princessvegas: (025. survival of the richest)
Julie Lawry ([personal profile] princessvegas) wrote in [community profile] abraxaslogs2022-10-29 09:01 pm

[ open ] This is Halloween, everybody make a scene

Julie has always thrown a good party. It was true in Kansas, it was true in Vegas, and it's true in the Horizon. And last year's party had been a smashing success by Julie's standards.

At that time.

See, the thing is, back then, Julie didn't understand exactly what she was capable of doing with the Horizon's powers. She had, without meaning to, limited herself to things that already made sense in the world she had previously known. But that's not the world she lives in anymore, and after a year of learning, she's ready to actually throw a Horizon-worthy party.


I | WAIT
For the vast majority of the Summoned, this will be the first time they've ever seen the pink neon that illuminates the edges of Julie's club go dark. The pink carpet and pink velvet ropes are gone; the big double doors are closed and locked. Those with keen eyes might notice that the door handles, normally in the shape of rising clouds of butterflies, are now swarms of bats. There is a small sign on a stand at the door.

All around the building, there's the loud, ominous sound of a grandfather clock's swinging pendulum, ticking toward an unknown time (well, it is known, as Julie sent out invitations). The wood of the doors bears long, ragged scratches, as if claws have been dragged down them. Thick fog gradually surrounds the building -- while not thick enough to obscure vision, it is nonetheless ominous and haunting.

The clock chimes nine o'clock; the sound is deafening. There is a long, pregnant pause, and just when it seems like nothing is going to happen, there is a sudden screech from above. An enormous, bulbous spider crawls atop the roof as if from the back, its body and legs so large and long that they span the building's width. It gives another great shriek as it leers down from the roof, fangs dripping, but it doesn't reach down from its perch. It remains above the crowd, menacingly.

At the same time, the doors burst open in an almost explosive manner, and the pounding music begins to pour out from within. More fog floats out of the foyer, carrying obscured green and orange light. The party has started.


II | CREEP
Walking through the front door, there are many details to be noticed, enough that it's easy to overlook most of them. The mist is a heavy blanket across the ground, thinning out for visibility only around waist-height. Where last year the theme was set in a barren forest, this year appears to be set in a massive, abandoned Victorian mansion. While the club maintains its normal shape from the outside, the inside is transformed to mimic long, winding hallways and spiraling staircases that seem to lead nowhere. The roof is high, in cathedral arches, and the fireplaces are dark. The walls and mantles bear various pieces of decoration: eerie black-and-white portraits in filthy frames, cracked vases full of dead flowers, jagged and broken sconces. Everything is covered in a vast, dusty coat of cobwebs, and the entire main hall must be traversed to reach the music that streams through the air.

Ignore the movements in the corner of your eyes. And be careful not to graze the walls -- lest you discover that the black pattern on the dark wallpaper is less of a pattern and more of an infestation.

Along the way, one might be inclined to open one of the many doors that line the halls and see what's inside. There are any number of strange scenes to find -- those familiar enough may recognize the haunting figures as Julie's clubgoers in costume. Interacting may have... unintended consequences.

Make it through the maze of haunted rooms and revolving doors, and you'll be rewarded by finding the ballroom.

III | PARTY
True to Julie form, the ballroom is fully decked out for only the wildest of parties. Spiderwebs stretch across the vaulted ceilings and between pillars, with lights hanging from their gossamer threads. Candles help illuminate by floating near the ceiling and around tables.

The bar, swapped for heavy Gothic design, is manned by Steven, as always. Despite being dressed as a white-eyed demon, he is as helpful as ever, and happy to make you whatever drink your heart desires. Two long tables flank the bar -- one boasts a huge variety of spooky snacks and bowls of candies, amongst other, more classic party dishes. The other holds vast quantities of... other goodies, should one be tempted to participate: bowls of pre-rolled joints and various pills, silver platters with small mountains of cocaine atop them, and even tiny canisters of whippits, for those with low tolerance. Be careful not to confuse the regular candies with their cannabis-infused counterparts.

