Is it? Henrietta would not have thought it possible for two short words to drive her into such extremes of emotion, until this moment. She had spent her entire life learning to push all of her feelings down to the pit of her stomach and smother them so that she could present the placid, perfect exterior that she was meant to have, and with two careless syllables this man had shattered her carefully constructed glass box in which she placed all of her emotion. If the primrose centerpieces hadn't already gone up in flames, they doubtless wouldn't have survived this moment — but she caught herself before anything could happen, containing the rage within her and forcing it into only one outlet: her eyes, which burned as she looked over his features.
He wasn't even that handsome, was the thing, so where did he get off being so utterly dismissive? He didn't even have to be here, if he really cared so little; he could have turned down the invitation and no one here would have missed him, she was sure. But he seemed like the sort of man who thought it was a lark to look as though he didn't care at all, so it probably suited him to come to events like these and be curt and dismissive and crush the spirits of young women beneath his feet. It fit his aesthetic, with his mildly disheveled but obviously expensive clothing and his mussed curls. He wanted everyone to think that he was better than them, but effortlessly so. Henri hated him more than anyone she had ever met in the world, and she still didn't even know his name.
"Of course," she answered brightly, and flashed one of those artificial smiles in his direction, though this too held an undercurrent of challenge to it. And why wouldn't I be? I'm perfectly suited to this, and I don't care at all if you disagree. Nevermind that it was a lie and she hadn't been enjoying herself at all, and nevermind if she wasn't suited for this — she would not give him any reason to think so.
"Though your perspective as a guest is perhaps a more telling one," she continued. "Have we managed to keep you entertained?"
Rune made this! <3
He wasn't even that handsome, was the thing, so where did he get off being so utterly dismissive? He didn't even have to be here, if he really cared so little; he could have turned down the invitation and no one here would have missed him, she was sure. But he seemed like the sort of man who thought it was a lark to look as though he didn't care at all, so it probably suited him to come to events like these and be curt and dismissive and crush the spirits of young women beneath his feet. It fit his aesthetic, with his mildly disheveled but obviously expensive clothing and his mussed curls. He wanted everyone to think that he was better than them, but effortlessly so. Henri hated him more than anyone she had ever met in the world, and she still didn't even know his name.
"Of course," she answered brightly, and flashed one of those artificial smiles in his direction, though this too held an undercurrent of challenge to it. And why wouldn't I be? I'm perfectly suited to this, and I don't care at all if you disagree. Nevermind that it was a lie and she hadn't been enjoying herself at all, and nevermind if she wasn't suited for this — she would not give him any reason to think so.
"Though your perspective as a guest is perhaps a more telling one," she continued. "Have we managed to keep you entertained?"