ic Monster Mash

[April]

Phaedra frowned slightly, forgetting for a moment that Jimmy was still standing there.  She knew Raina was irritated, and she knew it was something she did, but she didn't know what it was or why.  She sighed, brushing a strand of red hair from her face.  "The party moved on James, you'd best move on with it."

 

She didn't know how she was supposed to act in this situation, the short primer she had before being dumped at Claremont didn't exactly prepare her for this.  The labyrinthine politics of Throne where something she knew, they were something she lived and breathed, but this party stuff was a mystery.

[TheRedGuy]

Aníbal laughed good-naturedly at Winifred's remark. "Well, then, I have my work cut out tonight. Either way, it's a pleasure to meet you.", he replied, swirling the swill in his plastic cup like he was holding a snifter of brandy. It was a nervous attempt to put off knocking back the concoction for as long as he could. When the petite Victorian girl downed her cup in one go with no visible damage, he steeled himself for the upcoming ordeal, shrugged, and gulped down the contents of his own cup. As the moonshine burned its way down his throat, he winced and shuddered involuntarily. This was far, far rougher than his usual fare.

 

"Not bad, Riley. Could do with some maturing.", he remarked, his voice slightly raspy, and flashed the distiller a wry grin, "A few hundred years, perhaps, until the radioactive isotopes decay."

 

He smiled and offered his cup for a refill. "Just kidding... It's not as bad as I thought. With the right marketing, you could make something of it.", he commented cheerfully. The party seemed to have definitively moved to this room, but Riley's booze was bound to run out sooner or later, and they'd need something to occupy them. Robin's tentative suggestion of a party game elicited a murmur of support.

 

"Sounds good.", Aníbal added, "Have any game in mind?".

 

 

[Fox]

"Nothin' here. Not the kinda party I'm used to," Matt admitted, shrugging. "I'm usually--"

 

He was cut short by the dog bumping against his leg, nearly spilling the boy's drink on his cloak in the process. It was a common enough problem, apparently - he kept the drink from spilling and frowned down at the creature that was trying its hardest to evoke his sympathy. "Nothing, huh? Yeah, well, serves you right. ...don't look at me like that."

 

His dog whined, weakly thumping its tail on the floor as if it barely had the strength to do so. 

 

"...okay, fine, but just the one. You'll get sick," he insisted, dropping his last slice of sausage down to a worryingly-toothy mouth. "Like, uh. Like I was saying, not sure what kinda games you'd do here, so unless someone's got a bottle to spin I'm outta ideas."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Let's play truth or dare," said Riley with confidence as he poured himself a drink, shrugging off the criticism of his brewing with a firm drink of blackberry champagne. He wandered over and took a seast on the room's overstuffed leather couch, drink in his hand and map of Freedom City's colonial antecedents behind him. He felt good, and he was pretty confident he looked good too, surrounded by friends at the beginning of what was gonna be a very nice party. "Robin, truth, or dare?" he asked her with a wink. 

[alderwitch]

"Dare," Robin replied promptly with a small smile. No surprise there from the girl who was more than willing to jump on muggers but uncomfortable with personal questions. She joined Riley on the couch, dropping with lazy grace into the corner. She left her drink behind on the table, her arms flung over the couch back and her legs loosely crossed in front of her. It was the same sort of casual pose she'd have struck in her usual attire and it looked a little strange in the club wear she was dressed in. "Whatcha want me to do?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"All right, uh, sing Livin La Vida Loca all the way through," said Riley after a moment's quick consideration, discarding several things that he would like to see Robin do but only in private, and especially only with him. He knew his taste in teenage music was a little outdated, but he figured Robin could always look it up on somebody's phone, which seemed to contain basically magic. "Sing it loud! Loud as you can!" The last seemed especially daring. 

[angrydurf]

As the famed party game began to swing into action Huang looked around the room and noted the absence of some of the party goers.  His first assumption was impromptu hook up because he watched too many bad teen movies to base his high school expectations off of but discarded that as it was too early in the evening for the adorkable nerd to have wooed the hot chick.  Stepping into he other room he flashed a smile to Phae and Jimmy, "Hey you two."  he greeted again and gestured to the other room, "We have drinks and their starting up truth or dare, should be good Riley just challenged Robin to sing some golden oldies."  after all what else do you call your moms guilty pleasure high school music?  He didn't take no for an answer and shuffled them both into the other room for Robins upcoming performance.

[alderwitch]

"I don't know all the words...?" Robin said, her brow briefly creasing. She knew the melody well enough as it was a fairly catchy song. She turned slightly on the couch to borrow the first phone that was offered to her, squinting a little at the text. She muttered it a few times, her gaze skipping over the words as she read them quickly and then nodded her head once. Bouncing up to her feet with easy athletic grace, she cleared her throat as she handed back the phone having committed the lyrics to memory. All it ever took Robin was a single read through to commit something to memory, a fact that some of her teachers at Claremont had started to recognize. Robin, herself, didn't find anything particularly unusual about that particular knack. 

