Character Halloween

[West Wing]

"S'not a very good idea to just disregard a warning like that. Ya never know what might hit ya,"

He appeared in the room, a young, Caucasian man with a very wide grin on his face and a satchel bag on his back. No one had seen him come in, and yet he was there.

"But then again, this is a pretty good piano, even with the 'spooky' message carved on it." He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers when he said the word "spooky", although he didn't seem scared in the least. "Anyone know how to play?"

edited 21st Nov '14 1:28:13 AM by gameknight102xx

[Outside ~ Graveyard] (Oswald, Krajn)

At Krajn's remark, Oswald's brow furrowed, and his mouth fell into a thoughtful frown. He crossed his arms and dropped his head slightly, so that the tip of his chin was almost touching the top of his closest arm.

He remained that way for a while, allowing the silence it's space. Letting it grow, letting it cultivate a slight unease between himself and Krajn. He wasn't upset, or, at the least, he didn't look upset. He just seemed a little distant, alone with his thoughts, puzzling over something that he wasn't ready to share. Yet it appeared to be important enough—or distracting enough—to Oswald for him to give it his full attention.

It wasn't until Krajn asked how he felt about moving along that Oswald spoke again. And even then, after a slow glance around the graveyard, all he had to offer was, "I suppose I wouldn't mind having a gander at something a little more lively. Although, if you're looking for a fun graveyard activity—if such a thing exists—you could always try to find your name on a gravestone." He gave her a quick smile, though it was rather listless, given more out of necessity than a genuine feeling of amusement. His eyes were distracted as well, looking almost as though they belonged to a different face—perhaps even stranger than his.

It didn't take long for Oswald's smile to fade, and, without looking at Krajn, he added, "No, you're right. The dead are sleeping in today, and there's not much else to see here. Let's go."

[[West Wing]]

“Well, no,” Michael replied to Moreena, “At least we’ll know how much we can get away with before the host decides to show up. Assuming he’s watching us from somewhere.” He walked up to the piano and read the “GET OUT” message. “That’s cute.”

He turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice right behind him, and then jumped sideways to get some distance between them. “Sweet Jesus,” he said, under his breath. He watched the man as he nonchalantly continue talking, before he replied, “Hey, I have a question too. HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET IN HERE?”

[West Wing]

Moreena had not been startled. A goddess did not get startled. She was just... surprised. The fact that her sharp fingernails had grown into terrifying talons, or that her teeth were now sharper than ever, or the tiny detail that her clothes and hair were violently swirling all around her as if in a storm... those where just signs of her being cautious, nothing more.

She quickly made herself return to normal, hoping that the others hadn't noticed.

"Yes, that is indeed a good question," she said upon hearing Hei's exclamation.

Welcome, gameknight!

[West Wing]

The three teens jumped and turned around, noticing the newcomer as well. Well, he made quite an entrance. Nearly made everyone in the room jump out of their skin.

Nick held on to his chest and gave a heavy sigh. "Jesus fuck..."

"Can you please never do that again?" Marie asked, "Thank you."

Adam waved at the stranger, though he was a little weary. "H-Hello. I guess we all have the same question; how did you get in here? No one heard you come in or anything."

edited 20th Nov '14 9:51:03 AM by MasterofChaos

[West Wing]

"Through the door," he said, returning Adam's wave cheerfully. After a brief second's pause, he shrugged and relented.

"It's simple actually. Everyone has their brief moments when their concentration wavers. When you're beginning to inhale, for example. If someone moves at just that time and at the right speed, it looks like teleportation. But really, it's science!" He didn't seem the least bit hesitant to share this information, and in fact seemed glad to just talk.

He tapped his chin with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Although for you guys it was just that everyone was paying attention to other things."

He looked over at the goddess. "Hey hey, that's a cool trick. Those nails of yours are probably a real pain in the neck to trim though, eh?"

