Samhain Ball Redux - Second Star to the Right

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Something flits through the skies of the Nexus, bobbing and swooping only to climb again, an ecstatic aerial dance. At last, mirth of the moment giving way to some other whim, the flying figure drifts groundward, turning and drifting like a falling leaf until his feet, clad in pointed-toed green suede moccasins alight. Forest green tights hug lean legs all the way up to a bright green tunic, belted with rich brown leather and a bright brass buckle. On his left hip hang a set of pan pipes; on his right, a black-handled knife. An impish grin curls his lips, his eyes sparkle with the promise of mischief, and a pert green cap sits atop his head, crowned by a lone red feather. Could this be the black-suited GQ cover model who makes himself ubiquitous in the better-traveled spaces of the Nexus? Could it be Schön?

It is. "People of the Nexus, friends, in the world from which I hail we stand on the cusp of a special day, a harvest-fest when the walls between worlds grow thin, when masks and costumes are worn to frighten away wicked spirits--or to invite them in on more congenial terms. Today we bid Summer adieu, and raise fire and song to meet the long night! Join me, for an evening to last a lifetime, and a farewell to a season well-loved." His hand rises, pointing to where two bright beacons blaze in the churn of the Nexus' heavens. "Second star to the right, and we'll keep on 'til morning!" Crowing with laughter, he soars for that distant point like an arrow, leaving a trail of sparkling, glittering motes of light for anyone interested to follow.

Perched on the border between the parklands and the residential district, the night sky is like a pillow of iridescent black velvet, on which have been scattered an embarrassment of diamonds. Like an enormous pumpkin, a harvest moon presides over the shimmering vista, orange and plump. The air is cool and crisp, punctuated by the crackling hiss of dry leaves in motion every time a breeze picks up.

At the center of it all sits a stately house of Gothic style, ivy-clad and waiting. A square tower stands vigil over the entryway, tall windows overlooking the flagstone drive looping around a fountain full of water as blue and bright as a tropical sea. In the fountain stands an island, and if one peers closely enough, one might imagine they see figures moving about--on the deck of the tiny ship anchored in a cove, or swimming and splashing in a lagoon, or even creeping through the wooded interior. Of the house, the windows of the wings seem dark, perhaps waiting, but the line of the roof is limned with some glow from beyond, and the faint throb of distant music promises that the evening holds more than surfaces. The door stands open, a silent invitation to every brave soul who passes by.

((Happy Halloween! Enjoy the festivities, threadhopping is encouraged, tag back whenever you have time, and don't worry about missing out--we'll still be here when you get back.)) YouTube Playlist Visualosity Entrance Ballroom Banquet Bonfire Dark Corners

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Ballroom

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Light blazes from crystalline chandeliers, illuminating the heart of the celebration, a vast ballroom. From the overlook at the entryway, grand staircases carpeted in red velvet flank a stage (currently occupied by an energetic troupe of musicians). The side walls are paneled with mirrors, multiplying the sense of light and space, and transforming the room into an infinite swirl of bright costumes and lively steps. Even the infinity between two mirrors is not enough to contain the festivities, however; the wall opposite the stage is a set of windows over glass-paned French doors, thrown open this night to let the revelry spill out and onto the torchlit patio.

[brave_heart_verity]

Verity has learned a very important lesson in the past year: never, ever dare Schön to procure something.

Ever.

Since he found pixie dust, or something close enough thereto, Verity's been forced to honor the wager and come dressed as Tinkerbelle. Green dress, wings, and lots of glitter: she's either a fairy or an Edwardian stripper. Her dress is longer than most pixies would wear, but her hair is blonde and she's thinking happy thoughts. That's surely enough of a miracle.

There are some perks to being the Tinkerbelle to his Pan, though: finally, she can see over the crowds! And flying really is exactly as fun as she'd always thought it would be. All in all, it's worth having to go as a blonde (again), but don't tell her boss that.

[fightlikehell]

Wherever she is, Matt will find her. Or she will find him in time. He is wrangling a very darling Miss Bobbi Sox who is a curious little monkey this evening. No monkey would be left unattended especially at a fine to-do. So Matt Murdock has assumed the role of monkey caretaker. Foggy was very helpful in finding this outfit. He might have missed his calling on the theater front. And with no small amount of enthusiasm assured Matt that red is not his only color.

But where to find Verity? He tilts his head this way and that, paying attention to sounds and smells. Not too different from Bobbi's method. Though she has eyes.

[brave_heart_verity]

They make an adorable pair, her little monkey and her man in a big yellow hat. The hat makes it harder for her to find him, and once she does, it's also the best reason for his finding her before she can sneak up on him: giggles, even from midair, are easy to recognize.

