The welcoming Party (08- 28 - 2011) - [everyone]

The Meinior grounds looked impressive, if mrs Nellis had to admit it herself as she looked over the garden. The picknick tables had been turned into snack tables, both with white tablecloths, the one with bowls full of nuts, crisps and all that, the other with drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and cups.

There were strings of lights hung up between the trees and they also had small decorative lantarns in them. As it was still light outside it was a bit hard to tell if the current lighting would suffice in lighting the entire area, and mrs Nellis looked around, wondering what other lights they could use in case they wouldn't.

She smiled when her eyes met the stage spot lights; they could always turn them on for extra illumination later on.
The stage for the welcoming party show wasn't much but still quite an impressive piece of amaturism; the stage was still on ground level but she'd put a hard even floor on the ground (3 by 5 metres, about 10 by 16 feet) to give the performers something to work on. The audience could sit down on the blankets and towels put down on the grass in front of the stage. And there were some dark blankets attached to a clothesline streched in between two trees to serve as a background.
It wasn't glamerous but it still looked quite impressive for something set up by one amateur and mrs Nellis really hoped the Meinior inhabitants would like it.

Her gaze turned around the garden once again, wondering what was missing. The lights, the stage, the snacks, more warm snacks to be provided by her later, once they'd been made... there were the seats of the picknick tables and the blankets to sit on... The stereo instalation would be put on a table already outside, soon as she'd fixed the small roof that needed to come over it, just in case it would rain.

She smiled satisfied at her work, then sighed at the realisation her husband hadn't done a single thing, despite her asking him to. She'd refused anyone elses help with the setting up - with the exception of dragging some really heavy things she was just physically incapable of moving on her own. So now it was nearly seven in the evening... As she checked her watch it suddenly hit her she had to hurry if she wanted to be there at the party's kick-off so she hurried inside to shower and fix herself up a little.


~ Later that Evening ~


It was half past 8 and the welcoming party was all ready to start. Mrs Nellis was just turning on the last little bits of the stereo, so people could put in their own songs or change the radio station in case they didn't like this one.
Now all there was to do was wait for the first guests...


(( if you haven't already, please read the announcement about it before entering ))

Keoki paused a short way to the party area Mrs. Nellis had set up. She already had her camera's tripod in one hand, with her camera bag slung over her shoulder and laying at her other side. She mumbled 'wow' to herself, since she didn't recall Mrs. Nellis getting very much help with this. Tugging her cap down a little, she walked over to a nice angle in front of the stage to place the tripod and get it off her hands before heading over to Mrs. Nellis.

"Evening," she said with a wave, "It looks great out. Can't wait to see how the show goes." She smiled, but glanced around to see if anyone else was approaching. She'd come out a bit early, just to get her camera set up for the show before it started. But it wouldn't really hurt if anyone else turned up so Mrs. Nellis would have others to talk with, knowing her.

It wasn't until he crossed the threshold of the door to the grounds that Tobias realised how much effort had went into the party, Toby letting out an impressed whistle as he moved down the steps and towards the festivites, his hands in his pockets as he looked at the darkening sky above, his gaze soon shifting back to the party. Upon reaching the party, a smile appeared on his face as he looked around, looking to the performance area, the snacks on display, Mrs Nellis messing about with the radio and the other things on display.

As he continued to walk, his attention was soon drawn to someone else already at the part, a smile appearing on his face as he noticed that it was Keo. Seeing that her back was to him, Tobias approached anyway. "Well, glad to see I'm not the first here" Tobias said with a smile and a chuckle as he gave Keo a friendly pat on the shoulder, moving around to her side while doing so. " Hey Mrs Nellis, the place is looking great" he said with a friendly smile and a wave as he came to a stop beside Keo.

"O you two are too kind," mrs Nellis said to Keoki and Tobias, smiling happily - possibly a little more than she usually would've. She looked around the place again, mentally agreeing with them; she'd done a nice job hadn't she? With a happy and slightly proud smile she finally turned her eyes back to the two young people and eagerly asked: "do you have any idea when the rest will be coming down?"

((anyone who wants to join now, do it now =P))

When she heard someone else, she turned her head enough to spot Toby, saying a quick hello when he stopped next to her. She smiled back to Mrs. Nellis, but wasn't too sure about her question, "Well, I doubt they'll stay in much longer. The performers particularly, they'll need to get ready. Speaking of which, excuse me," she backed out of the conversation and walked to her tripod, bringing it behind all of the seats so she wouldn't get in anyone's way before placing the camera on it and turning it on to check the battery and settings. There was still enough illumination to get a decent picture, especially if the stage lights went on.

