finchwoodacademy | VELVET ROOM PARTY

VELVET ROOM PARTY

All of the students who RSVPed on Khalil's journal post fall asleep surprisingly early Saturday night, some recognizing their own fatigue and calling it a night early while others drift off accidentally on couches or at desks. Regardless of how difficult they normally find it, this sleep is deep and comes over them quickly and completely. When their eyes open next, they're not in their dorms anymore. Instead, they're... in an old school roller rink? The rink itself is large and has a disco ball suspended above it; music is pumping through the speaker system, though the DJ booth off to the side of the rink is vacant. There's a concession stand stocked with various snacks, different kids of booze, and soda, alongside which there are tables to sit at. Off to one side there's a circle of low, ottoman-like seats for Spin the Bottle, and nearby is a utility closet, complete with broom to totally get in your way, for Seven Minutes in Heaven. There are also a few 'party rooms' if you need a little bit of privacy, but the doors don't lock and there are windows in the doors, so, you know. Everything looks pretty typical, except for the blue door at the far end of the building where the entrance would be.

As at the other parties, the students find that they're not wearing what they were when they went to bed. Now, they're dressed in (primarily blue) clothes that are a little bit retro. Like, 80's and 90's retro. There's an abundance of neon, tight fitting materials, and loud patterns, all of which, honestly, look pretty great under the lights on the rink. The party's host, meanwhile, wears a striped referee shirt with deep blue instead of black stripes, and has a whistle hanging around his neck that's going to be a little ineffectual, what with his mask and all. When the partygoers arrive he's standing behind the counter at the skate rental area, arms spread out and braced on the counter. Come check out a pair of skates and get to skating! Or, like, whatever you want to do, he guesses.

Early in the evening, Khalil approaches Thalia Mitchell with a request... can she name his friend? Alongside him is the mysterious Velvet Room denizen Thalia had seen before. Though her body language suggests she's not entirely pleased with it, they settle on Joni (Mitchell) as her name, and she spends most of the party wandering around and avoiding speaking too much with anyone. Meredith Rhydderch overhears a conversation with Khalil and Joni, where Khalil suggests she personally apologize to Marzio Sarno, Slade Winchester, Russell Reeve, and Luke Pokorny for scaring them. She refuses, but does at least take the time to sneak a glance at each of them.

StB & 7MiH

Adam Ho StB #1: Rose StB #2: Sullivan 7MiH: Dustin	Atticus Starling StB #1: Lyle StB #2: Neal 7MiH: Slade	Blake Hasenkamp StB #1: Dustin StB #2: Monet 7MiH: Josephine	Clarissa Day StB #1: Pearl StB #2: Sullivan 7MiH: Venus
Conway Loxton StB #1: Kodi StB #2: Slade 7MiH: Justice	Dustin Espinosa StB #1: Blake StB #2: Marzio 7MiH: Adam	Eli Gardner StB #1: Liam StB #2: Thalia 7MiH: Petra	Flint Chambers 7MiH: Sullivan
Hadlee Loxton StB #1: Henry StB #2: Meredith 7MiH: Rose	Hamsi Khan StB #1: Jude StB #2: Noah	Henry Arany StB #1: Hadlee StB #2: Neal 7MiH: Lyle	Josephine Linville StB #1: Petra StB #2: Slade 7MiH: Blake
Jude Tobin StB #1: Hamsi StB #2: Venus 7MiH: Thalia	Justice Bishop StB #1: Lillian StB #2: Luke 7MiH: Conway	Kodi Hansen StB #1: Conway StB #2: Zinnia 7MiH: Martin	Liam Blumenthal StB #1: Eli StB #2: Lyle
Lillian Armstrong StB #1: Justice StB #2: Petra 7MiH: Suzy	Luke Pokorny StB #1: Mason StB #2: Justice 7MiH: Noah	Lyle Hemmings StB #1: Atticus StB #2: Liam 7MiH: Henry	Martin Geary StB #1: Marzio StB #2: Pearl 7MiH: Kodi
Marzio Sarno StB #1: Dustin StB #2: Martin	Mason Chambers StB #1: Luke StB #2: Venus 7MiH: Meredith	Meredith Rhydderch StB #1: Hadlee StB #2: Noah 7MiH: Mason	Monet Romilly StB #1: Blake StB #2: Zinnia 7MiH: Neal
Neal Valentine StB #1: Atticus StB #2: Henry 7MiH: Monet	Noah Dressler StB #1: Hamsi StB #2: Meredith 7MiH: Luke	Pearl Kline StB #1: Clarissa StB #2: Martin 7MiH: Zinnia	Petra Warren-Yates StB #1: Josephine StB #2: Lillian 7MiH: Eli
Rose Chapman StB #1: Adam StB #2: Thalia 7MiH: Hadlee	Slade Winchester StB #1: Conway StB #2: Josephine 7MiH: Atticus	Sullivan Sinclair StB #1: Adam StB #2: Clarissa 7MiH: Flint	Suzy Choi 7MiH: Lillian
Thalia Mitchell StB #1: Eli StB #2: Rose 7MiH: Jude	Venus Rosales StB #1: Jude StB #2: Mason 7MiH: Clarissa	Zinnia Howe StB #1: Kodi StB #2: Monet 7MiH: Pearl

» SKATE RENTAL: Khalil is handing out skates when he's not 'policing' the rink! Fill out the form to see what, uh, unique skates or blades you get!

» THE RINK: No one will yell at you if you walk out in your sneakers to dance in the center, but it is more fun if you skate, you know? The DJ booth alongside the rink has a computer hooked up with access to a lot of music, if you want to pick some beats.

