RP: Halloween Masquerade

[shh_caradoc]

Date: 31 October 2005, (8-midnight)
Characters: Caradoc Dearborn, Irma Pince, Rita Skeeter, Ollivander, Hermione Granger, Roger Davies, Su Li, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein, Daphne Greengrass, Orla Quirke, Marietta Edgecomb, Katie Bell, Nymphadora Tonks, Vincent Crabbe, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Narcissa Malfoy, Rabastan

Comments

[shh_vincent]

Vincent had finished off his ale when he saw the woman down the bar from him. He didn't recognize her, but that meant nothing outside of she had done at least an adequate job at disguise. Dressed like a bird of sorts, she was issuing a more than obvious invitation with the way she kept staring, than raised her glass in a a salute, acknowledging the interest. He rolled his eyes, and asked the bartender for another ale. Delving into alcoholism he wasn't, but relaxation had it's merits.

His eyes slid from hers as he turned to accept the ale. He would have played it in his usual fashion, waited for her to come to him, but this was hardly a pub or a club. The bar was hardly worth leaning on, the attempt would look odd.

Vincent took a sip, straightening and walking towards the plume of feathers standing down there. Stopping a foot in front of her, he contemplated her over the rim. "An invitation?" He asked, purposefully deepening his shade below it's normal tenor. He didn't bother to ask if she recognized him as it was rather apparent she wouldn't.

He gestured at the costume she wore. "Phoenix, or stork?" There was a hint of amusement in his tone.

[shh_orla]

She didn't bother with an accent like Marietta, but kept the force behind her voice so it was confident and, she hoped, sulty. "Solitude might suit a seafaring man, but it hardly suits the party atmosphere."

She took another sip and set her glass back down, giving him a sideways look through her mask. "What, I don't look innocent enough to be a dove?" She had a teasing tone she rarely, if ever, took with strangers.

[shh_vincent]

"I suppose holding one's self seperate does defeat the purpose of venturing out in public," he agreed simply, standing in front of her. "Though seafaring isn't always solitary I would point out. All those men around depending on the ship. But," he added, "of course that's hardly the kind of....company, I would be trying to cultivate."

It was always of course gratifying to be approached. It was what appealed to him with woman generally. Seduction was one thing, but never being the initiator. More appealing of course when it was him in his own features, but he wouldn't be responding quite so easily if not for the fact he wasn't exactly Vincent Crabbe at the moment. That didn't mean he would be changing his personality, he didn't have the patience for ninny's no matter how his features and clothes were altered.

His lips curved in amusement as he let his gaze rake over her dress, "Hardly. Though you could be dressed in a nun's habit and I still wouldn't buy innocent. Call me cynical, but I hardly think true innocence exists. And," Vincent added, "certainly not in someone beckoning a complete stranger from across the bar."

"Unless of course," he continued, "you can say under veristaserum your only thought was about finding out what material comprises my outfit. So you can buy it to make outfits for needy orphans of course."

[shh_orla]

Orla bit back a laugh. "Well, if that was the type of company you were seeking, the joke would be on me." Amused, she looked up at him. He seemed familiar, with a wit she appreciated, though she wasn't sure he was someone she'd met before.

Since she had taken the lead on their conversation, she couldn't fault his observation, though it was rather cynical of him. "I couldn't just have wanted to be friendly with the lone stranger across the way?" She had another thought and smirked. "What makes you think you were the only one I was beckoning? Might have been someone behind you that you cut off."

She gave a rather soundless laugh. "I wouldn't see the point. If I was to outfit needy orphans, it wouldn't be to make them look like dock urchins." She shook her head at him. "Maybe all I wanted to know was if the scar was real or not." She turned it into a question, and smiled mischievously up at him.

[shh_vincent]

"Don't play coy now and ruin the impression," Vincent replied, taking a sip of his ale. "Though I suppose games and deception are the name of the evening. I won't waste the time however in self-doubt when I know your rather obvious invitation was for me." He added, "Call it vanity, but I hardly think you were going for the goblin standing behind me. Though it is a night of illusion. He might be a pinup for Playwitch underneath." he raised an eyebrow, "I will happily step aside if you want to take that chance. After all," Vincent smirked, "it's been a long while since I've been honestly amused."

He did roll his eyes inwardly, "Though I hardly think a naval uniform would suggest urchin, I don't think the clothing of orphans is hardly a topic of conversation. Now if I had dressed as some kind of deck hand."

"I could go for something more fascinating, by comparison," he remarked, gesturing to the costume, "check to see if you were one of the scant few who stayed away in your History of Magic class, and ask if you can recognize my costume. But, that is only marginally more interesting than children's clothing."

