The Far Less Creepy and Far From Abandoned Mansion in the Woods; Friday Afternoon/Evening [06/27].

[chef_chocobro]

When the guests arrived, they would, of course, be instructed to find their way to the garden conservatory; the subtle decorations both inside the mansion and through the exterior gardens would guide most people to there, and, barring that, the steward was naturally on hand to provide and escort. There, they would find a scene that seemed almost a stark contrast to the dark and brooding decor of a necromancer, a place filled with light and life, with plants both decorative and functional, colorful and aromatic and useful, and, of course, no lack of the expected gothic or Victorian touches here and there. Somewhere, some cleverly situated water fixture babbled steadily along with the light, inobtrusive music that set the atmosphere: something elevated just slightly above casual, that slight touch of pretentiousness that was gentle in its demands for propriety and decorum and class. Comfortable chaises and chairs were arranged here and there sociably, a gathering a wrought-iron bistro tables and chairs as well, but the set-up seemed to suggest the kind of floating interactions of butterflies among flowers, drifting from one to the next with an airy regard.

And, of course, the spread of food was exceptional, lighter fair, but plenty of it, things that could be enjoyed while fluttering about with the other guests in one hand, while the other held a glass of fine wine or sparkling water garnished with fresh fruits or even a robust coffee or a floral cup of tea. Small sandwiches and crostini, bruschetta and other variations, but there were also empanadas with a chimichurri sauce, paella with scallops, pomegranate pork kebabs...

Spring rolls, summer rolls, smoked salmon cucumber rolls...

And of course, desserts, which would include alfajores dulce de leche, coffee truffles, fruit crostini, and key lime mini pies.

Needless to say, no one should be wanting for food. Just be careful not to fill up on treats too much if you plan to stay on later; there was still plenty of dancing to be had, once the party moved itself to the awaiting ballroom.

[[ naturally, ocd incoming ocd is up! Come and celebrate with us! ]]

Comments

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor had made this mistake of mentioning at some point, offhanded and not even really thinking about it, that she didn't know what to wear to Miss Vess' party today, and Luma had pounced on the opportunity to procure something for her sister as quickly as she would a rabbit about to flee into the bushes. Which is why she was feeling slightly uncomfortable in white lace that still had a distinctly 70s vibe to it, despite being something Luma's gotten at the store where she worked.

It wasn't bad, of course, and if there was one thing she'd learned with events here, it was that she wore dresses she felt uncomfortable in surprisingly well, but it just felt like more of a Luma dress than an Eleanor one.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[deathsmajesty]

Regardless of whose dress it felt like, Eleanor was wearing it quite well. You know, if one ignored the body language that suggested Eleanor wasn't sure what to do with herself in it.

"Eleanor, darling, hello," Liliana said. "I'm so glad you could make it. Hopefully this party will help make up for the rest of the time you've spent in this room, hmm?"

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

On the bright side, Eleanor very rarely knew what to do with herself, so at least that body language was nothing new.

But Liliana's warm greeting did help, and she smiled a little bobbing her head, before letting out a soft breath of a laugh. "I definitely think," she offered, "it's the sort of event that might help dispel some of those memories for more pleasant ones. But, really, it's such a lovely space that it even that doesn't seem that bad if you think about at least being somewhere nice for them."

In an effort to distract herself sometimes, she'd taken mental notes of various things to maybe utilize for her own greenhouse back home.

"But congratulations. I'm very happy for both you and Mr. Scientia."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[deathsmajesty]

"Why thank you, darling," Liliana said. And, in a slightly softer voice, she added, "You were very brave, you know. I saw that many of those scenarios hit home for you in different ways. And yet, you kept showing up and participating."

Even when it would do nothing but cause more strife between her and her sister.

"I'm proud of you, darling."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

Well. There was the one day that she hadn't shown up, but that had nothing to do with the class and everything to do with the fact that there was luggage announcing all her sins to the world in clear, bold writing. It was one thing to have her sister constantly hounding her with verbal jabs and hints as they related to the scenario, and something else altogether when unrelated baggage was also chiming in and possessed not even Luma levels of discretion.

But the words, encouraging as they were, made Eleanor pale first, and then the strange sickly greenness of her mottled blush started to rise up behind her thin skin.

She still didn't know what to do with encouragement, especially when the last time it had been given to her so freely and openly was exactly what led to all that discomfort and supposed bravery.

"It," she started, mostly just to have something to say, but, as it so often was with her, once she got going, her voice rose up and continued without her input, "was difficult, it's true, but...I also think....it's important, you know? Especially when so many of them did hit close to...home," what an unfortunately specific colloquialism. "If I can look at a thing and figure it out, then maybe I won't make so many of the same mistakes again."

Then she let out a small bark of a laugh that she didn't really mean to let go.

"And Luma definitely wasn't going to pull any of her punches, either."

Nor should she have, either, in Eleanor's opinion.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[deathsmajesty]

Yeah, but Liliana wasn't counting that Thursday for exactly that reason. She didn't blame anyone for staying home rather than letting all and sundry see their personal baggage. By rights, her baggage should have been in Dominarian, and yet, it had shown up in English and with Braille. Which was how she'd known it was just doing it for kicks.

