[ open: all arise! ]

[vorbratta]

WHO: you. yes, you there. you're invited
WHAT: Sonia is throwing a big party, because everyone needs an excuse to get good and drunk together right now. And dancing. There is always dancing.
WHEN: Justinian, shortly after the return of the jungle crew
WHERE: The suite at the top of the mage tower
NOTES: ♫ have some party jams ♫

The month in the jungle was a long one, made longer by the total lack of any alcohol to mitigate the experience. Utterly unthinkable. Sonia is addressing a public need by throwing a grand party -- a public service, even. Besides, it's what she does. When was the last time she got to plan a party, anyway? Granted, this is not a Denerim soiree for the young nobility, but the venue doesn't matter. Only the people and the drinks, and Sonia is assuredly rich in both. It is also a fantastic excuse not to think about any of the bad things that have happened since she was last in Kirkwall.

The decoration in the residential suite at the top of the mage tower would be best classified as improvisational -- one of those drapes tacked along the wall for ambience may be a bedsheet -- but it's the spirit of the thing that counts. One makes do with what one has. In one corner are a few tables laden with spirits, some provided by Sonia, others by generous partygoers. There are a few Barra vineyard vintages in the mix, highlights of her personal collection, a testament to the celebration she considers tonight to be. There's a small selection of food nearby, mostly for snacking to go with the drinks, though guests are free to bring whatever they like to share.

And there is, of course, music. Someone here has brought a fiddle or a flute or a bunch of pots masquerading as a drum set. Maybe you've brought your very own a capella choir. Whatever the accompaniment, there's something to dance to. Sonia makes sure there is dancing.

Tonight is not for licking wounds or swapping grisly stories of terror and survival. Tonight is for feeling alive, getting properly and delightfully drunk, and having a good god damn time.

Comments

closed and open

[nonvenomous]

closed to fitcher.

[ A low lit level or two beneath the festivities, near enough to hear the music, a humanoid figure stands recessed in shadow near the stairs. Dick Dickerson is dressed for the gathering in shades of brown and green, but seems to be thinking better of it now, his eyes fixed forward, measuring the middle distance against the murmur of conversation muffled overhead.

He was thin before. Now he is gaunt, a ring turned loose around his index finger while he reflects on his life, his choices, and the slant of his evening without anyone else in it.

The moment passes, and he turns to leave before anyone is the wiser. ]


i.

[ Partway through tilting a bottle of wine to refill his glass, it occurs to Richard after a cursory glance aside that there is no one to stop him taking the said bottle back to where he’s been posted up on the sidelines, alone or with Fitcher. So he does that.

Grip choked up from base to neck, he turns to cut back across the floor, only narrowly dropping back half a step to avoid a collision as he goes. ]


ii.

[ Dick spends most of this party on the wall with a bottle of wine, more stick than flower -- gaunt, reticent, and increasingly relaxed in his recline as the night wears on, and he gets easier to converse with. ]

[unshut]

Leaving so soon?

[Alas, the world is sometimes a most cruel place - endeavoring to thwart one's intentions at every turn. And so naturally, Richard's is met by the appearance of a familiar figure swimming up out of the low light of the stairwell below. Dressed all in some rich dark chocolate color from her throat to her ankles, Fitcher's only bared skin consists of that sharp face, her two long hands - each occupied with a separate bottle of wine -, and a frankly outrageous tract of cleavage framed by the tear drop shaped window cut into her dress' bodice.]

Allow me to first press you into service, Richard. I tripped and nearly broke my neck two flights ago and could make use of an able hand.

[She passes him one of the wine bottles, and promptly hitches her skirts up by a few sensible degrees.]

[nonvenomous]

[ First and foremost, with a mind only for retreat and one foot already on the stair, Richard’s eye is drawn directly down into the open window rising up out of the darkness to greet him.

Caught twice over, he pauses immediately to recalibrate focus onto her face, apology and a request that they don’t discuss what just happened writ clear in the knit of his brow. It’s inevitable from there that he take the proffered bottle, easily conscripted. ]

Of course.

[ Of course he will carry it. He steps back, also, to allow her to lead, sparing the way down only the briefest of glances. ]

I thought I might have left my quarters unlocked.

[unshut]

I wouldn't worry. You've been away all this time; the thief in our ranks would have tossed your things already if they cared to.

[The tip of her head as she sweeps past him might be dangerously close to coquettish, though the effect is ruined by the broad pull of her grin. It's what they're there for, Richard.

