[ ACTION ] OTA: You'll Never Know How Many Dreams I Dreamed About You

[nascensibility]

Who: Everyone is welcome, children and adults alike.
Where: First floor, ballroom.
When: Friday the 13th, from 9:00 in the evening on.
Rating: E (for Everyone)
Summary: Semi-formal themed fête.






[Guided by brassy music down an expansive hall residents will enter the first floor ballroom: it has undergone many transformations in its time, and suffered the myriad slings and arrows of Wonderland's event-related torment, but tonight its purpose has shaped it into something glittering and streamlined, the décor as advertised not long before. While socialising does appear to be the primary function, the arrangement of amenities would suggest differently.

The gilded walls border on overly opulent and a dancefloor - ringed with refreshment tables, an open bar, and scattered seating - is pointedly centred, and the brass band for which a Vendor Ticket was exchanged explodes with forceful tunes from a handful of different eras, some of which might be recognisable to those of the twenty-first century.

The only uncertainty is how one might spend the evening.]

Comments

[circlejerked]

"In that case, I wish your feet the best of luck," is his reply. Some of the shoes Anders has seen women wearing in Wonderland look more like torture devices than footwear. How they do it, he'll never know. One stray pebble in his boot and he's down for the count, forget trying to look poised on a heel three inches high.

He looks to the band currently working their way through a fast-paced number with jazzy high notes. "I'm beginning to see a trend. A lot of this music is on the upbeat side." Not that he's complaining. No good party is without its noise and festivity, and they've had enough of being in quiet mourning, carrying the weight of the last few events around with them like an invisible ball and chain.

[uncaging]

"I'm not used to hearing music arranged quite like this, though some of the songs themselves are familiar." She rocks back on her heels, tapping her toe to the beat. "And of course hearing music played live is completely new."

[circlejerked]

"That's more than I can say. I assume you must be from the same world or a variation thereof?"

Earth seems like a popular place to snatch people from. Or perhaps it's just a popular name for worlds, sort of like "Anders" for any fair-haired person from the Anderfels that happens to walk on by.

"When you escaped from the place you were kept, did you not get a chance to enjoy the free life?" he asks, taking a sip of his drink. Anders had been lucky in that the first time he'd escaped, he wasn't diving into a whole new world, merely returning to an old world that he'd lost.

In retrospect, it's hard to tell if that's better or worse. A person can't miss what they haven't experienced.

[uncaging]

"I'm from Earth, yes, but Columbia doesn't seem to exist in any other version of it." For which Elizabeth was very glad. "I'm from an earlier time point than most here, too - I suppose the style of music I'm used to must seem very old fashioned."

She shakes her head, her face suddenly overcast. "I was only out of the tower for one day. And it wasn't much in the way of freedom, though I was trying to get away from there to Paris."

[circlejerked]

His time has been spent trying to learn as much as he can about Wonderland, which is a trial in and of itself, and as such Anders has only a vague understanding of Earth. He wouldn't know the first thing about which cities or land masses normally populate it--and to this day he has to suppress a chuckle at how strange it is to think about another world's geography.

"To others from Earth, maybe." In his opinion, every style of Earth music is new and different.

Noticing her shift in mood, Anders puts on a smile. "Two steps forward, one step back?" he suggests playfully. "Wonderland is a headache and half, but it's not as heavy on the restrictions as your average prison. We can stretch our legs outside whenever we feel like it and no one's stopping us from going to dances like this one, for example." He salutes the room at large with his drink. "It's all up from here. The little tastes of freedom we get along the way all add up on our way to where we're going."

And for her, perhaps that's Paris. For him... well, that's undecided as yet. But somewhere, some day.

[uncaging]

"That's true," Elizabeth concedes, gazing around the room at the others dancing and drinking and enjoying the evening, then smiling sadly and pensively. "Just as long as we don't forget that no matter how gilded it is, it is still a prison. Having that little taste of freedom is almost cruel in a way, to make us feel happy with our lot."

[circlejerked]

"That's the trick of it. The smartest ones give you just enough rope to hang yourself with. Or tie your hands behind your back with," he replies, thinking of all the methods, big and small, that the Circle had employed to make it seem as though it were more desirable than any life one could strive for outside of its walls.

Looking at all of this--the twinkling lights and dancers swaying in time to the music--he can't help but be reminded how thin that gilded veneer is.

"If it helps, think of making the most of what the mansion has to offer as making up for lost time instead," he advises with a smile. After all, what are the chances any of them will get to live in a place this sumptuous again? "And this is a party. Definitely no time for smiling sadly on the sidelines. You should get out there, wear those soles out while the night is still young."

[uncaging]

"I suppose I should, shouldn't I?" she agrees, managing a smile. It was easier to think of it as making up for lost time, especially when so many others were trapped here with her, a luxury she'd never really had before. "Though I seem to be sorely lacking a dance partner."

[circlejerked]

A nod. "Someone ought to take my advice--Maker knows I don't."

He takes his time with another mouthful of wine, holding the strong, spicy flavor in his mouth and letting it sink in. If people actually spent their time appreciating the simple pleasures, the little things that matter in life, then the world--worlds plural now, he knows now--would be a happier place.

"Are you now?" That air of playfulness is still there, crinkling the corners of his mouth with mirth. "That's too bad. What ever are you going to do?"

[uncaging]

Elizabeth shrugs, the sequins on her dress glinting in the light with the motion. "I may have to sit this one out, unless you happen to know someone who can lead."

[circlejerked]

"Well, I don't know, maybe I could ask around..." Obvious that he's still playing with her, Anders makes a point to turn and appear to seriously consider the people arranged at tables and milling around the side of the dance floor.

Where can they find someone fast on their feet who's not doing anything? Surely there has to be someone in the entire ballroom.

[uncaging]

"No one at all?" She almost looks disappointed, but there's still a bit of a twinkle in her eye. "Maybe I'll just have to sit this one out, then."

[circlejerked]

"What about him?"

He doesn't know he's pointing at Eggsy, having never spoken to the other man. The glasses the pair of glasses Eggsy has on catch his eye--they make Anders think of a young scholar in training.

"Nice suit--very debonair."

[uncaging]

Elizabeth looks over to where Anders is pointing, not convinced. "He looks like he'd tread on my toes."