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It is later than usual, and Lambert is sitting out the back…eating his own meal, for himself, quietly. He is a little run ragged - a sore part here and there from insisting on headbutting Lindon, the few scratches there. He has been in the wars! And he might be limping a bit. So he is there, yawning and tired, with warmed red wine with a little honey in it.
Kai has stayed on to help the crew clean up now that it's getting late. Then he comes out to the courtyard to take a rest. God knows where he got it, but he's wearing a waiter's uniform. He doesn't seem overly tired, though. He's got stamina. He does have wine, though, and he wanders over to sit with Lambert. "Good night tonight," he says.
Elmo slips in, though where exactly from, it's a little hard to tell. She just kind of shows up. 'She', still under the influence of transformational magic, still wearing the tattered remains of her suit. She sidles up, cautiously. "Um, hi, guys. I kind of got the hang of it now. Don't worry."
Asgardian blood is a hell of a thing. Lambert, on the other hand, looks a little bleary eyed. It is common for bucks to lose condition during some seasons - the fighting and impressing the ladies take a lot out of a goat. And apparently a satyr too. So he looks creaky, and a bit out of it "Oh, hello, Kai," Lambert says "How has the evening gone? Did everything work out? I know Sam's having to pull a lot of weight in the kitchen…" He then eyes Elmo. Cautiously. Before he pats the table. "Er, you have? That's a relie…that's nice!"
"We got a rhythm going, and it went fine," Kai says. "Sam stayed in the kitchen, Marcie and I had the floor. It was hectic." He says this with a smile. Controlled chaos is something he loves. Maybe sometimes not entirely controlled. When he sees Elmo, he offers her a warm smile. "Do you want something to eat?" he asks. "We've got plenty of lamb."
Elmo certainly fits the definition of not entirely controlled chaos, lately. She winces and drops her head, looking abashed. "I'm…I'm real sorry, Bert. Are…uh, are you okay?" Slinking over, she sits, too, and smiles hesitantly at Kai. "If it's not any trouble, I'd love some lamb."
"Would you now?" asks Lambert, with a faintly wry side-smile. But then he shakes himself and he says "I'm fine, Elmo. Here, have a little honeyed wine. I am begining to worry about you and Linny though. I don't know if. Human minds are meant to deal with this…you know. All the chaos? But…" He shakes his head slightly, and then he says "But you are both strong people. So, ummn." And he shifts, back and forth a little, and he says "Anyway, part of it's fun. To be honest, I've missed being in a herd."
Kai sets his wine down and tells Elmo, "Coming right up." He's been waiting tables since the afternoon and is still happy to go fetch more food. What are the bets on how if he actually got paid for the work he'd hate it? He brings out a platter with lamb prepared a few different ways. In the center are roasted vegetables. He also brings out bread with honeyed butter and another bottle of wine. "Here we go. Why don't you get a bite to eat too, Bert?"
The look Elmo gives Lambert owes a lot more to the maenad than to her mortal self. 'Yes, I /would/' and 'are you sassing me?' and maybe some 'keep it up, see where it gets you'. She looks away fast, though. "I'm worried too," she admits. "But it's kind of like electricity. Somethin' crazy and powerful that will ruin your entire life if you let it get outta hand." She looks at her left hand, but of course, nothing happens, and she closes her fingers over her palm. "Mostly I want Lindon outta that room, it's not good for him, it's not good for us." 'Us', satyrkind. Her smile to Kai is shy, but brilliant. "Thanks, tateleh. Hey, I didn't come around so you could work more for me, sit down, huh?"
"That's what it's like," agrees Lambert "It's a lot more mellow for me - human blood tones it down a heap. Which means, I guess, you know how toned down I am now. I'm pretty mild." He then nudges Kai "You're a wonder," he tells him "Still not willing to be seduced?" He reaches out for a little bit of the meat, and then he says "Linny will come out, I think he just feels a bit monsterous. And also he feels comfortable, in his own way - he's in charge of his little group there, he doesn't want to scare people, but he's feeling all…competant. And ready to fight, and all the rest. It's not a bad feeling. As long as the shapeshift wears off soon." He frowns, sideglancing Elmo and her horns "…dad might have pushed it too far."
"Still madly in love with Loki," Kai confirms, and he sits down after placing the platter in the middle of the table. He's all smiles, and his smiles are all dimples. "Your dad is a menace," he adds as he takes a little of the meat for himself. "I thought my dad was bad, but all he does is steal stuff." He flashes a grin at Elmo. "I still think you look pretty."
Elmo laughs quietly, shielding her face with her hand like she does when she's embarrassed. "Well, better than lookin' ugly." She grins at Kai, pointy little teeth, and plucks a bite of meat from her plate with her fingers. "He coulda turned me into something worse. …It's not so bad, really, aside from, uh." She glances at Lambert shyly. "From a lot of real awkward stuff I did."
"It was awkward on all sides," says Lambert cheerily "But to be honest, I can't complain. I mean, uhhh. Oh, God I have a lot of explaining to do to Jay. I tried to contact him, but…" He shakes his head a little, and then he says to Kai "My father is a complete menace. He's not a good influence. He's worse than Grandfather, but I suppose Grandfather's had more time to come to terms with everything…" Chew chew, and he looks thoughtful, and then he says "I think he's used all the magic he was going to use on me on others, though, now. So…that _should_ be the last weird thing that happens. I hate to think of what would have gone on if he'd run into Loki."