Her words were easily belying any claim at innocence, though that was simply an attempt at flirtation at best. He had little patience for games really, but he found himself sticking around. Her body was attractive beneath the dress, and he was indeed bored.

"I suppose if that's all you were wondering," he kept his tone bored, "I can oblige. Since I hardly think a patch of scar tissue will give away my identity. Fake, though I thought it fit with the character." He raised his eyebrows, "Shall we skip to innuendo about the sword hanging at my side next, keeping it deliberately vague in an attempt at portraying innocence?"

[shh_orla]

A challenging type then. "Well then, we'll let your vanity continue to build, since I find myself more interested in the challenge of amusing you up close." It was not the most subtle thing she'd said, but she was feeling bery bold, and rather enjoyed the anonymity of the night's festivities.

"Afraid I never did retain much from my History of Magic, least not enough to connect to visual cues. " She leaned forward and ordered a mead from the person in a snake mask.

She gave a laugh at his comment, shaking her head. "Considering I left a Daisy Dodderidge cooing over a Roman with a spear, I've no desire to debate the size of one's weapon, though I'll drop the innocent act to ask if you've much skill in wielding it?" She took a sip, letting him stew in the blatant come on. She felt very free, and was enjoying this man's flirtation.

[shh_vincent]

"Perhaps an allusion to my skill in beheading a sea serpent with it isn't quite the metaphor to employ in this conversation," he remarked, "but in all other respects I can assure you I'm quite talented in weilding it. Though my talent," he remarked, "isn't limited to the specific use of the...weapon." Vincent hesitated purposefully before using that wording.

He latched onto her first comment, but kept it vague still, not deliberately challening exactly what you mean - asking a question that allowed to keep it flirtatious rather than straight provocative. "I will let you know it is a challenge, keeping me entertained. Though I can be quite...entertaining. If not with words."

"Shall I ask what you will do for your next act then?" Vincent smirked, as they kept dancing around real intent.

[shh_orla]

She covered her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. Whoever he was, he was quite funny. Regardless of what he could do with his weapon.

"Indeed." SHe set her glass down, lips still curved in a smile. "What would it take to get a demonstration of...skill?"

"Well, it depends on the rewards for being entertainment, I suppose." She raised her glass to him, and took another sip

"Well, for my next act, I could ask you to dance. Would that meet your entertainment quota for the moment?" She asked archly.

[shh_vincent]

"A loss of the mask for starters. I am rather not fond of anonymity carrying into more personal activities," he remarked, adding relatively bluntly, "followed of course by privacy and removal of the dress. This is of course providing the reveal doesn't show something inherently off-putting." He knew his words implied physical attributes, or lack thereof, but it wasn't the neccessity of beauty he meant. With his bloody luck the silver mask would come off, and Marietta would be standing there before him. He hadn't thought of her in months, but he did know he wanted to keep it that way.

At her words, he snorted. He didn't dance, save a disastrous mistake at the Hammerside affair, but that wasn't to music like this anyway. But, after all, he was portraying a bit of a character at this point.

"I suppose you're not implying a more intimate dance," he remarked, "though crying shame that, considering delayed gratification is hardly worth the attempt at it. It doesn't heighten pleasure, only postpones it. And I hardly think you're referring to a dance in which I'm a spectator, though I can assure you I would prefer that as well."

He glanced towards the other room hosting the dancing, "THough, this is Halloween afterall. I might as well attempt an activity that spurs some semblance of fear within me." He tilted his head to the side, contemplating, "Well, perhaps not fear, but I think dread would be more accurate." He let his hand slide out and brush against her waist for a moment, "But the idea of gaining a sense of what lies under that dress gives it at least some appeal."

[shh_orla]

Orla felt her pulse speed up. The combination of blunt speech and innuendo was quite arousing, she thought a bit distractedly. "Well, there's no warts or obvious deformities being hidden, though I wasn't aware this dress hid as much as you seem to be implying. The reveal isn't until midnight. Whatever shall I do to entertain you for another..." She looked for a clock. "Hour?"

"I'll leave the skillful manipulation of innuendo to you, sir. You've more talent in that arena than I do." She tilted her head and arched her back, stretching a moment. Her wings were heavier than they looked, and she hadn't charmed them lighter. "And considering the speed of this conversation, delayed gratification doesn't seem to have any place between..us." She reached out boldly, and ran a hand down his chest, feeling his heart beat through his uniform. "Would your voyeuristic impulses allow for you watching people here?"

She felt a thrill at his touch, despite the fact that she didn't know who he was. It wasn't about a relationship. It was about a night of not being stuck in a self-contained bubble, and letting someone else reach out. Touch, and connetion. "I hope you're not implying I give you a sense of dread. But maybe, " She got up on her toes, and closed the space between them to said directly into his ear. "Between the two of us, we can manage a thrill or two."

