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

Re: Meet and Greet

[idareyou]

Well. Okay. Mary's smile grows a little fixed for a moment there. But--yes, right, awkwardness is endearing, and maybe Jamie and the Baron Pontmercy will get along!

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

[lark_in_flight]

Cosette stifles a sympathetic wince at her -- it looks like Mary, perhaps, did not entirely find that awkward social abandonment endearing? -- and links their arms briefly instead.

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

[idareyou]

"Could you? Could we?" Mary's eyes light up. "I wonder how we would manage it--so no one would see you, I mean. Because of course they would wonder...and they're always popping into the rooms without knocking...but the door is in a store-room upstairs, so you could at least be there! We'd push a chest against the door like children making a fort when they don't want their nurse to find them..."

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

[lark_in_flight]

"Oh!" Cosette presses a hand to her mouth in delight. "Only if you think it would be a good idea, I'd never want to cause you any difficulty, but I've never seen a real castle! Paris has cathedrals, there are the palaces, but that's not the same as being inside a castle on a crag."

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

[idareyou]

Stirling is excellently a castle on a crag. Full marks for picturesque location, Stirling.

"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

[lark_in_flight]

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Cosette says this with all the earnestness of someone whose city is very confident it's the center of culture and progress for the world anyway. "If you can come, oh, you must. We'll find you a dress -- you can borrow one of mine, we might be near enough in size, or perhaps Mme Bar can help -- and we can take a walk around the city! You can see the Luxembourg garden, and the cathedrals and the galeries, oh, anything you like! You'll find my house awfully small and simple, it's nothing at all like a castle, but Paris is grand."