[MP] Ricochet, Take Your Aim

[Erika Bellefonte]

Wearing her black dress with gold details formed as laced patterns down her dress, black heels with gold bottoms and a matching black and gold mask, Erika's fingers ran through her short bob. She had yet to get used to her new hair and with the changes, she was fairly certain she stood out. She wondered if anyone had any real troubles recognizing each other.

A lot of people had already showed up; the various rooms of the Bellefonte manor had started filling up. It was a good thing her parents often traveled and left the house to the Bellefonte children to do with as they pleased. 

She could hear various conversations along with the music gently filling the rooms like an never ending echo. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she took it in along with a deep breath.

She watched as males and females of all kinds wandered in and stumbled out. Finally, she picked her target. Detaching from her place against the wall, she lazily followed the stranger towards the bustling crowd. Inwardly, she winced at the very sight of it. Outwardly, she smiled and leaned forward, peeking over his shoulder.

"Evening."

Tag: Everett King

[Everett King]

If Everett was being honest with himself, his reason for attending the party was mainly because he'd never even dreamed of seeing the inside of the Bellefonte Manor. Something so pristine and fancy, something worth more than his entire being, was not an abode he had never imagined himself entering. Thus, when he spotted something like a free invitation, he had leapt at the chance. Even better that it was a masquerade party. He could oggle the fine housework and not have to dance, socialize or do anything strange.

Of course, that didn't mean he was just going to walk into the house wearing his Sunday slacks. Everett was something of an accomplished seamstress, one needed to be when living alone for so long, so he'd decided to quickly pull something together for him. Plain black pants that clung low on his hips, and a loose, white linen shirt. Stitched into the shirt, almost like stained glass, were translucent pieces of coloured cloth arranged in the shape of peacock feathers. The stems spread out from his ribcage, wrapping around his body and down to form a sort of colourful 'tail' behind him. On both of his sleeves there was also a single feather stitched in, and everywhere that a feather lay, the material was see-through and showed off tanned skin. His mask, blue and green with gold highlights, set off his blonde hair and eyes. He'd done a pretty good job, in his opinion.

Yet it all went to waste, as Ever spent his time looking at the wall decorations and admiring the beautiful architecture of the house, buzzing around the outside of the party scene. He spent a sad amount of time on this until his stomach let out a low growl of protest and Ever looked around for the free food that was promise. Sadly, it was on the other side of the room. With a sigh Everett turned to face the crowd, swallowing hard in apprehension before making his way towards it. He was so focused that when a figure seemed to materialize at his shoulder and a soft breath of voice hit his neck, he literally squeaked. The man whirled, taking in the form of the girl in front of him. He cleared his throat, cheeks red but thankfully hidden under the mask, he hoped. "Oh....evening." He coughed awkwardly, still trying to recover. His hand came up to rub his neck. "....Nice party, huh?"

[Erika Bellefonte]

The man she had approached had seemingly not expected anyone to do just that. Erika couldn't quite shake the tint of guilt that bubbled up inside her chest as she offered the man an apologetic smile. Her head tilted sheepishly as she mouthed the word 'sorry'. She hadn't meant to give him a scare, though, she couldn't really blame him for his reaction either. She had come out of nowhere.

Smiling, the brunette looked around as if seeing the party for the first time. Though, in some ways, she supposed she was. It was one thing seeing it through her own eyes, but a whole different thing seeing it through someone else's.

"It's alright," she agreed, lips tugging at the corners in light amusement. "I don't think it was supposed to be scary, though," she added, turning her attention back at him, brown eyes giving his outfit an approving once-over. She had always enjoyed people expressing their uniqueness through clothes. It was probably her own rebellious nature speaking, though, seeing as how she was studying the subject first hand. Uniqueness was usually suffocated in the world of fashion, unless one carried the right name.

[Everett King]

"Just alright?" He asked with amusement, glancing around at the fine establishment. If this was alright by her standards, his small room at Bellefonte probably resembled a chicken coop. "Hard to impress, hey?" That wasn't such a bad quality, but it was a surprising one.

