exsiliumlogs | [open] welcome to the masquerade

Entry tags:

[open] welcome to the masquerade

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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[Katniss doesn't know why she's here.

Really, she doesn't.

Everything about this little soiree practically screams Capitol. The ornate, garish surroundings. The ridiculous clothes. The excess. Being put into a fancy dress for the sole purpose of some sick display, just like always. Nothing ever changes.

The thought is enough to turn her stomach.

For the moment, she is the perfect picture of a wallflower. A particularly grumpy and displeased wallflower. Removed from the festivities, she takes in her surroundings with a hardness in her eyes and her mouth set into a line that doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon.

(Approach if you dare?)]

[Making unhappy girls happy is one of Jesse's missions in life, so when he catches sight of Katniss looking so grumpy, he takes it as a challenge. It might help that he's dressed a little less ostentatiously than most of the other guests. He approaches her in the hallway, giving a smile as a peace offering.]

Hey.

[Alas, a peace offering won't do much when the war is still on. If she has any say in the matter, she won't be laying down her arms just yet. When this girl is determined to be miserable, she is determined to be miserable.

So, when the stranger approaches, he gets no response in return. At least, not a verbal one. Her eyes narrow just ever so slightly. Because if there's anything that annoys her more than this party, it's someone trying to be friendly at this party.]

[Well, Jesse's scrutinizing her expression enough to notice. Which encourages him. But as annoyed as she looks, she hasn't outright told him to fuck off - which is as good as an invitation to join her, as far as Jesse's concerned. He takes a sip from his drink and edges closer.]

I'm Jesse. I know I've seen you around, but I don't think I ever caught your name.

[Oh, that's far from an invitation or any kind of encouragement. She's most displeased by this development, and she'll make it known. With her eyes, with her general demeanor, with her tone of voice. Her arms cross over her chest.]

Katniss. [Simple, brusque. Flat as a pancake. Say-one-more-thing-to-me-I-dare-you.]

[He's not one to be discouraged by people loathing him.]

Nice to meet you, Katniss.

You, uh, look like you're having a great time.

[Oh, he dares to approach. Blaine knows that angry face from other threads on her first post where she threw that tantrum, even if she'd never seen his, much less with a mask on. He will try for more... cordial and less taunt this time around. With that in mind he grabs an extra drink from the table on his way over. If she doesn't take it, he'll drink it himself in due time. Standing next to her, he held up the drink, offering it.]

It's easier to deal with if you have a drink in hand.

[The voice. Yes, she recognizes the voice. In the haze of all the ones that answered her and lectured her (and annoyed her), that one stands out as being distinctly irritating. When she turns toward the source, lets her eyes scan from the costume to his outstretched offering, it isn't exactly in a manner that's friendly.

In any case, she doesn't take it.]

I'll pass.

[Oh, the recognition was there alright. It was like a flash of hostility on her already unfriendly face. Her eyes raked over him and he patiently waited for her verdict. Blaine would hardly call his white suit a costume. The mask, sure, but that was part of the fun.

He took the drink back without batting an eyelash. Instead he sipped on his before speaking.] You look like this is the last place you want to be.

[Everything that had annoyed her over the network only multiplies exponentially in person. There's a whole condescending demeanor to go with that condescending tone. A demeanor that's getting under her skin more and more by the second.

When she replies, there's an even flatter harshness to her voice.]

It is the last place I want to be.

[Oh, Blaine's hardly being condescending. If she thought he was now, she was just being overly sensitive. If anything, he's curious about the girl who claimed she would do nothing in order to get sent home and yet comes to a party.

His tone conveys that interest as he asks her the most pertinent question.]

Then why did you come?

[Well, isn't that the question of the hour. The question of the night. The question of the century.

And, naturally, she won't be providing an answer to it.

:)]

I didn't want to.

So you had to? [Doesn't really believe that.]

[Somehow, she can sort of tell. And somehow, that's not doing much to improve her general mood.]

Yes. [Is she starting to sound a little defensive? Nah]

They holding someone hostage somewhere? [And his question is curious, an eyebrow cocked ever so slightly.] Put a gun to your head while you put on that dress? It's a nice dress, by the way, so they do have taste and did you up well.

[It's kind of hilarious how grumpy and annoyed she looks. She approaches quietly, almost silently (despite her rather ostentatious outfit), to lean against the wall nearby]

You look like you're having fun.

[An ostentatious outfit that, let's be honest, doesn't exactly endear itself to Katniss. Nor does any of this help to abate the general annoyance she has at having her special little grumpyspace invaded.

So. In the flattest voice possible:]

Lots.

[She really wouldn't blame her, if she could remember anything about the Capitol. But she doesn't, and instead, she just smiles back. It's a more genuine smile, because even though she's dressed up all fancy, it's more to blend in than anything else]

I was teasing. [Just to clarify! She pauses] I don't blame you, this place is kind of ... [She makes a gesture towards the (fancy as hell) ceiling] A lot to take in.

[She doesn't smile in return. Far from it. That little line in her mouth just cements itself more deeply, and her eyes move away, following that gesture toward the ceiling. For a moment or two, she's silent while she examines it.]

It's ugly. [... Yeah, she's kind of blunt like that.]

[She's used to the stoic, silent, frowny type, so it doesn't really bother her that she doesn't get a smile back. But she does look a little surprised at her assessment of the castle. Even if it's extravagant, she wouldn't really pin it as "ugly", personally ...]

You think? [She glances at the ceiling briefly, before she looks back to her] What sorts of things do you think are beautiful?

[There are things that immediately come to mind, before she can stop them. The smile on Prim's face the day she brought her that goat. A sunset, one she enjoyed in a rare moment of quiet peace. Creations made by Cinna's hands. Cinna, who she saw beaten to a pulp right before her eyes, completely helpless to stop it while being trapped inside the launch tube.

... That was a personal question. Too personal.

There's another delay before a response. Only this time, her voice has lost some of its edge. Just a little, even if it's still short and flat.]

Nothing like this.

[Of course, she doesn't really get why it's too personal, but she gets the feeling that prying there would get her shut out even more.

Instead, she sighs, peeling the gloves off her arms as she talks]

Do you mind if I ask why you came, then?

[She spots Katniss -- and maybe she was one of the people that helped drag her here, all things considered. Blonde hair and all, she wanders over to the other girl with a smile.

Man, this whole shapeshifting thing is probably not going to help Katniss' mood any.]

-- hey. Uh, don't freak out -- it's just me. Mystique. But, you know, all -- blonde.

["Don't freak out," she says.

If anything has ever been wasted on deaf ears. Because this is precisely something that might cause someone to freak out.

She freezes. And stares with wide eyes. For a few very long moments. Very long moments. It'd been one thing to try to accept the existence of a blue.... person who kind of looks like her, which she's mostly managed to by now, even if it's still weird. It's another to see what is essentially a reflection, minus a change in hair color. There's a part of her, a distinct part of her, that doesn't take this at face value. That's going to default to being cautious, wary.

For its part, at least she's been (temporarily) removed from grumpsville]

How..--?

[See, so she's totally doing Katniss a favour by getting her mind off the party and on to figuring out what exactly she is! That's not the worst thing that could ever happen. She clears her throat and takes off the mask, figuring that might help things at least a little. It's a bit more subtle than completely shapeshifting in front of the girl, so she settles for shifting one eye back to its regular gold.]

Let's call it a natural-born talent.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[open] welcome to the masquerade

anywhere, open, etc. and so on and so forth :)

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sob i'm so sorry jesse

lmfao

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