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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From:

heroic_jawline

"Well, not ancient, but I have a few more years on me than it looks," Steve said.

From:

deathsmajesty

Liliana winked at him. "I'm two hundred going on thirty myself," she said.

From:

heroic_jawline

"You don't look a day over 25," Steve said, smiling.

From:

deathsmajesty

"Oooh, I like you, you can stay," Liliana said with a delighted laugh. "I'm almost willing to forgive your terrible taste in times of day."

From:

heroic_jawline

"That's incredibly generous of you," Steve teased.

From:

deathsmajesty

"I do what I can to be an inspiration for the betterment of all," Liliana said.

You know. Modestly.

From:

heroic_jawline

Steve laughed. "You're doing us all a great service," he agreed, nodding.

From:

deathsmajesty

"Oh, see, I do like you," Liliana said, laughing along with him. "So, tell me about yourself, darling. Since I know little about you, other than you were gifted with a great deal of charm that you've learned to use well."

From:

heroic_jawline

"Well, I teach Renaissance art up at the school this year, I'm married to Tony, and I fought in World War II," Steve said.

That was a pretty quick synopsis.

From:

deathsmajesty

"And exactly one of those three proper nouns means anything to me at all," Liliana declared, blowing a kiss to Tony for being the one that did.

From:

heroic_jawline

Steve's cheeks went pink until his dragon mask. "I apologize. I know what it feels like to not have context for what people are talking about. The Renaissance is a period of amazing art and engineering on this planet a few hundred years back. World War II was a global war that took place in the 1940s. We're now in 2023 on the island--my own dimension is a few years back."

From:

deathsmajesty

Liliana waved off the apology with a languid hand. "I'm assuming the implicit compliment of you forgetting that I'm still very new to the plane," she told him. "So thank you, darling. And I must say, one of the things I find hardest when integrating on any new plane is figuring out how the calendar system lines up with my own, you know? We're at harvest now, right? When is the winter solstice? Do you have a winter solstice?"

From:

heroic_jawline

Steve nodded. "It's in mid-December, two months from now, though the solstice celebrations have been mostly overrun by Christmas."

From:

deathsmajesty

"I have heard of Christmas, if only vaguely," Liliana said. "Hmm, two months? Well, then, we're not particularly far from my birthday, I don't think."

From:

heroic_jawline

"Happy early birthday, then," Steve said with a smile.

From:

deathsmajesty

"A few more weeks yet," Liliana said with a smile. "But thank you. I'll be turning twenty-four."

From:

heroic_jawline

"Twenty-four," Steve repeated, smiling. "And how many times have you turned 24?"

From:

deathsmajesty

"Why, this would be my very first time!" Liliana said, wide-eyed and innocent, completely ignoring how she'd already told him she was over two hundred just a moment ago.

From:

heroic_jawline

"Well, enjoy it," Steve said because he was far too polite to mention that she'd said she was over two hundred. "I was in a war when I was 24, so don't take my example."

From:

deathsmajesty

Liliana's expression shuttered, ever so slightly. "If only war were so obliging, hmm?" she asked lightly. "To leave out those below a certain age."

From:

heroic_jawline

"Oh, I wanted to go," Steve said. "My best friend was already there and it seemed important to stand up against what was happening and say that I wasn't okay with it."

He pressed his lips together. "And then I saw actual war."

From:

deathsmajesty

"Ah," Liliana said with a nod. "Yes, the reality is very different than the propaganda." She took a drink of her wine. "War came to my home, instead."

From:

heroic_jawline

"I'm sorry to hear that," Steve said earnestly. He'd walked through France, Germany, and Belgium. The civilian losses had been hard to take.

From:

deathsmajesty

War was brutal. Even having enemies called skin-witches and the like didn't change the tenor much. It was always gruesome.

"It was quite the interesting backdrop to grow up against," Liliana said, her tone sounding like they were discussing the weather or a particularly fine up of tea. "I was never on the lines - far too young and not a warrior besides - but I was a cleric. A healer. So I saw much of the aftermath of battles."

From:

heroic_jawline

Steve winced. "I'm sorry you saw that."

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Death is no excuse for disobedience

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

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