Cosette Fauchelevent (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lark_in_flight) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
milliways_bar2017-01-05 11:32 pm
lark_in_flight) wrote in milliways_bar2017-01-05 11:32 pm
Twelfth Night Party, Pontmercy style!
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.]
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.]
Re: Meet and Greet
Jamie is here, but he's not here here yet--he's trailing a little bit behind, stuck in a knot of guests. It gives Mary time to lean in and murmur a little confession. "Oh, Cosette, I should tell you--it turns out that he doesn't want to be telling people here that he's a king." Which complicates things slightly for her, but not too much. She gives Cosette an apologetic, worrying look: she'll help keep a little secret like that?
And oh, here's James now! "James, this is my friend Cosette Pontmercy. From Paris!"
Re: Meet and Greet
"Madame Pontmercy. I'm, uh, James Stewart." Which... she already knows, he assumes.
Re: Meet and Greet
She doesn't entirely, of course. But Cosette's upbringing is not one that's taught her to question other people's reasons for keeping secrets. Her friend has asked, she doesn't see the harm in it; that's enough for her to immediately, reassuringly agree.
There's a brief awkward moment all the same where she wants to curtsy (because even if he's a secret king, he's a king!) and stops herself, but the delight of her very own party that people are coming to and having fun at and everything omg is enough to stop the awkwardness from stretching much.
"I'm very pleased to meet you, m-- monsieur!" (It's vous, most certainly.) "Especially since you're my friend Mary's husband. Your wife is lovely, you know, she's delightful. Merry Christmas, monsieur, and I'm so pleased you were able to come."
Re: Meet and Greet
See Jamie, there's going to be dancing!
Re: Meet and Greet
"I'm-- gonny get some wine, eh? I'll be over there if you-- need me." Or something.
Re: Meet and Greet
"Of course! Please do help yourself. My husband, my Marius, he's the one over there in the black coat. I'm sure he'd love to meet you as well."
Okay, maybe, maybe not. But they're both awkward (based on thirty seconds' acquaintance with Jamie and some gossip about him) and their wives are friends, so they should totally at least try it out! Maybe they can talk about... like... man things. Whatever men talk about.
To Mary, she adds, "It's all Bar, you know! I don't -- perhaps it's naughty of me to say, but I'll say it, it's true, you know: I don't think even Paris has things as splendid as Bar can conjure up. She's magic, you see! But oh, my dear, I'm so glad you like it."
Re: Meet and Greet
And anyway, this way Mary and Cosette can talk about party things without worrying that they're boring the men. "But even without magic, there could be a floor put down..." She's thinking out loud. "Wouldn't that be lovely? For a summer party, I think that would work better--I mean, at home, with no magic, this is perfect for here. But in the summer even in Scotland one could have a floor put out, and a tent, and, oh, flowers hung all around...music... Oh, Cosette, I wish you could come to Stirling."
Re: Meet and Greet
Parties! Much better than social complications. "Oh, that sounds lovely! What a beautiful summer party! And yes of course, if it's summer you don't need magic at all. You can lead the breeze come right through, and never mind the fires and such. Yes, you must, that would be marvelous. And oh, I wish I could come too! Or--"
Oh, this is daring. And possibly she shouldn't, but -- but it's so tempting, and Mary is her dear friend, and it would be a useful thing to know, wouldn't it?
"Or perhaps I could? Perhaps, if my husband doesn't object, we could try sometime? I'll ask Mme Bar to make sure, but I can't think there would be harm in it, would there? If you think it's all right, I mean. I wouldn't want to make any difficulty for you if it did work! But if it didn't, I'd only still be here at Milliways, right? And then we'd know."
Re: Meet and Greet
It's shaping up very nicely in her head. She could take up a plate of fruit or cakes, maybe even a little bottle of wine, and they could have a secret meal. Oh, but-- "Or...you know, when everyone goes to chapel I could say I have a headache, and you could come and see a little more of the castle. Because really it's very pretty to look out the windows and over the walls. It's up on a crag, and the land drops away all around it. Its own little world."
Re: Meet and Greet
And she's never been inside the palace at all, of course, nor ever expects to be. She doesn't even have any particular desire to. But an exotic Scottish castle, with a friend at her side -- that's something else entirely.
"But even to visit your store-room, you know, it would be lovely to see just a little of your home, and to know we could! And then perhaps I could bring you to see Paris sometime, if it works. My husband and my father both come here, it's only the servants and my husband's grandfather and aunt we'd have to avoid or explain something to, and that's not so very hard."
Re: Meet and Greet
"We'll do it," Mary says. "That is settled. And if someone does see you, we'll say..." Here her imagination runs out, and she shrugs and laughs. "Well, no one will see you. Even though you would like Annabella! That's James's sister; she's my friend too. She traveled with me from France to Scotland. But she doesn't know about Milliways."
Is that unfair to Annabella? Should she tell her? Well--maybe some day. "And I would love to see Paris. Paris in 1833! It must be--" This time it's not so much that her imagination runs out, as that she doesn't know where to run with it. Cathedrals! Fashions like Cosette's!
Re: Meet and Greet