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

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She makes a sympathetic noise and gives his hand a squeeze. She knows what that's like, about different kinds of things. Everyone's been there once or twice.

"You know what I've found drives people nuts in that kinda situation? Act like you don't care."

A small grateful smile appears on his lips. It's kind of her to care, and wonderful of her to try to help. "I'm not very good at that. I do care. Terribly. I'm not very good at acting, either. My sister always said I was an awful liar."

"You are an awful liar," she points out. Her tone is awfully fond, considering how much she hates it when people lie. "It's a big part of the reason I like you so much. And, you know, I'm impressed enough with you for the both of us, so at least you've got that going for you?" Who else in the family has their very own Verity Willis, human lie detector, to always tell them they're wonderful?

"I've never been liked because I was bad at something before," he says, his smile flickering wider for a moment. "I don't mind if you're not impressed. I like impressing you, though, it makes you smile, but... but I'm happy enough that you like me. It's very nice."

It seems like his rambling is a bit worse when he's distracted by the constant, gentle dancing.

So, the lesson today is, dancing (which she loves) + V (who she loves) = lots of compliments and nice things being said? Definitely need to do this more often.

"I like that you're bad at bad things and good at good things. And I like that when you impress me, it's because you're being your naturally wonderful self and not trying to show off. Mostly, I like that you care. I like..." She pauses, looking down while she blinks away the tears that have decided now is an excellent time to ruin her makeup. "I like that you actually care enough to check in on me. That you don't assume everything's fine just because I'm not in bed weeping."

All the complimenting gets quite a few bashful sounds and shy looks away. It's difficult to do when you're close to someone like this. When he notices her tears, though, he leads them to a gentle stop. This time without asking, he reaches into his jacket to procure a handkerchief to offer it to her if she wants it.

"Mm, what people say and do isn't always the same as what's going in their heads," he says after a little deliberation. "I... I can't tell if you're lying, for my sake, I mean, or to be polite. You wouldn't lie for any other reason, really, I mean. So I... I think it's only right of me to check on you."

There's no hiding in a dance. Not for bad liars like them, anyway. The fact the dance has stopped gets a little frown from her, but the handkerchief is appreciated and she dabs carefully at her eyes. All this makeup, why do people bother?

"It's not a lie to be sad and still want to have fun at a party," she points out quietly. "It's complicated and confusing, which is bad enough. But I'm not lying." Not about any of it. She doesn't want him to brush off the compliments because he thinks she's putting on an act. "I really am grateful. You're the most thoughtful person I know."

"Oh. No, no." A hand rises to touch his temple and then falls just as quickly to touch her arm. "I didn't mean that I thought you were lying to me now. I... I meant that... other times. If I say I white lie, you know, but I can't tell if you're doing the same for me. So I need to check up on you. In case I didn't know better."

"Oh." She gives a little nod, accepting this, then wraps her arms around him to lean against him for a minute. He's gonna be her literal support as well as emotional. "I don't like to lie, so I'd like to say it's safe to assume I don't, but then... I could be lying." Can a tiny joke get a tiny chuckle?

That was unexpected but he does his best not to look surprised. No, he'll try to run with it instead, even if he's not entirely sure if there's something he should be doing. Patting her back maybe? He doesn't know.

The small joke gets his equivalent of a tiny chuckle, a small smile. "I don't think you're lying. You wouldn't lie to me, I don't think, not much. You're too good to me. Which I... I really appreciate. I don't know how I could have managed being around the Nexus so much without your help. I might have stayed in the library forever."

Hugging is good. Back-patting works in a pinch. But so long as he shows her some kind of affection, she's fine with it. She's in no position to be picky. (Someday she'll kill that surprised reaction with her neediness.)

"No such thing as 'too good' to you." But the rest of it has her blushing again, and relaxing. Nothing can be so terrible if he thinks well of her. "The library's loss is my gain. Obviously, I'm just being terribly selfish."

Hugging seems like the best plan, since she's already leaning against him looking for support. Even though his grip is light, he will wrap his arms around her.

"I don't mind. I like the library, but I do a lot when I'm with you. Things I... I wouldn't do on my own. I've learned so much." He's quiet for a second. "I... I don't know what I did to deserve a friend as good as you, but I will try to be a good friend in return. It's difficult though, I'm not sure if you realise, but you're so very strong, brave, beautiful and incredibly smart too, I... I'm not always sure what you need me for."

