Costume Gala

[broken_brushes]

I have to admit, I had wondered whether I was tempting fate by hosting a party on Halloween. Sure, the last Halloween had been mostly harmless and Tony and Pepper's party had gone off without a hitch. But I'd been on the island far too long to trust in its benevolence

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[lucked]

Although he was old enough to be Claire's biological father, Johnny Depp had always held a great amount of charm in the girl's eyes, something about his easy smile and blasé behavior appealing even to a young girl of only sixteen. Not a year ago, Claire had been one of the first to line up for the midnight opening of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in spite of the fact that Tim Burton was directing, and in spite of the fact that she definitely had school to attend the next day, simply because Johnny Depp on the big screen in any capacity was not something that Claire wanted to miss.

So, when the Clothes Box actually decided to gift Claire with a modified outfit of Willy Wonka's, whether or not Claire would take advantage wasn't even really a question at all. Sure, Wonka was kind of creeptastic in the new film, and Claire's hair definitely didn't fit the description (the box had not been kind enough to gift her with a wig), but Claire was pretty sure that it was a better choice than all of the sexy nurses and pirate wench costumes that were offered in its stead.

As she hung around the center of the party and enjoyed being around an unsteady crowd of people, Claire couldn't help thinking, as she danced, that she really hoped the DJ had enough sense to put on "Monster Mash." It was a total classic.

[turnedoutfine]

"Hey, Claire!" Alexis chirped with a smile when she spotted her not far away. The last thing she wanted to be was the annoyingly clingy girlfriend, so she'd let Cooper go and socialize, assuring him she was okay, though every couple minutes she would glance around to see if she could spot him.

"Okay, let me guess." She narrowed her eyes a little, assessing Claire's costume. "Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp style?"

[lucked]

"Hey!" Claire waved eagerly as she walked up to meet Alexis halfway, brushing down her skirt and wishing for a minute that she'd chosen something a little lighter. Not that she wanted to bare a lot of skin, but Halloween back home had always meant slightly colder climes, enough to get away with wearing a jacket. On the island, however, it was almost always balmy, even in the air-conditioned room.

"And you'd be right," she added anyway, twirling around to show off the costume that actually fit her rather well. "Unfortunately, I couldn't manage the hair, but I thought it was cute. Not half as cute as you, though. Do you have a Fred somewhere?" Claire's lips curved almost conspiratorially. The island certainly didn't have a shortage of gossip.

[turnedoutfine]

"Oh, you look great. And thanks," Alexis replied, laughing. It would have been pretty cool if she'd been able to talk Cooper into dressing as Fred, but no dice. "No, no Fred, just a costumeless boyfriend. I told him he was a party pooper, but there was no convincing him."

[lucked]

"Okay, I'd be able to understand no Fred costume from the boyfriend, because if you ask me, I always thought that Fred seemed a little metro, between the scarf and never seeming to notice how cute Daphne was," Claire began with a grin and a raised brow. "But no costume at all is just unacceptable. It's a costume gala! The whole point is to be ridiculous."

It felt good to be able to gossip about such light topics again, Claire noted mentally, even if she wasn't ready herself to have a boyfriend or the start dating. Fortunately, the opportunity hadn't even really come across; none of the guys that she'd met on the island were dating material, either because they were very much taken, or because other things got in the way. Those pesky things called feelings, maybe. They didn't always comply with the plan.

She bit her lip with a grin. "Does he at least make up for it by being sweet and cute?"

[turnedoutfine]

Alexis' smile was immediately brighter and fonder, and she automatically looked over to where Cooper was standing nearby talking to people. She supposed they probably seemed like an unlikely couple, but it seemed to be working pretty well so far. "Yeah, he does," she said, then looked back over at Claire. It was nice, after what she'd had to deal with earlier, to be able to just have some girl talk like a normal teenager. "Luckily for him."

[lucked]

"Well," Claire concluded, enjoying the soft look of Alexis' smile and knowing that it meant, for the moment, that the boyfriend was probably doing his job well, "keep a close eye on him. Not that I think he's going to do anything fishy, but he looks like a good guy. And good guys, you should hang onto. I'm pretty sure I met every guy in my high school because I like... well I was on the cheerleading squad and we kind of had to know who was who, but the cute and sweet ones are really, really rare."