 

She cleared her throat once more, running her hands over her leather pants before launching into the words with gusto. Because, hey, if you were going to do something, better to commit. 

 

"She's into superstition, black cats and voodoo dolls," Robin started, surprisingly on pitch for a song she hadn't heard in years. The tempo was probably a little fast as she had nothing to match it too and nerves made it easy to speed up but she bounced in time with the music like she was singing along to it in the car rather than in front of her friends. For once, though, Robin's force of personality was put to something other than scaring the pee out of criminals in the Fens. With her eyes scrunched shut, she finished the song without missing a word and doing a not-half-bad job for singing acapella. Her voice wasn't bad at all but the song was certainly carried more by raw talent and force of personality than any training to speak of.

 

After finishing the last line, she paused to catch her breath and open her eyes before gesturing with her hands slightly and once more her low-key self, "Uh. Tah dah?"

[Electra]

Raina couldn't help but laugh at Anibal's skewering of the homemade alcohol, some of her irritation fading away. Boys were still boys, after all, even with layers of money and polish sitting on top of all those hormones. And he'd followed her into the other room rather than staying and making nice with the new girl, so he was probably at least breaking even. She set her cup down on the table and took Anibal's arm to lead him over to the sitting area where the game was going on. "Come on, gotta make sure we get the dirt on everybody, right?" She sat down on an empty couch, tucking her long legs up under her and managing somehow to not look indecent doing it. Years of practice. She clapped politely for Robin's vocal stylings. "Going for the oldies right off, huh? Pretty good!" 

[alderwitch]

Laughing, Robin went to drop back to the couch, pleased that she was through her turn on the game. It was tempting to get Riley back but Robin didn't want to be 'that couple'. Besides, Raina enjoyed the spotlight way more than Robin's boyfriend and really, Robin just wanted her friends to have a good time. "Not so bad, at least. Hey, Raina, Truth or Dare?" 

 

She arched her brows up, giving the words more drama with her intonation. Of course, now she'd have to come up with something to pester Raina with. Magic maybe. Raina liked doing magic and Halloween seemed a good night for that. 

[TheRedGuy]

"Okay, but they'll get the dirt on you, too. That's how the game goes.", Aníbal replied, following Raina to the couch like a well-behaved puppy, Truth or Dare was an old standby, but usually lots of fun. He didn't really know most of the people present all that well, even the ones he counted as friends, so it was a welcome opportunity to learn something new about them. He sat down next to Raina, resting his right arm on the back cushions behind her, and took another swig of Riley's chemical brew. The taste didn't improve with repeated sampling, but feeling of broken glass scraping against his tonsils was now less pronounced than before, perhaps because all feeling had been cauterized away. He could sense the booze doing its thing inside his body, coursing through his bloodstream and bringing a sensation of warmth and mild giddiness. It wasn't enough to get properly plastered, but it made its presence known. Part of the feeling, he suspected, came from being close to Raina again.

 

"Let's hope I don't end up in a dress again...", he whispered as Riley made his dare to Robin. As Robin rose to the challenge and delivered a rousing rendition of of the old Latin pop hit, Aníbal raised an eyebrow in pleasant surprise, although only his smile was visible under the mask. When she finished, he put down his cup and earnestly applauded the effort. Who knew the tough girl from the Fens had a knack for music? Of course, her technique was a bit iffy, but she pulled it off. By the standards of drunken karaoke nights, it was a stunning performance.

 

"Brava!", he cheered as Robin retired back to the couch. When she issued her own challenge to Raina, he sat back in anticipation of her reply, genuinely curious as to which she'd pick.

 

 

[Electra]

"Dare, of course," Raina announced with a laugh, leaning companionably against Anibal's shoulder. "It's so much more fun than truth. And none of that lame 'I dare you to tell me the truth about something,' either," she warned. "That's totally cheating." She unfolded one leg and refolded it more comfortably in front of her, the distinctive red of the sole contrasting nicely with the black of her outfit, not to mention showing off for anybody in the know. "And no more kissing statues, please!" 

[April]

Phaedra allowed herself to be shooed into the other room by Huang, offering him a low chuckle and amused shake of her head as she joined the rest of the party.   She helped herself to some of the blackberry-whatever-it-was-called, it smelled good and though it was harsh going down the lingering warmth and aftertaste certainly made up for it.

 

She settled on the arm of the couch, watching the interplay between the others.  Phaedra wasn't familiar with the game, this "Truth or Dare," or any other game human teens played but it seemed interesting so far.  All the while her chosen drink worked its magic, causing the uptight half-breed to relax.

