Winter Wednesday Wonderball

[vitaelamorte]

Who: E V E R Y O N E
Where: The Ballroom, Real Side
When: December 20th
Rating: PG
Summary: The invitation sent for you. Now the festivities begin! Come and join, Mirrors and Reals, and have a wonderful winter time!
The Story:

At last the invitations spell TODAY, and come 7 o'clock sharp the ballroom doors open to a beautiful winter landscape in icy blues and whites. Snow and ice of both the artificial and real variety decorate the ballroom, and white fog floods the dancefloor like an icy winter mist, making the atmosphere complete. Nevertheless the temperature is still pleasantly cool, allowing all to enjoy themselves without hiding their gowns under thick cloaks.

Decorations both standing and hanging are cool, elegant and... made with heart, though various symbols of the cool season, such as snowflakes and luscious winter conifers, have their place in the mix just the same. Chairs and tables of ice line the ballroom for anyone who wishes to rest their tired feet or enjoy the rich buffet of food and drink. It goes without saying that everyone's favourite cookies are still available, looking as delicious as ever. Still, there are alternatives, should anyone prefer to abstain for some odd reason.

For your entertainment piano music of various kinds fills the room at all times. The ball will continue well into the night, with food and drink replenishing as needed, and music playing as long as people will dance to it. Come dawn of the next day the ballroom will go quiet, all delicious goods will disappear, and furniture and decorations both will begin to melt, signalling even the most dedicated party guests that it's time to leave.

So go forth, dance, eat and drink, and be merry, and... perhaps spare just one moment to think of the ones less fortunate than yourself.

Comments

[burntvideocassette]

[Now there's something that rings a little truer. He can't just assume it's right because it feels right, but he'll remember it. (And if he doesn't, the tape will.) He'll just have to put it in the 'cryptic bullshit Tim's Mirror says' pile with the rest of the cryptic bullshit Tim's Mirror says in the hopes that he'll be able to sort through it later.]

[And Jay's not telegraphing it because he wants pity or anything like that. You just can't get answers if you don't ask questions. And yeah, sure, asking questions about stuff the other guy thinks is obvious makes you look like an idiot. And he's fine with that. Really.]

What's the point? I mean, is there anything useful you get out of pretending to know what's going on?

[pseudological]

Well, you don't get people treating you like an idiot, for one.

[The smarmy mother of fuck actually winks at him, for that one. Golly, but Jay's used to being treated like an idiot, isn't he?]

But maybe you're just too used to that to bother stopping.

[burntvideocassette]

What do you want?

[He's getting riled up. Sure. He's letting this asshole rile him up, but he's sick of this.]

I mean, at least I'm getting something done. Even Tim's asking questions for once, but what the hell are you doing?

[pseudological]

Hey, you came at me, pal. You're the one poking and prodding.

[He doesn't live in a world where that shit comes easy, after all - where he asks for answers and they are simply deliveredto him, open-handed and bereft of strings attached. That's never been how the world works.]

You really expected me to take that lying down?

[burntvideocassette]

What?

[No, this makes too much sense. It makes too much sense, and it doesn't line up with what Jay remembers.]

You're the one-- [He lifts up his wrist, showing the bracelet.] You started asking questions first, not me.

cw: gaslighting

[pseudological]

You sure about that?

[Come on, Jay. Your memory's not fantastic here. They both know your track record.]

You started it. Remember?

tiMOTHY WRONG

[burntvideocassette]

No...no. You asked me about this thing, remember? [He points to the band around his wrist.]

[He's right. He thinks knows he's right. And better, he can check to make sure he's right, because he's got the camera, and he's not going to fry the card like he did last time, so the footage should be fine.]

[pseudological]

Oh, wow. Y'sure? What is that?

[Like an awful gremlin, the Mirror leans forward to inspect it, like he's never seen the thing before in his life. Because it's funny. Because he's TERRIBLE. Stop him.]

[burntvideocassette]

It's, uh.

[He pulls it away a little bit, far enough that the mirror can't mess with it, but not far enough to take it out of his field of vision.]

[People should know, right?]

Not sure.

[But they don't have to know everything.]

[pseudological]

So you put on a fancy bracelet when you had no idea what it did? Kind of on par with walking into a strange building with nothing but a knife a flashlight.

[...]
[The Mirror laughs.]

Oh, but, uh - you're used to that by now, huh?

[burntvideocassette]

You sound like my followers. [He mutters it, not sure whether or not he wants the Mirror to hear it.]

It was the only way I could think of to see what it does. And the answer is: not a whole lot, apparently.

[It had one job...]

[pseudological]

Your followers.