The dance floor is large and lit in purple, orange and green. The music is loud enough to dance to, but not so loud that conversation is impossible. The resident partiers that weren't used to play roles in the scary scenes congregate here, in a wide assortment of random sexy costumes.

Hopefully, you've arrived in time to see Julie's grand entrance.
hairington: (YIY0Kok)

[personal profile] hairington 2022-11-18 01:55 am (UTC)(link)
[ steve has had a couple drinks by this point - which is the only reason he isn't still tense or weirded out by the sorts of things happening around him. if anything, the consistency of it has created an almost sense of security, if he assumes everything is going to be very Halloween and very impossible, then it's not going to cause him stress at every new thing, right?

so he goes with it. drinks the proverbial punch and has fun and probably lets his guard down here more than he has since he's arrived, and that's saying something. when the drink appears first, floating just off to his side, and then the woman appears soon after, steve ends up just sort of watching it - curious, interested, entertained. gotta say please, pumpkin pie she says, and steve's attention is pulled entirely to her at the sound of her voice, lingering as he takes in the sight of her too. so many spiders he finds himself thinking, before he blinks and turns his attention from her shoulders and arm to her face, her black eyes, and steve smiles. ]


Please and thank you. [ the smile lingers as he does reach for the drink, offering it up to her in cheers, if she'll take it. ] I think I've had enough tricks for the night, anyway.
gynvael: (263)

[personal profile] gynvael 2022-11-18 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's letting the alcohol spin his head, just a little, in the way it almost never does out there. His knees sink into the thick mattress. She tangles her fingers up in his hair, and he continues to kiss a path over her ribs, down to the hollow of her hip.

And while he enjoyed the year before plenty, fucking on a table leaves much less room to maneuver. The bed's better. It lets him slide between her legs with ease. He presses his lips to the inside of her thigh, lace swept to the side to make room—fabric bunched in his hand. The air thickens, a warmth flowing through him.

His head lifts after a moment. He said he'd make it worth the wait, and he means to. ]


Tell me. What you want. And it's yours.
satanicpanics: (pic#15737674)

[personal profile] satanicpanics 2022-11-20 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eddie saw the open invitation earlier in the month, but didn’t think much of it. It probably would have stayed that way, too, tucked into the dusty depths of his memory--if Steve hadn’t brought it up. Getting Eddie to attend really didn’t take all that much urging, and there was shockingly little arguing on his part Steve’s...suggestion? Or was it a demand? It was enough.

He’s found that he quite enjoys Steve’s company, just as much as he ever enjoyed the company of the other Hellfire members. He knows his past self would laugh right in his face if he ever caught wind of that, but his past self doesn't understand what they two of them have been through, or what they continue to go through.

So, it’s cool. As long as Eddie gets to leave the party when he wants to, it’s cool.
]

Dude.

[ Eddie turns to Steve with a serious look, pulls the sheet back over his head, and holds his arms out, displaying his sheet costume in its full glory. There’s nothing special about it, nothing that stands out. It is very much just a sheet with two eye holes cut in it. ]

I’m Michael Myers. Didn’t you work at the video store beside the arcade? You’re supposed to know this shit.

[ No, he doesn’t actually expect Steve to be able to pinpoint a twenty second scene from the first Halloween film. Pulling the costume back around his shoulders again, he offers a grin that reassures that yes, it is a joke. ]

Nah, honestly? I just thought...sheet ghost? Classic, simple, no one’s gonna be asking what you’re supposed to be. Kind of not the most sensible costume if you want to drink anything, though. I didn’t think part that through.

[ He’s decided to play by “I’m still wearing a costume if it’s touching my person” rules, and he and his sheet shuffle over to the wall for a closer look. He sees the infestation, but for once in his life, he doesn't freak out. He gives a light shudder, but nothing more. ]

None of it is real, I guess.

