Gilbert Norrell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hurtfew) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
undergrounds2015-10-27 12:03 pm
hurtfew) wrote in undergrounds2015-10-27 12:03 pm
Entry tags:
[SEMI-OPEN] Written by the Victors
Date: 30th of October, pre-Samhain celebration!
Plot: Smug Victory Dinner, with political manoeuvring
Areas: Westminster
It may have been a struggle, but Lambeth has finally been won over. A week of hard work to drive out all the unspeakable sorts, and another week of trying to keep control and tidy up, and it's looking like things are slowly beginning to settle. Gilbert Norrell is very pleased by this. Now he has proven he can be a leader, can lead them to victory -- and over a difficult area too! Of course, there were difficulties. Were small problems and losses along the way, but that does not matter now.
A dinner is not normally his style, he refused to hold one himself, but Childermass persuaded someone else to hold this on his behalf and -- well, it would be rude to decline. So he attends, if reluctantly (he does not like parties) and smiles as people applaud him. It is a rush of success, of ego, and as people come to congratulate him and find ways to carefully bring up their own causes and beliefs Gilbert Norrell feels that finally he is beginning to be recognised.
The table is carefully laid with glittering crystal glasses, candles and flowers. Not too ostentatious but still elegant and respectable, suited to the style of Norrell himself. Waiters and waitresses silently move back and forth serving people and taking requests or preferences, and the food is plentiful. If people can suffer the small-talk and ego coming from the head of the table, it will at least be a good meal.
[ ooc; log for the Daybreak victory meal! You can give me a ping if you want to be involved and replied already! It's set on Friday night so people can get drunk and slouch home without having to worry about the following morning, and can still attend Samhain things later. Entry is free, food and drink is free! The meal is being held by a lackey of Norrell's who wants to suck up to him since he's on the way up, and Norrell is therefore the ~guest of honour~. Dress code is black tie, thread with each other and mingle! ]
Plot: Smug Victory Dinner, with political manoeuvring
Areas: Westminster
It may have been a struggle, but Lambeth has finally been won over. A week of hard work to drive out all the unspeakable sorts, and another week of trying to keep control and tidy up, and it's looking like things are slowly beginning to settle. Gilbert Norrell is very pleased by this. Now he has proven he can be a leader, can lead them to victory -- and over a difficult area too! Of course, there were difficulties. Were small problems and losses along the way, but that does not matter now.
A dinner is not normally his style, he refused to hold one himself, but Childermass persuaded someone else to hold this on his behalf and -- well, it would be rude to decline. So he attends, if reluctantly (he does not like parties) and smiles as people applaud him. It is a rush of success, of ego, and as people come to congratulate him and find ways to carefully bring up their own causes and beliefs Gilbert Norrell feels that finally he is beginning to be recognised.
The table is carefully laid with glittering crystal glasses, candles and flowers. Not too ostentatious but still elegant and respectable, suited to the style of Norrell himself. Waiters and waitresses silently move back and forth serving people and taking requests or preferences, and the food is plentiful. If people can suffer the small-talk and ego coming from the head of the table, it will at least be a good meal.
[ ooc; log for the Daybreak victory meal! You can give me a ping if you want to be involved and replied already! It's set on Friday night so people can get drunk and slouch home without having to worry about the following morning, and can still attend Samhain things later. Entry is free, food and drink is free! The meal is being held by a lackey of Norrell's who wants to suck up to him since he's on the way up, and Norrell is therefore the ~guest of honour~. Dress code is black tie, thread with each other and mingle! ]
[Open]
A party for the Daybreak victory at Lambeth... Elizabeth is fairly certain she doesn't want to go, but her absence would no doubt be noted. Almost everything about Lambeth doesn't sit well with her, she's still trying to reconcile her allegiance to Daybreak with the things Norrell is suggesting about the fae, about sealing their realm, all of it. This would be another uphill trudge. At least she doesn't own a dress that could be considered 'black tie'.
