Nalani hadn't really known what to expect when she accepted this quest. All she'd heard was that a man, his name was Duncan Farchest, needed some help wooing a lady named Marinette Wyfree at the ball that was taking place. She was all one for love and romance, and so she accepted without a second thought, showing up to the meeting place. She had been given a lovely dress to wear specifically for the quest, as Mr. Farchest didn't want any ruffians going into the ballroom and causing a commotion- They needed to look the part. Her dress wasn't too fancy, either: Just long and black, tighter around the waist with a sweetheart neckline and lace down her sleeves. Unfortunately, she needed to give the dress back after the mission was over, but that also made sense- It was way too extravagant to be wearing out right now. She was standing at the entrance to the area where all the servants were going in and out of. Apparently because she and her partner weren't noble, the two needed to be snuck in via the back way. It was kind of... Uncomfortable, seeing as servants kept giving her questioning looks but said none of it. If she had been in her normal clothing, they probably would've told her to get lost, but thanks to the dress she just looked like another noble, so they couldn't say anything. Granted, going in through the back door was a little strange, but it would have to do. It was a couple more minutes until a man came stumbling out of the door, nervous looking and out of breath. He seemed to be younger than Nalani, about 21 or 22, and had neatly swept dark brown hair, soft green eyes that looked up to meet hers, and a spiffy black suit that he quickly dusted off, as if anxious he was going to get it dirty. It clicked with her easily who the man was, and Nalani quickly smiled, holding out her hand in greeting, "Duncan Farchest, I take it? Nice to meet you~ I'm Nalani Rosa, one of the people you hired." The man gathered himself up as he managed a smile in between deep breaths, shaking her hand back. Any other time he would've greeted her like a lady, but seeing as she was his hired hand tonight he didn't think it was suitable, "Lovely to meet you, Miss. Rosa. Y-Yes, I am Duncan Farchest, but you can just call me Farchest," he said, letting go and tucking his hands into his pockets. Nalani could almost see him shaking under her gaze, eyes darting away as he struggled to meet hers. Oh boy... This might be a lot harder than she thought it would be. "Do you know where the other one may be? H-He said he would be here... S-Soon." Duncan stuttered, almost as if cutting Nalani out of her thoughts as she looked away from the large building and down the alley way. Yes, where was the other player? @Kessler Cole Sorry for the wait ; ~ ;
Kessler certainly felt a little uncomfortable in this particular setting, not so much because of his collared shirt, frilly neck accessory or green vest, rather he was uncomfortable because nothing could be done about his dreads. Despite his best efforts, taking them down would be an impossibility in this world, and since he had to keep them up, he had a particularly unique look from the combination of gentlemanly clothes combined with ruffian hair stylings. He gave off the neat presence of someone dangerous but not 'too dangerous', the kind that a young lady might want to talk to and meet once they'd run out of things to do in the 'noble crowd'. That said, he wasn't particularly opposed to this type of job, though he was a thug as his appearance typically suggested, one of his top two guilty pleasures in life were romantic novels, right behind solid homemade BBQ and right in front of ice cream. Kessler himself though entered the party without too much effort-- after all, illegal and suspicious activities were his specialty. His ability to enter was largely thanks to a minor bribe to a certain handful of servant folk and an invitation that had had it's engraved lettering carefully peeled away only to be replaced with something different. The way he saw it, entering without a noble title was naïve, getting in wasn't the issue as much as 'staying in' would become without a proper backstory. This was where his fake invitations came in handy-- He named himself a Marquis of Delmascus, a foreign territory to the west that had just barely risen above 'settlement status'. Naturally thoroughly investigating his identity would require a long trip westward, even if one was suspicious, asking information agencies or stewards would only know so much about small pioneer villages. As far as Kessler was concerned it was the ultimate disguise as long as Duncan vouched for him... The only problem, was finding Duncan. He'd expected the nobleman to be at the party, so Kessler had coasted around here or there expecting to meet him, trying not to bring much attention to himself until Duncan appeared to corroborate the ruse. Unfortunately, his well laid plan had fallen into a snag when he turned up empty handed. Finally asking a familiar servant about Duncan's whereabouts, when he heard, he couldn't help bringing his palm to his forehead with a swift slap. He'd have to hand Nalani her invitation and noble identity while Duncan was sneaking her in it seemed. It wouldn't take him long to find the back door, unlike his typical furrowed brow and brute-like appearance, Kessler wore a refreshing smile and had a neat and clean demeanor to him that silently hinted at a background in high society. These naturally weren't skills acquired in game, but in fact real life, million dollar parties and fancy gatherings weren't unfamiliar for a successful enforcer after all, one had to maintain a guise of civil upbringing to properly blend and associate in such a world. "It seems I've gone about this the wrong way-- Had I known, I would have met you out here. I hope I hadn't inconvenienced you." He chuckled apologetically, as if he were an entirely different person, his choice of words had even become different as he got himself into character.
