milliways_bar | Entries tagged with cosette fauchelevent

Loki isn't bored with Milliways--yet.

Milliways has been entertaining. Much more entertaining than, say, the wormholeyswirlyvoidyspacy place he'd been before seeing?hearing?feeling? the door that opened here. That was boring. Milliways has provided its fun.

Robbing a bank was fun. Seeing ugly dreary sad little Midgard, and finding that it was every bit as ugly dreary and sad as he'd suspected, that was quote-unquote fun. Meeting Thor's little friends--and his boss--was fun. Exploring the library was fun.

Exploring the part of the library that held versions of books Asgard and its neighboring realms had lost thousands of years ago, and hundreds of thousands of years ago, that was fun. (Walking across a miles-long knife-edge of paper to reach it, and then fighting a beast made up of words, also fun. Were they put there on purpose to guard ancient lore? Or had the ancient lore drawn its own protection? Had the powers that be in Milliways just thought Loki needed a brief challenge?) Doing a little light reading on wormholes and the neglected paths of the universe--again, FUN.

Loki isn't bored yet, but he can tell he will be soon.

The only way forward is of course to step back into said wormholeyswirlyvoidyspace, armed with a little knowledge. Only way. But faced with the return, Loki finds himself...reluctant. So he's lingering in the bar, people-watching, door-watching, reading, fiddling with a little portable dimensional pocket thing he'd built for storing a few books. Right now it's storing--and unstoring--an emptied goblet of wine. Now you see it, now you don't. Now you see it...

lark_in_flight

What comes through the door first, along with the sight of sleeves and voluminous skirts, is a voice: Cosette is calling back over her shoulder, "Papa, are you ready? Marius and I are quite -- oh!"

Hello, Milliways!

Well, she didn't expect to come here, but she's quite pleased to have done so, after a startled moment. It's been several weeks, on her side of the door. She steps in all the way, and closes the door behind herself. She might as well say hello to her mother and any dear friends and perhaps have a little something while she's here, right?

She's a little more tan and freckled than usual; not a great deal, because hers is an era of bonnets and lace gloves and parasols and so forth, but all the same she's done a certain amount of tossing propriety aside enough to bask in the Italian sunlight on this trip. And she looks even more glowingly healthy, and happy, than usual.

Her skirts rustle, and she glances down in time to spot a small and shaggy grey dog trotting quite unconcernedly forward. With a surprised laugh, Cosette bends to catch her up. "Why, Panza, you naughty thing! Very well, come and get acquainted with the good society here."

idareyou

((OOM: A while back (and only getting posted now because I am a flakey flake), Mary and Cosette had a lovely secret visit to be bestest friends and talk in French about being teenagers and newlyweds and the emotional landscape of marriage. Unfortunately Mary hadn't mentioned this to Jamie ahead of time and he's not as thrilled about strangers from other times and places wandering into their home through Milliways. Communication is hard, man.))

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.]

lark_in_flight

Cosette is settled down at a table right by Bar, scribbling intently in a notebook. She's working on a few things by turns: a list, a different list, a paragraph on a separate sheet that occasionally she picks up to consider.

Every so often she hops up to consult with Bar in an enthusiastic undertone. She seems pretty consistently pleased by the answers, although she also seems to be in a bustling happy mood about all of this.

Cosette, in fact, is party planning.

idareyou

Mary has no intention of letting her new home overwhelm her. Absolutely not: it's her home now and she is very brave. A very brave queen. But as she's exploring she hears voices in the hallway and just right now she can't bear the thought of another meeting where they talk loudly and slowly into her face and then talk to each other with her right there as if she can't understand--which mostly she can't--and you can hardly tell the lords and ladies from the servants--

So she whisks herself up a narrow stairway and into a storage room and starts poking into the chests and wardrobes and pulling things out to see what's what. Very busily. So she doesn't have any time to be afraid or lonely or anything like that.

Which is how a Pretty Princess comes to Milliways for the first time. Enter a girl of about fifteen, holding a cloak in her arms, looking very very startled.

lark_in_flight

[OOM: In Milliways, some time ago, Bahorel gave Marius Pontmercy some advice.

Now, in Paris, Marius and Cosette try out this actually communicating with your spouse thing. It actually goes pretty well! BABY STEPS.]

road_to_calvary

It has been a more prolonged stay than any anticipated, but Valjean, for one, has no complaints. He has been allowed to recover in peace, he has spent his days with Cosette, he has exchanged some words with Marius that hopefully means their past is now behind them. Cosette has spoken with her mother, Marius with his friends, and he with Javert. Things are ready to begin anew.

