[open] welcome to the masquerade

[implying]

Date & Time: Friday the 7th, 4pm to midnight.
Location: Palace of Versailles, France, 1772.
Characters: anyone! Even characters not yet accepted as of when this log goes up. 8)
Summary: It's just some fancy masquerade dance with spiked punch.
Warnings: here be pictures, slow connections beware.


Welcome to Versailles.

The decorations are arranged, the food is prepared and laid out, the music has been rehearsed, and... most people have their costumes and masks ready. At precisely 1600, the Transporter machine activates, and a full room of people and all of their decorations, food, musical instruments, and costumes are sent back to 1772. The Palace of Versailles is in the height of its splendor, the weather is perfect and cloudless, and the gardens are in full bloom for the spring.

➣ Explore the Palace

Holy shit look at this, you have the chance to get your grubby little fingers all over history before it even becomes properly history. Do you know how many famous butts sat in all these plush velvet chairs? Or are going to sit in these plush velvet chairs? And they were all probably just talking the hell out of French, too. Wow. Go invade some bedrooms, poke your head into the kitchens (but no more than that, or territorial cooking elves might take offense), just. Touch everything. Everything. Just know that where ever you are, there's no escaping that beautiful music your fellow Transports are inflicting on you, that shit's just echoing all over the place tonight.

➣ Admire the Gardens

Jeez look at this, these people just had way too much money. But you get to benefit from it! You can basically just get yourself lost for hours here, so try not to starve or anything. Meet all the statues, go streaking through the fountains (please don't, no one wants to see that), get lost and desperately burst through cute little trees in your increasingly frantic attempts to find the exit. There's all sorts of fun you can have!

Just don't wander too close to the edge of the grounds, or you'll encounter (run into?) the invisible forcefield set up to keep wandering guests from utterly ruining history. That's probably a good way to get yourself a bloody nose.

➣ Enjoy the Banquet

There's tables and tables of this finger-licking good finery here, and it's all for you. And can you believe how fancy it is? Oh my god, those sausages have adorable little spears through them. And those spoons gently cradling their cheesy goodness? Yeah. They're made of crackers. And don't even get me started on these desserts. This is amazing. You've never eaten this good. And naturally, each drink (some of which are spiked, you're welcome) has adorable little frozen flowers in the ice cubes. Who even comes up with this stuff? Elves, that's who.

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Comments

[selfloyalty]

[Her counting hitches a little as he initially does manage to scuff one of her shoes, but as he settles she's pleasantly surprised. A bit awkward, yes. He isn't about to go sweeping his Warden friend off her feet with amazing dancing skills any time soon, but it can be managed with some practice and fine-tuning. It's passable enough where he could ask someone to dance and they would not get themselves killed.

She counts out loud again when she does sense him about to go out of rhythm, and the rest of the time she watches him with a studying gaze, lessening her lead slightly to see if he takes the opportunity.]

You should give yourself a bit more credit. You are not terrible at this once you manage to start.

[tipsygnostalgia]

I've never danced with anyone until tonight, and I mean I even got Sollux to dance with me, so c'monnn! Please?

[gamora]

[ She's only eating the fancy food because a fight hasn't broken out. But it's hard to miss the figure in the shadows who's been keeping an eye on her for most of the night. While at first it was merely an annoyance, it becomes a problem when he doesn't stop. ]

Well why don't you just say something?

[ Said once she's close enough for him to hear her. ]

[stoning]

Not at all! It's actually my best skill...that is, following.

[She snorts a little your dancing partner, Ms. Kane.]

Lead away!

[stoning]

Dude if that's the prize, I want in on this competition.

[She pouts.]

Too bad it's a secret.

[strategic_guile]

[A sound of agreement. Lifts glass and gives a wry smile as he says jokingly.] To good intentions.

[sharpe]

[ He has plenty of pride of a soldier, but mostly against deserters, because mercenaries are rare where and when he comes from. There are so many armies, and those who roam free and sell their services aren't very much trusted when your nationality basically trumps everything. ]

I ain't see the difference 'tween mercenaries and 'freelancers'. [ Honestly. ] Though it seems strange that they ask ta fight a war, and the first I see is- [ he waves an arm, indicating Versailles ] this.

[ Beat. ]

Niceties have their places, anyhow, but it ain't in war.

