“No,” came James’ bitten out response. But it wasn’t aimed at Fiora, but at Lane, this time. “No,” he repeated, a little softer this time, but there was a look in his eyes that had never been there before as his eyes darted over Lane’s face. “One day is like--” Only he was cut off by the fact that his tongue was growing heavy and cold in his mouth and frost bloomed around his mouth, turning his lips blue.<br/><br/><br/>“Sit down, Gideon, and let your woman speak for herself,” came Fiora’s melodic reply, her eyes still focused on the blonde across from her with an enigmatic, if playful, grin on her face. The impression that the queen was giving felt harmless, but there was a tense undercurrent at the table, coming especially from the men, though Remy had stopped moving all together. In fact, the Stone Man was frozen solid, his eyes staring straight ahead, unblinking. Like a living statue, his expression neutral.<br/><br/><br/>Indeed, Fiora’s own expression looked frozen in place, no matter how warm and inviting it might look. James had sat down again, but his body was ridgid next to Lane’s, like it wasn’t his choice to sit there and stay quiet. His eyes darted in their sockets, trying to gain her attention, before his eyes landed on Nora and Pace to judge their reaction to what was happening. Pace had his arm casually draped over the back of Nora’s chair, legs crossed as he leaned back, but the way his brow knit was contemplative. He looked like he was about to say something more to the queen, but Lane beat him to the draw. And Fiora’s attention was on Lane as it was.<br/><br/><br/>“Then I will have a full night in my kingdom with you and you may keep your full consent whilst there,” she agreed, too easily. “And in exchange, you want Nora to be a free agent, for the Guardian to take the girl.” The fae woman extended her hand over the table for Lane to shake.<br/><br/><br/>Only this time the sound of Pace’s chair scraping the ground as he leaned forward to lower Fiora’s hand back down to the table interupted the proceedings. Unlike everyone else present at the table, the queen’s antics couldn’t disrupt his own motor skills. Not yet anyway.<br/><br/><br/>“We need something more in return, Fiora, before anyone takes your shitty deal that you just offered. First, I think Lane -- forgive me, we haven’t really been introduced --” he slanted her a brief grin and incline of his head, before turning his attention back to the fae. “Should know that a day in your land means that she will be taking a gamble when it comes to this plane. A day could mean a couple of hours, maybe ten days, but it could also mean a year has passed… ten years out here.”<br/><br/><br/>The look that Fiora shot Pace was withering. Did they crank up the AC in the retaurant or was the air becoming colder? And was that frost clinging to the woman’s dark lashes, clinging to her hair?<br/><br/><br/>“Second, Nora already has a deal with me, and quite frankly, I don’t know why you called her to … whatever this is .. in the first place. I can guess why I’m here--” He sounded just a little bit bemused by this. “And I can definitely understand why he’s here--” He nodded over to James, whose hands were stuck to the arms of his chair by ice by now. “...And I know what you’re trying to do here, Fiora, but let’s be a little more open about it before you try and take advantage of these young women just because you’re feeling especially petty today. Let’s take a quick round table and figure out what we each want from one another, separately, and not try and tie it all into one fucking package, shall we? I’ll start,” he offered. Grinned. Leaned right back. “What do I get for taking in some child that I know nothing about?”<br/><br/><br/>Surprisingly, Fiora’s stare was calm as she dragged her attention away from Lane for the time being and stared at Pace, her smile withering, but oddly pleasantly. “Fine. Freedom from your tethers for one day a month,” she offered stonily. “Deal? Who else?” She snapped.