"What in the world are you wearing?" She descends enough to give him a hug and leans in under the hat to give him a kiss. "Are you her banana or something?"

Be gentle, Matty, you know what her childhood wasn't like.

[losthunter]

After coming down to the ballroom, Hunter has no problems finding Verity -- since she is flying around here and there. He has to smile, watching her joy is quite infectious.

Tonight, the tattoo-covered man is dressed as a satyr, with a few modifications to the costume to compliment the twisting vine tattoos that cover his arms, chest and head.

"Are you getting many dance requests from above the crowds?" He asks.

[brave_heart_verity]

If she weren't seeing it with her own eyes, Verity would never believe Hunter's out and about with so much skin and ink exposed. Something has certainly changed--for the better. And it's making her smile so, so brightly.

"Mostly people only love me for my pixie dust," she admits with a brief laugh while she lowers herself into the crowd. "You look amazing! Is it safe to hug you?" Showing is one thing, but being willing to be touched right now is another.

[stands_for_something]

Steve knows that it's a poor sort of guest who lurks out by the bonfire all night, so after he's enjoyed its rainbow flames for a while he comes in, to drift around the periphery of the dance floor. Whether he's wearing a costume or that's just how someone his age tends to dress is a question left to onlookers to answer.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Oh. My. God."

Now, keeping in mind who her god is, that's a particularly worrying phrase coming from Verity. And it is entirely Steve's fault for somehow managing to find a costume that makes him even cooler. (Because she was not, it seems, enough of a fan already?)

Wait. Should she be trying to be cool now? Too late, he already knows she's a flailing mess. But tonight she's a flailing mess with excellent hair and fake wings, so... there's really nowhere to hide.

"Captain Rogers?"

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Schön floats over the dance floor, an imp in green, somehow accompanied by a lady in white. How better to open the floor with the first dance of the evening?

[maydayqueen]

It's often said that a young lady is good spirits is 'floating on air', but in this case, it's literal fact. What had been a long train on her skirt is now a fluttering tail, waving merrily whenever she kicks a foot for momentum or fun. Frea, living embodiment of spring and patron saint of gigglers, very nearly looks like a proper lady on Schön's arm. And that is one hell of a costume. She wonders if Brienne is proud, seeing her act with such grace and decorum, preparing to dance a proper dance?

"What will we start with?"

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

"Anything you like," he promises, drawing her in a languid circle and lifting up his open hand to strike up the band (it's a little late in the season for fireflies). "A waltz, perhaps, to start things gently and let everyone find their feet before they're caught up in it?"

Exposition Express!

[brave_heart_verity]

Now that she's got Clint in midair, Verity floats into the ballroom on her brother's arm. "You know," she remarks thoughtfully while they go, "we kinda match this year." Both in green, and her with glitter while he's got foil. Spooky how that worked out.

Not as spooky as the idea of dancing with an actual Doombot would be. She doesn't miss those. Right now, she doesn't miss much, because she's not thinking about it. Why worry about the past when there's such a lovely present? When they're somewhere over the dance floor she turns to him and holds out her hands. "One of these days, you're going to have to do this with someone who isn't your sister, you know. I hope you'll bring someone to the wedding."

[aw_hawkguy]

"Oh, hey, we do!" He laughs. "That's lucky, huh?"

Clint takes her hands, the words registering at the same time as the ring on her finger. "Wedd-oh! Whoa! Wow, when did that happen? Who's the lucky-? Aw, Verity!" So much for dancing, a moment like this demands a big, crushing hug. "Congratulations! Good for you!"

[brave_heart_verity]

"Very lucky," she agrees with a grin.

Verity laughs at his surprise and confusion, accepting the hug and returning it with pleasure. And a thump for one of those questions. "Who? Who?! Who do you think?!" She thumps him again before giving him a smirk. "Thank you. He asked on my birthday but... it hasn't quite seemed real."

[mosthonest]

Iago is more at home here in the ballroom than he has felt anywhere else in the Nexus. Though it's not quite of his time, there's something about all the baroque frippery that is comforting. In his world, Venetian art has yet another few centuries to reach trompe l'oeil perfection, but the halls of the powerful are still full of decoration (and celebrations) that are similar in their extravagance and obscene opulence.

He's in costume too. And happy to get into the spirit of the thing, for he loves a good masquerade both literally and figuratively. When Iago had first walked into the entrance and found the rooms piled high with clothes, he saw a few articles that were his idea of what a costume should be--paper mache masks that looked like Harlequin and Columbina; colorful but impractical cloaks and jerkins and hosiery... and then at the bottom of the pile in an elegant black box, as if misplaced or oddly waiting for him, a suit complete with shoes, cufflinks and a tie and pin. Now here's a real mask. And rather than pick up a paper face, he has merely shaved his own and given it a good wash.

