applesaucedream | Paper Faces on Parade

Current Music: March 1, 2013

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Paper Faces on Parade

The residents of Manhattan will once again find themselves drawn into the currents of the rift when they sleep tonight. Once again, too, the rift is drawing in people from other worlds, both those who might one day find themselves pulled through in waking life and those who might yet escape its grasp.

Tonight, it seems, a celebration is in order. The ballroom of a country manor is the setting for tonight's gathering. Wood and marble gleam in the gas lighting, and a bar at one end of the room provides the, ahem, social lubricant some guests may require. At the other end, a staircase leads to a walkway that runs the entire parameter of the room, allowing guests to watch the dancing from above. While the party is localized in the ballroom, who knows what secret passages and hidden ways a grand old house like this one might conceal?

Those who appear here will find themselves wearing a disguise on arrival. Should the rift cause one to appear in a costume not of their liking (as it is fairly likely to do), an enormous wardrobe can be found through a door near the bar. In it, guests will find a seemingly infinite assortment of costumes and masks of all sizes and varieties ready for their use.

[Mod note: Usual dream-party rules apply. Both members and non-members are welcome to use any character, be they already in the game or no, and players can choose whether to have their characters remember this in the morning.]

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Edgar stumbles up the staircase after Daine. The view is much better from up top; the ballroom below is crowded with people. Edgar recognizes a few, despite their costumes, but the majority are strangers with their masks. He's pleased to see that many are more ostentatiously dressed than he is.

Daine pushes her mask up, the better to gaze down at the revelers below. "This isn't really my sort of party," she admits after a few moments, turning away from the view and leaning back against the railing. She'd had to attend similar functions in Carthak, and she'd spent them hiding in alcoves until she was excused.

The way she says it makes Edgar think it isn't a recent judgment.

You've been to parties like this before? he asks. Just below them, a couple strolls into sight, the man wearing an elaborate mask adorned with peacock feathers. His partner's mask looks so heavy with white feathers and jewels, Edgar is surprised it is staying on her face.

Not if she could help it. "Not exactly like this, with the masks and all." She hasn't been able to decide if she likes looking at the array of decorated faces, or if she'd rather be able to recognize folk more easily. "But similar. Lots of fancy clothes and dancing." She lifts a shoulder, her smile a bit rueful. "I tended to hide in out-of-the-way places until I was allowed to leave."

This is different, though. She might be stuck here, but at least she's not required to stay put in the ballroom and mind her manners lest she disappoint their majesties with her poor behavior.

'Out-of-the-way places.' Edgar's noticed a few doors leading out of the main room and finds his curiosity piqued. He hasn't yet got his bearings in the new surroundings - and he's not quite comfortable in his own costume - to feel brave enough to enter the fray below. But exploring?

What to go explore? he asks, a smile in his tone.

Daine grins, glad he suggested it. Exploring had already struck her as a far more obvious source of entertainment than the party itself, but she hadn't wanted to drag Edgar away from the ballroom if he was more interested in staying. "Definitely. I've only been a little ways away from the ballroom so far, but this place seems fair huge." Maybe they could even find their way outside for some fresh air.

Edgar glances around before spotting a door - diagonal from them across the room, and on the main floor below - that people appear to be ignoring. Let's go check out that one, he says, pointing in its direction.

He then lets his hand slip down to take Daine's before he leads her in that direction, weaving among the other party guests also taking in the view.

Daine looks down at the door, then nods in agreement. "All right." She can see why he might have chosen it; folk are passing by or standing near it, but she can't see anyone actually using it. Grinning in anticipation, she follows after Edgar, her free hand stopping her mask from falling off.

Edgar's getting that same heady sense of anything, of possibility that he has sometimes in dreams, and he finds himself hurrying along. He almost knocks someone over as he and Daine reach the stairs, but he manages to avoid a collision at the last moment.

Throwing an apologetic smile over his shoulder, he all but dances down the last few stairs.

He glances at Daine as they pause for a second at the door, then he turns the knob with his free hand and steps through.

Edgar's enthusiasm is catching, and she has to fight back a giggle as he hauls her toward the stairs. She completely fails to bite back a laugh when he almost plows into someone, but she does manage to throw a, "sorry!" over her shoulder before following Edgar down the stairs.

When they pause in front of the door, Daine grins and inclines her head toward it, as if to say, 'after you.' Then, she follows him through.

Her feet sink a little into the thick maroon carpet that runs the length of the hallway, and she blinks as her eyes adjust to the dimmer light. As the door swings shut behind them, muffling the sounds of the party, she can't help letting out a little sigh of relief. Much better.

"What do you think?" she asks, pulling her mask off and letting it dangle from her free hand as she considers the doors lining both sides of the hallway. "We could try some of these, or we could see what's further down."

The hallway is much quieter (and darker) than the ballroom, and Edgar feels himself relax as the door shuts behind them.

