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P e t e r - W i n t e r s


Peter glanced warily at the Marquess, not sure where to go from here. He was pretty sure that if he mentioned something, he ran a very, very high risk of being kicked out of the house right then and there. Though Peter knew that Eduard was not a stereotypical aristocrat, in the end, Eduard was an aristocrat, and therefore probably wouldn't allow such taboo subjects in his household. Oh dear lord...
Peter tried to straighten himself up from the wall, only to lean back on it again. The conflict clearly showed on his expression, for he was deciding on whether or not to speak his mind and relieve his and Eduard's curiosity, or let it be and continue living life the way it was lived...

Luckily, the decision was temporarily made for him—for just right as Peter was still mid-decision, Sebastian appeared from around the corner and bowed slightly.
"I apologize for interrupting, Marquess, but the guests are due to arrive soon, and I would like you and the lady to look things over and be ready to welcome them..."
Peter avoided a glance at Eduard, despite how much he wanted to. He just smiled, fixed his outfit however he could, and nodded to Sebastian.
"Of course."
Slightly relieved that the subject would be at least temporarily put aside, Peter waited for Eduard to take the lead.

P e t e r - W i n t e r s


"After you... mi'lady."

Peter nodded, following Sebastian to the garden, still smiling so that Sebastian wouldn't find things weird between the Marquess and the actor. Of course, Sebastian probably knew Eduard well enough, and knew the feeling of regular interactions between the actor and Marquess, that he could feel the slight weight of the air. Nevertheless, Peter continued on as if nothing had happened, and he knew Eduard well enough to trust in that the Marquess would do the same. Just for the sake of keeping this somewhat intimate issue between them as just that. Between them.

Peter's fingers fidgeted all the way there to the garden, not looking at all like the lady he should be like before the party started. He should have been ready for this night, and should have started getting completely into role now, but the young actor just couldn't wrap his mind around that at the moment. As he walked there, he tried to do his usual mental preparation exercises that always came before any act, especially a really big one. This was by far his biggest role yet, after all. And tonight was the biggest performance yet. All attention was going to be on them, and the young actor couldn't believe that he couldn't even start thinking about Rosaline and her actions. His mind just kept wandering back to what he was so absolutely close to asking Eduard and the possibilities that would have come if he had said any of that. Peter could very well be out of a job at the moment...

However, part of Peter—the part of Peter that seemed to know the Marquess the best and adapt to this new life the best—actually thought that things might not turn out that bad. Eduard was always so understanding and, well, kind... Perhaps the Marquess would understand... and not find the subject so taboo... and perhaps not kick Peter out...
No way. What's happening to you?
Peter had grown up with a relatively hard life, and was taught, often through the "hard" way, to not be naive. Aristocrats were evil and money greedy bastards.
... Right?
Somehow, Peter didn't feel so much conviction behind that thought now. Eduard was just so utterly... human sometimes.

When they arrived at the garden, Peter shook himself out of it, literally, and took a look around. Perhaps being "on set" would help the actor get into character.
Sebastian walked the two of them through the decor and the places where things were set up and where things would be carried out, including running through the night's schedule and estimated time frames for various parts of the night, such as the small speeches and beginning dance and such. Peter looked around and tried to take it all in in an attempt to get flowing into Rosaline's character. If anything, the decor was breathtaking, and this was far more beautiful and ornate than the previous party that he had attended with Eduard.
Well of course. It is Eduard after all.

Peter finally found himself falling into Rosaline little by little. However, he was still finding some issues with completely falling into role, and actually felt that he was far off from putting up a decent role, let alone one that would flawlessly fool all these aristocrats—and importantly, Eduard's father—into believing that Rosaline and Eduard were truly a couple in love.

P e t e r - W i n t e r s


Peter stood beside Eduard at the railing, placing one hand lightly on the balustrade. Listening to Eduard's description of the coming night, Peter glanced down at the garden before him. The lights and music wouldn't begin for a while, but Peter already found the sight miraculous. Standing there, the young actor realized that, beneath his worry over his acting skills and concentration, he was excited for the coming night. It would only be his second party, and his first one at Eduard's house. Possibly the last one too... Peter reminded himself as his thoughts wandered back to their earlier tense situation. The actor decided that it had been best to not say anything to Eduard, just so that they even had a hope of surviving through the night. If Peter had disclosed the thoughts that had been running through his head, he was sure that not only would his acting skills be so thoroughly skewed that a two year old could tell he was a fake, but that Eduard would probably have acted quite unnatural too. And one of them being odd was already a handful.

