Twelfth Night Party, Pontmercy style!

[lark_in_flight]

You -- yes, you, whoever you are -- got an invitation to the party. All of Milliways is welcome!

If you choose to come, you'll find Bar directing you to a big round tent that went up this afternoon on the lawn outside the bar. Marius and Cosette and various friends spent a lot of time this morning ferrying decorations in, and the waitrats spent a lot of time in the afternoon ferrying food in, but the doors won't officially open until close to sunset.

But this isn't a cheap white plastic tent, oh no. It's warm and domed and made of thick fabric, something like a very large yurt. A bit of magic keeps out the drafts, making everything extra cozy.

There's a fire in the middle of the floor, with a low screen encircling it but also magic meaning that this fire puts of warmth but will not actually burn anything, even if you step right into it. The floor is wood -- great for dancing, if you feel like it! There's a piano over against the wall for anyone who wants to make some music.

Everywhere there are garlands of European evergreen branches and herbs, studded with bright dried fruit and sparkling ornaments. (Mistletoe might very well be among them, though the Pontmercies haven't thought to supply that as an intentional party game.) There are candles and lanterns everywhere, and a big chandelier. There are no electric lights at all -- it's all fire -- but a good number of them are magical, so that nothing's going to get set on fire or covered with smoke. The general intended impression is of genteel, welcoming festivity, in a very French and very early 19th century European way.

There are food and drinks galore. Come in and enjoy the party!

[OOC: Party-style post! Subthreads for various categories and activities, etc. Open from now until whenever!

Edit: As of Joly's arrival, Cosette now has a mini-polaroid camera. Fear, Milliways. Feel free to assume that she's popped up to take a candid picture of your character(s) at any point, as long as they're not doing or wearing anything scandalous! She will happily give the resulting picture to your character if they want; it probably won't be a very good picture, in terms of composition or focus, but it will be cheerfully enthusiastic.]

Comments

The Quiet Corner

[lark_in_flight]

Some people love a party full of chatting and dancing and socializing. Other people would rather fill a plate with food and retreat to a quiet corner to people-watch, or maybe embark on serious conversation with a like-minded friend or two.

Since multiple people in this family are in the latter camp, the party is well-supplied with comfortable chairs. They're scattered around the edges of the room in little clusters for anyone who might want to rest their feet, but there's a particular density of chairs over by a festively crackling brazier.

(Marius can probably mostly be found here.)

Re: The Quiet Corner

[pro_patria_mortuus]

Enjolras is here because he values friendship, and he values friends being happy, and he has no reason at all to say no.

(And because even though he's not at all a party person, and even with all the Milliways touches, this is enough of a taste of home to strike him right in the heart. The style is right, the lights are right; everything speaks of childhood and of Paris, of France, of home.)

Even with that, though -- maybe especially with that -- he's not a party person. So he can mostly be found sitting in a chair, perhaps nursing a glass of mulled wine and a plate of food, perhaps in a silent reverie of contemplation, and certainly people-watching.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[freedom_is_grey]

One of those people is watching him back, as is the mabari at her side.

"Do you mind company, Enjolras?" Ysalwen asks, smiling faintly.

"It's been some time."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[pro_patria_mortuus]

Enjolras rises to greet her with a slight bow, because gender norms of his society. But Ysalwen is something of a friend, and generally outside the gender norms of his society in any number of ways, and so he also gives her a small smile in return.

"Not at all. How have you been, you and yours?"

Whether that means your friends or your nation is, of course, up to Ysalwen.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen doesn't curtsy, just returns his slight bow with a nod of her own -- and a quick smile.

"We've been -- well. Uprisings and disasters have been the order of the day, but I'm no longer officially nobility, which means I can actually get things done. And -- I find I prefer that."

King Alistair's advisors are probably very happy about that. Not to mention the Queen.

"And you and yours?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[tu_vas_triompher]

Feuilly is here! (Feuilly has brought Harry, of course--even though Harry seems to be In A Mood. But Harry has been In A Mood since--since when? Feuilly has lost track, but it's been a grumpy Christmas. Hoping that a party would cheer Harry up is a foolish move. But there's cake, and Harry likes cake, so he'll be...fine?)

The truth is Feuilly is more than half here on business; he's hoping to get a word with one or both Pontmercys.

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[maid_of_tarth]

Brienne is here, wearing formal men's clothes of her era in shimmery blue (no one can make her wear dresses here, and so she does not).

She has not met Feuilly, but she overcomes her shyness enough to say 'hello' when she passes by him.

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[tu_vas_triompher]

He's looking down at a package in his hand, and startles at the greeting, but his smile is quick and friendly. "Hello. Ah--merry Christmas?"

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[maid_of_tarth]

"Merry Christmas," she echoes dutifully, and gives a shy smile back. "We don't have Christmas where I'm from, but this seems a very nice party."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[harryhotspur]

Harry comes wandering by in search of Feuilly sooner or later.

"How dost thou?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[tu_vas_triompher]

Feuilly brightens. Like someone who might possibly have been feeling a teeeeeny bit guilty about parking Harry over by the cakes and then running off. "Harry! It's--it's very nice, isn't it?"