And so, this small family descends the stairs together. They look content, Cosette between her father and her husband, lighting the room with her angelic smile. Valjean steps back at the door to allow Marius to hold it open for her, and then takes the handle to insist he goes ahead. He casts one look around the bar before following them out to Paris. The door shuts with a quiet click.

(Across the room, Javert notices them leave. He drags his eyes from Valjean long enough to narrow them at Marius, and then glance around to see if the revolutionaries are watching him leave, or try to give him anything. Seeing none, he rises from his table. He settles his bill at the bar, to give the family time to vacate Valjean's apartment on the other side. That done, he opens the door, his shadow falling forward onto the empty bedroom of the Rue de l'Homme Arme. Without a look back, he is gone.)

clayforthedevil

Bahorel had begun the night with a drink, and gone over to a table in a far corner, with a good view of the room, to sketch the Bar and her surroundings in their altered state.

That had been some time ago.

His table is currently covered and spilling over in pages spliced together and folded into each other, sketches of landscapes and buildings twisting across them in a style that's rather more shadowed and symbolic than representative. At some point, he thought to ask for ink, though he hasn't really noticed-- and if Madame Bar's her usual self again, he hasn't noticed that either.

Possibly startleable , if you catch him before his pencils run out.

((OOC: here for an hour or so maybe, or until storms sideline me again!))

farouche_bravoure

[After Valjean's visit to the infirmary, Cosette visits her mother.]

heartbeneathastone

[a whole passel of OOMs: Valjean is discharged from the infirmary, but there are still questions to be settled with Cosette. Then, Marius and Cosette have a conversation of their own.

Sometime after that (and also sometime after this one), Marius and Enjolras catch up.]

Anyone who witnessed the commotion of Valjean, Cosette, and Javert's return to Milliways may recognize the pale, black-clad young man who accompanied them, now sitting in front of the fire.

Though he has now been in Milliways for several days, Marius Pontmercy has been avoiding the main bar at all costs. However, it still really is quite cold (especially coming from a Parisian April), and the sudden winter makes his shoulder ache, and there's really only so much aimless wandering a person can do, and eventually, one of those comfortable-looking chairs before the fire is all but irresistible.

Marius has received explanations of Milliways from several sources, but he has come across another copy of the welcome pamphlet and is reading it, brow furrowed, with all the care of a scrupulous lawyer perusing a contract.

[ooc: Marius is awkward and antisocial at the best of times, and this is-- not that. So apologies in advance if you don't get very far with him.]

cavalryrepresent

"No. Way." Charlie kind of freezes when she walks through the door, because what. What. While she's still staring, one of the waitrats approaches her to tug on her worn-out jeans and hand her an information pamphlet.

"...Am I a Disney princess?" she blurts out. (Animals are walking up to her and helping her. That seems like a pretty Disney Princess thing to happen.) But okay. Who is she to deny small fuzzy creatures helping her out? She reads the pamphlet.

This? Is. Awesome. She's kind of not sure what to do first. The urge to run around and see everything is definitely there, but on the other hand, free food. She kind of hasn't eaten in... uh, yesterday. Which is cool. It's like a fast. She's fasting to get the creative juices flowing while she brainstorms ideas for her new costumed identity. It's artistic and monk-ish and oh god she is so freaking starving, she needs burgers STAT.

So yeah, the first thing she does is sit down at a booth and order a giant burger and fries and a milkshake. And while she's waiting, she's kind of attempting to dry-clean off her Bat symbol t-shirt, because she just noticed there's a funky stain at the bottom hem and ew.

[tiny tag: Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe]

never_shall_yield

After the events of the other evening, Javert took himself off to his room and slept for the best part of two days. The only thing he asked before heading upstairs was that he be informed if Valjean died.

There has been no message, and on coming down today Bar tells him that the man lives yet. So he nods, and eats breakfast and goes outside. He exercises the stallion. Then he goes out to the woods and spends the entire day woodworking pews for the church, in his shirtsleeves despite the chill, looking the closest to relaxed he has in years.

When it gets dark he's in the bar, idly sketching over glass with stick of wax, a book and a cup of coffee at his elbow. He looks more untidy than usual; his collar is not fastened, and there is mud on his trousers. But for once there is no sign of anger, animosity or distress. For the first time in a long time, he is genuinely unconcerned about interruptions.

[OOC: Catch him anywhere. Open for the rest of the week!]

lark_in_flight

[OOM, just before: Javert comes to summon Cosette -- and incidentally Marius -- to what may be Jean Valjean's deathbed. Contains grief and parental illness, although no actual death.]

