undergrounds | Game Opening: May Ball

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Game Opening: May Ball

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.

It had to be done.

Welcome all to the Redbright Institute's May Ball! This evening is a celebration of the Institute's achievements over the past year. Students aged 16 and above can attend on their own, while younger students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Meanwhile, friends and guests of the Institute are invited as a gesture of friendship and harmony between the various factions.

Rules and etiquette
• This is a black tie event. Formal attire is required.
• No weapons. This is a school, there are children present. Any weapons or objects that could be used as weapons will be confiscated.
• No drugs or alcohol. Obviously. Don't try to sneak any in.
• No violence.

There is security within the school and present at the event. (In fact, if your character is a member of the Redbright Institute, you could have them acting as security if you want.) They will respond to and put a stop to any trouble.

Places to go
The main action takes place in the large Assembly Hall. This is where the Chancellor Sylvia Redbright will give her address. It's also where you can party later on. The disco is family-friendly – not exactly a rave, but the kids will love it.

Drinks and snacks are available in the dining hall. The drinks are non-alcoholic. Vampires, no need to worry about your cravings: blood cocktails are provided! They're given in good faith on the assumption that you won't be snacking on anyone else tonight.

Just off the dining hall, one of the classrooms has been converted into a chill-out area. The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries. A video of young witches taking part in various night-time rituals (they mostly seem to involve chanting and bonfires) plays silently on the screen.

One of the lecture theatres has been opened up to showcase students' work from the past year. On the screen you can watch a slideshow of notable events and achievements. Strangely enough there aren't many people in this room.

Outside, there is a giant chessboard on the lawn. The pieces are made of plastic and can easily be moved around. Why, you ask? Why not, is the answer.

Finally, a large marquee has been set up in the quad. This is the adults-only area, with wine and cocktails served at the bar, nibbles available at a few high tables dotted around and a sophisticated atmosphere. No children under 18 allowed. (Note that the legal drinking age is 18.)

Timeline of events
20:00 – Doors open.
20:57 – Sunset.
21:15 – Sylvia Redbright makes her address in the Assembly Hall.
22:00 – Disco in the Assembly Hall. The DJ has atrocious taste.
01:00 – Disco stops. The event officially ends.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That was a lie, Sasuke never had a good time.

"Well, I mean, I don't really wanna hear that from someone who looks like they got a haircut from a primary school student." Dose raggedy-ass bangs...

Fair point but he's the human version of a mud puddle so that's not saying too much.

"... I cut my own hair." This explains so much.

Well. What could Heiji add to that. That would not come across as insulting.

After a brief and awkward silence, Heiji decided to pretend it never happened and moved the conversation right along in a direction that would not involve asking Sasuke why he couldn't scissors.

"So you gonna ask if you can take classes part-time?"

"That wasn't subtle. But yeah, I suppose I am. There are a lot of things that I still need to learn. And what about you, what do you do with your time when you're not harassing and haranguing party-goers?"

"Buncha things, I guess. I'm just familiarizing myself with the place for now, but I do work part-time. Can't say as how I need classes, but there are a couple interesting folks around."

It didn't seem worth it to delineate all the stuff he did around town, since he doubted Sasuke would be interested in finding sweet places to eat or visiting museums.

"Humans are lifelong students. I don't imagine that that's too different for you, unless you want to claim that you're perfect."

Ah. Wait. No, potentially encouraging him to take classes here when Sasuke himself is planning on doing the same is not a good idea. Not even a little.

"But you could be old enough that you don't retain things well any longer, so I suppose there's no point." Saved.

"Oh, I like learnin' things; I just don't usually do it in classrooms. But it can be fun if there's a good lecturer!" He would absolutely take Jessica Fletcher's classes, absolutely. Angela Lansbury was adorable and they could be horrible dead body magnets together.

"It's cute that you're goin' back to school, though! Good luck."

'Cute', huh.

"It hardly counts as 'going back' when I haven't been out for more than a year. I'm just continuing it, and with a different focus. I have a lot that I need to catch up on."

Angela Lansbury is out of your league, Heiji. She's out of everyone's league.

"I'll say!" Heiji agreed readily. Sasuke seemed to have a few blind spots in his knowledge base, and while not everyone knew everything, it was really weird that he didn't know about detectives. Everyone knew about detectives.

"So that'd make you 18 or 19... well, that's still plenty of time. Study hard and get good grades, okay? If you do well, I'll give ya a present!"

"Don't agree so damn quickly." No, shot down. This is not an honors course in literature, this is real life.

"...

What sort of present is it."

"You wanted me to argue with you? ...Are you a tsundere or something?" Haha, joke's on everyone. Heiji was definitely one. When it came to certain things, anyway.

