imaginist: (⚛️ mask)
dr. enoch waldinger ([personal profile] imaginist) wrote in [community profile] enodia_ic2023-10-27 02:50 pm

Halloween Masquerade

HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE
After more than a week of tight-lipped workers going in and out of the Rec Centre, Hall A finally opens its doors for the Halloween Masquerade. Everyone is permitted to attend as long as they're wearing a mask and following the dress code, and attendees all step into a lush shadowy space seemingly lit only by candlelight.

Black velvet-flocked damask wallpaper covers the walls, with heavy crimson silk draperies and candlelit wall sconces interspersed every few feet to bring a gothic warmth to the proceedings. (The Waldingers promise to restore everything back to normal later.) Gold-edged antique mirrors are hung at random, reflecting the unrecognizable faces and fantastical costumes. Candelabras and vases full of dark red roses adorn every table. As promised, there's food, an open bar, music and dancing. Enjoy yourselves.
PLAYLIST
MENU
SPECIALTY DRINKS
BLACK WIDOW MARTINI - Dark rum, dry vermouth and lime, rimmed with sugar and garnished with blackberries. An elegant choice.
EYEBALL SANGRIA - Red wine, brandy and pomegranate juice, with eyeballs made of lychee and frozen blueberries. Fun!
THE BLOOD BANK - A half-dozen plastic syringes filled with Bloody Mary, served on ice. Are you injecting these shots yourself, or will you share with a friend?
THE MINTY PAYNE - Sparkling rosé wine, blackcurrant liqueur and rose syrup, garnished with roses. Every time you order this, you must loudly wish Minty a happy birthday first.
FOOD
Silver trays of hors d'oeuvres are arranged on the buffet table, featuring a variety of tea sandwiches, canapés, crudités and desserts. Seasonally appropriate offerings include: pumpkin & brie crostini with candied nuts, ghostly apple blackberry hand pies, monstrous fried chicken sliders, and spider-webbed deviled eggs.
VOLUNTEERS
[Volunteer A] gets turned away at the door and is forced to rethink their entire costume, and also maybe their life. They're allowed back in the second time, even if they did nothing to change their outfit. Are the bouncers just rejecting people for fun?

[Volunteer B] thinks they see Director Riddle in a particularly scandalous getup, but it’s really [Volunteer C]. Too bad [Volunteer B] already told all their friends that their employer was definitely dressed as a [insert costume here].

Every time Linus Lowe looks into one of the party's many mirrors, they see a glowing entity lingering in the background—but no one's ever there.

The illusion emitter in [Volunteer E]'s mask starts malfunctioning, and they sidle up to [Volunteer F] without realizing that their identity is no longer obscured. Oops! Someone eventually comes by to give them a replacement mask, and an apology voucher for a free drink at the bar. (Wait, isn't it an open bar anyway?)

[Volunteer G] chugs their Eyeball Sangria too fast, and chokes on a lychee eyeball. Help! Luckily, [Volunteer H] steps in and performs the Heimlich maneuver to save them. Do they reveal their identity, or slip back into the party as an anonymous Good Samaritan?

Vidalia LaRoux accidentally knocks a candelabra off a table, right onto Maximilian Hart. Their clothing catches on fire, but only for about a minute. Turns out all those flames were illusions, and their clothes are totally unsinged. Whew!

[Volunteer K] swears that someone dressed up as a creepy Victorian child ghost keeps following them around the party. They point the semi-translucent ghost out to [Volunteer L], who says they don't see anyone. Wait, what? The ghost flees any attempt to approach them.

Okay, these illusions are excessive. Knowing that Enoch Waldinger's illusions disappear if you refuse to believe in them, Rufus Kearney concentrates hard on being a huge killjoy. For an instant, they see all of the illusions flicker out of existence, but the illusory costumes quickly reassert themselves once they're no longer concentrating.

[Volunteer N] and [Volunteer O] run into each other a record five times in the half hour they’re stuck in the hedge maze, like they’re old classmates at a grocery store. They decide to just embrace it, team up, and actually find their way out!
CLAIM A SPOT
failson: (s2-175)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] failson 2023-10-30 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
It's even more pathetic and sad that those words are enough to make Whit's eyes water, but he tries to focus on being present in the moment instead of letting regret and nostalgia overtake him. If this is the only way for him to experience being desired again, he's content to just let this stranger do whatever they want to do with him. How silly would it be, he admonishes himself, to expect to get anything more from this game than a quick thrill?

He lets out a loud yelp as the alien sinks their teeth into the tender skin of his neck, though whether it's one resulting from pain or pleasure is not immediately apparent.

Just outside the closet, the wolf—or rather, a dog, no longer disguised as a wolf—senses her human's distress and begins to paw and whine at the locked door. This snaps Whit out of it, which in turn results in some mild panic—what was he doing?

"Thank you, sorry about that," Whit says politely anyway, because he had been the one to offer. He rubs at the bite marks with his hand, but looks very apologetic about doing so. "I-I should probably go."
rafflesian: (🌸 08)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] rafflesian 2023-10-30 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Eureka backs off, hands up to show they mean no (more) harm.

Wait a second.

"Is that a dog?"
failson: (s2-155)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] failson 2023-10-30 02:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"She's a service dog," Whit says automatically, feeling like he needs to defend her presence here before it occurs to him that he's likely also giving his identity away.
rafflesian: (🌸 16)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] rafflesian 2023-10-30 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
How did Eureka miss spotting that big-ass dog on their way to the closet? The big-ass dog Whit told them would be at the party with him?

... Not that they didn't already suspect this was Whit before they took a bite. But this confirms it.

"Oh cool," they say with an appropriate amount of enthusiasm one might have when they get to meet a dog. A dog they've never met in their entire life and aren't in the process of planning a doggy shower for.

They move out of the way for Whit to reach the door, not wanting to have to be the one to face her first and be judged for their Horny Crimes against her master.

"... Your neck okay?"
failson: (vlcsnap-00048)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] failson 2023-10-30 03:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Perfectly fine, thank you!" Whit, who's being perfectly normal about this, says as he stumbles for the door.

"I had a nice time, it's not you, it's just that my dog thinks I'm in peril and I don't want to upset her. Sorry!"
rafflesian: (🌸 22)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] rafflesian 2023-10-30 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Eureka slinks their way toward the back of the closet, making sure to put Whit between them and the dog. They don't even want to give her the opportunity to sniff them out and... do that pointer thing that some dogs do. 'Look, dad, there's your perverted friend in here with you!'

Eureka has never had a dog and doesn't know how they work.

"Bye."
failson: (vlcsnap-00102)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] failson 2023-10-30 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Bye!"

Whit is somewhat relieved when Mabel huffs at him, quickly shepherding him from the source of stress (aka. this entire party) before he can hurt himself any further.
rafflesian: (🌸 21)

Whit & Eureka

[personal profile] rafflesian 2023-10-30 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Eureka heaves a sigh of relief when Mabel shepherds their source of stress away from them and leaves them undiscovered.

... They actually got away with it. They lean back against the wall, laughing quietly in disbelief.

What a rush.