[quote=Alzar ]They show up only very slightly late, dragging a fashionable silk sack. When they sit down, it becomes apparent that the sack is filled with rats. (Fancy rats, at that.)
"Greetings! Could I maybe interest anyone in some rats? I heard that there weren’t any being served, so I brought my own."
They immediately begin swallowing down the rats, barely stopping to chew. Their mask is picking up some rather worrying stains.[/quote]
"I’m afraid I don’t particularly care for the taste of rat. I prefer wine." Lord Gazter takes a sip from his drink and then places it back onto the table.
"Join us in a drink, our rat-hungry companion! What shall we call you? And pardon, Ms Konstantynopolska. I mistook you for someone else behind that mask. We have vodka, and knowing your fondness for tea I’ve taken the liberty of ordering a kettle."
Professor Thursday pours several shots about the table. "Now then - normally I’m a whiskey man. Or wine man. Or ale man. But tonight I’ll follow your lead Ms Konstantynopolska." The Professor takes a shot of vodka, splashing a bit on his petals like drops of dew.
"The thing is, my dear Maria - (may I call you Maria?) - I am here to do two things tonight. As a botanical avatar of love, it is my desire to play matchmaker for my fellow revelers. If it is women you want, it is women you shall have." He takes another shot.
"The second, well, it’s a time-honoured Hallowmas tradition. To make confessions to our faceless fellows, trusting in the sacred bond of a confidence shared between those in masks. So. Anyone in need of the former? And any volunteers for the latter? Lord Gazter? Mr Hamilton? Or you, sir, with the rat in your mouth?"
He takes another shot. "Oh, also I’m here to drink heavily."
“Ah greetings newcomers… Rysiek I believe we have seen each other in the inflamatory salon.” Mr. Hamilton says as he turns to Alazar and sits down. “Not to be impolite but… are you a raggedy man?”
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! How very rude of me." They wipe their mouth on a sleeve of their otherwise fine bombazine cloak. It comes away sticky and dripping, the blood sinking into dark fabric. Even though the wings of their mask sweep over their eyes, leaving no avenue of vision, they turn to face one Mr Hamilton. "Please, call me A----. Not A-----, thank you. I can’t say I’m a raggedy man, just an individual of… particular tastes."
They set the sack of rats below the table. An almost manic grin spreads below the wings of their mask, only made more unnerving by the rat blood between the furrows of their teeth. "If you would give me a moment to finish this," they gesture to the half rat in one gloved hand, "I would certainly like to take part in the festivities!"
A little more blood seeps into their gloves as they take another bite of the raw, dead rat. Thankfully, their manners prevent any rat blood from spilling onto the table itself.
(OOC: Rysiek was never in the Salon. If he met someone there, it was either Maria (who is here) or Asha (who isn’t))[li]
Maria grins "You know, you are the first person, expect Eli, who TRIED to pronounce my surname and wasn’t polish. Even the Okhranka didn’t know it because they could neither pronounce nor write it down. Didn’t stop them from arresting me. Which still makes you the first english person to do so." She takes a quick look at Alzar (if it isn’t the char you use, just write the name and I will correct that), empties the glass, pulls out her own bottle from her jacket and refills it "And to confising me with someone else" she takes a quick look at her chest "I may not have a hourglass figure, but I am still female. I know it may be a bit hard to see due to my breasts not having the size of a tea kettle, but I have them" she laughs
Krawald comes back to the table. They have exchanged their Harlequin mask for a completely black mask with no visible holes for the eyes and a veil covering their hair. “Does anybody need to confess? My memory is a well that will trap all confessions.”
((I would prefer to simply be A----, but it makes no difference either way.))
The rat’s tail disappears like a noodle down their throat, if noodles were pinkish-pale and dripped with blood. And also made tiny crunching noises. "If it counts, I murdered someone the other day and ate his body because I couldn’t figure out where to put it. It was disgusting and I regretted it almost immediately, especially after I realised he was filled with foul-tasting wax."
They shiver and take a drink. edited by Alzar on 11/2/2016
“Ah, er, well, your confession of violence has been noted. By everyone around, or so it seems. If others would prefer a more private setting, there are some dark corners we could use.”
[You can send me your confessions over private messages.]
Maria, not even thinking, draws her revolver, aims it at A----, before realizing what she did and putting it back "The next time, somebody offers a confession which involves eating… people, I will put their body in a coffin for… Władysław Prószkowski-Chęczszczcina and throw it into the Zee." Maria said, looking completely horrified[li]
Now, my Lady, there is no need for violence. On a day such as this one, even the strangest confessions should be accepted with equanimity. But how about you, do you have anything you wish to speak of?"
They tilt their head at her, entirely nonplussed. Their expression is difficult to read when the mask sweeps over their entire face, but they return to their rats and half shrug. “Ah, it makes no difference either way. Nothing is private, and I really don’t feel like just abandoning my rats for something I don’t care about revealing.”
They pick up another rat and begin carving it down its belly with a knife. (The knife fills the rat’s body with boiling wax, which sizzles on contact with the air. They curse and discard the rat.)
Maria turns away from Alzar, to avoid nightmares "Kradnę. I to dużo! I jestem dumna z tego! I chciałam czasem zabić kilku ludzi!" The whole sentence arrived in atound a second. Not that anyone would have understood it anyways. She spoke about wanting to kill a few people and being proud to be a thief[li]
“Ah - a Snuffer. I’m sure Alzar had a good reason, then, to kill this individual. Perhaps the Snuffer was trying to steal their face?” The Professor looks to Alzar helpfully, though his face doesn’t bear the same optimism as his words.
You hear the sound of a gong, seemingly emanating from everywhere (you suspect a clever cook with a very large soup pot). A space on the floor has been cleared, and a nervous looking string quartet begins to play.
(The dance floor is now open in a separate thread to anyone who wishes to dance) edited by pillbox on 11/2/2016
The Professor turns to Maria. “Lepiej chce kogoś zabić, niż kogoś zabić,” he says kindly. “Forgive me - my Polish is a bit rusty. As for the thefts - well, I’ve certainly ordered more wine from the Surface with Benthic funds than what is strictly needed for my research. Mycoenology. The science of producing wine from mushrooms, you see.”
They look away. Or at least turn their masked face away. The mask is getting to become a little bit of an impediment to conversational norms. "Ah, no. No snuffers were involved, it was just poor habit with one of my knives. Wax ends up in the most inconvenient of places." They kick the waxy rat away beneath the table. "And the person in question was someone who stole something very important to me. I wouldn’t know if you’d consider that a good reason to eat them."
They cough politely. Beneath their glove, if you’re watching closely, there is a tiny white rat bone that they seem to have coughed up.
"Ha! Alzar!" The professor mirthfully claps them on the back as he laughs uproariously. "What a wicked sense of humour you have! Imagine! Eating someone for stealing! A fine joke indeed!" Amidst gales of laughter, the professor braces his hands on the table to keep from falling.
"Also your candy rats are quite clever. A charming addition to our Hallowmas table!" Professor Thursday turns his attention to a bottle of champagne, and - POP! - soon everyone’s glass is frothing.