It's warm and bright and there's food and people seem to be having fun? So that's a good party? And putting on his good black coat was probably the right idea?

Re: The Quiet Corner

[harryhotspur]

"It is-- genteel." Which isn't a compliment. But it's also not a rant, so that's sort of like growth!

Re: The Quiet Corner

[lark_in_flight]

Cosette isn't spending much time in the quiet corner. She's leaving that to Marius; she, instead, is riding high on the glorious whirl of trying to hostess to and chatter with an entire room at once. (And, thanks to Joly's present, trying to take candid polaroid pictures of an entire room, too. Say cheese!)

But still, she'll be over by it sooner or later. And she's likely to swing by to say hello to Feuilly, especially if he looks like he might like to catch her attention.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[tu_vas_triompher]

"Oh, Mme Pontmercy! This is--it's a, a very nice party. Thank you so much for the invitation. I--brought a friend--have you met Harry Percy?" He's--somewhere! But none of the places that Feuilly sees when he looks around, so, right, fine. "It's really nice," he finishes. Sincerely. Awkwardly.

...that's good bourgeois socializing, right? So he can segue gracefully into more interesting things? "Do you--of course you're very busy right now, but I was wondering if at some point we could talk--or with Marius--about--we had talked about that book, the book for teaching people to read--?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[lark_in_flight]

Sure! Seems like a good go at bourgeois socializing to Cosette!

This is partly because she's married to Marius Pontmercy, and thus has an extremely low bar for sincere nerdy awkwardness. But it's partly because she really only has a slightly better idea than Feuilly of what bourgeois socializing ought to entail; she didn't grow up going to parties like this either. She's getting by with stories and instinct and best guesses, and cheerful determined chutzpah.

"Thank you so much for coming, M. Feuilly! My husband and I are both so glad you could come. I don't think I know M. Percy, but I certainly hope I'll meet him."

She definitely will, says the mun, because Harry Percy really deserves to have Cosette happen to him at a genteel party.

But if Feuilly wants to segue on to matters of education and charity, she's happy to follow his lead. "Oh, yes, of course! Thank you for reminding me. I wanted to tell you, we'll be going on a trip soon. My family, my father and husband and I. To the Italian coast, for my father's health -- M. le docteur Joly, he said warmth would do him good -- so you see if there's a package you'd like one of us to deliver, of course we're happy to be of service, as I said, but in a little while we'll be away from Paris for some time, that's all."

She isn't quite sure what tack to take with this -- confident, as if this kind of discussion (and this kind of voyage) is something she does all the time? (She doesn't. She doesn't remember ever leaving Paris.) Reassuring, that her father is generally fine and it's no trouble to deliver a package? Apologetic for the potential trouble, and in a hazier way for the fact that they can travel and M. Feuilly is stuck at Milliways at the mercy of Pontmercy couriers? The result of all these conflicting feelings is that she sounds earnest and young and a little uncertain, which is exactly what she was hoping not to sound.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[wings_of_a_swan]

Combeferre enjoys music, and dancing, and food, and casual chit-chat. He's come dressed Properly for a party, and fully intends to act like he's at one. But his heart is in the nerdy conversation corner, and so he winds up here eventually, flopping down on a chair, with a mug of something hot and alcoholic.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[farouche_bravoure]

Fantine is a quiet person by nature, and it's not long before she finds a comfortable chair where she can sit and people-watch.

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[littlegreycells]

Poirot has been to many parties, but sometimes he finds himself drawn to the people who are watching the other people. He is good at people-watching, of course, and wonders how others do it.

"Good evening, madamoiselle."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[farouche_bravoure]

"Good evening, monsieur." A small bald man with impressive mustaches, in clothes that look strange but not outrageous to Fantine's 19th-century eyes. "Are you enjoying the party?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[pro_patria_mortuus]

Symbolically beautiful dead French blond(e)s' people-watching corner!

Or something. Anyway, Enjolras is coming back from the drinks area with a cup of mulled wine. (His first, whether or not that's tying Millitime in any knots. Continuity is a flexible thing with party threads!)

He was planning to just return to his chair and resume people-watching, but there's a woman he knows sitting nearby now: Marius's mother-in-law, the mother of Valjean's adopted daughter, whom Bahorel introduced him to. He pauses long enough to offer her a cordial bow of greeting.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[farouche_bravoure]

Fantine, coming out of her reverie, recognizes him without difficulty, though she cannot recall his name. "Good evening, monsieur," she says. Her manner is as it usually is: pleasant but serious, with a hint of a smile. "I hope you are enjoying the party."

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[manofbusiness]

After collecting his piece of the king cake, Childermass gravitates to this corner to people-watch. But he wouldn't be terribly averse to company, friends or strangers alike, or he wouldn't be here.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

His stiff leg prohibits Michael from dancing, and he's not one for a lot of drinking, so it's with a cup of mulled wine that he takes a seat in the quiet corner.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

Poirot, sipping an aperitif, nods at the man as he studies the people studying the party.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael nods back amiably.