nexus_sages | The Samhain Ball - Come as You Aren't

The Samhain Ball - Come as You Aren't

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Verity's costume is going to be so lost on Matt. So, so lost. Oh well.

"So, if I'm the first one who found you, are you going to get me a drink or hate me forever?" Silk dress, rose-based perfume, and something small and squirming in her arms. "And, ah, mind the chao. They're going to want to play with your cane."

Ah well. He is ever the attentive, patient listener.

"A drink because the second part is impossible." Silk makes a very specific sound as it glides on skin and very fine tile work. The squirming thing though makes him make a face. What is that indeed? "As long as I still have it there shouldn't be a problem." His brow furrows trying to figure out the nature of a chao.

"What's your pleasure?"

Well, in that case... poor bastard. What'd he ever do to deserve getting stuck with her?

"Flatterer." Not that she minds. It's a night for flattery and pretending everything's grand. Maybe making a new friend. (Wait, she promised to help Jim make a new friend... aww.) The wriggling thing in her arms seems to be waving little arms in Matt's direction, or possibly protest.

"Oh, there'll be a waiter around with something soon, so, let's start with names? I'm Verity." Wriggling protester wrangled in one arm, she's got a hand free and is offering it to him. Her skin is smooth, soft... bruised?

Who knows. It's a grab bag of deeds.

Leave it to Matt to dole out the charm at a first stab. Really though, it's a nice lady and she's approaching. And ladies should get drinks which would mean he'd get one very soon as well. As far as he's concerned being a little lost can be grand in all of it's stress. New friends would be beneficial.

"Verity. That's a very unique name. I'm sure you've heard that close to a million times. I'm Matt." He also offers his hand and there's that strange moment where a sighted and blind person figure out a way to shake hands. His are rough and he pretends to not find it curious that hers remind him of a fallen peach.

You'd think that whole "Daredevil" thing would land him somewhere more firmly on one end of the scale or the other.

Charmers gonna charm. She'll let him think she's nice, for tonight at least. If they ever meet again he can learn all about her issues. Her many, many issues. (Seriously, there's at least a dozen.)

"Matt. Nice to meet you. And yeah, but give my dad the credit he's due, it's truth in advertising." She can find his hand easily enough, it's not a big deal. Being compared to a fallen peach would be poetic and a little weird on the first meeting. He should save that for at least the third. "And this is a chao. They don't have individual names yet."

She'll guide his hand up so the chao can grab at his fingers. New friend! Best day ever! New friend will give the chao ride and save it from the big meanie, right? The chao will save him from that hat. It's a good trade.

Positive or negative, it really depends. So far though conversing with a smart, seemingly nice woman would count as a positive. A little friendly conversation for the now fits just right. Whatever woes she has (along with himself) can be worn well in the atmosphere of revelry.

"Memorable too. There are many Jessicas or Jennifers... Matts too." He'll keep his poetic comparisons to himself. Bruised skin does have a specific texture. He knows first hand. "No? How many are there?"

Oh no. It's alive. But not furry...really? What. Oooh. There goes the hat. "Well, the costume works without it." Because he's not about to go scrambling for it.

Friendly conversation is what parties are for. Otherwise it'd just be a bunch of people getting drunk and ignoring each other.

"Matt's a nice name. Not the sort to get you teased endlessly. Something like Verity, you have to grow into that. Or change it." She doesn't realize he's noticed the bruises. It'd be a little embarrassing to have them called out so prettily. "Honestly? I'm not sure. About a dozen came to the party tonight."

It is very much alive, and wearing his hat, and so happy. New best friend! Now they are buddies in stripes. Stripes are very cool. "I'm sorry about that. You mind letting him keep it until I get him back downstairs? I'm trying to keep them all in more-or-less one spot so I don't have to hunt everywhere for them when it's time for them to go home."

That'd be more like a bar than a party.

"I think it's all in the intent. Any name could be a joke." Verity however. Matt shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head. "Either I don't have the right degree of malice or all the things I can think of that rhyme with Verity are positives."

He doesn't lift a hand to get back his hat. As far as he can see it might be gone for good. "That's fine. Really. I think that the costume is well enough without it. If it keeps harmony, well, the better. Do they come when they're called or you have a special whistle?"

And a bar would be a waste of all these pretty clothes.

"My childhood tormentors weren't clever enough to bother rhyming," she admits. "So I had that going for me at least. Still, being a Mary or a Heather would have been easier, at times." Right up until someone tried to get her to drink drain cleaner.

"Thank you." Can he hear when she's smiling? "Oh, no, that'd be too easy. They do usually come running when they see me, but that's because they know it's time for a meal and some games. You're welcome to play with them, but they'll take your glasses next and climb all over you."

