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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"Boc!" This time, Liliana didn't bother to hide her surprise, but it was immediately followed up with a smile. She kept her greeting soft to not draw additional attention from the other guests. She was pretty sure she couldn't stop from startling him, but at least she could keep him from becoming the center of attention.

"Darling, I'm so glad you could come! Welcome!"

It truly was a cruel bit of fate, wasn't it, that Boc would be called something that just naturally had a startling quality when leaving most mouths, no matter how gently expressed. That, with his natural nervousness and tendency to feel like he shouldn't be allowed pretty much anywhere ever, he still jumped a little at Liliana's approach, eyes immediately widening and trying to find pathways for escape before he lifted his hands as if to prove they were indeed quite empty and harmless.

"Oh!" he said. "Oh...oh....no, no, I'm sorry, my apologies, I didn't mean to intrude, I didn't mean to stay, I was just passing through, promise, I was just in the area, you see, and I....I'll not trouble anyone, I'll be on my way!"

You'd think, by now, he'd have learned that parties on this island included nearly everyone, including Bocs, but he wasn't quite there yet.

"Nonsense," Liliana said firmly, and if you thought for a moment you could out-stubborn Liliana Vess, darling, you were drastically mistaken. "You've only just arrived! Why, I don't think you've even had a drink yet. You must stay another few minutes at least, I insist."

Out-stubborn her? Liliana, the closest thing Boc would have to a backbone would be if he spent the rest of this party sidled up next to Amaya.

"Oh, but I shouldn't..." Boc started, ducking his head and wagging it shamefully as he hands started to roll into each other, "that is, I mean...it's only that....oh, I just don't know, I suppose if it's only a few minutes, then no one would be too offended by my presence, maybe they might not even notice! I'll keep quiet, I'm good that that, when need be! And you don't have to worry about wasting any of your lovely drinks on the likes of me, wouldn't want to have it go to waste like that, I'm just fine, right here. I can hear the music, and see all the fine costumes, just from right her..."

"Go to waste?" Liliana asked. "Would you not drink it? Because otherwise I would be providing an invited guest with a refreshment."

She pointed up to the second floor balconies. "If you are truly worried about being underfoot, you're welcome to spend your time up there, watching the goings on here below. But should you do that, I must absolutely insist you bring not only a drink but a plate of snacks as well."

Otherwise she'd had to send some up after him and then how would he feel?

Terrible. Just terrible, that's how he'd feel!

But Boc would feel terrible regardless, as indicated by the distressed little whimper that squeezed out of him as he followed Liliana's hand to the balconies indicated, then looked over the crowd in the ballroom, and perhaps even sent a skittering glance toward where the food and drinks were located.

He shook his head a little more, and ducked it again, although his eyes were glancing back up toward Liliana.

"But if I don't retreat to the balconies," he reasoned, "then I...don't have to have a drink or snack?"

Though he did, actually, desperately want at least the snack, now that it was on the table, because he'd just spent an indeterminate amount of time as a tree, and photosynthesis could only satisfy so much.

"I mean, you certainly don't have to," Liliana said. Dubiously. "But there is plenty there. And I would hate for that to go to waste and need to be discarded."

Just saaaaaying...

"Good food gone to waste," said Boc, miserably, with a sad shake of his head, "is a terrible shame, isn't it? Perhaps...perhaps maybe, if there does seem to be quite a...quite a bit of...well, I suppose one might call it...a bit of...erm, excess, I could...help...with that. Ah...assuming there's no one else who will..."

"You would be doing me a favor," Liliana said. "I abhor food waste."

She gave him big eyes and a hopeful smile. "Would you be so kind?"

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

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