Just then Axel and Dominique came walking onto the party grounds, looking over the decorations both impressed by the amount of work put into it. Seeing the makeshift podium Dominique couldn't help but get a little nervous, as always, for when she had to do her belly dance act. The rehearsals had gone pretty good so she doubted if anything would go wrong, but absolutely certain you could never know. She was already wearing her belly dance outfit, carrying her Isis wings wrapped in her arms, so she didn't have to change just before it was her turn and possibly miss a part of someone elses act. Though for the sake of warmth she was also wearing a blouse for the time being.
"It looks great," she said to with a smile Mrs. Nellis, seeing Tobias and Keoki she added, "Hey Tobias, Keoki how are you two?"

Upon hearing Keo's greeting, Tobias smiled as he nodded in a friendly manner, his attention soon shifting to Mrs Nellis upon hearing her ask if they knew when the others were going to show up. Scratching his head, Tobias looked to Keo as she left to set up and then back to her. "I wouldn't imagine them taking too long" he said with a smile as he lowered his hands.

"Like Keo said, I imagine the performers appearing soon, what with having to prepare and all that" he soon added. As he finished, his attention was soon drawn to the sound of foot steps behind him, Tobias turning to see Dominique and Axel approaching. "Hey Nique, hey Axel" Toby said with a friendly smile as he waved to them. "I'm grand thanks, what about yourself ?" he asked the two of them.

Not long after Lugh appeared out of the house violin case in hand, wearing a pair of white linen trousers with a cord belt and an embroidered white linen shirt, his hair was tied back in a more patterned fashion. In fact disregarding his lack of any kind of footwear he was relatively dressed up compared to his normal lax affair. He had decided if he was officially performing he'd better look the part "Evening everyone." He said as he approached the group, "Is our Arabian Goddess ready to descend then?" he asked Dominique smiling. Honestly it was surprising Lugh wasn’t bouncing up and down like a child, he rather had an affinity for parties.

"Hey guys." she replied with a wave over to Dominique and Axel as they arrived. Closing up the camera for now, since there was no use for it, she turned back to two and answered Dominique's question, "I'm doing fine. And you look nice, by the way," she noted about Dominique outfit. Tobias had already asked how they were, so no use asking again. After moment, Lugh arrived too, also dressed a bit formally, and she greeted him before turning back to the stage. Maybe most of the performers had decided to dress up, not that there was a problem with that. At least it hadn't taken too long for others to show up. But for the meantime, Keoki moved away from her camera to get a drink, nothing alcoholic yet.

((Sairis is still a bit busy, so I don't think Creed will be showing up right away. Probably later on in the thread, maybe after the performance. I'll be letting Sairis know when the monsters turn up though, in case she wants to join in then.))

Mrs Nellis smiled at Keoki and Tobias, then noticed more peopel arriving and decided to return to putting the last things for the show together. As there was no real sceduale, everything was going to have to come down to what the party guests wanted.
The seeing of Dominique's costume reminded her a belly dance was going to be performed. Then she noticed her arriving accompanied by Axel and she couldn't repress a small, high-pitched chuckle; how cute!!

As he walked in along side Dominique in her belly dancing outfit, Axel had the smile and the glow of the happiest man in the world. Putting aside that Axel looked just a little like a guy dating way out of his league and still incapable of believing it, he looked pretty nice; just normal jeans, all-stars and a shirt - simple but good (enough).
He noticed mrs Nellis giggle, one that clearly stated 'aaaaaaaw' but wasn't even bothered by it, feeling too good right now.
He greeted everyone and nodded in agreement when Keoki noted Dominique looked nice. That was about all he could do before mrs Nellis stormed up to Lugh, Axel and Dominique, energetically telling them: "O you look great! When will you be performing?" Then to Dominique in a teasing way: "and I see you've already found yourself a date? Don't worry, I'm only joking!" Then returning to the whole group; "but seriously everyone, what is the plan for the show? I've been so busy today I've barely thought about it."

(( I'm not sure if you can work with this but it's all I've got atm really ^^; O wait, hold on))

Next Aemilio walked outside. He was wearing something ((yeah, I haven't really figured out what he's wearing but I can assure you it's fashionable and expensive)) and looked over the garden, the corner of his mouth curling into a little impressed smile.
Instead of talking to anyone he walked over to Keoki and smiled at her kindly; "hey," while she had her back to him, "did I miss anything?"
His eyes lingered on Dominique for a moment but turned away quick enough.

