Winter Gala

[justaddh2o]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: Jeopardy
WHEN: Saturday, December 21 from 5:00 p.m. onward into the early morning hours of Sunday, December 22.
WHAT: The Winter Gala Fundraiser for Jeopardy Relief Efforts
WARNINGS: Please include any necessary warnings in your TLs.
NOTES: This post will serve as a catch-all for logs for the entire event (though you’re also welcome to post things elsewhere, of course).

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Well, mostly. In the wake of a near-apocalyptic event, the city of Jeopardy is in need. What started out as an idea to advertise Rikki Chadwick's burgeoning business, after a little more planning and nabbing some ideas from Kenzi's post, she and Rupert have reconfigured and rebranded their idea to focus less on her and more on the relief effort.


Characters will enter the venue after giving a small donation at the door and they will be greeted by a large room lit in blues, soft pinks, and purples. From the ceilings hang snowflakes made of glass. The centerpieces are also made of glass. Come to think of it, nearly all the decorations are made of glass. Except, that is, the mistletoe hanging from several of the rafters and archways. A buffet-style dinner will be served from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., at which point, the buffet tables and seating tables will be cleared away to make room for the makeshift stage for the DJ and a gigantic dance floor.

Drinks will be flowing, music will be playing, and people will be bidding on silent auctions to win everything from one of the centerpieces to a date with their favorite imPort and everything in between. So, eat, drink, and be merry until you can't stay awake any longer. Why not? It's all for a good cause, after all.

Comments

[leatherboots]

[ Oh, now this is an unexpected reaction. Most partygoers have been easier prey than this; they've gushed their thanks, as equally happy to be showered in Rupert's attention as with the glittering glasses of champagne or ruby red wine or balloons of gin and tonic he presses into their hands. He arches his eyebrows in surprised amusement, then laughs indulgently. ]

Oh! Oh, no, that's not what this is at all, I'm afraid. You're crediting me with far richer taste than I sadly possess.

[ He makes a gesture towards the glass he'd placed in David's hand - a pale, cool sauvignon blanc - as if to take it off him. ]

But by all means, I'll fetch you something else if you'd prefer. [ He cocks his head with polite interest. ] Are you a red wine man, is that it?

[helpdesk_hero]

It's not the type of drink. It's the fact that I've no clue who you are, you walked over with the drink, I didn't see it poured, and I don't trust strangers.

[Something he's gotten wary of since this whole Joker thing. Who was to say that the man wasn't going to try and ruin this gesture of good will to the world after all?]

[leatherboots]

Ah, yes! An introduction is warranted, you are quite right. [ Hentzau grins, a glittering thing of amusement and indulgence, and folds himself into an elegant, sweeping bow. ] My name is Rupert von Hentzau. Welcome to my party! Now...

[ Rising from his bow, he swiftly plucks the glass of wine from David's grasp with deft fingers; he takes a sip of it, savouring the taste with expressive thoughtfulness, and declares: ]

Thoroughly unpoisoned, I say. And besides, if I'd wanted to kill you all then perhaps I might have picked a slightly easier way to do it, don't you think? This is all rather elaborate for a simple mass murder.

[helpdesk_hero]

Hardly your party. It's Jeopardy's party. You just threw it.

[David has all that aloof disdain that the upper crust would turn on servants. Except he reserved it for people he didn't think understood the intelligent point he had just made.]

Some poisons require greater quanta. Some drugs do terrible things and not in the instant. So no, you may not have picked an easier way. I still won't share the drink I don't know the source of. And you may not aim for mass murder. Joker was after mass chaos.

[leatherboots]

[ Hentzau rolls his eyes emphatically with a sharp laugh; of course it isn't his party. The particulars of his joke may have been lost on this overly-serious young fellow, he thinks, gestures airily with his reclaimed flute of champagne. ]

"You may lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink" - that's what they say, isn't it? [ His German accent turns the vowels into elongated drawls; he smiles with glittering, albeit forced, cheerfulness in the face of David's paranoia. ] Fine. Entertain yourself as you wish, or don't wish, as you please! In which case you should also keep an eye out for the mistletoe, which I have rigged to explode.

[helpdesk_hero]

That isn’t likely. Unless you have a power that imparts kinetic energy to things. And there’s mistletoe?

[An interesting quandary there. Should he seek mistletoe out and hope that makes his boyfriend manifest? Or maybe lure him under some?]

Are you doing this while ‘try and seduce people with a glance’ thing to everyone? If so, have you seen a gentleman with a snow white suit and blue eyes and red hair about? We got separated and that might get him up to mischief.

[Not that he knows what sort of mischief Damian will find.]

[leatherboots]

Most people, yes, [ Rupert happily admits as he sips first the wine in his left hand, then the champagne in his right. Because he's not exactly going to let either of them go to waste. At Damian's description - because who else but Damian fits that description so perfectly? - he grins broadly. ]

You mean Saint Lorrant? No, I'm yet to have the pleasure of seeing him tonight... [ He regards David with polite interest, eyebrows upraised expectantly as he asks: ]

Whyever would you want to keep him from mischief?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Because he would rather that mischief be focused on himself. Because he would love to enjoy his company and give him the best morsels from the buffet.]

