Zaera had a smile on as she was fine with the less than formal greeting. He was the prince after all, and in her eyes the two were acquaintances already. She took a step back, "Why thank you. I see other ladies are here to speak with you and I'll leave you to it. Perhaps we shall talk later?"
(I'm not picky on who comes and talks with him now)
"I'll take you up on that suggestion, miss Zarea." He answered, nodding and keeping his smile ever present as he turned to meet another girl standing nearby. Talin didn't know when his mother and father were going to make an appearance, or even if his father would stop in, but until his mother at least showed up to talk to the girls he would talk to them and introduce himself.
Zaera nodded and smiled stepping away from the prince to mingle with some of the other girls. She would watch and wait for a while before going to speak to one of them. just slightly curious to see if one would approach her instead.
Cress glanced at the two of them. Should she make the opening? Eh. She didn't feel very much like talking to him yet, but she probably should. She sighed. "So, you two know each other?" She asked the one girl who had spoken to the Prince, and the Prince. She placed her hands on her neck, letting them settle there.
Zaera hummed and turned to the girl who was talking to her. She smiled and nodded, "Oh yes. My father's a politician so I've been acquainted to the prince for some time now. Nothing close, however, so don't fret."
Cress shook her head. "I don't really care if you do know each other or not. I was just wondering." She grinned at the other girl. "It doesn't matter to me if you've already known him." She held out her hand. "Cress."
"Zaera," she took the others girls hand and shook it smiling. She gave the girl a nod, "And I'm glad it doesn't matter to you. Though I'm sure it matters to some people."
"Oh, probably." Cressida rolled her eyes. "Some girls are such jealous bitches."
"Honestly," Zaera nodded in agreement, "I've never really seen the appeal."
"Same here." Cressida grinned. She frowned down at the dresses. "I don't see why we have to wear these dumb things. They don't have pockets, do now I don't know what to do with my hands."
Zaera laughed slightly. She kept her hands held in front of her dress, "I'm quite accustomed to wearing dresses. Though I have found the few occasional ones with pockets."
Talin made his way away from the wall he had been leaning against, walking into the room and looking for any more of the girls to talk to in the time he had to meet with them. All of their dresses were unique and very pretty, but he couldn't find the courage to walk up to any of them and strike up a conversation. It wasn't his strong suit, he was much more accustomed to people coming and starting a conversation with him.
"Lucky! I want one," Cress said, shaking her head. "Seriously, how do you stand these things?"
"I'm a model," Zaera responded easily, "I basically live in dresses."
She shook her head in amazement. "Seriously, I'm super impressed. I only wear these when I absolutely can't help it." She grinned. "At least I don't have to wear heels, though."
"I've had to wear, I think 10 inch heels before," Zaera thought back amongst her multiple shows, "That was probably the highest heel I've ever had to wear and rest assured I got out of those as soon as I could."
Talin made his way away from the wall he had been leaning against, walking into the room and looking for any more of the girls to talk to in the time he had to meet with them. All of their dresses were unique and very pretty, but he couldn't find the courage to walk up to any of them and strike up a conversation. It wasn't his strong suit, he was much more accustomed to people coming and starting a conversation with him.
Nikoleta noticed the prince giving each of the girls a quick once-over. Which included herself. Her form was fairly curvy at the waist so she was used to an occasional stare. Talin's gaze however, made her feel more aware of herself and made butterflies flutter around in her chest. She may not be be anywhere near a top caste, but now was as good of a time as ever to attempt an introduction. "Greetings, Prince Talin," she said with a small curtsy. Niko nearly slipped up and called him 'your highness.' It was likely that the prince wouldn't want someone afraid of his rank for a wife.
The prince's attention turned when he heard his name and he smiled, focusing on the new girl and giving her a small nod of his head in acknowledgement, "Greetings to you, miss..? You look lovely." He studied her face for a moment, then her dress, trying to guess what caste she was from. She wasn't from around the palace, or from the second caste, he could tell, but after that, he wasn't sure. The dress suited her very well though, that was one observation he was sure of.
The compliment made her cheeks warm a touch as she let a small smile form across her lips. "It's Nikoleta. You look really nice as well," she replied. Niko didn't dare touch on the subject that the dress was more extravagant than she could ever hope for. She was here to both get a glimpse of life of the first caste, but also to impress the prince. There was also the biggest importance of not hiding who she was. Why be picked if one could never be free?
"Thank you Miss Nikoleta." He replied politely, his charming smile playing its part like it did for every other social event where he was meeting people, "How are you liking the first glimpses of the castle?" Thinking about her caste finally brought him to the conclusion that she was most likely from caste four or under, and his attention was brought back to holding a conversation with her. She seemed very nice, a thing that he liked.
(bbbbbump)
"No!" Cress looked amused. "That sounds awful!" She shook her head. "How did you survive that?"
"Years of training," Zaera responded with a laugh, "And bandages."
"Clearly." Cressida grinned. "I applaud you, girl. Even if you're a model, I'm impressed. I'd quit just with the image of those heels. You're clearly braver than I am."
"Brave or stupid," Zaera responded with a smile, "One of the two."
"Maybe a bit of both," Cress said with a grin. "I'm more stupid than brave, so I'd never try something like that."
"Of course," Zaera responded with a smile, "That makes perfect sense. I'm glad the heels the maids chose today are only 2 inches."
"I can imagine." Cress lifted her foot slightly. "I'm only wearing flats, luckily. And while that's still annoying, and does nothing to help my height, it's not heels." She shook her head. "I miss my sneakers."
"You might be able to wear you sneakers on off days," Zaera attempted to console the other girl, "Otherwise I think it's flats and heels."
"Thank you Miss Nikoleta." He replied politely, his charming smile playing its part like it did for every other social event where he was meeting people, "How are you liking the first glimpses of the castle?" Thinking about her caste finally brought him to the conclusion that she was most likely from caste four or under, and his attention was brought back to holding a conversation with her. She seemed very nice, a thing that he liked.
Hearing her name leave the prince's lips made something inside her momentarily panic. "It's certainly extravagant," Nikoleta said simply. The room she currently stood in was almost as large as her entire house. Extravagant was putting things lightly.
(sorry school is so much rn)