Everett offered a self-deprecating smile, embarrassed at having been caught so easily by surprise. His hands lowered and Everett turned back to the food table. There were colourful cocktails lining the table as well as a variety of other drinks. He of course, chose a blue fruity thing and took a sip. Picking up another glass he took a moment to marvel at the fine detail before offering it to the mystery girl. "A few more of these and perhaps I wont scare so easily," he joked, his smile broadening.

He hadn't been planning on speaking to anyone at the party, but that had apparently gone out the window. Not that he minded he'd been surprised at first but there was nothing wrong with a bit of small talk. Just wandering around the outskirts was quickly becoming boring anyhow. "Do you know the Bellefontes well?"

[Erika Bellefonte]

Chuckling softly, the brunette's eyes grazed the room once more. She could easily tell him her opinion simply stemmed from the fact that she had been the one to set it all up, though, that would defeat the purpose of wearing a mask. "In some ways, yes," she opted for instead, offering a simple shrug along with her words.

Curiously, she watched as his attention was drawn towards the drinks. Thankfully, she hadn't needed to worry about doing all of those alone. She had been given a lot of help with everything that wasn't the decor. She accepted the drink with a small smile. "That's the spirit," she mused.

It seemed as if the brunette had found someone interesting to talk to. She had feared she would be too busy running in between to get any time for the visitors, though it appeared everything ran smoothly without her meddling. Amusement lit the brunette's eyes then and she couldn't quite help the chuckle from bubbling through her lips. "You could say that," she nodded. "We go way back."

[Everett King]

It was hard to condemn someone simply for having high standards and knowing what they liked. In fact, Everett admired the drive it often inspired with people. Ambition, if controlled, was a good trait to have. But he'd seen it destroy people before and was mostly glad he hadn't inherited such a drive. He gave a contemplative nod. Often it would have been a topic he delved further into, but the mask he wore gave him a certain intrigue and he wanted to play into that as much as possible. It was only one night.

Drinking wasn't really his thing either, but then, neither was attending a stranger's party. Today was a day for 'Nevers' he'd decided. After all, he was afforded some semblance of safety behind his costume, he may as well make the most of it. He took a good mouthful, surprised by the fruity explosion it brought him. Ever pulled the glass back, his lips forming into a surprise 'O'. "These are good." He took another drink then chuckled. "Very easy to drink. That's probably a bad thing." He wasn't known for his high alcohol tolerance, which was most of the reason behind his aversion to drinking. He had to remind himself of his 'Never Strategy' and took another sip. Be brave, be different.

Everett stumbled a brief step forward as someone jostled him from behind, then regained his stance with a frown. "You'd think in a house this big there'd be some room," he said ardently over the music. "You think you could ask your 'good friends' if they'd consider renovating before the next party?" Ever winked, his voice purely teasing. It was definitely interesting that the girl claimed she and the Bellefonte's went way back, but again he kept himself from prying. Perhaps his companion was also looking to keep an air of mystery about her. "These parties are really something," he mused. "Never been one for them myself. What do you even do, besides standing around and eating too much good food?"

[Erika Bellefonte]

The telekinetic offered the man a bright chuckle at his obvious taste for the drinks. "Different colors mean different tastes," she said as she pointed at one of the green ones. "That one is sour." Herself, she preferred sour drinks over sweet ones. Sweet usually meant that nausea and a nasty hangover would follow. "The pink ones are..." She paused, thinking. "I actually don't know what they taste like, but it can't be good," she added with a sheepish chuckle. She did follow suit, though and took a sip from her own drink.

"I don't think that's the focal point at these parties." Besides, the house got plenty of renovations. Whenever her mother felt like a change was needed (which was often), she did something new. Sometimes it was only the furniture, other times it was new color schemes. Some times, though, she opted to tear down a wall and build up a new one somewhere else. "Sounds to me like you don't go to any parties at all." Finishing the rest of her drink, she placed the empty glass on a nearby table. 

"You usually do whatever you want to," she shrugged effortlessly. "Some drink, some spend their time chatting people up and some, well," she paused, gesturing towards a couple having a rather excessive make out session in one of the corners. "do that."