The young actor's relatively peaceful expression, brought to such by Eduard's lulling and ringing voice, melted away when Eduard finished his until then sweet descriptions. Peter's eyebrows furrowed as Eduard's father was mentioned. The night had been made out to such a wonderful and magical thing by Eduard's words... but then the moment that Eduard's father was mentioned, Peter's mind was grounded once again, his face set into a slight grimace. His possible last experience within the higher social circle was going to ruined by the duty that he had to fulfill: act flawlessly so that Eduard's father believed his son's marital situation. Usually, such a task would have been quite enjoyable for the young man, but his mind was still far too preoccupied.
Stop thinking about it... Stop... However, no amount of self-admonishment would pull Peter's thoughts away from those that he had conjured earlier.

"Distraction, huh..." Peter murmured absentmindedly, looking down at the garden still, but now with a look as if he were seeing nothing at all. In all of this, Peter remembered that his was his job. He was paid to be here, and paid heftily at that. This magical world full of fluffy grand dresses and vast gardens more beautiful than any other that Peter had laid eyes on before... they all would be gone in the end. And Peter would go back to being his regular thespian self... well, not that he wasn't a thespian at the moment, but it just felt so real... and for a moment, Peter had lost himself and believed in his role and life here with Eduard. It had seemed so long ago that he had given Eduard back the family's sapphire ring, the one that was currently on his finger, fitting perfectly.

It was both a positive and negative thing that Peter had believed that he actually belonged here for a moment. It would serve to make him play his role a lot better, but his heart would just be more broken in the end. It was both a lose-lose situation and a win-win situation at the same time. How mind boggling.

However, all of this was to be dwelled upon later. Now was the time to somehow distract himself and get himself back in character... but how? The party was vast approaching, but Peter still couldn't even play Rosaline half-convincingly to a dunce, let alone fool Eduard's father, Duke Michaels himself. And unless something happened soon, they were going to be in trouble, and Eduard would lose his inheritance and lose... lose this beautiful world around him. Peter would never forgive himself if that happened, but how could he act when his mind was so distracted?

Right then, the young actor's eyes landed on something below them in the garden which caused his eyes to widen.
It couldn't... could it...?
"Be right back!" Peter yelled unladylike over his shoulder as he dashed down to the garden below. If Eduard had stayed where he was, he would have seen a flash of twinkling dark blue below as Peter dashed over across to the other end of the garden, a slight smile on his face. He didn't wan to believe it, but what he had seen from up there had put a smile to his face—if it actually was what he thought it was.

Peter's blue dress with silver trimmings—a perfect match to the sapphire ring of engagement on his finger—swished around his feet as he slowed down and came to stand at the far end of the garden, right where the two sides of flowers came together. Slightly off to the side, Peter saw the patch of white roses that he had admired so much before, the ones right next to the light blue Bluebells that he had planted with Eduard. The roses had finally come to full bloom, and the coming evening was throwing such a breathtaking light on them. Peter was absolutely floored at their beauty, and for a moment completely forgot about his earlier taboo thoughts, or his existence at Eduard's manner as only a job. All that was in his mind was the beauty of those roses in front of him. They were absolutely breathtaking. Peter had always loved roses, and these were amazing...

The young thespian reached out a tentative hand and broke the stem of one of the roses, taking it up to his nose and taking in the sweet scent. These flowers had not been in full bloom when Peter had last been out here on the day that Eduard and himself had had their joint gardening experience. Now that they were in full fruition, Peter found himself drawn to the patch. The whiteness of the flower, paired with the glimmering effect due to droplets of water and light, made Peter smile. He just couldn't help it. And for a moment, standing there with the white rose clutched to his chest, nose buried in its soft folds, the young man forgot his troubles for a small time...

((A bit weirdly paced for a post, but I feel... odd at the moment. And it's also a bit random, but I've just spent the past hour or so being hyper, so that's probably the cause. xD))

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(((OOC: Sebastian gets no color cause.... he's not Eduard, hehe.)))

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Standing there, hands behind his back, Sebastian smiled slightly to the young man who stood in the gardens. "The Marquess was commenting to me how happy you seemed to be in this garden. He wondered if you would wish to arrange the flowers on the tables for the party."

All the rest of the decorating had been finished, but there were still bouquets that needed to be set in the vases upon the tables.
The butler figured that it would easily distract Peter. Sure, Eduard hadn't said any of these things, but Sebastian had been around his Lord long enough to know what he was thinking.
At least most of the time.