( open ) I'll wear your colors til you come back home to me

[dothelokimotion]

Who: Everyone!
What: Masquerade Ball
When: 17th of October
Where: The Opherium
Content Warnings: N/A

[ Much like Loki's last party-venture, this is set up very much in the same vein. a large ballroom for dancing needs. Tables and waiters passing around hors d'oeuvres and drinks. At the entrance of the ball room, there’s a fancy mask waiting for you if you don’t have one already. There’s a strict dress code for the event this time and Loki expects everyone to dress accordingly.

The masks also have a spell attached to them. They’ll afford you complete privacy. No one will recognize you under the mask. Unless, of course, you take it off and let them know. Perfect for the party guest who may want to indulge without causing a fuss. Hit up a partner and see where the evening takes you.

This event wouldn’t be complete without candy, of course. There are candies arranged on the tables in all types and colors. In front of them is a small description regarding each kind of candy. Be sure to read them carefully, as Loki has added a little . . . extra to the sweets, to give them a little . . . zing. ]

🍫 White Chocolate: For those who needs a little honesty ( truth effect )

🍷 Alcoholic Chocolate: For those who need to loosen up ( slight aphro effects, please mark headers accordingly and communicate! )

🍬 Sour Candy: For those who are tired of being nice ( shorter tempers )

🍓 Fruit Candy: For those who need to open up ( increased generosity )

If you have a question or comment to direct at the host, Loki is by the entrance dressed in red and gold with a mask to boot. he’s instantly recognizable, compared to the masked attendees. ]

Welcome.

Comments

[atypical_echo]

[Jason gets it then. The importance of hiding.]

Alliance seems like they are going to follow a flake, yeah.

[robintohood]

Yeah. With a guy like that, seems like anything could happen. Good and bad.

[atypical_echo]

[Mark nods.]

Like, I'm afraid of registries of people like us.

[robintohood]

Can't blame you. In the wrong hands, registries might as well be hit lists.

[atypical_echo]

Exactly the problem I have with them. Back home, they sorta are? Some people, the ones deemed 'safe' are let to be, with some monitoring and checking in for training and stuff. Some of us were just... kidnapped. They had a place called 'level five' where they kept us.

[He shudders.]

So no, I don't trust people with power here.

[robintohood]

How'd you escape level five?

[atypical_echo]

[Well, that was a whole thing. Good thing Mark had some of that honesty chocolate.]

My sister conspired with some of her patients to help me escape. One woman who could time travel to help pull my mind back to my body, and someone who could make other want what he wanted to physically bust me out. It was very dangerous for all of them. Hell, it brought Damien even more to AIM's attention and ultimately led to him losing his ability.

[robintohood]

[Jason winces a little]

Hell of a breakout. You ever found out what happened to them afterwards?

[atypical_echo]

Which them. The AIM, the others on level Five, Damien and Sam, my sister? Specificity wins.

[robintohood]

The ones who helped you escape.

[atypical_echo]

[Oh boy, that's a whole list.]

Joanie kept working, and now she's sorta part in charge of the branch of the AIM that hurt me. She's making it better. Sam, the time traveler, she serves as the Atypical consultant on it, and organizes social stuff by also making sure that people like us aren't hurt and abused.

Damien...

[His voice breaks for a moment.]

I don't know. He left Boston. I... I made him leave. He hurt people important to me. And he got hurt in return. I don't know.

[A fact which clearly pains him. So he moves back to Sam.]

Sam sorta just dumped me for one of her coworkers. But that's okay. Mags is really sweet.

[robintohood]

Sounds like things are mostly getting better back at your world. Sorry about your friend though.

[Jason didn't miss hearing that voice break]

[atypical_echo]

He's not my friend. Friends don't hurt each other like that. But he thinks he was in love with me.

[Mark didn't really know about himself though. He would never get to learn it too.]

Maybe he'll learn to heal and grow I guess. But yeah, things are better sometimes. Except when it isn't. Because Atypicals are just always gonna have that weight.

[robintohood]

It sounds like it might be a few steps in the right direction though. Sometimes, you just have to settle for controlling part of the problem than eliminating it.

[Jason certainly knows that from experience]

[atypical_echo]

[This kid sure knows a lot, and he takes a breath. Yeah, that's fair.]

Sometimes the only way to heal is to remove yourself from the situation where you were most hurt, and caused the most hurt.

[robintohood]

[Jason nods in sympathy]

Sometimes, yeah. It's hard though because sometimes you just wanna fix the whole damn thing already.

[atypical_echo]

Yeah. So much. I guess... I guess I wanted to fix him the same way Sam sorta wanted to help fix me.

[robintohood]

Trying to "fix" someone never works unless they want to be fixed. It can be infuriating though.

[atypical_echo]

I think, in the end, he wanted to be. I just... I couldn't do that for him. Being near him would only make him worse.

[robintohood]

What was the problem?

[atypical_echo]

[How do you even explain Damien? Hell, it wasn't even the guy's name. How do you explain Robert?]

Consider, if you will, a power developing in childhood. One that when you want something enough, the people around you want it too. People who can say no are few and far between, if they even exist. And there's no one like you. How do you learn to operate in normal society? How do you know if you are loved? How do you know if feelings people have for you are real? What if you tell someone to go away and they never come back, even when you want them to, even when you know that your desires fade away with time and distance?

[robintohood]

[Jason quiet as he takes that in and shortly ponders]

You don't. That kind of thing will screw you up in multiple ways. It'd be easy to become a sociopath I think. Or at least very cynical of everyone.

[atypical_echo]

Exactly. And he was interested in me because I echo powers. I could be like him. I could use the powers too, if my powers weren't still healing. So he was interested in me. And I didn't know how to be there for him, be supportive for him, when there would always be the fact that one of us could be manipulating the other.

[robintohood]

Sounds like it would really fuck with your head. You could be doing it by accident too.

[atypical_echo]

Exactly. He had gotten to the point where even he wasn't entirely sure, even when he was holding it firmly.

[So even now Mark didn't know how he felt about the man.]