[Everett King]

Of course the different colours had different tastes, because the party was just that fancy. The collar of his shirt felt a little tighter and Ever began realizing just how far out of his element he was. The little orderves being passed around probably had gold dust in them, for as much as he knew. He used the discomfort to finish his drink though the reached for another, a pink one actually. He was curious by nature.

He paused, reaching up to rub at his left eyebrow, but paused when he remembered it was covered by a colourful mask. It was a nervous habit of his that he had yet to drop. "Guess that proves how much of a party-goer I am," he said sheepishly. "More interested in the food and architecture." It took a few seconds for the notion that his statement may have come off as completely rude to kick in and Everett tried to backpedal quickly. "Oh that isn't to say...I mean your company is lovely, and much better than studying the wall decorations." He wasn't sure what else to do so he laughed to cover his embarrassment. "If I could see your face I'd even hesitate to say you're prettier than the wall decorations, but it seems kind of cheep otherwise."

His gaze twitched as she indicated the snogging couple, which certainly didn't help abate any of his embarrassment. "Ah yes, that." His head tilted as he studied the scene a moment longer before returning to the girl. His grin became crooked, almost teasing. "So is that the endgame for everyone tonight and I'm just a bit slow on the ball? If this floor is going to turn into a mass make-out scene I might just try to escape now."

[Erika Bellefonte]

Hadn't it been for the mask, the man would likely have noticed the arched eyebrows. In fact, she hadn't thought of it that way until he'd graciously pointed it out. She might have had her insecurities, but she wasn't quite that bad. She wasn't exactly looking for reasons to feel worse about herself. Offering him an easy smile, the telekinetic chuckled. "Don't worry," she promised easily. "Studying the decor is totally normal at a party," she added with a smirk, teasing.

"It's only the endgame if that's what you wish," she shrugged. She wouldn't know, though. That wasn't the way she wanted her party evenings to end, anyways. She usually found other ways to amuse herself. Not that she would go as far as claim that she'd never been there or never would find herself there again, but well, one kind of needed a sparring partner for those things.

"Do you want a tour of the house?" she asked then. If the decor had interested him, she'd might as well show him everything else the Bellefonte mansion had to offer.

[Everett King]

If he didn't think she was just trying to make him feel better, Everett would have honestly been comforted by her words. He really did find simple things interesting, and had been more interested in examining his surroundings than trying and failing at communicating. Of course that was all his paranoia speaking, he likely wouldn't be as bad in social situations as he feared. In whatever case, having a one-on-one conversation was noticeably easier than pushing himself into a group conversation.

He had to admit, the 'endgame' didn't look entirely unpleasant, but try as he might Everett couldn't find himself interested. With all people it generally took the right amount of alcohol and a semi-attractive person and that was all they needed. It was probably just that Everett was picky, or too sensitive, as some would say it. He needed at least some kind of minimal connection before making a move. Kissing (or more) without attraction or interest was like serving a cake without the icing. It was there, but it was a lot less satisfying. Again, he knew he was picky, and so he didn't let himself get too into the idea.

The girl's offer was met with a sigh of relief; glad to be distracted from such peckish thoughts. "Please," he replied, the eagerness evident in his voice. "I'm feeling a tad stifled. You might just be my guardian angel." He snatched another drink for the trip, exchanging his glass. He grabbed another one for the girl (a green one) for equal measure, just in case she finished hers on the way. "Lead the way, my mystery angel" He swept his arm out in invitation for her to start walking.

[Erika Bellefonte]

Guardian angel? Well, at least it was far better than some of the nicknames she had picked up over the years. Still, she was surprised at finding herself showing little interest in the party she herself had hosted. For some reason, giving the mystery guy a tour appeared a lot more interesting.

Leading the way through the outskirts of the crowds, Erika started moving towards the den. It was usually one of the few places that was left untouched at these parties. Mostly because the sliding doors was always closed. It seemed as if a few people actually respected closed doors. Opening the door, she gestured for the guy to enter.

"This is the only room that holds any signs that there's actual human beings living here," she mused. There was a few short steps leading down into the large den. The room was cozy, complimented with a fireplace and glass doors leading out into the front yard. This was the place all the photo albums and various trinkets the Bellefonte children had made over the years got stored.