The rumors flew about the school...This Friday Night...Pool Party in the hidden underground bathhouses of the IAP.


Invitation Only.

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X-Posted from Dorm Life:

She stood in stone cold silence. Ice would've shivered at the chilly death stare she pinned the squirming twins with.

"Well...it's true." One of them finally stuttered though any vehemence she'd possessed at the start of the confrontation had long since bled away.

"A. Third. Rate. Enchantress." Ivinia repeated slowly, coldly, emphasizing the words they'd dared cast at her.

The girls had just seconds previously been enjoying their claim to fame (the attendance of the ViperFang soiree) and were now suddenly the center of attention as everyone waited with bated breath to see how this showdown was about to end.

The cold icy smile that curved the plush lips of the half-nymph shouldn't have managed to convey that much heat. Lavender eyes appeared to glow as the incantation began with but a slight humming vibration to her words, "Let's just see how third rate I am...shall we..." Purred as she leaned between them, drew their pretty little heads near her and whispered her desires.

Blinking in dazed confusion the girls pulled back and looked from Ivinia to each other. The gathered students who had been watching were straining to overhear what was spoken but their efforts were in vain.

Turning toward them with a bright smile, Ivinia announced, "I hope you all know how to swim, because the Storm Sabre Swim Party is ..." She paused. Looked at them closely. Peered even. Leaning forward as she sized each and every one of them up and down, "Oh, I'm sorry. It's invitation only." Cheerily she waved a hand, "If you get to come I'll see you there."

And with that she turned and strolled from the Conjuration room on a rolling sway of her hips that demanded attention. She'd about had enough of the other Houses standing above hers. In fact, if Vliss wasn't going to step up to the whole Hostess thing than Ivinia was about to show them all how it was done.

A small pang of regret stung her at the thought of giving up the location of her secret bath house in the lower quadrants of the school but the furor it would cause as people vied for an invite from Storm Sabre was well worth it. Well, that and the special show she'd arranged with the twin pets of Iameth's.

CrossPosted:

She'd heard about a pool party and there was no way she was going to miss out on it. Invitation only. Hmm, she flipped through her choices with a glance around the Commons. Blizzard was the obvious one, after all he was her go-to concert buddy, but he might feel a little obligated to not bring a date while bringing his girlfriends...

...the bard turned a glance across the room on Esteban and blushed. No way she'd work up the courage to ask him, besides everybody now knew that he and Angelica were an item.

She was making this much too difficult she realized as her moody roommate dropped a tray of food on the table beside her and snarled, "Didn't I ask you to stop wearing that flowery ***? I couldn't stop sneezing after you sprayed it this morning."

"Good morning, Mystri." Cadence chimed cheerfully, "I tell you what, I'll toss it out if you'll do me one little favor..."

"Mm? What?" Mystri had already coiled herself into the seat across from her and was chewing on a bagel, "Oh don't worry about it. I already tossed it out for you."

"See I was thinking you could..wait you threw out my perfume?!" Startled, Cadence lost her train of thought for a moment.

"Yea, I figured you'd appreciate it considering the other option was to maul you in a fit of rage."

"You wouldn't. You're all growl, Myst." The bard fondly teased, "Though you'd think you'd want my help at this upcoming pool party..."

"What?" Mystri blinked at her roommate in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Ivinia is throwing a StormSabre pool party. I could help you find a bikini and--"

"A what." Flatly.

"A bikini, you know a swimsuit that flatters your," She paused at the glowering look, "Okay so you'll just shapeshift. You don't need me. But I want to goooooooo...." She playfully wailed.

"Well then Go." The dark look had not improved any as Mystri continued to pick over her chosen meal.

"Really? You're inviting me?" Cadence grinned.

"Is that what I'm doing?"

"You're the bestest!" She jumped up and kissed Mystri quick before dancing off with a wave.

"I guess that's what I just did then." Muttered.


