the stag prince leans down, bending his spine as though he isn't the one with absolute power here, offering one black leather-clad hand out to Jake.
"may i have this dance?"
jake stares, and for one impossible moment, the rest of the room falls away...
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"--but I'll stop stalling and let you all be entertained by our dear debutante, who we all know is as witty as he is pretty, don't we, ladies and gentlemen? Though not as much as me, of course."
Sunghoon's voice rings out over the faintly tittering audience, gesturing his glass of fancy nectar mixed with a foul human concoction that's become trendy recently right in Jake's direction.
Jake titters along with the rest of them, hiding behind his hand to make sure his expression is tastefully contained. Most of the previous times he's been in this ballroom, he's been bored out of his mind, sticking way too close to Jungwon or Sunghoon's sides for security so he only has to perform the very basics of networking and social web-making that is at the heart of the Seelie royal court, but today is different.
Today isn't about verbally groveling at the feet of those he knows are more socially aware and connected than him. Today is his debutation day, and that means it's all about Jake. Even though he knows there's probably a dozen or more guests here that despise him to the core, today their words will slide off of his back like dew off of evergreen leaves, because it's about him and only him.
The whole extravagant ballroom of the Seelie outer court is teeming with guests, all clad in elaborate masks crafted in the visage of the wildlife around them, dressed to match. In every direction is a menagerie of pearls and gold and lace, lit up by the spelled eternal daylight streaming in through the beautiful glass windows lining much of the ballroom's upper half.
The only one unmasked is Jake, as the fae of the hour, his hair perfectly done, makeup delicately applied with Sunoo's help, enhanced by the brief contentment that lights him up from within. Up on the stage in front of the orchestra clad in masks of songbirds, Sunghoon stands and finishes his welcoming speech.
"However, I'm sure all of you have been waiting for the chance, but I must disappoint you and steal the first dance." Sunghoons's familiar lanky figure weaves through the crowd to the sound of their collective disgruntlement, finally coming to a stop in front of him, his wide goofy grin familiar under the swan's mask he wears. "Feeling any different as a full member of society yet? I bet it'll take a week before you're complaining that you should have become a social recluse instead."
Jake rolls his eyes and slaps his chest playfully, admittedly relieved to see his best friend here by his side again. "Don't I already do that?" He sighs, looking up at the high ceiling that he's studied extensively on many an occasion being twirled around the dance floor by a fae he neither desired nor enjoyed being in the presence of.
He's had many such thoughts in this familiar ballroom. It's extravagant, yes, but still in the lower court, still seen as a paltry entertainment for those in the upper court, those in the very inner circle of the emperor. That's where all the fae in his room desired to be one day, no matter how much schmoozing, sucking up, and manipulating it took to get there, despite their supposed Seelie values.
