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Post by Kristykimmy on Jul 30, 2013 10:56:53 GMT -5
Alexa came out of her reverie in time to realize that the model was lowering her shoe.
"Little cur was going to throw that. How crass," Alexa thought to herself. "But, what can you expect from that type? At least the gentleman," she laughed inwardly again, "seems to have handled it nicely."
Alexa finished her champagne and rose, smiling politely to those seated around her, and excused herself. She retrieved her bag from under her chair. She never parted with this particular bag. It carried her art pad and pencils. She made her way from the dinning room, nodding and smiling to people she vaguely recognized, doing her part as a representative of her family proud.
"I think I'll go to the garden," she mused under her breath. "Surely there must be a scene worth capturing there."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2013 11:05:03 GMT -5
Erika had heard the scream and rushed over.
She saw that prince with two girls by his side, one of them the maid. She had to wonder what exactly he was up to.
"Hello, Your...Highness," she said rather coolly, but still curtsying to be polite. After all, she didn't want to get on the bad side of a prince, no matter how conceited he was.
"Are you alright?" Erika asked the maid.
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Post by Yoyti on Jul 30, 2013 11:41:43 GMT -5
Yancy Tremolin Cado swiveled around, making an attempt to spot an attendee to the party with whom he could successfully interact without degrading himself or his family by sharing words with a plebeian.
There were too men who caught his eye, both in capes. One blue and one red.
The man in the red cape seemed insufferable enough. People were clearly trying to avoid him. And his red coloration starkly contrasted Y.T. Cado's green. Clearly this Peacock of a man would be a good socialite to Y.T. Cado.
Yancy Tremolin Cado flattened his bowtie, straightened out his monocle, and crooked his hat to one side before approaching. He wanted to make a memorable impression. Rich and influential, but slightly jaunted. More than irritating, but not quite annoying. Aloof, but not quite so friendly and social so as to cause any illusions. In such a manner did Y.T. Cado approach Snaw Van Peacock.
"Buon giorno," greeted Y.T. Cado in a horrifying Russian accent. One which would make a Russian person screech and make anybody else scream. "Je m'appelle Yancy Tremolin Cado. And who beest thou, Signor Peacock?"
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Post by Kozma on Jul 30, 2013 15:14:24 GMT -5
"Oh, as good as you can be when you're inside an evil mansion, I suppose," Hanna muttered-- to which Grunkle jabbed her sharply in the ribs.
"I'm sorry for her rudeness," Grunkle apologized to Maize. "She's uh-- a work in progress." Then, to Hanna: "Remember, child. This mansion is just a mansion, no more, no less. it is not evil. So then, with that in mind, answer Dr. Maize's question: how are you on this fine evening?"
"I'm just um. Great," Hanna muttered, her cheeks burning.
"That's good," Richard responded. It was the only way he could respond; he wasn't exactly sure what else to say given how she stated that Mr. Woo's mansion was evil and how Grunkle claimed that she was a 'work in progress.' Needless to say, Hanna's attention was now diverted away from Dr. Maize.
"Dr. Grunkle," she said. "We get to leave after the main course, right? I mean, we don't have to stick around for the stupid sculpture's unveiling, do we?"
"Of course we do!" Grunkle scolded. "It would be so rude to leave before the main event! Now, finish your food."
Richard figured that Hanna wasn't probably in the best mood for talking. Looking across the table, he noted that all the other participants were also quite occupied. With that, he decided to slip off to the library until the great unveiling.
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Jul 30, 2013 17:35:31 GMT -5
“So uh, great party, huh?” Dean had said to the lady sitting next to him, trying to engage her in conversation. She had looked at him up to down and then turned away without a word, as though she didn’t deem him worthy to talk to.
Dean turned to the man sitting to his other side, but was met with similar results. He sighed and looked back to his plate. Andria’s words echoed in his head once again. Enjoy the party! He could almost imagine her saying them with a mocking tone, for he most certainly was not enjoying it at all.
Dean had been looking forward to the reveal of the ice sculpture, as he had never seen one before, but every moment that passed he felt less and less that it was worth it to stay. Just as he was making his mind to go home, he saw a man stand up at the other end of the table and exit the dining room. Dean wondered where he was going, and as he had failed to find any sort of pleasant company at the dinner table, he decided to follow him.
He rose from his seat so fast he nearly bumped into a waiter bringing more trays of food to the table. Dean had witnessed the drama that happened earlier when there was a champagne spill on a lady’s dress and wanted to avoid making a scene like that, but fortunately, nothing happened. He didn’t care if his clothes got dirty. He hadn’t worn his best outfit to the party (in retrospect, maybe he should have. Not that his best outfit was as fancy as what everyone else was wearing anyway.)
