The Samhain Ball - Come as You Aren't

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

A woman strides through the Nexus, garbed in royal finery of a distinctly Elizabethan style. In the crook of her arm, she carries an ebony scepter shod and capped in silver. There may be something familiar about her confident bearing, her angular features, her mismatched eyes. When she pauses to speak, the cadence of her words might spark recognition--is this Schön?!

"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 the wicked spirits--or to invite them in on more congenial terms. So on this day, I invite you, each and every one of you, to join me in a revel to bid farewell to Summer, and welcome with fire and song the coming dark! Join me, won't you?" Letting her gaze sweep the crowd, she raps the heel of her scepter once against something solid, vanishing in a flash and leaving a sparkling trail for the curious to follow.

A cool wind herds dry, crackling leaves through the gathering gloom. On the cusp between the parklands and the residential district, darkness and cloudy skies have been slowly coalescing for days around a stately house of Gothic style, ivy-encrusted and showing its age somewhat. A square tower stands vigil over the entryway, tall windows overlooking the flagstone drive looping around a fountain gone dry. The house’s angular wings stretch to either side, the windows dark save for occasional glints and gleams of colored lights bobbing within. A glow does creep over the line of the roof, however, and the faint throb of distant music hint at something happening behind the house. The door stands open, a silent invitation to every brave soul who passes by.

((Happy Halloween! Enjoy the festivities. All LOLs are optional. Threadhopping is encouraged. Backtagging is forever, so don’t worry about missing out: we’ll still be here when you get back from your more mundane ghosties and goblins.))

Playlist
Visualosity
The Entrance
The Ballroom
The Banquet
The Bonfire
The Corn Maze
Dark Corners
Costume Icon Requests
The Photo Booth

Comments

[brave_heart_verity]

Between the dancing and the chao, she's a busy girl tonight. But she can be persuaded to take a break eventually.

"Thank you. I wouldn't want you to think I wasn't trying. Just think what a lame costume would do to my employee evaluation at the end of the year," she jokes. "And you know, sometimes even us pretty girls like to be admired for our big brains."

[juststeverogers]

"Thanks." Steve chirps quietly to the officer as he starts heading downstairs. This guy was pretty decent, speaking up for him so he didn't have to say he couldn't handle being outside for that long.

"Well, we'll head toward the banquet hall, okay? That way you know where to find us when everyone gathers to begin." Steve holds out his hand for Loki in greeting. It occurs to him he doesn't know who either of these people are.

"Steve Rogers, by the way. Nice to meet you." And a nod to Officer Austin too. "Both of you."

[onemorebounty]

*Samus demurs with a politely raised hand and a slight shake of her head.*

Alcohol and I don't get along very well, thanks. A sparkling cider, I'll take, or a Gavan brandy.

*The Brow of Challenge that had been directed at Katsuya relents when he tries another locust. He's given enough ground to satisfy her for the moment.*

Much better.

[smartass_captain]

Little Brother will explain it to her some other time then. She can count on him.

"Aww, okay fine I won't tease your boyfriend." He's assuming they made up since he hasn't had to deal with ice cream cheer ups for Verity or an officer breathing down his neck. "I promise."

It's tiny and blueish yellow and it's wearing a frilly green dress. Wat. Jim carefully kneels down and picks the small thing up, holding it at arms length like it's going to bite him.

"Yeah but...what is it? An animal?" Sentient goo? And then it flails out with one of its stubby arms and when Jim leans in closer it boops him on the nose. Wat. His eye twitches slightly. "Uhm..."

[u_can_have_it_4_a_song]

Between the dancing and the chao, she's going to be a tired girl tonight, and it would not be unforeseeable that she might take a breather when the chao go down for a sleep.

"Oh, I see," s/he teases, "you only came for the sake of work. Well, I shall make a note of it, beside your wonderfully keen wit."

[damn_yourself_early]

Loki shakes Steve's hand with enthusiasm. "Loki Laufeyson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Cap!" Kids say the darnedest things.

Turning, Loki thrusts out a hand toward Totally Officer Steve. "You, too, Officer...?"

[brave_heart_verity]

That's a good point. She might need to take a nap with them.

"Yes, all for work. You know me. No fun at all." She can take the teasing, but she's going to blush at the sudden compliment.

[bestdadinamestris]

"Easily remedied." He grabs the waiter before he can wander off and asks him to bring back a Gavan brandy for the lady.

Then he's turning to Katsuya with a... pout? "Come on now, you don't really think I'd do that to my daughter, do you? I mean, sure, I'll let her try anything that I've tried first, but I'm certainly not going to let her do whatever she wants. Gracia would kill me if I did."

