Alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities

[lord_wizard]

Who: Felix Harrowgate and anyone
What: A new years party
When: January 1st
Where: Chimera headquarters
Rating: Pg-13 for heavy drinking, at least

The central hall of Chimera headquarters is today taken up with a pair of tables, one covered with all matter of foods from finger sandwiches and deviled eggs, to salted nuts and chocolate-covered fruits, while the other is littered with nearly every beverage one might think of - tea, coffee, milk, punch, and fruit juices. It wasn't quite the expected spread for a new year's party, but that was because the castle had done them the favor of making any liquid carry the effects of the usual party beverages. A small table near the door, however, had at some point in the day appeared, carrying liquors and champagne for those who actually preferred their alcohol to taste as such. The ghosts stood sentry to keep whatever it was the attendees wanted flowing.

Most of that is likely forgotten near the end of the day, and the arrangement of comfortable chairs in the adjoining office begin to look far more comfortable a place to sit once the room starts to spin a little. Getting air on the balcony is an option, of course, but take care not to fall off of it.

((OOC:Feel free to set your tag at any time during the evening (though really, you know we're all here for the drunk shenanigans). Please see the link above for info on the layout of the area.))

Comments

[strangewonders]

For Howl, being charming had become such second nature that it was, frankly, difficult to turn it off again, especially when he had an audience, whether the target was a particularly appropriate one or not.

"I'm afraid my old tutor thought my 'eye for detail' was a sign of me going to the bad. Though she might not have been half wrong," he added with a grin.

[lord_wizard]

Felix chuckled darkly in response. "In my experience, 'going to the bad' only sometimes amounts to things your teacher doesn't believe in teaching you. It's a matter of perspective."

[strangewonders]

That earned a laugh from Howl, though it was tinged with something other than amusement. "How true. And to think, if only she had, I might have turned out the better for it. Ignorance is such a dangerous thing."

[lord_wizard]

"As is knowledge, in the right hands. Or the wrong ones. Sometimes it's awfully hard to know which is which." Certainly Malkar hid knowledge from him to keep him in check and blind him to the truth of his plans, but he's learned quite a few a things he shouldn't have that he put to equally terrible use without Malkar's guiding hand. Again, it was a matter of perspective.

[strangewonders]

"And sometimes the end result is the same," he replied with a slight shrug. No doubt the Witch of the Waste had known exactly what she was doing when she'd done exactly the same thing he'd stumbled into by accident. And they were bound for the same fate, despite the vast difference in their intentions.

"I suppose it doesn't matter, if you're bound to face the consequences regardless."

[lord_wizard]

"So are you saying you believe in fate?" Felix asked softly, and even his tone that played at mockery could not disguise that his interest was genuine. He was thinking of Mildmay again, and the prophecy that had shaped his future. Thamuris had said that it would have happened anyway, and Felix was still not sure if it unsettled him more that a ritual had somehow changed the course of his and his brother's life, or that he had no real choice in anything at all.

[strangewonders]

"I studied literature and history, not philosophy," he replied, taking a sip of his wine. "But I can't say I discount it, either." And he was fairly sure he hadn't had enough to drink for this conversation. "But perhaps the sorts of people we are take us down particular paths." He smiled wryly. "Are the consequences more palatable if they've been wrought by our own hands?"

[lord_wizard]

"I don't know. It's nice to say, perhaps, that I am not to blame for some things that have occurred in my life. On the other hand, I dislike the idea of having no control over my life. There is not much winning either way..." Felix, however, had had enough to drink for this, but it was already starting to make him melancholy, "but I never studied philosophy either, excepting what I picked up from Gideon. My earlier education was rather...pragmatic."

[strangewonders]

"It would be nice to be blameless, but I'd never be able to make myself believe it," he sighed. "Though I'd be terribly cross if all my troubles were someone else's doing entirely." It would have, he thought, been rather cruel.

"I had too much. But the only parts I've found useful were the parts I sought out myself."