He hurried to follow the man, who almost got away in that mix up, and found himself in the library. It wasn’t until then that he realized it might not have been his brightest idea. The two of them were alone in that huge room, with bookshelves that went all the way to the ceiling, all full of books. Mr. Woo had said it was okay to mill around, but what was Dean thinking, following a stranger? If he had been followed by someone, he’d think it creepy.
He wasn’t sure if the stranger had averted his presence yet, but he was going to any moment now, and Dean decided it was best to pass it off as a coincidence.
Dean cleared his throat a bit to call his attention “Uh… hi. I uh… wanted to see the library and didn’t know anyone would be here,” Dean started. Yeah, that was a good excuse.
“I’m Dean… Williams.” He added his last name as an afterthought. “Nice to meet you,” he said, offering a hand.
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Post by Kozma on Jul 30, 2013 18:00:33 GMT -5
As Dr. Maize entered the library he heard someone clearing their throat.
“Uh… hi. I uh… wanted to see the library and didn’t know anyone would be here."
Dr. Maize turned to face a young man; he seemed slightly nervous.
“I’m Dean… Williams. Nice to meet you,” he said, offering a hand.
"Oh, hello Dean," Richard responded as he took the young man's hand and gave it a firm handshake. It's nice to meet you too; I'm Dr. Richard Maize and I came here to check out some of Mr. Woo's rare books on the Weapons and Warfare of Ancient Egypt. I didn't expect anyone else would come down here before the unveiling of the ice sculpture but I see that I was mistaken. Was there anything in particular you wanted to check out here in this fine library?"
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Post by Thundy on Jul 30, 2013 18:35:02 GMT -5
Manuel slowly paced around the hall, sipping from his glass and listening to the conversation. There were the usual suspects, dilettantes, aristocrats, nobility, all the signs of the gentry. He hadn't spoken to anyone yet as he seemed to just silently glide past people busying themselves. However he noticed there was another soldier, a Russian one. Part of Manuel's training had been with Cosmonauts in Russia, and he still could speak a few phrases here and there. Manuel walked over.
"Zdravstvuyte, mayor. You appear to be the only other one in uniform in these parts, old Chap. What's your service, Army I take it?"
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Post by Terra on Jul 30, 2013 19:09:28 GMT -5
Geoffrey was getting overwhelmed and frustrated by the narrator’s descriptions of the party guests. He tried to ignore it, but the narrator’s voice intruded into his brain regardless. The narrator described things such as Alexa the snobbish young artist’s musings about whether the Delaneys were “as batty as everyone always said”; the events immediately before the supposed Prince Stal’s arrival at the party (was he actually a prince? Based on the narration, Geoffrey wasn’t sure); the kidnapping of the strange man under the table; and the bratty demands of Lavendar Fairweather.
So far, very few of these people seemed like the kind of people that Geoffrey would particularly enjoy interacting with. And those he might enjoy interacting with, or at least tolerate - well, he could hardly interact with them with any degree of competency, could he?
Why did Dr. Grunkle bring me to this party, again? Geoffrey wondered.
Worst of all was listening to the narrator narrate Hanna’s thoughts; she was mentally affirming her conviction that Geoffrey, unlike her, was quite crazy to be hearing the narrator inside his head. Sure, he was used to this kind of thing, but it wasn’t like it didn’t hurt.
Then he heard the little exchange between Hanna and Dr. Grunkle and was dismayed to hear the end of it -
"We get to leave after the main course, right? I mean, we don't have to stick around for the stupid sculpture's unveiling, do we?"
"Of course we do!" Grunkle scolded. "It would be so rude to leave before the main event! Now, finish your food."
Geoffrey groaned. He’d secretly been hoping that they could skip out on the party early, as well, but it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen.
He silently ate the rest of the contents of his plate and started to think about whether he could escape to some secluded corner of the building or something.
(Not that the narrator wouldn’t follow him there, but at least maybe he could shut himself away from the actual people.)
