Chatting

[Sky]

OOC: Continuation of Returning to Red Fountain thread


Glancing up at the establishment's exterior, Demetrius paused for a moment before he followed Christine into the club; he just hoped that she had been telling the truth when she had said that the club wouldn't be busy. As it was, clubs weren't really his 'scene.' As his eyes adjusted to the relatively dim lighting, Demetrius breathed an inward sigh of relief to see that the club was fairly empty. That would make talking to her a hell of lot easier. Scanning the room for the best place to sit, Demetrius spotted a table near the back that seemed to offer more privacy from the eyes and ears of the waiters and the few other present customers.

A few moments later, after he and Christine had seated themselves, Demetrius began nonchalantly, "So, tell me, Christine, how are you? I mean, aside from all this that's happened recently; I haven't seen you in a good many years - not since that summer - so what have you been up to?"

[Chris Strongheart]

"Asides from attending Red Fountain?" she asked, quietly. She sipped a small glass of water that the busboy left on their table. "I've been trying to play the role of perfect princess for my parents but there are some days when I'm still like the little girl that you met all those summers ago."

[Sky]

At this Demetrius chuckled before he replied, "Yep, I think we've both done some changing since we last met - you've become a proper lady and as for me, I've become less of a chauvinist, if you'll believe it." With a wink, he added humorously, "Call it me finally growing up."

Pausing for a moment, he then asked, "So, is that how you reconnected with Sky? You ran into each other at Red Fountain?"

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine blushed shyly, embarrassedly. "Yeah. I, kinda, wasn't expecting him to greet me in my dorm and I nearly shot him with my bow and arrow," she admitted sheepishly. "He caught me off guard, that's all."

She cleared her throat and sipped the water. "So, what else do you want to know?"

[Sky]

Leaning back in his chair, Demetrius looked at Christine for a long moment before he said bluntly, "You were having dinner with Sky's parents for a reason - the only question being, what was that reason? Is there something going on between the two of you that warrants you formally meeting the king and queen?"

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine's cheeks went crimson and she picked up her glass to distract herself from answering - at least until she had a suitable answer. "Sky said that the Eraklyon libraries were one of the best and I had a research topic that I was interested in so..." she started to answer, before glancing away. "That and I wanted to make amends for my father's shortcomings when dealing with his majesty. Father's not exactly happy with Sky's parents due to the amount of trouble that seems to be drawn in by Sky's dashing good looks."

[Sky]

Raising his eyebrows, Demetrius replied good-naturedly, "Ah, so I was right; there is something going on - at least on your side of things. And what about Sky - does he feel the same way about you as you do him? Usually he'd tell me things like this seeing as how he and I are good friends and all, but he's been busy with school, so I haven't really spoken with him for a long while."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine flushed a bit. "I think he wants there to be something but coming off of a relationship and his mother is making him a bit resistant," she said quietly. She glanced away, her cheeks still a rich crimson.

[Sky]

Rolling his glass of water between his hands, Demetrius was silent for a moment before he said matter-of-factly, "You don't like Her Majesty in the slightest."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine did a double take. "I never said that," she said quietly. "I want to like her but..." her voice trailed off softly. "Just the way she treats me reminds me all too well what it was like for me growing up..."

[Sky]

"You didn't have to say it," Demetrius replied. "It's all there in your face; trust me, it's a face I've seen countless times in my years serving the queen. I would be able to recognize it a mile away." Pausing for a moment, he then continued in a reflective tone, "It's nothing to be ashamed of though because you're certainly not the first nor will you be the last person who wishes they could like her but just can't. She knows it, I know it - pretty much everyone around the palace knows it. She's even said it herself that she just rubs people the wrong way. Of course it's more than that, but-" Demetrius trailed off as he shook his head. "I'm saying too much; the last thing I want to do is to do her ladyship a disservice by gossiping about her. Let me just say this much, there's a lot about the queen you don't know, so don't judge her too harshly. From what I understand, she's had more than her share of hurt in the past - probably even more than Sky himself. And that's saying something."

[Chris Strongheart]

"I shall do my best not to judge her, but I wish she would show me the same courtesy as to not judge me. I can't help the circumstances of my birth, I just wish they'd understand that. I'm just as good as a pureblood," she said softly. She blushed again. "Sorry, it's a sore subject for me," she admitted. She reached up and rubbed her throat, trying to get the ache out of it.

[Sky]

"I don't mean to be an ageist, but you're young, Lady Strongheart. Though I'm sure that you've lived with some sort of pain or hardship, it's different when you have had to carry them around for twenty-some years. Now, I'm not trying to brush aside your perceptions of the queen's lack of courtesy to your sensitivities, but I can tell you from my own personal experience, people grow bitter, harsh, and downright cold when they have burdens resting on their shoulders for that long. And sometimes, many times, it can't be helped. It's their coping mechanism; it's how they protect themselves from the hurt."

[Chris Strongheart]

She gave a slight nod and returned to drinking her water. Her throat was killing her and she really didn't want to cause too much damage to her throat.

She decided a change of topic was in order. "Do you think we can find it?" she asked softly.

[Sky]

"Find what?" Demetrius replied absently, his thoughts having shifted to his wife, a woman he barely felt like he knew anymore. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he smiled apologetically as he said, "Oh, do you mean do you think we'll be able to find a cure for Sky? Well . . . there's no guarantee, but I'd say that some lead is bound to pop up." His smile fading, Demetrius said quietly, more to himself than to Christine, "At least, that's what I'm praying for."