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undergrounds2015-05-23 12:00 am
undergroundmods) wrote in undergrounds2015-05-23 12:00 am
Game Opening: May Ball
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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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.
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"Mm. Let me know if you change your mind. They'll probably survive getting tossed out a window."
Terrible.
Though in all seriousness, he's debating getting the bouncer until she distracts him with that second bit. She gets to see the exact moment something lags, far more noticeable than his usual trips. Not having to keep up appearances makes him less of a dumb about things, and the moment's immediately hidden behind his drink.
"It's business." The sip here is all the silent 'I hate parties' that he gives off in presence. But Clara is Clara, she's different. She gets explanations where others get shot down. "I'm not fond of crowds."
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It was a nice event in her opinion. Even if someone moves through her when moving through the floor as they hurry along at that exact moment.
Ohhhh-- It never stops feeling weird, her intangibility rearing its ugly head, and it shows with how she and the person flinch at the same time. It could have been worse she tells herself and it doesn't stop her from continuing to smile at Willard and spinning it to something positive. "Goodness! Looks like someone else is having a good time at least. Thank goodness they bumped into me and not you. You would have spilled your drink all over yourself!"
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And she still tries to find a bright side. It's not right that such a person could be so blatantly ignored.
"I have better composure than that if I wish to." A weird wording, but it has a point. Blinking means missing that moment that stunning posture and attitude comes up like armor, and an arm is offered to her in a textbook gentleman maneuver from the 1920s.
Even the tone is a whiplash of kindness, "Shall we find somewhere else to talk, Madam Seville? Such people drowning out your words is unacceptable."
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Really, it's fine.
Not that it stops her from looking very surprised, a little bit relieved, when he offers her his arm and the chance for them to go somewhere else. She laughs a bit at the way he does it, her defence and her concern that she was being a trouble to him down when he did things like this.
"--I hope it won't be too much of a bother to you," she said as she 'accepted' his arm, a faint heaviness of a hand pressing against his sleeve. Just barely. "I would love to find somewhere much more suitable for us to talk."
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The blunt speaking habits are the only thing that will continually destroy his illusion of class. But more importantly - it really isn't a bother. Even if they don't mean to - even if Clara says it doesn't upset her - it doesn't stop Will from setting his half-finished drink aside and guiding her through the Marquee. If there's any care to avoid the crowd, or even to the glances the crowd may give him for walking with an invisible person, it doesn't register. At all.
Who gives a damn about them anyway. It's a nice night out and he finally has company he genuinely enjoys, this is a success in all books. "Would you rather sit outside or tour the school?"
Or get lost in the school. Same thing.
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"I think exploring the school will be fun," she admits to him, "because I haven't gotten the chance to really see all of it."
The unsaid option is going to be the one she chooses, of course. Her face is bright as the colourful lights being used to decorate the festivities and the Marquee itself, both thankful and glad he was willing to spend some time with someone, er, something, like her. "
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a ghosthimself at the bar for an hour.The school option earns a pause, barely a second, because all logic says to agree. Observe an enemy for all weaknesses. Which places are points to break in, which rooms require searching, if alumni records of names and faces are still kept.
But even just walking away from the crowd is like shedding off a skin, a stressor and a mask all peeled off at once, and there's no reason to be Wright for Clara. She never required the role and with any luck she never will. Logically, this is an opportunity to be used.
So he doesn't.
"Do they have a salt ring? Or just following your granddaughter?" The gallery has too many people, screw that, empty halls mean less people to try walking through her anyway. "If her grades start skewing, you should leave post-it notes with sad faces drawn on 'em."
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Willard is a man of many things and he certainly knows how to say things, that's for sure. Clara smiles at the thought of leaving a collection of post-it notes all over her room. That would certainly get her attention. "She's been doing fine, actually. A complete whiz at math and computer like her father. Terrible at P.E. but only because she just the bare minimum since she hates how small she is compared to everyone else. Makes her feel self-conscious."
Kind of her fault, really. All her sons and husband were giants, over six feet, but there is one thing the two shared: Both being 5'2. "Much as I want to tell her that doing a lap won't hurt her... She doesn't know I'm around, actually. Can't see spirits unlike the others. One of these days maybe I'll talk to her but I want her to focus on studies. And reading more books! She's glued to that laptop of hers all day, goodness."
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The thought gets swatted away on reflex in favor of focusing on Clara's words. Essentially a logistics nerd? He's willing to bet only half of the reason the class is hated is from the stature. The rest would be the thoughts of 'I'd rather be coding' or something. Lord knows he has the same problem himself.
"I'd figure being smaller'd be easier. Faster and less problem to get out of altercations." Either by squeezing out of the problem or how being tiny and breakable means you get easier passes on dirty methods. Eh, details, "She might be better in Track. The hundred meter or the pole vault probably."
Still, it's a shame that she can't see her own grandmother. It's filed away, but not commented on. Who would even want to be reminded about that? But someone needs to lecture the kid, someone in Redbright-
The tone immediately gains the haunted quality vietnam veterans have, "Could always sic Ushiromiya on her."
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Clara and her puns. If there's one thing that the undead status of hers never dampened it was that.
Only when he makes the suggestion of his does she give him a mild look: A worried frown accompanied with a quizzical tilt to the head. Eyebrows shot up so high that they almost disappear into her hairline. Which is impressive considering how high it is.
"The way you say 'sic makes me a bit nervous," she confesses to him, "Makes me think of someone hiding in the bushes and everything when she passes by. It also sounds like you may or may not have had experience with having them sicced on."
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Puns.
She'll know she hit it perfectly because there's some choked scoff of a laugh at the same time he buries his face in one hand. Why puns. Puns are terrible. And he's terrible for laughing at them. Dammit Clara.
"Yeah, it's perfect then." Clara can leave her granddaughter disapproving pun notes and Magra can sprint her way away from every single problem that pops in front of her. Everyone wins. The second part at least earns a pause, immediately considering her suggestion. ...He can picture it. Far too well. The assumption is left uncorrected.
"How to put it... Lion got me to apologize."
With how much of an unrepentant jerk he is, this alone should speak volumes.
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That gets an actual gasp from Clara. A theatrical and shocked and actual gasp because she looks out a window they're passing by to make sure there's no pigs flying by because something that should not happened actually happened. Amazing.
"Goodness!" That's an understatement, she likes to think. When she's able to calm her surprised flustered state, she thinks about it more thoroughly. And to be honest, "... Doesn't sound too awful, now that I think about it. It'll be good if someone kept Magra levelled."
There's a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she adds, "And if Lion can do that for you of all people than maybe there's hope for Magra yet."