House of Cards RP

For some, it's a new face. For others, it's a face returned again after a long absence. And he's sitting on the steps of Heart Castle, looking absolutely disgusted over at a tree in the pathway that's done absolutely nothing at him, except exist.

Also: smoking.

And blocking the entrance considering how sitting here really means sprawled.

[ooc: or if you prefer SWS, there is this post from the other day that fits in nicely.]

A couple of days of almost-forced rest, several gallons of tea, and various pharmaceuticals see Julien back in his office, almost back to his usual health. Of course, there's a pile of papers to see to before he returns to making the rounds of the Castle, investigating some reports of unfortunate disturbances, meeting with the teams he'd sent out to determine the structural health of various Spade district buildings...things like that.

Once he reaches a stopping point, he can be found in one of the practice rooms, working against a practice dummy, perhaps appearing a bit slower than he might have in the past, still not up to par and pushing himself harder because of it.

[ooc: Feel free to find him anywhere in the Castle or his office while he's working or down in the practice room while he's working out.]

It had been a long night and it was looking to be a long day. Wraidd had developed the skill of disguising a hangover down to a fine art, but just because she didn’t look it – well that didn’t mean that the world was a very unfriendly place. She had already downed two bottles of water and a chunk of bread for breakfast. Viseane, careful make up, a bright colored and low cut shirt under her suit jacket – nothing so harsh as black, a nice pale gray today – and she was presentable. There was one thing standing between her and the rest of the world… coffee.

Being Deck born and having Welsh parents besides, Wraidd was raised on tea. There were times that there was nothing more soothing. Right now she needed the sheer power of coffee to propel her through her day. She left for work plenty early and hit the Café Cocodrilo for a triple shot expresso, skinny, light foam.

Finally feeling like she’d managed to escape detection, Wraidd slid a pair of huge sunglasses out of her purse and put them on as she took a table. She rested her elbows on the polished surface and let them support her pounding head as she idly looked down at her phone to see just what was on the agenda today. “Oh cachi!”

As hard and fast as the gossip about Zoe challenging Edison O’Brien for Six had flown, the crowd to watch them was sparse. Chives was there, as he promised, as was the math teacher who’d written the exam, but there weren’t many who really wanted to stand in the doorway of a small parlor and watch two Spades work complex mathematics out on whiteboards. People liked showmanship. They liked swords and performance, and this wasn’t that.

Zoe didn’t mind not being watched, and her handwriting was sharp and confident as she wrote out equations, solved them, and proved a few proofs on her way to earning the rank of Six back. It was probably a little...overconfident of her, Zoe reflected as she set the marker down and stepped back so that her work could be graded. She linked her hands behind her back and stood straight in her lavender pencil skirt and blue heels, watching Edison’s face.

There was something odd about his expression. He knew at least one of his answers was wrong, and he hadn’t even completed one of the other problems, but there was something smug in his face. A smirk, like he had the upper hand. Even though he’d lost, something that was confirmed just a few moments later.

Someone moved to congratulate her, but Zoe shook her head, and the room slowly emptied until it was just she and Edison, and then his smirk turned ugly. “You think you’re so brilliant,” he said, spitting the words out. “You didn’t think that I’d been expecting this for months, Miss Kattalakis?”

Zoe opened her mouth to reply, but he didn’t let her. He just continued on. “I counter-challenge you, Zoe Kattalakis, for my rank of Six of Spades,” he said. “In piano recital, during the chamber orchestra concert in exactly one week.” And there was that smug look again, Edison’s grin broadening as Zoe’s face lost it’s color and she turned approximately the shade of her white shirt. “Good luck with that one,” he added cheerfully, and swung out of the parlor.

It seemed, Zoe thought as she stood alone in the room, that everyone knew what she couldn’t do. She hadn’t been the center of attention on a stage since...since she was fifteen, she thought, pressing a hand against her stomach and staring at the wallpaper. And she remembered exactly how that occasion had gone. There’d been missteps, flubs as she played Beethoven with the Heart music troupe, and then there’d been Charlotte, afterwards. There had been a slap hard enough to leave a mark when Zoe had refused to do it again, even.

Her breath shook as she exhaled, and she swallowed around a lump in her throat before she straightened and turned towards the door herself. She should go celebrate, she thought as she stepped through and smiled briefly at the few Cards still in the hall. That’s what was expected, after all.

Ben could make her a martini; he was getting pretty good at those. The walk to Town would calm her down enough to put a good face on things, and maybe after some liquid courage, she could brave the real beast in this scenario. Not Edison; if they were alone in a room, Zoe could almost certainly outplay him. The stage, though...

The stage was something else entirely, and she only had a week.

[Run into Zoe either at Mackinnon's Pub, or at the theatre in Town.]

It had been a while since Wraidd had spent any quality time with Cadogan… and now he was a face card. Wraidd could have sent a note, but thought it only polite to personally congratulated him on becoming Jack of Diamonds.

Settling things in her office to rights, Wraidd announced she was taking the rest of the day off. She took a look in the full length looking glass that she kept in the corner. Her pencil skirt hugged her curves and her white men’s button up was actually a trophy from a lover. She took off the tie she was wearing and unbuttoned several buttons, popping the collar up and making sure she was framing her assets well. Her hair was taken down from the twist she’d had it in, leaving it to fall in heavy waves around her shoulders and down her back. Yes… not trying too hard but more suitable for running intoCadogan over at the Crystal Palace.

Her heels clicking against the floor, Wraidd reflected on the fact that she’d often been attracted to Diamonds. Not that she intended on changing Suit or anything like that. It was simply a matter of… compatibility. The paths between the castles were full of cards of all different suits, and Wraidd nodded pleasant greetings to those she knew. The Crystal Palace was as beautiful as ever, but she couldn’t find Cadogan. Wraidd didn’t like wasting her time, and her mood was turning even if her smile remained the same.

It was early still. Perhaps he could be found in the Four Suits… and if not, a drink could be. She was on her way there when she saw a strange building. Wraidd stopped cold. She had been born to the Deck and prided herself on knowing this area like the back of her hand. Her childhood home was not far from here… yet she had never seen this before… oddly, she was intrigued. Wraidd had a curious nature and believed that knowledge was power. She stepped up to what seemed to be the entrance and leaned forward on her toes, her heels coming off the ground as she tried to get some kind of look around simply by peering.

[open to anyone who wants to toy with wraidd in a good or a bad way]

Hadyn was trying to walk in a straight line, though focusing on that so much was probably how he ended up on the steps to Heart Castle before it occurred to him that this wasn't at all where he wanted to be. For one, he hadn't actually lived in the Castle for a number of months. And while he did pay Freddie rent, he didn't actually stay in town that often either.

Rubbing his hand over his face, Hadyn groaned a little before he turned and slumped down on the steps. It would probably take Jordan about twenty minutes to realize he was missing from the bar, but how he'd find him at Heart Castle was likely not going to happen. What a pain. And Club Castle was at least a good mile the other direction too- much too far to walk when drunk. Well...this drunk.

Pulling out his phone, he attempted to text someone, anyone to come find him.

"at heart caslte please fomce get me." He texted, not really bothering to fix it, and autocorrect was so damn annoying usually that he'd long turned it off.

"Aw, fuck," he muttered, staring at the screen. Oh well, the important parts were understandable, and that was the important part. The more important question was where did he leave his coat.