There's something about the way he's holding himself that's different than what Katsuya is used to. It's not unusual for him to walk around with a confident air like he is now, but there's always a noticeable weight on his shoulders, a fatigue in his face. But now? Now he looks like he wants to go out and take on the whole damn world, like there's nothing to hold him back. And those charms he usually reserves for his wife, or special assignments, are out in full force, as is obvious when that pout he'd been aiming at Katsuya turns into a grin.

"No need to worry about that tonight, though. I'm here to enjoy myself, and make sure everyone else I meet is as merry as I am. You should do the same, Katsuya, or that lady friend of your might be left wanting, and nothing good ever comes from that." He tips his glass in Katsuya's direction, gives Samus a wink, then takes a sip of his champagne.

[brave_heart_verity]

"Oh, they have their moods, like anyone. But they're very enthusiastic when there's a chance to play and make new friends, and this is one big glittering playground to them." The chao have seen other people dipping and being dipped, which leads them to try it--but they can't both dip at the same time! Down they go, tumbling over each other and play-wrestling before they separate again.

'Cute' is their primary attribute and may well be the element at the core of their beings. Steve isn't so far off in that assessment. "They're... somewhere in between. They followed Naugus into the Nexus one day, and we're been looking after them ever since. I don't know much about them. Mostly Naugus made sure I know how to take care of them, and seems to be letting me discover the rest on my own."

It gives her something to do and something to love without reservation. There have been much worse plans.

[brave_heart_verity]

He's so good to her.

"Oh, you can tease him. Just not in ways he's ill-equipped to handle, please." She's nothing if not fair.

The chao waves excitedly when it gets picked up. Upsies is the best! Nose booping means they're friends. Life is good! Why is new friend twitching? Now the chao is trying to do the same thing.

"I... think so? Some kind of halfway-sentient animal I think. Or non-lingual people with childlike intelligence. I am so ill-equipped to define these things." She'll give the chao some gentle pets to calm it down. "They followed Naugus home one day. They're from his world. He made them a place to live and we look after them."

That's right. This much cute is all due to Naugus. She'll wait while his mind is blown.

[prototype_infiltraitor]

The Steves trade nods. Once, at the gratitude, and again at the name. It's happytimes all-around; Definitely 100% Officer Steve grips the obviously-clearly-a-child Loki's hand and shakes pleasantly. What secrets might this boy's molecular structure reveal? None, he estimated, but machines can be so meticulously thorough.

"Steve Austin, LAPD."

[fightlikehell]

If only he opted for the other costume! Ah well. His own outfit wouldn't have made sense without explaining. This one has the biggest reaction. Guessing comic character isn't too far off.

The rustling combined with the very light tread nearly leads Matt to believe that there's some younger folk here. He half turns and then there's a voice. "Hey, thanks." It's easy to fit into a grin at a greeting. "Happy Halloween yourself. Having a good time?"

[heirtothearcane]

"No, no, that's not what I meant." People messing with him is still something he's getting used to. Other than two very specific exceptions, his company tends towards the serious. But again she provides him with distractions.

"Dancing?" Can she see the immediate return of anxiety. "I... I-I'm not very good at dancing." Lie. One he believes wholeheartedly, but... "I'll make you fall. I don't want to make you fall."

[heirtothearcane]

Can he run away? Running away is acceptable, right? Ah, but it would be rude!

He doesn't know what 'the Texas Rattlesnake' is or... means, but he doesn't exactly want to find out either. By the gods did he wish he'd learned more charm magic now. Or could remember what he did know in the face of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

He shrinks back and waves his hands placatingly. Anger isn't something he deals with well. "I-I-I'm sorry! Really, I am! Very sorry! Extremely sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you! I won't do it again, I promise!"

[heirtothearcane]

That gets him to pause in his running about. "What's Werewolves? I've never played it before."

[westfallcorndog]

"You?..." He asks, then spins in a small circle to look at the corn that surrounds them, "Made all this?" And then he grins! "Man, Aglaia! You're a real talented lady! You'd be so famous on my world!"

He begins to walk down the path even as his hands remain on Aglaia's. She's either going to have to follow him until he's through with his task or hold his hands all night, it seems.

With his back turned to her he continues rambling, "Dungeons're real important where I come from. Every bad guy's gotta hide in one! But – But adventurers aaaaalways find 'em. Maybe not if they had a mistress of mazes! The... M-mazetress!"

He glances over his shoulder and asks, "Do all Minotauren make mazes on your world? Minotauren on my world make cities on toppa big cliffs and build bridges to connect 'em! And elevators! You ever think about a... A two story maze?..."

Harrowheart, you're struggling to solve a one story maze. Don't attempt to give this lady ideas.