((Dominique is still wearing a blouse ^^; her outfit at the moment is headband, blouse, skirt and no shoes at the moment))

"A little nervous, but I'll be fine," Dominique answered Tobias question just before Lugh approached the group and called her an Arabian goddes, causing her to blush. Thanking both him and Keoki for the compliments with a slightly shy smile. Her blush increased at Mrs Nellis awwww-chuckle and joke, causing her to look down for a moment. When she asked what the plan for the show was she shrugged, she wouldn't mind to go first but then again Axel had said his story could be a nice introduction for her dance. So she kept quiet, thinking that Axel didn't really wanted to first and if he did he could say that himself.

Shortly after Aemilio's arrival Azar walked onto the party grounds swinging her unlit poi a little, just looking it over, not saying anything. She doubted anyone would notice her anytime soon unless they would already be looking into her direction. Wearing her leather boots and pants of her staying-dry-in-the-rain-outfit and a low cut sleeves black shirt. Just so that when it would be her turn to preform she could blent in with the background so that the flames from her poi will get all the attention.

"Well I can't wait to see you perform, I'm sure it'll be awesome" Tobias said with a friendly smile, his gaze soon shifting back to Mrs Nellis as he watched her approach Nique and Axel, the sound of her high pitched chuckle causing him to chuckle a little bit as well. As he watched Mrs Nellis begin to speak with the two of them, Tobias looked around once again, notcing Keo speaking with the newly arrived Aemilio by the picnic tables and the newly arrived Azar carrying some kind of pole, Tobias looking on intrigued as he continued on. Looking around a bit more at everyone talking with everyone else, Toby soon found himself making his way over to Aemilio and Keo by the picnic tables. "Hey guys, mind if I join you ?" he said with a smile as he began to get closer to them, hoping they didnt mind his company.

Lugh took a seat on the grass near the performing area and opened the violin case, observing the others as they arrived while he chalked the bow and tuned the strings to the right key for Dominique's performance. "Does anyone want to volunteer?" he called before placing the instrument back in its case, though not closing it back over again. Lugh wouldn't mind going first but he'd prefer to go after Dominique, using it as a warm up of sorts for his own performance, 'It would give me a chance to wake up my fingers' he thought.

Hearing someone behind her, Keoki turned around to see Aemilio and smiled, "Hey." Like Lugh, he was dressed up for the occasion, but his outfit certainly looked expensive. And it didn't look bad at all either, though she realized she might have been staring, and just hoped he hadn't noticed before she got around to answering his question, "Not much, really. We all just got here, but it sounds like they're deciding on the performance order now." Lugh called out to see if anyone wanted to volunteer. It seemed like Axel or Dominique's performances might be best for first, but that was up to them.
When Tobias came over, she nodded, "Of course not." She looked back to Aemilio, hoping it didn't bother him. But he'd probably have to get ready soon anyhow.

After a short silence, in which mrs Nellis stood there giving everyone big-eyed hopeful, questioning looks, Axel hessitantly muttered: "euhm... well, I have something that kinda fits in nice before the belly dancing. So... maybe I'll go first?" He sounded less than confident there but that was mainly because he - now that Dominique just spoke of nerves - he remembered his stage fright. But he figured that, as the short story he'd written to tell worked best if he told it at that point so....
Mrs Nellis reacted with a pleased cheer and took him to the back, enthusiastically announcing to whoever might hear than Axel would be the first act. Axel just followed her, being dragged after her by his arm, his eyes begging for help that mrs Nellis' enthusiasm wasn't going to let him have.
"Just... euhr- carry on without m- euhr, wish me luck!"
Then he and a overly cheerful middle-aged woman disappeared behind the stage.

"Hey," Aemilio replied to Tobias joining them, along with smiling at him, "not at all. I should check on the performance thing anyway..." as he said that he looked over to Dominique, Axel being dragged away from her by mrs Nellis.
"Sorry, I'm off again, see you!" he said, already leaving Tobias and Keoki behind with a wave and a smile at them - then as he was out of reach saying an obviously faked hello to Dominique. "Don't you look... lovely...? Anyway... anything we need to discuss before the show?"