[lord_wizard]

Felix latched immediately onto the less depressing line of conversation. Even drunk, he could not miss a chance to discuss magic.

"I found a little of everything to useful in it's own way, though not as much as the oneiromancy I picked up from my second mentor. Granted...I didn't know that's what it was until I stumbled onto it again. That and the Courterran theories I read up on before I came here. The castle gave me that book this year, actually."

[strangewonders]

"Most of mine had nothing at all to do with magic," he replied. "I had to seek that out myself. Though I think you'll have to explain oneiromancy to me... I haven't dealt with that, in practice." He recognized the term, more as an anthropological artifact than anything else, and if there was some branch of magic he knew nothing about, then he wanted to know about it.

[lord_wizard]

A lot of his had nothing to do with magic either, a fact which he often wondered if Howl knew, given the suggestive alternate past the castle had once given them, but he was not drunk enough to mention that.

"I am not an expert, but oneiromancy is the magic of dreams. My own experience with it has been through dream manipulation and dream constructs."

[strangewonders]

"Sounds fascinating." And where many people might have meant that sarcastically, Howl was quite in earnest. "I can't say I've run across that particular practice myself, unless we count the castle playing with us all." Which he had not particularly enjoyed. "I'll have to get the specifics from you, some time."

[lord_wizard]

"Yes, the castle has done such things before. Episodes of dream-sharing and whatnot. It's fairly classic oneiromancy. I could teach you to build your own dream construct some time. I've found my own invaluable." For helping him kill his former mentor, especially.

[strangewonders]

"I believe I'll take you up on that." Whether he'd find it as useful as Felix had was hard to say, but it was also beside the point.

[lord_wizard]

"Excellent. But in the meantime, help yourself to any drink you like. I'm sorry I could not get more ladies to attend, but sadly all the ones I know are married or far too young." Galadriel's presence was a welcome surprise, but ever since Phoebe's departure, the only other female wizards in the castle were somewhere around the age of twelve.

"Assuming either is a deterrent, that is," he added teasingly.

[strangewonders]

"That depends. Mostly on how terrifying their significant other is," he replied with a grin. And how young 'too young' was, although he trusted Felix's assessment in that department was probably fairly in line with his own.

"It's all right. I prefer to do my romancing a little further away from home, at any rate." Although the close-knit atmosphere the castle definitely made it more difficult than it needed to be, in his opinion.

[lord_wizard]

Felix's assessment was admittedly rather skewed, but twelve was still rather below his own threshold.

"How far do you consider appropriate? A few streets over? Different city? Do you typically romance via letters?"

[strangewonders]

"Far enough away that they have difficulty finding me later," he replied. "Which, you must admit, is rendered more difficult when your name has been emblazoned on a door by a magic castle." One that thought it was being cute by using his real name, no less, though he'd done his best to cover that up.

[lord_wizard]

"True enough. Anonymity is hard to come by here, especially if you'd rather conduct your liasons quietly. I suppose going to town is an option, but not one I've taken personally," Felix said, not bothering to mention it wasn't an option he had completely dismissed. Part of him longed for the days he could steal away to the Arcane and conduct his business without fearing who knew about it.

[strangewonders]

"I'm a little wary of getting too involved with the townsfolk," he replied. "And they'd still know where to find me. Generally, anyway." And the last thing he needed was someone's angry relatives storming the castle with pitchforks and torches.

[lord_wizard]

"I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone from the town get anywhere near the castle, to be honest," Felix returned dreamily.

[strangewonders]

"I suppose if I were them, I wouldn't care to get too close, myself. Still, I'd rather not take my chances."

[lord_wizard]

"No, no, of course not. The last thing we need are unnecessary entanglements," Felix replied, a trace bitterly.

[strangewonders]

[Thankfully, Howl is feeling magnanimous this evening, and does not make the quip that immediately springs to mind. No need to spoil the party. Instead, he waves a hand vaguely.]

Perish the thought.