Party Like It's Your Birthday [OPEN!] [Mingle-friendly]

[niepokonany]

Who: Feliks and anyone and everyone!
What: Big fancy noble birthday party!
When: November 11th
Where: The Łukasiewicz family estate in Union
Summary: Missing Boyfriend Quest kept Feliks from fulfilling his social duties, so for his birthday, his grandparents are shoving him back into noble society! But that's boring, so Feliks invited the ill-bred masses to come and make his birthday party actually fun.





It's been a long time since Feliks put in much of an appearance at any kind of noble function. When was the last time? Lux's birthday, maybe? Ages ago.

Now that his main reason for being away all the time is gone, though, his grandparents made it pretty immediately clear that he isn't going to get out of his social obligations forever. And what better opportunity than his birthday to throw a party and get him back into the whole noble thing? It's sort of like they're trying to re-debut him to Polite Society or something, he thinks.

Of course, Feliks doesn't care much for Polite Society, as much as he cares for his noble friends, so he's taken the liberty of inviting everyone else to come and keep him entertained. More guests mean more presents anyway, right?

The Łukasiewicz family might not be quite as prominent as some of the bigger, richer noble families, but they rather famously never do anything by halves. Every cobweb has been cleared out of the old ancestral residence that his grandparents stay in, every inch of marble and gold and mahogany in the place polished to a brilliant shine. Flickering candles and glittering overhead chandeliers light the entirety of the estate with a warm glow, from the elaborate ballroom down to the quieter sitting rooms and balconies, and there are lush floral arrangements everywhere, set into vases or twined around pillars and draped over doorways. A large orchestra is set up in the ballroom (which is left otherwise rather open to encourage people to dance), where they're alternating familiar dance tunes with a surprising number of adapted songs from Calderan and Citadel music, even one or two from as far off as Sanctuary or Glacier. Wherever people aren't dancing, a number of humanoid Pokemon in snazzy little butler outfits are wandering around with trays of drinks and fancy little hors d'oeuvres, offering them to anyone who looks thirsty, hungry, or in need of something to do with their hands. (The Gardevoirs are particularly adept at singling out people who need something.) A Blissey at the door (his grandfather's, Feliks thinks?) seems to be in charge of greeting everyone and taking their coats for them.

The guest of honor is dressed relatively conservatively (for him) this evening -- though for Feliks, all that means is that he felt more like wearing pants than a skirt this time. He is still wearing a wine-red tailcoat over a ruffly cream-colored shirt and a gold brocade waistcoat, with gold trim on his tight brown breeches and knee-length boots that have a bit more heel than is strictly considered normal for a man. (What good is "normal" anyway, right?) There are moments when he looks a little overwhelmed by all the people, but with several good friends in attendance, he's able to largely keep it together and enjoy himself, mingling with his friends and dancing with anyone who so much as stands close enough to the dance floor to get dragged in.

[[OOC: Going to put up a couple of headers for different areas of the party; feel free to use this as a mingle post and interact with each other!]]

Comments

[untalented]

[The stranger's approach was unanticipated....but, not entirely unwelcome either. She looked like she had been out in the wilderness for the last few weeks, likely exploring the unknown, and there was one thing Waver had come to understand was a trait shared between academics and explorers: a sense of awkwardness in a crowd, and an appreciation for solitude. ]

You could say it's something like that, [Waver replied, thinking over his word choice carefully. Feliks was one of the few friends that he did have, even if he didn't know what to make of the frilly, flambouyant young man.]

He's....something else. Are you a friend? He's hard to miss in this city.

[copperpiercing]

I met him once. Over the Warp Band. He's... hard to miss.

[She agrees with Waver's sentiment, suffice to say. Which is a little funny, coming from a guy who incidentally looks like Feliks. She shrugs her shoulders.]

I'm mostly here for the food. And, uh, the... companionship.

[...yeah, she'll go with that.]

[untalented]

[They weren't related, honestly. Their uncanny resemblence was strange even for the both of them-- and part of the reason Waver suspected that Feliks liked dragging him along into everything.]

Well, companionship is one thing you'll get more than enough of in this place. Once Feliks decides he likes someone, he holds onto them harder than a Flabebe holds onto it's flower.

[He shook his head, having long since given up on trying to understand the incomprehensible Fairy-type.]

--My name's Waver Velvet, [he said after a moment, awkwardly.] You're here just to not be alone, right? That'd be the two of us, if so.

[copperpiercing]

Does he? I guess I can see that.

[Feliks seemed to like her well enough. It makes sense. She hesitates, though, when he gives his name. Vin looks at Waver, then she nods.]

Yeah. I decided to come because... it beat being alone.

[Which as close as she'll come to admitting that coming to a new city can feel lonely. Vin doesn't deal well with lonely.]

I'm Vin. [a pause] ...Just Vin.

[untalented]

[Waver didn't deal well either, although solitude was something he had grown accustomed to over the years. Being part of two worlds and simultaneously not part of any does that to a person-- and coming to Union had been the best decision he had made in his short life.]

Vin. All right. It's nice meeting you.

[Although his typing was Psychic, he wasn't of the sort who could read minds. Still, he knew the look of someone who didn't want to be pressed further....

So, he didn't.]

...I shouldn't be surprised that he threw a party this big and invited everyone in the city. Feliks is strange like that...and he's probably trying to annoy someone, somewhere.

[The young man was a fickle Skitty, the sort who liked to rule the party and did what he wanted regardless of consequences...and he took a strange pleasure in pestering people.]

[copperpiercing]

Yeah, you too.