Giving Axel an encouraging smile and wave as he was being pulled away from her; "You can do it!" Dominique wasn't a big fan of the saying the saying 'break a leg' which is the reason why she hadn't used it, but now she was left without company. Until Aemilio came over to her that is. She didn't like him at all anymore since he had beaten Axel once they had gotten back from the date, but she needed him during her preformance.
"Thanks," she answered not feeling much like reacting to his faked hello, "I don't think so... if we just do it as we did during the last practise everything will go good."

((I never made a topic about the practice because I didn't think it would be very interesting so yeah...))

Jack had been standing at the door inside the mansion with his hand on the doorknob for a couple minutes now. Having suppressed his transformation for the fourth day in a row, Jack was feeling warm and uneasy. Knowing this feeling would pass him in a little bit, he took one deep breath to compose himself before stepping outside.

Making his way toward the party, he arrived just in time to see Axel be pulled off by Mrs. Nellis. Jack let out a small small sigh of dissapointment as probably the only person he had any conversation with had been dragged off before he got there. Looking over, he now saw where the others had gathered.

"Well, I had to meet these people sooner or later," Jack said, making his way over to the group and putting in the little effort he required to make his footsteps as quiet.

So there came Axel's time to shine. He was less than confident as you, and probably every other character may have noticed in his expression before he got pulled behind the stage by mrs Nellis - just able to send a short welcoming wave towards Jack before that moment.

Next there was a moment where mrs Nellis told Axel a couple of reassuring words, so many actually, that it just became discouraging again. Wondering if he really came of that unsure Axel watched mrs Nellis turn on the spotlights and walk back to him. By the time she wished him the last 'break a leg' he was suffering from a stress-induced outer-body-experience and couldn't even remember his own name.

"Ladies and gentlemen...!" mrs Nellis said in a loud voice, by lack of a microphone, spreading her arms as if to welcome the people to the show, "our first performer...! I won't spend a lot of words on the intro because the act speaks for itself...! Axel!!!"

And Axel was forced to come out on stage, looking like a deer in the headlights at first but clearly calming down during his act. ((I'm not going to write out his story, sorry, but I will put it on the forum later on)) He appeared quite a good story writer and teller - nothing amazing, epic or top-level but an amusing short story told in the right way. And with it's Arabian Nights theme, his story being about a beautiful dancing Arabian prinsess, it was a nice intro to Dominique's belly dancing act.

So he finished, hoping for at least a small applause but to embaressed to even wait for it to come, making a small bow and taking his leave, at this point praying to God people would just forget about him doing this in the first place.
Mrs Nellis watched him leave a little confused but then smiled at the crowd again, clapping her hands; "Axel everyone...! Wasn't he good? And then next, there is a dancing act, befitting the wonderful story we just heard..."
She gave everyone in the belly dancing act a quick look before continuing to the rest of the audience; "... in about a minute, the next act!" buying them some time to get ready.

Lugh watched with keen interest while Axel told his story. It wasn't the best he'd ever heard, but he lapped it up in spite. Lugh had an innate fascination with stories and legends it was why he spent so many hours in the Grand Library in Otherworld and why he chose to degree in mythology. But at heart he was raised in a culture that epitomises storytellers and musicians. When Axel finally finished Lugh applauded loudly only returning to a semblance of calm when Dominique was called forward. "Well then shall we?" he asked picking up his violin and turning to the other members of the group.

"Looks like it's starting. Gonna take a seat? Or you can hang with me by the camera if you're bored," Keoki said over to Toby, though she didn't really wait for an answer before getting back to the camera to get it rolling. With the tripod, she didn't really have to manage it too much, so as Axel started the story, she took a seat on the grass behind it and took another sip of her drink. There were a few hints as to who it might be based on, especially since it was a good lead-in to Dominique's act, but that just made it kind of cute. She put her drink down to clap after he finished reading, waiting to see how the next act would go.

Hearing Keo mention that the festivities were beginning, Tobias looked to the stage, the sight of Mrs Nellis rushing Axel off causing him to chuckle a bit. Turning back to Keo upon hearing her question, Tobias reached for a drink, taking one off the table. "I think I'll join you Keo " he said with a smile as he unscrewed the cap off his bottle, taking a drink as he followed her, taking a seat on the grass besides her upon reaching the camera. A few moments after he did so, Tobias, like the others present, soon found himself listening to Axel's story, the subject matter of the story quite apparent from the get go. Nevertheless, the story still enthralled him, Toby putting his drink down on the grass and clapping along with the others upon hearing it finish.