But her roommate does, and her roommate finds the invitation and insists she go to this 'fancy party'. She even tries to swing an invite to come along, but Elizabeth manages to bore her with promises that it would be dozens of engineers involved in her research group talking shop. That at least gets her roommate off her back, but it doesn't stop her from lending Elizabeth a dress.
And so, with no other out, there she is with a glass of white wine, staring into it and trying to will herself to drink. It's hard to want to when she feels so out of place. She looks around the room, making eye contact with a few people who look away, disinterested in the young, low-ranking witch who only ran around healing people during the battle. If something doesn't change, it's going to be a long night.
[Dinner]
...she has never seen so much cutlery in all her life. She is so screwed.
Nevermind the talk of politics, which of these strangely-shaped forks is she supposed to use? She's starving and everyone is turned to Mr. Norrell, hanging on his every word and nodding, and nobody is picking up a utensil so she can't mimic them. She listens to Norrell almost every day, and now he's preventing her from eating what looks like an amazingly delicious salad because someone thinks one fork is just not fancy enough.
[After]
Just another bit of dessert to go, to thank her roommate for the dress, and then she can leave. Discussing politics, especially after the tone of the evening, isn't something she's interested in and class in the morning means she should have been in bed a while ago. But the house is gigantic and she's just wandering around trying to find the kitchen. How many closets can one place have?
Dinner
Because of course it worked out this way.
He looks quite a bit better than he did the last time she saw him--his hair is slicked back and he is well dressed in a burgundy silk dinner jacket and slim trousers, but he doubts that it'll get the image of him in his underwear, blindly looking around for his glasses, out of her head.
When the salad course comes around, she looks confused by the cutlery. "It's the little fork on the outside. You start on the outside and work in."
no subject
Elizabeth gives him a little embarrassed wave from across the table as everybody is settling in, making their loud compliments to the host and guest of honor and so forth. She won't get the image of Simon in his underwear out of her head, no, but she's trying. He looks very nice tonight, at least.
"Thank you," she sighs in relief, picking up the outermost fork. "I suppose that makes sense-- a small fork wouldn't be so good for eating meat."
no subject
"How are you finding London so far? When you're not driving fae and rogue witches out of Lambeth, of course."
no subject
She gives Simon a wry smile. "This is supposed to be a nice party, let's not talk about things like that, however much everyone wants to. I'm liking it-- there's a park by my dorm I like to take walks in, I've navigated my way to a library card at the local library, and my roommate has mapped every frozen yogurt place within the city limits," she smirks faintly. "You want my salad? Who knows what they've got back in that kitchen that you'll want to eat."
no subject
"Sounds like a lot of frozen yoghurt. Your roommate sounds like a woman on a mission." It's easy small talk, and Simon finds himself relaxing a bit. He still finds this encounter utterly humiliating, but he can be a good actor when he needs to be. Maybe by getting to know her a bit better he could try to become Simon the nice University student, not Simon the naked dog man.
Hope springs eternal.
"Where in America are you from? I'm a dual citizen, actually. I was born in Tacoma, Washington and lived in Los Angeles until my parents moved me back here when I was seven."
no subject
"How was Los Angeles? Good weather from what you remember?"
no subject
He smiles. "As far as I remember, yes. I haven't been back in a very long time. Mostly I remember being so cold when we first moved to London. I missed wearing sandals and shorts all the time."
no subject
"It's really cold here, yeah," she says with a little laugh. Anything to get away from what happened to her in Virginia, in Comstock's coven. "I didn't have a good coat for days, it was miserable."
no subject
There's a story there, but it's one that Simon has the good sense not to ask for. They all tend to have stories in their particular community, he reasons, and he doesn't think that rainbows and unicorns have much to do with any of them.
The second course arrives and Simon is gratified to see that it, too, doesn't contain any meat. He grabs the appropriate piece of flatware and points to it with a grin.
"This one next."
dinner
no subject
"They're all going to starve if they don't stop this echo chamber and eat soon," she mutters to the woman.
no subject