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westfallcorndog) wrote2016-03-07 11:27 pm
Happy Birthday, Viatorus!
Invitations to this party have been written in neatly legible, semi-calligraphic font, hand-crafted with care and talent by Amelia Ronsam. Harrowheart has asked that she create a few more than necessary on the off-chance anyone lost theirs and was liberal in handing them out.
The room mentioned on the card is easy to find with a map of the aquarium: In the Earth wing, past a long series of exhibits, and through a glass hallway over which the water rests and the fish are free to swim. The corridor ends in a dome-shaped room spacious enough for a party of a few dozen.
The meeting space, like the hallway, is composed entirely of glass walls around which a vibrant array of Earth’s tropical fish drift through bright blue waters. Now and then they dart in odd directions, flashing their gem-like scales as their school is disturbed by the passing of a sea turtle or the flowing wings of a manta ray. Far, far in the distance are the silhouettes of whales that, on rare occasion, shadow the dome as they pass between the party and the far-off source of light above the water. Simpler creatures crawl through the coral just on the other side of the glass: crabs and minnows tease at algae, grinning eels poke shyly from their dark crevices, and anemones dance with the motion of the flowing seawater. The only thing to break the immersion of the scene are the mermaid attendants, glimpses of whom can be caught as they feed the fish while trying their best to stay professionally unnoticed.
Outside the glass is the beauty, but inside is the party! There are bubbly balloon letters hung from the ceiling reading HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Green streamers dangle from the ceiling like kelp, and someone's even set up a motorized shark balloon to swim through the air. Set up against one rounded wall are two buffet tables of food laid out. Stacks of cheese-stuffed fried peppers, fried chicken, grilled corn cobs, a kind of savory pork stew, something resembling black crab legs that’s been labeled ‘Duskwood Land Crab,’ a fruit and vegetable platter, a single pizza for the guests to fight over, and for the English Birthday Boy, cucumber sandwiches. Drinks are a bowl of punch and a keg of water. Looks like this aquarium party is a dry one. The sweets are cookies and hard candies laid atop a pile of pink candy floss. Then, of course, there is the cake: One large sheet cake of marbled chocolate and vanilla iced with buttercream frosting. On top there rests a little gingerbread man with black icing hair sleeping soundly atop a little frosted bed, a red smile on his face. Four tall candles make the posts of the bed. An unsteady hand has piped along the side ‘Happy Birthday Viatorus!’
Two people beat the crowd to enjoy this quiet afternoon retreat. Harrowheart, who sits at one of the tables in the middle and watches the passing of the fish, is dressed for the tropics. He’s bought himself a Hawaiian shirt to go over a pink tank with a pair of palm trees on the front, and of course he’s wearing his usual cargo shorts and tan work boots. Any rumors of pajama dress code were greatly exaggerated. With him is Amelia, whose garb for the evening is much more demure than her usual. The first sign is her lack of visible weapons. The second is the combination of dark navy jeans and black blouse. Her hair is tied back in a simple braid and the hair pin she's always been so fond of is nowhere to be seen.
((If you'd like to greet the host and/or hostess or remark on your character's entry, feel free to tag this post. Otherwise, try the Gift-Giving or Free Mingle subsections: Viatorus will accept gifts and well-wishings in the Gift-Giving section, and threadhopping will be with OOC permission. Free Mingle will be a threadhopping-encouraged area for party-goers to interact with each other. Meet new characters, talk about fish, fight about who gets to eat the pizza.))
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That might have been a mean thing to say in front of Felix. Oh well. Jim's incorrigible that way. Too late now.
"Good to see you Amelia, I didn't know you and Felix were acquainted." Jim says more seriously. "How are you holding up?"
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"We've known each other for a few months now," she says in answer to Jim's question in regards to Felix. "I've helped him work on a few skills he might find useful later, too." Whether or not Felix wants to admit that she taught him how to pick locks is up the Imperial. Amelia will be kind enough to not mention it, just in case.
"As for me? I've kept busy. Nothing important, really." The lie is completely smooth, but the smile that comes with it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Though admittedly I've been worried about all of this for the last couple of weeks. I hope it's not too much." That, at least, is true.
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It's rather fun, actually, catching all the half-truths and evasions from the other two. A man might get rather smug, being in the know like this.