I need his assistance in checking the mistletoe for explosives.

[leatherboots]

Oh, I see. Another kind of mischief.

[ Hentzau tilts his champagne glass at an angle, gesturing towards a beribboned bough of mistletoe hanging barely a few feet away. ]

Perhaps you should start with that one?

[helpdesk_hero]

Ah, but if I head over without Damian, what would be the purpose?

[His boyfriend is who he wants to lure under there. Waiting without that man would mean some stranger could approach.]

[leatherboots]

Ah, I'm afraid if you don't know the answer to that then I certainly cannot help you, [ Hentzau replies with a boyish grin. Perhaps under other circumstances he might have sidestepped under the mistletoe himself and invited David to join him, but the young man seems awfully fixated on only having Damian. Hentzau cocks his head, eyeing David with renewed curiosity. ]

You have a particular fondness for Saint Lorrant, it seems.

[helpdesk_hero]

[Well that was a funny enough line to draw a chuckle from David.]

That does come along with being involved with him, does it not? Or were you sad that someone wanted another man’s attention rather than your... dubious charms.

[leatherboots]

Oh! Oh, absolutely not. [ Rupert grins widely and earnestly presses a hand against his chest, bowing a little as he assures him: ] Kiss who you like! And I daresay he will too...

[ And, hm, interesting. ]

By the by - how do you define 'involved'?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Well, he is certain he has an exclusivity thing for at least another four or so days. But he won’t begrudge Damian kissing others. But he smiles at the very suggestion.]

How would anyone define it?

[leatherboots]

Precisely. Rather a noncommittal breed of word, don't you think? Open to all manner of interpretation.

[ Militantly polyamorous as he is, Rupert knows the value of those curious grey areas within relationships. Boundaries - and the lack of them - are a useful commodity. Rupert considers David carefully as he sips the second of his two drinks, then observes: ]

You're lovers, I take it? If so you might as well say as much.

[helpdesk_hero]

Ah. I get it now. [David has laughter in his eyes, and a smile curling his lips. Oh this is it’s own form of tasty. And with a low curl of possessiveness in his gut he can’t help but keep this going. Because he is intrigued.]

Are you jealous? It’s absolutely alright to be. I’m sure if you seek him out under the mistletoe you’ll be able to steal a kiss. But it’s my arms he’ll be back to at the end of the night.

[leatherboots]

Jealous? [ Rupert laughs breezily at the idea; jealousy brings him out in hives. ] Not once in my life, or may the devil take me down where I stand. Jealousy is an awful thing, it gets in the way.

[ It gets in the way of his fun, he means. He classes 'jealousy' in the same category of 'a pointless sentiment of use to nobody' along with 'monogamy' and 'regret'. Hentzau sips at his wine. ]

The reason I ask is that your name is familiar to me. You are available to be won tonight, are you not? I simply wondered if that lay outside of the bounds of your... involvement.

[helpdesk_hero]

It’s a charity auction, sir. And the raising the money is what matters. That being said, were he to be the one to win my company, he would of course get a far wider range of courses over the night than any other bidder will have on their menus.

[Namely dessert. One Damian will receive no matter who wins.]

[leatherboots]

Of course, raising money is what matters, [ Hentzau echoes with a slow smile of amusement, as if he very much doubts it. People are here to get drunk, buy each other, and make terrible life choices, he thinks. The fact that it's in the name of charity is just something that makes them feel better about it.

He keeps this thought to himself as he sips his other drink, and instead regards David thoughtfully. ]

Well, I do hope you are won by someone who doesn't accuse you of wanting to poison them, [ He says instead, smiling sweetly. ] Otherwise it may prove to be very a dull night for all involved.

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh, if the one who wins he has a reason to accuse me of poisoning them, they won't survive the process.

[His voice has a moment of icy chill to it as he thinks of Beck and Joker. And then he puts a smile back on and continues.]

And I am not prone to dull nights. I'm prone to culinary creations that many might envy.

[leatherboots]

The ones who survive your creations, you mean?

[ Hentzau laughs at that sudden transition from deadly chill to smiling nonchalance. ]

Considering how insistent you were that it was I poisoning you, this newfound commitment to poisoning others who accuse you of the same is quite a turnabout.

[helpdesk_hero]

[If he set out to poison someone they better know a person with healing powers if they wanted to survive.]

I was less concerned about poison so much as another whirl at a recurrence of the Joker fracas, or someone using chemicals to render someone more... pliant. But I never said I would poison you.

[leatherboots]

[ At the mention of pliant Rupert makes a small grimace of distaste at that, pursing his lips in disgust. ]

I assure you, I have no interest in that. It's not very sporting.

[helpdesk_hero]

No, it's not. It's also highly illegal. But it is a viable concern to be had at events where the rich and elite rub elbows with the powerful. And the evil.