[It's said bluntly, but... not dismissively. That's just how Vin talks. She looks away from him to glance around the party for a moment. A lot of the people are dressed up nicely, but... Feliks really did open it up to the masses.]

It's kind of strange. But... it's nice, too, in a way.

[She looks back at Waver.]

Some people probably never come to parties like this. It's a good chance to see what it's like.

[Then her head tilts, and she gets a tiny smile on her face.] And if he's trying to annoy someone, he's doing it in style. That's something.

[untalented]

He'd be glittering so much that it would be in your clothes for weeks if he heard you say that.

[The voice of experience? Perhaps. Gods only knew how many sweaters had been sacrificed to glitter and tears for the sake of the wisp of a young man.]

But I think opening it up was also part of his point. He's very open to anyone who seems nice enough, no matter where they're from or what their heritage is.

[And, speaking as a self taught Magus from Sanctuary, who had a rocky start with Feliks because of the actions that some of the elder Magi had pulled with the Homunculus projects, that was saying quite a bit.]

[copperpiercing]

That's a lot of glitter.

[From what she gathered of Feliks, though, it fits. And the other point... well, that's why Vin thinks he's all right. He didn't seem to blink an eye at her being clearly poor. And a thief.]

He is? I wasn't sure. I'm glad it's not just a stunt to make someone angry. He seemed... sincere, though.

[It's a compliment.]

How did you meet him?

[untalented]

By accident.

[Waver shrugged, holding up his hands almost helplessly.]

I was lost in town during my first week here, and he glittered at me instead of giving me directions when I asked. After forty-five minutes of trying on silly hats, he finally pointed me in the right direction....

And we just kept meeting up. It was very strange.

[copperpiercing]

I didn't know glittering was something you can do at people. [a beat] ...Hats?

[She has some difficulty imagining Waver in a silly hat. She's seen hats she thought were silly, of course. Some of the elder Magi could wear big wizard's hats and the like.]

I guess it makes sense. Were the hats fun, at least?

[untalented]

He's a Fairy-type. They glitter when they get excited.

[Which, for Feliks, was quite frequently.]

I think he was just excited he got someone to play with him. It was interesting enough, for my first time around town.

[copperpiercing]

...Huh. Makes sense, I guess.

[Fairy-types are sparkly. She learned that much. Vin accepts glitter as a simple truth now.]

I can see that. He seems pretty excitable. How do you like Union, anyways? I just got here, too.

[untalented]

It's been a few months for me, but...

[He took a breath, a look of intense concentration in his eyes as he tried to sum up the adventures thus far in a few simple and concise words.]

I think....I think Union is the place to be, with how the world is anymore. Everything is moving-- and this city is at the center of it.

Would you believe that they've only ended their voluntary isolation within just the last few years? And already, in that short amount of time, the people here have had a huge impact on this world.

[copperpiercing]

I wouldn't, if I hadn't heard about it.

[Seen it herself. Union's forces, after all, were at the forefront of the liberation of Sanctuary. Even with the problems she'd seen... she couldn't argue with Waver's assessment.]

It's a good reason to be here. There is something different about them.

[Vin hesitates.]

I wish I knew what.

[untalented]

...I think it's the fact that they really do live up to their name.

['Union.' He had been impressed by how they had liberated Sanctuary as well, and had seized the opportunity to leave the city alongside of as soon as he was able to. It was a decision that he hadn't regretted yet.]

[copperpiercing]

...Mm. I see what you mean.

[They tried to bring everyone together. Cities that hadn't known the other exists now worked with these newcomers. They kept adding them to their circle of allies.]

[But, a small voice in the back of her head whispers that it's too good to be true.]

Seems like they're as good a people as any to throw in with, then.

[untalented]

That's my opinion too-- and the reason why I stayed here instead of Caldera.

[Even though Sanctuary and Caldera shared an ancient alliance, he found the people of the desert city to be too wild for his sensibilities. Union, however, was an excellent place for an academic to set down a foundation for all sorts of research that may be of interest down the line.]

[copperpiercing]

[Vin nods. She can handle wild. It's not her speed, but... she can keep up. But, the attitude here is... it's nice enough. Different than Sanctuary, to be sure. She appreciates that.]

I haven't been to Caldera yet. I should see it sometime.

[untalented]

Go prepared for half naked men and extremely spicy food, [Waver warned, flatly.]

That said, they're everything you'd expect them to be.

[copperpiercing]

...Everything you'd expect of a place with extremely spicy food and half naked men?

[It feels easy enough for her to imagine.]

[untalented]

Yeah. You're asking as if there's something else to expect.

[Because sure, there was a desert, a volcano, and relentless heat.....but most people didn't travel to Caldera for the landscape. They travelled there for the fighting-types, the spicy food, and the half naked men.]

[copperpiercing]

I don't know. It's a little comforting to think the city is that straightforward. It's not for me, though.

[Actually, maybe Vin would be okay with some all of those things.]

Maybe I'll go look sometime.

[untalented]

[Not as straightforward? What a curious word choice...

Eh, well. It was their first meeting-- and none of his business.]

I'd recommend it. The curry there is better than anything here, even if the desert sands are uncomfortably hot.

[copperpiercing]

Curry, huh? Does it have meat? I can't... quite get used to Unionite food.

[She wants some meat, dammit. She likes meat; it was a treat.]

[untalented]

Of course they do. Anyone who's tried a proper curry knows that you need a good meat base for it!

[Meat indeed was a treat-- these people in Union just didn't understand the joys of a properly made shepherd's pie!]