[He sounds wistful as he says it. Ah, the days when Jay spoke to them regularly. Before he got such winsome company as Alex Kralie or, even better, Tim Wright.]

So what was it supposed to do, hotshot? Or is that a forbidden question?

[burntvideocassette]

[Oh, so he's asking the questions now?]

You're asking me like I'd know.

[He already thinks Jay's an idiot. No harm in using that.]

[pseudological]

Well, it's not making you dance the macarena. Unless it's taking away your memories, the longer you have it on. Wonderland likes that kind of thing.

But then, how would you know how much memory you've lost, if you've lost it?

[burntvideocassette]

[It's supposed to protect him.]

[That wouldn't be protecting him.]

[Or would it?]

[No no no no no he's not thinking about that. He's not. The Mirror's just messing with him.]

I've got the tapes.

[Not if it takes the oldest memories first.]

[pseudological]

Yeah, 'cause that always works out for Jay Merrick. Just stick to the tapes. You'll be fine. That won't end badly for anybody, huh?

[He sounds a little too, uh...giddy to be sincere here.]

Face it, sport. This is just how it is. Stuff like this, it's written into us. Into our atoms. Into our blood. Into everything we are. We were made to be this, Merrick. [He jabs two fingers at the center of his chest.] He is a liar.

And you?



You are a failure.

[burntvideocassette]

[Face it, sport. This is just how it is. Stuff like this, it's written into us. Into our atoms. Into our blood. Into everything we are. We were made to be this, Merrick. He is a liar.

[And you?]

[You are a failure.]

[What the actual fuck.]

[There was just...it was just white noise. It was nothing. Jay knows, he knows the Mirror was talking, but whatever he said was just gone. It didn't register. It was like Jay's whole ability to comprehend language was jammed for a second.]

[(Or that the words were erased from his memory the moment he heard them.)]

Hey, could you...repeat that?

[It's almost funny, talking to Tim's Mirror like he just spaced out for a second, and not like something deeply fucked just happened.]

[pseudological]

[...weird. Okay. Usually he gets more of a reaction than that. The Mirror folds his arms, and for the first time, his cocksure persona achieves a few chinks.]

What? A little louder for the camera? [Why else would he ask him to repeat that?]

[burntvideocassette]

[Now, that's something. He actually looks confused. He actually looks like whatever just happened wasn't on purpose.]

[Maybe Jay's just having a stroke.]

No, I just... [He gestures at his own ear.] ...missed what you said.

[pseudological]

Spacing out on me, Jay? That's new. I mean, not for you, but you generally have a lot of interest in everything I have to say. I'm a very interesting person, you know.

[He pauses, uncertain as to how best to execute this. Jay just spoiled his pacing. He had this excellent monologue and everything, and to have to repeat the punchline robs of it of its signature punch.]

[No fun. No fun at all.]

Didn't miss much. Just a whole bit about you being a failure, which I'm pretty sure you already knew.

[burntvideocassette]

["You generally have a lot of interest in everything I have to say." God, he's cocky. He's not exactly lying in this case, but still. Small mercy that the Real Tim doesn't have that kind of ego.]

[Even if he did have the guts to insult Alex's directing skills to his face.]

Yeah, that's not exactly news.

[It's easier to just go for the self-deprecation in this case, when the Mirror's words don't carry any real vitriol. Jay can almost pretend they're both joking.]

[pseudological]

So why're you so fussed about missing it, champ?

[That's suspicious. This is suspicious. Some kind of subtle shift happened here with that last blip in the conversation, and he doesn't like it. Generally, he's confident with subtle shifts happening in the background - but only when he knows what's machinating them.]

[In this case, he can't be certain that it's his dark god, that did the machinating here.]

[burntvideocassette]

I'm not fussed, it's just--

[Whatever happened, it really doesn't seem to have come from Mirror Tim. Either that, or he's a great actor, but this doesn't seem to be his style.]

[Something happened. Something definitely happened.]

[Now whether the glitch was external or internal? That he still has to figure out. Even though he doesn't want to. He really doesn't want to consider the possibility that this was all in his head, even though he knows it might be possible, because all the other shit he didn't think could happen to him also happened, so.]

[He's fine.]

I missed what you said, that's all.

[pseudological]

Fine. I said you're a big failure.

[Great. Now he's annoyed. This conversation has officially taken an unprecedented downward turn from the "fun" to the decidedly "not fun, not fun at all". Great. Good. This was supposed to be a nice holiday vacation, and instead, this.]

Happy?

[burntvideocassette]

[[OOC: Alright, I'm already being inconsistent as hell with the rules here, but I couldn't help but take this opportunity.]]

[I said you're a big failure.]

[Jay just stares for a moment. Finally, he manages:]

Not...sure.