on this the night all hallows' eve

[sailmods]

who: the living and the damned
when: October 31st, 8PM to 11:59 PM
where: around the main pool on deck 6
what: HALLOWEEN PARTY, 1/2
warnings: TBA

[as you exit the elevator and walk towards the pool deck on Halloween night, you follow a sort of labyrinth of panels and decorations. about halfway through the maze, a scythe swings into your path, and a tall animatronic crackles to life:]

It is harvest time. I can smell it in the air. And I sense your soul is ripe for harvesting as well. When your time comes, my scythe will cleave your soul right off the vine like a ripened pumpkin. Time for carving!

[welcome to Halloween aboard the Serena Eterna.

the Infinite Spirit Halloween has been put to good use by a crack team of Mizuki and Ebalon, and half of it seems to now be located around the deck on the main pool. the pool has been dyed a swamp-like green; fake plastic vines and (hopefully) fake plastic limbs float in the waters. there are fog machines studded throughout that are putting out a frankly dangerous amount of fog, and it can be pretty difficult to tell if your next step is onto the floor or directly into the pool.

there is food available on a long table on the side, but it’s entirely the usual fare found in the buffet, though there are also two punch bowls: one is a delicious fruit punch, and the other is about 99% vodka and then a single orange. the bar is also open, with extra liquor bottles scavenged from the other bars on the ship. Halloween music plays from unseen speakers.

Friday is here, and dressed in costume, but never seems to stop fussing and rushing around long enough to actually have a conversation with. but, hey! Jenny is here! hooray!

have fun. you have ‘til midnight.]

Comments

[serialskiller]

"I hope it isn't necessary to draw it tonight."

With other people, it'd consider a warning comment about not pulling it out unless necessary. But Cassandra, it knows, isn't going to jump into violence without damned good reason.

[not_the_last]

"I hope so too, but ... I'd rather have it and not need it than the other way around, I suppose."

Her gaze travels around the party. "Do they have this holiday where you're from? Everyone seems to know it."

[serialskiller]

"I don't remember ever having been at a celebration of this holiday before, but that doesn't preclude it being marked by anyone in the Corporate Rim. It might be that I've simply never been active in a place where it's been celebrated, or that I've been exposed to it but my memory has been purged since then. But as far as I know, it's new to me, too."

Was she looking for a simple yes or no? Oops, too bad.

[not_the_last]

Sometimes things aren't simple. She knows that much.

"Playing at being scared," she says quietly, her eyes on the pool.

[serialskiller]

"If you make it ridiculous, maybe it won't be scary anymore. Or something. I don't know. I don't understand it and at this point, I don't care enough about what the holiday is supposed to be to ask." It shrugs.

[not_the_last]

She tilts her head in acknowledgment.

"Do you want to come get a drink with me?"

[serialskiller]

"I can't drink without taking off the helmet." And it isn't inclined to do that. There's an odd sense of security in its face being unseen. "But I'll accompany you, of course."

[not_the_last]

"Thank you." She starts toward the drinks table, trusting it to follow.

She's not about to ask why it doesn't want to take off the helmet; if it wanted her to know, it would tell her.

[serialskiller]

It does follow, falling into place like a proper bodyguard. It's programmed for those sorts of assignments, even if it hadn't had any in the recent years before ending up here. Not like this, at least.

(It can almost imagine, though, how it might have fallen into that role with Doctor Mensah more, if it had followed her home instead of running away.)

"Is your costume meant to represent a specific person, or more a role?"

[not_the_last]

"More a role, I think. I considered various specific people, and then ... I realized nobody else here would recognize them."

Glancing up at his costume: "What about yours?"