Autumn After Party

[Mhairi Ankaa]

The Equinox, over.

Eventually the gathered Lost returned to their homes, aside from those that desired to stay at Edna's. They were assigned rooms, (if they hadn't had one yet) and made sure they didn't need anything before fell-flames sought out the remaining Autumns.

They...had a lot to talk about.

Walking through the carefully placed decorations inside and out of the Boarding House Mhairi Ankaa the newly crowned Leaden Queen made her way to the Autumn's Commons.

The string lights were all over the place. Pixies, using them as swings, sparkly hammocks, and tricksy traps. She's pretty sure she can hear a few pixies diving something. They've probably pulled the other decorations she'd put up off the walls.

Mhairi gave a sigh. She should have known.

Fell-flames decided to not look at her table of snacks she'd set up. She didn't want to know how bad their alarm-pixies messed it up. Or how much they ate.

Pulling a chair for herself, she sits, a sigh escaping, mixing with her wind-born mantel. Exhaustion and worry lining her features. Drippy fingers smoothing out the lines of her black skirt as she waits for her Courtiers to make their own way into the Hollow.

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan had been smiling and waving bye-bye like a tour guide being paid for it as those not of Autumn left the commons. Once the last had left, Morgan with the smile still plastered on her face searched the party whilst asking aloud: "Art ye all gone?" Hello? Tis aught left heh here that can speak? No one that ain't Autumn?

No reply, "Good! I'm getting a drink, a'fore I do aught else. Anyone else want any it tis heh here."

And then proceeded to do just that, getting herself a rum bottle she poured it into a glass and drank it in one shot. She did this two more times. "Okay...accessorize," she grabbed a few cups, a coke bottle, and the rum bottle before proceeding into the Commons.

A pixie dive bombed Morgan, yelling something about "not scary is here!" Morgan brushed her off, "Go eat cake," which it did. Marching up to Mhairi was easy with her legs free. Morgan looked down (barely) at the sitting Queen. After a pause, she held up the bottles and cups to her fellow verbally impaired Autumn.

"Think ye need it?"

[Mhairi Ankaa]

Alone with the chorus of pixie cackling and dive bombing cakes and decorations, Mhairi nearly missed the arrival of Morgan.

"I-ah think it's been-ah one of those days..." Mhairi said, looking up at Morgan, her...Courtier.

It didn't even matter that she wasn't much from rum, or coke. But as she'd said. When she woke up this morning and started decorating and picking up orders from bakeries and catering places she hadn't expected to make a play for the Crown. Let along get it.

"You-ah-you wanna wait for-ah Nathan Griffin ? Or should we-ah get that-uh later talk happening...now?" says the newly crowned Dread Queen, after the newly created drink is in her hand, and she takes a long 'sip'.

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan nodded, putting the rum and one cup down. She opened the cola and poured it into the cup. She put the bottle down, grabbed the rum, and repeated the process. She handed over the rum and coke to Mhairi, "If thine tincture tis to weak, heh, let me ken."

Morgan then plopped down beside the cola, bumping it with her left thigh but catching it before it fell over. She then made herself her own drink. She raised it to the air, "Ah, the solution that doth, heh, cause many a problem in, heh, life," and downed a third of it. After pausing briefly she looked up at Mhairi, "Well, ye art the Queen now. Thus ye technically can decide when ye wanna talk. Propriety as a vassal, heh, means I should leave it to ye, I think maybe? Course, also proper to hath thine entire court present for stuff so," she shrugs.

Morgan then laughed, "Shalt say tis a better surprise ye got it then I. Heh heh, I' hath tried to run away from it, doubt it'd work, but I'd try," she chuckled and grinned. Her cheeks were also a little flushed.

[Nathan Griffin]

He walked with heavy steps out of the restroom and, upon meeting Mhairi and Morgan alone, wiped some scattered water droplets off his brow.

"Hey," he greeted, looking tired. "It's been a long day. I think I may be suffering from withdrawal."

Usually he would have drank till he was numb to keep his mind away from all the troubles and discomforts and petty politics. He didn't rightly know why he hadn't. One thing or the other was beneath him, and he was finding it difficult to figure out which.

"What do we do now?" he pulled a chair for himself and faced obliquely towards their new Queen.

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"If-ah-if the Crown chose you, I can just-uh imagine what Autumn would have-ah done to-ah-to keep you as Queen." Mhairi says, a small smile on her lips, though the thought of Autumn stalking the Steepscrambler...might not have invoked a smile from anyone that wasn't tied to Autumn.