Kai says, "Good luck trying to outtrick the trickster," Kai says. "Worst case scenario, they would've teamed up." He says this fondly. Loki is a menance, but he's Kai's menace. "You two look like you had one hell of a party," he says. "Just an observation. "And whoever this 'Linny' is. The nerd, I assume?"
"Oh! Uhm, Jay's been with me. That's why he hasn't called you back." Elmo looks more abashed than ever, though at least Jay's actually going out with her, unlike some other victims of the maenad lust. She tosses her mane out of her eyes. "Yes, the nerd," she says to Kai, forbiddingly. "Lindon. Who kinda got turned into a satyr, and." She shrugs, turning her hands up. "There mighta accidentally been a party."
"He has great legs as a satyr," says Lambert, a little wistfully, and then he says to Kai, a bit resentfully "He's got bigger horns than me. Honestly. How is a man supposed to develop a sense of self-esteem?" And then he interlaces his fingers "Well, father is going home soon. I just want him to not run into anyone…you know. Awkward. Like Loki, or Lucifer. Or, oh _God_, Strange, or Lamont…or someone I respect…" He runs his fingers through his hair, and he says to Elmo "Er, how does Jay feel about all of this?"
Kai smiles serenely at Elmo and at Lambert, knowing nothing of sympathy or propriety. "Sounds fun," he says. Then he tells Lambert, "Look at it this way, he's never had horns til now, and after however long, he's never going to have them again. You've got yours the rest of your life. He's blowing his wad, but you're playing the long game."
Elmo laughs, shooting Kai a fond glance. "See, he's got perspective," she says to Lambert. Her dainty little antlers are undeniably bigger than Lambert's, though. There's no lie there. She smiles down at the table, picking up and eating another bit of lamb with unselfconscious sensuality. "Jay's been great." Her smile is inward, private.
"Has he?" says Lambert, a little wistfully "I always end up discovering people could be willing to be interested in me after they get partners… never mind!" He suddenly has reason to pick up more food, and start enjoying it, and now he says to Kai "It's true. And mine might grow in more! You never know." A little pause, and then he suddenly realises something "You must be good at controlling yourself now, Elmo. You haven't tried to kill Kai."
"Maybe he's okay with having more than one partner," Kai says with a shrug, and he munches on a roasted pepper. He glances between the two of them, then sits up straighter and says, "Why would she have any reason to kill me? I'm a peach." He eyes Elmo cautiously. "Maybe Jay's calmed you down some. Good man."
"Jay has calmed me down some," Elmo says, shy again. "But you're part of the herd, Kai." Lambert, however, gets eyed. "Part of me wants to say, Bert, you wanna ask Jay out, don't let me stand in your way. Most a me wants to kick your ass." Her lip curls, but she manages to look away. "Sorry. You should listen to the first part. I'm pretty sure that's what I would say if I wasn't a deer." She grimaces. "I …really like being in a herd, too? A lot. But I dunno how much of that is, you know. This."
"A lot of it is," Lambert guesses "There's a lot of pheremones - smells - and we're sort of pack hunters too. Lots of charging through the woods. Things would get dicey if there was another Maenad around, because you'd be fighting to see who was the one in charge." He picks up a little bit of cheese, and then he says to Elmo "Oh, man, don't think I'm _nice_ or nothing. The truth? It's a lot easier to make sure everyone's okay and happy just…because all the dating drama and things can tear everything apart into a huge mess of stuff that's annoying even for the people involved. I may like having sex with lots of different people, but I don't like mending broken hearts. Heck, I don't even think I'm good at that. So the way I see it, it pays to be patient and calm. About some stuff." And then he says to Kai "Maenads sometimes kill their paramours." He grins "And you are cute. So better watch it!"
Kai's brow furrows. "We're already a herd," he says. "We have been. Just without the brain chemicals making us all crazy." He picks up a roasted carrot to chomp on. Mmm, vegetation. He nods to Lambert. "It happens in nature. Honestly, all things considered, I'm surprised it doesn't happen in humanity more often." He pours enough wine for everyone, topping off glasses. "Things will be normal again soon enough, and we'll still be a herd."
Elmo gets a drifty, longing look. Pack hunting. Charging through the woods. Killing her paramours. She licks a fingertip. "Mmm. Sounds delightful." That was a lot less Elmo than she's been thus far.
"Pack, herd…it's sort of hard to decide what word is better," Lambert admits, and he reaches out to take the wine from Kai "Well, we're supposed to be civilised monsters. I mean, like humans are civilised monsters. Centaurs are around too, I saw one once. Ages ago, now. They mostly work as physicians and star readers, and so on, but they get really mean when drunk." He frowns, then he shrugs, and he says to Elmo "So Jay isn't angry at me?"
Kai takes the news of centaurs in stride. After all, he's something fantastical himself. He just passes better. "I like the word herd," he says, unasked. "But I relate to stags more than I do wolves."
Elmo frowns, glancing at Lambert. "I don't think so? He hasn't said anything like that. He kinda thinks of this as me being sick. Which," she shrugs. "Close enough." She stands up swiftly. "I have to go, or." Well, she's been living a lot of 'or'. So she slips out as quick and quiet as she came in.