Party in modern Barovia
6-10-2022
Valmine is certain she has never seen this much riches in one room before.
The guests at the party buzz around her and Ireena like ants, dressed to the nines. There are gold watches and designer shoes everywhere she looks.
Ireena does not look out of place in her emerald ankle dress and silver sandals, but Valmine herself feels small and nervous amongst all these people.
When Ireena invited her to keep her company, she had been flattered, and she still feels a bit giddy from helping Ireena with her hair just before getting here. But now, with the blasting music and the strange looks that being a newcomer in this world gets her, the anxiety is creeping up on her.
Ireena is here to inquire with her distant family members about their opinion on her uncle, to subtly map out where their loyalties lie. She chats with everyone with effortless grace, while Valmine hides behind her back.
When Ireena strands in a long conversation with yet another old guy in a suit worth more than her college education, Valmine spots Dred and Julius from the corner of her eye, and flees to them. Julius is wearing a horrid orange jacket with cheetah print on the lapels, that thankfully makes him easy to find in a crowd. It contrasts with the beige high-neck dress that Dred is wearing, undoubtably forced onto her by her mom.
‘’…And in my defense, the place hasn’t always been a fetish club’’, she catches Julius say to Dred, who is listening to his story attentively. ‘’It used to be a community centre for disadvantaged youth. But then we started offering sexual health testing, and later support groups, and then you can imagine the rest!’’
Valmine is about to squeeze herself inbetween Dred and Julius to hide away from the dancing, designer-clad bodies in the hall, but then she sees Dreds posture suddenly change from relaxed to uptight.
The reason for the change is clear: Dreds mother is approaching.
She walks up to her child, demandingly laying a hand on her shoulder.
‘’What the actuall hell are you two talking about?’’, she asks Julius, paying no mind to the furious look Dred shoots at her when she shimmies away from her mothers touch.
‘’Ah, Mrs. Ivanov, good to see you.’’, Julius says, and nods at her politely. ‘’I was just telling your daughter about the dangers of the … uhh… the dangers of the liberal agenda. Yes.’’
‘’Hmmm, good. You never know what they do to our youth these days’’, she says, and then turns to Dred again.
‘’Milly love, don’t slouch like that. You look like a sack of potatoes. Come here, let me fix your hair.’’
‘’Leave it, mom, there’s nothing wrong with it’’, Dred huffs, and bats her hand away.
‘’Now listen to me, lady’’, she says, and Valmine can see her face distort into a grim mask of displeasure. ‘’If you are in good company like today you are to behave. God knows I’ll raise you to be a proper woman no matter how difficult you make it.’’
She fusses over Dreds hair for a moment, rearranging the strands and pinning them to the side with a spare hairpin she conjures out of nowhere.
Dred disgruntledly allows it, her eyes finding Valmines and sending her a desperate look.
Valmine had intended to wait until her mom is gone, too scared of that hag to approach now.
But then Mrs. Ivanov is finished with dreds hair and looks over her shoulder, eyes narrowing when they land on Valmine.
‘’Ah, Valmine!’’, she exclaims, the cheer in her voice way too thick to be genuine. ‘’Come over here for a moment.’’
Valmine obeys, paralysed by fear, and Dreds mom grabs her by the arm to drag her forward as soon as she is within reach.
‘’This is what a proper lady looks like.’’, she says. ‘’You could learn something from her.’’
Valmine freezes under her touch, and wonders if crippling anxiety is a desirable trait for a lady to have. Dred frowns rebelliously, but Valmine doesn’t miss the slight edge of pain in her eyes.
‘’Anyway, don’t forget to greet the guests’’, Dred’s mom says to her daughter. ‘’And smile when you talk to them, for gods sake. We have to leave a good impression.’’
And with that she thankfully disappears in the crowd.
‘’Are you all right?’’, Valmine asks as soon as she’s out of hearing range. Dred simply cracks a cocky smile and plucks the pin out of her hair again.
‘’I’d feel a whole fucking lot better if I wasn’t wearing this stupid dress. I feel like a republican.’’, she says as she tosses the pin over her shoulder.
‘’Your mom is really mean to you.’’, Valmine says, and Dred sighs.
‘’Tell me something new.’’
Valmine knows her friend is good at hiding how she really feels behind a prickly exterior, but it’s clear that she feels upset at her moms snide remarks.
She wishes she could comfort her somehow, but she doesn’t know what to say.
But then she gets an idea.
‘’Julius, could I borrow your jacket?’’
He frowns in confusion.
‘’Are you cold?’’
‘’Just give it to me.’’
He doesn’t ask more questions, and shucks off the jacket to hand it to her. Honestly, he looks a lot better without it. Why on earth did he pair an orange jacket with a red shirt anyway?
Valmine nods at Dred and holds the jacket up to her.
‘’Come here.’’
Dred stares in confusion for a second, but her eyes light up when she realizes what Valmine has in mind. She takes the jacket and puts it on over her dress. It’s a little short for her, but it fits her shoulders just fine. The dress and jacket are horribly mismatched, colors and textures clashing, making her look like a randomly generated sim. But ofcourse Dred makes it work.
‘’Mom’s gonna be so mad’’, she grins, a mischievous smile beaming on her face.
‘’Great look, Dred’’, Ireena exclaims when she walks up to the group. ‘’I’m done talking to people for today. Who wants to dance with me?’’
And before Valmine even gets the chance to consider the question, Dred and Ireena drag her off to the dancefloor in a whirlwind of laughter and excitement.
She looks at Julius for help, but he just waves at her from the sideline before he turns away to head to the bar.
