Alex spotted Josephine from a distance, looking positively haggard from all the reports she was receiving. When she heard her footsteps, the Antivan looked up at her and smiled tiredly, still clutching the feathered pen on her notepad. "It's been quite a day so far, has it not?" Josephine Montilyet told her, looking down worriedly at her various notes, "I've been speaking with representatives from everywhere."
"Have they given you trouble?" Alex told her, concern showing in her voice.
Josephine shook her head, "Not at all. It is quite alarming. It means they are all saving themselves up for later." She sighed and looked up at her, "Would you walk with me? I should like to take some air before the Exalted Council becomes inescapable."
Alex grinned widely, " Of course, Josie."
"The palace has been most accommodating…" Josephine said as they walked through the gardens, "We are, after all, here at their insistence… but the ministers may…"
She stopped so suddenly that Alex almost collided with her, and the woman waved her hands in a sign of stopping herself. "No! No more talk of the council. This meeting was to spend time with you in a more relaxed fashion."
Alex blinked, and she laughed a little as she pointed at Josephine's head, "Then why can I still see those wheels turning in your head?"
Josephine looked at her in surprise before she sighed again, "Work carries a certain momentum. The truth is, there is a small entertainment happening tonight. To which I may be able to find a pair of invitations."
"You'd like me to go with you?" Alex asked her, and Josephine nodded, a smiling brightening her tired features, "Very much so. In all the years you've worked with Orlais, you've had so little time to enjoy its culture."
Alex chuckled, "I do wish you'd warned me the Game would take more work after Halamshiral."
Josephine laughed as she looked up wistfully at the sky, as if she could see the memories of the past four years on them, "It's strange… those were somehow simpler times." She looked back down at Alex with a smile, "With all that's been happening, I promised myself a single evening out. I'd very much like to go with a friend."
"And what is this small entertainment?"
"Something to ease our minds. I would very much like to surprise you with the details." Josephine told her.
Alex laughed a little before shrugging, taking the Ambassador's arm as they walked on, "Why not? Josephine, I put myself in your capable hands."
"Splendid!" Josephine said, making a small clap with her hands, "I will arrange things at once." She patted Alex's hand as they strolled along the garden, with Josephine leading them to one of the areas in Halamshiral she was not familiar with, "The past years have been so busy. We have earned at least a few moments of rest."
Alex nodded, "A calm night out sounds…."
"OH! BRAVO! BRAVO!"
Alex stared in shock at the stage before her, completely flabbergasted at what she had just witnessed. Beside her, Josephine was clapping in earnest, shouting at the performers down the stage, bowing at their adoring fans as they showered them with Orlesian roses. She turned at her friend with a shocked look, who was smiling at her, expecting her speak.
"Was the woman in gold playing a king? Who was the man in feathers?" Alex asked her suddenly, the flashes of the performance making her confused and winded.
"Oh, it's all very simple!" Josephine said enthusiastically, "The first actor's mask is determined by… well, I will lend you the program guide." She smiled brightly at her as she grasped her chair's armrests, looking at her expectantly, "But tell me: did you enjoy the performance?"
"That was…" Alex started, before an excited grin spread through her features, "One of the greatest things I've ever seen!"
"Truly?!" Josephine asked her, her face lighting up again.
Alex laughed as she waved and gestured with her hands, "That part with the glittery… and they actually set fire to…" She laughed out loud as she patted Josephine's hand, "Yes, I truly enjoyed it. Although, I kind of understand now why Dorian and Maxwell decided to take Alona while we're here. The music was rather loud."
Josephine nodded, "Well, there is that. Count Relanis of Markham's young cousin cried throughout the performance because it hurt his ears. But since you like it, then I call tonight a great success."
But Alex flinched a little when she heard small explosions, and sparks of gold, pink and violet lit up the sky, making Josephine smile wider, "Oh, look! The encore signal!"