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Post by Tiger on Jul 30, 2013 19:12:07 GMT -5
Doctor Cross had swallowed four cheese-topped crackers and downed a thin glass of wine before realizing something terrible - something horrible, foul, and potentially life-threatening. There were shrimp being served here.Shrimp - possibly the worst food next to beef to serve at a party! So easy to cook ineptly, so many deadly diseases people could contract...her eyes darted about the room, but it was too late to know who had made contact with the filthy crustaceans...were they crustaceans? Doctor Cross opened her tablet and confirmed that she was, in fact correct in her insults...oh, right, she'd been thinking. Because Cross had been so late, she hadn't seen who had eaten the shrimp. Perhaps she could make an announcement - but no, people might lie. They seemed to do that quite a lot to her. Cross took a moment to feel affronted; it wasn't as if they could hide their symptoms once she'd made her diagnosis, was it? Anyhow. People. Party. Nasty, bottom-feeding shrimp and their horrible diseases inside people's stomachs. She saw a few people wandering out of the room - likely afflicted with Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, maybe Neurotixic poisoning, though they didn't seem to be nauseated enough. Yet. It was only a matter of time when shrimp algae were involved. darn shrimp. darn algae! Well, there was time yet for those people - Doctor Cross' keen medical senses trained her eyes instantly on the people in the most danger - those still seated at the table. Not only would they have the longest access to the shrimp, but their reluctance to move suggested paralytic shellfish poisoning. That could set in almost at once. Cross would need to move quickly. She saw a young man and woman sitting on either side of an older woman. The elderly - those darn shrimp always knew who was the most vulnerable to their germs and algae and diseases! The younger adults looked uneasy - perhaps they could feel symptoms setting in already? Cross marched right over to them, leaning forward and demanding urgently, "How much did you eat? Can you still wiggle your toes? Did they taste like ammonia?" Source: answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070618064018AAsMuT0
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Post by Avery on Jul 30, 2013 19:26:27 GMT -5
Two down from Hanna, Geoffrey was starting to look... twitchy. He'd always been the more overt of the Delaney siblings: while Hanna internalized her panic for the most part, Geoff was prone to panic attacks and other such maladies. He was a drama queen, that one (drama king?). Just as he started flitting his eyes frantically about the dining room, as if looking for means of escape, a dark-haired woman moseyed on over towards Hanna, Grunkle, and Geoff.
"How much did you eat? Can you still wiggle your toes? Did they taste like ammonia?"
Hanna peered appraisingly up at the woman. Tan skin, steely grey eyes, black hair in a plait. She was, curiously, dressed as a doctor. A doctor! And the urgent look on her face was apparent. Oh, a nervous doctor! Hanna's blood ran cold. If a doctor was nervous, then... then...
"I... did my toes taste like ammonia?" Hanna gasped to the woman, Cross. "No... no... they did not. They-- I'm sorry-- I... ammonia-- is this food-- does it have ammonia-- oh no, why did I eat the food, when it had ammonia in it, I should have known." As Grunkle watched on in horror, she rocketed to her feet and shrieked, "THE MANSION HAS POISONED OUR FOOD!"
Grunkle reached up and gripped onto Hanna's arm in an effort to get the woman to sit the hell down, but Hanna shook out of her shrink's grasp. Screw internalizing panic! She had to get out of this room, away from the food. She needed... to the bathroom! To throw up everything she'd just eaten, get that ammonia out of her system! She made a beeline for the doorway that led out to the ballroom-- she swore she'd seen a powder room off that way earlier tonight-- before realising some: Geoff. She couldn't leave Geoffrey, Papa would never forgive her if she left Geoffrey!
"GEOFFREY!" she gasped. "Quickly, quickly, with me, before we die!"
And then ran out of the dining room, hoping Geoffrey would follow behind her-- and that Grunkle would not.
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Post by Ginz ❤ on Jul 30, 2013 21:29:19 GMT -5
"Oh, hello Dean," Richard responded as he took the young man's hand and gave it a firm handshake. It's nice to meet you too; I'm Dr. Richard Maize and I came here to check out some of Mr. Woo's rare books on the Weapons and Warfare of Ancient Egypt. I didn't expect anyone else would come down here before the unveiling of the ice sculpture but I see that I was mistaken. Was there anything in particular you wanted to check out here in this fine library?"
Dean was relieved when the man shook his hand. Things were going better than they had at dinner, at least, where everyone had refused to talk to him. But then Dr. Maize asked him about books, and the question took Dean sllightly aback. He had followed him there without knowing where he was going, and didn't actually intend to come to the library in particular.
"Uh..." he racked his brain for an answer as quickly as he could. He didn't want to keep quiet for too long and be thought of as weird, or worse, as rude. "I have an interest in film, actually. Especially mystery and suspense," said Dean. It was true, he had a passion for movies. His dream was to become a director. That why he had jumped at the chance of becoming the personal assistant to an actress. He thought he'd learn so much about the industry, little did he know where he'd end up instead.
Dean had decided that it would be easier to be honest about his hobbies than to make something up. He wanted to fit in, but Dr. Richard Maize seemed extremely smart, and Dean worried he could catch him lying about any other topic. "Do you think the library might have any books on the subject?"