Thanks!

edited 21st Nov '14 1:28:33 AM by gameknight102xx

[Ballroom]

Nel began to focus on things again, "Sorry! I just trailed off."

Nel coughed, "So on the subject of the current guest list, you can cross Victoria and myself off of the 'hired killers' type, we're more the deity and cosmic class pet type."

Nel chuckled, "But I still don't here anything significant. No music, no wood against wood, no tapping at my chamber door, nothing."

[Graveyard -> Path]

Krajn looked at Oswald. His emotional state seemed to have shifted again, to a sort of listless depression. What is it this time? Did something I say bother him? But what...?

She made a low, trilling noise of frustration. Now they'd both be unhappy - she annoyed, he... whatever - until the explanation came out somehow. Why, why, why couldn't people just ever be straightforward and say what was bothering them? It was so... inefficient. And it wasn't even a cross-species thing; she'd met plenty of qrtxians who had just as much of a problem with trying to repress their feelings.

She knew she should try to be understanding, but sometimes it seemed very unfair that she had to be the one to fit into the way other people did things. She liked the thought of standing out, but not like this. It would be so much easier to just always have everything explained openly.

Rhetorical Trjql Qrl'k, give me strength. She looked again at the slowly-dying sun, opened her mouth to taste the air, and thought. Perhaps something more energetic would cheer Oswald up. "Come on, then!" she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him back out to the path. "Let's not just stand around waiting for it to get colder. I'm certain you have a better idea of what 'lively' things you like than I do!"

edited 20th Nov '14 4:51:23 PM by nrjxll

[Ballroom]

Kommissar got out of the chair. "I apologize, I was a bit rash with that comment. I just assumed-" His eyes swept the group, and scratched the back of his neck. He put his hands in his pockets, and turned away from the group, collecting his thoughts.

The masked man then swiveled around, "I suppose the invitations are random- but with some thought. Perhaps unlikely people —or creatures— were chosen." He began to pace. "Maybe the owner thought we were good prospects."

He addressed Priss's comment. "My hearing isn't as good as it can be. I did hear a piano coming in... I suppose I hear something off." He looked around, surveying the area for any stitch of danger. The place was still, and very oddly silent. "I don't like it."

[Ballroom]

Harry gave Nel a look. "Um, which of you is which?"

Something about what she'd said struck him as familiar, and he took a moment to try and place it. Tapping, tapping - oh yeah. Poe's "The Raven", right?

Dismissing the question as silly, he thought some more, pacing unconsciously. Okay, so we can either accept this as a party or try to figure out what's going on. I kind of just want to accept it and go with the flow - but that'd be crazy. Though now that I think about it, how many horror sims are there where people just dismiss everything as part of the fun? Usually people do go and investigate - doesn't work out so gnarly for them.

"I don't hear anything," he said out loud, "though my hearing's not so great. But I think we need to decide now: do we just accept that this is a Halloween party and that things are gonna be a little spooky sometimes, or do we try and find out the whole story?"

edited 20th Nov '14 5:28:55 PM by nrjxll

[Ballroom]

Priss shot Nel a glance. "You just had to invoke the godfather of written horror, then?" She shook her head. "Thought I heard somebody smashing things. I'm all for staying put, good sightlines, nice safe big room. Halloween party, right?"

She glanced around again. This was a ballroom. You needed music for a ball. There had to be something around here that could make music...

edited 20th Nov '14 11:43:24 PM by Night

[West Wing]

"Not really," Moreena answered in a slightly colder voice than normal, still a bit upset that someone had managed to sneak up on her. And through entirely mundane methods too! At least if this man was telling the truth. Despite her anger, she couldn't help but feel a bit impressed as well.

Craw! Nevermore!

[[West Wing]]

“Oh, is that all?” Michael said, his voice overflowing with sarcasm, “You just move around like a Weeping Angel. That’s comforting to know.”