"That's precisely what this class was for, though I'm not sure how many others realized that. I don't think your sister did, for example." Liliana had not missed Luma's growing frustration, no. "You already know how bitter and choking regret and grief are, the kind that accompany mistakes that you would give up almost anything to make right." Er, uhh, or so she'd heard. How would Liliana ever know what those feelings felt like, ahaha amiright? "But it's hard to learn how to not repeat them, unless you learn that your first instincts can easily mislead you. And it's harder still to learn that that which feels right in the moment may not be correct in the context of the wider picture."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[chef_chocobro]

And even if sometimes didn't need them, there were plenty of times when Ignis found himself grateful for the snippets he could pick up here and there in placing someone a but less known to him.

"Ah, yes," he said, "Eleanor. Of course. Thank you so much for doing us today. How are you, my dear?"

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

"Oh!" Eleanor sounded mildly surprised that anyone would ask her a question like that, let alone one of the hosts of the party. For some reason, she found herself dipping into an awkward curtsey, and then feeling very grateful that she'd forgotten that Ignis wouldn't have ben able to see it, anyway. "Very well, thank you. Very glad to have been invited to your party. Congratulations, by the way, an engagement is very exciting."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Eleanor, help," Arden groaned, coming up beside her. "I just complimented the air in here."

She was an absolute disaster sometimes.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

There was a sigh of relief from Eleanor, who had been about two seconds away from making her way over to Arden to just sort of....all but attached herself to her for safety.

"Well," she offered, giving Arden a smile that was half encouragement, half gratitude, "I feel like if there's anyone here who'd be an expert at that, it's be you, right? And it is pretty nice air. You're not wrong."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"Still, it's the weirdest thing to say, at least for anybody who doesn't know that I'm--" She gestured to herself in lieu of finishing that sentence. "I just got so flustered that I said the first thing I could think of. Which was that."

Because it really was good air in here. Barely like being inside at all!

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

"I'm sure it's fine," Eleanor assured her further. "That's not even all that embarrassing. One time I came here, I pretty much just knocked on the door and cried at Miss Vess the whole time. I'd take blurting out compliments on the air over that any day."

Sure, the crying thing had had a lot of other things going on at the time, too, but that was beside the point.

"And now you're past it," she added, "and you can just hang out with your friend sand eat all the really good food and admire everyone's nice outfits."

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[afraid_of_marshmallows]

"You...cried? At Professor Vess?" Arden looked over to the woman and back to Eleanor. "Like, she made you cry?"

Because that made way more sense than you'd gone looking to her for comfort, Eleanor. Just like. So much more.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[mustbeawitch]

"Eleanor, dearest, there you are!" Lydia exclaimed when she saw her. "You look lovely!"

A small part of Lydia was having a heart attack over the general design and shortness of the dress, but she was sternly reminding that part of herself that the modern era was very different.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

Believe her, Lydia, Eleanor was having the same reservations herself, but Luma had insisted that her long legs deserved to be showcased and that, clearly, all that time at a religious school had made her practically prudish, and Eleanor just....didn't have it in her to put up that particular fight.

She felt the creep of her oddly green blush start to flood around the edges of her face, ducking her head but giving Lydia a grateful sort of smile. "Thanks," she said, with a self-conscious sort of tug at the hemline as if that could magically make it resemble Lydia's. "So do you, but no surprise there. How're things going?"

Considering how, recently, they'd been in this location for Liliana's awkward, terrible class so much, she couldn't help feeling some of those awkward, terrible moments washing back over her.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[mustbeawitch]

"Oh, I'm quite well, you know." Lydia oh-so-casually dropped, "It's my birthday tomorrow. And how are you, dearest?" Lydia would have asked after Eleanor's sister, but she'd seen Luma about the party, so she'd surely catch up with her individually, and she'd seen enough of Luma and Eleanor in said awkward class to suspect such an inquiry would not be fully welcomed.

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor was honestly relieved that Luma had apparently taken to socializing the way she had, although she was already ready for it to flip at a moment's notice, and then she'd be spending the rest of the time trying to keep Luma in human form while apologizing to everyone and trying to decided if she should explain it away because Luma never really had interacted with people before...

She really hoped that didn't have to happen, though, and so any distraction was nice, especially one that she would have jumped on anyway.

"Oh, tomorrow?" said Eleanor, who blinked and realized that her own birthday was coming up in just a few days from now, too. The only thing that really reminded her of it was remembering that she remembered feeling safety when everyone else's birthdays were happening and there were surprise parties everywhere because hers was still far, far away, and it had come up, hadn't it, somehow, that hers and Lydia's were fairly close?

She laughed a little then, and smiled. "Well, happy early birthday! Are you doing anything special for it?"

Re: Arrive & Mingle - 06/27.

[mustbeawitch]

"Yes," Lydia affirmed, "and that means yours is coming up rather soon, too, is it not?...and oh, no, I shouldn't think so. They're having that rainbow parade thing, so I'm sure everyone will be very busy." Everyone should really admire how mature she was being in not throwing a tantrum about this. Fifteen-year-old Lydia would have been insufferable about a scheduling conflict with her birthday. "I might buy myself a cupcake. Or perhaps two! Do you have any plans for your birthday?"