[ He guesses, because he still got to experience his death for a second time in the Horizon and it felt real enough, something he hasn’t told Steve yet. This is probably not the best place or time, so he files it away for another day. ]

Like, yeah, it all looks real, but it’s not gonna hurt you. That’s what the sign out front implied, at least. It said not to freak out. Don’t ask how they let me in with a rule like that.
hairington: (098)

[personal profile] hairington 2022-11-20 05:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ their past selves would have a field day with a lot more about all of this than just the fact that steve and eddie were now the kind of friends to go to parties together. even before they got here, steve had already found himself in too many places he never would have imagined (babysitter extraordinaire, robin buckley's best friend, terminally single...) so going to a not-even-real halloween party in a magical world with (his, currently, closest friend) eddie munson was arguably not the strangest thing he's ever done. maybe.

dude eddie says, and steve's brows go up. over their time here, steve's gotten a little more used to eddie's theatrics. it's why you're supposed to know this shit doesn't bother him. so when the sheet goes back over and steve waits, and even with the answer, steve looks...not unimpressed, necessarily, but like he's still waiting for an answer. which does come, a few moments later, and steve rolls his eyes. ]


Dude. [ the repeat is intentional, thank you. ] You can literally make whatever you want in this place. It's Halloween. I feel like this would be something you'd go crazy over.

[ but eddie does come and look close and steve just sort of shudders himself, not all that excited about a wall covered in spiders. it's cool, sure, but also steve wonders if he's going to feel like something is crawling in his hair for the whole night, or if he can maybe get drunk enough that he won't have nightmares about that.

when eddie mentions what steve assumes is a sarcastic comment about how he was let in despite them all being warned not to freak out, steve decides you know what, maybe he should step into this, and without warning steve's got his arm around eddie's shoulder and he's directing them away from the wall. ]


It's just a party, right? Fun. Let's have fun. I think we can handle not freaking out for a night.
hairington: (223)

[personal profile] hairington 2022-11-22 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ steve is much too aware to stare on a normal occasion, but there is something both curious and unsettling about the details that make up this woman. and he might just be tipsy enough that the normal standards of what is considered rude and what is considered being drawn in by design are a bit hazy. for now, his eyes just sort of follow the legs of the spiders on her arms, and the smoke that billows out from them. when she speaks, his eyes dart back to her face only to find that yes, okay, those entirely black eyes are still just as creepy as before. but also not so creepy that he can't keep eye contact while speak.

her clocking that he's new isn't surprising - steve hasn't exactly got his footing yet to be put off by it, even if he's been here for what feels like eons. he nods, takes a sip of his drink, pushes off the thoughts that he's not actually drunk since none of this is real and just sort of flashes her one of his steve harrington smiles. ]
Is it that obvious? I'm in Solvunn, though it's been a few weeks. I was here for that weird uh- you know when the bodies were all coming up out of the ground full Night of the Living Dead style? I was here for that, and the werewolf and vampire stuff before that. But I don't know- it feels like most everyone around here has been here for a lot longer.

[ the mention of an old fashioned halloween party doesn't damper steve's mood, necessarily, but there is a moment of still before he's shaking his head in a way that he knows works. to reset, to cover, to move on. it's not her fault that the last party he really has memories of is so tied up with nancy wheeler, and half the reason he's here is to get different associations in that place. so yes - a Halloween party will help. it's going to help. he takes a long drink from his cup before he's back, and giving her another smile, eyes glancing to the very tiny creature on her shoulder. ]

I'm Steve, by the way. Guessing you're Julie...? [ her comment makes him think she's the one putting this whole thing on, so it's just a matter of connecting the dots to the invitation and all. ]
gynvael: (mg: 005)

[personal profile] gynvael 2022-11-22 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a quiet laugh. She moves so easily under his hands; he pushes her back down in response to that, because everything gives him plenty of room to decide what he wants first.

And what he wants first is to taste her. Make her pull harder on his hair in that way that tells him she's not thinking about anything at all except more.

