Frat Party [Balto/Aer/Martin/Avery]

It had been awhile since Aeron had the chance to enjoy one of Balthazar infamous parties, being so busy with the problems at home he had missed the last few, it was one of the few gatherings he was upset over not attending. Whilst the crowd was rowdy, loud and full of batter, one couldn’t help but think one was rubbing shoulders with the next greatest leaders in their field. If someone wanted power for the next generation, they would start here. Aeron himself had not yet found the host of the gathering, despite having arrived half an hour ago he had been swept away by the crowd of young men quite happily chatting to him, reminiscing about the last time Aeron probably got a little bit too drunk no thanks to them.

The sound of a slimey slap cut Aer’s words short, a frown furrowing his brow as the now cold chicken flew across the room and against his cheek before unceremoniously tumbled to the ground. His gaze drifted over to the culprit, inhaling slowly with the roll of his eyes. “I swear on my mother, Alois is the best shot I’ve seen- if target been tranquilised and tied to a post first.” Aeron smiled pleasantly at the others, happy to receive a small cheer in response. He took the chicken incident as a sign to move, he had finally spotted Balthazar from across the room. The Earl managed to peel himself away from people whose names he couldn’t quite recall, if he was honest socialising was exhausting- least this was a lot easier than the stuffy pretentious act they all had to put on during balls and meetings.

The man picked up two shot glasses as he transverse across the room to the Burgraf. “You look like you could do with some excitement, Balthazar.” Aeron announced with a smirk, greeting the man with a nod as he held out the two glasses in front of him. In the other hand he held an unopened bottle of vodka, straight from Bratkowice which Aeron had bought during his trip there, it was a good enough gift for these kind of gatherings. “Have a drink with me?”

Ducking had perhaps been in his own best interest- but the unintended target of the flying chicken had ended up being that of one of the more unusually high ranked men in the room (for most of his guest's illustrious fathers were generally still alive and still holding onto their darned titles), and Balthazar couldn't help but let out a laugh at the sight of his expression. "I don't know about his aim with a gun," Balthazar remarked to the party, grinning over at the culprit who sheepishly adjusted his glasses, "But you gotta admit he's not half bad with roast poultry." Plus, it had been a great way of figuring out where one of his AWOL guests were, and Balthazar got up from his seat, putting aside his beer on a coffee table as he excused himself from the conversation on the latest rifles.

"Ah Lord Aeron," Balthazar replied in an overly stuffy voice as he made a flashy bow. But when he straightened he grinned widely at the joking formality, shrugging at Aeron's observation as he waved it off, "Everyone could always do with some excitement, but that incident just now was pretty entertaining." He laughed before taking one of the outstretched shot glasses, leaning back to get a better look at the bottle in Aer's hands. With a low whistle at the impressive import bottle of vodka he raised the glass in agreement to the Earl's proposition, "You don't even have to ask."

But from the corner of his eye, he saw the door open- and there he was. The man who would absolutely die in an atmosphere like this, and Balthazar was inexplicably excited to see how he'd handle an atmosphere like this. "Oh- Martin!" He saluted casually from across the room, making sure he wasn't able to escape quietly. Still holding out his shot glass, he looked back to comment to his drinking companion, "Childhood friend." But as soon as he explained the relation, Balthazar seemed to rethink it as he pulled a thoughtful face, "... Well, something like that. But believe me this is going to be fantastic; Complete mama's boy, absolutely hilarious." Raising an eyebrow pointedly as though to convey that 'hilarious' didn't necessarily mean that Martin told good jokes or anything of the sort, Balthazar knocked his glass against Aeron's, tossing the clear liquid back in one go and eyeing the empty glass with a satisfyingly twisted face. "Oof, that's strong stuff- good stuff though." At this, he gave Aer's arm a solid pat, "Come, let me introduce you to the kid."

“Best not keep him waiting.”

The words were spoken in a low voice directly behind Martin’s right ear, far too close for comfort as a lazy half-elf leaned against the back of his seat. Dark eyes sparked faintly as the blonde late-comer jerked his head away, but there was no movement to give him back his personal space while the half-elf turned to look at Aeron and Balthazar. He nodded to the host graciously and smirked faintly at Aeron, happy to have slipped into another opportunity to speak with him.