Hugging is generally the best plan when it comes to Verity and her emotions. All of them. Sad? Hugs. Happy? Hugs. Angry? Hugs until she calms down, then more hugs. It's a beautifully simple system.

She's not quite sure what to say to all that. There's a lot to process, lots of lovely wonderful things and a few that are worrying. Eventually, she manages to find some words that, she hopes, will work. "I'm not this brave without you. I need you because you make me feel safe. I can be this wonderful strong person you're talking about because you're there with me."

Viatorus smiles softly and the slightest laugh slips past his lips. "That doesn't make an awful lot of sense. But, if being here for you is what makes me a good friend to you, then I'll do that, and more, where I can."

"You know what they say, the truth is stranger than fiction." She lifts her head from his shoulder finally so she can give him a smile. That laugh of his always cheers her up. "But if you need more reasons..." read: compliments "okay. You're a good friend to me because you can see past the defenses I use to keep the world at bay. You actually care about being my friend. You're willing to work at it. And we can be together in our solitude."

Don't let her get poetic, V, that never ends well.

"You don't need to give me more reasons," he says hastily, with some more nervous laughter, because the complimentary explanations are making him awkward. "I just... like to know. So that I can try to be better. I'm not sure how anyone could not care if they were your friend, but I'd like to be as good at it as I can. I like making other people happy. I like making you happy. It's the least I can do."

She can get poetic and he can prattle on... It works out.

She'll stop, for now. Making him feel worse right before he's going into the lion's den would be unkind. "You do. You make me very happy, dear. More than that: I feel safe being happy with you. I hope I can do that for you, too."

Maybe there can be more poetry later, some quiet evening of books and wine and intimacy. They've earned some of that.

He ducks his head, hiding his smile a little, only to lift in again to nod. "You do. Of course you do."

Not sure what to say, he gestures vaguely back to the ballroom. "Should I... Would you... Would you like me to get you a drink?"

Quiet evenings are always a winning plan to Viatorus.

'Of course' she does? She's never been one to assume she's a good influence on someone's life, but if he's so certain who is she to argue? Her lower lip is caught between her teeth to keep herself from saying something foolish, but that doesn't stop the ridiculous little happy sound she makes.

She follows his gesture inside and shakes her head quickly. "No. Please, can we stay out here a little longer?" She's not ready to have anyone else seeing her make a fool of herself like this. Not yet.

As quickly as she asks, he replies, "Yes, yes, of course. Yes." And will use the hand that had been gesturing to rub the back of his head.

He has no idea what he should say or do so he opts to stay quiet for the moment. Maybe she's hoping for a particular kind of conversation or progression that his awkward attempts to make her feel better aren't helping with.

The quiet is just fine. He's there with her, she's safe, and there are chao climbing over their feet. Life is pretty good at the moment. It's a peaceful moment in which she can recover herself and steady her nerves.

"Thank you for being patient with me." He may think he's being awkward, but it seems pretty well-timed to her.

"Oh..." He smiles bashfully and dips his head again. "You're welcome. I'd be a very poor scholar if I couldn't be patient. B-Besides, it's even easier when it's for someone I care about."

Looking down means that he spots the chao climbing about their feet. When one of them decides to sit on his foot, he decides to tap his toes, giving the chao a little ride, much to its delight.

Maybe it's a good thing they're making each other blush so much. Maybe it'll get it out of their systems for the rest of the night. "I care about you, too." She hopes he already knew that, but, fair's fair.

The chao love rides. And they love V. V giving them rides is fantastic. "Keep that up, and you're going to get one that looks like you soon."

Or maybe they'll be stuck with a permanent blush and stay shy forever, through this night and the next. Her reply does get a large smile from him.

Viatorus is all smiling and cooing until Verity says that and he does a double take, blinking at her, brow sky high. "Sorry, come again?"

All the more reason to stick together, if that happens. She's not seeing a real problem with that.

"One of them started looking like me. She's pink and green and has little tattoo markings on her arms now. Naugus said that sometimes one will bond with someone and start looking like them." She's clearly looking forward to a Viachao to keep her Verichao company.

:O Well there's her dreams dashed.

I'm sure she'll find a way.

Does it have to be tea and cake? Could it be cake and tea?

It could be cake and tea, that would be acceptable.

Hope is restored!

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