Winter Wonderland // Ben Finn

[Queen Stella Beck]

••• Let your fire burn bright for the world to see •••
•••You are the better part of me •••

Standing at the window, Stella watched the snowflakes whirling around in the light breeze. Night had already fallen upon Albion, leaving the land covered in an inky blanket of darkness, while the diamond stars twinkled merrily above. Through the frosted window Stella could just see crowds of people making their way through the gardens and up to the castle, and from down below the sound of music and laughter could be heard. Stella gave a wry smile, a soft sigh escaping her lips. Turning away from the window, the queen meandered over to her dresser, fingers lightly brushing the various perfume bottles on the dresser. Finally picking one up, she sprayed a couple spritzes on her neck and in her hair, before appraising herself in the mirror. Her hair was half-up, secured by some flower pins throughout, while the rest of her locks cascaded down her back in a waterfall of gentle waves. A diamond-and-sapphire necklace hung about her neck, complementing her floor-length blue dress.  It had taken hours for her hair and make-up to be done, but it was worth it. She felt beautiful, like a true queen.

She was nervous about tonight. When she was younger she loved the Yule ball. In fact, she had loved every ball her parents hosted during the year. She'd loved seeing all the colourful dresses, listening to the orchestra, dancing with her parents and her brother. But since her father passed, the balls became rarer, until only the Yule ball was left as a regular tradition. After Logan came to rule, the balls had disappeared all together. But now with her as ruler and the Crawler gone, Albion could afford to have one evening of fun and dancing. Avo knew they needed it, after everything they'd been through in the last five years.

With one last look at herself, Stella pushed all thoughts out of her mind, and left her room, slowly making her way to the ballroom. She nodded her silent thanks as two butlers pulled the doors open for her, gasping as she saw the beauty that was inside. The ballroom was decorated completely in a winter theme, but it was nothing like the harsh winters Albionites were used to that made one shiver just by thinking about it. The room was decorated in such a way that gave it a romantic, almost ethereal, feel to it. Icicles of varying lengths hung from the ceiling, not melting despite the warmth of the room. Every few minutes snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky, landing in the elaborate hair-dos of the females, and flecking the dark suits of the gentlemen. A broad grin creased Stella's features. Theresa must have worked on this for days to perfect it. The blind Seeress always grumbled how she didn't want to use her magic for petty things, but she'd done a spectacular job. She must have realized that the ball was a sign that the Crawler was well and truly gone, and Albion's troubles were over, at least for the moment.

The orchestra was playing a cheerful tune as Stella made her way through the crowd, and her dark eyes darted about in search of people she might know. There was one person in particular that she was hoping that would come, but she wasn't setting her hopes up too high. She wasn't sure if Ben enjoyed such things as balls, or even if he danced. Or worse, he might come with a date, and then that would completely break Stella's heart. She bit the inside of her lip, pushing such thoughts out of her mind. Ignoring all the blissful couples already on the dance floor, the queen picked up a flute of champagne and wandered around, searching for company. She wasn't going to get her heart set on having a romantic evening. After all, she wasn't even entirely sure that the object of her affection even returned those feelings to her. Tonight she was just going to just enjoy herself and have fun. After the year that she'd had, she felt like she deserved it.

lyrics • Harlow's Song by Good Charlotte
notes • if you haven't heard the song, go YouTube it now. it makes me think of these two every time i hear it x3
outfit • Dress, necklace, hair
credit • Calypso

[Captain Ben Finn]

you and tequila make me crazy

RUN LIKE POISON IN MY BLOOD. ONE MORE NIGHT COULD KILL ME, BABY; ONE IS ONE TOO MANY, ONE MORE IS NEVER ENOUGH. WHEN IT COMES TO YOU OH, THE DAMAGE I COULD DO. IT'S ALWAYS YOUR FAVORITE SINS THAT DO YOU IN. 'CAUSE YOU AND TEQUILA MAKE ME CRAZY

Ben didn't remember anything quite like the ballroom of the castle he walked into that evening. Considering the occasion, he was rather dressed down, but such elaborate things usually escaped him. He'd heard tell of a lot of things about this ball around from the men of the guard and just in general all over Albion. With the Cullis Gates open for easy travel, he really had no excuse for not coming, so here he was.

