after-party ♔ april

[wynn]

♬ Jeux d'eau - Ravel

WHO || Wynn, any and all Knights not currently on missions (if you are uncertain if your character would be at the castle for this, ask!)
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Ballroom
WHEN || April 1st, 2014, 6:00PM [backdated]
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

The "afterparty" is rumored to be the real main event of the night. A black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, it is every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Of course, a couple hours are provided following the ceremony for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope you aren't shy. They're all here to meet you.

Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

ooc; also if your Knight wants to get all gussied up, you can make a Disguise (Cha) check for how good they were at hair/makeup/stylin', etc! This goes for... any time.

Comments

[nothingsodivine]

The Shadowkind'll laugh at you if you say that. [He smirks without looking up.] Not that they know what it's like. And if you get my age, you're less of an anomaly and more of a freak, as far as they're concerned. No one likes being called a kid by a human.

[daredtobelieve]

Most of them know better than to laugh at me. I know them well enough by name, species, and culture to know how to speak to them. But you and I aren't the same as their lot. And it's only within the last few decades that I knew anything about Shadowkind at all.

There is a difference in being born into an extended lifespan. You know what to expect. It becomes your norm. I only came through the Veil a few decades past. Before that, I spent more than a century living in a very human world.

[nothingsodivine]

I've only lived in this one.

[He doesn't know which of them that sucks more for- the fish out of water or the guy who has seen it all and still can't get his head around it.]

But I don't remember what it's like to not be this way.

[daredtobelieve]

[Suddenly, Helen is very aware of the fact that they're discussing this on the dance floor.]

Would you like to go somewhere? To talk?

[nothingsodivine]

Guess I'm doing a lot of that tonight. [Talking. He shoves his hands into his pockets.] Lead the way.

[daredtobelieve]

[She can guess that maybe he doesn't do much of it normally? Or at least not the sort of talking that's not just quips and flirtatious banter. He's got those just fine, from what she's seen.

Helen takes him the Dragon's Hoard wing, to the corner of the lab that she calls home. There are a few chairs, but it's all very clean and clinical.]

Can I interest you in any tea? [Yeah she keeps a kettle down here. Fight her.]

[nothingsodivine]

You got anything stronger? [You British and your tea.]

[daredtobelieve]

[She looks around, as if trying to remember where to find something.]

Aha! [Digging in a back cabinet, she finds a bottle of scotch. When Helen drinks, she is not at all dainty about it.]

Will this do? Just try to keep quiet about it. Keeping this in the lab likely wouldn't earn me any brownie points.

[nothingsodivine]

You care about brownie points?

[He drops into the nearest seat and unscrews the cap on the bottle. Des has no propriety and rather than rifle about for some glasses, he just... swigs from it. He'll buy you another one. He's having an emotional night.]

[daredtobelieve]

Not really but one must keep up appearances.

[she doesn't seem bothered by him drinking straight from the bottle. It's some good shit though.]

I have to admit, I'm terribly curious about what it is that did this to you.

[nothingsodivine]

It was a she.

[He stares at the bottle to see what the hell this is, because yes, it's good shit. He'll buy two.]

Divine being who thought a suicidal bastard had a little more he could offer the world.

[daredtobelieve]

[Whatever answer she was expecting, that wasn't it. Helen knows that there are gods here, beings with enormous power on the full range of the moral spectrum. She's just never dealt with one directly.]

So when you tried to end your life, she made it impossible for you to do so. That's... [She trails off, not sure how to describe it. Terrible seems to sum it up, but even then, it seems to fall short. Helen leans against a nearby counter.]

Just how old are you, really? [More than a few centuries, he said previously. Somehow, she thinks it's more than that.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des takes another swig and says a sentence or two in a language that's been dead for a few thousand years, though a wisdom check of 16+ can catch that it has some in common with modern day Welsh. Despite Des's southern twang when he speaks English, he speaks this like a native. He can forget a lot of things, but he spent years with this as the only language he knew.]

That language died out in the sixth century. [He shrugs.] Before that.

[daredtobelieve]

[Her wis check of 17 squeaks by with minor recognition, eyebrows going up as the phrasing and intonation catches her ear.]

Remarkable. [She refrains from asking him to teach her the language. For now.]

I can see why you refuse Wynn like you do. Once you've managed on your own as long as that, it must seem easier to continue.

[nothingsodivine]

If you ask him or anyone else, when people manage on their own as long as I have, they ought to learn to be a part of something, eventually. [He raises his eyebrows.] I've got a lot of reasons for telling him no.

[daredtobelieve]

Such as? [Look they're sharing. Maybe he won't shut her down.]

[nothingsodivine]

[He seriously considers shutting her down, but he gives in with a sigh.] There's a reason why I'm cursed and there's a reason why it's carried on this long, and, more importantly, there's nothing I wouldn't do to get it broken. That's not something I wanna get other people caught up in.

[daredtobelieve]

Has it occurred to you that the resources available here could assist with breaking the curse? If you haven't noticed, we're in the business of helping people.

[Her tone is gentle with a touch of humor.]

[nothingsodivine]

Because that's not how you break a curse. [And also who the hell is gonna break a curse that just ends in assisted suicide anyway.] I've spent years looking into this. All my life, even. This place doesn't know anything I haven't tried myself a hundred times.

[daredtobelieve]

In my experience, curses are meant to give some hard earned lesson. It's not always a lesson that's needed, of course, but the person enacting the curse hardly cares about that. However, the point remains that perhaps by remaining solitary, by carrying on as you always have, you're only further condemning yourself.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des takes a long swig of the scotch and places it down on a table with such finality that it seems like he plans to get up and walk. But his hand lingers on the bottle and he remains where he is, lost in thought.]

Maybe I am condemning myself. Doesn't change the fact that the path I'm on now ain't the path most people would follow.

[daredtobelieve]

[She's quiet for some time, studying him, in part, but mostly giving him time to leave, if he wishes. But then he speaks again and there's a tension that releases from her shoulders.]

People will surprise you, if you give them the chance. I know it must be hard- having seen so much, and it's easier to remember the worst of it, isn't it? But there is good in the world, and you do deserve it, regardless of what you may think.

[nothingsodivine]

You decided one day you were gonna inject yourself with some mystery substance because you thought it was a good idea at the time. Now I don't know what happened after, but I assume not everyone found that kind of stupidity innovative or worth the risk.

You still did it. You still probably felt like no one understood why you did it or how you lived with it afterwards. But I bet it stung like hell when people you knew and loved couldn't even look you in the eye anymore.

[daredtobelieve]

[Pushing away from the counter, Helen moves a chair to sit across from him. She sighs and tries to collect her thoughts.]

I won't try to understand exactly what you've experienced. What happened to me, no matter how surprising, was a choice I made with full knowledge that whatever consequences came would be mine to face.

But it was difficult. You're right about that. In the end, what kept me going was knowing that I had the opportunity to continue my father's work in a way never before possible. And I did that with the help of those close to me, even knowing that I would outlive them, even knowing that in the end, I would be alone.

[nothingsodivine]

You're thinking about living. All I ever think about is dying. And I don't really care about the details of how it happens, but I do know that I'd rather have as few people disappointed in me as possible at the end. Like I said, I'd do just about anything to break my curse. And I do mean anything. That kind of thinking doesn't keep friends.

[he stands] Thanks for the drink.