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 Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:14 pm
alois scholz (unmasked) || 25/25 || taking a short break from errands The scarlet foyer grew far too oppressive with the voume of people condensed into its area. Despite the multitude of locations within the court, everyone preferred the claret draperies and dramatic furniture to the other rooms apparently. A foyer, in his opinion, did not allow enough room for others to relax comfortably. That simply wasn’t the duty of a foyer.
But when did sense play into the games of the Sorrowful Court?
Alois dipped and waded through the guests without complaint, though there were times where he wished he possessed no olfactory senses. They proved bittersweet, however, for the small reprieve from concentrating on the pain in knees and wrist. Their aches had not yet faded, and Alois himself only recently stole a handful of ice for his wrist. It was in the later minutes that he realized it was just as painful to treat the burn, as his fingers evaporated into numbness. He tried to disregard it by concentrating on his volume of tasks.
Work in the kitchen, run favors for the guests, grovel to Melany, grovel to Father, too… I’m really getting tired of this s**t. Green eyes searched for signs of Melany or Ezra himself, assuming they may have moved after the incident. No luck. Then continue running wine until my legs break off or I crack my head open on those stairs. What a wonderful night to be had.
Alois took a pause near the fountain and absconded with a fluted glass. Holding it to the sparkling pale peach of the fountain, he filled the glass near to the brim. He then filled a second, and a third, in case such glasses were necessary for the favors asked of him. He did not move from his perch yet - his knees still protested from the endless spiral staircase that he recently descended. The chores would wait, and so would he as he split the ice between wrist and knees.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:01 pm
Autumn Smith 25/25, worrying and Healing AloisAfter going off on the guy for giving her the cold shoulder, Autumn had guilt over learning he was one of the fae-taken. In fact, she was having guilt in general for all the people she hadn't noticed. All the people she failed. Rabbit sprang to mind, and she sighed. How many days at work had they shot the s**t, and she hadn't even noticed...? How had she just gone on and on about books, and never had a clue? The entire thing was just a reminder of what a massive cockup she could be sometimes. What a massive cockup this entire world could be.
Around the fountain, she spotted Alois once more. Nursing more injuries than he had been, the last time they'd met. Her face fell, and pity welled in her chest. What had he done, to deserve this? What had any of them done to deserve to? He might've been rough around the edges, but it wasn't an excuse to sell the guy into slavery. Nothing was, for that matter. Her heels clicking loudly in her ears, Autumn approached him once more. Wordlessly, she moved the ice from his wrists, and began wrapping the torn-dress bandage around them. In another situation, this might've been an enjoyable act. For now, her face held no mirth.
"We've gotta stop meeting like this." And once more, she began taking the pain. Inhale, exhale. Focus. It was only temporary. It wasn't there.
His wrists began to heal.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:27 pm
alois scholz (unmasked) || 25/25 || ugh people suck but hi you're nice Autumn’s coming was well-received; she often proved herself useful tonight, and was one of the first to jump to arms in his defense when he chose insubordination. She looked like she delivered a hefty blow to the Spinel Lady, too, though he wished he could’ve paid more attention beyond the incessant pain of a broken hand. She prevented him from forsaking a lifetime of piano playing just the same. If he considered such choices as debts to be repaid, then he anticipated a long relationship as that between an American student and the government. Luckily, he told himself, he didn’t.
„I didn’t get ze chance to sank you earlier. Zat was ballsy, what you did.“ Another crooked smile.
„It’s just a cigarette burn,“ he started as she took his hands. He didn’t pull away or object further. „And I’d agree.“ He closed eyes momentarily to check his own level of fatigue, and felt the hurt beginnign to fade. She reversed that, too. Highly capable she was in the practice of magic; could the same be said of all guests here? Was it simply her?
„Lucky for me, ze Burning Man is less difficult to mollify zan Melany. He won’t haf’ me broken in half to forgif’ my transgressions. I am disappointed, however - for all ze scene I caused and suffered, it took ze breaking of my hand to spur anyone into action. I don’t understand what zese guests are sinking.“ He watched her work, green eyes following the gentle, deliberate dance of fingertips on skin. „I don’t know why zey continue to operate wis’in ze social constructs of zis ball. Is it not obvious enough zat zere is danger here? Are zey so placated by wine and spirits zat taking control of ze situation is simply an impossible sought? I’m not planning on wholesale martyring myself just to convince zese people to wake up. Zere has to be a way.
