I see trouble on the way.

[lacquers]

Characters: Everyone! Yes, you too!
Summary: Mandy's Masquerade hosts a fantastic Halloween party with a costume contest, some very special cocktails, and a few other surprises.
Date(s): Late in the month of October.
Warnings/Notes: Please mark any threads that need content warnings.

Mandy's is looking a bit festive this evening. Arrayed with spiderwebs, pumpkins, and other ghoulish decorations, the interior resembles a spooky haunted house. Spooky, not scary! Everyone's invited to stop by and celebrate All Hallow's Eve with spirited drinks, excellent company, and a lot of that Magnus flair.

You can loosen up on the dance floor to Monster Mash, Thriller, Dead Man's Party, or maybe something from this list. The spooky sky's the limit! Visit the bar for one of several special drinks you won't soon forget. You can also sample some tasty and holiday-appropriate baked goods, courtesy of the other Mr. Lightwood-Bane. Finally, stop by the table with the MAGIC 8 BALL to learn a little more about your fellow partygoers.

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Potions.
drink list

Siren Song
If you're a little tone-deaf, don't fret. This drink will turn you into a master at serenading. It won't actually give you the ability to influence anyone via magical means, but maybe if your song choice is apt, you'll woo someone either way!

Firework!
A drink that comes with a portable fireworks show hovering over its surface. Drinking it will give you the sensation of ingesting liquid pop-rocks.

Blacklight
Does what it says on the tin and makes the drinker glow under a black light. It's also kind of sour.

Frankenstein's Monster
This drink is quite shocking. Not dangerously so, but when you drink it, you'll have the impression of getting a tingling little jolt of electricity down your spine. It's aliiiiive.

To Be or Not To Be (A Daemon)
Drink this and you will find you've been magically swapped with your daemon. It only lasts ten minutes, but hey! You'll get to see how the other half lives. A note: you won't inherit one another's abilities!

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Who Wore It Best?
costume contest

Congratulations to our costume contest winners!

In first place for individual costumes...

Rafa wins for his devilish costume and he'll be awarded 2 potions: the first of which will up his luck stat, granting him good fortune in an endeavor (it says "Deal with the Devil" on the bottle) and the second will up his persuasion stat, helping him to be more successful in an argument (it says "The Devil's Advocate" on the bottle).

In second place for individual costumes...

Nico plunders the second place spot and will be given a treasure chest full of chocolates that are rum flavored. Careful, they pack a bit of a punch and when consumed, they'll make whoever eats them feel especially happy. No sad drunks here!

In third place for individual costumes...

Zeke and his amazingly sunny costume are in third and he wins a sunflower plant that will never cease to bloom and seems to have a bit of a glow about it. Plus, perpetual supply of sunflower seeds?

In first place for couples costumes...

Magnus and Alec came first for their portrayal of... each other... and they win a pair of seemingly mundane t-shirts that say "Bennet" and "Darcy" on them. What's that about?

In second place for couples costumes...

Vex and Kenzi delighted with their take on the Addams' family patriarch and matriarch and won second place. As a prize, Kenzi will be given a shampoo and conditioner set that seems pretty innocuous until you check out the writing on the bottles: 'Have YOU ever wanted hair like Cousin Itt? Are you ever in luck!' Just a small amount will make her locks lustrous and smooth. Vex will be given a very lifelike and animated hand in a box.

In third place for couples costumes...

Rose and Kaz were drop dead gorgeous in their mafia-inspired garb. As prizes, they will receive the following: for Rose, a pair of magical die that make music when thrown, and for Kaz, a set of playing cards that are intricately illustrated with astonishing art that seems to move. Watch out for the face cards, they get very opinionated about your playing. They both also receive a chip that can be relinquished to Magnus for a small magical favor.