He hadn't been expecting so many choices, though. He pushes his mask up on top of his head and squints down the hallway before answering Daine.

Pick at random? he suggests.

"This place must be even bigger than I thought." But that's no bad thing, it just means there's more to explore.

Daine starts down the hall, bypassing the first few doors. She doubts anything so close to the ballroom would be equally interesting, and anyway, part of the fun is getting away from the party. It's not until they've put a little distance between themselves and the ballroom that she tries one of the doors on the left. It's unlocked, and swings open easily under her hand. She gives Edgar an anticipatory little grin, then peeks inside.

Now, this is interesting. "Goddess," Daine breathes as she steps into a conservatory. The sun has long since set, allowing moonlight to filter through the glass panes that make up the roof. The effect is so natural that it takes Daine a moment to realize that they haven't actually stepped outside. "It's all glass," she says, a bit awed by the craftsmanship. She supposes the walls must all be glass, too, except for the one behind them - and when she glances back, she sees that the brick surrounding the doorway is mostly covered in ivy. "This is wondrous!" She grins at Edgar, then starts making her way towards what sounds like running water.

Edgar fully agrees. The effect of the moonlight on the unexpected scene makes it all feel a bit dream-like (a thought that makes Edgar grin wryly, given his current situation).

He wanders after Daine leisurely, the grin fading into a soft, contented smile. He can smell jasmine - and something he can identify, but which has a faint lemony scent - and the general heady smell of greenery.

He catches up with Daine at a fountain. A glance in the pool below it has his grin coming back full force.

Look! he says, after laying a hand on Daine's arm. Koi!

"Oh - is that what you call those fish?" Daine peers down into the pool, admiring the flashes of color their scales give off as they swim past the lights mounted along the sides.

She doesn't really talk to fish. Their minds aren't as easy for her to grasp as those of warm-blooded animals. Part of it, too, is self-preservation: she can't bring herself to eat animals she's close to, and she needs some meat in her diet. Still, she can't resist dangling her fingertips in the water, and it's not long before she has curious fish nibbling away at her.

Edgar lifts his eyes to stare through the conservatory ceiling. Between tree limbs, he can spot constellations. He isn't surprised that he recognizes none of them.

He is surprised when he hears birdsong, however. He cocks his head, listening, and absentmindedly starts moving toward the sound.

It takes Daine a moment to realize Edgar's wandered off, and he's almost disappeared around a curve in the path when she spots him. She lifts her hand out of the pond and follows after him, shaking her hand dry (since she doesn't want to wipe it on her dress).

When she sees him walk right past a rather impressive cluster of orchids without pause, it occurs to her that he's wandering with a bit more purpose than she'd thought. "Edgar? What are you looking for?"

Without pausing, Edgar takes her hand. Don't you hear them?

They reach an intersection of paths and Edgar almost continues straight before pausing. A fragment of birdsong drifts to him through the now muffled sound of the fountain, and it pulls him down the right-hand path instead.

It's just a bit down that path that they come across a large, ovular birdcage. It's made of white wicker, and is a few feet taller than Edgar, and about as wide as he can stretch his arms. Inside are a half-dozen or more birds, all species Edgar doesn't recognize.

"Hear wh--oh, the birds?" That's odd. Normally she'd've noticed them as soon as she stepped in, but it's only now that she can feel the brush of their minds against hers. She frowns thoughtfully, letting Edgar lead the way until they reach the birdcage.

They're not the Emperor's birds, but they could be. "Tanager," she says, nodding at a striking black and scarlet bird clinging to the wicker bars. "And those are painted finches, near the back." When she steps up to the cage, the birds cluster as near to her as they can get, some on perches, and some clinging to the sides of the cage. After a few moments of silent conference, she admits, "They're well cared for."

For some reason, Edgar has a hard time believing that birds kept in cages are "well cared for." He pokes a fingertip into the cage and one of the smaller birds nearby nips it gently.

But are they happy? he asks Daine.

He might be surprised, though it rather depends on the cage. And this one is a fair bit smaller than either Daine or the birds would like.

"They'd be happier if they had the whole room to fly around in," she replies, her expression carefully innocent.

Edgar gives Daine a sly look. I expect they would, he replies. Do you think we should let them out?

As the birds start flapping around the cage and chirping at his words, Edgar assumes they agree.

"We wouldn't be doing any real harm," Daine says, biting back a grin. "It's not as if we'd be letting them out into the wilderness, after all."

We would just be giving them a bigger cage, Edgar says, his tone exceptionally dry. He places a hand on the cage latch, studiously avoiding the eyes of the red and black bird that lands on the bar that holds it. Just give them more room to spread their wings.

"But a very nice one." Daine sets her hand over Edgar's and raises an eyebrow at him. "On three?"

Edgar nods. One, two, three!

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