Winter Wonderland // Ben Finn

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

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