„Have you sought of anysing?“
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:39 pm
Autumn Smith 25/25, healing Alois "Well, healing you is just human decency. Kicking that b***h was for me," Autumn replied, unwrapping his wrists when they were done. She methodically moved on to the first of his knees, around the cloth as tight as possible. They'd done a number on Alois, throwing him around like a ragdoll. Melany might've been her first target, but the Thorne doppelganger was high up on her shitlist. She glanced upwards to him, no humor on her features.
"I wanted to play nice as long as I could. See how the rules went. But I've got a bit of a personal beef with people claiming to own each other." She scowled in distaste. "You know. I've read a bit of history before."
Court or no, it'd pissed her right the ******** off. You didn't just get to abused people because of magic. For all their high society and traditions, they were heathens. Disgusting creatures pretending to have some semblance of decency in their being. She loved her friends, but she refused to play the game. Not after what she'd witnessed in the ivory hall.
"It should scare the s**t out of you that I have the kicking strength of a deer. I've broken walls before," she continued, brow furrowing. "The fact that your Melany barely reacted... I don't know why nobody else is shitting themselves over that encounter." But then, she sighed.
"I'm getting mixed clues. They want to kill one of the deer triplets, but their target has human ancestry. The deer triplets are picking tithe, but Pax told me they're personally not involved. Some of them are clearly lying," She murmured, hand laid gently upon his knee. Just a small example of the extent of what they'd do.
"I don't know how to tease out who's lying. How to save anyone. ...How to save you."
She said no more, and focused on his knee. Taking the pain into herself, feeling it. Pushing it out and away from herself.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 8:57 pm
alois scholz (unmasked) || 25/25 || bitchfacing “I don’t do well under aut’ority,“ Alois confessed. It was, perhaps, the most obvious confession he’d ever offered. „But, apparently, ze rest of zis guest list isn’t very familiar wis’ ze history zat still stigmatizes an entire race. To say little of ze rest of ze human slavery episodes in history…“ He breathed a sigh and flexed fingers, thoroughly displeased. He wanted to break face, but couldn’t decide which face sounded most delightful. Melany’s came to mind, of course, but so did the rest of the guest list that simply gawked onward as he was taken to the floor and broken for the Spinel Lady’s pleasure. He considered, briefly, that they felt in danger themselves if they intervened, and that was expected, though he hated that excuse. Alois never imagined living for the sake of survival.
„I wasn’t aware of how hard you can kick. It does not entirely surprise me zat Melany did not react much. She is… Somesing else. Zat much must’f been obvious. But zat is also why we can’t simply leaf’ on our own - no one can stand up to Melany or ze Burning Man when provoked. Puppets for ze sake of living, I suppose, but I’f been looking for opportunities to gain some higher ground on zem. Anysing. I sink… Ze only way we might see zis srough is by playing Musical Masks until ze offerings for murder are unappealing on ze guest side. It places risks on ze citizens here, but…“ s**t. He was still trying to get past that a perfectly normal-looking girl possessed the kicking strength of a deer.
„Anyway,“ he waved away his half-completed sentence, „for what I heard, I belief’ it. Ze deer triplets… Perhaps zey haf’ human ancestry. Has anyone ever asked zem? It might be wors’ investigating. It might be wors’ asking most of ze creatures here if zey haf’ human ancestry. I belief’ you when you say some of zem are lying - I expect ze same myself - but sussing out who demands so much more care and knowledge zan we possess at ze moment. We might need to talk wis’ ze guests and find out what zey know, too. As for who is lying… It may all rest on a hunch. I’m not certain.“ He sighed through his nose, and with the forsaken breath went the pain in his knees. Autumn, he found, was a particularly adept healer.
„Promise me zis,“ he said at last, flatting both palms matter-of-factly on the brim of the fountain. „If zere’s no chance of saving me, zen help me make sure zis place and everyone in it gets ******** to ze deepest parts of hell in my wake. While I’m not terribly attached to life, I don’t want to lose it - but, if I haf’ no choice myself, I am perfectly content wis’ causing as much suffering and mayhem as possible. Everyone here, I sink, deserves it for zeir mob mentality bullshit.“
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:36 pm
Autumn Smith 25/25, talking to Alois "It's hard to act when you fear for your well-being. I just don't fear for myself that much." It wasn't entirely self-depreciative. Mostly, it was the gifted awareness that if her destruction were to come around, she could simply rest it off. It was a luxury most of the Visitors weren't afforded- pain was a long-healing thing, and she couldn't necessarily take all of it. But she could bear it in their place. It was the least she could do.
"I had a similar idea," Autumn agreed, moving now to the other knee. Once more she wound her bandages as she spoke. "Only mine involved trying to get the masks from your doubles, and talking the court into killing one of them instead. To gain Melany's favor, instead of them."
