Lion Head Mesa [WP] Don't try to save us cause we're doing it right

If you thought that Tierra was making it through this night without getting sloppy drunk, you would be very wrong. She didn't know what the things were but she didn't care because only two things were important - they tasted amazing and they made her feel great.

She wasn't actually sure where she was in the palace right now, though, or where @Sybol was. Tierra giggled, then stumbled and rested for a moment against whatever she'd tripped into. As soon as the room steadied she'd go find... whatever. Palaces were great. Why didn't Germy have a palace?

The party was a full roar, distant, that she barely registered. She'd managed to stumble her way into chambers that weren't currently being used to host it and stayed there, resting her cheek against the wall she was propped against to stabilize.

The party, the guests, the food. She wanted a party of her own. And she definitely wanted more of the stuff that made the world go sideways. She turned her head, so that her forehead was against the wall instead, and giggled again at her own joke. Sideways.

set later in the night <3 tag is for reference, open to anyone and everyone!

ramesses had laughed until he was hoarse. he had told a thousand jokes, he had drunk a sea of wine on his own. his belly was filled with honey and herbs and flesh, and all his senses were alight with a sensuality that belonged to the gods and those who served them.
while patrons thronged around the queen of akashingo, ramesses kissed her cheek firmly and pulled away. he would leave her now, to play her first verbal game of political senet among the soldiers and the nobility.
imbibed though he was, pharaoh knew the halls of his palace.
he wanted to have the dust bathed from him, to be re-annointed with crushed flowers; he was just about to shout for servants when he caught sight of a weaving girl. a snort of nostrils told ramesses she was of mereo. a soldier then. "at attention," ramesses growled in a tease, seeing if the roman's trainee would heed.

The words hit her ears, but there was a clear delay before they registered. Tierra turned to blink at him, smiling with the full confidence of a drunk woman who knows full well she's here to let loose and do little else. 's a party. She did turn a little to face him, however, her hips against the wall instead and still steadying her as she swayed.

You're married. The prince was what she meant, but between the wedding and the alcohol, the two were sort of one and the same right now. Then she giggled again. No palaces for Germy. He'd have to have fun then.

This prince was cute. He would understand, his party was the best she'd ever seen.

ramesses snorted a little at her guile but was otherwise amused. her golden eyes were daring. "i am," he intoned, "and you are a soldier at my party. do you not know you must not be drunk?" germy was a fitting epithet for the uptight cur, and the hint of disrespect in the roman's ranks pleased pharaoh.
"germanicus is also married," he reminded her. "married men do not usually take parties, not unless the celebration is for them."
ramesses felt his vision blurring; he fought against it, regarding her sharply.

Tierra snorted in disbelief at his claim. I'm a guest, she replied with absolute certainty, as though she were reminding him of the invitation. Like she'd be working at a party. That must be why he's so stiff.

She snickered, then looked at him with a grin. Seems like a waste. Now you're going to be all stiff too. He was a prince. If he could have whatever he wanted, why the fuck would he waste it on something like that? She took a step forward, then stopped as she swayed a bit unsteadily. Her eyes didn't leave his face. Loosen up.

She didn't know if she wanted him. She knew she wanted him to want her.

1k for u!

how more fitting she was with her back crowded against the wall. she was defiant, and the berries exacerbated ramesses' response to her. 
his teeth shone dangerously.
"i am the Morning and the Evening Star," he reminded her, backing the girl against the redstone and lowering his muzzle until their eyes were only inches apart.
"pharaoh does as he wishes."
ramesses regarded her with a lilted gaze, then drew back. he called for servants, and when the fellahin arrived, he said to them, "i will take my bath at the wellspring. the scutarius will be joining me there."
pharaoh sought to push her gently out of the room. "what is the name of the defiant, drunken soldier beneath my roof?"

She wasn't afraid of him. She should have been - she was on his lands and her pack was directly tied to his. If he reported her to Germanicus she could be punished, demoted, or worse. The alcohol pushed all of this from her mind and made her ordinary boldness something dangerously close to self-sabotage. She had no thoughts of repercussions and only knew what she wanted.

