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

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia looked at him as though she knew what he felt, even if he hadn't put it on display. She had seen and heard his arguments with Edge over the device, and even before then, their attitudes had always clashed. But she hadn't come to Kain

She nodded. "Oh, I have--which brings me to you." The was a small smile that tugged at her lips as the music resumed, and now it was probably easy for Kain to tell what she was thinking. Yes, it was time for that horrible fate.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

She appeared to be far too amused about this idea. Kain knew well that look on her face, and that it meant she was also about to get her way. Protesting was futile. He could make excuses about having to remain on guard, but also knew that it would do no good against Rydia-logic.

So with a sigh, Kain relented, though didn't move just yet. "If we come under attack during this, we'll have to stop and deal with that..."

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia stared at him, deadpan. "No, Kain. The dance must be finished at all costs. How can any attack possibly be more important?" Priorities, Kain.

She could only hold that look for a second, then chuckled. "We'll do what we must, but there's no point in begging for trouble." That that, she lead the way to the dance floor.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Kain rolled his eyes briefly at her first remark. It was just that he was so certain that something was going to go wrong tonight. He didn't know when, but it would happen sooner or later. ...Perhaps it was already happening to him right now, in the form of dancing.

Resistance would probably cause a scene at this point, which Kain would rather avoid. So he followed along after her, probably the most irritated looking person to set foot on the dance floor.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Yes, Kain had it rough. He was at a high-class party with food, music and women looking for a dance partner. Even worse, one of them wanted to dance with him. Torture unendurable!

Rydia, for her part, looked rather unrepentant. She knew dancing was far from his priorities, but that didn't stop her from pausing once they reached a spot clear of people and stepping forward to slip an arm around him and begin.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

There were worse fates, but at the moment, it was hard for Kain to pull himself out of Serious mode. He just wasn't as capable of relaxing and putting things out of mind as some people. But for now, he was stuck humoring Rydia, and he might as well try not to look as if he were embarking on a dreaded mission.

Once they started, it was probably noticeable that Kain at least did have some very basic experience with dancing... drilled into his head over the years. Although initially his motions were very stiff.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Those initial motions didn't bother her any--stiff as they were, he still seemed to know more than those she had danced with lately. For once, it was nice not to have to teach someone how to move or what to do, and just enjoy moving along to the beat at a normal pace. Her smirk faded into an encouraging smile, as she sought to move past that moment of victory and at least see about helping Kain out of Serious mode enough to relax a little.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Getting Kain to be non-Serious would be close to impossible. He just wouldn't feel right letting his guard down or relaxing too much. He continued to move with her, still a bit more rigid than he needed to be. The only reason he'd learned any dancing at all had been to attempt impressing Rosa, way back when... but it was probably best he didn't think about that.

...Oh well. At least Rydia was apparently enjoying this.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

"Relax." Rydia doubted just saying so would cause it to happen, but she hoped her gentle reminder would sink in on some level, so Serious mode could be downgraded a bit. She was fairly decent at this dance, enough not to step on his feet or cause them to stumble.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

"Why?" Yes, Kain would continue to be a bit stubborn about that. He just couldn't help it. At least Rydia did seem to know what she was doing, making him less concerned about making some sort of scene by one of them tripping. He was grudgingly coming to realize that it really wasn't as bad as he'd thought it would be.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

"Because I asked nicely?" Rydia's tone remained pleasant and she smiled at him as though to counter that stubbornness. She wasn't going to continue ordering him around, wanting to enjoy the dance, content with making her point. Once his movements were less stiff, she relaxed a little more too, simply enjoying the music and the company.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Kain made a face at that, but didn't otherwise protest. He wasn't minding this, after all, even despite all of his determination to act otherwise. In fact, the more time went by, the more at ease he felt. ...Not that he wanted to admit it. He was just doing this because he probably owed her, somehow.

[ava-illumina.livejournal.com]

While wandering around the ballroom, Cecil caught a flash of familiar blue armor and made a beeline towards it, where he knew he'd find his childhood friend. He had a very mischievous grin on his face as he walked. The urge to embarrass Kain was strong, but... no, Cecil knew better than to tempt fate. So instead, the paladin casually walked over and... STARED. His reaction was appropriate and justified because, well... Kain was dancing. DANCING. And doing a pretty good job at it too. Well, besides being stiff as a board, as per usual. But Kain seemed to relaxing a little, at Rydia's coaxing, and this made him genuinely happy to see. Still, he couldn't resist a chuckle while he watched.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

It seemed to take quite some time before Kain was suitably relaxed, and even then there was still some part of him that remained on edge. He therefore heard a familiar chuckle... and aimed a quick glare toward his friend. Not an overly harsh glare, but more of a typical 'Kain is not amused by that' sort of expression.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Rydia of course heard the chuckle as well and spotted Cecil. She winked at him, though didn't call out for fear of provoking teasing which would make Kain tense up again or worse, stop. Once they were done, however, poor Kain was fair game.

[ava-illumina.livejournal.com]

Cecil simply waved at the pair of them, still smiling a little. He decided to wait until they were done dancing before teasing Kain some more. For now, however, he would be good and not interrupt them.