"Anyhow, you don't tell people what you're givin' em for a present. It's supposed to be a surprise!"

"I'm a hardware salesman." Well that's not... equivalent... Look, just let him have this one.

"And I don't like surprises. I tend to react badly and then the gift-giver is disappointed. Then we stop speaking for several years to life."

Heiji put on a completely 100% serious face. "So...

...how many friends have you lost to surprise parties?"

Okay, not 100% serious. But come on, Sasuke, stop being such a dramatic teenager.

"Two." Zero inflection or sign of a joke.

Well, congratulations on having two more friends to lose than Heiji thought you had, Sasuke.

"So I guess the giant novelty cake is out! Well, it was gonna be hard to keep that hidden, anyhow." Was he joking.......

Thank you.

"There's no way that you were actually intending to do that. Look... I understand that you're bored here, but maybe you could get the mockery out all at once with regards to my situation and personality and we can have a more genuine conversation. I'm not good with this sort of thing." It shows.

"I'm not mockin' you. I just don't tell people about their presents beforehand as a general rule." Presents should be nice surprises. Regardless of what Mr. Surprise Hater thought.

"Anyhow, if you wanna have a serious conversation, don't you think you should start from your end? Y'know, exchange pleasantries, tell a bit about yourself, ask a few questions and work your way along? That might work a little better than interrogatin' people."

"..." He has a decent point, even if it'd be frustrating to admit over something so basic. Sasuke's quiet for at least ten seconds or so, seeming to be planning his angle of attack, working through that list.

"Hello. My name is Uchiha Sasuke." And here he has the decency to switch the order; call it a taste of home. "I'm eighteen-years-old. There aren't many things that I like and there are many that I dislike. I'm serious and dedicated and I have a bad personality. I don't tell lies when I can avoid them and I don't give up when I've put my mind to something. I live alone and don't foresee that changing."

... "Now you."

"I go by Hasegawa Heiji, but I don't give out a lot of personal information to strangers as a general rule. Wanna know why? 'Cause from that point on, it's not about who ya are, it's about how they can use you. To destroy others, or to destroy themselves."

As if to provide some small demonstration of this, Heiji raised his hand to shoulder height as he spoke; little blue flames licked at his pinky and spread their way from finger to finger up along his right hand.

"I hate that." The flames went out all at once. "Your reasoning was all over the place, but your conclusion was right; the people in this country would call me fae."

He thought for a minute, then added: "I'm single right now, but I date casually sometimes."

It's harsh but it's fair, and the confirmation of his suspicions is a slight salve on the wounds his pride's sustained throughout the night. Even so... the sight of that fire puts him ill at ease, both violently curious and instantly wary in a confusing mixture.

"... Alright. I'm bad at communicating with people because I find it easier to focus on goals and I don't hold back my words well. I understand what it's like to have issues with trusting others, too, but if I wanted anything from you it would start and stop with information."

... "And I'm not hitting on you, still." As a comforting reminder in the midst of an otherwise much more serious conversation.

"Well, that's only if I can trust what you're sayin'. That's not a slight, by the way; it's just fact. Earlier you called me untrustworthy, but humans are the ones who can lie." He paused. "I do believe that you believe that. But let's face it. You really don't know that much about the supernatural, right? So you can't really guarantee that nothing you'll learn in the future would change your stance. You wouldn't be the first."

Maybe that was what mattered.

"You sure do throw some mixed messages, though." Like who just threw their dating status into conversation with a fae like that. Weird.

That's enough to quiet him for a moment, genuinely considering his point. He's right, after all, and that self-proclaimed honest nature of his means he can't just gloss over that like it's nothing.

"I just want to figure out what I am," is the next quiet admission, having learned that powers like his have varying origins and to actually be able to track that down? It'd be huge.

"Oi, that wasn't my intention. You're the one who brought relationships into it specifically. I'm not going to pry into that part of your life, don't worry about it."

Wow. When he wasn't insulting people, Sasuke was almost... likeable?

"Well, you're not alone on that front, at least," said Heiji. "What happened to your folks? They never talk about it?" After all, it was family members who were usually responsible for one's supernatural education.

"Hey! Don't pin that on me! You started talkin' about how lonely you were and I felt bad. I mean, what would you do if someone started goin' on about how they were gonna die alone in a house full of cats?"

"Who's-- I'm not going to die alone. Don't bring cats into it." Not that he can be so sure of that. In fact, everything he himself has stated and that has been made obvious throughout this conversation points to the contrary.

"And my parents aren't... They weren't the types to share that kind of thing with a child. They probably assumed they'd tell me when I got older, if they knew anything about it." It's been ten years and he still uses the wrong tense when talking about them. Probably not a good sign.

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