As Kessler arrived on the scene from the opposite direction Nalani expected him to come from, she raised an eyebrow in an intrigued way as if curious to how he already got in, while Duncan almost jumped a foot into the air, turning towards Kessler with a grateful, and shocked, expression as he nodded in greeting to him, holding out a hand to shake quickly. Boy, he was getting more nervous by the second, "N-No, it's alright. I was just worried you wouldn't be showing up, as it's probably not a g-good idea to already show up with a date." Duncan explained, looking over nervously at Nalani. Fortunately, she understood. Showing up with a lady at his side when trying to woo another lady? Not exactly the smartest idea. "I would like to know how you got inside already, or didn't contact me about it. Probably would've been easier if we all showed up at the front then, hm?" Nalani asked, cocking her head to the side at Kessler and crossing her arms over her chest. She just didn't really enjoy standing out in the cold alleyway for so long waiting for him and Duncan both. "Oh yes yes, c-come inside. I think Mr. C-Cole has something for you so it can be easier for you two fit i-in? If I'm not mistaken." Duncan stuttered along, ushering Nalani inside as the Felis hopped along, muttering small 'excuse me's' to the two boys as she entered into the back room. it was actually the kitchen and had people running to and fro, getting things ready for the guests at the balls, but Nalani payed them no attention as she turned back to the two boys, white ears flicking as she began to look a little serious, but just more focused on the task at hand. "Okay, so, how do we go about this? I can always befriend Lady Wyfree and drop some hints, and Kess?..." She turned her attention towards the other player, raising an eyebrow at him once more. She didn't know exactly what their planned roles were, and if he had any suggestions before all three of them walked into the ballroom, that would be great. It was just a simple quest to hook two people up, but that had to be somewhat sneaky and not too obvious about it. Duncan was quite cute, but his nervousness might be downfall- All depending on the type of person Marinette was. @Kessler Cole
Kessler let out a dry laugh thinking about how unprepared and needy this person was, no doubt he'd need every scrap of help he could acquire. It only made Kessler a bit more leery about the job, but how many romance novels had he read in his life? He felt prepared for this at the very least. "Yeah, definitely not, though, it should be solvable with a quick explanation. I'm your guest from the Western Frontier; Marquis Delmascus." He explained gesturing to himself explaining the identity he planned to use at the party, that way it would be a bit easier for the noble person to explain who they were in the event they were questioned. For Nalani though, he fished through his jacket's interior to find her invitation, giving it a shake before offering it to her. "And you will be... The young miss of the Dysidus household, the rising Dukedom to the north. We'll be associates by trade and expanding." He explained passing her the invitation. When she asked him about how he got in or how he could have told her, he didn't really have an answer, he didn't know who he was going to be paired up with exactly when he took the job. He just got started making bribes and finding ins before taking the next step. "Ah-- Well, I have a few associates who work security here, I had one of them lift a few discarded invitations for me. From there I only had to think of either distant territories or noble families for me to pose as a part of." He explained his methodology thinking it was all pretty simple and ordinary. In an effort to soothe the girl's frustrations though Kessler tried not to let anything escalate into negativity. "That said though, it's good we found Duncan quickly to introduce ourselves as his guests. This did help in letting us all get together to get our stories straight right?" He offered with a vague hope. Despite that though, Kessler followed Duncan through the kitchen, giving a few waves and fist bumps to those he recognized working the back. These types were usually very helpful for sneaking into places. They were also usually very experienced in acquiring things that were hard to find. When asked about how they'd go about doing it, befriending the person themselves is a hard and stiff point-- typical, even expected. If it was as simple as that would this need to be a quest? After thinking it through a short while, he glanced towards Duncan in thought. "Is the head of her household here? First we need their approval, her mother or father, whoever has the power in the family. I can handle that maybe--" Kessler started, they needed to be won over with benefits, whatever Duncan's family can provide as the Dowry. Though the more he thought about it he wondered if it would be easy to drop good hints. Duncan definitely seemed like a good guy at least. It should go well right? "That does sound like a good idea too, the woman herself definitely needs to be interested in order for this to work. We need to find a moment to introduce him to both of them though, they won't just take our words for it." He thought out loud wondering if Nalani had a way to solve that problem.
