shaky, she was one of the top dancers now. She liked her job anyway despite the few bad clients here and there.

Battle of Mount Olympus Interest Check

I think I'll go with a son of Aphrodite

Edit: the first option sounds good to me, since dice rolls would be random and the post liking might lead to drama. It's best to keep the votes anonymous.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I don't like kids or will ever want one of my own. I'll be the cool aunt any day but having one is a big no.

I hate everyone that tells me that I'll change my mind in the future. No. I've been hearing that since I was 15.

Battle of Mount Olympus Interest Check

Interested with a daughter of Hecate or son of Aphrodite!

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

_{LOCATION & TIME : SPORTS CENTER & SMOOTHIE BAR
INTERACTIONS : MARINALIA - @PrinceAlexus
MENTIONS : ARIA - @KatKook}

____________________ ~*~ ____________________~*~ ____________________ ~*~ ____________________

Lilith had to stifle her laughter when Marinalia began to cuss her off. She didn't blame the chick, nor did Lilith mind. It was something she was used to for being overly friendly and abrasive with people. Although, it was cute to see the shorter girl get so worked up over it. How could she not stand out with her overly fancy clothes and posh accent in a smoothie bar?

"Deffenetly not a jerk, but I could be one if you want me to." Lilith gave the girl a grin as she brought up her sandwich to her face and took a big bite from it. Maybe she should have gotten a soup with her meal. To warm her up a bit more before she was forced to face the cold again.

"Oh! Aria, you mean? She's the cutest girl in this city! Ohmigosh, she's so cool too! Last night- she took me to her apartment, and we did some very very nice things." Lilith winked at Marinalia just as the blonde put her phone away. "Anyway, she showed me all of her equipment- and gosh was she so cool. It was even better to wake up to her bedhead. I honestly never knew anyone could look that good with bedhead." She began to fan herself as if she was getting hot.

Lilith took her smoothie and slurped a good amount as she listened to Marinalia. "Oh! I'm Lilith without all those fancy-sounding names. Just your high-end local stripper." Lilith motioned to her body with the hand that was holding her green smoothie. "My body is the money maker, babe, I gotta keep this thing looking nice if I want to stay on the top. I am pretty hot, ain't I? I would have shown you move if we had met in the showers." Lilith didn't mind telling people where she worked, as long as they didn't insult her for it and if she wasn't looking anything serious from them. Marinalia seemed like a fine person, and she was sure she wouldn't mind befriending a stripper. Or a dancer. Whatever.

"Hey- you can always go over and visit. If my memory is correct, you granddaddy is some rich guy right? Spend some money on me." She crossed a leg over the other with a grin as she took another sip of her smoothie. "We got specials for couples. You can bring in your little girlfriend," she said in a teasing tone and winked at Marinalia.

Pyxis's General Interest Check

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Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

_{LOCATION & TIME : THE COFFEE POT , MORNING
INTERACTIONS : ASSOCIATES
MENTIONS : ATLTAS - @SamaraJayne96}

---

Alejandro ignored everything and anything that had to do with work during the daily morning work out. Mara continued to tell him about new stuff she had dug out about Nikki or their new friend Shannon. He didn't want to hear anything about them or the business for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was supposed to be his day off from work and any worries from the whole drug ring thing, but it was ruined by their new friend. Although, he did had to admit he liked their new friend despite everything that Mara was telling him now- which he was trying to ignore very very hard.

As long as Alejandro secured Sol under his family's name and business- the rest didn't matter. He had been successful so far. Before Sol, Huston had been his last conquer. The city had been riled with so many gangs and corrupt police that bringing it down to its knees before Alejandro had taken him quite a while. But as always, he came out on top. His sister had stayed behind to help keep Huston under their family's thumb, but she would have to move on soon and follow close behind him.

Before that, Alejandro had to make sure Sol was under his control.

"I'm not supposed to be thinking about this!" Alejandro groaned loudly as he dropped the weights he had been carrying on the ground, startling his personal trainer. "We're done for today. I need to get out."

"Alejandro, we still need to discuss about you-"

"No, no we don't. Mara take the day off. John will be with me. Just go out and enjoy your day. Call your mother or your siblings. Just- just rest, okay?" Alejandro didn't let her finish. He didn't want to hear about it anymore. Just like she did, Alejandro had to keep his mind clear from it all. At least for one day.

---

The two men arrived at The Coffee Pot just an hour after. Alejandro had dressed in black jeans, a gray hoodie, and a black coat over it to keep the chilly hair from making him freeze his ass off. He was not made for the cold one bit. Unlike John, who seemed perfectly fine in his usual black suit with only a black coat over his shoulders, Alejandro never understood how the hell could that man be perfectly fine in the searing hot and the freezing cold.

Alejandro guided John to the closest table to the counter, where he took a seat and glanced around the place. It was his first time in The Coffee Shop, and since John recommended the place, he had been okay with coming here. The place looked homey enough, and it wasn't cold like it was outside. Besides, the people here weren't so bad on the eyes.

"If you keep looking at the waiter, I might get jealous." John said as he pulled out his phone to look at the text message he had reieved from Mara.

"Shut up." Alejandro rolled his eyes and turned to look John with a smile. "You're not the jealous type." He took John's phone and turned off the screen. "However, I am. Stop texting Mara and pay attention to me."

John gave Alejandro a glare before taking his phone back and looking at the waiter with the silver hair. "He is cuter than you."

"Rude." Alejandro huffed and looked back at the waiter too. "I'm hungry. I could go with some pancakes. Or cake. Or some of that as- Ouch!" He couldn't finish due to John;s fist meeting his head in a not so gentle manner.

"Stop talking." John said as he stood up to take two menus. The faster they got their breakfast, the faster they could get out, and Alejandro ould stop talking about eating cake. With that, he waved down the waiter with the silver hair to take their order.