His hand runs up the length of her thigh. He breathes gently over her, teasing with his fingers until he can feel the heat radiating from her. It sends an electric jolt up his spine. He delves in with his tongue, ducking deep between her legs. ]
wiedzminka: (two hundred & twenty-one.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2022-11-22 08:26 am (UTC)(link)
What? No! [ Ciri laughs, shaking her head. ]

I meant the pretty lady bit of the siren, not the fish tail bit. You're the one covered in spiders. Spider-siren.

[ See? Logic. ]
satanicpanics: made by <user name="inkonic"> (pic#15853995)

i am so so SO sorry, i never got a notif for this!

[personal profile] satanicpanics 2022-11-22 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He pauses, glancing between Steven and his beer for a moment, trying to judge if the man is offended by his mediocre choice of drink. It doesn’t seem to an a problem; he’s already moved on to his next customer, creating something far more elaborate. ]

Yeah, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he can handle it.

[ He snorts into his beer, but when he turns to Ciri, his eyes are wide and his expression is deadly serious. ]

Oh, but I am dressed as a tablecloth. I died at a dinner party. When all was said and done, they decided it was just as easy to use the tablecloth as my death shroud. Two birds, one stone, you know?

[ He has never been to a dinner party in his entire life. ]
wiedzminka: (one hundred & ninety-four.)

it's ok!! gave me time to finish stranger things :)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2022-11-22 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes. That does sound very practical.

[ Ciri nods along, with an air of seriousness that might appear alarmingly genuine, as if this sort of thing might happen all the time. ]

Though if that were the case, you would be dressed in a tablecloth. Not as one.

Dinner parties are surely more frightening than ghosts.
gynvael: (Default)

[personal profile] gynvael 2022-11-22 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Once the ghost has been sufficiently prodded, Geralt simply sets the biscuit aside. He hasn't got a sweet tooth; he's largely here to drink, not eat. ]

You celebrate similar?

[ This isn't wholly unusual to him. Some of the decorations, yes, but Saovine is still observed in some parts of the Continent. Often involves more burning effigies, though. But every place, it seems, has some tale about spirits and doorways during this time of year. ]
gynvael: (106)

[personal profile] gynvael 2022-11-23 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ She breathes out with a sound that thrums through his blood. His hand rests on her stomach, fingers curled and digging in just a little; the other she holds tightly.

It's not the most comfortable position he's found himself in, but he can make it work. His back arches. Once he is in it, he's in, and he doesn't pause or slow for anything. His tongue curls against her, until her heart beats so fast he thinks it might burst. It thunders heavy in his ears—or perhaps that's his own.

There's a moment where his eyes flick to meet hers—still golden but somehow brighter, almost glowing under the dim lights of her chambers. ]
satanicpanics: (pic#15853999)

[personal profile] satanicpanics 2022-11-23 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ Eddie makes sure to roll his eyes right back at Steve, since they’re apparently the type of friends mimic and echo one another now. It’s exactly how he’d act with his friends back home. Sarcastic, but from a place of affection. ]

Yes, Steve, you can make literally whatever you want. And tonight? I was feeling sheet ghost. Next year, I might be feeling full on demonic possession. But tonight?

[ He grins and gives his sheet a little wave for effect. ]

Sheet ghost.

[ Maybe it is a low effort costume. It’s definitely not the levels of theatrical that people would expect from him, and he would normally be a bit more creative, but honestly? This is sort of all he feels up to tonight. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t mentally exhausted from what happened int he Horizon, and he just lacks the energy to put into the full regalia tonight.

But he’s here to have at least some fun, mediocre costume or not. He does like Halloween, it’s true, and it’s his post-birthday day, so he probably owes it to himself.
]

Hey, I wasn’t freaking out. Maybe you were freaking out. I wasn’t.

[ He wasn’t freaking out yet, but it’s not hard for Eddie to slip into full on nervous breakdown when given the opportunity. It’s probably a good thing that Steve pulled him away when he did, and he doesn’t fight being dragged away. Too long getting the creeps from the spider-wall and he’d be out the door in an instant. ]

Alright, Steve. You’re the expert—I assume.