He’d managed to catch a glimpse of Moreena right before she returned to normal. And now to add “sinister transformation” to the list. Wonder if I’ll hit ten before the night’s done.

edited 21st Nov '14 8:54:45 AM by Elfhunter

"Huh, guess you're the envy of women everywhere then," he said blithely. "Bein able to do all that stuff ya just did."

He looked at Michael with a bemused expression on his face.

"What? I mean, I know I'm good-lookin' an' all, but I ain't no angel. And the only time I've wept is when Bambi's mom die-I mean I've never cried at all. I'm a real man's man, ya know?" he said, puffing his rather scrawny chest out.

edited 21st Nov '14 8:52:00 AM by gameknight102xx

[[West Wing]]

Michael paused for a moment after the man had finished, frustrated at his inability to get his point across. Of course, his mask ensured that the fact wasn’t apparent to the rest of the group. “A Weeping Angel,” he said, finally, “is a kind of alien from a tv show. They are capable of appearing anywhere as long as no one is watching them.”

“You know what, never mind,” he added, “Do you have a name we can call you by or would you prefer we play the pronoun game for the rest of tonight?”

"Reconnaissance is the full name. But that's a whole mouthful to say so just call me Recon. Or Conner, because it's spelled "Coner" and it's one of those anagram things." he said. "A pleasure to meet ya."

His grin broke for a split second, turning into a thoughtful frown before returning. "Now that ya mention it, never really caught any of your names. Mind sharin' 'em with me?"

I'm alive!

[[West Wing]]

Warren studied the stranger carefully, but not with suspicion, merely with curiosity. Dakota didn't like his entrance, but she didn't see him as a danger either- and she gave him a gleeful smirk.

"Dakota Spicer. Cool name, by the way. You come up with it yourself, or were your parents just very creative?" She asked teasingly, while Warren just kept his cool stare and held out his hand.

"Name's Warren Riley. I must say, your stealth impressed me. You might need to teach someone some things," He gave his friend a side glance, while she just grinned back at him. Warren cracked a smile and shook his head fondly.

edited 21st Nov '14 4:07:39 PM by Sibuna

"Nah, employers gave it to me. Although now that you mention it my Dad's French, and I think Reconnaissance is a French word. Or maybe that was Renaissance?"

He turned to Warren and took his hand, shaking it firmly.

"Pleased to meet ya Warren. As fer teachin' ya, ya might wanna rethink that. I'll give you a hint why: step one of my trainin' may or may not turn you into a nightmarish demonic hellspawn that projectile vomits corrosive blood." He said that last part like it was just an occupational hazard.

[dining room]

Indifferent to all else, Henri nodded gratefully and put the cigarette into his mouth. He only had to take a breath as the end lit itself, but took his time letting it out as the world began to drip away. The creepy shit, waking up, even Jackson himself, it was all almost manageable. By God, was he even actually feeling... energized? Ooh.

But then the kid said something. He didn't even fully pick up the first part, but the damn 'since he got to the castle'. Sigh, time for something generic.

"It feels less like it was merely decorated for Halloween and more like it exists solely for Halloween. Which, if you're into that..." A vague, noncommittal shrug.

[Outside ~ Graveyard —> Path] (Oswald, Krajn)

Oswald was just about ready to go back to his silent brooding and wait for Krajn to take the lead. He let out a somewhat dull cry of surprise when she instead took him by the hand and began to forcibly lead him herself.

"Well well well! All right then, if you insist." he said, his voice a mixture of surprise and a little bit of indignance as he tried to gently free his hand from Krajn's grasp. "I didn't realize that we were in such a pressing hurry to relocate ourselves; as I just said, the dead don't seem particularly eager to jump out of their graves, Halloween or not."

