#geniviv

White noise. The gathering of voices all around her, conversations overlapping, being able to hear almost everything and nothing around her as she stood frozen. Feet shuffling back and forth, to walk or to dance, heels and soles against wood that sometimes creaked under the weight and its own old age, noises of the evening from the door open leading to the back garden just a few metres away from where she stood - bugs, more voices, more movement, unrelated people on the streets outside passing back and forth, voices-

Electricity crackled at her fingers as she almost dropped her chalice of wine, gripping it harder, unsure if it would be unable to hold under the pressure of her grip. She swallowed her anxieties as best she could, trying to focus on just one noise to hopefully drown out everything else, or perhaps to focus on none and think of something else to herself, but nothing seemed to work. There was electricity behind her eyes, in her head, bouncing around her skull as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, almost sure she was ready to burst with arcane energy as the voices grew louder, and-

A hand on her arm caused her eyes to snap open, the relief from the concerned face staring back at her making the electricity almost fizzle out. She was gorgeous, the woman who held her arm, firey hair sweeping and curling down one shoulder, warm against Natalié’s face from the proximity.

“Is it too loud?” Ajay asked, taking the glass out of Natalié’s hands and placing it on the table just besides the two of them. 

The sorceress watched her do this, before light eyes fell back onto her with a soft smile, and a gloved hand moved to hold Ajay’s, the was still on her arm. She wasn’t sure if she could reply, so she simply nodded, giving Ajay the prompt to link their arms together and lead them to the outside - the front of the house, where it was much quieter. The white noise wasn’t as piecing here, and the cold air was welcome against Natalié’s skin.

“Ah- sorry, I-”

“Don’t go apologizin’ for somethin’ that isn’t your fault.” The gensai leaned against the side of the wall, folding her arms and crossing one leg over the other, where it came out of the large slit in her dress. She had very tall heels, like the kind all the noblewomen had that Natalié had seen when she was a little girl.

She rang her hands together, pressing her back against the wall on the opposite side of the door. “I have not… been to a party like this in a long time. It is… a lot.”

“Ha, neither have we. But Silver is… eccentric. He likes to make a big show an’ all dat. Doesn’t see how it can hurt people in the process.” There was an air of fondness and frustration as she spoke about her companion. 

“He certainly is.”

“The stories I could tell about that man…” Ajay chuckled and shook her head, looking up to see Natalié looking at her with a soft expression. “...You wanna know?”

“Ah- yes. I would much prefer to stay with you, than…” She rang her hands again. “I-if you would like to.”

There was a pause, before Ajay smiled again, watching as the sorceress looked away as if it would blind her, unable to tell if the pinkness on her cheeks was from the cold evening air, or something else.

“Come sit on dis step wih me. Let me tell ya ‘bout the first time Silver broke his legs.”

“The first time of many, I’m sure?”