Comments

[monologue]

[ oh no that's a good smile. damn him.

though ok. look. juno's not a dancer (or hasn't really been since A Long Time Ago) but he's gonna pick up on the beat just a little, and maybe nudge wyatt into it some more. look. not dancing just suggesting with a nudge of his hip. his hands are busy and stuff. his mouth twitches a little. it's a good twitch that might stretch from the very small smile before into a (self-conscious) grin. ]

Alright, well. Listen here, Wyatt. I'm a private eye, thanks. Good at observing while no one else is paying attention. Kind of like a wallflower but they have a cool hat and get paid for it.

[bratpack]

[ Oh, okay, check this out: Juno can dance, after all. Wyatt isn't so lacking in rhythm that he can't tell Juno possesses some, and it's pretty easy for him to follow his lead. He takes the opportunity to step a little closer, matching up their movements. His grin easily reaches his eyes, and responds to Juno's widening one.

Juno's smile makes his eyes sparkle a bit. And turns dimples into his cheeks. And does nice things to the shape of his face.

Yeah, okay. This is nice. ]

So, like, a detective? [ Enter interest; enter mischief. Wyatt looks delighted by the prospect. ] Like a real life, people-watching detective. Hey, who are you detecting? [ He leans closer, but looks out across the room, across the dance floor. ] Cause, I'm not gonna lie, half the people in this room look shady. I wouldn't be surprised.

[monologue]

Yeah, exactly a detective. My costume doubles as my day job. It's great.

[ you little doofus. what the fuck. who gave you permission to get him to smile just a little more. what kind of fucking sorcery is this shit. okay look, juno came out here to have a bad time and he's honestly feeling so attacked by good feelings right now, it's pretty much criminal. when wyatt leans in, juno keeps still for the most part, turning his head away slightly to look out at the rest of the party. ]

Well, personally I was "detecting" the snack bar. But, you got any proof to back that claim up on all these shady people?

[bratpack]

So, that means you aren't dressed up. [ That's some stellar detective work from Wyatt. No doubt Juno will be impressed. ] You know that's against the rules. Aren't you lawmen supposed to be boy scouts about that shit?

[ Wyatt should stop this, probably. But it's a nice dance, and Juno is better at it than he'd pretended to be, and now he's checking out the other guests like they're in cahoots about it.

Wyatt smiles at him, and then makes himself look too. He points out Joseph Kavinsky. ]

Well, that guy? Vampire. [ Then he turns, nodding at Vex. ] That one's a faerie. [ Then over to a corner, where Alec Lightwood is talking to Magnus Bane. ] That one's a witch, and the other one's something else, but they kinda switched up tonight. And that one looks like my dad, even though they aren't related or even from the same universe.

Weird, right?

[monologue]

You'd be surprised. And like I said, I'm a detective. No one's gonna suspect the detective of being one at a costume party, right? You just gotta keep your mouth shut or you're gonna give a lady's cover away.

[ he's wholly impressed. you can see it in the little arch of his brow as he follows wyatt's gaze around the roo. his brow draws in a bit because really, the lot of them look just like regular people to him. he tilts his head, waiting for someone to, uh, he's not sure, bust out into flames or something magical or whatever, he's not into that occulty magical bullshit.

he looks back at wyatt, face pretty incredulous-looking at this point. ]

Long as no one's drawing blood, I'll let them have their fun. Though it's weird, you're saying someone's got your dad's face but isn't your dad? [ juno might look a little weirded out at that ] That happen very often? [ he'll take vampires over doppelgangers. ]

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt shakes his head. He's not overly worried about it, though. They may look alike, but Alec Lightwood smells nothing like Hunter, and that'll always matter more to Wyatt. He shrugs. ]

First time for everything. I mean we're in actual space, in another dimension that may or may not be the inside of someone's iPhone. That is not the weirdest shit I've seen here.

[ They're probably not inside a phone. The computery language is all talk. Most likely.

Anyway. He lets one of his hands sneak in against the hair at the back of Juno's neck, and his fingers play idly through it. ]

So. A lady's cover, huh? You can tell her she can trust me. I'll keep her secrets. I'm a gentleman.

[ He says, while attempting to twirl them. ]

[monologue]

Nuh-uh, I'm from space. This stuff? It doesn't happen like that.

