Halloween Ball [SG]

[Tibby ♠]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

To welcome the second generation students back from their extended break, the faculty and staff have thrown a grand Halloween Ball in the field! It's a very spooky setup, complete with a pumpkin patch for photos, pumpkin lanterns lighting the path out to the field, and a giant tent in the middle of it all. Beneath the tent are refreshments, music, and dancing. Please be safe as you celebrate our return to school - the magical plague that delayed our school year has been cured as best as we know, but if you have not yet received your inoculation charm, please see the nurse immediately. Have fun!

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty had known about the school dance for a while, mostly because she seemed to be the only student still at school. And she was excited to finally be around other people. The summer had been a bit lonely, but she’d been able to go work still. And she enjoyed working with Seamus and Jose. And Todd had popped in for a bit here and there. But it was quiet in the diner with only the locals to cater to. On one very quiet day Todd, Seamus and Jose had taught Dusty how to play Euchre. And later that same day they were surprised to find out that Dusty played poker very well, though there was no betting for money involved at her insistence.

And then the quarantine had happened and Dusty had been essentially alone for the first time in her life. Spending time trapped in her dorm room was exhausting and lonely. Dusty had always been something of an outcast. She never fit in anywhere she went, but that was alright because she had always been adjacent to folks. She’d never been so completely and utterly shunned.

So getting to be around people again after not seeing anyone was such a relief! Dusty was technically not supposed to go to parties because she was still in mourning, but she just needed to be around people. Just for a bit. She could always duck out of the party a bit early if she needed to.

Dusty had carefully curled her hair and piled it onto the back of her head in something that vaguely resembled the hairstyles of the fashionable ladies of Los Avalos. She put on her stockings and buttons up her boots with her momma’s button hook, laced up her corset and belted on her bustle. The violet bodice and skirt had been newly dyed black. (She had watched a lot of videos about tie dying on YouTube, but couldn’t do anything in traditional tie dye colors, so she simply dyed her whole dress black instead). You could still see the small floral design in the cotton fabric if you looked close enough. And, just as a little something fun, Dusty had gone out and bought herself a black little mini witch hat, the kind that perched precariously on her mass of curls. The two claw clips likely wouldn’t stand up much if the wind was blowing, but she thought that it was a fun costume.

She headed out on the path towards the tent where the dance would take place, looking at each of the jack-o-lanterns along the pathway. And when she got to the tent she found that in her excitement she had gotten there before anyone else. Well, that was a bit awkward, but, she supposed, someone had to be first. It might as well be her.

She strode over to the refreshment stand and poured herself a glass of hot spiced cider and sipped it as she moved away from the tables and just stood awkwardly on the edge of the dancefloor.

[AI-DAN Triton]

Putting on a costume felt strange to Dan. Maybe because humanity in general felt like a costume, something he was always trying to fit into, to make it fit so it felt like reality. Putting on a costume on top of that felt like he was layering up the things he was pretending to be. But he wasn't about to half-ass his first social gathering at his new school, so he had done his best to get creative with it. He was, more or less, dressed as his mother. Well, not his mother specifically, but he had a lab coat on, and was carrying around an erlenmeyer flask, and had some safety goggles on top of his head (because it turned out that actually wearing them interfered with his vision a little, especially as the sun began to go down).

He entered the party, taking in his surroundings with all the analytical curiosity one might expect. It seemed he had arrived near the beginning of things, because there weren't that many people here yet. There was some loud techno music blaring, and he processed the rhythm quickly, eyes lighting up the faintest blue as he found the beat and matched it with a little dance step on his way over to the refreshments. There was a girl there with a little witch hat on, and Dan gave her a quick smile (Social algorithm adjusting....adjusting...complete) as he went about filling his flask about halfway with cider. 

"Do you like this music?" he asked her. "I enjoy it a lot. It's very easy to dance to. It's also easy to stand around and drink cider to. What is your favorite kind of music?"

[Mordred Le Fey]

It had been a long summer break. Both literally since it had gone on for nearly two months longer than usual, and metaphorically; it had felt never-ending. Spending any time in Camelot was always a mixed bag for Mordred, but at least since starting at Tintagel there had always been a specified end date - it was something he had to get through and make the best of before he could return to school and relax again. This time, though, it had been harder to be in Camelot than usual, and the extended break because of some magical plague had certainly not helped. He had been tempted more than once to take his chances with the plague and just get back to school.