[Gizmo]

Watching Riley and Robin's back-and-forth for a few moments while she drained her cup, Winifred made a sound of comprehension as she refilled it. "Ah! I know this game! We have this, too. Had this. This is a game that was had." She enunciated each syllable of the sentence even more precisely than usual, taking another gulp of the blackberry concoction to calm her nerves and belatedly realizing that that probably wasn't really helping. Still, it was heartening to recognize the mechanics if not the name of the party game and find she understood some of the social tenor implied by it for what felt like the first time that evening. She sniffed at Raina's caveat, crouching down to absently scratch Matt's hound behind its ears with her free hand. "Well! Beg your pardon, Princess. If the experience was unsatisfactory I hardly think the fault can be laid at my feet."

[alderwitch]

"Hmm," Robin said as she settled back on the couch and folded her legs up under her. Her lips curved in a small smile as she pronounced. "Show us... the coolest magic spell you have in your bag of tricks," Robin pronounced finally, gauntlet thrown. "Something worthy of Halloween in a haunted house!"

[Electra]

"All my spells are cool," Raina boasted. "Especially on Halloween. It's the night for witches. Everybody wants to get a little scared out of their mind on Halloween." She thought for a second. "Okay, you want something freaky, check this out." She reached for her little purse and pulled out a powder compact and a tube of lipstick, then rose from the couch. "No peeking," she admonished the room, then turned her back and walked into the corner, where she flipped open the compact and began humming. She opened the lipstick as well, but instead of putting it on her face, it looked as though she were applying it to the mirror. It was hard to tell though, with her back to the others.

 

After just a minute, she turned around once more, looking much changed indeed. Raina's pretty face was now a ruin of rotted, sloughing meat, cheeks pulling away from the cheekbones, eyelids drooping away from the orbital sockets. Her nose was half gone, her golden hair crusted with red and black ichor, and the hands that held her tools were all but skeletonized. "Boo!" she proclaimed through what had once been her lips. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Riley's right hand twitched slightly in Robin's, but as surprising as Raina looked, she wasn't one of the faces he saw in his nightmares. So the hatchet stayed in its holster and the party kept on going, even if his heart was now beating considerably faster. "Jeez! I'll drink t'that, Sanderson." He tossed back his blackberry wine in one gulp, the alcohol burning its way down his throat, and coughed slightly against the potency of his own brew. "You got the legs too," he noticed, looking the zombie girl up and down. "Keep that'n mind. Lil' wet and bright, though. Whatdja do, diena paint shop?" 

[Fox]

Matt's reaction was at least slightly atypical: he took a half-step back, but while his expression was startled it had too much recognition and not nearly enough fear for the visage the witch had presented. Something black flickered around one hand before he got the reflex under control, frowning at his subjective show of weakness and scowling into another swig of the....'drink'.

 

"S'not bad," he admitted, looking her up and down. "Bright, maybe; you'd be surprised how long wet lasts on some of 'em. It's uneven, though - hair'd dry out and lose the worst of it before you lost the hands, unless you got rats with weird tastes. Fast, though; sure takes you by surprise. I think I preferred you the other way."

 

Matt's dog, for what it was worth, seemed entirely unaffected - it thumped its tail against the ground and nudged Fred's hand for more pets, casting an unconcerned yellow eye Raina's way like her appearance was the most normal thing in the world.

[angrydurf]

Huang took in Robins performance with an approving nod, girl had some pipes on her that was for sure even if the golden oldies were not really his proverbial 'jam'.  He was pleased everyone seemed to be enjoying the game and getting along well enough now.  Clearly Rileys Hooch was settling nerves and loosening inhibitions to keep things fun.

 

With Robins dare he turned to Raina with rapt interest few things were as enticing as a potential new spell to puzzle out and giving the witch a chance to shine on the hallows eve seemed a sweet deal all around he was sure they were in for a show and boy was he right.  His eyes widened in awe at the transformation, "Full body glamour."  he said with an approving nod and anachronistic thumbs up, "Nice."  He stepped forward murmuring under his breath a spell to enhance his mage sight as he examined the workings in more detail.  "That's a complex one." he acknowledged, "Seen practitioners that couldn't pull it off without a rite."   He then looked more at the outcome than the magic itself and his lips tweaked in a smile, "That's awesome, Reminds me of uncle Burt."  He said with a grin then glanced to Matt as he caught the flicker on the periphery of his vision before dismissing his concerns with a keep the party going clap and suggestion, "Alright So who's next Raina?"