Tonight had been refreshingly rude, and Bertram Diefenbach was eager to see what discomfort the night would bring to this blonde man who already looked out of place; even at a party like this, there was nothing quite as satisfying as catching an uptight noble off-guard. His hand clapped on Martin’s other shoulder, anchoring the man in place as he secured whatever uncomfortable exchange was to follow. “Perfect!” he called, beckoning the other men sharply, “You’ll introduce me too.” Bertram hesitated for a beat, glancing over Martin’s head before his smirk widened further and he waved his free hand towards Avery. “While we’re at it include this one.”

((I'm sorry to make you guys wait for such a small reply.  Hope it's not too late to jump in!))

Avery offered a smile as the other drew closer, sitting up straighter but not yet getting up. “Well, I’m flattered to be a memorable face. But I’m sure the others here won’t be too offended if you can’t list their names and all their favorite colors.” He was surprised some had been invited, even, though he held his tongue (or rather, took a convenient sip of his drink); that sort of comment could’ve applied to Martin’s situation as well. “I have, yes – ” Another familiar voice cut him off, and Avery turned to look as well. Balthazar, apparently, either had a particular interest in the soldier, or was just being a proper host to a not-so-proper party. His eyes flicked quickly to the Earl besides him, with chicken nowhere to be found.

“Looks like they have an interest in you.” Avery glanced back, eyebrow arching as though accompanying his words, when in reality it directed at Martin’s sudden paleness. The younger man really was far too anxious to be in a place like this, but before he could comment a voice from behind them pulled their attentions in yet another direction. Avery eyed the half-elf – another Earl. A neighbor, in fact, in the most general sense as fellow landowners somewhere on the Sarl. Avery simply returned the smirk, the slight sharpness in the expression betraying his own caution. “A pleasure finding you here, Lord Diefenbach – Lord Siegel really does have contacts in all places.” Despite his greeting it was clear he wasn’t surprised to see this Earl – if word of mouth was reliable, Bertram was the sort who very much belonged in Balthazar’s parties.

As Balthazar and Aeron approached, Avery gave them a polite nod, his smile given first to the host and then to match the scarred Earl’s. As Aeron addressed Martin, Avery sat back slightly, leaning against the arm of the chair to keep as many of the other four in his sights at once – though his gaze was quickly landed on the glass of vodka. Oh poor, poor Martin.

“I’m afraid that’s not the kind of interest that I would like..” – the young Baron muttered quietly with a small sight in reply to Avery’s comment. He saw the grin that appeared on Balto’s face and he knew from experience that it was not going to end well for him.
However, he was soon distracted from the ominous sight of Balto’s face by a sudden voice, too close to his ear to be considered a decent distance. Martin jerked in his seat, almost jumping out of it, but that maneuver was prevented with a hand placed on his shoulderand the only think that Martin has managed to do before Balthazar and Aeron would approach was to simply throw an uncomfortable stare back at the person who pinned him to his place.

Suddenly, the small area around him and Lord Eichel became way too crowded for his comfort. He silently accepted the drink offered by the commander with a small nod, unable to stick a word in between all the greetings and introductions made by the Earls and soon-to-be Earls that surrounded him now. The last nail in the coffin of his confidence was the manner Balthazar chose to introduce him to the rest of men. “Governess nephew” sounded less than impressive and even though ‘Baron’ or ‘Sergeant’ would not sound a lot more impressive than that, they would at least be a lot less miserable-sounding titles.

Pulling another restrained smile on his face, Martin finally found a moment to speak again – “It’s a pleasant surprise to meet you here today, Lord Rotherzog” – he greeted the commander first before turning to the cause of his recent fright – “and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Diefenbach” – he said less sincerely, though he did not let his tone to show it – “you certainly have a talent in gathering the most interesting society at your parties Balthazar” – he finally turned his attention to the host – “it is a pity though, that I won’t be able to stay here for long. In fact, I only appeared here for just a moment and was already about to leave” – after saying that he gave a heavy look to the drink in his hands.

Not really having any wish to drink it, he decided that he didn’t have enough gut to refuse a drink offered by his commander. On the bright sight though, it could serve an excuse for him to get silent again and let the other men speak. Not knowing what exactly was offered to him, Martin brought the glass to his lips and took enough liquid for it to become a regret. The young man immediately felt like somebody has put his throat on fire. With his eyes opening wide, He turned his face away from the others as much as he could and covered his mouth with his free hand, trying his hardest to surpress coughing.