He was pretty full of himself to say he was a star. Yet her second thought was that he was royalty and that he shone like one.

Good. She was still slurred and off-kilter, but his new proximity brought her slightly more awareness. Her pulse was pounding as she met his gaze for only an instant, then lowered it playfully. Even drunk she knew that too much assertion would not get her what she wanted. It was all a game of pulling him along and keeping him guessing at what she might become.

She thought of Sybol for a moment, then pushed that away, annoyed. She didn't need to feel guilty for playing. None of it was real.

Tierra. She followed him as best she could, and it only took some concentration to keep herself walking behind him. Enough that it and talking proved difficult, so her statements came on a delay. I thought you were a prince, but that doesn' make sense. You're a king. She'd been thinking about that for the last little while, but his star comment reminded her. There wasn't a king here. Princes only existed when there were kings.

she clumsily toyed with him, a girl becoming a woman and experiencing those wants for the first time. she was hazy as pharaoh, daring. her voice slightly slurred, and his own laughter was a smear of color against the backdrop of muted sound.
"i am father to a pair of princes. siptah and sethnakt."
the wellspring gleamed invitingly, water limning the bodies of the servants set to receive them. he stepped without hesitation into the warm embrace; it was fed from the serpent itself, and floated with all manner of good-smelling blooms.
"have this one gleaming," he ordered the fellahin. 
one massaged red sand from the edges of his glowing pelt. the other approached tierra, prepared to begin the same ministrations along her shoulders. 
"i am a pharaoh. that is what you may call me, tierra." his eyes sought to hold her.

She remembered now, the princess from Mereo. Tierra thought they were the same and had pretty much said as much, but the next few things showed her just how wrong she was.

The water was warm. Not only that, but as soon as she'd entered, there was a servant ready to massage and bathe her. Tierra was totally a woman of culture and the finer things, but this was, like.... way beyond anything she'd ever even dreamed of having. She settled into with a dreamy sigh.

Pharaoh. She tested it out. Then she wondered what his wife was called. That was obvi too weird a thing to ask right here, bathing with another man on his wedding night, but still. Her title had to be impressive with this many servants around them.

I train with them, but I'm not a soldier. He thinks that's all there is but I know better. Having fun is just as important as knowing how to win. She didn't drift closer, relaxing into the cleaning, but she kept an eye on him from her periphery. She wanted to see if he would. You're smarter than he is.

She was playing to his pride, but she didn't not believe it either. Mereo worked and trained so they could come here and guard. No one here had to worry about that. She thought she was a genius at using others but he was in a whole other league.

oh, she played to him as a man! heavy-handed, her attempts to be alluring made rather successful by the way that the water lapped over her shoulders. 
but pharaoh did not approach, for he was not only a mortal, and therefore had great control. yet his gaze was openly upon tierra, knowing as she put on her airs and fought the aura of drunkenness clinging to them both.
"you pursue me for the simple truth that i am married," ramesses told her with a purr, letting go their pretenses as he moved into a higher gambit. "but i think you know nothing of pleasing men."
voice a challenge; eyes a dare. she seemed far more at ease in these trappings than any of her fellow soldiers, including the roman himself.
and many thoughts came to pharaoh, but he said nothing for present.

She let out an actual bark of laughter at his assumption before she could muffle it in the water. He thought she cared if he was married or not? She barely even knew what that, like, even meant. If I wanted to pursue you, it wouldn't be because of that. You already said. Marriage makes you boring. Her game was different.

His comment might have been enough to stoke her pride if she actually held any doubts. Right now she was even more bulletproof than usual. Tierra abso-fucking-lutely knew how to please anyone she wanted to - not only that, she was amazing at it. No one had ever given her any reason to feel otherwise. So she shrugged and leaned back, but kept her eyes on him.

