[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

[solitaire]

_{( . . . )}

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

[studieswaitressing]

...yeah, it doesn't seem to be a common thing.

[She rubs the back of her neck and shrugs.]

Charles took me in when I was pretty young.

[solitaire]

Oui. He's good, at dat. _{( Not really in Remy's case, but he appreciates the man a lot more than he used to. He pauses, there, running things over in his mind. Then, after a moment: )}

I actually go by Gambit, mostly. 'Specially with the X-men.

[studieswaitressing]

Well, most of the time.

[That's not a story for right now, though, so she just shifts her arms to cross over her chest and nods.]

Gambit. That sounds a little better, anyway. You just missed my Charles being here. It's a shame -- I'm sure he'd love to hear all about himself.

[Maybe it would've done him some good to meet someone who thought highly of him, all things considered. The idea only serves to make her frown briefly.]

[solitaire]

Ha--maybe not from me. _{( His laugh is a bark, almost. The idea of a new Charles Xavier trusting him is a bit unbelievable. )}

[studieswaitressing]

No?

[She cants her head to the side slightly.]

What makes you say that, exactly?

[solitaire]

Telepaths... dey like people better when they can see into their heads, no? _{( He shrugs. He reveled in not being trusted, some days, and other times it made him itch in his skin. )}

[studieswaitressing]

[She frowns, shrugging her shoulders.]

He trusted me, and he never looked into my head.

[Or -- so he'd always told her. She trusted him, though, to tell her the truth about that.]

[solitaire]

_{( Another shrug. )}

Lucky for you, then. _{( He stalls, turning something over in his head. )} Y'said he's gone, now?

[studieswaitressing]

...yeah, not too long ago.

[It's obvious it still bothers her at least a little.]

[solitaire]

...sorry t'hear. _{( His voice could not have less inflection. )}

[studieswaitressing]

[She just makes a face that suggests she probably caught that flatness. Seriously, dude?

...well, at least he's trying.]

Yeah, I'm really not used to sharing space with anyone other than him.

[And maybe, maybe Magneto.]

[solitaire]

Den this place must be awful, for you.

_{( He's twitchy. He doesn't have anything in his hands to mess with--coins, cards--so he drums his fingers against his leg. )}

[studieswaitressing]

[She shrugs.]

It wasn't so bad until Charles up and left, aside from the occasional person who sees someone who looks different and tries to shoot first and ask questions -- uh, never, actually.

[The half-hearted frown just says that maybe she wishes she didn't have to get used to that sort of a reaction.]

[solitaire]

That jus' sounds like life, ta me.

_{( Which isn't really all that fair a comparison--since he looks human enough except for the eyes, and those he can use to play up his own drama. )}

You'd think wit' everyone bein' different, here, they'd lay off.

_{( You'd think. But it never really happened that way. )}

[studieswaitressing]

I think people are always going to make excuses for doing stupid things.

[She shrugs her shoulders.]

You're probably right, though. For mutants, at least.

[solitaire]

Not jus' us. _{( He says that with a bit of certainty. Then, as though he realizes how that must sound, he says: )}

But we do get da worst of it, most times.

[studieswaitressing]

Some of us more than others.

[She's actually referring to Magneto when she says that.]

[solitaire]

_{( The hall is crowded enough that it isn't likely anyone is overhearing them talk, but Gambit takes a step towards the gardens, anyway. Over his shoulder, he says: )}

Depends on how y'look at it. All of us have a story, I think.

[studieswaitressing]

Yeah, some of us are just better at hiding it.

[Like her brother, in some ways. Charles was far from perfect, but he'd hate to let people know that. She watches him start toward the gardens and opts to follow him. He hasn't been so bad, yet.]

[solitaire]

_{( Outside, he stretches his arms above his head and looks out at the horizon line. He glares at it, for a moment, before turning back to Mystique. )}

You know we're trapped in here, too?

[studieswaitressing]

I kind of figured they wouldn't let us go far. There's too many people who'd try to make a break for it.

[Herself included, now that nobody from 'home' was trapped here with her. Why not just make a new life for yourself somewhere interesting?]

[solitaire]

_{( He reaches down, grabbing a rock from the ground. In another moment, he's thrown it as hard as he can--it hits whatever barrier is there and explodes, small enough that it doesn't shake things up too much, but bright enough to look like a small pink firework. Remy grimaces. )}

Guess they took it literal. Versailles bein' a cage.

[studieswaitressing]

...you know, I'm suddenly really glad that you didn't just decide to go running at that thing.

You'd think it'd be a hazard at a party like this.

[solitaire]

I mighta tried it, earlier. _{( He rubs a hand along the back of his neck, bashful for a moment. )}

Sure, it is. Didn't you see the folks trying to mop up nosebleeds?