--But they're not discussing it, and she's more than happy to lead the way up the stairs.]

Has anyone congratulated you on returning in one piece yet, or do I have the pleasure? You are in one piece, aren't you?

[nonvenomous]

[ This a little like discussing it though, isn’t it? He crooks a wry look sidelong after her sweep -- he knows what they’re there for -- and tucks the bottle snug into his elbow. ]

You look dashing, [ he says, and also: ] Fair point, [ because it is. Thin lies are easily fingered through, and worldly possessions only have so much substance when you are a) not from this world and b) could at any time mysteriously vanish and never return. ]

In accordance with Thedosian standards. [ He is very whole and very normal. Nothing on the subject of whether she was the first to notice. ] Thank you.

[ Now, heroically and wholly returned, he is responsible for this wine.

He follows as they speak, a few stairs below and behind. ]

[unshut]

I'm relieved to hear it.

[Which, beyond the general curve of her good humor and the fact that her attention is divided by winding up the stairs, sounds quite genuine.]

Would you say there was anything about the affair worth telling, or is it best brushed under the rug and forgotten? I expect this party will allow ample opportunity for either.

i

[degenere]

How fortuitous!

[They are, it seems, destined to meet under circumstances of inebriation. Val had nearly walked into Richard because he was walking and looking fixedly at the floor. Now he does a neat little sidestep and pivot of his own, and hooks his arm through Richard's, all while giving him the full benefit of his winning smile.]

You are precisely the man to help me. What is that? Wine? An inferior vintage. Do not tell the hostess, I will tell her for myself. I imagine it will sound very crass coming from you. You have not the way to say it. Come, this way, please--we have something to attend to.

help

[nonvenomous]

[ Richard is torn, blind, from the comfortable burrow of his thoughts -- Val de Foncé jarred rudely into center focus for all 5 senses. Dick blinks at him, not entirely unlike a leather-winged opossum trying to make sense of being ripped from a hollow tree, mouth opened and shut, brow furrowed late for the insult(s).

He is pulled along, falling into natural step in spite of himself. ]

Where are we going?

[ ...is the most relevant question he can work up to quickly and under pressure, inferior vintage in one hand, empty glass in the other. ]

if only there was someone out there who loved you

[degenere]

[In an undertone of a confidant--]

There is a guest among us who was not invited. At least she was not invited in the formal sense. No invitation was presented to her and she has not a crystal of her own with which she might have overheard the call of the hostess. And so her presence here tonight might not be welcomed, and we must rescue her.

But first, we must find her, my friend. I know that I can count on you.

[They are skirting the dance floor together by now, steered by Val. And here is his smile again, buoying and bracing and possibly some other words that begin with B.]

[nonvenomous]

[ Intertwined as they are, Val will feel tension catch into an instinctive balk between Richard’s shoulders when they veer dangerously close to the dance floor. He’s only half-listening, preoccupied, out of his element, but there is a distinct beat where something slides into place, and he sees the sea of bodies ahead for what it is: a haystack.

He hoods his brow, and looks from the festivities to de Foncé in incredulous aside.

Then down to his own feet. ]

[degenere]

[If he had a gold piece for every tense shoulder that he encountered, Val would be immediately more solvently wealthy than he is at present. Which is to say that he is undeterred, and follows the line of Richard's sight with some amusement.]

A good guess already. But no, we shall have to look harder. Here--

[Away from the dance floor. Perhaps that is a blessing. There is a small grove of chairs on this side of the room, of mediocre upholstery that someone has brushed into respectability. This is where Val stops their progress.]

Here is where I last saw her.

ii.

[heorte]

I wouldn't recommend finishing that bottle all on your own.

[ Not that Ellis wants to assist him with it. But he does invite himself onto the seat beside Dick, leaning an elbow on the table. ]

But you're in fine company if you want to make a go of it.

[ Because Dick certainly isn't the only person bent on getting sloshed tonight, based on Ellis' observations so far. ]

makes it weird

[nonvenomous]

[ Tink.

Slouched long across two chairs, Richard docks bottle to glass with NASA-tier patience and precision, breathing slowed to hold it steady while he pours. ]

Hello, handsome.

