MASQUERADE PARTY, 33 Apocalypse Ave, Friday Evening

[not_a_goddamn_princess]

Party night. The best of nights. An ornate sign on 33 Apocalypse’s door invited all to knock and make themselves known.

The space inside was bigger than it looked from the outside, stretched and displaced by magic. The wallpaper was green and textured, hinting at the English countryside. On one side of the room sat a significant bar offering food and drinks, while the other gave ample space to sit. A large Jenga tower held prominence in a corner.

It was easy to miss it, though, in favor of the little streams of water that ran across furniture and floor. Tiny glass gondolas, animated by magic, made their way back and forth across each stream. The gondolas were real, though the water itself was an illusion. It called attention to the ceiling, doubly enchanted: both to draw all cigarette smoke to itself so it wouldn’t blow in anyone’s face, but also to mimic the starry sky above Venice.

You could watch the stars twinkle, or see the occasional cloud go by. Magical fireflies added to the illusion, dancing through the air like tiny lights. If you listened closely, you could hear the sea rolling in across an invisible beach. Even the air smelled faintly of it: the sea, warm food and good wine.

Welcome to Eliot and Margo’s pad, people. They’d make damn sure you had a good time.

[ocd up, come party!]

Comments

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

"Eliot Waugh," Eliot said, with an appropriately respectful (if not a bit extra florid) bow. "And I would love some, my new samurai friend."

He didn't so much as blink at that trick with the cups. Manifesting cups was a simple first year trick for any Physical Kid worth their placement at Brakebills.

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

"Please," Shunsui grinned as he poured a little bit of sake into each of the cups, one with slightly more than the other, and offered it out for Eliot for him to choose between the two, "Shunsui will suffice ♥. It is a pleasure to meet you, Eliot-san, and to share with you may sake ♥."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“Shunsui,” Eliot echoed with a nod, selecting the slightly more full cup. (What? He was glad he wasn’t only going to be drinking his own alcohol this evening.) “The pleasure is all mine. Welcome to the party.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

"There is no where else," Shunsui declared confidently, now giving the remaining cup a lift in a salute and a toast, "I'd rather be ♥. To good parties, good wine, and even better company ♥."

And with that, of course, he sipped.

Or, really, he drained the cup, and then wasted little time in pouring himself some more.

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

"Hear hear," Eliot said, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of Shunsui draining his cup, then following suit himself. "That is some excellent sake, thank you."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

"Well, the invite did say to bring our best magic, did it not ♥?" asked Shunsui, as he tilted the jug Eliot's way with a questioning, inviting tilt of his head. "And I can think of few magics finer than a good sake ♥."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

Eliot sighed happily, holding out his cup for a refill.

"You, sir, have the heart of a poet."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

"More than just the heart of one ♥!" Shunsui announced proudly as he refilled the cup. "I actually am one ♥! I find it rather hard not to be, really, when the world itself seemed to absolutely be infused with potential poetry, right at our very fingertips ♥."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

"In my experience it's generally more of a horror novel, but I can see your point," Eliot said. "Tell me more about your world."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

Something about those two thoughts together in particular meant Shunsui had to laugh, just a little, and he could think of only one way to respond to it, all things considered.

"Well, for starters," he drawled, lifting his cup in preparation for his next sip, "I am dead....♥."

Always a great way to start that particular conversation.

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“. . . Ah! Well. I’ve died a few times myself. I must say, you look rather . . . lively for a dead man.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sake_shinigami]

Shunsui ducked his head with a sweeping gesture of his arm in gratitude for the compliment.

"I've had some practice ♥," he offered. "Although, technically, I am far more a Soul than a dead man; if I ever was a dead man, it's been so long that I honestly can't even remember a life before this one..."

Which also meant that Shunsui may have also never have actually been a dead man, and was one of the those rare Pule Souls, but...

He never really did care to sort through all of those technicalities.

"So, to the point," he then drawled, "where I'm from is the...very creatively named Soul Society, where most Souls in my world are sherpherded after life. It's terribly boring, incredibly tedius, and finds itself threatened by nefarious forces far too often, if you ask me, but what can be done? Everything there exists in a delicate balance that if it were to be upset, it all ends with it. The mortal world, the afterlife, and everything in between and beyond..."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“Ugh,” Eliot said with feeling. “Worlds can be so fragile sometimes, can’t they.”