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

[artemistardust.livejournal.com]

Rosa heard her name and turned. Well, there was one of her companions spotted. She smiled, head tilting slightly as she moved closer to him. It was good to see him again after so long, and he looked as though he was doing well. That put at least some of her worries to rest.

"Kain, it's good to see you again. How are you?"

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

"I'm well. Thank you. And how are you faring, Rosa? ...That dress... suits you..."

Kain nearly blurted out even more about just how wonderful and breathtaking he thought she looked. He caught his tongue, however, afraid that if he went overboard it would seem out of line. She was here for Cecil, he was more than aware. However, he was much more pleased to see Rosa than he was expecting to be... something about her presence still just set him more at ease.

[artemistardust.livejournal.com]

"I am well. This new place is different and an adjustment, but it has come with its share of nice surprises."

Such as her apparent marriage to Cecil.

Rosa blushed at his admission, smiling warmly up at him. "Thank you," she murmured. "It was the best dress I looked at and the shopkeeper told me I needed to buy it. I didn't see any reason to look further."

A glance was spared down at the jewels and sparkles across it and she smiled again. "The color is just right, I think. I was afraid it might be too much for the occasion."

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

"It's perfect..." Again, he trailed off, not wanting to go on too much further, since he wouldn't want to make her uncomfortable. No making a potentially awkward situation, or so he could hope. He wanted to enjoy being in her presence, as much as he possibly could.

But it was difficult tearing his eyes away from her and how the dress really did look wonderful on her...

"I... am... I'm glad, that you have adjusted."

[artemistardust.livejournal.com]

Rosa smiled again, glad that Kain was at least talking to her and seemed to be in decent spirits. The party was supposed to be for happiness and mingling, so she was glad he wasn't upset about anything.

"It's been difficult, but I'm very fortunate to have people I know with me. People like you." She gently reached out to touch his arm again, wanting him to know with word and action that he really did mean a lot to her.

"Are you here to see the queen or visit with other people?" She felt so out of the loop regarding her friends here that she needed to ask just in case she was keeping him from an appointment or something else.

[dragoon-rising.livejournal.com]

Honestly, if he could spend the entire rest of the time with Rosa, Kain would gladly do so. It was lifting his normally low spirits immensely to be around her, to have her speaking to him thus and... even touching his arm as she was doing. He couldn't express in words just how much it meant to have her of anyone else with him...

"I am here to stand guard. There is a potential threat to the queen and people here, and I intend not to let anything happen." He turned very serious for a moment, before downgrading to... only his normal level of serious. "But I have no pressing demands on my time. I can remain here with you for as long as you'll allow." He didn't want to push past however much she could tolerate him... but he was being reassured by her that she did want to be in his presence.

/fails

[artemistardust.livejournal.com]

Rosa smiled at him gently, just glad he could be near her. "I'm glad to spend any time at all with you," she told him warmly. "You are a friend to me, Kain, and I like to check up on you when I need to." Like now. He was obviously very serious about this guarding business and that was probably a good thing, but she wished he'd relax a little anyway.

"Be careful. I don't mind if you'll keep me company while you're free." In fact, if the look on her face was any indication, she'd welcome it at this point.