Even a wanderer like himself couldn't deny that the ballroom was quite spectacular. Through his travels, he'd seen a lot of things, but this was something else. And, despite endless hounding from his men, he'd come alone. They'd insisted on knowing who he was taking, but just to be a pain for them, he hadn't told them a thing. He hadn't even told them he was coming, but that was more because he'd actually made the matter of coming or not a last minute decision. Few of his men doubted that he'd be able to find someone to bring along if he wanted to, and Ben himself knew that finding a lovely lass to bring along wasn't the most troubling problem he had. He had more trouble about what he was going to wear than he ever would have had just trying to find someone more than willing to come along. He frowned slightly at the thought. It had grown a bit tiring, to be entirely honest, plus there was nothing solid there. That concept of having someone to go to a little more consistently had presented itself as he'd done his brief leaving of the guard to go exploring the rest of Albion. The guard, he'd discovered in his travels, was home to him, and he'd started to think that settling down wasn't all that bad of an idea after all.

Sure, coming alone to an event like this wasn't the most wonderful thing to do, but, if he was entirely honest with himself, he was expecting to find company here, and it was entirely true what they'd been saying around - he had his ideas that he'd be able to find some company with Stella. The truth of those rumors ended there for now. She was a friend and he had willingly fought alongside her in the battles for Albion, and if she was anything more as the boys kept teasing him that she could be, he wasn't certain of. Taking a sip of the drink he'd picked up when he arrived, he threw those confusing thoughts off. He could worry about sorting out his emotions later. For the moment, he'd be satisfied to find someone to talk to in order to pass some time, because he really was doubting his reasons for coming.

Allowing his gaze to scan the crowd, he ignored the happy couples and the others that seemed to be alone in search of the Queen. She was bound to be after here - having this thing was her idea. The only matter left was exactly where to find her in the crowd of others already assembled for the night of dancing and merriment. It took a few minutes of searching before he spotted her moving through the crowd, seemingly looking for someone. He smiled slightly. A special occasion would make her do that. She had dressed up nicely for the occasion, but, then again, she was the queen so she had every reason to. Slipping from his spot out of everyone's way, he walked over to join her. "You're looking quite fashionable tonight," he commented as he walked within earshot of her so he wouldn't have to raise his voice to get her attention. "Anyone in particular you happen to be looking for?" he added. She was a friend, so of course he was going to give her a hard time. It'd be funny just to hear how she answered, and that was what made him smirk. He knew what the question was asking, and there was no way he'd not ask her, queen of the kingdom and the one dictating his pay or not, just simply because he could.

tagged: queen stella beck  words: 692  notes: omg, luvvv these lyrics

made by marv @ atf

[Queen Stella Beck]

••• Let your fire burn bright for the world to see •••
•••You are the better part of me •••

Taking a sip of her champagne and smiling as the bubbles tickled her nose, Stella side-stepped a couple that were about to dance into her and shook her head slightly, biting back a wry laugh. At least someone was having fun. She tried not to frown at all the happy couples, but their togetherness just made her loneliness so much worse. It was Yule, and everyone had someone, except for her. Even Logan had gone off to the gardens with Briar the moment he'd spotted her. And here she was, with no date, no Walter, no friends even. It was going to be a very long night if she had to spend it alone.

Nodding hello to some castle staff that were weaving in and out of the crowd with snacks and glasses of champagne, she continued her wandering. As she meandered around the room, giving polite smiles and murmurs of greeting to the various groups that greeted her first, her thoughts turned to Ben and their first meeting at the Mourningwood Fort and she had to bite the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from breaking out into a giant grin. What a way to meet someone - while gathering followers for a revolution. There were some things in life that you couldn't go through without deep affection growing for a person, and the misadventures both with the Hollow Legion and in Aurora were two such things.

