Who: Rhys and Sharon What: catching up Where: Rhys’s When: early Aug. Warnings: probably low Status: g-doc
Rhysand didn’t have any plans for the evening and decided to reach out to Sharon and see if she wanted to come over for a drink. A check in of sorts. They hadn’t spoken a lot, but given Madison considered Sharon her best friend, it made sense they should get to know each other better.
Plus, he could make a mean cocktail or three. Maybe the Inner Circle mostly subsisted on wine, but the High Lord got creative in Madison, especially since he could stomach the tastes of beverages better than human food.
He set out a charcuterie board, with the last of the food from his home, for the pair to nibble on while they chatted.
Sharon approved of Rhysand for her best friend, at least, so far. She liked what she knew about him, and how he made Madison happy. So when Rhys reached out to her, Sharon was more than willing to accept his offer for a drink. Besides, they needed all the friends they could get in this strange, new Madison Valley.
She headed to his place with a bottle of wine, and rang the bell. Hopefully he liked red.
Rhysand didn’t tend to drink human realm wine, but he wouldn’t be rude about it. He wished for Mor or Az, both of when would enjoy the wine far more than him. As High Lord, Rhys couldn’t often get drunk back home, and he certainly didn’t want to while trapped Under the Mountain. Sometimes those decades felt like a nasty nightmare, but Rhys tried to not focus on them too much.
“Hello Sharon,” he greeted the blond with a smile after answering the door. “Come on in!” Rhysand didn’t tend to care what others thought about him, or he’d be one terrible High Lord, but given how he felt about Madison? Well, Rhys always wanted to make a good impression with Sharon.
“I put out snacks for us. Thank you for the wine. Would you like a glass of wine, or a cocktail?”
Sharon honestly had no idea what Rhys ate or drank. They hadn’t spent that much time together. She was trying to be polite and bring along something as… almost a thank you for the invitation. Or a housewarming. It almost felt like everyone was in a new house now that Madison Valley had jumped forward in time.
“Thank you for the invitation,” she added, offering up the bottle she’d brought along. “Oh, a cocktail sounds amazing,” she said with a smile. “Thank you.”
Sharon wandered into the house and shrugged off her light jacket. She set it on the back of a chair. “How are you finding the New Madison Valley? Done much exploring yet?”
Rhys ate and drank…whatever his body required for life. He didn’t consume anything for the taste or enjoyment in the human realm, unless food from home magically appeared. The new house made Rhysand happy as it reminded him a bit of The House of Wind. Without the ten thousand stairs, obviously.
He nodded and pulled out a chair for Sharon to sit. “Two cocktails coming up right away,” the High Lord commented. He pulled out the ingredients for an Old Fashioned, finding it tasted almost like actual…things. Plus, he’d started a small bitters collection.
“I need to explore a bit more,” he admitted. “The human realm is a lot for me on a regular basis, and the futuristic feel leaves me feeling a bit unmoored.” But, he wasn’t trapped Under the Mountain, so he’d take it. “I just need time. How about you?”
It was nice for the pair of them to get along, both with and without Madison around. Sharon was thankful to have him as… well, a new friend? And she was glad that she and her best friend’s boyfriend were on good terms.
Sharon took a seat and settled in, pulling her phone out of her pocket and placing it face down on the table. She took a moment while he was making the drinks to look around his place. “Thanks,” she said, smiling softly.
“I have a feeling a lot of us are feeling a bit unmoored. Some more than others. It reminds me of the nicest parts of a place where I spent many years, a place called Madripoor.” She shrugged gently. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually.”
Rhys could use a few friends outside of …well…Raelle mostly. He never considered himself a solitary person, but he’d only ever really needed the Inner Circle, so he didn’t mind mostly spending his time with Raelle and Mads. Sharon felt like a nice surprise. He pulled out some smoked cherry bitters and some orange bitters to make the cocktails. After pouring in the ingredients and stirring, Rhys added a giant ice cube, and a skewer with two maraschino cherries and an orange slice on the glass.
“I think you will. Most of us will. At least the forest seems larger?” Which mattered to the High Fae. While he didn’t mind a city feel, Rhysand still liked nature, obviously.
Sharon was impressed with how fancy the drink was. She watched him make it with care. It’d been a while since she’d had an old-fashioned, and this one looked amazing.
“A lot of things are different about this place. New jobs, new people, new technology. It’s going to take some getting used to, but we’re adaptable people. We’ll figure it all out.” She gave him a smile. “How is Madison? I haven’t chatted with her in a couple of days. Is she settling in all right?”
While Az, Cass, and Mor preferred to drink from Rhys’s vast wine collection back home, he liked cocktails (although usually he went for wine because it was there and what everyone else drank). Without servants, though, Rhys had to make his own cocktails, so he’d gotten creative. Plus, they didn’t taste like nothing or ash, so he liked to be creative.
“How are you? Did I hear correctly that you switched jobs?” Rhys couldn’t be sure he remembered what Sharon’s job had been. An assistant perhaps? “Mads is doing well as far as I know. I’d assume happy that this place still has cigarettes and alcohol,” he joked. While the High Fey would never smoke, he could see the appeal. Rhys just didn’t want the smell in his hair.
Sharon nodded as he brought the drinks over to the table, so they could share. She sat up a little in her chair. “I did. I’ll be working Criminal Investigations at The Bureau.” It was well more along the lines of what she’d been trained to do back in her world, so she was thankful for it. The change was going to do her a lot of good. Lots of change in her life--not just Madison Valley switching it up. Marriage and a new job and a lot of good things on the horizon.
The thought of her best friend, cigarettes, and alcohol brought a little smirk to Sharon’s lips. She nodded. “I’m glad she’s all right. We’re still planning the wedding, so I still need her by my side.” She was teasing. Of course, it was wonderful and helpful to have Madison by her side for the wedding, but she was thankful that everything else made her best friend happy, too.
“I’m confident she’ll be by your side on your big day.” Rhys would be there to support the bride and groom. “To your wedding.” He clicked his glass against Sharon’s intent to get to know Madison’s best friend a bit better.