If you prefer boring, there's nothing wrong with that. No point in chasing what you can't keep up with, right? Some part of her knew it was dangerous to goad him but that was a part she hadn't listened to for the entirety of this interaction. She definitely wasn't going to start now.

tierra gave herself away so early in their game. she was young, sodden with drink, completely uncontrolled, and addressing him without a modicum of respect. 
pharaoh was intrigued.
in time he raised a dripping paw and with a languid gesture dismissed their servants. the fellahin left a trail of wet footprints as they retired from the room where the wellspring was housed.
now the din outside was more than muffled, scarcely heard from where they were.
"you think highly of yourself," ramesses observed with a dry tone. he closed his eyes and lay back against the smooth-stone wall. "if it is a simple diversion you are seeking, i will call our hebsut sayf for you. he will take a great deal of pleasure in chasing you."
i will not, his lazuli eyes said, and a flash of a grin accompanied them.

Tierra let her featured drift into a momentary pout. Then she shrugged again and stood, drifting towards the side where she could more easily pull her way out. The room was still spinning some, from the heat or the alcohol or both.

Don't bother, she replied, bringing her tail up to brush playfully beneath his chin. It wasn't a real chase if someone was told to play. She wasn't interested in his participation trophy.

She pulled herself from the water and sat to allow the room (and her stomach) to settle. It isn't like you don't know where to find me, if you change your mind. I never said it was as easy as that. He could chase whenever he wanted. She was the one who got to decide what happened if he caught her. Right now?

He might be a king, but she wasn't impressed. Any king who would send someone to have fun in his place probably had some issues to work out in that department. Mega mood ruiner if he did.

She should go back to the party. Tierra looked hazily for the exit and made to move unsteadily towards the nearest one.

powerplay here, lmk if not okay!

when tierra touched him was her downfall; up until that point ramesses had been content to entertain her wiley little games. but she had overstepped, and so when as she wove for one entrance, his own paws slapped against the wet stone of the wellspring's lip.
a toss of his plume ordered the servants away in a scamper; he shoved tierra roughly against the nearest wall, more forceful than he had yet been before. and yet he controlled himself even now; he did not want to injure her, only have the wayward soldier experience the trickle of water along her back from the way her pelt was crushed against the stone behind her.
his face was smooth as if he had not moved.
his lazuli eyes roved over the defiance of her features. 
"if you mean to taunt me, little jodai, know that you have my attention." his limbs were hard as marble. he would not boast his strength, nor move to keep her here with more than his presence. water trickled from his earlobe, down his cheek, dripping softly across her shoulder.
"but i am pharaoh, and it is my wedding night." still he moved closer for a moment, where a twitch of movement from either of them might bring a touching of skin. 
"i do not chase. i am given. and in return i give." 
ramesses drew back grandly now, water still streaming quickly from the tips of all his pale fur. but he did not move to shake it, only let the drops run to a pool around his feet. "if you enjoy the splendor of akashingo, then tomorrow night i will call for you. and it is then, scutarius, you will tell me if you mean to stay and allow me to show you more than the impulsiveness of a lesser man. a lesser man than the one you sought tonight."
pharaoh's smile was cold.
he turned and stalked away on his long alabaster limbs.

She was expecting him to watch her go.  She wanted to linger in his thoughts, and she imagined he'd look back and wonder until his curiosity got the better of him.  Then he'd call for her and she would, like she always did, choose to string him along or let him wonder.

This wasn't at all what she bargained for.

Tierra's expression was startled as he shoved her against the stone.  Her instant reaction was irritation, but there was finally enough fear to keep her from saying anything.  She was stunned into silence.  No one had ever physically come after her like this outside of a spar and the threat, though he didn't speak it, was clear.

I am given.  In return, I give.  Through her alcohol haze and the shock, she experienced a burgeoning of dislike.  He was still attractive, and yet even with his title, she refused to accept that he had the right to take her by choice.  Sybol's forwardness had drawn her in, but Ramesses' doused her attraction like a cold waterfall.

No way she would come when he called.  She was going to enjoy his party her own way, get lost in the fun she could have, then leave and let his wife deal with his obvious issues.  What a dick.

Her eyes burned as she lowered them.  She felt sick.  If he didn't stop her, she'd slip away without a word, then quickly make her way out of the bathing space.