Those lights, they light up the sky!

Watching the archivist, Saylee kept her eyebrows raised. From what she knew of him, he was rather stoic, composed, and serious. But this star conversation was a whole new level of weird for her. For a moment, she stared at him, wondering if he really had spiked his tea. But if he did, now she wanted some as well. Sitting down, without even asking permission, she leaned over and looked at his tea. "They are the Starlight court for a reason, Vikram." Saylee said his name with a bit of inflection, simply to mess with him. "About tha tea. Did you really spike it? If so, it'd only be kind of you to share."

☆ﾟ*·ﾟHIS EYES FOLLOWED her as she sat down next to him. He wanted to say something about needing his personal space, but part of him was intrigued by Saylee's company. Vikram would never tell her this because he knew she'd take it and run. That was something he most definitely didn't want to deal with. Raising his eyebrows, he glared at her, wishing he could throw something at her, but that was most definitely not polite in the slightest. "Oh shut up, Saylee. There could've been other reasons." Chuckling softly, he took a sip of the tea and gestured for her to grab a cup of the kettle he'd had sitting there. "You tell me." Shifting in his spot, he turned to face her. "Look, I know we're not fans of each other, but I know we've previously discussed having similar opinions. Where's your head at with all of this?"

CLOSED: @courtlights (luc)

☆ﾟ*·ﾟLUC WASN'T SURE how he felt about still having his scrying abilities. While his Hybern magic was gone, he still had his bags of crystals in his pocket. Sitting in the back corner of the tavern, he held on tightly to his drink, enjoying the peace and quiet. He was letting his mind wander about how all of these courts would approach each other without their powers. Luc worried that others might depend on him and his powers, and demand more from him to find out what would happen. But so far, he'd done a good job of keeping himself hidden from everyone. Lifting his head, Luc noticed Iliana walking toward him. She was the one fae he least expected to walk up to him. However, as she spoke to him, Luc let his guard down. They were from the same court, and even though they rarely interacted, he knew enough and respected her enough to not snap at her. He sat up straight and pulled out his bag of crystals from his pocket. "As far as I know. I haven't asked anything since we've lost our powers. But I've walked by a few mirrors and windows since and still felt a pull." Luc took a deep breath and swallowed. "Did you want me to check or are you just curious?"

A smile bloomed across Régulo's face. Ellie was so smart. He admired her for her talent. "You don't have to apologize, I've had worse bumps into me" That came out awkward. Régulo should just continue to keep his darn mouth shut!

☆ﾟ*·ﾟAS HE SPOKE, Ellie lifted her head, looking directly up at him. Her eyes stared directly at him, just watching him for a moment, finding herself lost in the beauty of his eyes without really understanding what she was feeling. Tilting her head to the side, she couldn't help but giggle. "Who has bumped into you?" What kind of foolish question was this? Ellie didn't even know why she was asking or why she cared. But maybe because it was because she wanted to know everything about him that she possibly could.

she had finished snooping and was just admiring at this point. the starlight court is lovely. but she’d worried a little she would get in trouble for how much sneaking around she’d done and started a bit when she’d heard footsteps, until she’d turned and seen tessa running towards her, her heart fluttered, and that weird feeling in her stomach had happened again. and her smile had stretched across her face immediately at the sight of the healer. she feels her cheeks heat at the gifts, smile widening if it’s even possible, because that is such a nice thing for her to do, especially with all the darkness looming. “they’re so pretty,” she takes the crown first, gently, and puts it on immediately, and then holds out her hand, “help me with the bracelet?”

☆ﾟ*·ﾟLOOKING AT FLORENCIA, Tessa couldn't help blushing, almost turning the sight of her hair. Giving gifts and spending time with someone was her love language and so now, in this moment, she was undeniably happy. Noticing Flo's cheeks flush only made her even more happy. And the compliment of her hard work. Tessa was through the roof, completely smothered in all of the happy emotions that you could have. She bounced up and down on her feet, giddy with excitement and nodded. Her eyes drifted up to the crown first, then immediately took the bracelet and tied it lightly around her wrist. "You look so beautiful. You are so beautiful. They look even better on you that I imagined. You'll make everyone jealous now." Tessa hadn't let go of her arm, still holding onto it, her hand now moving closer to Flo's hand. Butterflies shuffled in her stomach, making here feel so warm and cozy.

THE DROP INTO STARLIGHT WAS A RATHER UNEXPECTED ONE - AND NOT ONLY BECAUSE NO ONE HAD KNOWN STARLIGHT EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. No, it was mostly because of what followed along with the discovery of a new-slash-super old court. The majority of the fae she'd seen and though were from Hybern turned out to be Starlight fae and it had put her mind in just a bit of a hurricane. However, it opened the possibility of her father being part of this court. It would explain why she hadn't really found him just yet. Well, that and the fact she had absolutely no idea what he looked like - just that she was an illyrian.

