☆TRACK V: I WILL TWIST THE KNIFE PT. 1

[interdimanagers]

Who: Everyone that isn't an opt out!
What: Naomi Rivers throws a terrible holiday party.
When: December 7th, 2054
Where: Naomi's ocean side mansion.
Warnings: Violence, poisoning, various murder attempts, mind control, general uncomfortable lack of consent. Also, probably drug use. Maybe sex? Who knows what you'll get up to.

“I will burn for you; Feel pain for you. I will twist the knife and bleed my aching heart, And tear it apart.” ☆I WILL TWIST THE KNIFE The first two hours of the solstice party are surprisingly normal. Members of both labels arrive by private sky shuttle, and are invited into the ballroom for food and drink. It’s even more surprising when both Lesedi Santiago and Edward Blanche arrive as well, and spent most of that first period speaking quietly in a nearby lounge area. Lesedi’s body guards and Juno watch the space around them, keeping anyone of lesser important from interrupting what looks to be quite the serious discussion. After food, the ballroom stage is taken over by a number of increasingly impressive entertainment pieces. It seems to be obligatory for everyone to stay and watch (not that it’s a struggle – the talent involved is unmistakeable), but not long into it Lesedi and Edward can be seen disappearing outside together, and show no immediate signs of returning. And that’s when Naomi Rivers takes the stage. To the Virgo that have heard it before, the song is more viscerally familiar than anything you’ve only heard once should be, and it awakens the ideas that were implanted there the night before. You have a job to do here, tonight. One that is only fair – almost righteous. Lesedi Santiago and her ilk will suffer for her transgressions. The performances end, and everyone is released out to the rest of the grounds, to mingle and celebrate at their leisure. While things may seem civil on the surface, beneath that something dark is brewing. You gradually begin to notice that almost none of the more veteran members of either label are present. ► BALLROOM: The central nexus of the party, the ballroom is the location of the buffet table, the stage, and the dance floor. There will be music available all night, even after the official “performances” have ended. There are tables set up around the edges of the room for eating and relaxing. ► LOUNGE: Where Lesedi and Edward were having their meeting earlier, the lounge is filled with comfortable chairs, classic art, and a large, ornate fireplace. If you figure out who to ask, there are a number of chemical vices available to all guests. ► BALCONIES: There is a generous series of balconies that line the exterior of the upper floor. The ocean can be seen from one side and the gardens can be seen from the other. ► GUEST ROOMS: Down the halls from the ballroom there are a few generous guest bedrooms that have been left open for use. ► GARDENS: Out towards the back there are a wide variety of plants, and a well kept stone path and manmade waterfall. The plant life is on the sedate side due to the winter, but it’s still green. ► OUTDOOR POOL: There’s a pool out front with a shallow and a deep end. The water is clear and artificially warmed. ☆OOC CONSIDERATIONS Please remember that any attempted assassinations are meant to remain covert, and if your character is incapable of being stealthy then you must assume that any attempts you make are happening towards the end of the evening – let’s say around 11PM. The spell compelling people to do this does not want a riot or a bloodbath – what it wants is for people to die before the rest of the group can realize that anything is even going on. Of course, this isn’t exactly going to work out, but if you are finding yourself getting into the realm of intense physical violence you might want to stop and slow down a little. Virgo members that didn’t hear the song the night before are free from any compulsions, and so are all members of Pride. If non-mind controlled characters start clueing in to what’s going on and start trying to evacuate in large numbers, that is where you’ll want to wrap up threads and wait for Part 2 of the log, which will contain the end results and will be triggered by any large amount of chaos. If any characters attempt to escape earlier in the evening, they’ll find that the shuttles have all been grounded, and wandering in the woodland nearby just seems to result in them getting lost and ending up back at the mansion. It’s a real pickle. If you’ve got any question about what’s going on please leave them on the original plot post and they’ll get answered! The opt out event will be posted ASAP. “I will lie for you; Beg and steal for you. I will crawl on hands and knees until you see: You're just like me.”

Comments

[mildwildchild]

"It's just a statue, man, what are you so afraid of?" Jamie is having way too much fun with this. "C'mon, we'll do it on three." Jamie holds his hand up next to the statue. "One, twoooooooooo..."

[punchesyu]

"I'm not afraid of anything!"

He retorts quickly, yelling over the drawn out 'two' of Jamie's. He grimaces, hating being challenged like that.

"You owe me for this." His hand sticks out, and when he thinks Jamie will say three, he'll quickly place his hand on the statue. Whether or not Jamie follows through with it or not is something left to the unknown.

[mildwildchild]

" - three!" Jamie briefly touches the sculpture but conveniently only records Yosuke doing the same.

"Yosuke's touching the butt, everyone!" he announces to anyone standing immediately nearby.

[punchesyu]

He yanks his hand away immediately, looking horrified. His head whips around, trying to make sure no one actually saw him do it.

"Shut up! Don't yell that! You were setting me up for humiliation!"

[mildwildchild]

"It's only humiliating because you were making such a big deal about it!" Jamie retorts, still grinning like a maniac. He moves the phone so that it's recording his hand and pokes the statue four or five times. "See, now I'm touching the butt and I don't even care."