[provincialbelle]

There were some people around with costumes on that she had no idea of recognizing, but seeing as she had only managed to find something that was apparently Cinderella, she couldn't really speak as to creativity. Still, her curiosity was getting the better of her and so every time she saw something she was curious about, she wandered that way.

"I hope you don't think I'm being rude, but what's your costume!" she called out above the music.

[lucked]

Anne Hathaway was speaking to her. That fact alone had Claire's pulse racing immediately before she reminded herself that the island was a bit like Wonderland, where the impossible became reality. More likely than not, this wasn't Anne, but instead a role that she had played, or a role that she would have been suited for, coming to life and standing right in front of her, real and tangible. So she tried to calm her nerves and treat the encounter like any other, even if the blush on her cheeks gave her slightly away.

"No, no you're not being rude at all!" she assured the young woman, walking on over so that they wouldn't have to raise their voices over the music. "It's, um. It's a modified version of Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka? From Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I don't know if you've ever read it. If you haven't, you should."

[provincialbelle]

"I have!" Belle agreed brightly. "I think I preferred the sequel a little more, though. I know it wasn't very realistic, what with the glass elevator in space and all, but it had a certain kind of whimsy to it," she said, clasping her hands behind her as she surveyed the costume. "You did a wonderful job putting it together, I love it," she praised with a warm laugh.

[lucked]

"I think that was the whole point of Roald Dahl's works, and probably why I loved him so much," Claire laughed, brushing at her cheek and thinking of the large collection of children's books she had back at home, books she couldn't get easily on the island. But the Clothes Box had learned to be nicer to her, she reminded herself, and it wasn't inconceivable to think that the bookshelf might choose to do the same in time. "I didn't really put so much of it together, though, just... found a skirt instead of slacks so that it'd be easy to move around in for the party. Your dress, though, is gorgeous. You make such a pretty Cinderella, I'm sure everyone here's jealous."

Biting her lower lip, Claire added hurriedly at the end, "I'm Claire, by the way."

[provincialbelle]

"I'm Belle," she introduced herself with an easy smile, curtsying with a graceful crouch in the dress, trying to maneuver it the way that she would were she dancing. "It's good to meet you! And I'm not sure, entirely, that my dress is as creative as other peoples, but I love the book. Even the one that ends in a rather gory manner."

[lucked]

Between the smooth curtsy and the name, Claire couldn't help but smile broadly at Belle, thinking that her behavior was almost like that from another age, one nicer and more refined than that which they lived in. Laughing lightly, Claire shook her head. "I never read the original, I'm afraid. It was one of those things my dad told me that I should avoid, when I was a kid, and before I knew it, I half-grew up and didn't really think about it again," she explained, rubbing the back of her neck. "But, wow. Were you named after Belle from the Disney movie? Beauty and the Beast?"

[provincialbelle]

Belle's face had gone slightly blank, considering that she hadn't much of a clue what that meant. "Not really," she said, a sheepish look on her face and she wrung out her hands, trying not to appear too selfish or prideful. "My Papa always said it was because I was such a beautiful baby, he named me Belle because he thought I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever...well, it's not important," she dismissed, flushing hard.

[lucked]

Blinking as Claire wondered where exactly she'd gone wrong- it was, after all, perfectly conceivable that Belle had come from a time prior to Disney's decade of animated classics- she then blanched lightly as the pieces slowly slid together. A father who named his daughter, convinced as he was that she was the most beautiful person he'd ever set his eyes on? A brunette with grace, with a love of stories, and even a hint of a French accent? Maybe it wasn't being named after Belle so much as standing in front of the one and only, and Claire quickly hoped that she hadn't said so much that yet another person would try and find about their life from the bookshelf.

"I think it's important," she settled on instead. Fathers weren't a difficult topic to focus on. "I bet he was a really caring dad. My dad's said the same thing about me sometimes, and I wouldn't be who I am today without him in my life. I miss him a lot, here."

[provincialbelle]

"Papa was..." Belle trailed off, a bubbled laugh coming off her lips as she shook her head, still so fond of thinking about him, even if he wasn't here with her. "He could be forgetful, but he was my Papa! I loved him more than anything, anything," she insisted.