Magical Innovation Centre: The Grand Opening

[undergroundmods]

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It's evening in Richmond and the grand opening of the Magical Innovation Centre is about to begin. Doors open at 6.30pm with the event closing at 10pm. This is a black tie event, so get out your evening gowns and tuxedos. You won't be allowed in if you're wearing trainers or jeans.

Fae are forbidden from entering. Any fae who wish to sneak in must do so under a glamour and are likely to be discovered and kicked out if they linger for too long. Alternatively, they could pretend to be in service to one of the witches attending the event, if they have any witch allies willing to do that. Fae already in service to Circle Daybreak are the exception to the rule and this will be the first Daybreak event where a number of witches in attendance will be accompanied by their familiars in various forms. Ever since Samantha took her crown as Mother of Witches with a certain cat on her lap, familiars have started to become fashionable again.

Order of Events
6.30-7pm: Doors open
The first half hour allows time for guests to arrive and mingle. There's strict security around the centre: everyone who enters must sign in and get a name badge at the reception desk.

7-7.30pm: Samantha's speech
Standing on the staircase in the foyer, the Mother of Witches will address her audience with a speech to announce the opening of the centre.

7.30-8.30pm: Tour of the centre
During this hour, guests can join a tour of the centre. There will be three tours of around fifteen minutes each. Guests will be shown the following:

• Starting in the main foyer, the tour guide will give a brief overview of the centre's purpose.
• Next, the Potions Lab, which looks very much like any modern lab except that the bottles on display are magical rather than chemical.
• Then, the Pentacle Room which is an empty classroom with several intricate pentacles drawn on the floor. Cabinets along one wall hold shelves of herbs and charms that are used to strengthen or protect the pentacles, as well as shelves of spellbooks. An empty iron bird cage sits on one of the cabinets. This room is where witches can work together to perform powerful magic or to summon fae from the Other Realm.
• Then, the Botanical Garden which is what it sounds like. Herbs and plants of many kinds are grown here, and there are tables where witches can cut and dry the plants to prepare them for use in spellcraft and potion-making.
• Finally, the Magic Lab which looks very much like the Potions Lab except that there's more space. This is where witches will experiment with creating new spells.

The tour is guided and guests may only spend a limited amount of time in each room. They can't go back to the rooms after they're closed; security is tight and anyone trying to sneak around will be quickly spotted.

8.30-10pm: Networking
The rest of the event is open for mingling. There are information stands in the main foyer where witches are handing out leaflets outlining the purpose of the centre and inviting witches to join. If you're not a witch, you can still look and ask questions, but you can't register your interest to work or study at the centre. There's also a screen playing an artfully shot video of Samantha and several young witches looking alternately mystical and windswept on a moor, then clever and industrious in one of the laboratories. Tradition meets the modern world.

Coffee, champagne and canapes are all available, and are served by handsome fae waiters dressed in sparkly blue tuxedos. Despite several setbacks (none of which will be mentioned by Samantha or any of the staff) including the recent loss of Croydon to the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, it seems that Circle Daybreak is still intent on portraying an image of success. The Daybreak fae here are tame, well-mannered and subservient. Everything is under control.

Comments

ota.

[specifiercity]

Arthur has an easy excuse to be here tonight, but his real motivations are twofold. He takes a great amount of personal curiousity in the way Daybreak is behaving as of late, and tonight seemed like an unmissable event if he wants to keep an eye on their next steps. He's also here helping Eames' cover, appearing to be a distracting and charming face whenever he needs a little bit of misdirection. Arthur's happy to do it; it gives him an excuse to ask questions he might not feel entitled to ask if he weren't part of the operation, and having a date to these kinds of things always makes them a little more bearable during the lulls.

When he's not with Eames, Arthur mingles easily, asking inoffensive questions about the Centre and about Daybreak in general. He's knowledgeable enough about the magic to be insightful but he certainly feigns ignorance whenever it seems like it might benefit him to do so. During the tours he's the appropriate amount of curious and interested, showing no feelings this way or that on what Samantha's plans for Daybreak are.

[falsify]

It's easy enough to pretend this is all interesting and exciting when there's someone to bounce off, and Eames easily masks his conversations with Arthur behind smiles and affectionate touches.

It's a lot harder when the fae servers come out, and Eames immediately bristles at the sparkly tuxedos that come out with trays of drinks and canapes. It's fucking abhorrent, and Eames has to bite back his scowl. Even worse for his inability to do anything — no amount of anger is going to make him stupid enough to lash out in a room full of witches — and he turns a little to Arthur. Puts a hand on his chest in an affectionate enough gesture to look like they're sharing an intimate moment, and tilts his head to murmur in Arthur's ear.

"Talk me out of doing something stupid."

[specifiercity]

Arthur can sympathize, at least. He knows parts of this must be hard for Eames, even if he can't sense exactly what's going on. The waiters make him wonder if Samantha would be so brazen as to flaunt bound fae right in front of her guests, but that's not his focus right now.

He smiles warmly to keep up the facade of an intimate moment.

"There's no point in blowing it now," he says softly.

[falsify]

"Fucking servers." He ducks his head, hiding his expression for a moment until he's got his face under control. "I don't know which part of this to be the most insulted by."

No wonder fae were banned.