[shh_vincent]

"I think I was implying that I was looking to see if you wearing knickers under that ensemble," Vincent was done with coy, he couldn't maintain it for an extended period of time. Innuendo grew simply annoying after a fashion, as did talking in riddles. He might have talent in it, as she suggested, but dancing around a topic incessantly wasn't for him.

"Hardly what I meant by voyeuristic impulses," he remarked, cutting another swathe through things implied rather than stated. "And considering the crowd, we might as well be partaking in the simulated sexual act rather than watching others do the same. Complete strangers gyrating to music hardly sounds like my idea of a good time."

Still, even with the lack of of entertainment from the others, he was loath to dance. It suggested an intimacy that wasn't there between them, that he didn't want there between them, and he couldn't see himself partaking in the slightly less personal dances that would suggest otherwise.

Though, in the name of bluntness which they had been avoiding, he did raise his eyebrows, other attentions slightly raised at her breath light on his ear. "Shall we be specific, or shall we talk in vague generalities for the evening? What are we delaying for the hour then? Or is the talk, the game, all you're really interested in?" For his part, he was leaving his options open, as he was wont to do. Though he could easily see this as an act on her part, nothing more, taking advantage of not being one's self.

[shh_orla]

Well this was an interesting turn. Orla would normally turn tail and run, or at the very least tell him where to put it, but she wasn't Orla tonight. She was Leda. Leda could take a comment like that in stride.

"No, what you're asking is if I planned to come here tonight and leave with someone, anyone, hence the preparedness of no knickers.' She could read between the lines as well as anyone. "I do, in fact, have knickers on. I might have intended to see what possibilities are available to me here, but I am not so desperate as to throw myself at the first man who looks my way. Or am I?"

"If thats what you're looking for, you're in the wrong place. There's clubs that cater to that in London." A touch condescending, but not insulting. "Its hardly fair, for you to be the beneficiary, rather than the co-conspirator, as it were." She looked to the grind of bodies. "I've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a man by how he dances. Do you think that's true?"

"By all means, lets be specific." She was feeling very relaxed from her mead, and only the thought that she wasn't Orla, wasn't inclined to get dizzy on a single glass of ale, was keeping her steady on this course. His slow appraisal and bold touch had awoken an awareness in her, but it was his cool manner and seeming lack of interest that had her attention now.

"Specifically, are you interested in something after the masquerade tonight, or are you just fannying about because of your anonymity? It goes both ways you know. Can't imply that I'm all talk and no action without the same being true for you. I'd not delay the hour, except I have no reassurance that once we unmask, any offers on either part won't be retracted. So doing it in the safety of this place seems logical, if you are intending to spare yourself any potential embarassment."

She stayed close while saying all if this, running a hand over the edging running down the center of his costume. "I can promise you now that should you and I leave together, you're in charge of what happens. Doesn't that appeal to your... large, masculine ego?" Her hand ran down to the edge of his pants at her words. Subtlety was over; she wanted to know if he would or would not follow through. She was tired of being unsure if it was her or the man that made this so difficult for her. If she didn't know from this, she would never truly know.

[shh_vincent]

Vincent let himself take a moment to revel in the amusement that somebody might ever consider him to be 'fannying' about. Though in the same time this was a game to him, to an extent. She could be anyone under that costume. And while he wouldn't deny he was a fine appreciator of superficial beauty, it wasn't the only factor that could either make the evening with it's presence or complicate it with it's lack. There was a fair chance committing to this as more than a game would be detrimental, considering who she could be underneath. Not even a specific female in mind neccessarily, but a type at the very least.

He was no longer the man desperate enough for the kind of women who frequented the kind of 'clubs' she alluded to, but nor was he desperate enough to take the chance on somebody who could be very bad for him - the downfall of the other's anonymity.

Even though he didn't bother to deny that her words did hold appeal, even in the ridiculous way they were fashioned.

"Logic is rearing it's ugly head. Perhaps it's best to save this for another time." He murmured, "Though this flirtation could end amicably for both of us, I think it's hardly worth the chance, wouldn't you? Assignations, brief and casual though they can be, can be unneccessarily complicated even when both parties go in with eyes wide open - metaphorically of course. No matter what the intentions, I think we can agree that adding another complication is hardly desireable."

"Shame though," Vincent's hand slid over the one had been tracing along the seam of his slacks, his finger trailing over hers lightly, "if it's an unneccessary precaution."

He let his eyes meet hers for a moment through their masks, "I can assure you, I dance extremely well."