☆ﾟ*·ﾟSITTING IN FRONT of her, Elian couldn't wrap his head around why he knew her. He'd never seen her before, but everything about her seemed familiar, like he'd known her his whole life. She felt like a memory or a dream, or something out of a fairytale that he'd read a thousand times. But he couldn't figure it out and it would drive him crazy until he figured it out. Until then, Elian would protect her, because now, he felt protective of her, and couldn't help it. "I'll definitely seek you out if I need help. This is the most calm I've felt in a really long while."

NORMALLY, SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN JUMPY OVER THE SITUATION AT HAND. Then again, she had long since lost the ability to be shocked by the surprise that the... whichever fae deity had thrown her way. It was a shame that it was forgotten - the names of the Ancient Gods, but then again, if this court is anything to go by, maybe they'll discover the names of their gods as well!

☆ﾟ*·ﾟELIAN HUFFED THEN chuckled. That was not at all where he expected himself to be. But he really didn't know where he was even supposed to be. This court was a whole lot more confusing with the sky looking down on him like this. "Well that's completely wrong. Not that I even remember where I was trying to go now at this point. I'm so incredibly turned around." He looked around the room, laughing at her comment, because it was really rather true. This was the cleanest storage room he'd ever seen. "Oh my stars, they could do a number on my closet back home." Reaching for the door handle, he opened it, peering out of the room. "I'm really not sure what I was doing in this room, but what were you doing?"

SHE COULD TRY TO BEGIN TO EXPLAIN JUST HOW STARLIGHT GOT ISOLATED FROM THE REST OF PRYTHIAN AND HOW IT WASN'T DONE ON A WHIM OF AN ANCIENT RULER OR OUT OF MALICE. It was necessity. It was fighting to survive. The isolation of Starlight was not something that was done lightly or easily. How terrible did the first generations of the founders feel? How alone, how maddeningly lonely they must have been - losing all of their friends and allies, slipping away from knowledge and remembrance as if they'd never existed in the first place?

☆ﾟ*·ﾟIT TOOK TALIA a moment to process. She'd been speaking to this high lady and completely mistook her for Hybern instead of this magical court that had been hiding for so many years. And she felt decidedly ridiculous. But what would you expect? They'd been hiding for so long, and now, she was rather confused. "Oh gosh, I am so sorry! I didn't even think that you might be from Starlight..." she started before she thought about it yet again. "What were you telling other fae before we knew your court existed? I believe that's where my confusion came from."

location & time: stellaria, spring quarters ; early evening. closed for: @courtlights ; vikram.

☆ﾟ*·ﾟVIKRAM HAD VERY quickly found the library in the Starlight Court, hunkering down and hiding as much as he could. He'd told his wife exactly where it was and how to find it, along with a few select other people. But for the most part, he wanted to hide from as many people as he could. When someone walked in, looking exactly for him, he was shocked. Who told? Who snitched on where he was hiding? Or did they expect to find him here? But when they spoke, he realized it wasn't intentional. That didn't ease any frustration with the social contact that was now about to happen.

the high lord had seemed to be a very closed off man who liked his privacy very much, but after meeting him properly, the witch decided that she liked him. he reminded her of a cat in a way, and lia loved cats, so her way of reaching out was to silently give him things that would remind her of him, or his wife; a small trinket here, a crystal there, a book with a colorful cover, and she was grateful he seemed to be humoring her, since today was no different.

☆ﾟ*·ﾟVIKRAM WAS KNOWN for his cold demeanor, being the kind of fae that rarely gave you anything in return. And yet, he was comforted by a few select fae and one of those was Iliana Song, the Apothecary of Hybern. He couldn't tell you how it happened or why he decided to let her in, but he adored when she stopped by. It was one of the rare instances that his voice was soft and gentle. Her presence was welcomed in this cold, depressing moment of magic lost.

she knows he trusts her after all this time. even though some of her friends would say she’d be the most likely to poison them. not that she’d actually do it. they only think that because they know she likes to study dead things. she hums, “multiple times. when it was not me.” she shrugs, grinning though. “i have no idea.” she sighs, sipping from her own drink. “i don’t know if everyone is really okay with this. more just… tolerating it while they figure it out? maybe?” she shrugs again. “did they… bring the fae who were killed? maybe studying them would lead to… something.” as disrespectful as it sounds.

☆ﾟ*·ﾟA SOFT CHUCKLE escaped Luc's lips. She was correct. There were few and far between who he would accept a drink from. Taking a sip of it, he swallowed slowly, allowing the alcohol to burn his mouth. It warmed his body and soothed him slightly, even with that one little sip. "Alright, that's fair." Nothing anyone was saying had any sense of calm to the scryer. If anything, it frustrated him. Because scrying wasn't giving him any answers. Even though he could continue to use his tools, he was getting nothing. "Even I can't find any answers, and I didn't lose my skill. It's just emptiness and darkness." This frustrated him even more. Because he prided himself on having answers, on always being able to see something, but now, nothing. As she asked a question, Luc's head lifted up. "Seren, you're a genius! We owe it to ourselves and everyone else to find out. We can at least check!" It was rare to see Luc so excited, but this was progress and could lead to answers that weren't big fat goose eggs.