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Post by Pixie on Jul 30, 2013 21:54:07 GMT -5
After her small attempt at flirting, Brenda finally resigned to the fact the Prince Stal would not understand colloquialisms. When the request changed from something for herself to champagne for his new companion, she very narrowly hid a slight frown and snatched the emptied drinks from the table. She was going to refill the champagne anyway, as that was her job as maid/waitstaff, but the request coming from him and not the socialite meant he was now attached to the socialite. She begun to stagger her way to the kitchen door with the empty drinks in hand.
I guess he is through with me. Why think he'd stay with the maid? Stupid handsome careless prince. Brenda thought solemnly.
She was intercepted by a young woman wearing a very pretty dress. The women asked if she was alright, which took her somewhat by surprise. A small grin lit up Brenda's face- she had just found a new person to talk to!
"I believe so. The Prince seems to be successfully helping the lady with the spill. There wasn't broken glass or anything. Thanks for asking, Miss." Brenda said happily. "He seemed to have moved on from talking with me, but we can talk together if you like, once I fill these drinks. Brenda Hearte at your service! What is your name, Miss?"
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2013 11:46:30 GMT -5
The Prince was helping someone? Okay, maybe he wasn't as self-centered as he seemed.
"Thanks for asking, Miss," the maid said.
"You're welcome," Erika replied.
"He seemed to have moved on from talking with me, but we can talk together if you like, once I fill these drinks. Brenda Hearte at your service! What is your name, Miss?"
"My name's Erika Kendall. I'm a singer from Katten."
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Post by Celestial on Jul 31, 2013 12:02:40 GMT -5
The girl seemed to ignore him but Sergei did not mind. She must have been taught not to talk to strangers, which made perfect sense, although he was baffled why she decided to talk to him in the first place. Since dinner was over and now most of the guests were simply circling, he felt that he should do the same. Mr. Woo had not invited just him and a friend of his friend should be his friend too, unless they had already decide to become his enemy's friend in which case he did not want to be them when Sergei got ahold of them. But surely there was nobody here like that.
He picked up a bottle of wine and his glass before pushing back his chair and mingling with the crowd, periodically pouring himself another drink. There were some interesting characters, such as a doctor, a maid, several educated types, a prince (who Sergei hated instantly for his arrogant and royal manner) and mostly upper class ladies and gentlemen. Nobody for an old soldier to really converse with, unless of course he counted all the pretty girls who surrounded him. Which Sergei definitely did.
However, before he could talk to any of the women around, he heard somebody butchering his beautiful mother tongue! Sergei marched over to the side of Y.T. Cado and tapped him on the shoulder, or at least what the old major assumed was his shoulder.
"Do not put on this accent again. It is offensive to my ears and the ears of all around me," he said, towering over the other man. Perhaps he should be more polite. But when his beautiful language was at stake, Sergei had to defend it.
"Zdravstvuyte, mayor. You appear to be the only other one in uniform in these parts, old Chap. What's your service, Army I take it?" said a voice behind him. Sergei grinned at the sound of his language said properly and turned around. His grin grew wider when he saw the man. An older man like himself in uniform! A fellow old war horse, even if that war horse was of a different nationality and service than him. A horse was still a horse, especially when you were running out of meat.
"Tovarish1!" he exclaimed and wrapped the man in a giant bear hug, careful not to spill precious alcohol on their uniforms. "Good to meet you. Yes, I am army. My name is Major Sergei Belkov and who are you, friend?"
1 Comrade
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Post by Lizica on Jul 31, 2013 12:22:52 GMT -5
Even the head housekeeper had no idea how the old marble busts had originally come into the Woo family's possession.
They were a despicable nuisance, really. It was only this morning that Mr. W. E. Woo had discovered the two busts discreetly hidden in the shed and, to his staff's chagrin, insisted that they be brought down to the Main Hall, where they would match the décor perfectly for his gala.
The first marble bust was engraved with the name "Standorf"; the second was "Waller." No one was quite sure who had been their inspiration, but surely, as marble busts, they were modeled from famous philosophers or famous composers--at least, this was Mr. Woo's logic when he instructed them to be placed on top of his grand piano in the hall. This was a very bad idea, naturally.
Presently, the first bust turned his head from the piano and turned toward his marble accomplice.
"You know," he said, "that Woo may be an idiot, but at least he's better off than we are."
"Really?" said the second. "What makes you say that?"
"His car just needs an overhaul. But our ride here needs a total overhaul and a tune-up!"
"DOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" they chorused.
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