Path of the Vampire forum

Looks like those holiday helpers are at it again. No sooner is that snowman stand up and operational (with one elf left behind to man the gods and make sure people mind), than they disappear again! Only this time, they never seem to properly reappear. You see, they disperse amongst the crowd, carrying little green velvet bags weighed down with coins. As stealthily as they can manage (which isn't very, given the costumes and bells and such), they begin to slip those little bags of money into purses, pockets, hands, generally anywhere they can manage. So long as everyone gets one!

MORI, ayuka ◦ Hebigumo Foundation Representative ◦ #804080

The party itself was a machine, with dozens of moving parts all working at the same time, each with their own function, all of them necessarily working together for things to run smoothly. She had taken note of the slight difficulties one of the elves’d had with the tinsel, and then again when the sound system from before was replaced with a megaphone. Well that was certainly curious wasn’t it? Not at all like Bancroft to overlook a detail as simple as ensuring his gadgets were all working at peak performance. Maybe there was something else going on she wasn’t seeing. Whatever the case, Ayuka was enjoying her conversation with Amalea. And when the quiet man in the nice suit gave her a nod, all she could do was return the gesture. She seemed the sort to have maybe even offered a curtsy, had the introduction been just a little more formal.

“She is giving me far too much credit.” She said with what may very well have been genuine modesty, when Lea called her a brilliant conversationalist. “Discourse, after all, is a two or more person show.” She added on to the end, with something of a smile offered to the woman whose lips she’d just felt against her own. That was when she picked up the surname of the man in the nice suit. Nilson. That name seemed so familiar to her for some reason, and she found herself trying to figure it out while the sing-along carol was going on. She chose not to open her mouth at all during the whole thing for reasons that a few people had probably picked up on. Though it seemed she was in good company, because she wasn’t the only silent one. She did take note of one person who seemed to want to monopolize the entire moment. Young waif of a thing with dark hair. Beautiful voice. However it was the woman who had led the carol that really caught Ayuka’s ear. In contrast to the one some party-goers had clapped for, this one’s voice was more average. But she certainly had some cojones on her. She-cojones. Whatever. Ms. Mori admired courage. Imperfection was something that so few people embraced, but that was reality, and it was more beautiful even than the song of a siren.

Which was right around the time the generous woman and Dr. Nilson needed to be somewhere else, because they turned and slid away. Which was to be expected, honestly. With parties like these, there were so many people, that to meet even a fraction of them, one had to be constantly moving and mingling. Seasonal events were an excellent time to network. Deeper relationships could be built or maintained any other time of the year.

That was when it struck her.

Nilson was the name of one of the potential new councilmembers. Which meant that it was her job to make nice with him. Get to know him a little better. See if he could be trusted to keep the interests of certain groups in mind. Well ****. A perfect opportunity squandered. She would make that ground back at another time though. Perhaps later in the evening. There was plenty of party still left.

“It seems that daring suits you. I’m sure Amalea will agree with me in saying you should be daring as often as possible.” Her reply to Every was delayed by the carol - her desire not to be rude, or speak over the singers. She could also see, from the corner of her eye, that there were people making their way closer. There appeared to be two men and a woman. She knew two of them to be vampires. The third was human. But the way he walked with the vampires (especially one of them) was so...familiar. It seemed they certainly did live in interesting times. “I’ve been here for a few years. Came here for work, and have found that I absolutely love this town. I won’t lie and say I don’t miss having a Starbucks every few feet, but Harper Rock has a certain charm to it that other places don’t capture.” She commented. “But I’m taking over this conversation again. You mentioned that you love it here as well, Ms. Amalea. Why is that exactly? And you’ll have to tell me how you see this place we call home.” She offered to Every, holding eye contact for a moment.

Said eye contact broke for a split second when she felt a gaze on her. She half turned, and peered across the room. There was a pale woman taking a lot of pictures. Looking right at her. A carefully plucked brow slowly lifted in question. As if to ask. ‘Well. Are you going to get your hands dirty or not?’ Another one of those who was doing a lot of networking she supposed. Her attention turned back just in time for the trio who had been making their way over to them to arrive. From there, she picked up the names. Flynn, Mortll, and Azraeth. The last two had some eyes on them alright. And their names weren’t at all mainstream. Perhaps they were related in some way.

“A pleasure to meet you three.” He said. “I was just getting familiar with your beautiful friend here.” And then two more ladies swarmed into the ‘frame’. There was a tall, Nordic blonde. The other had auburn hair and lips that Ayuka frankly would have killed for. “Oh my. I’d offer everyone a handshake, but I don’t think I have that many hands.” Spider joke? Spider joke. She just sort of thrust her palm out there, to see who would take it first. “Ayuka Mori.” She said, for those who hadn’t heard. “You must introduce me to your friends.” She said of Every.

