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

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! ]]

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Rey didn't have a ton of nice clothes and she'd worn some of them yesterday. So she'd had to go and see what she could get delivered overnight after also looking up what to wear to a harden party. Congratulations, you got her in a dress and kind of a color.

And a neckline that Liliana approved of! A truly lovely engagement present, Rey.

"Hello, Rey," she said with a long sweep of her eyes over her outfit and an appreciative nod. "You look wonderful, darling, thank you so much for coming. And, just for you, I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you ask Ignis if there was more work for you to do."

"I have no idea what you could be talking about," Rey said with a little smile. "You look lovely!"

Would deflection work?

"Mmm, you're lucky that I'm vain enough to accept the compliment and move on," Liliana teased, with absolutely no compunctions about admitting to her vanity. Look at her. What wasn't there to be vain about? "Thank you, darling. A bit out of my usual aesthetic, but I quite liked it. We seem to have that in common today," she said, with another approving glance towards Rey's dress.

"I had to branch out a bit." Out of necessity! Thanks, Amazon! "I take it I did well."

"You did," Liliana said. "Though, I'm hardly one to complain about sticking to a color palette--" you didn't say, really Liliana? "--so long as the colors are flattering. With your coloring, darling, if you felt more comfortable just sticking to, say, black or maybe white, I don't think anyone would be able to say a thing about it."

Just not, you know, beige. Or gray. Or desert drab.

"Though I'll never argue with you choosing a pop of color, darling."

Hey now, that one TLJ outfit has been pretty good.

"It's not so much that I'm not comfortable in color, I'm just not drawn to it," Rey admitted. "But I tried."

Because of the gray? Or because of the gray in contrast to the black?

"You succeeded, darling." Liliana corrected with a playful wink. "Always take the win when you've earned it." And even sometimes when you didn't. "You'll be surrounded by plenty of people who try to take them from you if they can."

Edited 2025-06-27 19:35 (UTC)

The whole package. ~~That some people might have bought half of at Galaxy's Edge nbd.~~

"And I'm glad I have you to remind me about those wins."

Liliana was a girls' girl, okay.

Goddamn right she was. The benefit of having an ego the size of the moon; Liliana rarely, if ever, felt threatened by anyone else's success. And even before her Spark had ignited, she had learned at that dick was abundant and frequently of low value, so why compete over it?

Let children play those games, bah.

"Of course, darling," she said. "You would not like my mana's philosophy on most things, but one of the main things it teaches is to never accept less than your due."

Unless it was of things like 'blame' or 'consequences.' But, shh, we weren't talking about that.

"You're spectacular, darling, so don't you do it, either."

Unless 'your due' somehow involved Liliana dealing with anything that she didn't want to, in which case, settle for less.

"You're being extremely good for my ego when this whole day is for you," Rey smiled.

"You are, of course, free to feed mine," Liliana said with a low chuckle. "But, I'll let you in on a little secret."

She ostentatiously looked around them, and then leaned in to whisper, "Every day is for me."

Or, well, at least, that's how she lived anyway.

Rey grinned. "You already know everything I could flatter you with. And that's amazing."

"It's a wonderful way to live and I highly encourage everyone to follow my sterling example," Liliana said, tossing her hair. "You'll find you're much happier that way."

Grinning faintly and in exceptionally high spirits, Ignis had also been rather tempted to tease Rey about her offer a little, as well, but was glad that Liliana had gotten to it first.

"Hello, Rey," he said, warmly with his smile, and kept it rather simple, instead. "Thank you so much for coming."

Even if he knew she was going to, that didn't mean he wasn't still glad that she had.

"I'm happy to be here," she smiled. "Of course this is nothing short of beautiful."

"I'll have to take your word for it," Ignis drawled, with a faint grin, because it had honestly been too long since he'd had the chance to pull that one out, and it felt particularly ironic when he actually had been involved in so much of the aesthetics despite everything. "But thank you, for that, as well. We do have the benefit of the excellent foliage here to pull most of the weight, anyway."

One day she'd catch herself before saying something like that. One day.

"And personal style, of course."

She couldn't imagine him or Liliana ever having a bad party just because they were them. A pizza and game night party would probably feel elegant.

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

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