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

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Penelo tiptoed along the perimeter of the celebrants, looking for some of her friends. Anyone to ease the anxious gnawing in the pit of her stomach that sky piratess street urchin had no place here. At this point, anyone would do: Balthier, Ashe, Mjrn, for that matter, she could almost stand to see Gabranth. Almost.

So distracted was she in looking, she entirely missed someone else passing through, and when she gave up and turned to try another direction, bumped into the guy behind her. "I'm sorry!" she blurted out, looking away at the floor.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Irvine was looking around himself and didn't notice the woman. When she bumped him he almost fell over himself. He grinned and replied, "I always said was a lady magnet, never knew it was actually true." Then he looked at the girl who was facing the floor and asked, "Are you alright miss? I hope I didn't startle you or something. Truth is I wasn't paying attention to such an angel such as yourself." This proved only one thing, no matter what Irvine was wearing, he would always have his game face on.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Even had she been hurt, she would have slunk off quietly and healed herself up. "I'm sorry for not looking where I was going. I was hoping to find some of my friends."

This was worse than roaming the streets of Archades with all those snooty gentry deigning to favor you with a chop.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

To Irvine, she seemed very timid and not knowing where she was going. It was up to him to help out a fair damsel in distress, so to speak. He bowed and replied, "You have nothing to apologize for, my dear, and as a way to make it up to you, I would be happy to help you in finding your friends for you. I mean it is the least I could do." He bowed to her grabbing her hand gently and stated, "Irvine Kinneas is always on duty for a fine woman such as yourself." He kissed it softly then straighten himself up, to help her.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

The special treatment was still something quite new to Penelo, who immediately started to blush and gawk. She was only just getting use to Balthier doing something like that, and now that she knew him well enough, realized half the time he was doing it just to make her blush.

"It's nice to meet you; I'm Penelo." She looked around again, looking for anyone familiar. "Maybe you've seen a Viera around? I'm not sure Fran's around, but I know Mjrn was going to be here." She figured it was easier to explain what a Viera was than actually describe some of her other friends. Also, she wasn't counting on those names to ring a bell.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

He couldn't help but laugh a little. What were the odds of meeting someone who knew both Fran and Mjrn. Irvine nodded and replied, "Though I'm not entirely sure what Viera are, I can say that I know of those two, if they are who I think they are. And yes Mjrn is around, my friends helped her pick a dress, more my friends rather than me." Now he was just rambling and shook his head then stated, "Come on, I'll help you find Mjrn, she's gotta be around here somewhere."

He was a little bit more interested in finding Fran. Mainly because of the debt he owed her.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

"Fran and Mjrn are both Viera," was Penelo's simple explanation. "I know Mjrn's here somewhere. She was coming with my partner's brother." The very fact she could say that made her smile. Seeing Reks again was such a relief to her, and gave her an enduring hope she might eventually see family and other friends lost.

She fell into step easily enough, while continuing to look around as well. "I wonder where Larsa's gotten to..." she murmured under her breath. Her coming to this was his idea more than hers.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"Then I have met them before, Fran taught me a few tricks of the bow," he answered to her looking around for bunny ears. When Irvine heard her say "Larsa" he remembered the mission that was given by Squall. He looked at her and asked, "You say you're looking for Larsa? As in Larsa Solidor? As in the one the SeeD were hired to take care of?" He had to be weary, last thing he wanted was the client to be hurt and it being Irvine's fault. He acted the way he was with women, but now a little more cautious.

Though be it his luck, he left all his weapons in the Garden.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

The subject of the guards was a touchy subject with Penelo. Larsa had vanished when he'd left to meet with them, and since then, she'd barely seen him. Of course Larsa would need a guard, and she was used to it, after all, Basch had gone to Archades for just such a purpose, but...

She nodded once and smiled. "He's supposed to be meeting me here."

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Irvine sighed and replied, "Alright I can help you look for Larsa, but if you meet up with a guy who barely says anything and a scar on his face, I did NOT help you." Last thing he needed was Squall hurting him for something stupid like getting someone close to their client. He couldn't help but ask, "So I guess I have to know, since i am leading you to this guy, how do you know him? Friend? Lover? Husband?"

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

"He's a friend." She was not going to get into the rest with someone she didn't even know. All the probing and the don't tell someone bothered her though. "If it's a problem, I can look myself."