Nathan appearance received a concerned look from Mhairi. "Great. We're-ah-we're all here..." Mhairi says just as was seriously debating starting without him. It would have been embarrassing to have started when Nathan managed to drag himself into the Commons.

"Withdrawal?" Mhairi asks, both wanting and not wanting to know. But she was his...Queen now, and anything that might be affecting her Courtiers, it was her business to know.

"Now?" Mhairi swallowed, then took a sip, and another one, "We-ah talk. That seems like it would-ah be a good this to-ah happen. Then we...can go from there."

Mhairi nods, then takes a deep breath.

"So. This wasn't planned. I-ah didn't vote for-ah-for Rick to-ah be King just so I could-ah steal it from him." Mhairi thought that it would be best to just clear that up. "And it wasn't Bronson-well it was. But not what he-ah said. But it kinda was. Err. I'm not explaining this right." Mhairi shakes her head, as she tries to gather her thoughts. "Since Coco...left it-ah meant that the only Springs were the newcomers. Scamp seems a little too-ah timid to-ah be King...so Bronson claimed that he'd-ah rule. But that was before he-ah didn't pledge and vanished. So he-ah told L'aire and Rick and whoever else was over there. That he was claiming the Spring crown for himself."

It wasn't like Nathan and Morgan didn't know this but it was helping Mhairi explain her thoughts. Even as rambling and halting as they were.

"Then...Rick just started arguing with him. And there was-ah Hedge Duels called and...Rick wasn't thinking of the Equinox. Or-ah Autumn. I was scared that we weren't on his-ah mind. I didn't know what to-ah do!" the remnants of that Fear etched onto her moonlit features. "Then...Bronson...said what-ah-he said. Giving a name to my Fears, and I made my Pledge. And-ah Autumn and the Wyrd deemed me worthy...." Mhairi finishes, looking up at her Courtiers, hoping that they understood her choice.

Mhairi didn't want to deal with a mutiny or whatever it was called when the Court wanted to dethrone their Monarch.

[Morgan Bellanar]

Morgan shrugged, "Like said, heh, doubt it'd work but attempt anyway, heh," and finished off her drink. Nathan...didn't look good, "Uh, withdrawal? If ye need heh help or pickup Nathan just ask and I can see if there tis aught heh here," she looked over at the food table. A spright had dive bombed, literally, into a finger cake and was trying to eat its way out. And doing a good job, "...uh, heh, to help."

Morgan listened to Mhairi's words. She nodded, "Impulsive, heh, and unexpected." After a pause she added, "Act and reactions, heh, I mean art unexpected." The Scrivener let out a loud sigh, "I did hath concerns Bronson had, heh, manipulated ye to slight Rick. Rick's over reaction to thine oath, heh, however doth support thine argument." Morgan didn't like saying that. Guilt was written on her face and clear in her voice. "Rick twas unfocused upon Autumn and, heh, focusing on the crown. I don't ken if Bronson contributed to it and yay, the Wyrd agreed to ye Mhairi tis true...but, well..."

The Lady Scrivener took several deep breaths to calm herself. Then she leaned back, using her free hand to brace herself, before shouting out: "Fuck!" Causing quite the commotion among the celebrating tiny fae. The quiet that followed was broken when a tiny voice declared: "Its just not scary!" And the sprights went back to it.

"Sorry, for that, heh, Nathan and Queen Mhairi. But...this tis probably the second most drama I've, heh, been involved in at a coronation, heh, here." She straightened up, "Lo, tis nay as bad as that first, heh. I shant vex four sovereigns this time, heh." She seemed less tense, either thanks to her outburst or the booze kicking in. Given the soft glow from all of her veins had changed, it could be the latter. "I don't ken heh aught that comes next. Save one," she looked back up.

"Ye wee ones copacetic with, heh, her, " she points at Mhairi, "donning the crown?"

The ones that bothered to reply seemed to give affirmatives. It was hard to tell with the ones stuffing their faces full of snacks. "So the Commons ain't barred to ye, good. The rest, heh, I...wing it, heh-heh."

[Nathan Griffin]

He sat down as heavily as he had come down and dismissed their concern with a wave of his hand.