[westfallcorndog]

"Purple ranger outfits!"

Someone is being very loud from very far away. It's a long distance to stumble, drunk and still drinking, across the ball room. Tonight floating hands are convenient; he can hold a bottle in one hand and still spread both his arms out in greeting a fellow violet archer.

The man, whose costume rivals Jim's skirt in impropriety, invites himself to stand way too close. "Who're you, dude?" He pauses, drinks, and with a wave of his free hand clarifies, "I mean – I mean your costume! I am Sylvanas –" *hic!* "Windrunner. The Banshee Queen."

[westfallcorndog]

Hey! A lady whose fashion doesn't look totally weird and foreign to him! Harrowheart staggers over toward this new lady, bottle in hand, and invites himself to stand obnoxiously close. He wobbles slightly while he speaks.

"Where I come from, I don't – I don't think that'd even be a costume," he says, more a drunken observation than an attempt at insulting the lady's fine apparel. But considering what he's wearing, what does his perspective on fashion even mean?

He offers one of his floating hands for a shake, and with a wobbly smile tiredly asks, "Wh-what's your name? Where're you from?"

Gold coins, a dead man's chest, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

[westfallcorndog]

On the floor of the ballroom Harrowheart sways, a bottle of some clear alcohol in one of his floating hands. The movement of his costume's cape gives him the illusion of dancing rather than drunkenly wobbling with a smile on his face and his eyes half closed.

His free hand rustles around in the skimpy bra of his outfit and comes up holding... A golden coin! Oh, no, wait... He unwraps the yellow foil to reveal it's chocolate! It hasn't melted at all against his cold skin, which is but one of the many perks of undeath. He eats his candy slowly as he watches the crowd, offering chocolate coins to anyone who thinks a stranger's bra candy is a good thing to eat. To those who don't he asks, "How – how do they dance where you–" *hic!* "Come from? I wanna see!"

[brave_heart_verity]

"I know. I clean up pretty good when I make an effort." Leaning closer for a moment, she adds, "And I won't embarrass you in front of your family when I meet them," quietly. She's guessing he's been as worried about that as she has.

There's a brief hesitation when she sees him getting anxious, and a little frown at how he lies to himself about these things. Then she shakes her head. "Nonsense. You won't make me fall. I'm a good dancer and we'll be fine. We can go out on the patio where nobody will see. Okay?"

[nodamselnodistress]

"I designed this, yes. The materials and magic were provided for me." She's no fancy-pants wizard.

She'll opt to follow him for now, because he's going to need his hands back at some point. And, to be honest, the more he rambles the more curious she is about him. She's not entirely sure if he's rambling because he's drunk or if he's trying to flirt his way free. Either option is amusing.

"Mazetress. Hm." Her Highness doesn't need another title, but it's so cute.

What? Nobody wears that much pink without liking cute things.

"As with any race, we are not all the same. Some design, some build, some opt to live in foreign lands." Human cities and their improperly planned mazes of streets. Shameful. "The places we build for more permanent use are much larger, dozens of stories and sprawling both within and without the caves."

Organized Minotaur societies get stuff done, so long as that stuff is building mazes. It's really the only way to make a maze-based economy work.

[notalldead]

One of those coins is accepted gladly, snatched from the drunk deader's fingers and promptly unwrapped, then popped into the mouth. Jesse chews behind a smirk, looking Harrow up and down. Maybe for his drunkeness, maybe for his costume, maybe for both!

"Looks like you got a hell of a headstart on me in terms of gettin' plastered, pardner." The cowboy swallows that mouthful of chocolate, still smiling. "Lookin' sharp tho."

Jesse also has a drink in hand, so they are clearly drunken zombie buddies this Halloweener.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow clenches his fist excitedly when he sees Jesse with a bottle of fun. "Ha-hah! My man! You know I pre-gamed this! That's how you par-tay!"

He looks Jesse over in kind, smiling as he does. "You some kinda bandit? I like it, I like it!"

[westfallcorndog]

"Wow!" Harrow says with a laugh. "I bet that means you're all real smart! You gotta be mathematical, and good at drawin', and... And... Wow!"

He smiles up at Aglaia as he continues through the maze. "So why do you folks do it? What makes you wanna build mazes? Is there... Is there some kinda famous story?"

[notalldead]

"Bandit? Hell naw, pardner, I'm the original white hat! Lone Ranger? They ain't got television where yer from, huh?" Jesse's still getting the hang of this inter-universe stuff and while he can take some elements in stride, other things not carrying over are still weird.

Or maybe he's just drunk.

"Hell, I gotta get y'all over to my place sometime for movie night."