With his sword and doublet stashed away, he looks quite a different man. Even if no one else may count him much disguised, he can enjoy it as his own little joke. Iago stands on the edge of the dance floor with a thoughtful look on his face like a man trying to deduce a foreign language.

While he may have studied much of their speech and casual manners, he's not accustomed to the music or dancing of these strangers. Ah well, he's a quick study. Through more observance or practice, he'll pick it up soon enough.

[i_amgroot]

As the dancers whirl and gyre, the man standing still on the edge catches someone's eye. Even as delicately as it picks its way across the floor, the thunder of the nine-foot tree-man's tread can be felt in the floor. He looms large over the studious little man, resplendent in a... gaudy crown and a pair of purple blinds-glasses? "I am Groot," the massive creature rumbles, perhaps by way of greeting.

[mosthonest]

"I am Iago," he offers in return, and throws in a joking, low bow since obviously he is addressing royalty. Swaggy royalty.

He extends a hand to shake. Might it be a bad idea to extend a limb to a person who might in the best case scenario give you a palm full of splinters? Perhaps under different circumstances. He's been in the Nexus long enough to know that your best bet is a smile and sincere greeting, 98% of the time.

"Well met. How like you this party, sir?"

[brave_heart_verity]

So help him. So help him. She's wearing fairy wings and her hair is blonde tonight, but those tattoos are hard to mistake and one wrong comment about it all and he might not get any pixie dust. Surely even Iago wants to fly.

Verity's been flitting around, helping people here and there, leaving people flying in her wake. It's not the worst way to spend a ball. And flying, she's learning, has some tactical advantages: it's much easier to sneak up on people when there's no sound of footfalls to alert them. Whether he sees or hears her coming is somewhat immaterial to the fact she's here, she's sparkling, and he's...

"Wow! Looking sharp, Santiago." He made enough of a deal about it for her to decide it's cute to call him that now. Good luck getting her to stop, it'd take some really serious effort like asking her nicely.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Schön has been very fortunate tonight, finding time amid his hosting duties to dance several times--this latest with the lovely and talented Brienne of Tarth. Having a measure of intuition that she may not have been well-treated at dances before, he doesn't try to make a spectacle of this dance, rather drawing her in on the edge as the music shifts from one song to another. There, amid whirling wonders, she can enjoy the moment without the burden of attention that makes her so self-conscious.

[oathstokeep]

His sense of intuition is uncanny. Brienne has not had a very long or bright and pleasant time with public revelry. She usually makes her appearance and then dips out. Nexus does not offer the same kinds of unpleasant things in social gatherings. People are far more well-behaved. Brienne of Tarth still looks how she always has. In spite of that she has been dancing with more than one person this night. Finding an empty space they take to movement. And the more she moves with Schön, the better she feels.

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Schön is a longtime student of the human condition--albeit, from a certain remove. "You dance well, Dame Brienne. May I address you without title?" he asks, as they move. "And if I may, you must certainly feel free to call me simply Schön, in turn."

character plot ahoy

[maze_ofthorns]

After spending some time outside by the bonfire, Kendra heads inside, and follows the music until she reaches the ballroom. The light seems to dance against the autumn leaves of her costume.

For a moment, Kendra gets lost, just listening to the music. When she opens her eyes again, she spots someone familiar across the ballroom. Someone who she has a complicated history with.

With gliding footsteps, Kendra moves across the dance floor until she has reached him -- Hunter. Even though she is not wearing her heels, and there is no sound of her approach, Hunter still seems to sense her presence, and he turns to face her.

Kendra offers him her hand. And he nods, taking her to the dance floor for a song.

[Feel free to approach Kendra or Hunter. Responses come from the same writer -- but different accounts.]

So this is going down like the Titanic, huh?

[brave_heart_verity]

One of the perks of being an official pixie dust distributor is that she has the best view. She doesn't know who the woman is, but she's been keeping half an eye on Hunter all night, watching for signs of his needing rescue or a quick escape. So this dance doesn't go unnoticed.

Hunter's her main focus, so he's the one who might feel her eyes on him. Not judging, just waiting to see where this is going and what he needs. It's what she does.

[i_amgroot]

Groot is here! Groot is on the dance floor! Could your Samhain Ball experience possibly be complete without a dance with Groot? Say it ain't so, True Believer, and step right up!

[brave_heart_verity]

It could never be a proper ball without a dance with Groot. When he's bereft of partner, Verity will step up and take his hand. "Think you could stand taking me for another turn around the floor, your majesty?"