JL | Lt. Evan Merlin & Empress Xue' Daio Nox | "Gifted"

Posted on Fri Feb 16th, 2018 @ 7:28pm by Xue'Daio Nox Tr'Verelan & Commander Evan Merlin

Mission: The Round Table
Location: Cold Station Theta

The 'Goblin King' was having fun. He spent his time during the ball alternating between dancing, walking around and chatting with people and juggling his glass balls, and standing out of the way (he found he could be remarkably unobtrustive when he wanted to) and simply watch the proceedings.

It was interesting to see what the effect of wearing a mask had on people. So many of them were emboldened by it, stepped out of their comfort zones, did things they normally never would do. He smiled under his mask. For once, he didn't stand out this evening.

Something tugged at his awareness. His smile deepened. It was a sensation he'd learned to recognise by now. Ah, and here was another who had the luxury of anonymity for once, this night. He turned and strolled into the direction where he knew he'd find the person on the other end of the invisible cord which bound them.

It had been a comfort to learn that she was not the only bright white ethereal being in the room. The good Commodore, at least Xue was certain it was her, had come as a vision of winter's icy grace - and there with it had come a deeper sense of anonymity than the Empress had dared to hope achieve. Instead of ice, the child of the stars had donned the wings and delicate antennae that her strange affair had envisioned. Soft lilac and periwinkle bled into pink and silver to bring her to life in a world of color she hadn't quite ever perceived. A creature of the flowers, indeed. Someday she'd have to show him just how right he'd been when he'd come to compare her to the graceful insect. The palace gardens grew wild, though far from unruly, with irises and roses a plenty - her favorite place to bask and perfect for a butterfly, as it were.

The startling pink of her eyes found him as he approached. Even if she hadn't been able to see his eyes and smile, the glass balls defying gravity as they toyed about his hands gave him away at once and she dipped her regal brow to him. "They say you move the stars for no one." She greeted with a simper.

He smiled in unfeigned delight, both at her presence and at the quote. "Indeed, I do not. For the Goblin King am I, beholden to none, master of my own fate. I dance with princesses and paupers, with Fire and Ice… with Elves and butterflies. But see…" He bowed, one arm behind his back, the other one stretched out towards her. On the palm of his hand the crystal ball rested, its motion stilled for now. "I've brought you a gift."

"What is it?" Xue found herself asking, true to form and perhaps a bit to character... Albeit not the butterfly she shone as. Interested as she was in the goings on of Humans and the Federation as a whole, catching wind of the ancient saga 'Labyrinth' had been high on a list of priorities - at least when it became perfectly clear that's where the golden man with eyes like the sea had chosen to borrow from for his grand costume. She smiled as she tilted her head, watching him with nothing less than true curiosity and fascination. One never knew what 'Merlin' would produce or procure next.

Again, he stayed true to the movie, but of course, with a twist. "It's a crystal. Nothing more." He moved his hand with the ball towards her, then made a rapid motion and withdrew his hand. The ball remained suspended in mid-air, revolving slowly, in front of Xue's face. The black goblin-mask hid the strain she knew would be there around his eyes. "But sometimes, when you look into it…" He looked from the ball to her face, catching the eyes behind her own mask, and smiled. "It'll show you your dreams." The ball drifted slowly down, towards her hand.

She could feel it. She could feel the way he struggled to conclude the trick, leaving anyone watching in awe with the way the crystal ball delicately floated between them and began to lean in her direction, begging for permission to land. She gave it. Extending her hand slowly, Xue felt the weight of the polished crystal just barely begin to set in her palm. That was where her familiarity with the old flick died and her own genuine nature was reborn as she gazed upon the familiar, yet magical, ball. "I see your reflection. How unique."

He managed not to sigh when the ball came to rest in Xue's delicate hands, but it was close. This was by far the hardest trick the amateur magician had performed and it had gone flawlessly. It had been prestidigitation of the finest level, no wires, forcefields or other mechanical aids had been involved. The remark about his reflection did surprise him somewhat, though. Yes, the ball itself had been tampered with, in a way – a psychic receptor had been woven into the delicate crystal lattices, the closest technology could come to 'showing your dreams'. But he smiled. "Then that must be your dream, having become reality already."

"How smooth." The Empress commented, looking up at the Goblin King from beneath her veil of sterling lashes and the silver filigree of her mask. Her free hand stroked over the cool crystal globe almost lovingly, before she freed it to dance, albeit haltingly, across the hand that cupped it. The actions, though primitive compared to his magical dexterity, was enough to show that she had indeed paid attention during that lesson in her suite, "Tell me... What other tricks do you know?" Her lips curled into the coyest of smiles as she held her hand, and the rotating ball, out in his direction.

He smiled mischievously. "I have the power to make dreams come true." He touched the ball, made it spin around his finger, then released it back into her care. "Madame Butterfly, shall we dance?"

Her brows rose in a display of incredulous questioning and surprise for his brazen and suave retort. The crystal back in her hand, the man so deeply instilled within her psyche, the albino Empress nodded and allowed him to lead her away from the enclave she'd stowed away to and out onto the dance floor. "Of course."

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Lieutenant Evan Merlin
Strategic Operations Officer
COLD STATION THETA, SB-1170

Empress Xue'Daio Nox
Queen of Apsha
Ruler of Aleine
Stenellian Ascendancy