It was fair to say that the last term hadn't exactly been a smooth one for Mordred, or likely anyone that knew him or associated with him. From duels with teenage girls, to complicated and dramatic love affairs, pregnancy scares and one night stands, there were definitely going to be some awkward encounters and situations to smooth over on his return. But whereas some might have seen the chance to return to their own world for a bit as an escape, Mordred was lucky enough to have most of the people involved in his little dramas travel back not only to the same kingdom as him, but most of them to the same castle. Thank the gods for taverns and tavern wenches. It had felt like every corner he turned in Camelot he ran into either his mother, his ex (but not really because it was never exactly official) girlfriend, or the mother of the girl he'd almost killed a few weeks earlier.

It had been far from a relaxing summer, to say the least.

But finally, the quarantine had been lifted and students had been allowed to return to school. The second he had heard the news he had packed his bags and barely said goodbye to his parents or sister before throwing himself through the portal. He hadn't even waited to find out if Tristian or any of the Camelot brood were returning, but since he'd been here a few days and there was no sign of any of them, he figured not yet. That had left him at a bit of a loss for a few days - he rarely did anything without Tristian around - but he wasn't going to let it shake him. In fact, he thought to himself as he put together his costume for the ball, it might even be a good thing. An opportunity.

And so he found himself walking towards the tent alone, but unphased, a smart and perfectly pressed suit clinging flatteringly to all the right places, his dress shirt unbuttoned just enough to reveal a 'Superman' shirt underneath. He'd even found a pair of geeky looking glasses to wear - although of course on Mordred they looked far from geeky. As he reached the tent a fleeting thought passed through his mind and he was surprised to feel a quick jolt in his stomach - nerves? Anticipation? Excitement? After all, there was nothing in his way now, nothing to feel guilty about if she wanted to pick up where they'd left off...

He'd been disappointed not to see Aiden at the house since he had returned - he'd spent more time than he needed to hanging around downstairs in the hope that she'd appear. He wasn't even sure she was coming back. But she'd have told him if she wasn't - wouldn't she? It wasn't like they'd spoken all summer. They hadn't spoken at all, in fact, since they'd... no, of course she was coming back. Trademark smirk appearing on his face, Mordred stepping into the tent and glanced around, looking for a familiar face in the sea of... nothing. Two people.

Wow. The party really doesn't start till I walk in, does it?

[Nancy Panic]

It was honestly a miracle she even made it back to school. Gods knew that her father always tried to encourage her to stay at home whenever he could, and the momentary closure of the school gave him ample time to do so. It was probably only her mother's miraculous way of talking him down from the worst of his anxiety that gave her the leverage she needed. Which was good because, you know, she could kind of see his point. She knew damn well that her mother wasn't all that thrilled when Nancy said she wanted to go to Tintagel. Much as Della loved the world of magic, she also knew how dangerous it was, and blamed it for every strand of gray hair on her head.

But...well. She had given it a lot of thought, why she decided she wanted to go here. It seemed to take the long summer for it to truly hit her; where else was she going to stand a chance at belonging? Sure, she could blend in, pretend to be all human, but deep down she knew that wasn't so, and she could tell that while her peers in the human world didn't know what she was, they knew she wasn't normal. She couldn't say she was treated anymore cruelly than your average person, but she didn't often find anyone in a normal school too eager to spend time with her. The whole secrecy thing kept her even more on edge than usual.

But Tintagel...hell, could she even properly count as unusual in a place like this? Sure, she'd surprised some people with her shapeshifting abilities, but the shock never lasted longer than a few moments, and everyone went back to their business. Sure, knowing how dangerous this place could be set her on edge too, but...but at least she was free here. Free to be herself, or, in the case of a Halloween party...anything she wanted.

In fact, that was kind of the problem. It was usually the problem, in fact. Mind you, she often found herself coordinating with her mother, at least, this time of year, but good as their relationship remained, she wanted to try something on her own. Unfortunately that left her with far too many options. Before coming outside, she had spent a good hour shifting between forms and characters and creatures, staring at the mirror in her dorm room as if she half expected it to start giving her advice (actually...it was a fairytale school, why didn't the mirrors talk???) on what would be the perfect Halloween costume.

