Let The Spectacle Astound You

[tidesnpcs.livejournal.com]

Characters: OPEN
Progress: Continuous
Summary: The party you've all been waiting for: the Grand Ball of Alexandria!
Location: Palace Alexandria
Date: June 21st, 1803
Warnings: TBA. Eventually, Violence.

For weeks, the palace had been abuzz with activity; even more so than usual. On top of the usual hustle and bustle of daily life, there were the extensive preparations to be done for the festival, and this, the grand finale. The palace's largest ballroom had been decorated from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. Long elaborate draperies of silk and chiffon in white and cream, the stairs lined in a rich, crimson carpeting. Gold and silver everywhere, framing the large windows and the door opening out to the courtyard. A warm summer evening, with the roses in full bloom. Flowers adorned every table, column, and doorway. It wasn't just the ballroom that had been decorated, however; the entire palace was decked in regalia, the staff having obviously anticipated the crowd to be much larger than usual.

All around the palace, inside and out, the guard was on high alert. Every guest was greeted, checked, and in the case of the higher-ranked, announced to the company at large. The sun had not quite set, and already the ballroom was half full; nobles and low-born alike, natives and foreigners, all dressed in their best. The guest of honor had yet to make her appearance, but no one seemed to be fussed by the fact.

But the night was young, and there was bound to plenty of seeing and being seen before the night was over.

[[ooc: Here we go, everyone! Party style still applies. Tag in, tag each other, mingle, HAVE FUN!... while you can. Thread jumping and ninja tagging is encouraged. ^.^]]

Update: A fist fight broke out on page two. Feel free to ninja in to spectate, generally comment or gasp, or just read it and have a laugh. Appropriate authority figures... Squall, Steiner, etc may need to step in.

Comments

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

Luneth had caught up with Rydia, danced with Selphie, and asked Ingus a serious question. He was looking for more victims, and almost completely missed Quistis due to a particularly fat noble in her way. While her face and stature didn't stand out, as Luneth assumed she was taking a backseat to everything, her gown was positively eye-popping. He looked down at his own poor-man's-robes, and sort of felt a bit shamed to go over there. These small things usually meant nothing to him; no barrier could keep people apart, especially not clothing, anyway. But with his expertise in changing jobs, he figured he could adapt to something like this, even if he felt out of place, almost unwelcome in a world and an event such as this.

He adjusted his outfit (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v190/pucchy/luneths-ball-outfit.jpg), made sure it was straight and pressed right (even if that meant some choke value going on at his neck), swept a few crumbs from the front of his lapel, and came up to the watchful woman. He was certainly not very sure what to say, really. She seemed a bit older than him and she seemed preoccupied by ... something. And while she could pass for a warrior, Luneth was having a hard time imagining it in her gown.

"Say, are you enjoying this party? It's something, huh!"

[herownhero.livejournal.com]

A voice seemed to greet her from the side, catching her off guard. Turning her head, a brief look of surprise flashed across her face from being addressed, before settling into a warm smile. She recognized him, as he had swept Selpie into a dance earlier in the night- the brunette seemed to have easily made friends in the new world, and Quistis expected nothing less.

Her head dipped into a small nod in response to his question, a couple of the blond locks tucked behind her ear falling into her face with the slight movement. "It's definitely a beautiful party." Her words were soft, but not timid- a quiet confidence she adopted to camouflage the slight insecurity she felt at being in such an unfamiliar setting.

She shifted her body to face him now, her smile welcoming as she spoke once again. "You're a friend of Selphie's, aren't you? I saw you dancing with her earlier. I'm Quistis Trepe-" she held a gloved hand out for a handshake, "a friend of Selphie's from home."

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

If he thought she looked pretty, well, he certainly thought she sounded pretty, too. A strong, yet soft voice. Seemed like she was firm and capable but still with some girlish weaknesses. Of course, Luneth didn't really think this in detail; he just sort of gauged her by the voice.

"Oh! Yeah, I am, hehe. Met her on the Mooglenet."

Even though she was aiming for a handshake, at least at the expense of formality, he wouldn't let her have it. He grasped her hand, but twisted it slightly to make sure that the top of her hand was facing him. I'm Quistis Trepe... It sounded like a very unique name, and because she was friend of Selphie, he knew this to mean she was not from this world, either. He suddenly felt less alone.

Because she looked like a true queen, he did the Saronia custom of greeting a woman. He took her hand, placed the top of it to his forehead, and claimed the greeting of the Queen, "May the waters above and below bless you". When he looked up, though, he felt embarrassed, and he blushed. Maybe he should have shook her hand instead, to be on the safe side.

[herownhero.livejournal.com]

Mooglenet? Quistis made a mental note to check the network more frequently- besides contacting Garden upon arrival, she seldom used the device. It would definitely help to forge connections across this foreign world as they might come in handy in the future.

Her fingers had initially began to close around his hand, but when he lifted it to place upon his forehead, her grip relaxed. Quistis was a bit shocked and confused at the gesture, but the words that came after were beautiful and oddly calming- the corners of her lips curled into a small smile which only widened when she noticed his slight blush.

"Is that the traditional greeting of this world?" Her tone was genuinely curious, not at all condescending. She had been greeted a variety of ways since her arrival on the planet, and it seemed as though no one here used the handshake method as they did back at home- it's always amazing to see the customs of foreign nations... or rather in this case, foreign worlds.

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

He released her hand and stood, blushing a bit and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Would it make sense to tell her he learnt it from a great knight city once drowned in darkness, far below a floating continent on which he'd originally grown up? Luneth still had trouble telling the difference between what was odd and what was just plain weird.

"Hehe, well, I'm not really from this world! Guess we share that in common."

He wondered what Quistis's world was like. Did it have crystals and floating continents and darkness and chocobos, too?

[herownhero.livejournal.com]

Her eyes lit up at the piece of information- so he was a person of the sky, as well! She should have known from the mention of Mooglenet, as it seems only those of other worlds could access it.

"It seems like there are a lot of people who aren't from this world. What's your world like?" She was clearly interested, eyes sparking with that sort of hunger for knowledge.