voyagers | party post } { fool and king, ghoul and ghost

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party post } { fool and king, ghoul and ghost

On the evening of the twenty-ninth, the ballroom on the main deck of the boat is decked out in lavish black and gold, thanks to Carol and Sophie, and the assistance of the very strong men they enlisted to help (thank you, boys). It's been a while since Carol has thrown a full out ball, and she liked the chance to stretch her event planning limbs again, even if those attending are mostly the ghost robots in their cater waiter wear.

A soft music is playing over the guests as they enter. As they pass through the threshold, there's a table with simple masks for them to choose from, in case they've forgotten their's. Once they pass through the main archway, they'll find their way to the large dance space where the ghost robot band is sitting, because live music is so much better than a recording, and they actually don't sound half-bad, all things considered. They also take requests, so feel free to tell them that song where you always wondered what it would sound like with a full orchestral backing. There's a large, expansive dance floor in the middle, and you're welcome to get out there and shake your groove thing whenever you see fit.

Tables with food line the far left wall of the room, as well as clusters of tables for the guests to sit when they so choose. There's also an open bar nestled into the far corner, for all your alcoholic needs. There are also plenty of dark corners to slip into, if you don't want anyone to see what you're doing, however the narration suggests watching those dark corners carefully. Rabbit holes lurk in pretty much every shadowed area of the ballroom and while they won't always drop you into a strange location of your choosing, there's a high chance they will. There's probably a high turnover of people arriving back in the ballroom, looking like they've gone five rounds with a bull.

Probably because they have.

The boat seem to want to promote this event as much as possible. While not everyone loves a good ball, some non-attenders may suddenly find themselves in attendance, completely dressed and no idea of how they got there. Trying to leave? Might not go so well either. For some, socializing isn't so much a choice as a punishment, but there are probably plenty of people to help you have a good time.

Or you could go on a trip to Narnia. One never really knows.

[OKAY BALL IS GO sorry I was late getting this up. Rabbit Holes are to be used at your discretion, but if you need suggestions or want me to randomize something for you, just shoot me a PM/private plurk/ping me (

iluvroadrunner6) and I will give you a scenario. Otherwise, mix, mingle and have fun with all the pretty formal wear. o7 Actionspam/prose/whatever floats your boat for this, it was easier to just write up the top part in prose.]

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[ it's not that she doesn't want to see him; she has no reason to be upset with him and he strikes her as a good person faced with very lousy choices.

she's just not sure that he'd want to see her, and after everything she learned about the world she could've ended up in had teleios not gotten to her first, she could hardly blame him. she isn't the elena that he knows and remembers, isn't the elena that lived through every ordeal along with him, but she feels remnants of guilt for that person's actions in many ways.

still, she smiles softly at the compliment, looking down at the dress the ship decided she wear. ] Thank you. [ she eyes him a bit curiously, her elbows still propped on the railing before her. ] You didn't strike me as the kind of person that would want to go to a ball.

[there is absolutely nothing that either this elena or the other elena has to feel guilty about. james wouldn't be surprised that she felt the remnants of that guilt anyway though there is no reason for her to feel it, nothing she is at fault for. of course, he wants to see her again. james breathes in, pushing off from the wall as he takes a slow step up beside her to where she stands by the railing.]

My... little sister wanted me to come. She helped set it up and volunteered me and my brother for the heavy lifting so I'm here for her. Balls happen often in the universe I'm from.

[he rests against the railing, bringing the glass up to his mouth as he takes a long drink from it and looks sideways at her. the way she looks is so incredibly striking to him always. he feels that twist in his heart that is hers and hers alone.]

I'm... just currently hiding.

[ elena watches him from her vantage point when he comes to join her.

there's a certain way he moves that is compelling, and she can't help but observe. a smile touches her lips at the revelation he has a sister, and she ducks her head a bit once he looks sideways at her. it's strange, to think of another version of her meeting him and living with him so many things that seem like a far off story to her, even if he doesn't. he's familiar to her, somehow, and she can't quite explain how or from where, just that he is. that she likes his company, even if it's complicated.

she leans in before she says: ]

I'm currently hiding, too.

[ it's a low whisper, as though she is sharing with him an incredibly important secret. ] So if you don't mind, maybe we can hide together.

