[FIN] Coming of Age

[Suudonym]

The conversation that one rainy night came to mind, during which he had (among other things) mentioned wanting to return to reading for leisure; this certainly left him with no excuse. "It sort of makes me feel bad," he confessed with half a laugh. "You put all this thought into it, and I completely forgot that Christmas is supposed to be a gift-giving holiday." It was hard to remember the occasion as anything other than political with how it had been treated as long as he could remember.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie blinked lifting her head up a little "Oh no no no, don't feel bad, Honestly, I'm just glad we get to spend time with each other on the holiday, and your birthday. Really this is much more precious." she said, making a gesture to the table and the two of them."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera, who didn't normally read anything ever, blinked down at the book. Her pokemon...? Her pokemon couldn't read, why would they like a book? Oh, reading them out loud - well, maybe they had pictures or something, though she honestly didn't know that any of her pokemon would sincerely enjoy having a book read to them. Anastasia or Luna, maybe, or possibly Giselle... Likely not any of the others, though. "Thanks," she said, though still unsure if she would even really use it.  

[Suudonym]

Luke's pokegear buzzed suddenly in his pocket, and he remembered the alarm he had set to keep track of the time. He withdrew the device to silence it, frowning disapprovingly at the screen. "Sorry, I guess I need to head back." And right as Rosie was saying how much she enjoyed spending time with them. As he stood, his eyes lingered on the pair of gifts on the table, a contemplative and mildly disappointed expression in his features. "Could I ask you to hold onto these for now? I don't want them to get messed up somehow…" His pockets were nowhere near deep enough to house the items safely.  

[Blood_Goddess]

As he said that Rosie looked at her own gear for the time, wide blue eyes showing that she didn't expect what she saw.
"Oh! I didn't realize we were here for that long."
She shifted to start to stand up from her chair "Alright you go, I'll take care of these for you." she reassured "See you later?"  

[Suudonym]

"Mm," he leaned forward to steal a brief kiss, "see you later. Oh," he paused, having apparently remembered something, "I know I said it starts at seven, but people are probably going to be arriving anywhere from six to eight, so just whenever you're ready I guess? I might not be able to answer texts for a while - depends on how busy Father makes things - but I'll try to check every now and then." He raised a hand to wave with a word of farewell and moved to exit the building, releasing and embarking on Leste once he was outdoors.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

It had almost startled her when Rosie had confessed to her her feelings for Luke, but it had passed quickly and easily, only to be replaced with a mild confusion that had instigated a thought, a question, that had buzzed around her head off and on for weeks now. Half the time they all hung out, Sera forgot that Luke and Rosie had even started dating - it felt as it always did, that they were three best friends hanging out - but then things like this happened, or certain words or phrases or actions were casually slipped into conversations, it was a startling reminder of the state of things. The brunette barely had time to react to Luke's departure, so wrapped up was she in her own thoughts, that all she could do was raise a hand as he left, a mildly surprised and thoughtful look on her face.

Right around then, Rosie would receive a message on her gear from Nicolette: Your dresses are finished! Come back to my house as soon as you can to pick them up!  

[Blood_Goddess]

She returned his kiss happily then started to gather the instrument case and book before Luke paused to tell them one last thing,
"Alright, we'll probably text you when we get there just in case anyway." and then he was gone.

Rosie let out a light almost dreamy sigh, a smile on her lips as she placed Luke's things back in her bag, and answered hr poke Gear
"Ah! Sera the dresses are ready, lets head back up to Nicolette's to pick them up~"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah," Sera replied, blinking a couple times, "alright." That said, she put the book Rosie had given her into her own bag and stood, ready to depart.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Over the next couple of hours Rosie and Sera were busy getting ready, picking up the dresses from Nicolette with a shower of thanks once again their friend and her mother, before returning to the hotel, where much of their time was taken by showers, hair, makeup and getting into said dresses.

Rosie was thrilled with the dress that Nicolette yet her use She didn't think she had ever been in anything this beautiful before, that went for Sera too, her best friend looking just radiant in the mint green Grand Ile gown.

Northern, haven woken up finally had the bow and sash put on with the help from Rosie.

To help protect against the cold, Rosie had a shawl that matched the dress she got, thankfully so, as the dress had bare shoulders. While the flame from her Rapidash, Pastin helped keep her warm for when they finally disembarked to the Fon Fadre manner.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

With the dresses, both Rosie and Sera would find matching accessories - necklaces, among other things - that they could wear with the dresses if they so desired. Sera had a bit of trouble getting into her dress, though that was more due to her only having one hand rather than the garment being too tight. Once they were ready, the brunette rode on Luna after Rosie, the fire-type keeping her nice and warm on the way there despite the snow around them.

It wasn't long before they arrived and Seraphine dismounted as well, recalling Luna back into her ball before moving to Rosie's side. "I hope we're not too early," she said softly, as if someone nearby might overhear - not that she was even paying attention to if anyone was actually around or not.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"I don't think so." Rosie said, stroking Pastin's muzzle gently as she glanced around the short path that lead to the front gates of the familiar mansion.
"Usually for things like this, its proper to show up kind of early."

There were guards there, like usual, and a collection of people pulling up and getting out of cars to enter the gates.
Rosie was suddenly feeling extremely nervous, her hands tightening under Pastin's chin.
the horse gave a deep nicker gently to his trainer and nuzzled his forehead into hers.

Rosie smiled, and with another affectionate hug to her Rapidash before returning him, placing the pokeball into her bag, getting her gear out to let Luke know they were there, before she looked to Sera, reaching out to her so they could make there way over to the manner  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Huh. Obviously no one here had ever heard of being fashionably late. With an internal shrug, Sera nodded to Rosie and moved with her towards the manor, wary of the guards outside and wondering if they would be stopped like they were last time. Hopefully not, but there was really only one way to find out.  

[Suudonym]

Sera's hopes would go unanswered, one of the guards motioning to the girls as they approached the entrance, "Excuse me, may I ask who you ladies are with?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Her heart nearly skipped a beat when the guard gestured them over, but she did as he silently asked and walked over toward the man standing by the gate.
"Who we're wi-" she repeated under her breath before understanding what he was asking.
"Oh- I'm sorry, We're Luke's friends."