It was only when her gaze wandered towards her bulletin board with her latest work schedule (she was due back at the pet shop on Monday) that she began to think of a time she shifted at work, and practically gasped at the sudden idea. She dove towards her closet, and sure enough, a Ren Faire dress. She grinned as she changed clothes, and then watched her reflection as she let scales appear on half of her face, then down her right arm, letting claws appear. She glanced up, a fair maiden on her left side, a fierce dragon on the right. She couldn't imagine too many people dressed this way at the party and while she was often uncomfortable with her potential to be monstrous, she felt honestly thrilled by how well her idea had turned out. She topped it off with a tiara she had lying around, probably from one of Tori's parties, and barely stopped herself from racing out.

For once she was a bundle of nerves in a good way as she walked down the path of pumpkins and towards the tent. It seemed she was pretty early, but you know what, that was okay. She didn't have a whole lot of friends anyway, and perhaps her costume would make for a good conversation starter. Maybe for once she could be charming enough to win some people over, emboldened by her idea.

She did recognize one of the people though, although she wondered if he would've remembered her...would the scales help? If they struck up a conversation, she'd have to ask about Satan, he must've been so big by now. She took a deep breath and waved at Mordred with a half nervous, half wry smile (which must've looked hilarious given the sharp teeth on half her face), then squinted as she noticed the shirt he was wearing under his suit, was that...her smile broadened and like the nerd she was, she gave him a thumbs up and mouthed "Nice".

[Aiden Mumble]

The house was empty by the time Aiden had arrived. She didn’t want to say she’d been hoping for that, but...well...she had a little. She missed Mordred. She’d missed him all summer if she was being perfectly honest, but she’d resisted writing. She didn’t know if she was punishing him or herself or both. She just knew that both of them had done it for fucked up reasons even if it was undeniably fantastic. For a moment, in the middle of it all, she forgot what being miserable felt like. They knew each other in ways that maybe no one else ever would and that made for a powerful connection. The problem being, whether that was a good connection or a bad one swung wildly from moment to moment. Sometimes it was both at the same time. Sometimes she sat for hours in her bed trying to puzzle out what their relationship had evolved into. Usually those nights ended with a headache and too much booze alone in her room where her parents couldn’t see.

Though most nights she spent uncharacteristically sober at home. It wasn’t like it was easy to continue convincing your parents you’re a sane and healthy individual if you get drunk and high in their presence every other night. She couldn’t hide it all from them. It was a very long summer. They had a lot of time to notice things and wear her down. One day she’d walked into her room and found that her mom had placed her old penguin stuffed animal above her pillows instead of below where she had hidden it. This wouldn’t have been all that concerning if it didn’t also mean her mother had found the empty liquor bottles under her bed. They were gone, so she definitely had, but she never brought it up. She just looked at her sometimes like she was scared she might lose her forever. This is what made Aiden truly cut back.

It wasn’t too bad. She wrote a lot of songs, wrote what she thought was a lot of letters to Hinrik. Hinrik. He was home in England now at least and not off fighting in some stupid war. She told herself that half of the mushy stuff (read: barely kind) she’d written was simply to encourage him to not die. She didn’t like him, but she didn’t want him to die. She didn’t like him, but he had terrible taste in people, so what was the harm in just slightly indulging in that? It got easier, as the letters kept coming. He sent many in the time it took her to muster up the courage to write just one, but it did get a little easier as weeks turned into months. She felt like she could almost tolerate him like that, safe in another country, just writing letters. She could handle him an ocean away. It made quarantine barible in the long run, but truly just barely. By the end, she was practically foaming at the mouth to escape her mother, her father, and her newly born baby sister. Aiden worried over her the second she’d come into the world and had hardly slept since then. She was ready for maybe just a drink or two. Or five-ugh no she should at least try to keep from getting blackout her first day back.

The house had been empty, which was a relief for the sake that whatever odd and complicated reunion Mordred and her were going to have, it had been delayed. However, she found her stomach sink just slightly. She’d been craving Mordred’s specific brand of debauchery. That and she knew he’d probably gone back to Camelot. With a lot of people he’d rather not be with. It was a relief to see some of his things scattered about, marking his return as she scaled the stairs to her room. At least he was back in one piece. She needed to prepare for the possibility of seeing him at this stupid dance. He was probably already there spiking the cider. She smiled to herself as she threw her bags around and started pulling things out to make up a costume.