[james turns toward her too, tilting his head to the side. there is always something very easy about interacting with elena gilbert whether that is an elena that he has been through all of those things with or it is one that has never met him. there's an ease to their interactions that he doesn't really find with very many people. connecting to people has always been this struggle with him, but it isn't when it comes to her.

he smiles a tiny smile when she leans in. something aches in his chest at the familiarity of it. she has no way of knowing at the first event that they ever attended together back home, she found him... hiding in the coat closet among all of those coats. and they hid together multiple times in coat closets... and did more than hide in those coat closets. it feels like a very, very long time ago.

james leans in slightly too with a tiny smirk that is almost a smile, which tugs across his face.]

I don't mind at all. You're very good company. [he pulls back slowly, lifting the glass to his mouth to take a sip from it before he looks at her curiously.] What are you hiding from?

[ she would be happy to know that he finds it easy.

she finds him easy to talk to, as well. the rusty smiles and the pauses in between his answers don't go unnoticed by her - not much about him goes unnoticed by her, and that has become especially true since she's realized he knows her, or a version of her - but that doesn't make it any less easy to communicate with him. there's a quietness and perceptiveness to him he likely doesn't realize, and his leaning in as well makes her smile just a tiny bit wider. ]

You're not half-bad yourself, you know. [ snarky elena gilbert. she can be something of a little shit, but she means that entirely. in the sense that he is more than not half-bad company, of course.

leaning further against the railing, there's a moment where she looks down at the water below them. she's always wondered what would happen if someone were to fall toward its depths - remembers her heart catching in her throat when she saw ethan and damon both so close to that edge. ] ... I'm not sure.

[ and she's not, really. she looks back to him, her expression still soft and her smile almost self-deprecating. ] I don't want anyone to think I'm not having a good time. [ because she is, she just has her moments, and she thought it might be better if she had them away from where all the fun is, before she could return to it. ]

[james has always found it very easy to talk to her even if in general, he isn't very good at talking to people. socialization is not a skill that he has anymore. he used to be so good at it, used to be so charming and open and good at talking to people. he looks over at her with a tiny smile at what she says, recognizing that snark of hers.

it is very familiar to him.]

That's very nice of you. [he smirks sideways at her, and there's fondness in that smirk, a familiarity that is likely strange to her given she has only just met him.

he remains against the railing, leaning against it a bit even as he looks sideways in her direction. he shakes his head at what she says with a tiny smile of his own.] You don't have to be sure.

You also don't have to have a good time all the time. Sometimes you can just take a moment to... take a moment. Or more than a moment. [it's said quietly as his hand rests against the railing, bringing the glass up to his mouth to drink from it slowly.]

[ a rueful smile touches her lips.

he makes a lot of sense, and it isn't the kind of sense that elena can argue with, not least of all because he's - well, he's james. there's something about him that's comforting and understanding, like maybe he does get it. ]

It sounds like you speak from experience.

[ she quirks an eyebrow upward in light challenge, watching him as he brings that glass up to his mouth. ]

[james takes that long drink from his glass before he turns to look at her, catching sight of the way her eyebrow lifts upward in challenge.

he smiles a tiny bit, and it tugs a little further even in its rustiness.]

It... tends to be harder for me to have fun than otherwise.

I often have to take endless moments, and balls are very common for me in my universe. [very, very common.]

I'm just... not very good at them anymore.

Then you must love your sister very much.

[ it's said with a tiny smile. if they're common and he dislikes them that much, the fact he's here at all shows how much he wants to make her happy, and elena can't help but respond to that. ]

Anymore?

[ elena prompts him without necessarily meaning to. he doesn't have to give her more information than he wants to - he's already given her plenty of information as it is - but she can tell there's a story there.

he used to be good at them, and now he's not. ]

I do. It's something we have always had in common. How much... we love our siblings, how much we would do for them, give for them.

[james looks over at her with a small, rusty smile but it is there, and he meets her gaze after a moment at that question. then he looks back out at the pool again, looking into the water of it.]

The mark... takes.

Before I was a Hunter, before I made that choice, I was... different.

Charming, sociable, good... at parties.

[James shakes his head slightly because he is not any of those things anymore.]