Later that day Cadence took a detour home from the Shanachie Theater to go swimsuit shopping...

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"I do not understand the need for this," Leda was saying, petulant because her study time had been cut short by Veronique's obsession with the upcoming Pool Party.

The Overseer of House SatyrKiss had swept into the study hall, banished Leda's books and notes back to her bedroom without a second glance, and all but dragged the half-breed back to her own suite in Listeria Wing. Even now, Leda was standing in the middle of Veronique's own palacial bedroom, hands on her hips as the sorceress inspected her naked body.

"Yes, you definitely have the figure for a bikini," Veronique murmured thoughtfully, ignoring Leda's complaint as she turned to rummage through yet another deep closet, throwing various tiny items of clothing onto the bed. "Here, try this one."

A triangular white two-set was thrust into Leda's hands. The slave sighed, rolling her eyes, and moved to slip into the bikini given to her, resuming her stance to eye Veronique with resigned impatience. The sorceress frowned, tapping her cheek thoughtfully as she eyed her protege.

"Not white," a male voice said from the doorway. "She'll make more enemies than friends if people think she's trying to pass herself off as innocent."

Benedykt offered a grin to Leda from where he leaned on the doorframe, an oddly comforting gesture, despite the fact that she was now almost naked in a room with two very tempting specimens.

"Who gave you permission to open that door?" the Overseer asked him icily. "I heard no knock. Next time, remember your manners, Benedykt." As the pale-haired young man nodded, his half-smile hidden behind his hand, she turned her attention back to Leda. "Take those into the bathroom and try each one on. I want to see them before you remove them, too."

Smarting at the dismissal from their beautiful presence, Leda did as she was told, drawing her natural air of submission about herself like a cloak as she slipped into the bathroom to begin the wearying procession of clothing she had been told was appropriate for swimming. Never mind that she still had no idea what swimming actually was in practise, Veronique was set on her attending this party, with or without an invitation.

The white was set aside, replaced with one of many garishly bright colors, offering less cover to her naked skin than the one before. She stepped out for inspection, only to have Benedykt turn even paler and shake his head, and Veronique to agree with pursed lips, dismissing her once again as they returned to their quiet conversation.

And so it went on. The red was dismissed as too eye-catching, the black too dull, the green too modest, the silver too skimpy. By the time Leda stepped forth in the last of the costumes she had been given, she was despairing of ever being allowed to put her uniform back on again, almost certain she would be doomed to wander the halls naked until Veronique decided what she was looking for.

This time, however, there were no disapproving looks. In fact, both Veronique and Benedykt stared, caught off-guard as much by the innocent flirtatiousness of the blue polka-dotted suit as by Leda's unconscious, unaware aura of carnal promise. Slowly, Benedykt nodded, clearing his throat uncomfortably.

"Yes," he managed in a hoarse voice. "That one. Definitely that one."

"With the right cover up," Veronique added, coming forward with a square of printed cloth. This, she tied about Leda's hips, offering the illusion of a skirt that split and showed off the bronzed length of her legs when she moved. "Your hair down ..." The Overseer drew the pins from the half-breed's hair, letting the full mane tumble about her shoulders, tousled, begging to be touched. "With some form of glimmer painted onto that mark on your back ... Yes. Perfect."

Despite the triumph of their hungry staring eyes, Leda nonetheless felt she had been used enough for one afternoon. "And how am I to enter this gathering without an invitation?" she asked, in a tone almost acid with her irritation.

"That, my succulent little demi-demon, is what I have been working on," Benedykt grinned, stepping forward to tilt her chin upward with one finger. Even in the presence of Veronique, the woman who so fascinated him, he couldn't quite resist Leda's natural charms. "Faetha Numidor has agreed to extend you an invitation. She owes me a favor or three."

