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: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

It does not take a detective to notice how Michael's hands are those of a worker. Quite unlike those of the detective.

"You are American, yes?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael nods.

"I'm from Chicago. And you?"

Clearly he's not American, but the accent could be from a few places.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"By birth from Belgium, but I lived the last thirty or so years of my life in and around London.

"I did not get to visit Chicago in my days." He barely got to see America at all.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael gives him a quick glance at that, guessing at what he means.

"Did you get to the United States?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"Only for the briefest of times. I travelled to New York to investigate a situation and what I needed was on the ship, so I did not even need to go ashore.

"But my passport, it did say I was in the United State." He doesn't regret not staying.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael chuckles. "Good enough for bragging rights, I guess."

He's considering offering Poirot a short visit, but his world really, really isn't the safest place. Even if his house is.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"I did much travel, but the New World never appealed to me. I cannot say why." Other than how often he found Americans to be arrogant and foolish.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael can't really argue with that, in many cases.

"Each to their own tastes. Where did you travel to?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"Many parts of Europe, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey. Often to Paris, occasionally to the far corners of England." He makes England sound a bit exotic. In some ways, it was to him. If a bit less exciting than the rest of the world.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael nods, interested.

"And what would you say was your favourite place?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

That requires some thought. "Most likely the Riviera. Warm weather, people speaking a proper French, fine cuisine." And only the occasional murder to solve.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Warm weather is always better than not", he agrees, "as long as it's not so warm as to be uncomfortable."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"I seem to recall that Chicago could be both extremely hot and extremely cold." The heat wave in 1936 made news around the world, and much of what Poirot recalls reading spoke of Chicago as well as the Dust Bowl.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Oh, yes", Michael says with feeling. "And the more temperate times in between, but the extremes can be dangerous."

And in his world, possibly have more than a little to do with the Winter and Summer Courts.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"But you stay, and you thrive?" American tolerance for the extremes fascinates him to some degree.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"People can put up with most anything with the right preparation", he says with a small smile. "And my roots are put down too deep to move, given the choice."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"And what do you do there, with the roots deep?" No farms actually in the city, yes? But deep roots suggests a farm.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

He was speaking metaphorically, but he does have a nice garden.

"I raise my children and build houses. Or pay people to build houses, these days, but I like to be present on my sites and get hands on where I can."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"Ah, so in the construction industry. I do not know much about it, though it surrounded me the last months of my life, after the war ended." The rebuilding was necessary. It was also noisy and sped his departure to Styles at the end.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael nods.

"Lots of repairs to be done after any war. You were living in a city then?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"London. The war took a great toll, and the new government was dedicated to rebuilding as fast as it could." Without regard to cost or to architecture.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Ah, yes", he says gravely. "It must have been hard to stay there."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"I fled to a friend's estate for much of the time. I did not care to live through another war. But Hitler had something else to say about that." He smiles slightly, knowing that the war is over and Hitler is dead and that he outlived the mad dictator.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael smiles back.

"But he lost, and Europe can recover from what he did."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"That is my hope. Alas, I did not live to see it, but that I lived as long as I did was good enough." He went to his grave at peace with the world. More or less.