» CONCESSION STAND & TABLES: Stocked with just about anything you could want food-wise and drink-wise. As usual, a couple of the items are blue that shouldn't be, like the popcorn. Right next to the concession stand are tables where you can take a seat, chill out, and stuff your face with everything you grabbed.

» PARTY GAMES: A small circle of ottoman-like seats has been set up for party games off to the side of the tables! Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven are the mainstays, but it's easy enough to start your own games, too! Nearby there's a tiny utility closet that's a tight squeeze for two people.

» PARTY ROOMS: There are three side rooms set up with tables and lots of blue balloons, like they've been set up for birthday parties. The doors on these rooms don't lock, and there are small windows on the doors, so they're only slightly private.

» END OF THE NIGHT: At some point (god, how long has it been?), there's a feeling of restlessness in the air, as though night is coming to a close and they'll be waking up soon. Best to get your last hurrahs in!

» OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Please note: Students arrive with nothing they had on them in the real world (including their journals) - so no journaling while here! If you can find Khalil, you can ask him for things, though.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Flint is here because of guilt over opting out of the last Velvet Room party, and suspects he would've been better off showing up for a serene tropical beach than a raucous roller rave. At least his outfit—bright white high tops, stonewash jeans and a blue printed sweatshirt—is comfortable, even if it isn't his style.

And all of his friends are here. That's nice too. Flint flashes Scout a smile, and leans against the wall next to him. "Thinking of joining in?"

Unsurprisingly, Scout perks up a little at the sight of Flint. He'd feel this way if Adam or Atticus or Suzy came up to him, he reminds himself as he takes another drink and momentarily glances out onto the rink floor again.

"Might, but I've never skated before and I'm not sure how much I want to embarrass myself," he says with a little laugh. "How 'bout you? You are required to have some fun at this party."

Flint sighs, just a little put-on. "I should've gone to the beach party with you instead."

He glances at Scout. If he were a different person, he might ask his friend to venture into the rink with him. Flint has only been to a roller rink a couple of times, and only when he was much younger, but it's not hard to pick up once you get going. He could guide out Scout by the hand, and—

Flint shakes his head. "I'll find fun... somewhere. Maybe I'll even skate. Who knows, maybe the next dungeon will put us on rollerblades as soon as we step through the door."

"You should've. The beach party was... something." Scout immediately feels a little embarrassed, thinking back to it - maybe he should stay away from Spin the Bottle. "And now you're stuck in the 80's. Or whatever this is."

And even though he feels a little goofy in his Velvet Room ordained outfit, he does like this better. It feels more fun, more childish, and it seems like they could all use that right now about now, himself and Flint included.

"I believe in you," he says after a moment, leaning in to nudge Flint with his shoulder. "Think Khalil knows more than he lets on and is just preparing us for the inevitable skate dungeon, then?"

Flint looks at Scout when Scout bumps him. "Discotheque dungeon," he says, relishing each ridiculous syllable. "The cathedral door opens to mirrored walls and light-up floors. Shadows that look like giant, continuously spinning disco balls. Shadows coming at us at high speed, propelled by demonic roller skates."

He laughs at his own silly joke, and immediately feels bad about it. He shouldn't be making light of the place any of them could die in, any day this year. Flint shakes his head. "Who knows what Khalil wants? Maybe it is just for us to... have fun."

Scout laughs at Flint's description of this imaginary dungeon, though he also thinks for a moment that maybe they shouldn't be joking about this. It's serious, after all, and seems even more so after what they'd learned. But shouldn't they be able to have a little time off? And shouldn't they be able to joke just a little bit, to make it easier? He takes another sip of his drink, his smile a little fainter but stable as he does so.

"Lord, how does that sound so much worse than everything else we've seen before? And... I think that is what he wants. Or I want to think that, anyway. It's nice, to have this."

"It is nice." Flint raps his fingers against the rink wall, watching everyone laugh and dance and spin their friends in circles. "Better to keep us happy if we're going to be fighting in a war the Velvet Room set us up for."

He's ruining the mood. They should all be having fun, not... thinking. Worrying. It's like a tap he can't switch off. "Uh, I should go. Grab a drink or something." Flint pushes himself away from the rink.

When Flint says things that are a little dismal, it makes Scout want to fix it. He wishes he knew the right thing to say to lift his friend out of his sometimes too deep thinking, but he feels like he never does... and now Flint wants to go, and Scout wonders a little if it's because he knows he can't get the reassurance he needs here.

"You can just have some of my drink, if you want," he offers, maybe a little quickly. Even though Flint is clearly just leaving to leave and not for the sole purpose of getting a drink, maybe he'll stick around a bit longer if one of his excuses is gone.

He looks back at Scout, because he can't not, and something about the look on Scout's face sends a sharp shard of regret through his chest. Flint doesn't know why he has to be like... this. Always trying to find ways to ruin what he has. Although, what are his choices, really? Stay and feed these childish feelings until they grow too big to kill, or create some much needed distance, even if it means breaking things in the short term?

"I can't steal your drink." Flint hovers there, arms stiff by his sides, like he could walk back any second and they could just pick up this moment from a minute ago. He wants to. It would be easy, painfully easy, to fold himself back into Scout's company. "Don't worry so much about me, Mr. Thoroughgood. I'll... find you later."

Flint turns away, and heads for the concession stand.

Scout feels very deflated suddenly. This is a rejection of sorts, and even if the blow is softened by the 'Mr. Thoroughgood' that Flint hasn't been calling him recently, for some reason, it feels worse than he figures it should. Even so, he has a surprising amount of control over himself, so his expression remains relatively neutral.

"I'll try. See you around."

He has a sinking feeling that he won't actually see Flint later, but he tries not to think about it and takes a long drink once the other boy's back is turned.

VELVET ROOM PARTY

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint

Scout & Flint