-
As the girls go on to conquer the dancefloor with wild jumping that evolves into a moshpit within minutes, Julius heads to the edges of the room to have a drink.
He abstains from alcohol, and he isn’t thirsty either, but he wants something to occupy his hands. Even though he is still covered from fingers to neck, he feels strangely exposed without his jacket. He hasn’t been to a party in years, not since he was a young man fresh out of college. He seems to have lost that carefreeness long ago. Despite that, it’s good to see his protégées enjoy themselves.
He orders sparkling water with a lime and sips it slowly, watching the dancefloor from afar while lost in thought.
‘’Have we met before?’’
A smooth voice disturbs his thoughs, and Julius turns around to see a tall man in an expensive black suit, his long black hair in an elegant updo.
‘’I don’t believe we have’’, Julius answers.
‘’The name is Strahd von Zarovich’’, the man says, and holds out his hand to Julius in greeting. Julius takes it, even though he usually avoids any physical contact with strangers. But something in the mans voice urges him to obey in a gentle yet unavoidable way.
He expects a simple handshake, but Strahd lifts his hand up to his face instead.
‘’With whom do I have the honor?’’, he asks, before kissing his hand. And of course he aims for the spot where his skin is not covered by his glove.
‘’I’m… uhhh…’’, he stammers, his brain short-circuiting when he feels the mans cold lips on his hand. ‘’My name’s Julius.’’
‘’Pleasure to meet you. Belmont I presume?’’, he says, nodding at the family crest stamped on his leather waistcoat.
Julius nods, feeling himself redden in shame about making such a fool out of himself.
‘’Hmmm, was that too much?’’, Strahd says, releasing his hand. ‘’I thought an old-fashioned greeting would be fitting for an old-fashioned man.’’
He is not sure if he should take that as an insult or not.
‘’Pleased to meet you, Mr. Zarovich.’’, he says, struggling to regain his composure.
‘’Oh, just call me Strahd’’, he says, an amused smile appearing on his face. ‘’You’re dressed well, for a Belmont at least. I’ve done business with some of your family members back in the day. So much money, yet none of them could find out where to tailor a suit!’’
It occurs to Julius that he cannot possibly guess the age of this man. He could be in his thirties, but he could be fifty-five just as well.
‘’I’m not very active in the business of the Belmont clan these days’’, he says, and Strahd nods thoughtfully.
‘’Any inheritors?’’
‘’No. ‘’
‘’Of course, I should have known.’’, he says, looking Julius up and down.
‘’What?’’
‘’Never mind. What do you do, if you don’t meddle in the Belmont affairs?’’
‘’I occupy myself with other things.’’
‘’Oh? Like what?’’
Strahd sounds genuinely interested, and there is a curious sparkle in his eyes. They are a pale grey, but in the light of the ballroom they almost have a red undertone. Somehow it looks like they could pierce directly into his soul.
‘’I used to conduct church services’’, he says. ‘’A… And now I teach. I have a doctorate in history, you see. I also manage finances for a…’’
For what? A BDSM-club? A gay bar? There is no way he can say that here, and he knows he should not even have brought it up. But he is so put off by this strange figure that he forgets his usual omission of the less than appropriate aspects of his life.
‘’…A centre for the …uhhh…socially challenged. In the city centre, actually, next to the cinema. ’’, he stammers.
Strahd raises an eyebrow.
‘’Oh, that sounds so interesting. Maybe I should visit someday.’’
‘’You can – or, I mean, you don’t have to. It’s awfully boring, actually, you really shouldn’t…’’, Julius rambles, trying to solve his mistake. He hates how Strahd makes everything go wrong in his head, but he can’t help it. The man is just very distracting.
‘’Oh, don’t worry. I love the socially challenged.’’, he says, and winks.
Before Julius has the change to think about what that even means, Dreds mom shows up again, clinging to Strahds arm.
‘’Ah, mister von Zarovich, it’s so good to see you. I see you met Julius. He tutors my daughter Mildred. Anyway, I really wanted to talk to you about your new mayoral campaign, we should go over how…’’
Chatting aggressively, she leads him away. He looks over his shoulder for a moment and waves at him with a smug look on his face. They leave a dumbfounded Julius behind, who is still desperately trying to process what just happened to him as he watches them go.
‘’Julius? Why the hell is my uncle flirting with you?’’
Ireenas hand on his arm brings him back to reality, and he turns around to see the girls gathered around him.
‘’Did he just call you socially challenged?’’, Dred asks.
‘’…What?’’, Julius manages to say. ‘’What do you mean, flirting? And this is your…’’
‘’Julius, my man. What is my last name?’’, Ireena asks.
‘’Von Zarov… Oh, I see.’’
Ireena sighs and shakes her head disapprovingly.
‘’Julius, I’m glad you finally feel some thirst, god knows you need it, but him? Could you not at least have picked a libertarian?’’, Dred says.
Julius looks at the half-full glass of water that he’s still holding and wonders if that’s the kind of thirst she’s referring to.
‘’…I’m not a libertarian’’, he says, only to watch Dred bury her face in her hands in desperation.
‘’Anyway, if you’re done lusting after my uncle, do you wanna join us to the buffet?’’, Ireena asks, nodding to the long table loaded with food on the other end of the room.
‘’There is some good stuff on there’’, Valmine chimes in. ‘’And I think you could use some. You look starved.’’
‘’First of all, let it be known I do not ‘lust’ after anyone.’’, Julius states, ignoring Dreds eyeroll. ‘’But yes, I would love to.’’
He follows the girls to the buffet, catching a glimpse of Strahd looking at him from the corner of his eye, before he turns away and whispers something to Dreds mom.
God help him, he thinks. This is going to be a long night.