She wasn't supposed to feel this way towards him. He was a friend, an ally. He was Captain of the Guard and she was the queen. What she was supposed to do was find herself a nice aristocrat from Millfields who would cater to her every whim and fancy, providing nice donations into the royal treasure every once in a while. Someone with a lot of fine aristocratic breeding within his family tree. But she didn't want an aristocrat. She wanted the devilishly handsome womanizer Ben Finn. The heart wanted what it wanted, and Stella's heart had made up its mind. It wanted no one but him.

A familiar voice made her turn, and Stella couldn't help the smile that curled up the corners of her mouth when she saw him, though she made a conscious effort to bite the insides of her lips to stop herself from grinning too much. She was, after all, the queen, and such a display of emotions would only have the rumour mills running. Something that she would prefer not to happen. The old biddies in Millfields already had enough to gossip about without her non-existent love life coming into the mix.

"There is actually, Captain," she told him, raising her eyebrow slightly, a slight smirk replacing her smile. "I was looking for you." She cocked her head to the side and appraised him. "What have you done to your hair?" she asked with a laugh, reaching out and ruffling his shorter hair. "Did you get into a fight with a particularly vindictive barber?" she teased, eyes sparkling playfully. The new style suited him just as well as the old one had (though Stella had a suspicion that he could shave his head completely and he still would manage to break hearts all over Albion), but Stella wasn't going to let it go without a bit of teasing. What were friends for, after all?

lyrics • Harlow's Song by Good Charlotte
notes • totally got permission to use Logan. because Loganrose are adorbes <3 also the reason for the haircut comment is cos Renner's hair is shorter than the real Finn's so Stella's gonna tease him about it xD
outfit • Dress, necklace, hair
credit • Calypso

[Captain Ben Finn]

you and tequila make me crazy

RUN LIKE POISON IN MY BLOOD. ONE MORE NIGHT COULD KILL ME, BABY; ONE IS ONE TOO MANY, ONE MORE IS NEVER ENOUGH. WHEN IT COMES TO YOU OH, THE DAMAGE I COULD DO. IT'S ALWAYS YOUR FAVORITE SINS THAT DO YOU IN. 'CAUSE YOU AND TEQUILA MAKE ME CRAZY

Ben flashed a smile in greeting as Stella turned around to face him, that smile growing as she responded that she was indeed looking for someone and making him briefly appraise the crowd. She was, of course, the queen. She could be waiting for anyone, as far as he knew. He was actually expecting her to answer yes. As queen, it had come to be accepted as customary for her to find someone to marry, and therefore carry on the royal blood and keep the rule within the family name, as royalty so often did.

But what he hadn't been expecting was to be told he was the one she was looking for, although he hid it under a devilishly playful and teasing smile that he shot at her when he looked back to her. "Is that so?" he teased, grinning. "Then perhaps you might be able to explain away some of why I had the entire force of the guard questioning me on if I was even coming to this or not?" In all reality, it was highly likely that it was just the crowd pulling at his leg, but it seemed like the perfect way to play something back at Stella, and he had never been one to resist such an opportunity. The night was for having fun with those you knew, after all.

Almost no sooner than the tease left his mouth, he heard Stella's question about her hair, and he lightly swatted her hand away from his head, a frown flitting across his features. "No, I didn't," he said indignantly, not that he was at all mad at her, and it showed when he cracked another smile after a few moments, shaking his head slightly at the games they were already playing with each other. "Well, I figured with all the traveling I did, a little change wouldn't hurt," he told her honestly. "Why? Does it look like I let a Hollow Man do it?" he added with a smirk, a glint of mischief in his eyes. He wanted to see if she'd keep it up. It'd been much too long since he'd last bantered with anyone, much less her, like this, and he wasn't going to deny that he enjoyed teasing her. Queen or not, he didn't exactly mind. She was a friend, and, not to be forgotten, he was toying with the idea that something more was playing with his mind, though he didn't want to come off as overly rash. Some limits had to be respected, even by him. Besides, the night was still rather young, and he had a good feeling about what the rest of those hours would bring, although exactly what it would lead to was absolutely anyone's guess at this point.

tagged: queen stella beck  words: 426  notes:

made by marv @ atf

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