"It's amazing," Felix reassures her, and his enthusiasm for the venue certainly isn't feigned. "Do they have buildings like this in your world? I don't think mine does, not even in the Imperial City. A view like this is only for people with a talent for waterbreathing. I'm sure Viatorus will only appreciate how beautifully you've arranged everything."
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perception skillintuition about these things so maybe it is obvious to her."I can imagine this took a lot of planning yeah." Addressing Amelia once more as Jim gestures around them. "Looks good though! You guys outdid yourselves."
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"Thank you, though please give Harrow more credit than myself - he did most of the planning himself. I only helped a little, and mostly monetarily at that." Doesn't mean she's not smiling and a little proud to see the guests so excited about the event.
A thought occurs to her after a moment and she raises an eyebrow at the men in front of her. "...have either of you even met Viatorus?"
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So to speak.
"Tch. What are your nobles good for if they won't even throw coin around to show off?" Felix teases. He's noticed the past tense, but assumes it's a quirk fo phrasing for the moment. If that stays consistent though, he's definitely going to wonder. "This is why you need an emperor."
Her comment on Harrow brings a slight shrug and a little nod
and no facial contortions since he doesn't yet know which one Harrow is. "I'll have to congratulate him as well."Regarding Viatorus, he has to shake his head. "I only know him and his family through hearsay, more or less. But of course I'm keen to make his acquaintance."
He sees what you did there and so do I
Felix gets a glance and a quirk of Jim's eyebrows.
"But he is a magi and Felix here is a conjurer, I figured meeting a fellow magic user would be interesting for him." And if it were a thinly veiled excuse for a date, then it's certainly not Amelia's business.
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"Ahh, I see. I'm sure he'll be delighted to make the acquaintance of a fellow mage." She winks at Felix. Whether this event is a date or not is none of Amelia's business, and that's one question she wouldn't bother asking. She turns her attention to Felix and gets his attention with a nod. "Viatorus is rather shy, but the moment you ask him about anything related to magic, he'll be much more open to you. Not that I think you'd have any trouble, but it might help skip the awkward phase of the 'nice to meet you' conversation."
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Jim’s acquaintance with Viatorus is news to him, and he glances the captain’s way, wondering what kind of magic the fellow practices that Jim had need of. Mostly he’s just smiling at Jim’s excuse, though. Of course. He’s just here out of curiosity. Nothing else.
He isn’t sure Amelia’s fooled, but then he doesn’t mind that.
“Thank you.” Amelia’s advice wins an appreciative nod. “Knowing that, I’m sure I can help put the guest of honor at ease. Are his family here as well?” No, he plainly doesn’t know much of the Durants at all.
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That Felix smiles at the excuse makes Jim relax more. Clearly he understands the situation without needing to be told. Good.
"Oh yeah." Jim looks back Amelia's way with a nod. "He is kind of awkward isn't he. I'd forgotten all about that. I'll be on my best behavior don't worry Amelia." Not that it's a worry that Jim would be hitting on the mage anyway. For one, dream walker. Jim wants nothing to do with people getting into his head. For two, Felix. Duh.
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"Your best behavior is appreciated, Jim, though I'm hoping I can count on Felix to help keep you in line if you start to cause trouble?" She may be smiling, but the urge to grin is easy to see in the way her lip tugs upward at the corner. Definitely not hinting at anything between the two of them. Nope. Not at all.
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"Ah, I see," he murmurs. He won't get into a discussion of it here and now, but there's a small smile to reassure Jim that he doesn't begrudge the solution.
"Well, I'll do my best," Felix says plaintively, shrugging with theatrical uncertainty. "But you know what he's like, Amelia. I'm not sure I could stop him."
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Jim stop making that face.
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...
Please excuse that rogue who can't stop laughing now. Really, she's not laughing at you, Jim.
...okay, maybe she is just a little.
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"Well, how could I doubt you?"
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"Everyone does. I really wonder why?"
He really doesn't.
The apple~
Ahh but there's a party to enjoy and other people to mingle with. She shouldn't keep them any longer. "The two of you should take the time to explore and enjoy yourselves. This party is for everyone to enjoy." She bows slightly to them and offers a bright smile. "If you need anything, let me know. I'll find a way to make anything work."
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