So they totally got there just in time to see some people making out. Like there was some chick who looked like she was trying to play puppets with Amalea. Only Amalea’s mouth was the puppet and this lady’s tongue was the hand. WHAAAAAT? Az paused right in his tracks and watched. He saw the mistletoe, but people didn’t kiss like that just because of some holiday plantlife. It brought to mind that famous line from the Batman movie. The one with the hot catwoman in the stitched together black latex. Was the Sis dating someone?! Why had she not told him? “Baby. Hey baby. Baby. People are kissing. Do you see that? Kissing. That means…” He eyed Flynn expectantly. Yeah. That was right. There was no way the Paladin was getting out of it. They had to pause, just for a moment, so that Az could plaster himself to that attractive blue suit (his color as he liked to say). The kiss was a brief one, because the Mystic knew that once the train started rolling down the track, there was little to nothing that could be done about it. And he was there to be social, god damnit. Really. It just gave him a hint of the taste of the man he loved, and left him with a grin the size of Quebec.

And there were so many faces! He recognized several of them, but naturally there were any number of them he didn’t - which wasn’t surprising. His circles tended to be the mystical and the academic, the Dragons. He wasn’t high society. He didn’t pretend to be. There were people from all over Harper Rock there, but it was obvious that the Ball itself had originally been designed for, and catered to those who had wealth or power. Neither of which Az had, nor wanted. “Those are Elizabeth and Doc.” He explained quietly to his partner as they were making their way through the crowd. “I think you’d like them quite a lot. Doc is an absolute wolf in...wolf’s clothing, but he’s brilliant. Elizabeth I know less about, because I’ve only met her a few times. They seem surprisingly suited to each other though. Both quiet. Both with a hell of a lot more than meets the eye going on.” He didn’t have time to expound upon that, because he caught sight of Noelle. He lifted up on his tip toes as if he might get above the crowd, and waved towards her. It was the sort of wave that jostled his entire body from side to side against Flynn’s.

You look like the most alluring Christmas present! I bet Ripper can’t wait to unwrap you! The thought was sent to her, and the vampire actually found himself glancing around trying to see if he could spot the Killer. Perhaps it was all of the bodies, but he couldn’t pick him up at all.

Then he spotted Meara, who was working with the string quartet. The vampire practically bounced in his spot as he and his mate were walking. He wanted to run over to where she was playing so he could watch the way her hands moved and how the music played out across her features. He could hear it from where he was.

Oh my gosh, that sounds amazing. Whenever you get a chance, just let me know so Flynn and I can come drown you in a little bit of love! Or you can come and claim a hug in person. Whatever works best for you. Whatever the case, Meara certainly seemed to be in her element, and that made the Mystic happy. She was one of those genuinely sweet people who just deserved good things.

It was at that moment Flynn mentioned that Mortll looked beautiful, and Az had to come back to himself, because he’d been so busy looking around that he had totally missed what was going on right in front of him. “You look like the most delicate of ivory and silver ornaments.” He said to her as his free arm (the one not caught by Flynn’s), wound itself around her shoulders to give her a tug right against his side. It was a brief, loving affection. He knew for a fact that any ‘delicate’ part of the woman was an illusion. She was less silver and more steel. His gaze was cast back for a moment to the tree, where he saw what seemed to be a sizable cheque. WOAH. Talk about a merry Christmas for the little ones.

And then they were finally arrived. There was Amalea, the lady who had been kissing her. Doc and Elizabeth seemed to have meandered away. There were two new women who seemed to be close to Every. Jeeze. When had he seen Every last? Well. There had been Humanity Week, but the two hadn’t had a chance to really talk then. He’d been intending to go and track her down, but the event had gotten away from him as far as time went, and she’d seemed preoccupied anyway. Before that had been...the Daughters of Destiny? Back when Az had been Superbia. That had been a while back. Quite a while. And he hadn’t really gotten a chance to catch up with her since then. Unlike Prudence, who Az saw periodically due to shared interests, such as the Voodoo Dragons.

He really needed to have a sit down chat with her. See how she was. What she had been up to.

But a ball was not the place for that. “Ladies!” He greeted. “I seem to have stumbled onto a garden of beautiful winter flowers. How are you all?” he asked, glancing briefly to Ayuka as she was introduced to him, only for the vampire to press more tightly into Flynn’s side so as to avoid pulling all of the women into a group hug which...probably would have gotten at least a few strange looks. “I don’t believe I know either of you two.” He said to Caligrace and Freyja. “We should totally change that. Hey, I’m Azraeth. This is my hu--my Flynn.” There. No more complaints about people thinking Flynn was a thrall. Problem. Solved.