askmenosecrets | Arcadian Forest Party

This was more work that he usually bothered to put in, Pan thought, especially here, at home, but everything was set.

At first glance, it appeared to be a forest clearing, beautiful and wild but nothing different than a hundred other clearings spread throughout the woods of the Arcadian mountains. But when you looked again, Pan thought, you saw something quite different. Hidden in the trees were a series of structures suspended in air, hung with ivy and dew, and through the mist-shrouded branches you could see the faint glow of light, and you could smell the scent of fire and food. There was the fire pit, a circle suspended in the arms of a large oak with a crackling golden fire, a roast, and bowls of marshmallows, chocolate and crackers waiting. There was the bar, stocked with a rich variety of wines and alcohols and staffed by two of the satyrs. And then there was the forest floor itself, bare now, but waiting for the dancing. On all sides of the floor, there were cushions on the low branches and benches of fallen logs, each accompanied with wooden buckets full of wine and beer bottles and glassed suspended with vine.

"Well," he said to Zaffre, currently wrapped around his neck, "I think we're ready." Pan flicked a leaf off his forest green turtleneck and looked around with approval before pausing. "We're almost ready," he corrected, and pulled his pan flute up to his lips.

The forest filled with music as he played, music that began as the mystical songs of the flute, but transformed as he let the instrument fall to his side - transformed into thrumming, sensual rhythms and intricate guitars that would encourage the party-goers to...well, Pan thought with a sharp grin, to be bad. Very bad.

"Let the games begin," Pan said.

[Notes: Everyone in fortuna_invicta is invited, the more the merrier in Pan's opinion. If anyone needs directions to the right section of the forest, let Pan know on the SWS post. Mingle! Get drunk! Stuff your face! Find a secluded tree and do naughty things! Pan approves highly of all these pursuits. Format = narrative third person, if you please!]

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"The forest is quiet most of the time," Pan said. "This isn't the most bustling area of Greece. Sometimes I want it to be." His words were accompanied with a sharp grin.

"There's no better way to get things bustling than with the help of a bunch of deities. From any pantheon." He opted not to bother with toasting anything this time, just stuck the marshmallow and the chocolate in his mouth. "Particularly once alcohol is added to the mix."

Pan smirked. "Alcohol, music, food, and bored gods," he said, "are the perfect recipe for fun. Or disaster. Or both. It's so lovely when they go hand in hand."

He built a s'more kebab of chocolate and marshmallow and held it carefully over the flames. "What have you been doing with yourself lately, Aeneas?" he asked. "If you aren't getting your rightful title on the regular."

He watched that closely, wondering how Pan was going to keep the chocolate from melting. "There's not really anywhere to use that rightful title anymore," he said. "Troy hasn't existed for centuries. Neither has Lavinium, for that matter. I do get people calling me 'sir' though. I own a security company. Anything anyone needs protected, we can do it."

"Security," Pan said as he pulled the skewer out at exactly the right moment - before the chocolate had melted, but when the marshmallows were soft. "So, if I wanted someone to keep Captain Thunderpants from crashing this party, I could count on you."

"That depends," he said. "Which one is Captain Thunderpants?" He had a hunch that he already knew the answer.

Pan took two fingers and slid chocolate and marshmallow off the skewer with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He popped them in his mouth and licked chocolate from his lips before speaking. "Zeus, of course," he said. "Also known as Lightning Brat and Bozo of the Gods."

He'd figured as much. He decided that it was time to move on from dessert to the actual entrees. He reached out to cut a slab off of the roasting boar. "I could try telling Zeus that he's not invited to your party, but I don't think it would work. At least I could probably keep him from taking his anger out on me. I would just be delivering the message, after all."

"I think he's a great believer in shooting the messenger," Pan said, and then paused in the act of eating more chocolate and marshmallow as he felt a sudden wave of pure lust settle over the forest.

His head tilted, his eyes narrowing in concentration, and then he smiled as he recognized the source. Well. Sources.

"I would take care, if I were you," he said to Aeneas. "I believe that dear cousin Eros and the lovely Freya are shedding power, and it's only a matter of time before we all feel the effects." He had no problem with that, of course. He embraced it.

"Then I think I'd prefer not to deliver that message. We're not really a message-delivering service anyway. You'd want Hermes for that."

He looked around him again. "Then I'll be sure to keep an eye on myself. I wouldn't want to do anything embarrassing, after all."

"Mmm." Pan licked chocolate off his fingers and smiled at Aeneas, his blue eyes hooded. "Certainly not," he added airily as he sucked his tongue in his mouth. "Fortunately for you, lust is never an embarrassment here. It's more of a perk."

"I suppose I'm just cautious, with having a mother like mine, who once tried to help and really just ended up making things worse." Love, lust, not really the same thing, but close enough in his book. Close enough to make him cautious, anyway.

Pan smiled, his eyes sharp. "There's nothing here, Prince, that can be made worse by your actions," he said. "There are no wars to be fought over anyone here. Here," he said as he rose and stepped closer. "Any actions taken are actions without dire consequences."

He shrugged. "I'm not used to that either. It's something new for me."

Pan flashed a grin and reached around Aeneas for chocolate. "Maybe you should consider something new," he said, and then shrugged. "Or maybe not. The opportunities are rife tonight, at any rate."

"I still think like a mortal most of the time. I just never really got out of the habit." He reached out for another strip of meat. "Although perhaps that could change, given the right set of circumstances."

Pan took a bite of chocolate and raised his eyebrows. "The right set?" he said. "Any idea what those might be, Prince Aeneas?"

"I'll know them when I see them." It was the best reply he could give. He wasn't sure yet if he even wanted to partake in any consequence-less actions. He still thought and acted too much like a mortal for that.

He'd heard that before, and Pan grinned. "Have you even had anything to drink yet, Prince? I think you might be far too sober for this party."

"I have not yet been to the bar," he confirmed. He was well aware of what sort of party this was going to be, even with just the presence of the Greeks alone. "I wanted to claim the best parts of the food first."

Arcadian Forest Party

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