not_a_goddamn_princess | MASQUERADE PARTY, 33 Apocalypse Ave, Friday Evening

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!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

existencemisspent

“So what you’re saying is, you’re a superhero and a super-nerd?”

From:

what_the_shock

"Got it in one," Miguel answered. "Former head of experimental genetics for an evil megacorp, current Spider-Man, and those two things are not unrelated." Even if he hadn't technically done it on purpose. "But the fringe benefits aren't bad."

From:

existencemisspent

“Wait, were you an actual mad scientist?”

From:

what_the_shock

Miguel grimaced. "I mean, not on purpose? Except for one of the island's weird weekends, but those really don't count. I just had a job, and it turned out my boss was bigger on profits than morals."

From:

existencemisspent

“So . . . they were like any boss.”

From:

what_the_shock

"Pretty much," Miguel agreed. "This one had a thing for human experimentation with inadequately proven techniques and highly addictive genetically bonding drugs."

He grimaced and made grabby hands at the liquor. "Any of that really strong? I hate talking about this shocking stuff."

From:

existencemisspent

Eliot pondered, then summoned a bottle from the liquor cabinet with a simple levitation spell.

“Polish vodka. 96% alcohol by volume. Strongest non magical shit I know of.”

From:

what_the_shock

"Sounds disgusting," Miguel noted. "It'll do."

From:

existencemisspent

“I mean. It’s vodka.” Eliot shrugged and handed the bottle over. “Enjoy.”

From:

what_the_shock

Miguel took the bottle, then looked at Eliot. "Okay, I'm not that sad. Do I get a glass?"

From:

existencemisspent

“What? You said you burn it off fast. I figured you might just chug.” Eliot grabbed a small tumbler. “Ice?”

From:

what_the_shock

"Nah, just the glass," Miguel said, holding out his hand for it. "I could chug if I had to, but I'm not really into addict-chic if I can avoid it. Might as well be a little classier."

From:

existencemisspent

“Suit yourself,” Eliot said, and slid his flask from his pocket. How else would he respond to that ‘addict-chic’ comment than by throwing in some addict behavior of his own?

He took a sip, and handed Miguel the glass.

From:

what_the_shock

Miguel rolled his eyes. Hey, a flask was still classier than drinking from the bottle.

He filled the tumbler and downed it with a grimace, then did it again. Then waited a few seconds until he could feel it start to work. He poured another glass and sipped at this one as he spoke, keeping up enough of a buzz that, combined with the times he'd told this story before, muted it a bit.

"So, I was a dick, right? I mean, I kind of still am, but - a bigger one. Trying to build superspies for the nasty megacorp. Boss decided on human trials. Wouldn't listen we weren't ready. It was...bad. Super shocked...fucked up."

From:

existencemisspent

“Did people explode? That happens sometimes.”

Eliot was definitely not thinking about how he and Margo had experienced his own fucked up failure at jacking up their power. . . .

He was definitely tucking his flask away again though. Just in case.

From:

what_the_shock

Miguel looked a little green. "Less exploded, more..." he gestured, "melted. Still alive. For a minute." He shook his head and downed a little more vodka. "So, I went to my boss, and I said I quit! Not doing that anymore, leave me out."

From:

existencemisspent

Eliot nodded. “A valid course of action.”

From:

what_the_shock

"Right?" Miguel gestured with his vodka and refilled the glass. "And he said, 'Great! No problem! Only I've just dosed you with this great drug that binds to your DNA and is instantly addictive, and oh, yeah, we're the only legal supplier. Why don't you go home and think about things?' Shocking asshole."

From:

existencemisspent

Eliot opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“. . . Well shit.”

At least Eliot had been allowed to come about his various addictions the regular way.

From:

what_the_shock

"Yeah." Miguel took another drink and a deep breath. "So, I figured - the drug is genetically addictive. Like, in your genes. Except that rewriting genes is what I do, and what kind of overconfident asshole would I be if I wasn't using my own DNA as a template for things, right? So I'll just sneak into work, load up my non-addicted template, rewrite my current DNA with the original, all is good. What could go wrong?"

It was Marvel. So, so many things.

From:

existencemisspent

“. . . I can think of a few things.”

There was a reason magicians in Eliot’s world usually only used illusion magic on themselves. And why healing magic wasn’t anywhere near as miraculous as it was always portrayed to be in media.

From:

what_the_shock

Miguel snorted. "Sure, you say that now. But the alternative was...well." He gestured to try to encompass 'being addicted to hallucinogens and controlled by your evil boss to keep melting people alive'.

From:

existencemisspent

"You're fucked either way. I'm familiar with the sensation."

From:

what_the_shock

"Right." Miguel nodded. "So, better to be fucked on my own terms, right? So, into work, load my own DNA, get in the chair, start it all up."

He nodded. "So, all those ways you could think of for it to go wrong, do any of them involve a jealous coworker and about fifty percent spider DNA?"