He had heard the music before he even can see the building that the party is being held in. As he glides lazily through the clouds, he follows the sounds of the string quartet and the voice of a beautiful singer, one he is sure that he will want to meet and flirt with. With music as heavily as this, how could he possibly resist? The singer was probably far prettier than he could even imagine. And so, Saphrax aims his course to follow the angelic voice. Slowly he glides in for a landing.

His feet touch down on the cobblestone pathway quickly and without trouble. He slows himself into a walk as he gets up to the door. As he steps into the main entrance hall, he is amazed by what he sees. There are rows of punch bowls. Whoever planned this knew exactly how to get his attention. And before he even makes it into the dance hall, he’s already drank one glass of punch with another in-hand.

He stops then at the table where there are an array of masks for him to choose from. Truthfully, Saphrax doesn’t want to wear a mask. He doesn’t want the mask to distract those around him from seeing just how beautiful he looks tonight. And yet, the guard at the door is insistent that he wear one. So he selects a simple black ribbon with two eye slots and ties it behind his crest feathers. He supposes the black silk will look radiant against his glowing skin. Yes. If he has to wear a mask, this one is perfect.

And then he’s stepping into the hall and his eyes take in the view. The dancers look beautiful, as he expects them to, but his eyes are searching for the singer. The rest on the female and Saphrax is a little irritated that the singer is not more sexy than she sounds. She’s of average prettiness and perhaps the most beautiful thing about her was her mask and her voice. Oh well, there were others floating around this dance hall that could catch his attention.

After several failed conversations, Saphrax sighs to himself and comes to stand alongside an innocent looking fellow. He takes another sip of his punch, feeling the way the alcohol made his skin flush and his muscles relax. “Good party, you agree? The entertainment is awesome.” He supposes if he’s going to stand here, he might as well make some simple conversation too.

@Pan

Saphrax did not miss the male’s staring. In fact, he craved all eyes on him. However, it was far more satisfactory if he allowed the gaze to take himself in and he play like he didn’t see a thing. There was something about how it made him feel. It made him feel sexy and naughty…and these were things Saphrax liked to feel all the time. So as his eyes wandered over the entertainment, he allowed the other to gawk at him. In fact, he may have extended his tail and crest feathers just a little and fluffed up his flaming wings. It was all for show, of course, to ensure that this stranger saw all of him and enjoyed himself while doing do.

He tried to act nonchalant, as if his appearance was something that was seen everyday and rather routine. And yet, he was fully aware that most people did not see a fiery stallion every day. He asks about the entertainment, trying to make small talk. And yet, this male states the obvious: that he is on fire. “As a matter of fact, I am.” It’s simple and to the point. Of course he’s on fire! And damnit, he looks sexy to boot.

It was the second question that had Saphrax finally turning to look at the other. Surely he could tell that his very sexy flames did not hurt him. For if they did, wouldn’t he be running (or flying) towards the nearest body of water? Not to mention, the alcohol he was drinking would surely blow up in his face. “No, not yet at least.” He missed his fire magic, the magic that could make his flames burn to the bone. He missed being able to turn up his heat in winter and turn it off in the summer. It was these little things that he often took for granted, but now he wanted them more than anything.

When Pan touched his wing, the soft touch sent a shudder down his spine. Eyes looked over at him as he gave him a charming smile. “You can touch…but don’t ruffle my feathers. Preening is a long process.” The amount of time this diva spent getting his feathers to look their best was too long. But Saphrax would do it each day. After all, he had to look his absolute best.

Saphrax, forgetting his manners, realizes that he doesn’t know the man touching his feathers. Such an act was intimate. Even though Saprhax has allowed far more to take place without a name, he can’t start off tonight being rude. “I’m Saphrax, by the way.” He gives the other a smile, one that could captivate an entire audience. It’s cocky and yet, it’s one of those smiles that you just can’t look away from.

@Pan

He watches Pan closely, making sure that the innocence of his does not give way to misjudging just how hard he was touching his feathers. But much to his surprise, he leaves his feathers relatively intact. Saphrax is quite pleased with this fact. He’s almost too pleased that he almost misses the fact that he’s being talked to.

