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]

Even though Cloud seemed uncomfortable at the setting and people, Luneth just thought he was upset at something. Seemed like a storm raged behind his eyes or deep inside his mind, and only faded when distracted.

"You don't go to parties? Someone like you? ... Hehe, seems like girls would be on you all the time."

But Luneth smiled when Cloud ate the apple a bit. He looked Cloud up and down and then made an obvious observation.

"You're... not from this world, huh?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"I go to parties when my gi-- friends make me." He gave a shrug, and noticed the elevator look that Luneth gave him, his shocking blue eyes narrowing, a slight spark of life in them. He didn't like being looked at in any kind of critical manner.

Still, he didn't say anything harsh. "No, I'm not from this world. I'm from a place that's just called the Planet." He bit into the apple again, huffing slightly at the flouncy cuffs of his shirt.

"Are you from this world?"

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

He could tell! He could tell Cloud was about to say "girlfriend", but he didn't want to upset Cloud if Cloud was already in a somewhat bad mood. But he didn't want Cloud to think he was judging him; Luneth just liked to learn about people and explore. His curiosity often got him in trouble, so if he looked too long, he might be under Cloud's giant blade in no time. He rubbed his head and looked away.

"The Planet...?" He thought about it. That seemed a good name for any place someone might live, though the people of the Surface World didn't call their home that. He wondered why, until Cloud asked him if he was from here.

"Hehe, I'm not from here either. I'm from the Floating Continent!"

He often forgot that that sounded weird to the people of Gaia.

"Umm... hehe, why don't you dance with someone?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Are you offering?" Cloud's poor attempt at a joke, and his serious tone really didn't help in the slightest. Finishing his apple, he tossed the core into the trash, crossing his arms.

The blonde shook his head, adjusting the guard that held the sword against his back. "I don't dance. I... can't." He really couldn't. Sure, he could do the stiff slow dancing thing with Tifa, but she'd only recently taught him that back in their own world, so this Tifa really didn't know he could almost, sort of, kind of dance.

"What's your name, anyway?" It was uncomfortable to talk to someone whose name he didn't know.

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

Luneth just laughed. For guys like Cloud, they seemed like they needed things like outings and dancing and apples. Or at least the simplistic Luneth thought; he sometimes figured that the deepest problems can be cured with simple solutions.

"Hehe, my name's Luneth! Don't tell me your name is Moody McMoody-Pants."

The little strawberry he'd taken with him ended up in his mouth after the joke on Cloud's name.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

A slight laugh came from the blonde with the big sword and he shook his head slightly. Luneth had actually managed to make him crack a fairly decent smile. It didn't take as much work these days as it once had but it still took some doing.

"It's not the first time I've been called that... but, no. My name's Cloud Strife."

And what an oxymoron his name really was. Clouds were fluffy and nice and the right kind of cloud looked good on a sunny day. Then there was his last name. Completely contradicting his first. Cloud had always wondered what his mother was thinking...