Now Aiden had a lot of odd costume pieces in her closet thanks to years of dance and her occasional secret gig pole dancing at a masked club. She hadn’t realized what she was doing until she put it all on and looked in the mirror. Dark leather corset and belts over nothing but her bare skin. She had two matching scale patterned bracers, a bit of mock chainmail and fur hanging off her waist in a stylized fashion. Her pants were pleather and a little darker than her corset, worn around some thicker designs edging the seams on the outside. She’d strapped a dagger in a holster around one thigh that she would tell any and all authority figures was fake. Her boots were absolutely impractical for any kind of warrior, heeled and flaring over her knees, but she wasn’t planning on launching an attack this evening...at least not one that she’d need sensible shoes for. She hadn’t realized what she was doing. She still didn’t realize until she’d finished braiding her hair and looked in the mirror one last time.

She looked like a fucking slutty Viking.

She should change. Then again...she looked really good. There were some small chains on her boots that glinted with the chainmail near her waist. It wasn’t like anyone there was going to question her about it, right? Honestly who was really going to look that deep into it except maybe Costin if his sorry little ass made an appearance? Honestly he would probably be annoyed, which was a huge plus in Aiden’s book. Everyone else would probably think she was just some kind of warrior. She looked kind of powerful. It felt nice. Well then, fuck it.

She stuffed a flask full of rum into a pouch hanging off her waist that she told herself she wasn’t going to drink all of and headed for the door. It wasn’t all that long of a walk to the tent and it shone brightly in the night, lined with pumpkins on either side of the path leading up to it. She could see people moving inside. She halted just before entering and sigh heavily before fishing out her flask and taking a swing. It had been a long time since she’d been faced with social interaction while sober outside of her chaotic family. She stuffed the thing back inside and eased her way in only to have her eyes land immediately on Mordred. She folded her arms and looked him over slowly.

“You look like a cheap stripper someone hired for a bachelorette party.”

[Hinrik]

Hinrik was relieved to get back to Tintagel. He was relieved to get back to where Aiden was. He would be glad to see Costin too. He'd be glad to get out of his parents' home where they wouldn't look at him with so much worry in their eyes. Where he wouldn’t wake everyone when he was having a night terror. He’d be back in a place where he felt like he could breathe again. Where life was moving forward and away from the war that seemed to haunt his every move.

He had moved himself and Grendel into a small cottage in the town. There was a small yard for Grendel to run around in and plenty of room inside for them. He could have friends over and he wouldn’t have to worry about waking the neighbors when a flashback hit him. And most importantly, Grendel would help him to know what was real and what wasn’t. Grendel, the scrappy little pup, was a good dog.

What Hinrik hadn’t realized was that there was going to be a Halloween party. If he’d prepared he could have been Indiana Jones. He could throw on his suit of armor if he wanted to and go as a Viking but that felt a bit like cheating. He was a Viking by birth and anyone who knew him would know that. And then a thought struck him. It was one of those stupidly brilliant ideas.

Hinrik threw on a grey button down shirt, buttoning just the last button and leaving the rest open before putting on his grey suit. He attached a tail to his belt and threw on a headband with a pair of ears. He took a selfie quickly and sent it to his sister, knowing that she would likely laugh at his outfit.

And then he headed out leaving Grendel with her favorite chew toy. He walked over to where the party was to be held, trailing behind a few other students it seemed. He walked down the path of pumpkins and into the party, looking around as he did. There was a small number of students milling about, mostly people he didn’t know. But there was his girl and she was looking like a whole snack in that outfit.

Hinrik sauntered over to Aiden. He knew this was probably a bad idea. He hadn’t told her he was coming. He was intruding without warning, but if he didn’t then she would run away and hide from him. So he strolled over. “Like the costume, Aiden. Viking looks good on you.” He turned towards Clark Kent. “Don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Hinrik.” He held out a hand for a handshake.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty felt incredibly foolish waiting around for other people to get to the party. She had been so excited and now she wasn't so sure of herself. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. She wasn't even supposed to be at parties with the mourning. But she had missed people so much while they had all been away.

She was relieved when she noticed someone else made it to the party. She wasn't sure if she'd seen him before, but she figured probably not. She smiled in return as she sipped her cider.

She nodded. The music was alright and would likely be ready to dance to if Dusty had had a mind to. She had attended the party, but she wouldn't be dancing at it. The fact that she couldn't dance wasn’t even a factor in this decision. "I reckon it's what's popular at these sorts of parties. I prefer bluegrass myself. It's kinda twangy but still good to dance to."

She smiled at the boy. "I'm Dusty," she told him. "Are you new?"