Trying to at least not appear rude (because this is perhaps the first person who is willing to hold a conversation with Saphrax), he turns to give his complete undivided attention to the other. At his question about if it is truly magic, he nods his head. “My mother was half-phoenix, my father a god. I suppose those two things together make me sexy and harmless.” Saphrax had to applaud himself for not being quite as vein as he might normally be. He’s really controlling himself and doing a damn good job of it. Even if Pan doesn’t know it yet, he should be quite proud.

Through his mask, eyes meet Pan’s for the first time. Sure he’s looked at the other, but he’s never really seen the other for who he is. As he introduces himself as Pan, Saphrax looks over his body, taking in each curve and wrinkle. He was a pretty little thing. Saphrax would do him if the option was on the table.

It’s his next words that draw his attention back to the party. Gaze travels over the tables of food and beverages, over the singers and finally over the dangers. “Some sort of solstice festival I presume.” He hadn’t really received an invite so he’s not sure exactly what this place is. Then again, he was always a party crasher. He’d seen a few here from his own court, so surely it was okay.

It’s when he mentions some sort of tents by the lake that it has Saphrax’s attention. While he’s captivated by the music and the dancers, the thought of what could potentially happen within a tent had his lips curling into a smile. So many things could happen, and none of them would truly excite the stallion, but he could dream. Dreaming never hurt anyone. “I hadn’t made it to the tents yet. What’s out there?” Perhaps there was artwork, exotic dancers, private shows. The list was endless and it had Saphrax grinning from ear to ear.

What Saphrax was unprepared for, however, was him saying that one of the tents had a tattoo set-up. Tattoos? That was hardly as pleasurable as he had imagined. Then he was offering to show him to the tattoo tent and Saphrax shook his head. “I’m pretty sure a tattoo will ruin my flawless coat. But what else is out there?” Surely there was something more up his ally.

@Pan

Even if the tattoo was just a brush and some paint (but let’s be honest, when are things in Novus just as they appear?), it would still taint his perfectly flawless coat. His grey (nearly white, let’s be honest with ourselves) coat was perfect in every way, from the color down to the way the hair fell naturally along his body. Such perfection took hours of brushing and washing and it did not simply happen overnight. One brush of paint and all his hard work would be absolutely ruined. And yet, Saphrax was not quite willing to crush the man’s dreams just yet…

…until he mentioned that she (whoever she was), would sew the magic into his skin.

Yep. Hell nope on the tattoo idea. He could be the sweetest being and there was no way in hell Saphrax would allow someone to permanently ruin his skin. The only think that might capture his attention and make him contemplate the idea for more than a millisecond would be the promise of a thousand virgins ripe for the picking. Then again, even though he LOVES sex, would that be worth ruining his coat? Tough decision indeed.

But the young stallion continued, saying that there were dancers, magicians, someone who read cards, and someone who breathed fire. No one could breathe fire as good as Saphrax. Though, now that he didn’t have his fire magic, he couldn’t breathe fire very well…but he would be able to one day.

It was the talk of telling his future that drew his attention from missing his magic onto the other. Head cocked ever so lightly. “Is she good?” He did not want his fortune told by some wacko who just said vague things in order to get paid. He wanted real fortune telling. He wanted to know what would happen in the days, weeks, months, or years in the future. And none of that “you will die” bullshit. Everyone dies.

@pan

Saphrax was probably a little too overcautious somedays. Like today, for instance, he was careful about he would allow/not allow on his body. While he had to agree that the idea of a tattoo was something fun and interesting, he did not like the fact that they were permanent (or semi permanent, Pan was not too helpful is saying whether or not the ink would fade). He had worked far too hard to keep his skin looking absolutely flawless. There was no way in hell he was going to ruin it now.

But, Saphrax had to agree that the idea of the card reader was curious. Would she be good enough to read his fortune with any accuracy? Would it just be a fun evening but nothing he would truly take stock in? He wanted to know so badly. The idea that he might finally know if he was ever going to sire the perfect child or whether or not he would eventually find himself ageless. It a was rather exciting, he had to admit.

So when Pan seemed to agree that the tarot reader seemed authentic, Saphrax decided that what the hell? It couldn’t hurt anything, right? So naturally, when the other began to lead him towards the tend that she resided in, Saphrax found that his feet naturally drew forward to follow the other stallion. “Lead the way, my friend.” He offered the other a cheeky smile as he drew up alongside him to fall into pace with his own footfalls. Yes, this was exciting, indeed!

@Pan