Edited December 5, 2015 by angrydurf

[TheRedGuy]

Aníbal grunted in disgust, flinched and briefly looked away as Raina revealed her ghoulish glamour, but soon returned his gaze to the macabre spectacle with a fascinated smile. It was an impressive show that made him uncomfortably queasy, not so much because of the disguise itself - he was not very squeamish as a rule, although he wasn't really a fan of horror movies - but because of the contrast. Seeing a dead person didn't phase him much. He had seen death first hand in the airliner cockpit, the memory of the smell burned its way back to the back of his throat. What bothered him was seeing Raina as a decomposing corpse, even if it was just a trick. The sight awoke something primal in him, an irrational fear of losing her. It was silly, she was nowhere near any harm, but it was there, and would probably dissipate as the spell faded. Still, it was a novel experience. He finished off his second cup of Riley's hooch, the taste of which reminded him there were worse things than death in this world. 

 

"Wow... That's amazing!", he praised her earnestly, still wincing at the remarkably lifelike effect. The rest of those present were impressed as well. Well, most of them were. As Grim rattled off his rather creepy, matter-of-fact critique of her glamour, Aníbal turned to the boy with the dog and observed him intently, his scowl hidden by his luchador mask. Grim's last sentence made him crush the now empty red plastic cup in his hand. The plastic crackled audibly as it deformed. He didn't know if the dude was doing this on purpose or if he was just socially inept. Or maybe you are loaded with hormones and booze and getting upset over nothing... The voice of reason was there, calmly stating its case in his head, but it was shouted down by the voice of pride, heavily backed by the alcohol faction. It was decided this was strike two, and the weird kid was still on notice, whether he knew it or not. He fiddled awkwardly with the cup in his hands, twisting the plastic into some abstract shape, nothing in particular, and waited for Raina to select the next participant.

[alderwitch]

Robin had braced for something spooky and Raina did not disappoint! She jumped a little in her chair, startled more than frightened and although she noticed the grip tighten on her hand, she didn't comment on it. "Grossssss..." Robin said, laughing through her disgust, "Well, I think you well and truly satisfied my dare. Your turn to pick your victim."

 

She wiggled her free hand at Raina in what Robin probably believed look like magic but mostly looked like 'jazz hands' before she turned towards Riley, letting her body relax into his side a little. In an undertone, she added, "I like your accent, you know," she told him, resting her chin briefly on his shoulder. "S'cute."

[Gizmo]

Winifred had accommodatingly placed a hand over her eyes when Raina had called for a dearth of peeking but hadn't taken it away when the witch had stepped back around the corner. Instead she waited several beats to listen to everyone else's comments, getting some sense of what to expect. Not entirely in the spirit of the exercise, she had to admit, but probably much safer for all of them than risking a sudden shock. "Ah, that's a relief," she sighed, speaking a little more loudly than usual after her second cup of the 'wine' but otherwise remaining poised and controlled as ever as she regarded the glamour. "There seemed a risk you would aim for 'arousing' corpse and I doubt my old fashioned sensibilities would have been up to the task." For a moment it looked as though she might be waggling her eyebrows up and down but she schooled her expression again almost immediately as she tilted her head back to drain her cup again.

[April]

"Impressive, Raina," the redhead commented offering the witch a faint smile.  "I imagine you did something similar when you tinted you skin for your costume, yes?"  Phaedra raised a shapely eyebrow in question as she took another swig of the raspberry concoction.  When she brought her cup back down to her lap she re-adjusted the hem of her skirt, an subconscious reaction to Fred's 'arousing' comment.

 

Starting to really relax the young hellborn was unaware that her eyes were shifting back toward their natural hue, the red and black slowly leaching in.

[Electra]

Raina, who was obviously pleased by all the attention and admiration, did a little twirl to show off her entire disguise. She'd left the dress and fantastic shoes alone, but the rest of her looked about ready to fall to pieces. When Winifred spoke up, Raina stopped spinning to chortle at her. "Don't think you could resist my sexy zombie disguise, huh?" she teased. "Well, I'd hate to make anybody have to address any awkward fetish issues they might have."

 

Her eyes sharpened when Phaedra chimed in. "It's the same spell, yes," she agreed coolly, then raised her compact again. She drew a few lines on the mirror with her lipstick and hummed, and suddenly the zombie effect was gone, replaced by the subtle skin tinting she'd had before. Walking back to the couch, she perched herself on Anibal's lap and wrapped a proprietary arm around his neck as she surveyed the room. "So... Phae... truth or dare?" 

[April]

The grey in her eyes was almost entirely red and black was starting to encroach into her sclera by the time Raina caught Phae's attention.  Something in Raina's tone caused the hybrid's features to become studiously neutral, her spine becoming a little more rigid and when she blinked her eyes were back to normal.

 

"Truth," Phae answered carefully, keeping her hands in her lap and holding her drink steady.  With the attention she was focusing on Raina the others in the room may as well not exist.