Goodness knows that pretty clothes need to be worn and not wasted. So parties abound.

"No? Rhyming was big and imaginative." And boys usually just resort to fists. Go figure. "But if you had a choice would you have wanted to be called anything else?" A Heather in name doesn't make a Heather in personality, luckily. Why be a Heather when you could be a Verity or a Veronica?

Matt can indeed hear smiles. "Just a thought." Wrangling a roughly dozen and with no corners to cut, what a task! "I don't think their concept of play would align with my concept." The glasses are not his tinted shades, just round things he still would like to keep.

Worn and discarded in the appropriate places is a much better plan.

"I mostly had to deal with mean girls." It's a whole different breed. "Not now. I do have a choice, it's a form and a fee to change it as an adult. But what I want now and what I wanted at ten..." Sigh. The past is a forgotten planet.

She shifts her hold of the chao to offer an elbow to him. "Why don't you tell me about it on our way down to the party? The stairs are a little crowded right now, but if you'd like to take my arm?"

In due time, all in due time.

"Mean girls and mean boys are completely different beasts. Still unfortunate to deal with. The good news is we got out alive and can have a perspective on the past." Maybe laugh about it.

Matt's lips pull into a slow smile. "Sure. Thank you." He takes a grip at her elbow and is preparing himself for small critters to use this as an excuse to use him as a jungle gym because they're close. "I'm just saying that they probably want hours of entertainment. I've got a few good bouts of poking, prodding and some kind of fetch."

"True. And they're still stuck with themselves." Maybe laugh about it someday. Laughing is hard for her right now.

"My pleasure." Her pace is slow and steady because descending stairs in a floor-length gown with no free hands requires a particularly kicky little move to make sure she's not standing on her own skirt. "Oh, yes, they love to have playmates. But they're pretty easy to redirect when it's time to go. I find cat toys work well. Or you can sit there and let them climb on you."

Yes, there's a chao who wants his attention, but a few quiet words from Verity gets it to stop climbing and content itself with petting his hand in a clumsy, childlike way. New friends must be treated gently.

Standing when you've had so much happen in the past is sometimes just the very best thing alone. Laughing can happen later. Much later.

Matt matches her pace, slow and measured. He can feel how she has to make extra kicks. His cane feels for the step before. The two of them are rather accomplished in their juggling of steps. Heels and a dress out do his own impairment. "Shoot. I left home without my cat toys." There's more than a little sarcasm there. Matt wiggles his finger to nudge the chao back. "What do you do when you're not a wrangler?"

Standing's all she can manage some days without help. Laughing regularly will be somewhere on the list for later.

Heels, she's used to. That doesn't bother her. The dress is new. But she'll manage. "Mm, see, that's why there's a chao wrangler tonight. Otherwise, it'd be sparkle balls wall to wall and nobody would be able to dance." It's not quite a laugh, but there's an approving note in the back of her throat. She loves a good bit of sarcasm.

The chao is so happy! New friend! New friend needs more pets, yes/no?

"Paperwork. It's all very boring really." Mostly, it's very secret, this answer leads to fewer follow-ups.

She moves very well. It's unlikely she'll fall. Just in case Matt is fixated on the sound her heels make as they hit the ground. "And what if you want to dance?" Chances are she may not have the desire to, after all she is pretty accomplished and comfortable with the chao.

A new friend will take his pets. Matt really wouldn't push the thing again. More fingers wiggle.

"Ah. I hope you get to cut loose." However she may. "I think that you pass the sanity test by not liking paperwork."

"Then I'd better hope someone asks me, because I love to dance and how will I ever teach my dumplings if I don't get to show them?" Priorities: she has them. And baby-pet-who-knows-whats. Maybe she shouldn't be dancing, given she's in mourning, but she was careful to not wear red shoes.

Finger wiggles are great! The chao is delighted with this new game. Delighted and getting squirmy.

Now Matt gets a little baby laugh from her. "Me, pass a sanity test? Will wonders never cease."

"That's so true. And if there are enough of them they can learn in pairs." That is hopeful then. Matt smiles. The color of her shoes don't matter, it's how she carries herself and what's on her mind. So dancing is on the table.

More wiggling for the return wiggling. This is going to get silly fast.

"The next would be how you take your coffee and a Rorschach test, I believe. Don't quote me."

"There are quite a number of them. Sometimes I think they're multiplying," she admits. "It is very hard to keep track of them all because most of them are identical." It's a night to hope for all kinds of things. Dancing might be just the start.

