ensorceler: (❧ they'll be the king of hearts)
Anne Boleyn ([personal profile] ensorceler) wrote in [community profile] paradisalogs2014-04-30 09:04 pm

may day masquerade {OPEN!}

what; may day masquerade!
who; Anyone and everyone!
where; Just inside and outside of City Royale.
when; May 1st, early afternoon until late evening
rating; PG to PG-13 to start! If a thread goes into adult territory, please put a warning in the subject.
note; Prefer brackets? Go for it, whatever is most comfortable for you.



Though the May Day of last year had been a grand affair, there had not been enough people attending, because she could not convince more than a few city residents to venture near the castle. This year Anne has brought the party to them, and though a location would have been written on the invitations, there is even more assurance that one won't become lost along the way from the castle. The road is already clear enough, but when it branches away there will be markers, indicated by flower carpets and banners carrying the Tudor rose that will be lit with torches by nightfall, creating a path that leads to the city's outskirts. Here the celebration is spread not only over a grassy incline but also leads into a small square in the merchant's district. Here, free masks decorated with seasonal flowers will be offered in baskets to any who might have arrived without one. Though it is a masquerade, the masks are truly optional.

Light and playful music will begin early in the afternoon, the musicians moving about but most often remaining in the square where the dancing is meant to be, and where merchants are taking advantage of the crowd to sell their wares. The large dais in the center is sturdy but beautiful, with the rose theme continuing in banners that are strung around the base and up into street lamps that won't be lit until dusk arrives. On the dais are makeshift thrones, the same from last year should anyone remember, though they number three instead of four.

Once it seems the majority have shown themselves, Anne will depart from greeting people and lead three masked figures up onto the dais. Even behind ornate masks and striking dress, some might be able to recognize Molotov Cocktease, Brock Samson, and Ben Paul even before she names them. Anne herself is dressed as a phoenix, covered in reds and golds, even in her braided hair, but she is hardly in disguise as she introduces herself (a custom she has gotten used to). Her speech might confuse a few city-dwellers who don't quite understand (or remember) some of what she talks about, but she keeps it as light as she can. ...Which means it's still a mouthful.

"Welcome, beautiful denizens of Cair Paradisa and the City Royale, it is I, Queen Anne. And you are beautiful. All who gather here have come for one reason, and I hope it is for the good of it, as there is not one soul here who does not deserve merriment. This is not only a celebration, but a rebirth! Look around you. Here we are, together as one and still separately unique even after many sufferings. Such different and powerful peoples carry various forms of character, and yet you come together not only against conflict but also to celebrate peace. This gathering is only possible because of the good spirit and hard work of those that hail both from this city and the castle.

"May has come, and as we grow accustom to the changes that have surrounded us, I am reminded that not all surprises must carry fear for us. The year last we were shaken and the ground with us, but in this year the city flourishes in merriment as if untouched. There is much here that is still unknown to us, but some of it is beautiful, and that is what we appreciate now. Spring flourishes, lovers are born, and while we are always aware there to be mystery about, we also discover new truths and these have shaped us. As this city was reborn, so too are we. This will be a year of promise; of a babe's curiosity and scholar's wisdom, but never without God's love.

"Here to lead us in this celebration of newness and adventure is not I, but our May royalty. So many were loved, that again there cannot only be two."

Finally to the point, Anne backs up so that she can motion for each person to sit when she lifts a crown, one woven with roses and other colorful flowers, and two twisted and bent with branches. She names each as she settles the crown upon their head, curtsying after each announcement to playfully show deference to them.

"Queen Molotov. King Brock. And Prince Ben. You honor and delight us, as we defer to you this day."

When they have all been crowned, she'll curtsy again and back off of the stage, allowing them to announce the official start of the partying!

{ Maypole Dance || Dance Floor || The Dais || The Feast || Bonfire }
molotov: (body like whoa)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
Of course she's joking -- if Molotov wanted Spike dead, she wouldn't have to play such a stupid game. Come on now.

She's considerate of his hand, and his big dumb feet too, just in case he really doesn't know how to dance as well as he thinks. The next song strikes up when the band notices the queen taking the stage, and Molotov looks to Spike to set the pace.
gottaknockhard: (who is that?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
He hadn't counted on the gesture as being a signal to the band, which throws him slightly off his steps. Maybe he should have waited to be a gentleman until he'd caught her without a crown.

But now that he's committed, there's not much he can do about it. This may be a little more awkward than he imagined at the start, but he isn't tripping or anything. Hopefully one dance will give him more points than strikes against him for all his trouble.
molotov: (i like you)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
Molotov laughs quietly when he's taken by surprise, and keeps the rhythm herself for the moment. Spike's no professional, that's for sure, but she's content to gently lead when his steps aren't completely right, or when he loses the pace for a second.

"You are just slightly better at this than I expected," she teases, looking up at him. One thing about Spike that Molotov does appreciate is that he's still taller than she is when she's in heels. A lot of men aren't.
gottaknockhard: (word is on the street)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
His grin is more hesitant this time, surprised a second time by how easily she falls into this kind of dance. Spike has the excuse of having the steps hammered into him before last year's celebration, but he's not making the connection to where Molotov picked it up.

"After a few years living in a castle, you learn a little of everything." And if that question is a way of leading her into explaining, it's not very obvious. Never let on that he didn't watch her dance at her wedding.
molotov: (mmm yes)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 10:16 pm (UTC)(link)
She's less open about her training, even when lubricated with lots of wine, and so she just laughs again, subtly leading him to twirl her.

"Carpentry, cooking, pirating, dancing," she lists jokingly, a stray curl falling from her tied up hair as she moves. "We will all be modern day renaissance men by the time it's over."
gottaknockhard: (not a tip off at all)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
It's funny how easily he remembers when to twirl her with the beat of the music. She may have a valid point, as strange as it sounds.