He did seem to have been pulled out of his thoughtful, self-restricting slump, at least for the time being. "I hope you don't mean to ask me for ideas." he said, once they had stepped beyond the threshold of the graveyard and back onto the path. "Not that I would refuse you any, it's simply that... well, the case is- it's... when you say 'lively things that I like to do', there just aren't a lot of ideas there that involve any greater number of people than just myself- because of, well- mostly for lack of experience." he held a hand up and quickly tried to clarify, "It's just that I'm moving from place to place constantly and I rarely, if ever, have the time or opportunity to become close with people. So it ends up being rather uncommon that I would have the," he shut his eyes for a moment, waving a hand around his head as he scrambled his brains for the right thought, "the... experiences that lead to discovery of... what it is, what things there are that I like to do with another person. Another anyone. So you see, it's just um, a matter of circumstance that leaves me here without ideas."

He paused for a moment, as though reviewing what he had just said, before shutting his eyes again and releasing an irritated sound, half sigh and half groan. "That was a little more than I needed, wasn't it?"

[Path (Oswald, Krajn)]

Krajn let go of Oswald's hand and hissed. "I don't know what it is you needed," she said teasingly, "but it was slightly more than I wanted. Not that it was a problem."

In fact, it had been quite helpful. She sank down on the grass at the edge of the path, legs folded in a position that would have probably been uncomfortable for a human but that a qrtxian's differing joints made perfectly tolerable. The grass smelled crisp and cobalt against her tongue when she opened her mouth.

Having made herself comfortable, she looked back up at Oswald. "Actually, that explains a lot about your behavior... and it's rather familiar to me as well."

Do I actually want to talk about this? Apparently so. I should think about why later.

"As you've probably noticed, I'm not all that good with doing things with other people either. And neither was, er, someone I did manage to become quite close to. So I'm more than a little familiar with not knowing quite what to do next around someone else." She paused. "That was why I dragged you here like that - I apologize if it was surprising, but one thing I am used to doing is more energetic things, and I thought it might be a helpful idea."

She shivered. "Though I was serious about the cold as well. My species aren't as tolerant of it as humans are."

[West Wing]

Demonic hellspawn? Corrosive blood? Things were certainly getting interesting.

"I am Moreena," said Moreena. She paused for a moment, unsure of how to continue. Eventually she decided that being direct was the best cause of action.

"Are you a demonic hellspawn with corrosive blood?" she asked, her voice sounding more curious than suspicious, perhaps even a little hopeful.

[Outside ~ Path] (Oswald, Krajn)

Oswald opened his mouth slightly, as though to apologize for blabbering on yet another unnecessary tangent, but all he came up with was a cheap shrug and a shake of his head.

He remained standing, positioning himself near to Krajn as she sat on the grass. When she began to talk about his behavior, and of herself, his eyes suddenly took attention of a great number of things that just so happened to be situated in directions that were distinctly unoccupied by Krajn. He did glance back at her a few times, if only to indicate that he was listening—listening carefully, at that—but he didn't seem terribly keen on offering any more of his own thoughts on the subject. In fact, as soon as the opportunity—in the form of Krajn's remark about the cold—presented itself, he took the chance to change the subject, if only briefly.

"Here." he said, beginning to unlace the leather strap that held his cloak together around his neck. "If you're getting too cold. It's not much, but it's another layer. It does a pretty tidy job of keeping the heat in." Oswald swept the cloak off of his shoulders and held it out to Krajn, waiting for her express permission to do his good little deed. The cloak only reached down to midway between Oswald's waist and his knees, but it would cover a decent bit more of Krajn's smaller figure.

"Nah, I was one of the lucky ones." He didn't seem too eager to expand upon this, unlike everything else he had rambled on-length about.

"Speakin' of which, what about you? I'm pretty sure...whatever the heck you did ain't normal, although for all I know the ability to make your clothes disappear in a whirlwind could be just a new trend these days. I dunno, never really kept up with the stuff."

[West Wing]

"Oh, me?" Moreena said, carefully examining the non-hellspawn with her black eyes. She wasn't quite sure what to think of him yet. "I'm just the Goddess of Death."

edited 22nd Nov '14 7:18:17 AM by Corvidae