"I'll manage. We've got bigger fish to catch," he felt an intense throbbing pain on the back of his head, but he thought it better not to mention it. He couldn't help grimacing, though. "This is ugly, but it ain't nothing that can stop us. Rick, uh... wasn't at his best back there. I confess I kinda encouraged him, but still... Challenging the new guy to a duel?" he shook his head and regretted it immediately.

"I've got no notion of being king, myself, and I don't mind you taking the crown or whatever. If Morgan's alright with it too... Well, things aren't looking as grim as you seem to think, right? You just gotta make sure the other sovereigns accept it. Right now, that means only Sasha. She's, uh, reasonable."

Right now, Mhairi being queen seemed like the least of his worries. The conversation with Bronson weighed on him far more than anything else. Taking him up on that duel... No matter what he had said, part of him would have been more than willing to do it. And then, he'd either be dead or worse...

[Mhairi Ankaa]

"I-ah do manage the Boarding House....if you-ah need a place to-ah crash, so you have-ah someone watching over you. I-ah mean. If you need it."

To Morgan's rumbling words Mhairi cold only nod. Jumping a little when the women cursed.

"If-ah you all want scary...we can get a bit scary..." Mhairi said to the littlest little ones that guarded their Commons. "Well...more-ah scary then we-ah-we've been." and wasn't that a goal worthy of the new Dread Queen?

Morgan 'Queen Mhairi'd' her. It's just plain weird.

...but it's something she's going to have to get used to. "No-ah-no problem. I-ah get it."

"What happened?" Mhairi asked, having never heard of the streepscrambler's vexing of four sovereigns.

Mhairi blinks her fell-flames in amusement when Morgan has the pixies see if they give her their vote, "Thanks." she says to them with a crooked, amused grin. "Winging it sounds good to me."

"Even with-ah-with you encouraging Rick...he-ah shouldn't have taken it that-ah-that far. Not during the-ah-the Equinox." Mhairi's voice was firm. Before her lips twisted back up into a smile. "I-ah-I think L'aire's okay with me being-ah-Queen." the Onyx Queen had renewed her Pledge a few hours ago, and not called Mhairi out on her claiming the Crown.

But would the Sovereign of Winter publicly call someone out? Mhairi tries not to frown, because she didn't think so.

"So...titles. Nathan. You wanted one right? A Responsibility and a Purpose to-ah-to Autumn?" Mhairi asks even as her mind reminds her of how Morgan had been acting towards her since the Crown appeared on her head.

Maybe it was time for Autumn's Scrivener to get a promotion. Or a job change or...something...

[Morgan Bellanar]

"Nor do I, heh, want the crown Nathan. Thus tis Mhairi's by forfeit," she raised her right hand and finished off her drink, dropping the plastic cup to the ground.

"Oh, heh-heh," when Mhairi threatened the sprights Morgan laughed nervously, "I think that term tis one they use to heh address me." After a pause she continued, "One of the first sprights I saw twas confused as I heh twas an Autumn but my countenance lacked the...intimidation of folks like Betony Rue, heh, that sets the bar way to high" the last part came out as rapid fire mumbling.

Morgan's eyes went wide as Mhairi asked the about the "worst drama" Morgan had experienced. Then she froze, tilted her head, and shrugged. She sounded nervous, despite her trying to seem indifferent. "Well, heh, art few left who were there for it. I twas introduced to the Freehold and my guide struck at, heh, another. I did nary notice and I guess she'd, heh, had troubles in the past. I insulted some unknowns in, heh, her defense...and they, heh, were all four reigning sovereigns that I insulted." After a pause the Beast added, "I fully admit to, heh, fleeing in fright at that time. King Spartan could've squished me into jelly with, heh his hands. And heh twas all four I'd vexed...still, learned to be more cautious from, heh, that folly, heh."

When Mhairi agreed to winging it, Morgan just gave a thumbs up.

Morgan tilted her head in thought, trying to think upon what titles might suit Nathan. "I don't ken if Witch of the Bitter Winds, heh-heh, sorry: Warlock t'would suit ye Nathan. Ye don't seem to fit. Uh..." she scrunched up her face as she tried to remember the titles. Her mouth began to run as fast as her mind: "titles, titles, heh, title: fool, ghul, paladin, briar ranger-oh, heh heh, and magister of nightmares if ye art into dream walking, heh."

She paused then smiled at Nathan, her voice slowing to normal pace as she cheerfully finished: "That tis aught I can recall, and tis only suggestions, heh...lest ye wanna be Twilit Paige or ask for, heh my current job, heh."