(Untitled)

May 02, 2008 11:24

WHO: Everybody! Everybody, and Patricia.
WHAT: The first annual Europe Day Party, aka EU New Years, aka Europegate, aka The French Revolution. Decadent decay, imperialism, wine-drinking, scone-waving, Manet/Monet slurring, nouveau bossa nova, big maps, Eurocentricism, themed booze.
WHEN: Friday evening; party starts around nine, starts around ( Read more... )

kelly yates, rita kozlow, velvet lyon, byron watts, whitney de winter, cassandra quinn, cassia wyndham-frost, rhea saberwhal, louise einhorn, toby hastings, harrison tweed, perry holiday, elisa miller, james callahan, kelly chandler, chris beaulieu, chloe martel, prudence ashford, eddy richards, richie sutton, jonathan fairbanks, edie steinlen, byron hale, luke shepherdson, phillip cordon, alex chase, murdock varletti, lillian maine, neil mclaughlin, patricia goldberg, frederick grayson, miles brennan, marie bouchard, c.j. emerson, rachel fagen, noah connell

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Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 scheherazading May 3 2008, 00:56:13 UTC
If Velvet had had her way, she would have arrived with Murdock at exactly 9 pm, cheerfully helped the Byrons with party preparations, had a glass of wine, and politely excused herself around 10 pm when people were really beginning to arrive. But of course, her roguish companion would have none of that - of course not! Certainly, they met up at 8:45, but there were so many distractions along the way - why don't they pick up food? Bring wine for the hosts? Walk, since it's a nice night? By the time they arrived around 10:15, the party was gearing up, and it looked like an easy escape would not be possible.

At 11:19, the Arabic Librarian momentarily lost Murdock, and was left to fend for herself amongst the raucous faux Europeans. She clung to her wine glass, classic shield of wall-flowers: it occupied at least one of her hands and its contents soothed the anxiety. She avoided most Tales (particularly those who expected such grandiose things like publishing from her), and when approached by drunken artists, merely flashed a shy smile ( ... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 invisibyron May 3 2008, 01:45:37 UTC

... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 scheherazading May 3 2008, 01:58:51 UTC
Startled out of her wine-soaked reverie, Velvet stared up at Hale for a full moment before registering who he was and what he was saying. "Oh! Yes, please," she said, after a short delay (by which time her glass was already half full). At his inquisitive glance she had the decency to look somewhat chagrined. "Thank you. I - ah... uhm, well. It's a European party." This statement of the obvious was the best she could give by way of explanation of the identity she'd taken on, at least in regards to people whose attention she didn't want.

"I'm all right! It's a good party, is it?" It wasn't as much of a rhetorical question as one might expect; tipping the wine glass to her lips, Velvet Lyon was actually unsure as to whether or not it was a good party. People seemed to be having fun, but it was, well... loud, and she wasn't sure about the emotional status of some of the revelers. She swallowed, and smiled. "You throw them a lot, ouais?" It was possible that she was beginning to have just enough wine that little French words were slipping ( ... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 invisibyron May 3 2008, 03:07:51 UTC

... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 scheherazading May 3 2008, 03:18:33 UTC
"Yes!" Velvet agreed, though over the rim of her wine glass her eyes look less than convinced. Certainly, parodies of Europe were splashed across the guests with great gusto - she supposed that if that was the theme, it was quite successful, though she herself would be far more comfortable with less cleavage and more tea (and certainly not Long Island Iced). Another gulp of wine, and she smiled up at her former TA. "I've heard of your other parties, but I don't really go out much - Murdock wheedled me into this. Have you seen him, by the way? You'd think he'd be hard to miss, mais... je sais pas."

It occurred to her that she might not want to seem overly attached to the notorious liar, so after another quick sip of wine (her glass was really quite full, she didn't want it to spill), she changed her topic. "How's your dissertation going?"

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Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 thatrapscallion May 3 2008, 05:15:31 UTC
Speak of the devil, etc etc etc. Fresh off of his brief encounter with the party's other Byronic host, Murdock was still a bit the worse for wear as he reappeared through the tight press of the crowd, looking nervous and occasionally glancing over his shoulder. He made a beeline for Velvet, immediately leaning in to say something private, though having to shout nonetheless just to be heard over the din of music and voices ( ... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 invisibyron May 3 2008, 05:37:46 UTC
Since Hale was not actually deaf, he caught a good amount of the warning against him. He blinked.

"Oh, we're in trouble?" Hale echoed with a sort of acid amusement. It would have been funnier if they were on the up and up or, really, the sort of people Velvet should be associating with. Hale flattered himself that they were really the sort of person a sloppy con like Murdock Varletti could only wish to associate with; the chances of that ever happening were dropping by the second. The sketchy gravity with which the young man was conducting himself made Hale wonder if, by some bizarre chance, he'd stumbled across something incriminating--that would be a problem. Some of the (fake) qualities Murdock had recently evaded from the other Byron found imperceptible, if genuine, purchase in the mind of this one.

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock soon & Open eventually -- 11:30 scheherazading May 3 2008, 05:52:40 UTC
Just as her party experience was starting to get pleasant (Velvet always did like Byron Hale), it - predictably - was interrupted by the instigator of many (if not most) of her Tale woes. The inquisitive smile dropped from her face as Murdock reeled off his preposterous reasons for leaving, replaced by an expression that could only be described as 'massively disappointed'.

