Dawn had actually been excited for tonight. She'd found a sleek red sequined top to go with a pair of black slacks and heels, which were still not even close to putting her to the height of her beau. Given that Dawn had been living in leggings and oversized sweaters lately, she was sure to surprise Chad when he arrived, which was -
"Oh, yeah, he said they were running late. Something about running into old friends?" Wren said, after finally tuning into the conversation between Dawn and Odin. They had gotten an Uber XL, so Wren and Dominic were in the row in front of them, with the two 'unattached' left to fend for themselves in the very back. Odin wasn't without companion though; he'd asked Sylvia if she wanted to go, and she'd said yes. And by 'he asked', of course, Wren had practically held him at gunpoint until he did so.
"What?" Dawn said, taken aback. "Why would he tell you that and not me?" From the seat in front of her, Dominic made a face and mentally backed right the fuck out of that. Dawn had been more tense than usual lately and he didn't know why, and he wasn't even about to try and find out without a few drinks in either of them first.
Wren whipped around, narrowing her eyes. "Because you left your phone at home, dumbass," she said matter-of-factly.
They were all silent for a moment, and then Dawn said, "Oh." And then, "Fuck! Did you see me leave it? Why didn't you say anything?" And the tension was immediately broken as Dawn and Wren began waving their arms at eachother.
"Pre-party ritual," Odin said, nodding to himself, scooting closer to the window to avoid the animated fae as they argued over nothing. They were always chaotic right before festivities - was it their blood? It must be. He hadn't quite figured out what type of fae they were yet, but he was thinking muses. The way they vied for attention certainly spoke to it.
"Alright, you two!" Dom finally interjected.
"Hey, don't yell at us!" Dawn and Wren both said in unison, snapping their eyes over at Dom, who fully did not expect that.
"God, Dom, don't be so emotional. We were just talking," Dawn said, her low voice edging on laughter. He caught the quiver of Wren's mouth as she suddenly found interest in the street lights they drove past.
"Oh, man," Odin laughed. "They baited you so hard, man," he teased.
"We're here," the driver from up front chirped.
"Thank GOD," Dom breathed. "Everyone out!"
As they all rejoined at the entrance of the posh location of the annual Christmas party, Wren checked her phone again. "Oh good, they're on the way. He said to go on up, but they'll meet us at the bar." And with that, the quad went inside and rode the elevator all the way up to where the show was beginning. Dawn had never been to the Christmas party before; only the Halloween one, and that had been a time.
"I'm gonna run to the ladies, I'll be right back," Dawn said. She wasn't right back though, because there was a line, which she did not anticipate. After a few minutes of waiting, she decided to just go elsewhere, and so she escaped down the elevator to the floor below them, where she knew bathrooms were. Wren had worked there, and the layout on the floors was mostly the same, except the upper level was an open floor at the moment. The whole ordeal took way longer than expected, and by the time she was done, she figured the guys had already arrived, so back up she went.
She walked out of the elevator and spotted Chad immediately. Wren was with him, and they were both talking to someone else, but his large frame obscured whoever it was. Not Gareth, then. Jill, maybe? She started towards them when Chad shifted and she spotted who they were talking to.
"Nope." That was all she said. She spun on her heel and went right back to the elevator, walking with a purpose before anyone clocked her. Nope. Nope, fuck all of that. There was a certain irony in it being Dawn's turn to see something alarming and walk out of Bonne Chance, though this time she would have no encounter in the parking garage that left her emotionally drained - nope, none of that. She was going to go home and have an encounter with a bottle of Wild Turkey, though. Because there was no reason that she could fathom while sober that would explain why Chad and Dez were shaking hands and laughing like old friends.
Did Wren know? No, Wren had capacity in her to be spiteful, but not to this degree. Maybe a year or two ago, but now? No, no way.
"Whoa, Dawn, where's the fire?" someone asked. The figure was a blur to Dawn as she had her tunnel vision locked straight for the front doors. She could see the line of cabs. She turned, glancing up, a dumb 'huh?' all she had to say.
Sylvia regarded her curiously, a confused smile on her face. "I'm sorry, am I that late? We were at Excelsior for too long, you know how the old guys can be. Just never stop talking."
"What? Ah, no, you're not late - no, you're fine. I just - uh, you know, I'm not feeling that great suddenly and I think it's best if I go home and lay down and also do not answer my phone for the rest of the night, so if anyone asks, don't be alarmed," she said quickly, her hands flexing as she spoke, trying to figure out how she could possibly make this encounter even more awkward. She liked Sylvia, she did, but if she wanted to avoid Chad, his protege was also someone that she wanted to avoid at the moment. Fucking Triste was probably reading her like a book right now.
Surprisingly, Sylvia didn't comment to what she was seeing. Dawn's aura was all over the place. "Okay," she said, tucking some of her freshly dyed auburn hair behind her ear. "Okay, I'll just tell them I didn't see you."
Dawn paused. "Wait, what?"
Sylvia made a face at her. "Dawn, I'm Chad's sibling. I'm not his informant. I can see that something has disturbed you, and whatever it is, it's not for me to know. If it were, you would tell me. So," she said, gesturing to the door. "I sincerely hope that you're feeling better tomorrow. Have a good night."
Dawn hesitated, unsure if this was a trap.
"Dawn, Chad is going to come looking for you, so if you're going to go, I'd suggest you do it now. Or, you can stick around and maybe have a conversation about whatever... this is," she said, waving a hand to reference the light show Dawn was giving off (the one that Dawn obviously couldn't see, but she understood what Sylvia meant).
The elevator behind them dinged, indicating the doors were opening, and Sylvia made a face that clearly said "Time's up", but she said nothing.