[ seriously, and he might look just a little more troubled by that, or he would if wyatt hadn't pretty much swept in with his sneaky little mitt at the base of juno's neck. it's a weakness, the kind he can't shrug off because really. it's been what, six months? a shadow of a touch to his nape doesn't get him weak-kneed, he's made of sterner stuff, but.

it's nice. ]

But I'll take your word for it. Now. As for that lady, you don't need me to be the go-between.

[ he'll let a twirl happen, if only because it somehow fits the dance just a little bit, makes the room churn into a blur of pleasant color and for half a second, juno doesn't have to say a single word, just has to spin and pull in again. it's like timing's on his side for once, and maybe it makes him feel a little cool. juno's nothing if not an active narrator. ]

You're talking to him.

[bratpack]

[ Okay, that’s not exactly the response he was expecting. It gives him a moment of startled pause, wherein he misses a crucial step in their dance, and has to recover.

By the time he does, the surprise is gone. Honestly, Juno’s not the first person Wyatt’s ever met who has a non-conventional idea of gender. ]

Okay. Well then, ma’am. Why don’t you tell me what space is really like. Since you’re from there, and all. That’s the coolest thing I’ve heard all night.

[ Smooth recovery? He hopes so. He’s mainly annoyed with himself for not catching on to what Juno meant the first time around. ]

[monologue]

[ man, the reactions are pretty novel. it's different from hyperion, different in a way that makes him want to laugh more than take offense.

juno will give him that anyways - the recovery is smooth, but he looks young, so he's got a long way to go. he makes up for the misstep with his own, moving easily and finding himself almost... well, sad for remembering how this kind of dance goes between two people. comforting. easy. nice. ]

Mars is still pretty irradiated - the city I'm from is one of the first colonies Earth built on it, Hyperion. [ a slight adjustment to the hand, closer. maybe he means it. ] We've got lasers? Uhh... cloned meat? It's not really that fancy. Shuttles? Lots of desert? What were you expecting from space, exactly?

[bratpack]

[ Wyatt is partly concentrating on making his feet move in the right order, but mainly concentrating on the story. It's a good story. It's news to him that Mars is irradiated, but he'll take that on the chin. ]

You ever seen Star Wars? [ He says, in a serious answer to that question. ] The place I live, it's like a castle, right, and they got like...all the movies ever. There's like, a ton about space. There's even one about Mars, but it's from the eighties so it's weird as shit. There's a girl with three... [ He'll just gesture across the chest area, in case he's accidentally offensive. Because if you gesture, you can't be offensive. Wyatt's got social niceties down, okay. ] ...and Arnold Schwarzenegger goes outside without a helmet and his eyes almost pop out, which I think is not real science.

But yeah. I guess that. Your version sounds better, it sounds real. Hey, can you fly? The shuttles, I mean, can you fly?

[monologue]

[ it all sounds ridiculous to him, which cracks even more of a smile onto his face as he reaches up a hand to lightly pat his cheek. kid, please. stop making him smile. you're wrecking his style of being surly and unapproachable. you even got him to dance, isn't that enough!? ]

Pretty sure when you get spaced you just freeze or something, but I'm not a scientist so don't quote me on that. As for uh, that, well, you only get a third one if you really want one. There's probably plastic surgery for that. Or something?

And not commercially. I can drive a car? Hover car. I try not to leave Mars' atmosphere for the most part. Like my feet planted firmly on the ground.

[bratpack]

[ By contrast, Wyatt's smile is crooked and natural and wide. He's thrilled by all of this. I mean come on, how often do you get to meet a real life Martian? He's charmed. Also, he's definitely still imagining a life of science fiction here. ]

Hover cars count! I can't even drive a regular car yet. Man. How high do they hover, like do you have highways in the air?

[ Like in Back to the Future, he thinks, while gently imagining Juno in the seat of a DeLorean. ]

If I could do that I'd fly all the time. I'd never run anywhere. It must seem backwards as fuck to you here.