Monster Mash [Active/OPEN, NO NEED TO ASK]

[dollsy_npcs]

Characters: Luxa, Ushiromiya Ange, Xerxes Break, Ciel Phantomhive, Portgas D. Ace, Mello, Subject Delta, Various Dollsy Monsters, OPEN TO ANYONE
Setting: Grand Ballroom
Time: The very beginning of Night 20
Summary: Happy birthday, Dollsy! It's party time, and all the monsters and ghosts have come out to play. Care to join them for a bit of wine and

Comments

[is_not_number1]

Mello wasn't sure what the hell to do at first when he found the ballroom and saw that there was a damn party going on. He'd definitely never seen anything like that in this place before, and considering the fact that the party did seem to be being held at this place, he couldn't make up his mind about whether to stay for a while or to get the hell away from the ballroom. It took him a few minutes to decide that he'd do the former; while there was no way he trusted any party the house threw, this was the first time he'd ever seen something that wasn't terrible going on in the house, so why not try to enjoy himself at least once while he was here? The party seemed to be fairly safe, from what he could see... and who knew? If this did end up being a terrible idea, maybe it'd be worth it anyway. Even the damn monsters seemed like they were having a good time... what was the occasion? It was worth investigating.

He carefully-- and still somewhat unsurely-- made his way into the room, and after a minute, grabbed a glass of wine and an armful of some sort of chocolate candies that looked fucking delicious from one of the goat butlers. He sat down at a table and began to eat-- and he soon discovered that those candies were, in fact, much better than they looked like they would be, which was really saying something-- as he silently observed the party for a while, though he found that he couldn't really tell what the hell was going on like this.

[of_underland]

It wasn't as painful as the sunlight had been, and it certainly didn't blind her as the sunlight had, but the lights of the Underland had been much dimmer. Luxa hadn't been here long - not by the house's time, at least - but even she knew what a trap was. Light in a house full of darkness - it was a trap, if a subtle one.

The music and the glow that Luxa could see from the hallway - it had to be a trap. She would not expect anything less from this nightmare house; it would be almost sacreligious for it not to be a ruse. Certainly the house wouldn't be kind to its inhabitants. She thought, if it were, it would be like a favored pet suddenly going rabid and attacking its owner. Completely against its nature.

But Luxa's curiosity was, for once, getting the better of her instincts. She could defend herself, she reasoned - after all, she'd retrieved her sword from the dark room when the house's sun had risen again, and unlike last night, she would not have to run and hide. If there were other residents here, then she would not be alone; at least, if the other residents were not completely foolish and refused her help were anything to happen.

There was only the easily-solved matter of the light.

Even through the thin, dark fold of cloth the room dazzled her eyes, and she paused in the doorway, blinking. The golden insects, like miniature shiners, attracted her attention the most out of the creatures here; and she watched them, squinting to see them properly through the blindfold. They weren't shiners at all - these other insects didn't glow with their own light, and they were far less annoying.

The Underlander reached up to push (only slightly nervously, she insisted) at the golden circlet, accepting only a small cake from one of the goat-headed butlers. Oddly enough, they were the least incongruous thing in the room to her - the animal heads were unfamiliar to her, but they were certainly as tall as the gnawers.

They were familiar, but they unsettled her. At least they didn't appear to have any tails to speak of.

She took a step into the room, and that was her first mistake. The oddly cheerful party seemed like a monster in itself - it sucked Luxa in, sending her moving around the room in an effort to find somewhere to take shelter from the endless gaiety. Finally it deposited her at a table that, through the veil of the cloth, seemed more like a flat shadowy plain, and Luxa collapsed into one of the chairs, still clutching the uneaten cake in her hand.

It was very, very strange.

[is_not_number1]

It didn't take Mello very long to notice the girl that had just entered the ballroom, though that could likely have been attributed to the fact that she had chosen to sit down only a few seats away from him. And he certainly recognized her, as well; she was that blind newcomer girl who lived underground that he'd helped get to the Dark Bedroom. What was her name again... Luxa, wasn't it?

He hadn't exactly been fond of Luxa, but he saw absolutely no reason to ignore her. After all, she had decided that she was indebted to him; if she was a potential ally, then he might as well go talk to her or something.

He saw that the girl was wearing what appeared to be a blindfold of some sorts. This was a little bit odd-- it certainly looked quite ridiculous-- but Mello supposed she had a reason to wear it, considering the fact that she'd been completely blinded by the light when she'd first arrived at the house. She was probably using it to block out the light or something... which meant that she was likely able to see again. She wasn't acting like she was having trouble navigating blindly anymore, so she had to have been able to see through the cloth.

Even if Luxa wasn't blind now, though, Mello realized that she still wouldn't recognize him; after all, she hadn't been able to see him the first time they'd met. That meant... she didn't know what he looked like. Unless he introduced himself again, she wouldn't know who he was unless she recognized his voice.

Why not, he decided, have some fun with this while he had the chance?

Without a word, Mello collected his plate and glass, briskly strode over towards where she Luxa was sitting, turned the chair next to her so that it was facing her, and sat down. He leaned forward a bit, narrowing his right eye, and began to intently stare at her.

[of_underland]

One disadvantage of the noise-filled room, besides the simple annoyance of being surrounded by sound, was that Luxa was not as aware of sound as usual. Which was why she jumped when the chair besides her was suddenly occupied.

Luxa glared right back at the Overlander - was everyone here an Overlander? The novelty was wearing off more rapidly with every one she met - and turned back towards the table, absently beginning to pick apart the cake in her hands. The blindfold, while helpful, severely impeded her peripheral vision, and she found it impossible to look at the Overlander unless she was turned in his direction.

... Well, good. She'd rather not get into an inane staring contest anyway.

Luxa's attention wandered back to her surroundings; the monsters surrounding them in particular. Though they seemed, for the moment, to be unaware of the more reluctant guests in the room, she was certain that this was an exception to the rule. And again, it struck an odd chord. The house was going against its own nature for this occasion.

Luxa very much wanted to know why.

She felt the prickling feeling of being watched, and turned to see who exactly was staring at her so avidly; it was the Overlander who'd sat down besides her. Had he moved at all? He seemed like a perfectly normal (as if anything here was normal) prisoner of the house, but Luxa wasn't quite familiar yet with what was normal here. Were monsters that seemed like people - identical to them - normal?

"What, exactly, is so fascinating to you?" Luxa asked, as flatly as possible, as her hands finished picking the cake to crumbs. "Have you not seen an Underlander before?"

[is_not_number1]

Well, Luxa certainly didn't seem to be enjoying the attention, as until she noticed he hadn't moved or taken his eyes off of her since he sat down-- which she seemed to be less than pleased about-- she appeared to have been trying to simply ignore his presence. And she definitely did not know who he was. Mello gave a slight smirk, shaking his head; he then took a bite of one of the candies on his plate, remaining silent until a few seconds after he had finished chewing and swallowed it.

"Nothing at all," he commented lightly, raising his eyebrow. "I wouldn't really describe you as being fascinating, now... You really shouldn't flatter yourself like that, you know."

Narrowing his eyes, he gave Luxa a small grin and took a sip of his wine. It was true that his interaction with her didn't really have much of a point; as of now, at least, he really just wanted to see if she would be able to figure out on her own who he was.