"What did you DO?!" she cried, cutting straight through to the real heart of the matter. Unfortunately, her (louder than strictly usual) accusation was accompanied by a melodramatic whirl-about-face... and at that moment, it became clear just how much wine Velvet had imbibed while standing nearly perfectly still in her little corner of the party. The laws of liquor physics came into play, and it was thus revealed that while her social inhibitions were only just beginning to break down, her motor coordination had snuck out of the building about a glass and a half ago.

So, Velvet did not turn on Murdock accusatorily and call him out on his shenanigans. Instead, she ( ... )

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Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 thatrapscallion May 3 2008, 06:31:00 UTC
Oh my god. Ohmigod. She was swooning. This was a moment. A moment where the heroic protagonist caught the beautiful romantic interest mid fall and they looked into each other's eyes and the moment was just right and--

Murdock's muscles were still coiling in preparation for the dramatic leap rehearsed a thousand times in his overactive imagination when Watts stepped seemingly out of nowhere, to casually bolster his damsel in distress. The look of triumph on his face disappeared as swiftly as it had come, to be immediately replaced in rapid succession by a crestfallen frown, a jealous glare, and nervous realization when he discerned exactly what the identity of the newcomer was. Or at least, what he thought it was, since there was still some contention on the matter.

"Vel, I think we should go." Murdock intoned meaningfully, reaching out to cautiously take one of her wrists in an effort to slowly but firmly tug her back towards him and away from the seedy criminal fellow, from whom his leery gaze never deviated.

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 scheherazading May 3 2008, 15:08:28 UTC
If she were in a place to be commenting on the assumptions of present maudlin gentlemen, Velvet Lyon would note that she most definitely was not swooning. She was just caught off guard by the sudden transformation blood to wine in her legs. Of course, her reaction to being caught by Watts didn't really help the matter. It took her a moment to get over the shock of, firstly, falling, and secondly, being caught the dashing other Byron, but once she did her indignation broke into peals of girlish, tipsy laughter, even as she blushed furiously. (Miraculously, no wine spilled - largely because she'd drained a good fraction of it before Murdock arrived.)

"Hello! Sorry, I..." Sadly, what might have been the first instance of drunken semi-flirtation on Velvet's part was again interrupted by Murdock. "Murdock, no!" she protested, tugging her wrist away from him. "We don't -- I don't have to go because you've done something stupid! And you know what? I'm not apologizing for you this time either!"

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 invisibyron May 3 2008, 15:15:55 UTC
He could not help but be amused by the straightlaced Velvet's transformation from consistently-collected student into a giggling puddle. Hale himself had been too shocked for a sudden sideways lurch, and was standing in the wrong direction anyway--he was just as likely to knee her in the face as any other outcome, and that would just not be a happy party memory. He also could not blame her reaction to the man who did catch her. Rather, he grinned up at its cause.

"Hello, Watts," he said, cheerfully, over the squawk of an oncoming lover's spat; "Did you know that we're in trouble?" Any soberer version of Hale would have held off for Velvet's sake, but it seemed Watts possessed enough gallantry for the both of them (like this was ever in question). Deciding it was all quite enough with playing happy host, he took a drink of wine straight from the bottle.

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 thatrapscallion May 4 2008, 00:40:02 UTC
Murdock released Velvet's wrist as she pulled it away, though he stayed close enough to her so that he could respond to her angry objection in a ~meaningful tone~. As he spoke his gaze kept flicking anxiously from Velvet to Watts and back again, with the occasional glance to the arm that was supporting his date. This was going, as they say, from bad to worse.

"Who says I did something stupid!" He objected, his tone rising in indignation at first, before he caught himself and forced it down to a more private tone. "I'm not asking you to apologize for anything, okay? I just thought that you might want to go because you didn't want to come in the first place, and I'm trying to be more mindful of your needs. It's a gentlemanly thing to do. And if you do want to leave, which I feel would be appropriate, then I support the decision and am offering to escort you out of--" He paused mid sentence, brow creasing thoughtfully, as he seems to cycle through the background conversation that had just occured between the two hosts to their side. He ( ... )

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 scheherazading May 4 2008, 04:41:37 UTC
"Conneries!" Velvet scoffed, glowering at Murdock. "If you wanted to stay, you'd be telling me what upstanding gentlemen m'sieurs Watts and Hale were! Are!" she amended, glancing up at the pair - and upstanding they are! Or, at least, one of them is proving terribly helpful in keeping her upright.

"Nevermind," she continued, "what I wanted to do! And now you're just throwing my words at me to suit your desires! Ne me fais pas avaler ça!" Irritably, she took a teeny little sip of her wine, rolling her eyes at her companion's question. "Watts, yes, t'es sourds maintenant, aussi?"

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Re: Velvet & Hale & Murdock & Watts -- 11:30 invisibyron May 5 2008, 01:35:41 UTC
"Hardly deaf, I should think, just a little confused, though his concern for our welfare is nothing but appreciated." He considered a pat on the back, but figured that was too condescending even for himself. He couldn't shake the idea, however mistakenly-acquired, that a young man like Murdock could make a whole lot of trouble for them, if he blundered into the wrong place. It made him wonder if inviting Tales (such as Velvet! Such as a librarian!) had been such a good idea after all. And then he realized, it's not behind the fridge anymore; if we don't throw parties in the safe, we'll be fine; we're the swindlers, we know what we're doing.

That put him in a much better mood, and he smirked over at his fellow Byron. "I don't suppose that arm's still free?"

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