oh, we dance in misery

[headandhand]

WHO: Open to all Dualizens!
WHAT: the Plague Memorial Masked Ball
WHERE: the Mayor's Mansion (central Dualis)
WHEN: the evening of November 16
WARNINGS: Visuals/discussion of disease and death in the setting. Anything else, please use appropriate warnings!

At 8 p.m. sharp, the lights inside and around the Mayor's Mansion turn up, and the doors are opened to the crowds that begin to trickle inside. All entrances are manned by Iterations, and all party-goers are scanned for both proper attire (formal and masked, mandatory) and weapons (absolutely forbidden) before being allowed entry.

Once inside, attendees are greeted to a spectacle of warmth and light and lavish decorations, all themed in white accented with gold and violet. Venture into the ballroom, and you'll see intricately carved ice sculptures in various representations of death, all laden with garlands of marigolds and violet chrysanthemums. At one end of the room, a rotating cast of musicians plays soft music in differing arrangements of strings and piano. Long tables at the other end of the ballroom are piled high with punch fountains and platters of delicious party foods, and a few bar stations serve beverages of the more adult variety to those of age.

Outside the main ballroom are seven smaller rooms, for more intimate conversations and quiet recovery from the main gala (or just skulking like a brooding weirdo, if that's your thing). Six of the rooms are decorated in monochrome blue, purple, green, orange, white, or violet, and the seventh room is pitch black with red accents.

Throughout the night, the mayor herself winds in and out of the crowds, shadowed by a pair of bodyguards. She is all smiles, greeting people with a friendly handshake and effusive words of thanks for attending the ball, but she never stays in one place long enough for a true conversation. This is a celebration of life and a remembrance of the dead, after all - not the time or place for talks of business or politics.

Enjoy yourselves tonight, everyone! And remember - death eventually comes for everyone.

Comments

[bravers]

[ If I've got to. He thinks, moving his eyes away to the side. Because I don't trust anyone in there. Tifa's the only one that matters. But he can't say that. He doesn't know who this woman is, what's safe to say and what's not. And as for the other part, he's just...

Yeah, no. Too much information. So as for his actual answer, it's an exhale, a shrug of his shoulders, and... it's really not much to go on. Nor is his answer to the second question.

A very flat one. And not quite a lie.]

No.

[And.]

A couple weeks ago, robots came after us. I'm not taking any chances with the same thing happening here.

[metamorphotic]

[ah. there’s that twist of guilt deep in her gut again. she’d been directly involved with setting those robots loose, against her internal objections, and seeing the aftereffects has only intensified her regrets about going along with that particular plan. hank had been angry with her over it, which she more or less expected, but cloud’s - hyper-vigilant? afraid? because of what she’d done, and that makes her feel like shit. it’s what marie wanted, and it was a dick move.]

I don’t think you have to worry about that happening again, [she says, dropping both her head and her voice to counter any nearby surveillance. she inhales another long lungful of smoke and adds:] Mistakes like that don’t usually happen twice.

[bravers]

[That's enough to take his eyes off the building. They turn to Nick, glowing a harsh shade of bright blue. It's not him, of course. They glowed faintly enough anyway. But the refraction of the lights in the building off them make it seem that much brighter, almost in the way a cat's looks when you shine a torchlight at it in the dark.]

A mistake?

[He asks, voice low.]

Didn't seem that much accidental about them to me. Whatever [Not whoever.] made them knew what they were doing.

[metamorphotic]

Not them being made.

[that was absolutely intentional, no question about that. she taps the ash off the end of her cigarette and turns to meet cloud's gaze with her own, making a silent observation that the way his eyes glow is both beautiful and frightening.]

Them bein' set loose. That was the mistake. And it won't happen again.

[not on nick's watch. or, if it does happen again, she won't be part of it. she's resolved on that much, at least. but there's a confession there, in the spaces between the words she speaks - it's partly her fault that those attacks happened. and she regrets it.]

[bravers]

...

[It's... not a very good look he's giving her. His eyes are hard now, eyebrows furrowed, and lips pursed.]

You sound like you know more about it than anyone else I've spoken to.

[There's suspicion in his tone, certainly.]

What makes you so sure?

[metamorphotic]

[she sees that look, and it’s not terribly unexpected, but it certainly doesn’t make her feel any better. still, she doesn’t shy away as she answers.]

Just a hunch. I’ve been here for a while now. Seen how things run in the city. Mistakes like that can get people killed - anyone would wanna make sure it didn’t happen again. Wouldn’t you?