The work and the pain were a welcome distraction from her own rampant thoughts. Were they murderers, offering someone else up instead of one of their own? The fae had stolen lives, but... did they deserve to die, for that? Had their crimes been so bad as to be alternate sacrifices? She closed her eyes, and willed the pain into herself once more. Autumn's knee twinged, the force of the slam coming into her. Inhale, exhale. It wasn't real.
"The deer-" She said, slightly shaky in tone now, "aren't human. Nor have they been. Pax is my friend, and they haven't mentioned it. No matter how many timelines we go through, they serve as Heliodora's handmaiden." And they've seen me die, came unbidden, unpleasantly. Bile in the back of her throat as she wondered, vaguely, how she'd died in the past, time and time again.
Despite herself, Autumn laughed. She stood when the other knee was healed, and wiped the sweat from her brow. She was tired- god it was so much harder lately- but she wasn't going to give up. Wasn't going to abandon someone who needed her.
"I'll raise hell if I can't get you out. It's a promise."
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 9:19 pm
Alois smiled unbidden. His eyes remained on her, transfixed. „It’s curious how people often misinterpret zeir own wors’. Sometimes zey gauge it properly, but zen attribute to it no value. Or less value. Or too much value. Perhaps it’s perspective zat lends us ze opportunity to accurately appraise a man. It’s only srough ze clouded clues of friends zat one can learn to appraise zemselfs.
Or I could just be bullshitting.“ The smile grew wider.
A breath, and he shifted to Autumn’s plan. He raised a hand, long and bony piano fingers poised, and grabbed at the bottom of Autumn’s mask gently. „Zese masks are magic, yes?“ He gave it a gentle tug firstly, then increased in pressure and strength until he jerked at the mystical veil like floss through a carcass. „It’s not coming off. At all. You might not be able to take it off zem simply, but zat doesn’t debunk your plan. I wonder if zere’s not some way you can trick zem into giving up zeir masks, or even convince zeir Patrons to unmask zem? In any case, I won’t be sorry to see zem go. I’m tired of looking at my own face behind a gaudy mask. I’m also sick of taking orders from myself. I wonder if you couldn’t just push each one into ze Burning Man and watch zose masks go up in smoke…“ He peered at the gilded gold as it barred her eyes. Glinting and bare, too delicate to touch, and yet he could not wrench it from her face. A nailed finger ran down the length of the butterfly’s body before it fell away, narrowly missing her skin.
His gaze drifted from the mask, traveling down the length of her nose to her lips to her throat before settling on her manubrium. He stared through it with the intensity of a Vietnam veteran, his thoughts running feverishly high for the occasion. „Maybe zey don’t mention it because zey zemselfs don’t know. We don’t often know our own kin beyond great-grandparents, Autumn, so who are we to say if our ancestors aren’t Jewish, Armenian, even Romani? Since I haf’ to do zese stupid tasks anyway, I’ll look into it. See what I hear.
„Not zat it’s terribly credible, as we’f established.“ He stood, then, and brushed his knees. Deft fingers caught the very rim of one of the wine glasses and he offered it to her wordlessly.
„Also. Danke sehr.“
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:18 am
Was that a compliment? For how cynical Alois had been the whole evening, it certainly felt like one. Her cheeks felt warm, and Autumn laughed despite the serious nature their conversation had taken. The real Alois was far more likeable than his double. Or perhaps Autumn had just met him at a time where she needed humor and kindness, given everything happening this evening. All the talk of death and violence... it was wearing on her. She wasn't going to ignore the task at hand, but it was a welcome reprieve.
She was transfixed when Alois reached for her, only for the seemingly subtle caress to turn to an attempt to rip her mask off. Indignation welled for a moment- betrayal, anger, wanting to steal her safety- only for it to dissipate as it clicked that he was making a demonstration. The masks wouldn't come off. Autumn's hand reached upwards to touch at the delicately woven gold, as she mulled his words over in her mind.
"Let me know if anything comes up. I'll fill you in if I get anything further," she murmured, still trying to figure out the masks. Would they have to hurt the duplicates? For all her talk of sacrificing them, taking the fight into her own hands was different. But it was just like the Spinel Lady, wasn't it? Someone who was hurting people for pleasure. Trying to take a life that wasn't theirs.
She smiled at the wine glass, but shook her head.
"I've... rather had enough to drink, I think. I need to keep my head on my shoulders, if I'm getting through this alive. Particularly since I'm not going to be protected anymore." With that, she raised her hands to untie the mask from the back of her head, and handed it to Alois.