Veronique chuckled suddenly, a warm sound at odds with the cool aura she maintained. "You will go to the party and mingle," she ordered Leda firmly. "Spread your personal wickedness as far as it will go, and report everything you see or hear back to me." Her fingers trailed up from Leda's hip to brush teasingly over a suddenly erect nipple, straining against the soft fabric. "You will not find me ungrateful."
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Cedes has been allowed to go to the pool party. While Angel was out, she really didn't have a bathing suit, so a little small magic was played. Pink little bikini did appear with a white cover up. Cedes jumped for joy. "Yes. I love it."

She hid it under her bed, saving it for this weekend. "Leda will love it."

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She awoke in an unfamiliar bed.

Something whispered across her senses, a warning seconds too late that some form of magic had entered her room at the Red Dragon.

Sitting up from the sheets she gasped out a frantic abjuration spell intending to shield herself from an attack.

As the Whispering Winds carried the Gossip of the IAP to all of its members she collapsed back upon the bed nearly boneless with relief that it was something so simple. Something so mundane.

Beset with guilt that her first conscious thought of an attacker had visualized Brais Galician's aquiline features.

A guilt that only twisted more painfully as the words of the rumors scalded her. Her soft, nubile body stiffened as more of the message became apparent.

Had she been played? Yet again? Manipulated? Had her flight from the IAP been a grand plan masterminded by Iameth and Ashriel?

Ashriel's features loomed in her mind's eye and she recoiled from the confusion that warred inside her. His elegant features morphing into the nightmarish beauty of Iameth only to twist again into the sultry knowledgeable grinning face of Mistmark.

"Brais." She gasped and tangled the sheets around her as if she could find comfort within their grasp, "What have I done?"

Leda. Leda had been the impetus. Leda who roomed with Veronique and Benedykt who had been so noticeably taken in hand by the SatyrKiss Overseer.

Had it all been a master plot to disabuse StormSabre of their Overseer? She could go mad with this paranoia. Ricocheting from the bed she stopped before the mirror and took in her panicked state of disarray.

She had classes to teach. Classes to take. She had a House to run. The rest of this sordid mess she could sort out later.

But to support her House she would need a bathing suit.

A glance out the window revealed that her time was quite short she'd have to make do with the first store she chanced upon. Was it possible to find something remotely modest in Rhy'Din?

Gathering her things she hastily put herself together as she rushed to set to right the mess she had made.

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"Yes, of course Praysin." Vliss nodded distractedly and absentmindedly left off the correct title for the Master of Earth Elementalism. Thankfully she was rather favored by the instructor and it was overlooked.

Slipping free from the class she smiled and nodded to the students she rushed past in her hurry to get to her destination. Ivinia had finally been forthcoming about the location of the hidden underwater bathhouses and Vliss had been stunned by the veritable warren of available spots to be found underground.

She'd finally found one that she deemed perfect and with Ivinia's uncaring consent she was on her way to add the final gloss.

Down the steps she danced, through the ancient tunnels, and onward until she arrived at the warm and decadent waters.

She knelt down and trailed a finger lovingly along the cracks of once glorious marble flooring. Gently she coaxed a blade of greenery to quiver upward toward her and with that sign of life she opened the gates upon her magic. Suffused in a golden glow, the Earth spirit summoned on a gentle persuasion of power.

All around her lush greenery sprang upward, coating abandoned mortar, twining along rock faces.

It would be beautiful.

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"Albion!" Came the soothingly aquatic voice of Quinnon, breaching the sanctity of silence that blanketed the chamber he occupied.

She was able to find the flame-haired Transmuter half-perched atop the giant tomb that dominated the center of the room, bent over it so that he squinted at some of its runes from a slightly inverted position. He turned to face her as she stepped fully in, thick locks falling in a crimson cascade that swept along the floor. "Cengo?"

"Cengo?" She asked, her large eyes changing through a prism of colors with the sudden confusion. "It's me, Quinnon."

He sighed, defeated. "Yes, I know who you are. Cengo is the name of this rune, though it is only partially complete. You don't, by chance, understand advanced cultures of lost origin, do you?"