The door is yanked open. On the other side, a Parisian room, bare and unadorned, with a bed made up in the corner and several people crowded within. There's a minute or so of bustle, and then Cosette bursts through.

She's been crying; she's still crying, a little, half-noticed, but her jaw is tight with urgent determination. Unlike often, she's bareheaded. On her heels -- and with a certain amount of awkward maneuvering to pass through the doorway -- come three men.

On the one side: Javert. On the other side: a young man in his early twenties, dark-haired, slim, scarred, and bewildered. (Welcome to Milliways, Marius Pontmercy! Have fun with all the surprises you're about to get!) In between them, leaning heavily on both of them and half-carried, is Jean Valjean. He looks exhausted, hollow-eyed and thin, very ill, and possibly delirious; his eyes are fixed on his daughter.

"Oh!" she cries, and whirls to face the room, dashing the tears from her eyes with an impatient hand. "Where is a doctor? Please, my father needs a doctor!"

[OOC: Marius and Cosette and Valjean can all be tagged separately or together, but Cosette is preoccupied and Marius is bewildered and Valjean is delirious, so uh FYI! We have an infirmary thread with Joly set up, but help is welcome to steer and/or carry Valjean there. Javert make himself scarce as soon as he's not needed, so he can be tagged separately.]

lark_in_flight

[OOM:

It is early May, but you would not know it in this cellar.

Or: Valjean continues to try very hard to do what he thinks is best for Cosette~~, and everything is awful~~ .]

lark_in_flight

There's a note on the bulletin board on a small card of heavy paper, written in carefully tidy 19th century handwriting:

In search of an artisan or scholar of magic who can work a protective spell on living creatures which will last for a long time without harm. Payment negotiable within reasonable rates. For more details, please contact the writer through Mme Bar.

It's not signed, but anyone inquiring with Bar out of serious interest can get Cosette's name for addressing a return note, and can be directed to her if she's in Milliways at the time.

[OOC: Not really an EP, because I'm just dropping this in on my lunch break and then going back to work. But feel free to either leave reply notes or to tag in for a 'Cosette is coincidentally in the bar' thread if your character fits the bill and would be interested!]

clayforthedevil

The modern electric lights of Milliways are perfectly adequate for a sewing job, but there's something familiar about working by firelight. Even if there are fish swimming in it.

So that's what he's doing, sitting cross-legged on the floor and working on something in blue and grey that stands out against his own solid black outfit, occasionally squinting at or taking off the pair of glasses he's picked up somewhere.

((edit: and more or less afk for the night! No more new threads without agreement, please.))

lark_in_flight

Cosette enters with a brief look of satisfaction: today she came to Milliways on purpose, rather than by surprise, and that's much more pleasant in her opinion. (Not that Milliways isn't a pleasant surprise, of course, but it's nicer when one has a say in one's destination.)

She consults with Bar and receives a pot of tea, along with an unasked-for second cup and a plate of light and lemony cookies. Cosette laughs. "I see! You want me to be social, is that it? Very well, of course I will."

Accordingly she settles down at a table with a few extra chairs. But until someone presents themselves for conversation, she'll be writing on some scraps of paper she's drawn from her reticule, and drinking her own up of tea -- and occasionally glancing cheerfully around the room, to make sure she doesn't miss anyone she'd like to say hello to.

[OOC: Mun is going to sleep -- slowtime on all threads, please! And I'm sorry to do this, but no new threads, please; I'm traveling this weekend and won't really have time to pick up more.]

road_to_calvary

OOM:

The Lower Chamber

inatownlikethis

The woman who steps through the door with a distracted expression stops dead still as soon as she looks up and Milliways registers. Slowly, carefully, standing very straight, she puts her earrings back in. She'd been on her way to bed, but--this isn't bed. She smooths her hands down the front of her skirt.

After a few steady breaths, she walks to the bar and sits at one end, still very straight, very careful. When she realizes that there's a pamphlet at her elbow she looks it over, one eyebrow going higher and higher. A bar at the end of the universe?

Having read the pamphlet she smooths the paper and re-folds it into a fan to hold. Something to keep her hands from trembling while she studies this new situation.

is_the_motion

Outside in the garden, there are banners and stalls, bunting and balloons. There's even a bouncy castle, sitting somewhere between the stalls and the collection of classical cars.

As you come out of the bar, you can see a big sign hung from two poles:

Milliways 1st County Fair

Fancy entering a competition? Winning cool prizes?
Want to run a stall or take a look around?
Want to run a game or try your luck?

Come and join the fun of the fair!