Smiled easily. Connected... more easily. [to people.]

[ elena is already looking his way when he turns to her, and she smiles softly in return. it's nothing she can argue with. jeremy comes first. she hasn't seen him in what feels like so long, but he is still the most important thing in the world. he should always come first. to know that he feels the same is reassuring, since he's in that world where jeremy is, even if she isn't.

not technically. ]

Did you want it to?

[ take, that is. elena is perceptive, and her questions likely demonstrate that. the softness in her features remains, but now there is sorrow to accompany it. compassion shortly follows as she waits for his answer. ]

[there is a pause at the question. it does demonstrate how perceptive elena is, but james knew that about her already. james breathes in deeply and then out again as he thinks back to that moment that he chose, and he knows... he had no idea what he was getting into then.]

At the time I chose it, I felt so much grief and anger. I might have thought... I wanted it to, but I didn't know what it would mean.

I was eighteen. My parents had been killed... less than a year before. I wanted to destroy what had taken them. I thought the cost would be worth it, but I had no idea.

[the cost. had no idea what all it would take, how it would feel, how terrifying it would be to fill those pieces gone one after the other until there was just the hollowness

or so he'd thought.]

I'm so sorry, James.

[ that's what she says, first and foremost. she has a feeling the elena he is accustomed to already knew about this, or he might not admit it so willingly, but it strikes a chord within her deeply ... for reasons he likely already knows, too. it doesn't mean she can't say it, because it's true, and she feels it.

she is quiet for a very long moment, letting that settle in between them. when she speaks again, it's almost tentatively. ]

Now that you do - [ have an idea ] - if you could go back, would you still do it?

[ she wonders about her own choices. if she could go back, and do things differently. ]

[james swallows thickly, breathing in deeply as he nods at what she says, looking down between the two of them. he knows why it would strike a chord with her too. they have shard so much, so much more than this elena can imagine, but he knows she is perceptive enough to guess at just how deep and weighted their relationship is.

his eyes burn after a moment at the question. it comes suddenly, unexpectedly. the question makes him pause before he nods.]

Yes. I would still do it.

[there's a long pause that follows.]

I wouldn't have met you if I hadn't.

[that's the truth of it. and the truth of the meaning she has to him always. even if they had met, he doesn't know if their relationship would be like what it became (how beautiful and wonderful and perfect exactly the way that it was).

and he knows that jeremy would be dead too if he hadn't gone through with getting that mark all those years ago, if he didn't have the resources that only a Hunter would have to get them that blood.

either one of those reasons alone would be enough for him to go through with it despite what he knows now about how much it takes.]

[ if she hadn't already guessed at the depth of their relationship, soon enough she does with his answer. he doesn't regret the mark, because he met her. it all suddenly becomes very clear to her, and she finds that she can't answer, at least not immediately. the weight of those words remains in between them, as elena looks at him thoughtfully.

regards him in this quiet, new light. marvels at the kind of life they must've had together. ]

James...

[ she reaches up with her hand to cradle his cheek. a slow, nearly imperceptible smile follows as her hand lingers there, her palm cradling the side of his face. she doesn't have to ask, no. she doesn't even have to wonder. it isn't far-fetched at all to believe an elena in his world would've fallen rather madly in love with him. ]

I'm glad she did meet you.

[ she is glad they had each other, that when he returns to his world it will be one where she is in it, and she is with him, with jeremy. she doubts things are simple, because they rarely are, but that's okay. ]

[james can see that understanding in her gaze as he looks at her, how she starts to process exactly what they mean to each other. it fills up his chest with this intensity that is impossible to put to words, but he smiles when she looks at him thoughtfully as if confirming all those ways she is now looking at him that she didn't before.

he leans into her touch when she cradles his cheek, and he is still smiling back at her, seeing the depth of the understanding that she now has. grateful that he has been able to give that to her without spelling it all out directly. she should know. he wants her to know the meaning that she has to him.]

I'm really glad she did too.

[it's said softly with something almost amused in the sound, because he has already made that obvious, but he can't help say it again.

his life is far, far, far better and forever changed for that better for having her in it, for knowing and for loving her. whatever happens, wherever he may be, that will always be true.

always.]

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party post } { fool and king, ghoul and ghost

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