may day masquerade {OPEN!}

[ensorceler]

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 }

Comments

[akweks]

It's true enough, he supposes. He didn't become an Assassin overnight.

Connor takes great pains not to stomp all over her feet with his massive man boots, which he accomplishes by staring downward the entire time. He is not looking down her dress, seriously.

[molotov]

With a snort, Molotov moves her hand from his shoulder to touch his chin.

"Look up. Trust yourself. You are an Assassin, da? Surely you have some grace to you."

[akweks]

He looks up when she touches his chin, brow knitting. Molotov please, he is built like a linebacker. Grace isn't exactly his forte.

"There is a difference between my work and this. Surprisingly."

That was a joke. He jokes sometimes.

[molotov]

Hey, even football players take ballet lessons! Linebacker or not, Connor isn't stumbling over his own feet, so he's not completely graceless.

Molotov smirks. "I am shocked."

[akweks]

No, not completely. Just a little awkward.

He doesn't answer right away, maybe too busy concentrating on not looking at his feet.

"How much do you know about my work?"

[molotov]

"Enough to know you are not all really doing the same things," she answers, shrugging. "Ezio, James, and you, I suppose... you have the same broad goal, I guess, but you are all chasing different ends, aren't you?"

This is, of course, coming from someone who resides in the most morally gray area possible, though, so it could be meaningless.

[akweks]

"I do not know much about the political climate in James's time and place," he says slowly. "He mostly seems concerned about my own. But I suppose I was not very interested in learning about such things until recently."

A lot of his behaviour as a bratty, self-centred teenager embarrasses him to think back on. Ugh.

"But our Order is always concerned with liberty. That does not change through the years. Circumstance dictates that we must adapt to our environments, though, so yes. I suppose our short-term goals may differ."

[molotov]

"Liberty is a vague concept at best," Molotov says, shaking her head, "and anyway, that is not what I meant. Ezio wants revenge, at least for now. He can say otherwise, but he became an Assassin purely to hunt down the Borgia, for no reason than because of his family. I don't know what James is chasing, but I have some ideas, even if they are wrong."

She guides him for a moment in silence, then looks at his face. "And I think you are after something more personal than just 'liberty', too."

[akweks]

"Ezio was born into the Order, from what I understand," he responds mildly. Once upon a time, he would have been happy to bitch about Ezio's numerous shortcomings. But he feels like he needs to defend him now, at least somewhat. He doesn't really like Ezio, but they are Brothers.

But then she's moving on, and he frowns, not quite sure what she's getting at. "I am ridding the Colonies of Templars so the new government will not fall under their influence."

[molotov]

"Ezio did not even know about the Order until after his father and brothers were killed," Molotov says. She's not bitching about him at all, even with their current tiff.

She shrugs. "Maybe that is what you say. Maybe you do want that. But something closer to you made you want to live this life, something more selfish."

[akweks]

He doesn't answer right away, mulling this over. The spirit was not something he liked to go around talking to people about -- outside his village, the only person who knew about it was Achilles. And with him dead, he's even more reluctant to share it. Something he knows outsiders would not understand, and especially not those from so far in the future, whose connection to everything spiritual seems to have withered in the face of progress.

"I was told," he finally says, slowly, "that throwing in with the Assassins was the only way to prevent a future where my people are destroyed."

[molotov]

Molotov doesn't seem to think about how he might have heard this. It's possible she chalks it up to just some kind of elder, or even a Mentor, that she doesn't even consider a "spirit". It's so at odds with what she believes in that it never crosses her mind.

"So your goal is to save a small group of people who are close to you," she tells him gently. "There is always a selfish reason behind these things."

[akweks]

Selfish. Connor's lip curls sardonically as he looks to the side, and he doesn't answer that. He's not an excessively prideful man, and will admit he has a number of faults, but he would not count his actions as selfish. The things he's done, the things he's sacrificed, the things he's seen and gone through. But his perseverance in the face of all that speaks to selfishness?

"How do I lead?" he says, nodding his head toward her. She's been leading the dance this whole time.

[molotov]

Connor would do well to remember that this is Molotov he's speaking with, and Molotov doesn't necessarily regard selfishness as a bad thing. In fact, she doesn't even mean the negative connotation of self-serving, only that his motives weren't liberty and justice and equality for all or whatever.

Connor's choice to help the world stemmed from a desire to help his people, not all people. Would he have ever donned the hood if his people didn't need saving?

That was all she meant by selfish.

"Just take the reins," she tells him, gently squeezing his hands. "We have been through the steps."

[akweks]

Connor would argue that anyone who wants to save the world right off the bat is probably not human. There has to be a catalyst to everything. Just because he started down this path because of one motivation didn't mean he still only worked toward that singular goal. (Also remember that he began Assassin training when he was a very impressionable thirteen-year-old. He's pretty well indoctrinated by now!)

But that is honestly neither here nor there, because, while he would have bristled and thrown a tantrum about that remark before, now he's learned to pick his battles. Plus, he's tired; dancing is hard to do when you're still convalescing.

He nods again, and there's a weird, awkward sort of hesitation as he stops moving in order to restart the dance, as it were, with him in the lead now.

[molotov]

Some motivations are more selfish than others. Wanting to prove that a woman is just as useful as a man (which she suspects is part of "James's" motivation) is far less selfish than wanting to save a very small group of people, many of whom are directly related to you.

Not that Molotov thinks either motivation is bad in any way. Hell, she only got started on her life's course because she wanted to impress her father.

She's patient while he takes over, pausing to let him get comfortable leading. After a few beats of him successfully guiding, she smiles up at him. "See? Not so hard at all."

[akweks]

Connor smiles back, though like always, it's subdued. The shy qualities he had as a kid are still there, underneath everything.

"It seems as though you were right."

[molotov]

Wrinkling her nose, Molotov gently pinches where her hand his on his shoulder. "It happens, sometimes," she teases, watching his face. She can still see a little bit of the child she knew before, even if she prefers this adult, much less frustrating version of Connor.