[ This bottle has some mileage left on it, still heavy at the base when he plants it upright again. Dick could probably finish it, given enough time, effort, and encouragement, but he is already awfully low energy for defiance for defiance's sake. He squares the glass on the table next to him. ]

You don’t drink.

boy this escalated fast

[heorte]

[ That's not exactly the greeting Ellis was expecting, but to his credit he doesn't let the surprise slow his movements as he settles into place. ]

No. Never really got the taste for it.

[ Or it would have been too easy to get a taste for it. Either way, it costs him nothing to pass up any drinks offered his way. He does hook the bottle as Dick puts it down, drawing it a little closer in a mild attempt to discourage it being lifted again later on. ]

Have you been dancing?

[ What does it say about Ellis that he feels the natural progression of a party is: dancing, then getting hammered? ]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[nonvenomous]

[ The bottle withdraws at Ellis’ hand soon after leaving Richard’s. He follows it with his eyes, fingertips kept at an easy cage over the foot of his glass -- unspoken concession of the former in exchange for his keeping hold of the latter.

Affection (or something like it) crooks at the corner of his mouth, the fuzzy lines dug in around it only a little malicious. He sniffs it away, sobering without sobering. ]

Yes.

[ Dick is still wry when he finally looks up from the bottle, and lifts his glass. ]

Historically I have danced. [ He drinks by way of punctuation. ]

[heorte]

[ "Historically I have danced" feels like it's almost the answer to his question. Or it would be the answer if Ellis had worded his question slightly differently. Either way, his gaze moves briefly from Richard to the dancers.

It's notable that at any given moment people seem to be doing multiple types of dances that almost match. That's the theme of the evening, apparently. ]

Do you want to dance?

[ Where is this line of questioning going? Not even Ellis knows. ]

i

[thereneverwas]

Ah! My mistake.

[It's hard to miss Barrow, as the man takes up a lot of space wherever he is, but he at least hadn't intended to stumble into someone else's path. He glances at the wine bottle and the table, puts the pieces together, and winks amusedly at Dick.]

Having a good time?

[nonvenomous]

[ Caught off guard by the Wall of Man he meets on the pivot, Richard makes that half-step a full step taken back, and is still unable to find a path around quickly enough to avoid conversation. So trapped, he pulls back into himself at the wink, forced to brace through it into eye contact that’s more about wary assessment than it is friendly confidence.

Barrow might have seen him in the jungle, but it is immediately clear that he recognizes Barrow from more contemporary drama. ]

One would think so, [ he says.

Nailed it. ]

I’m glad to see there doesn’t appear to have been any lasting damage.

[thereneverwas]

[Equally caught off-guard by the comment, Barrow pauses, his smile frozen on his face in a gradually-developing look of confusion.]

I'm sorry?

[nonvenomous]

From your encounter at the dock.

[ While he’s cornered into standing still anyway, Richard goes ahead and pours himself that glass. ]

[thereneverwas]

[It takes Barrow a moment to realize what the man means, in which he opens and closes his mouth several times, the amusement slowly draining from his face.]

Ah.

[He pauses to refill his own tankard matter-of-factly.]

Yes. Thank you for noticing.

ii

[okayimin]

You look like shit, salrocka.

[ It's a friendly greeting, considering Sawbones herself is looking significantly less put together than she normally does, malnutrition from their jungle excursion carving out familiar spots in her frame. She's commandeered her own bottle of wine and has clearly made head roads through it, swaying only slightly as she clambers up onto a chair next to him. ]

Re: ii

[nonvenomous]

[ Richard winds his hand through the back of her chair to grip it as Sister Sara climbs up next to him, anchoring all four legs to the floor. He keeps it there for a moment after she’s settled, sloth heavy in a sigh when he reaches back for the bottle at his elbow instead. ]

I know.

[ Might as well pour himself another glass. Carefully. ]

How are you feeling?

[okayimin]

[ She gives his hand a slight pat before he moves it, silent thanks since there's no call to be emotional about it.

His question gets a sigh of her own, more akin to a huff. ]

Impressed we all managed to get out without losing at least a few limbs. Relieved to finally had a bath that's not in an infested stream. You?

[nonvenomous]

Much the same.

[ Bottle set aside, he sizes up the band of wine left lingering in the bottom for a long moment before he moves on to square his glass in front of him, between both of his hands. It is clear from the exaggerated care he takes to center the foot on a loop in the table grain that he is quite drunk. ]

Warm water is a luxury I won’t soon take for granted.

[ He turns the glass, very slightly. ]

I didn’t take you for the partying type.