He swivels the phone back up to Yosuke and zooms in on him like a jerk. "C'mon, it was funny! Lighten up."

[punchesyu]

He waves his hand in dismissal and anger, because he doesn't think it was funny. Not because he thought it was immature, but rather because it was a butt. Or what looked like a butt.

"Who even makes crap like that anyway? And why the hell would you put it in your house where other people can see it?"

[mildwildchild]

"Because they like butts and butt-like objects, obviously," Jamie says as he stops recording and starts sending the video to Sora. He gives Yosuke another infuriating grin. "Or maybe Naomi Rivers bought it specifically for this event because she knew you'd be coming and she just wanted to bug you."

That's a perfectly valid reason to buy a butt-shaped statue, obviously.

[punchesyu]

"Uh, yeah, no. Why would Naomi Rivers waste the time to buy a statue that would bug me? She doesn't even know me! You idiot."

He can see that troll, and he only turns his mouth up at Jamie for the attempt.

[mildwildchild]

"You don't know that, she might be one of your biggest fans!" Jamie looks mock-astonished. "I mean, she's not quite in the soccer-mom age range, but still..."

[punchesyu]

"Do you have to bring that up?!" He shoots back, shuddering again at the thought of who some of his fans were. Having fans were great, having to meet those fans at concerts backstage because old women could afford stuff like that was a lot less fun.

"At least Naomi is hot! And she doesn't have any wrinkles. If I see one age spot on her, I'm totally out of here."

[mildwildchild]

Of course he has to bring it up, Yosuke. Especially when you get so huffy about it.

"What, are you gonna go hit on her tonight?" Jamie asks, pocketing his phone and wandering away from the statue. He looks at his bandmate slyly. "Haven't you been getting into enough trouble with chicks lately?"

[punchesyu]

"Give me a break! I can look at her! D-Don't throw salt into my wounds!" He throws a hand up on his head. This is starting to give him a massive headache.

"I don't even know if Nariko is even going to speak to me again. And that tabloid that came out did not help."

[mildwildchild]

"All her friends sure seemed eager to get their hands on you," Jamie agrees gamely, as though he's not the tiniest bit sympathetic to Yosuke's problem. He elbows him in the ribs. "I heard you struck out with Lucifer too. You've been on a winning streak lately."

[punchesyu]

"That girl is insane. I'm lucky I got out of that one alive."

He got the feeling that Luci just...wasn't his type. At all. Forever and ever amen.

"Besides, I'm dating Rei now, so that stuff doesn't matter..." Though he is a little upset still about Nariko, and he sounds it too. They were friends, and he did like her. It just sucked.

[mildwildchild]

"She's not insane," Jamie retorts, and he sounds just a little defensive. "She's cool if you just talk to her like a normal human being."

He shoots Yosuke another glance. "You're lucky Rei's so crazy about you. Don't screw things up with her, huh?"

[punchesyu]

"I'm not gunna screw things up with her," he retorts. There's no guarantees on this, but he really will try hard not to fuck it up with the only girl that's ever been willing to date him ever.

"Anyway, I don't think Luci's gunna want to talk to me for a while. I really pissed her off before. But it's not like I meant to!"

[mildwildchild]

Jamie chuffs lightly. "I dunno, you've just been acting like you always do around Rei, right? She seems to like that, so maybe you guys actually have a chance together." This is Jamie trying to be supportive without actually sounding like he's trying to be supportive.

"And Lucifer, well..." He thinks about that for a minute. "She's not, like, a monster. Quit trying so hard to impress her and she might give you a chance."

There's another brief pause, and then, because he can't resist, he asks: "What exactly did you say to her?"

[punchesyu]

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about that," he says shakily, reliving a memory of Luci slamming her hands down on the bar behind him in anger. It was bad. He deserved it. He's never going to say something like that again to someone, especially someone who's as frightening as she can be.

"I think I should just forget what happened and learn my lesson. Thinking about it freaks me out...!"

[mildwildchild]

Jamie's a little disappointed to be denied something specific to tease Yosuke about, but he can't really blame the guy for being too embarrassed and freaked out to share. Jamie wouldn't want to get on Luci's bad side, ever. He claps Yosuke on the shoulder, shaking his head.

"You missed out, man. Lucifer could've taught you all kindsa things about making Rei happy once you two get in the sack," he says ruefully.

AND THEN FINALLY, A MILLION YEARS LATER

[punchesyu]

"I-I'm not gunna ask some chick about how to sex up my girlfriend!" He hisses. "That's the kind of stuff I want to stay in the pornos!"

He says, but it's really his pride. He doesn't want to ask someone about how to do that. He can do it himself, even if he's going to suck at it.

TOO LATE I'M NEVER TAGGING YOU AGA - wait

[mildwildchild]

Oh, Yosuke. Your goofy determination is admirable.

"Who knows what a woman wants better than another woman?" Jamie says, his tone infuriatingly reasonable despite the smug grin he's still got plastered across his face. "She knows a lot about the art of love, man, 's all I'm sayin'. I'm totally prepared for the next time a girl wants to get alone with me now."