Silly is a chao speciality! Matt's learning quickly. And maybe it's a good excuse to not let go of her arm when they're done with stairs.

"Milk and sugar. None of that half-soy sugar-free syrup nonsense for me. You?" She wonders if Schön has any Rorschach tests around. He seems to have prepared for everything...

"Multiplying? " There's enough of them that he can perceive. They're so active he is having trouble figuring out how many there are without complete focus. "You're okay with that? Then again it seems they're not about to ask for permission to do anything."

He's not about to have a chao fall to the floor because he can't keep a simple grip. And very is warm to the touch and has been welcoming. He hopes that she won't mind that their arms have become a ledge for chao to rest on and a means to get out rough, wiggling man fingers.

"A light roast with steamed milk, preferably nonfat and a sugar in the Raw or two depending on the size. They say if you're a black coffee drinker that's when you're of a questionable state of mind.

"I don't know how I'd stop them. I guess if it happens, we'll expand the garden..." By 'we' she means the grumpy old wizard she's staying with. It's amazing the accommodations you can get around here if you can cook.

She doesn't mind at all. Happy chao and the company of a (new) friend are pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered. The chao doesn't mind either. He's got a great view and a game!

Matt's preferred coffee gets an approving hum. "So I've heard. I could never. So, where to now? Dancing, dining, garden exploring? I've heard there's a bonfire..."

"We'll as long as you anticipate the space." Matt doesn't know the we but assumes it's her living situation. There are chao to consider in the picture.

Best keep things as they are then. Don't want to go against anyone's orders. And really Matt is finding this more comfortable than he thought. The chao are just as she said they were, playful and curious. He's got a whole hand and a wrist. Oh look! A sleeve too!

"Can I get a dance before the chao get any more ideas?" And because it is something he brought up. Wouldn't you know they are touching too. Just seems like a natural progression. "And I do owe you a drink. You found me and all."

Nobody should try raising a dozen chao on their own. And what Naugus may lack in friendliness, he makes up for in usefulness.

Such a day of discovery for the chao! So many things to find and play with, so many things to do, so many kinds of forbidden food to beg off of people (shh don't tell Verity about that part). If the human-friends are happy too, so much the better.

"Happy to. Let me just put this little guy down first." Dancing with chao is one thing. Dancing with a man while trying to juggle or wear a chao is another. She doesn't have to go far, once she's got a hold of the chao again; just a minute's crouching to set him on his feet and coax him to toddle off and join his friends. It does mean letting go of her elbow, but his hand moving to her shoulder would be a natural progression.

They're like any other herd animal, they need strong leadership. Thank goodness they've found it. Matt feels like they could get out of hand otherwise.

Human friends can be happy. There's a whole gamut of emotions with the happy. They're riddled with them. Matt for now is content with the party atmosphere. He hasn't yet seen if there is a way back. For now he'd rather not. Just a little bit of enjoying now. He could take a page from the chao book and appreciate anything around him.

"Of course." Matt hangs back and releases her arm. It lingers to hover at where he knows she'll be when she rises. "He can cut in whenever though. I don't want to keep you from your dates."

Can cuteness ever really get out of hand, though? Is there such a thing as 'too much cute'? She doesn't think so. But she doesn't worry much about worker productivity, the economic output of nations, or the ecological implications of forests being replaced with chaonut plantations.

Content and enjoying the party is a good way to be. However long he's away from home, someone will help him out until he finds a solution. Plenty of people have been having to find new jobs lately, and he has an extremely portable asset: his big wonderful brain.

There's another laugh, short and quiet but it's there. "I'm sure they appreciate the offer." That's a neat trick, being right there waiting when she stands up. "But you're not getting out of it that easily."

YEAH I finally won you over! /victory lap and high fives for everyone

the highest of fives

http://bit.ly/1M3HUmd

https://38.media.tumblr.com/6354e6a53c842c03223bfd704c43f374/tumblr_nux0chhUqP1ufu0b0o1_500.gif

You win. I shall stoically hand over the title of Queen of the Gifs to you.

i am a mere upstart, madam! i could never!

But clearly, I have been bested!

beginners luck!

>.> I've got my eye on you missy.

.

http://bit.ly/1GIGKjl

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Shoes_(fairy_tale)

ah but is she truly vain in her sorrow?

She's at a ball 2 weeks after her world died. :/ Nexus!Ver gets all the drama.

what's a girl to do really :(

Stay home with racist grandpa and mope? (Or be grateful I give her nice things in PSLs?)

staying at home with racist grandpa is not a choice, no :/ (PSLs are excellent medicine)

Especially not when he came too. :P