"I...barely understand the reason for clothing."

He nodded ...up-side-down. "Understandable. How can I help you?"

"Actually, the question is how can you help yourself?" She folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the door frame. "You're going to the pool party, right?"

"Pool party?" He asked, standing straight with a flip of the head that sent his hood of claret tresses arching high and wide before settling between his shoulder blades. "Is that tonight?"

"You betcha. It's going to be so much fun. I can't wait."

Thoughts drifted to Quillyan as he wiped his hands, knowing that this sort of soir?e was just the type of get-together she would enjoyed. He'd still meant to talk to her about certain events that had transpired months ago, though found that hiding beneath the school, locked away in the bowels under the guise of analytical exploration made a rather suitable alternative. Discomfort wasn't one of his preferred emotions.

"Me neither." He said evenly. "From the looks of it I should be heading upstairs to make sure Quillyan and I aren't late."

"You haven't heard?" Quinnon asked, stepping off the door. "Smout'n snatched her up. She's been doing so good in his class that he decided to let her come and help with some tomb dig."

His completion, already pale, blanched a bit more. "Master Smout'n has already picked his team for the Western Expedition? But...but I was the front-runner."

"Right. You were the front-runner, Albi. With just about everything. And then you decided to come hang out with this stupid box-"

"Crypt."

"-Whatever. The point is that you've been down here for forever and a day and, believe it or not, the current of life has kept on flowing."

He hadn't considered that. Days had started to blend together, the start of one and the end of another inconsequential to his objective deciphering the runes and sigils that marred the entirety of the tomb, and avoiding his own personal problems.

He glanced over his shoulder to the item of his previous attention, it's size and shape suddenly holding none of the luster that it had just that morning. "Valid." He said as he looked back. "How about Mystriana and Saphira? They're going, aren't they?"

"Have you met Mystri?"

He didn't catch her sarcasm. "Many times."

"No, Albi, I mean..." She sighed and giggled, trying again. "I mean how am I supposed to know if Mystri is going? It's not like she walks around blurting out her plans. She's not exactly the social sort."

"To some." He moved toward Quinnon and gently took her by the arm, guiding her through the archway in which she had entered. He went with her, and once through the door closed it and cast his magic to lock and seal it. "Thanks for all of your help."

She smiled wide for him and nodded. "Anytime-" Startled, she gasped, the form before her no longer that of the gaunt magician but instead a burnt-fur fox. Eyes shifted back and forth and then a razor-thin brow quirked. "uh, Albi."

A sharp bark was the reply before the sleek form turned and darted off down the hall.

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Spread your own personal wickedness. What an instruction. Leda had no doubt that Veronique thought she knew what she was talking about, but really. There was only so much a barely-decent body and a wicked smile could do, and certainly not among so many who were paired off.

But ... A slow smile curved her lips as she surveyed the invitation given to her that afternoon by a scowling Faetha Numidor. How much more wickedness could she spread if she had an accomplice? Her thoughts turned without need for conscious direction to the Kirn mage who had made such an impression on her at the Duel of Magic. What was his name again? Oh yes ...

"Khoom."

He would, no doubt, enjoy an opportunity to tease and flaunt his own sexuality before a bevy of beautiful half-naked students of magic. And she would have an opportunity of watching him work, perhaps to learn how he harnessed the power that was so similar to her mother's blood.

The spell was easy enough; something simple, to manipulate the invitation in her hand until there were two identical cards between her fingers. The original, she banished with another flick of her wand, sending it to seek Khoom Vortiv wherever he was. Inviting him to spread a little sensual mayhem with her at this ... pool party.

It was a vast change from the beach. The Bikini was a little more ... well not so revealing. He has chosen Bermuda's instead of a speedo, which would have honestly looked hot on him.

Still should be fun... Once they untangled themselves from the liplock...

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