[slingshots]

Really?

[ She goes from slightly off-put to immediately interested, and man she wishes he didn't have the sunglasses on. ]

So, what, we talkin' x-ray, or...?

[motherofnemesis]

Twenty eight years worth of perfect is a lot of perfect. You know history?

[ And she's not really intent on prying, so that garners him a polite nod as she shrugs it off. No big deal, it's all good by her, her body language indicates. ] Happens to the best of us.

[gamora]

Not worth the trouble.

[ It's a personal thing - something that breaks easily isn't worth having around. ]

Did you want one?

[swissarmybow]

[Right, he'll settle for inexplicable awkwardness, should it come to that. Perhaps it's sad, but she doesn't ring a single bell for him at all. She's just another beautiful woman in a sea of many. Alright, though, this one just happens to be talking to him, but eh. He'll be over here being mildly unimpressed.]

It's... different. Truth be told, I'm not much of a party animal. Some interesting people, though.

[solitaire]

_{( . . . )}

I'll level with you, girl--none of dat made sense, t'me.

[limitstorm]

[ and in hearing her murmur, Riku closes his own eyes to amplify the amount of sounds he could catch. as a blind dancer, he's good--he keeps Simmaeri away from everyone else and doesn't bump into other pairs. he doesn't step on feet. it's more or less like he has his eyes open. ]

[limitstorm]

[ he can't help but laugh at that. it's too easy to imagine Kyouko threatening one of the elves, even dressed like that. ]

I don't doubt it. 'least there's plenty to go around... and steal.

I never would've guessed you liked dressing up.

[priad]

I suppose but I've been to supposedly safe functions before and seen the whole thing erupt in a giant panic that ended with the Princess of Cartomax shooting me in the chest with a lasgun,

[ It barely scorched his armor and then he stole her yacht but no need to give ALL the details. ]

[limitstorm]

[ he straightens as he stands beside her, looking out to the dance floor. ]

You like dancing?

[priad]

The fortieth Millennium, then.

[limitstorm]

"Temporal... landscape." Riku echoes, raising a brow, canting his head, as his arms fold over his chest. Temporal--oh. "You're checking out the time field the Initiative put up?"

[fortissimos]

It's a type of show where I'm from. They're kinda like cartoons, but not exactly.

[ But really, a fancy as hell masquerade isn't the place to stand and discuss the intricacies of anime. She reaches out to grab Kanaya's arm, stepping back inside through the doorway. ]

I'll tell you about it later, okay? C'mon.

[priad]

[ His voice rumbles from his voxcaster, filtered by the technological device. ]

Because I have nothing to say.

[ He cocks his head and looks down at her. ]

Unless you believe there is something I should say. Or do.

Re: larsa solidor | ffxii | open!

[chargethesebatteries]

[The familiar faces are few and far between, but she can't help but watch in amusement as one glides in her direction. She offers Larsa a bit of a grin and nods in acknowledgement.]

Now why am I not at all surprised to see you here, Solidor? You look about as deep in your element as I do out of it right now.

[priad]

Nor do I but they make a point of insisting on it. [ He gives a scowl of distaste. ]

Aye, but sometimes places like this become places of war. I've seen it before, when watching a sniveling little runt become crowned a king, and, well... it is a long story, but mostly involves generals and princesses trying to order me about.

[ He smiles, looking almost roguish. ]

That did not go as they planned.

Ha you might have to mentally edit down the mask it turns out Feferi's offerings are not so great...

[speakveryclearly]

That doesn't --

[She's about to launch into her rationale for the offering, but then she's caught by surprise when registering the direct address from Painwheel.]

How do you know my name? [Beat. The likeliest explanation is the famous post she made... hmm...] At least you're not calling me Captain or anything like that.

[strategic_guile]

We only have to train once a week. [He shrugs; even though he definitely trains more than that and looks it.]

If they want to bitch they can up the requirements, but we know the ones who complain aren't the ones with the power to do that, so ignore them.

[speakveryclearly]

[Kanaya turns - the voice and its owner recognized as familiar - and is not surprised by the apron sensibilities either.] So do you, Alice - red and black terribly suits everyone, especially you. [She can't help but think about quadrants as she says it. Maybe she'll forward her file on that topic to Alice sometime.]

I'm so glad that this gala has given us all an opportunity to look our best.