reyna ferrer ☠️ elizabeth swann (ratherexciting) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2020-04-23 10:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | !backstory, gabriel martinez, nate lazarus, reyna ferrer |
Who: Reyna Ferrer and Nate Lazarus (with a little Gabe Martinez, as a treat)
What: Reintroductions at Camelot's Halloween party
Where: Camelot Castle
When: Backdated to Thursday, October 31st, 2019, about 10 PM
Warnings: Pirate?
The party was already in full swing by the time Reyna arrived, less fashionably late than simply late, period. But then, because it was a party and not the weekly work meetings to which she usually commuted at Camelot Enterprises, the four-hour time difference between here and Charleston combined with the inevitable delays caused by a four-year-old going through a particularly melodramatic sugar crash hardly mattered. Nobody was waiting for her to show up, and truth be told, she doubted anybody even expected her to come.
The last time Reyna attended a Camelot party was with Andrés, the New Year's Eve before Javi was born. They'd only told close friends and family at that point in her pregnancy, but between Andrés's extreme exuberance and her avoidance of champagne in favor of lemon water to ward off the nausea, someone had guessed, and for an hour or two they were the stars of the party. The small number of Camelot parents welcomed them into the fold and offered Reyna advice (which she never asked for and promptly forgot), while the childless masses seemed to capitalize on their good news as just another excuse to continue downing entire bottles. Though being in the spotlight was not Reyna's preferred position, at the time she hadn't blamed anyone for that, and now she understood it better than ever. Good news was a rarity in Camelot. Here, they mourned far more lives than they had they had the chance to celebrate.
It was strange how far away that party felt to her now, like a whole separate lifetime similar to the one Elizabeth remembered but Reyna had only seen in the movies. In a way, the Reyna who set aside her natural proclivities for solitude to attend that party with some borrowed conviviality from her husband had died the same night as Andrés. What was left of her afterwards wasn't much fit for parties.
Three years wasn't much time at all, especially not when measured in a toddler's developmental benchmarks, but at least it was enough for her to acknowledge to herself that clinging to grief like a security blanket wasn't good for anyone – for Javi or her mother, but especially her. The invitation to Camelot's annual Halloween bash came almost at the exact moment when Reyna realized that the feeling that had been weighing on her and making every word she wrote sound like garbage for months now was simple loneliness. Going through the motions didn't make up for the lack of connection in her life.
And so here she was, ducking through the crowd in Camelot's fabulously decorated main hall as gracefully as she was able in her tasteful-yet-still-skintight mermaid costume – which was to say, hardly at all. While the halter top thankfully included no shells and covered her midriff (though, aggravatingly, not her back), the tightness of the green skirt on her thighs before it ballooned into a stylized mermaid's tail at her knees made it almost impossible to walk except in laughably dainty steps.
Her progress was slow as she peered through the dim light to see if she could spot anyone she knew underneath everyone's elaborate get-ups. In the distance, she saw someone wearing one of those inflatable T-Rex costumes and briefly thanked her lucky stars that so far she'd avoided a dinosaur obsession. Javi's never-ending nautical phase had turned distinctly mythological in recent weeks – hence the mermaid costume, paired with a homemade sea monster one that she and her mother had managed to throw to together when Javi had asked for it less that 48 hours ago – but at least she was inherently equipped for such a phase. Not so much with dinosaurs.
Sighing heavily, Reyna paused at the nearest cocktail table and pulled out her phone, belatedly wondering if she should've told Gabe she was coming. His next mission wasn't too far away; it wasn't such a long shot to think he'd want to blow off some steam at the party before he left. Maybe he'd even drag Matt with him, though Reyna wasn't eager to see him again. He never seemed to know what to say to her – understandable, considering he'd saved André's life once, but not the time it mattered. But even without the former comrade factor, those kinds of conversations were part of the reason she'd stayed away from Camelot parties for so long. Being a widow was a bit of a buzzkill.
Before she convinced herself not to, Reyna pushed her more dour thoughts aside and sent a quick text to Gabe (If you spot a mermaid in the wild, maybe think about bringing her a rum & coke? A BIG one). Then, unwilling to move any further for a little while thanks to the constricting costume, she leaned forward on her elbows and started watching the partygoers, keeping an eye out for anyone dressed as a pirate or an outlaw. Knowing Camelot, someone in such a costume probably showed up decked out with real weaponry, and right now Reyna was dying for a knife. Anything to make this skirt a little easier to walk in. Next year she'd have to figure out a way to guide Javi in the direction of a maritime theme that included pants.
"Where's Jack Sparrow when you need him?" Reyna muttered under her breath, smiling to herself despite Elizabeth's internal grumblings. Say what you will about the man, but at least he knew the proper way to treat a corset.