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

[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.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"What year was it? It sounds like you at least saw the beginning."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"I died in 1947." Seems like it was longer ago than that, even if he's been here a short time.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

Michael nods.

"The very first steps towards recovery, then. But I'd think the world felt a bit more hopeful?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"It did, but at the same time, age was claiming me. And there was the business unfinished for me, so perhaps I did not have time to see it." And he did feel bad that his friend Winston was driven from office so quickly. That bothered him, too.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Did you manage to finish that off, in the time you had left?" Michael asks, carefully avoiding the subject of what it was.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"Yes," he says firmly. "And with that done, I came here.

"Though that was of course most unexpected."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

He chuckles. "I'd say so. Had you been here in life, or was that your first visit?"

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"My first visit. And you? You are still alive?" A question he finds hard to ask sometimes.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Yes", Michael says simply. "By God's mercy and excellent medical care, but yes, I'm still alive."

If a quarter blind and not able to walk very well.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"That can be said for all of us who lived through the rough moments." His doctors were really quite good. As they should be, given the cost for their services.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"So it can. But you said you hadn't been here before - that must have come as quite a shock?"

Especially for someone expecting one of the possible Christian afterlives.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

He nods. "I was raised a Catholic, and spent my life trying to decide if I truly believed in the afterlife my priests told me about as a boy. I was ready to meet St. Peter. Or perhaps to cease to be, for the evidence of the afterlife was never fully compelling. But to be in a bar? It boggles the mind still."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"Well, I've been given to understand this place isn't the end of the road. That whatever waits for you still waits, whenever you're ready to go to it."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"So I am here until I wish to meet my maker, as the English would say it?" Does that mean he's not ready?

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

"So they say. Or until you get tired of being here."

Re: The Quiet Corner

[littlegreycells]

"I do not think I will get tired of it that fast, mon ami. Heaven, it probably does not have such parties." The food was, to use a phrase that does not quite fit, divine.

Re: The Quiet Corner

[onceholyknight]

He laughs.

"No, there do seem to be quite a few long-term residents, and no one is forced to move on against their will." Not by the bar or anyone in it it, at least, though some have found themselves drawn to leave without really wanting to. "But you won't be here for any longer than you want to be."