Like everyone else present Dominique and Azar listened to Axel's story, Dominique with more intent then Azar who still hang back not feeling much like socialising at the moment. Once the story was finished they both clapped, Dominique with quite a bit more enthousiasme then Azar but that wasn't hard. Then Mrs. Nellis said that the dance act got started Dominique's nerves got a boost.
Following Lugh and Aemilio behind the stage to get ready, giving Axel a smile and a 'it was great' as they passed each other. She took her blouse off and put her Isis wings on before taking a deep and checking to see if both Lugh and Aemilio where ready as well and then waited for Mrs. Nellis to finish their introduction before going on.
Dominique's dance ((different outfit and instruments playing the music of course but this was the best I could find))

Axel gave Dominique a thankful look when she said he'd done well with his act and wished her luck with hers - it need be said that it came out rather clumsilly, with him still being hyped with performing adrenaline and feeling uncertain whether 'break a leg' was such a good thing to say before someone performed a dancing act. So it finally became a; "thanks, you too. Goodluck I mean... I mean I break a leg! Uhr, just... thanks," accompanied by a silly smile.
"Smooth," Aemilio mentioned to him with an entertained grin before following Dominique on stage.

Her act was impressive; Axel lost his jaw-controll when he watched her so stood there in the audience with an open mouth. Even Aemilio couldn't say a bad thing about Dominique's performance (and that's seriously saying something) so even he had an impressed smile on his face as he played music besides her.

Mrs Nellis in her turn smiled with a huge smile as she watched, clapping her hands in excitement and clapping even harder at the end. For someone her age you'd think she was just acting this enthusiastic to get the spirit going, keep things fun, get the others to cheer too, but it looked like she genuinly was this excited and happy about it - making her look quite a lot like a cheery little girl.
She almost forgot she wasn't just an audience member but also the host, so quickly hurried back to the stage and asked around: "wasn't that great everyone? So is there anyone else who wants to put him- or herself on the map, and show of their hidden talents? Or should I just turn the radio back on?"

Meanwhile Aemilio had left the stage and noticed Azar in the back, grinned and walked over to her; "you have my permission to stare in awe," he said to her as he put away his roll-up keyboard.

(( does anyone else like to perform?))

Then Dominique left the stage and Axel went up to her to compliment her act... without really knowing what to say except an amazed: "woaw...!"

Lugh clapped lightly when Dominique finished "Give me a minute" Lugh replied to Mrs Nellis, retuning the violin and chalking the bow again for good measure. Once ready he took a more central position in the performance area. "And now for my story." he said before beginning to play closing his eyes in concentration.

The tune was comprised of slow drawn out notes, low in pitch, solemn and almost mystical. It was a creation myth and the history of his people transformed into music. As the tune moved through the various acts the pitch and speed changed accordingly, the violent strokes of the bow moving like blades in battle, the sweet melody announcing celebration and marriage, sombre tones of betrayal and death. The entire collective experiences of a people, manifested in melody. As the minutes past Lugh continued unwaveringly, eventually finishing in a triumphant crescendo.

Once finished he took a simple bow and walked off the stage, he placed the instrument back in its case and flexed his hands.

((his performance was about 40 minutes long))

Creed finally made his way out of the mansion and around to the back where the party was being held.He would have been out earlier but a trip to town threw his time off since he got distracted by a few things.. He was wearing usual dark clothes that were a bit above casual. Creed scratched the back of his head before rounding the mansion,his gaze shifted slowly over the well decorated grounds, the sight caused him to raise both his brows and stop scratching his head.
"Wow..a lot better than what I originally had in mind."

He lingered close to the mansion as he looked around for Keoki and Tobias since he knew them best. After Creed spotted them he shoved his hands into his pants pockets before a devious grin crossed his features when a fun thought entered his mind. Another way to scare them,hopefully they wouldn't croak, for this time he planed to use his phasing ability. He moved stealthily to a tree close by them so he could guesstimate the feet to them so he wouldn't come up short or too close because he couldn't really see much while phasing through things.

He looked around again to make sure no one was looking before he focused and sank into the ground fairly quickly then headed in the direction he remembered them to be. A very cold chill ran under their legs before the feeling of something firm and a clear feeling of something/someone grabbing their ankles can be felt before it faded as fast as it came. He shifted a bit noting the tripod in his small observation and crawled up out of the ground like a newly awakened zombie right in front of them and not caring if anyone else had seen. He was sure it would most likely scare the shit out of them and started laughing as he patted some dirt off of himself.Then immediately tried to calm them down if it really spooked them.