deathsmajesty | Halloween Party, Creepy But Nowhere Near Abandoned Mansion, Tuesday Night

After basically being dared to do it by Tony Stark (and putting in six weeks of renovations, bless Hannibal for the contractor), Liliana, dressed as an empress, hair pulled back in a profusion of curls by her angelic headpiece, was ready to throw her first Fandom party. Sure, it was for a holiday she didn't really understand, but she'd heard enough about it to make due: there was supposed to be candy and people were supposed to be in costume. Done. Everything else was just the same as a regular party, right?

Granted, the last party she'd hosted had actually been for a bunch of vampires and that had been seventy years ago on a completely different plane, but bah, details. You had food to eat, music to dance to, dark corners to sneak off to, and either enough witty people or enough alcohol to keep the conversation flowing. Liliana was hoping that there would be plenty of the former showing up, but just in case, she'd made sure to stock plenty of the latter.

Though her newly refurbished ballroom was actually very light and airy, she had done her best to recreate some of the spookiest elements she'd seen in her travels. The dancefloor was covered in about a foot of heavy fog that swirled and eddied with every movement. While most of the chandeliers were shrouded in fabric and false webbing, she personally found the main chandelier was decorated in something she much more unnerving. Black and red candles flickered about the room held by ghostly hands, dripping skulls, and the occasional elegant standing candelabra. One of the few concessions to magic she'd used tonight was to have the candles lit with tongues of false fire, which provided light but no heat. And they glowed blues and greens and purples, which was a nice effect. Red roses were placed upside down in vases, while more questionable arrangements sat in decorative vases. Out of deference to her guests' ~~squeamishness~~ sensibilities, all creepy critters, skeletons, and dead bodies were all cunningly crafted fakes, not a single real bone or drop of blood in the place.

Other than, of course, what her guests brought in with them. And should they leave with fewer of either than they'd come in with, well, that was hardly her fault. Probably.

Arrive and Mingle / Photos / Dark Corners [NFB] / Refreshments / Dance / Gardens / OOC

[~~Please hold for~~ OCD up! Do the thing!]

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"Hello, Nell," Steven said. "You look nice. Having fun so far?"

"It's a bit overwhelming," Nell admitted. "And everyone is so fancy and beautiful. But it's fun to be here, and Liliana put lights out in her garden so I can go out there if I need a break."

Steven nodded at the part about it being a bit overwhelming. "That's good to know. About the garden. Get some fresh air, maybe."

Steven was keeping this in mind for himself as much as anything.

"She seems to have thought of a lot of details," Steven said. "Good hostess, that."

"She certainly has," Nell said. "It's particularly kind of her because I'd told her I found bg parties rather overwhleming and she remembered and did a nice thing so I'd feel better."

"Seems to be a good crowd so I'd call it a big party," Steven said. "And you're well? Oh! I forgot to ask you how your holiday in New Zealand went."

"It was wonderful," Nell said. "It was so nice to be able to spend time with Gladio, but also be able to go off and do my own things. Then If we found something we thought the other would like we showed them later. It was perfect."

"Excellent," Steven said. "I'm glad it went well for you both. Even if I imagine loads of people on the island wouldn't mind a holiday now after the strangeness of last week."

"I don't want to go anywhere after that," Nell admitted. "I just want to stay right here all comfortable on the island the way it should be."

Of course, she'd always been a bit of a homebody, partly by lack of options, but she also did truly love her own spaces.

"I suppose there is that as well," Steven said. "Comfort of the familiar. Known."

Steven could certainly appreciate that at the moment.

"Also nice to get back home and to your own bed, yeah?" Steven said. "Hotels are nice but not the same."

"Exactly," Nell said. "And my kittens aren't there either to curl up next to me as I sleep or snuggle with me in the mornings."

"Raphael was pleased to have us home," Steven said by way of agreeing with her. "And we did miss him as well. Can't exactly ring him and say how things are going, can you?"

Well maybe somebody who could communicate with animals could do that. Sadly not Steven though.

"I suppose you could call," Nell said. "If you had a landline and an answering machine. You could call and they'd at least be able to hear your voice. And I think there are contraptions that let you watch your cat from far away and talk to them and listen to them as well ."

"I'm picturing him trying to hold up a tiny phone to his ear," Steven admitted.

Nell laughed. "Mine would probably be too busy playing and just let it go to voicemail."

"It's a very busy life being a kitten," Steven agreed. "Have to take probably twice the step adult cats do just to keep up."

"But they have ten times the energy," Nell said with a laugh. "They tear around and around and then just flop down and nap whenever they are."

Halloween Party, Creepy But Nowhere Near Abandoned Mansion, Tuesday Night

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