"I have the feeling you need it more than I do."
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:37 am
“Alright. We can meet in ze Garnet Cellar. I haf’ to run back zere often enough anyway, and if I come up wis’ somesing… Well, I’m sure I can send some meandering guest to do my b***h work for me. Everyone else around here seems to be doing just zat.“ The wine glass was pressed to his temple, where its precipitation cooled his skin. Human bodies blazed in a room that wasn’t meant to hold so many.
The offer of the mask was highly curious - much like when Juniper passed hers over to him without worry (or, he suspected, actual thought for the repercussions). He accepted it, naturally - Alois was as much a creature concerned for his own self-preservation as he was clever enough to receive such gifts - but he did not initially don it. Instead, he wrapped the delicate ribbons about the center of the mask, over the body of the butterfly, and slipped it into the pocket of his sarong. „I’m surprised, but I sink you might be right. Ze Spinel Lady didn’t particularly care for me, did she? And being maskless all along leads one to belief’ zat murder isn’t quite out of ze cards. If you’re going about it zis way, zen be careful of stepping on zeir toes. Ze Burning Man likes respect. Ze Spinel Lady likes obedience. I don’t haf’ a bead on Adoelle yet, and ze rest… I don’t know who is or isn’t part of ze committee.
„And if you’re going to turn a perfectly good drink down, zen I guess it’s mine.“ He downed it in a couple gulps, though his face pinched with displeasure afterward. „Never cared for chugging my alcohol.“ He cleared his throat, then dipped the glass into the fountain once more. „I haf’ a plan myself. It requires a little obedience, runs ze risk of taking a lot of obedience, and promises to be a whole lot easier if tipsy.
„But,“ he added, a finger raised to silence objection. „I don’t want Melany spotting me wis’ a mask on. Not just yet. I want zem to be less concerned of me, even if just for a while. Mistakes go unnoticed when eyes aren’t on you.“ Again he downed the refilled glass, and gagged.
„I sink I misspent my teenage days on beer. Wine is too classy for me.“
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 1:23 pm
"Yeah, obedience isn't really my scene. Particularly after kicking Melany in the face. I'll... probably avoid her for a while," Autumn admitted, shrugging nonchalantly. She didn't regret kicking her, absolutely not. Autumn valued human life and dignity, and she'd been after that. It just made the whole game a little bit tougher. In fact...
"You might want to try apologizing, by the way. Save face. Make it like you're really regretful for acting out, and get yourself back into good standing. That way, you're not calling too much attention to yourself." A manipulative plan, but hey. Autumn had read enough court dramas to play the game. There weren't any heaving bosoms just yet, but it played into the whole scenario of it.
"You know, I never drank as a teen. I only do it now, sparingly. I thought this was gonna be a more fun party... but the whole demeaning-another-human-being thing sobered me up pretty well."
Her eyes trailed down to the pocketed mask, and her expression fell more towards neutral. Finally, she sighed.
"Alright. So... the plan is set, then? Get s**t done, and meet back later?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:55 pm
Alois sighed heavily. „Killjoy,“ he muttered under his breath. „Apologizing to Melany wasn’t exactly on my list of ‚exciting sings to do tonight‘, you know. But I see your point. It might take some doing, but I sink I know enough about people like her to suck up appropriately. And trust me, I’ll come find you and kick your a** if you barge into ze black hall to watch,“ he finished, jabbing a finger at her. Playful as he was, the comment sounded half-serious.
„It might be better for me to do just zat. Much of my evening will be taken up wis’ assigned errands and making myself useful regardless. I don’t know if a little cozying up to my previous connections will do much good, but… My plan is to get Vater to put a little fais’ in his prodigal son and perhaps goad him into overriding Melany. A few words of encouragement can do much for a man, you see, especially one wis’ ambition. And I doubt Ezra has no ambition when he sent for my life to be taken over in exchange for a little enslavement practice. Perhaps it might just take a small push for ze second-in-command to change his mind about ze one calling ze shots. It’s sketchy, but my hands are largely tied here. No one would sink twice about me talking to Vater when I’f been wis’ him for so many weeks.“ He shrugged, and set his glass aside. „I just hate playing work horse to everyone else in ze room, so… We’ll see just how long I can tough out zis charade.“
Alois stood then, and the room tilted but once. Hardly perceptible. He smiled, then saluted Autumn in mock American fashion. „Alright zen. If we don’t get our heads kicked in, I’ll see you in ze cellar. And sanks again for ze mask; I’ll be wearing it next we meet.“ He sidestepped the fountain, using its low wall for a third reference point, before he departed through the crowded room.
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