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

Re: Ballroom

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

Let it be known that even Sith know how to do the whole party thing. A little asking around and a little research on the side can do a lot of wonders when it comes to finding out things, particularly about this 'Earth', and its varied residents and holidays. Given the vast majority of Nexus residents being from there, it's no surprise that there was a wealth of information to be found when you know where to look.

Truthfully, deciding on a costume was much, much harder than actually finding out about this. Dressed the part of a dancer, although hers was black, rather than white. She still wore her silver gloves and the black bracers with them, and her saber was divided into its two pieces and attached to her belt at either hip, disguised as part of her costume.

The Nexus may or may not protect against violence, but paranoia wasn't exactly a rational thing.

Still, parties weren't something she was entirely ignorant of. Sith saw themselves as a form of twisted nobility, and parties came along with that.

[brave_heart_verity]

Dia's got a choice: talk with Verity when she gives a friendly nod, or deal with the chao who want to play with the snake. They don't know what a snake is, but it looks like it's for riding. "Oh. Sorry about them. They're excitable."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

The snake, of course, isn't a live one even though it's draped over her shoulders and reaching the floor like a long stole. The Chao earn a quirked eyebrow of amusement at their antics, but she's not irritated by it nearly as much as you'd think.

She is not, after all, some mustache twirling villianess, Sithy-ness aside.

She waved a gloved hand, "It's fine, trust me on this, they're not anywhere as annoying as some of the things I've dealt with in my time."

She crouches down, sitting on her heels to let them get a better look, and cautiously experiment with petting one curiously. "...Strange creatures, though, admittedly."

[brave_heart_verity]

There will, admittedly, be fewer rides to be had from a fake snake. But that doesn't mean they don't want to play with it. And her, once they realize they have her attention. Those jingly coins on her belt are both shiny and noisy: the perfect combination!

"They're very sweet, but they don't have a lot of impulse control." Verity shoos one of them away from trying to swing on Dia's belt. "I like your costume. The snake is a nice touch."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

Given that the Chao seem to like her, if they're young enough, Naugus might be ending up with more than a few more Dark-slash-Devil leaning Chao since Dia'ndria's not exactly the Heroic sort in the slightest. "So I see. Fortunately they're at least adorable enough to get away with it," She draws one hand away from the Chao, gesturing with her pointer and index finger raised, thumb out, and ring and pinky lowered, making the on her shoulders move with a little telekinetic force.

"I prefer clothing that's easy to move around in, so I figured this sort of outfit won in both being a costume and doesn't restrict me all that much."

Dia then gives Verity a once over, "And I rather like that dress. It looks good on you." Compliments! She can pay them forward.

[brave_heart_verity]

There may be a variety of chao someday, a mini microcosm of the Nexus made cuter. Verity doesn't see a thing wrong with that. "They certainly are that."

The snake! It moves! The chao are intrigued. Does it want to come play with them?

"Thank you. I wasn't up to a costume this year. But Schön asked that I make sure the chao get here safely, so I figured I should make an effort." And yes, she does suspect there were ulterior motives to the request. It's Schön. If there weren't ulterior motives he'd be dead.

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

There quite possibly could be. Either way, Dia's more amused by them than anyone who might have the faintest idea that she's a Sith might expect. She doles out pettings here and there, resulting in plenty of *poits!* of the little beads into pleased little hearts.

It's strange, but it amuses her a little that they express that so openly.

Her free hand gestures again, and there's a little more telekinetic force to make the fake snake play at the Chao. "This is all new to me," she gestured with her free, gloved hand, "I've heard of similar festivals on a few other worlds back home, but it's not something I've had much experience in doing personally." A shrug and another gesture to make the snake move and bat at the Chao playfully with its tail.

"Either way, it looks like a good way to let loose and have fun, which I can agree with. Being too bloody serious all the time can get tiring."

Said the Sith playing with the cute watery blob things with a fake snake boa.

[brave_heart_verity]

Nobody can resist the allure of the chao. They are the great peace bringers of the Multiverse. They will end wars and usher in golden ages of peace because everyone's too busy playing with them to fight.

And no chao can resist the allure of the fake snake for long. There is much pouncing and climbing on it and general adorableness. So many happy hearts, and not just above the chaos' heads.

"You look like you're doing a good job of figuring out the important parts," she points out. "Having a good time is the best and most important part. So, if you see anyone getting too serious, please let me know? We can bring these little sweethearts around to help them feel better."

[pathfromdarknesstogrey]

It's a very distinct possibility that they could. The little buggers have a wide appeal even from their native canon (Seriously, even Robotnik doesn't hate them, and that says something). Little gestures and examples of Dia using her subtle manipulation of the Force's telekinetic power, giving the Chao both something to ride and pounce at at the same time.

But yes, the Sith was talking about not being serious. Hell, she was relaxed at the moment, "Maybe float one of these fellows over to them without saying anything and set it gently on their head." She gestured with the hand she wasn't using to manipulate the Force, to indicate using spooky telekinetic powers.

[brave_heart_verity]

Oh, how exciting! Something to ride and pounce, and for the truly daring, pounce while riding. Best party ever!

The mental image is enough to get Verity giggling. "That would be a hell of an introduction. I'm not sure how much they'd enjoy floating... we might want to give that a test-run."