[ Worth tacking on because he assumes a lot, and he’s been wrong…a lot. ]

I showed up, I dressed up. What next?
satanicpanics: (pic#16020736)

oh i hope you enjoyed it!

[personal profile] satanicpanics 2022-11-23 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, about that. I, uh…died of fright.

[ He grins and lets out a snicker at his tall tale. Death by dinner party would probably be the preferred way to go, but he isn’t here to think about that—not tonight. ]

And I couldn’t come as the entire dinner party, so…

[ He raises his arms a bit, waving his sheet for effect. ]

Came as my second choice.

[ Truth be told, he didn’t have the energy for much else, and the sheet ghost is a classic. Maybe next year he’ll go all out. ]

You’re telling me you’re not terrified?
itookashot: (KY_09)

[personal profile] itookashot 2022-11-23 06:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh good, because the third costume is mostly made up. It's still sexy though." Of course, it's on him, everything is sexy on him, or so he thinks. Jesper loves learning about their modern things like movies and music though, so he'll enjoy the appeal of them. He will probably do impressions of Clint Eastwood afterward, all narrowed eyes and confidence. Maybe he'll get a cowboy hat too, a little wider than his jaunty hats.

Jesper goes with her without argument, glad as always to get some special Julie time. If she is taking a little time to talk with him, it means he did something right, or maybe she could use a break herself. He smiles at Steven and winks, taking the drink.

"It's more of your special connection to the Singularity, right? Few better ways to use it than putting on a celebration." Jesper had a great time at her 4th of July party although he didn't know the theme for that either. Costume parties are universal though. She has told him before how connected she is to this place and the Singularity, so he chalks it up to all of that. And he'll never get it because he doesn't even have a mild connection to the Horizon. Nothing more special than anyone else.

"I hope you let yourself rest after this though, Julie. I'm sure it's been a lot." Understatement. And he's not just talking about the party. He's talking about everything.
enduringkestrel: (Default)

[personal profile] enduringkestrel 2022-11-24 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
[She huffs a soft laugh, looking around at... everything for a moment, smiling.]

Nothing like this. The Night of Ascension would be the closest, I suppose. The Holy day of the Raven Queen. Unnerving, and macabre to most, but celebrated with cheer by those who follow her.

Or Winter's Crest. Although that's more to celebrate the waning of winter, as well as the victory over Errevon the Rimelord and the fall of Foramere Citadel. Celebrated with feasts, fairs with games and revelry, and the exchange of gifts.
wiedzminka: (five.)

yes!!

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2022-11-25 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Finally, Ciri cracks a smile. Then a laugh. ]

With all these brightly-colored drinks about, what's terrifying is how easily you'll stain.

[ She doesn't looks scary either, though, with her fluffy little lion jumpsuit and heels. It's also clearly low-energy, a mix between cozy and a little risque, and all courtesy of Julie. If it wasn't for Julie literally leaving the costume at her doorstep, Ciri would probably have just tried to show up as herself, and gotten yelled at for it. ]

Haven't seen you around before. Are you a friend of Julie's?

[ All Summoned (most of them, at least, as far as Ciri knows) were invited, but it does seem there are fewer people this year. Considering all that's happened, it's not a surprise. ]
wiedzminka: (thirty-eight.)

[personal profile] wiedzminka 2022-11-25 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
...spidren.

[ Ciri repeats, thoughtfully. She's not entirely sober, either (and if she were, Julie would surely take care of that as soon as possible). She nods. ]

Yes. Sorta. Mostly? Physically, at least.

Mermaids and mermen are intelligent, a race of humanoids who live underwater. Sirens are monsters, like drowners or ghouls, but easier on the eyes.

[ The explanation comes easily enough, but there's a buried sort of discomfort in the back of her mind discussing it. The line isn't always entirely clear-cut; she remembers that. But Julie asked, and she simply answers, rattling off the answer like she read in books. ]

Another term for sirens is nixae.

Like Nixie. My horse.

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