[ooc: Everyone welcome! ~~If you are entering competitions please have your entries in by Wednesday 9pm GMT/3pm EST. Please see OOC POST for questions or ping me.~~

ENTRIES FOR THE SHOW NOW CLOSED. Judging is in progress and prizes will be announced as they come in in the next 24h as possible. Thank you to everyone who has entered.]

lark_in_flight

When Cosette comes in, she's surprised to be here, but perfectly amenable. Besides, she's mostly distracted the room -- it's so changed, with cunning little structures in metal and gaudy colors all around. She makes her way to Bar distractedly, staring left and right.

"Madame Bar--" is as far as she gets in her question before a vidscreen pops up, and Cosette breaks off with an "Oh!"

Well.

The peculiar metal figure she has no desire to be, nor the woman in peculiar clothes, nor a few other options, but one...

Cosette mulls over this for quite some time, while looking about for her father, and asking Bar questions like, "You're quite certain this is temporary? You must promise me it's so. Will I be able to speak? I wouldn't want a cat to get the wrong idea, I don't want to be foolish -- am I being entirely silly?"

She shouldn't. She knows she probably shouldn't. But it's such a charming notion, and so many other people about the bar are doing it, and surely it isn't really dangerous. It's a small rebellion, a chance for freedom and anonymity without any real impropriety, and she finds now that the opportunity is in front of her, she can't quite bring herself to resist. "All right," she says to Bar, feeling wild and reckless and delighted, just as much as she did when a handsome young man came to her garden with lovestruck murmurs. "I will do it."

She's not going to transform right in the middle of a crowded room -- imagine such a thing! -- but she's not entirely sure about working doors, so the bathroom is a good compromise. She brings her vidscreen there, and makes her selection.

Shortly afterward, a skylark is fluttering about the rafters. Every so often it settles down to pour forth a snatch of rippling song.

Later, she may venture outside, into the sunny afternoon sky. (But only the sky over the lawn and the lake, not near the forest.)

gods_that_haunt_me

On day two of Cubefall, there is a dragon in the bar.

Actually no, it's just a velociraptor of the Jurassic Park kind.

And it's stalking around with a lot of uncertainty, bobbing its head and making confused noises, and wondering what to do with its tail.

It's Floki.

It has been ____ days since the last velociraptor incident.

tire_moi_mes_bottes

He remembers a conversation with a charming young woman in a dress, a striking dress that had led to dreams about mermaids and sea-devils and Nereids. Now he wakes in a comfortable chair, shivering, staring at a fireplace. A fireplace with fish in it.

"Computer. Computer. Identify the program." Another shiver takes over his body, and when he instinctively clutches his uniform jacket around himself he finds his fists full of some sort of--period costume. Earth, nineteenth century, perhaps? One of Data's infernal Sherlock Holmes adventures? Good God, if it's Moriarty--

"Computer, freeze program."

Oh, not again. Not another goddamned holodeck malfunction.

Captain Picard rises from his seat by the fire, tugs on his waistcoat, confirms that he has no communications badge, and sets off to investigate.

((It's that pesky IMDb flu again!))

((~~Heading to bed for now, back in the morning.~~ Back! Closed to new threads, though, without prior arrangement?))

le_centre

Courfeyrac, being young and open-minded and clever, has embraced Milliways in several ways. One of these is the use of new technology (which he does not understand, but is willing to press the buttons of). As such, he has learned many, many wonderful things! This thing called television is a marvellous teacher.

So. He approaches the bar with a grin, and an air of one about to ask for something he knows he probably shouldn't.

'Madame, I wonder if you might lend me...a camera.'

Without so much as a hesitation, one appears. Courfeyrac snatches it up in delight, wide-eyed as he presses ALL THE BUTTONS and the lens slides out on its own. Soon he has taken a picture of the bar-top, himself reflected in the mirror behind the bar, and half his own face. He is still absently lost in the settings menu, as he mutters, 'I would also like to try zorbing.'

...an hour later, having fought with plugs, a mechanized...thing that inflates a giant plastic ball (and there happens to be a few spares ready to go), an unholy screech can be heard rising over the grounds. Courfeyrac's ball zips over snow like a bowling ball on ice, and he has somehow managed to knock it in the direction of the lake. And there is no stopping it; he flies out over the ice and onto the water and is sure he is going to immediately drown...until he discovers, you can zorb on water.

Well. That's today taken care of. He is panting and happy as he hamster-balls himself back onto land, and then runs back up to the bar to do it all again.

Do come and play. He will race you.

[OOC: Yeeeah, I dunno. Come play! I'm here for about the next fourteen hours, and this'll stay open through the weekend. Yay, ridic French students! \o/]