About this time he recalls what Brock said about her when she's been drinking. As much as she's enjoying this, he figures it's much of the same. He's been lucky to catch her in an agreeable state lately.

"That depends on how you'd define modern."
molotov: (sexy.)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"What else do we need to know then, knave?" It's more laughter, the bottom of her dress flaring up as she spins, the glitter of her heels sparkling in the light. "Space ships, aliens, what? What more to be modern?"
gottaknockhard: (is that right?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"It wouldn't hurt." Keeping the conversation going is difficult when everything she's doing starts to interfere with his concept of reality. Sometimes it gets hard to make the distinction in a setting like this. "Although a spaceship is sort of wasted here."
molotov: (precious color)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Molotov snorts as the song changes, picks up tempo, and she moves to match it.

"Wasted? I don't think it would be! Go and see what's outside, look at the planet from above."
gottaknockhard: (better ask yourself why)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 11:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Seriously, does the band have a grudge against him? He keeps up, but he's very aware that he should be careful about dragging anything out, for a couple of reasons.

"If it weren't for the glass ceiling." That's a lesson you only need to learn once. Unlike some others. "I never got around to finding out where it breaks."
molotov: (files.)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Stop it, Spike, it's a party! Brock doesn't attack guys for dancing with his wife, just for macking on her. And that is something that Spike is, for once, not doing.

Her expression immediately turns fascinated, like this is something she's never heard of. "What do you mean?"
gottaknockhard: (do I want to know?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
That fascination keeps him from finding the right steps to pawn her off on another dancer, like a gentleman. He's seen people do that before.

"You know, the thing that keeps you grounded. I'm not sure anyone has tried to break it yet, but there's got to be a hole somewhere."
molotov: (uh...)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-05 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Brow knitting, Molotov looks at Spike rather like he's speaking a foreign language -- which is impressive, because she speaks a whole bunch of them.

"Do you mean gravity? Because gravity is what keeps us grounded."
gottaknockhard: (is that it?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-05 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"I mean the force field." He hates giving it a name, because he doesn't really know what it is. Although he just assumed it was common knowledge. "When you get to a certain altitude, you run into a wall, basically."

All this helpful explaining is slowing him below the beat, but it's an even rarer moment that he shares something like this. Useful information.
molotov: (hm.)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-06 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
Molotov's mouth falls a bit, and her dancing changes, as if she's moving only out of routine.

"Spike," she says slowly, "does anyone else know about this? That we cannot fly above a certain place in the sky?"
gottaknockhard: (sympathy)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-06 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
Don't they? Now Spike is confused. It may have been a while since he crash landed in the kitchen, but...

"They used to, at least. But we have had a fair amount of turnover."
molotov: (alternate)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-06 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Do you know if any of this is documented anywhere?"

She's hardly one to be gung-ho about ~solving the mysteries of the castle~, but this does seem like something that's pretty important.
gottaknockhard: (oh really?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-06 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
This is going to turn into one of those awkward moments when Spike has to admit that he avoids reading anything that could be labeled as research. He could count on one hand how many times he's been to the library, and even then he wasn't looking up anything that had to do with this world.

"Were you hoping to make it into space?" Because the castle also doesn't hand out spaceships very often. Faye's old ship is barely flyable as it is.
molotov: (bored)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-06 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
"No," Molotov sighs, rolling her eye. "Because people might make something to fly, then crash into the... whatever it is and die or something. That's why."
gottaknockhard: (see what happens)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-07 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
There is that. Although if they're like Spike, they would try it anyway. Once you get access to a spaceship, it's hard to resist the temptation. ...Which sort of makes him sound like an ass for not posting a note about it on the castle bulletin board.

"I'm not sure our engineers are that advanced yet." And anyway, Spike would have probably mentioned that if he heard about anyone actually attempting it.
molotov: (eye)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-07 02:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"All it takes is one."

But Molotov doesn't care all that much, it's just one of those things that the old crowd (and herself in particular, for no reason) has been chewed out for recently -- keeping "secrets", not sharing information that they supposedly had. Which is bullshit, on many levels.

"I guess there is just no one left from the old group who cares enough to keep everything catalogued anymore."
gottaknockhard: (where do I begin)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-08 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"The key is to not let them know you're part of the old group. Then they have nothing to complain about."

Like how Spike conveniently forgets how long he's been here nearly every time he's asked. All it does is lead to follow up questions, and some things people are better off not knowing.
molotov: (smirks)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-08 03:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Molotov snorts, because really, Spike, there's barely 100 people in the castle. One can pretend all they want, but everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows who's been around for ages.

"You try so hard to be a mystery, it's really kind of cute. Like a puppy yapping at a grown dog."
gottaknockhard: (what's your problem?)

[personal profile] gottaknockhard 2014-05-09 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
He frowns, more because he has to break down her metaphor to determine the level of insult. The fact that he has to doesn't make him feel any smarter than she's implying.

"I just don't see why everyone needs to know everything about each other." Which isn't even the reason he does it. The castle is constantly telling his story for him, he doesn't need to help it fill in the pages.
molotov: (listening)

[personal profile] molotov 2014-05-09 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Molotov sighs, then spins herself out before returning to him.

"Spike," she says gently, "I have spent more time around you, directly and just by proxy, than I have around many of my best friends. We all learn about each other, whether we want to or not."

And besides that, Molotov is one of those people who generally doesn't have a lot of problems figuring people out. Brock is like that, all wrapped up in his own mind, only sharing the bare minimum, but for Molotov, he's an open book. Spike isn't much harder.

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