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]

“Magic first,” Eliot said. “Then booze to cope while I learned how magic really works. It’s far more complicated and likely to blow up on you than it seems in the stories. But then, the best things always are.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

"Definitely," Hannibal agreed. "If they were simple, they'd be boring. Is magic purely a learned thing in your world, then, or does it also involve an innate talent? I've known people from a number of different worlds, and it seems to vary."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“A little of both, really. The popular theory is that magic springs from great trauma, but that might just be how we all make ourselves feel better at night.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

"Hm. A very interesting theory, whether it's true or not," Hannibal said. "Are there people that deliberately traumatize themselves to get more magic?"

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“Probably?” Eliot shrugged idly. “I don’t know any personally — frankly the world does a great job of fucking us up all on its own, no extra effort necessary.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

"You would think so," Hannibal agreed. And yet, people. "But there is no accounting for what some people will do."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“True,” Eliot allowed. “I once knew of a man who gave himself extra fingers to be able to cast more powerfully. And he replaced his head with a bunch of moths. People will do pretty much anything.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

"I can understand the extra fingers," Hannibal mused, "but the moths sound impractical and undesirable for any number of reasons."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“Not if your main goal is obscuring your identity and making people shit themselves in terror,” Eliot said.

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

Hannibal thought about it and shrugged. "In that case, I can think of more terrifying things that still leave you with a functional face and better able to blend in in a crowd."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“Yeah, he literally called himself ‘The Beast’ and ran around terrorizing a magical kingdom for like. Half a century. I don’t think subtlety was one of his major goals.” He pulled out his flask and took a long sip. The Beast had been responsible for several of the deaths Eliot had experienced, after all.

“Also the moths could like. Turn back into his face when he needed them to? I guess. I didn’t really ask for many details.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

"That does sound better," Hannibal conceded. He shrugged. "Clearly it worked for him, but let's say it isn't the approach I might have taken."

Moths, honestly.

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“I should certainly hope not. But as you said, people do weird shit.”

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[sharp_man]

Hannibal toasted him. "There is certainly no accounting for taste."

Re: Arrive and Say Hi

[existencemisspent]

“That there is not,” Eliot agreed, giving a little bow in acknowledgment of the toast. “More’s the pity.”