[Kylo]

Ceres smiled as you approached the front door of Sedimus' mansion. He waves you forward and you can't help but wonder why he was the one greeting you this year and not Sedimus himself.

"Hello, and welcome. Sedimus is on vacation this year with his fiancé and left me in charge of his annual festivities. I hope you enjoy what I've set up for you all."

He winks and grins again as he leads you inside.

The entire mansion is covered in glittering snow and large snowflakes that hang from the ceiling. They gently flutter and twist and turn as you walk on by. They look almost magical and you get the feeling that they maybe are. After all you can't see any strings hanging them up.

In the great hall a fire roars and crackles in the fireplace and the long table is filled to the brim with a large selection of holiday foods and treats. The smell of cinnamon and pine is in the air along with the rich scent of various food.

The ballroom had lively, festive music playing from a string quartet and it was brightly lit. The mood was light and cheery.

Finally the parlor was a bit more subdued and much quieter for tired souls to sit and rest a while.

All and all it was a cozy and happy place to be right now.

[zapdragon555]

So... Sedimus wasn't here after all...?

Aesop had heard tell of the man who lived here in this mansion, and its many treasures that lay within. He'd been hoping—intending, really—to speak with Sedimus himself about a certain item in question, one that he might work out a deal with to take it with him... of course his usual methods would likely not work, given the opulence aplenty and the man on his way to matrimony.

But it seemed he wouldn't even need to think of an alternative, given the fact that this trip may have been a bust. Aesop smiled sweetly to the man who greeted him and led him inside. He could already hear Apisto scolding him back home for disappearing again, much less returning empty-handed. Not that he usually allowed the other two to see the sorts of things he brought back with him, on the Scribemander's borrowed power...

At least the décor was lovely. Aesop almost seemed to fit right in, with his flowing robes dotted in celestial, shimmering stars, his dark skin and deep blue fabrics a stripe of elegant presence among the lighter colors around him. He could feel the magic humming in the air, and felt a small spark of appreciation that the good master of the house could keep up such a spell even while away. Not even Apisto had fully mastered that quite yet.

"Mm... it's splendid in here, truly. It's such a shame that I won't be able to meet Mr. Sedimus himself, nor his lovely fiancé, but it's a pleasure to meet you, ah...?"

Aesop left the sentence open, a question mark lilting his voice as he turned bespectacled, cerulean eyes onto the other man, a few heads shorter than Aesop. "You can call me Merriweather, just the one name is fine." Never could be too careful, when it came to a universe where magic was able to be harnessed by mortals. There was a lot of power in a name like Aesop's, and if he was to leave a memory in this universe before he left, he felt it best to keep it an unfamiliar one with a false moniker. He did, however, offer a hand to take, his wrist bent elegantly and his expression gentle. "Did you organize all of this, by chance? It's quite impressive."

[Kylo]

Ceres wasn't one to miss the scent of magic on others, especially not one's from a source from another plane. He smiled cordially, and made sure his human disguise was flawless. Fae were still untrusted by many and being one of a less...well thought of species kept him cautious.

"You may call me Fuar. It is a pleasure to meet you," he took Merriweather's hand and shook it firmly but not too firmly.

He smiles again, a bright cheerful flash of teeth, before answering Merriweather's questions.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for the compliment. I worked hard to ensure everything would be perfect for guests such as yourself. Is there anything I may help you with or fetch for you? Perhaps some food?"

[zapdragon555]

Disguises, disguises... Aesop knew them quite well, intimately so. He shaped them for himself, for others, eager to keep his loved ones out of the Scribemander's gaze, and as a result... he'd gotten rather good at seeing through them himself. Not so much truly seeing, but... feeling through them. Aesop's eyes shone with a friendly smile as the shorter man took his hand and gave it a firm, human shake. It was charming! He couldn't help but smile back, his own teeth bright white against dark lips. He'd had brushes with the fae before... he liked to keep them as brief as possible. They were far more complicated than humans.

"Impeccable work you've done, Fuar. Marvelous, really. I'm from... out of town, you see, and the warm welcome truly is appreciated," Aesop twittered on, his tone airy and gentle, eyes shifting with a calm sort of air about the place. Now... where would Sedimus keep such a thing...? Perhaps it was quite the windfall that he would be out, this fae in human skin the only thing separating him from that onyx dagger... assuming he still had the old thing. Aesop's compass was rarely wrong—but only insofar as it knew the universe that the artifact resided in. The rest was intuition, and damn good intuition at that.

"Ah, you're too kind. If you've got any wine available for guests, I'd..." Aesop blinked slowly, recalling who he was talking to. Though... usually eating food of the fae only mattered in their own realm, and Aesop was quite sure that this was no such thing. Quite. Mostly. "I'd be most appreciative. It's chilly out there, you know... a little libation warms the soul and body both."

He'd bide his time, look about... and if he truly couldn't get away from this fellow to snoop around, well, perhaps Aesop could try to talk to him about it, coy though he'd need to be.