[open] porcelain and china

[Deleted]

working in the food and hospitality sector had its merits, in a way. on one hand, he got to hold goblets of gold; on the other hand, he got to polish those very same goblets of gold and hone his acting skills by pretending it was one of the most glorious things he had ever done in his life. of course, the temptation was always there to steal something and make a break for it -- that thought was clearly written all over the face of one of many banquet attendants. too bad the security and knights were staring daggers at them as they rubbed and scrubbed.

it wasn't a bad thing to do, though. it was good for training diligence and arm strength. also delicate hands, because who knew how much gold went into making one of those goblets. kien gently placed one of them back on the table once he had finished wiping it.

"done so quickly?" one of the guards grunted, his expression barely visible under deeply-furrowed eyebrows. maybe the helmet had something to do with it too, but kien wasn't sure. "stop slacking off."

there was a clashing of metal before guards drove themselves into an uproar. someone had upset the cutlery arrangements, and they were trying to make a quick escape.

was it an honest mistake?

... or was it something more sinister?

"seize them!" screeched the captain, leaving behind clouds of dust in their wake.

oh, and also a gaggle of confused part-timers who were hired for the night's dinner arrangements.

used to these happenings by now, kien wasted no time in mingling with the crowd's confusion: "what was that?!" he yelped, just as the crowd started to bustle with questions and forgotten tasks.

... and it seemed that ...

no-one was going to eat dinner that night.

[gnosis]

Dinner parties were never something that Gnosis enjoyed. There was always too much pomp, and never enough invitations for him. At first, he was simply going to slip on by, ignoring the whole thing, until he heard a clashing of metal and screams of guards. Maybe a change of plans was in order. After all, it had been forever since his last banquet dinner.

During the commotion, the young man simply walked in the front door, assuming that no one would be looking his way. The crowd became confused as someone yelled out “What was that?!” Questions flew around the group. What was going on? Who did it? Where’s the beef? Not one to be left out of the fun, Gnosis yelled out “Why would you do that?” Honestly, what fool thought it would be a good idea to cause trouble in a place with this many guards? Even something as simple as sneaking in could get you in hot water… Wait a minute.

A guard was starting to make his way over to the young man, obviously ready to kick out the party crasher. “And what do you think you’re doing here?”

Trying to think quick, Gnosis pointed to one of the other men in the crowd ”I’ve been with him the entire night,” completely missing the fact that the pale skinned man he thought was a guest, was actually a worker hired for the night.

@vertigo