[specifiercity]

Arthur noses at Eames' temple, affectionate and soothing. "It's just a show of power," he says. "This won't be how it looks in the end."

[falsify]

God, he wants to believe that.

Eames deflates a little, sighing. He doesn't even know what he would do if he did anything, but that doesn't make him feel any better about all this.

So he tries to change track instead, looking at Arthur with his eyebrows raised and a smirk tugging at his lips. "You sound pretty sure of that."

[specifiercity]

Arthur gives him a wry look before he glances around at the rest of the party. He knows the best thing to do would be to distract Eames from the terrible reality right now, even though he's not sure how good he is at that.

"Do you doubt my faith?" he asks, all coy and smooth.

[falsify]

Eames snorts, shaking his head.

"No offence, Arthur," he starts, straightening the lapel of Arthur's jacket a little while he talks, , "but you're not a man I know to operate on faith."

[specifiercity]

Arthur's only response is a coy smile; the truth of the matter is that he was just saying whatever he needed to to keep Eames calm, but he doesn't want to get into that discussion or argument right now.

"Well, I hope you're not having too terrible of a time."

[falsify]

Eames' response to that is to raise his eyebrows at Arthur with a blank look on his face. Because looking at your potential future of servitude is a pretty awful time, he has to say.

[specifiercity]

"Well, Keiran, just let me know if you want to leave," Arthur says, slightly reluctant in his tone because there seems to be a lot left to learn.

[falsify]

"Not yet," he says it with a hint of a smile because he hears that tone, "just... Try not to lose sight of me, alright?"

Simultaneously because he might snoop around a bit and he can't watch his own back, but also because he's worried about what could happen to him in a place like this.

[specifiercity]

Arthur knows Eames must be worried, but he decides not to call him out on it and gives him a wry smirk instead.

"Well, seeing as I'm having such a hard time taking my eyes off of you..."

[falsify]

Wow. Eames snorts and thumps Arthur lightly with a fist, shaking his head at the line.

"Aren't you supposed to be a professional?"

[specifiercity]

"A professional what?" Arthur says, a grin on his face as he pretends to be slightly taken aback. "A professional date? I think you have the wrong idea."

[falsify]

Eames shakes his head, rolling his eyes for emphasis.

"When we get back to yours after this..." He starts with a warning tone that really amounts to nothing. It'd be more of a threat ("threat") if he didn't actually really appreciate Arthur taking his mind off how awful this all is for a few minutes.

But still, the implication is there.

[specifiercity]

Arthur gives him the most self-satisfied grin and briefly puts his hand on Eames' waist before he pulls back and puts both hands in his pockets. He likes flirting with Eames; it's fun, but they have to be appropriate and they should actually do some snooping while they're here.

[falsify]

Eames shakes his head, casting a brief look around to see if anyone's looking at them, and then back to Arthur with a raised eyebrow.

"Remind me why I brought you here again?"

Technically speaking, Arthur brought him, but that's semantics.

[moralabsolutism]

Don't mind the Hillingdon House ghost that suddenly appears next to you, Arthur. God only knows how long he's actually been following you until he decided to manifest. Rorschach has never shown up to one of these events before, but with the current state Daybreak has been in, he felt it prudent to scope things out.

"Interesting gathering," he remarks. As with everything the ghost says, there's a whole paragraph worth of what he's not saying. Rorschach has been eavesdropping on the witches' conversations and has heard the most interesting bits of gossip. Seems like everything is not as rosy as it seems from the outside.

[specifiercity]

Arthur's reaction is a sharp inhale and a very long exhale as he recovers from the near heart attack. He doesn't mind interacting with ghosts, but they have this terrible habit of doing what Rorschach just did and it's distressing to say the least, so he doesn't seek it out very often.

"It's certainly educational," he replies.

[moralabsolutism]

Rorschach sees that reaction, and truth be told, is a little amused by it. He's always managed to provoke fear in others. In life, it was usually by being tougher than everyone else. In death, it was just his very presence.

"Seen anything interesting?" Rorschach had been walking through the walls, invisible to all. It was amazing the things people said when they thought they were alone with another person.

[specifiercity]

"All of this is interesting," Arthur says, though his tone doesn't really match the words. "The applications of magic seem endless."

He has a history of chasing the thrill of magic, even though he can't make any of his own. He wants to understand it and the fact that he doesn't think he ever will is almost exciting. Still.

"That doesn't really mean anyone should pursue every application they can, though."

[moralabsolutism]

"Hurm," is the only response Arthur gets in his response to his assertions about magic. Rorschach has never particularly cared for witches, though he does tolerate them better than vampires and werewolves. Then again, the old ghost doesn't really care for much of anyone.

"You know what they say. Power corrupts." Just because they could do all sorts of fantastic things at the snap of their fingers didn't mean it was necessarily the right thing to do.

[specifiercity]

Arthur hums thoughtfully in return, keeping his tone low enough that they won't be overheard in the buzz of conversation around them.

"They're still limited by what the Night Council will or won't allow, and by what they can get away with. If nothing else, the momentum is... worrying."

[moralabsolutism]

The blotches on Rorschach's mask shoot upwards, muddling towards the area where his forehead and eyebrows are before slowly dripping back down again. "What is the Night Council full of? Witches. Won't stop them at all." Rorschach disliked anything that was a little too organized and neatly done up.