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

[wwiiflyingace.livejournal.com]

Oh, now he was going to get melodramatic about it? Jeez.

"It's Selphie, Irvine. She's got a terminal case of romantic obliviousness. They're probably talking about trains or sugar or trains made of sugar." He gave Irvine's shoulder a thump and tried to look as stern as possible. "You like her, she likes you. Quit moping and do something about it!"

Pause. "But, you know, you should wait until they're done. Don't make a scene or anything."

[xbalthierx.livejournal.com]

Smiling lightly, Balthier slowed their dance to a graceful stop, kissing her cheek before dipping to kiss her hand. "Thank you, it was indeed my honour." Without another word to Selphie, and after a bow, Balthier turned, walking right in Irvine's direction.

Slapping a hand to his shoulder, he smirked at him. "Next time you desire to dance with your girl, there is such a thing as having the guts to cut in."

Balthier glanced to Nida before returning his attention to Irvine. "She's all yours, cowboy." And with that, he sauntered off.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Irvine looked at Nida with a look of disbelief when he said what they might be talking about and replied, "I take it you don't know the man she's dancing with!" But he was right, he had been always timid to try anything too much with Selphie, but if even Nida could see past his cover, then anyone could. He exhaled a deep breath and was about to go, but, Balthier came to him and gave him his little pep talk.

That's it! He grinned and was about to say something witty, but Balthier left his sight before he could. He then walked over to Selphie and tried to find the words. But all he really could muster within Selphie's presence, seeing her look so...beautiful, was just, "Uh...hi Selphie." Great Irvine, just great.

[wwiiflyingace.livejournal.com]

Nida just arched an eyebrow at the guy. Daaaamn. He had to resist the urge for a tactical, "Oh, snap."

But it seemed to get Irvine moving, nonetheless. Nida hung back and watched, waiting to see whether Irvine would totally botch it or not.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

He chuckled and remembered EXACTLY when Irvine met Balthier and simply replied, "Let's just say...it's a long story." He was a bit nervous, but there wasn't any way in hell he was going to let Balthier upstage him in winning Selphie. No way, no how.

Irvine was a bit shaky, but he found his courage deep down and stated grabbing her hand gently, "Ms. Tilmitt, Selphie, it would be my greatest honor if I could have this dance with you." There he said it, now he felt a little more calm.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

And grab her waist he did, as he started up to dance with the brown haired angel in front of him. He shuffled and moved to the music with her as he looked at her with a very soft smile and stated, "You look amazing Selph, I mean like wow, you're just so...beautiful." He didn't know what else to say, Selphie looked like a knock out. Compared to her, he felt like an idiot. He was still peeved at Balthier, but all that took second place. Right now Irvine was dancing with Selphie, and nothing could spoil this moment. Nothing.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

He chuckled a little almost getting a small amount of color himself. He noticed she had glanced down and rested her head on his chin. He let this happen for a bit just feeling that small warmth on him so close to his lips. He leaned back and lifted Selphie's head to him and said, "I didn't come to dance with you, just to look at the top of your head. I wanna see those eyes, those cheeks, and that smile of yours as well. He held her close to his body all the while dancing and looking right at her.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Irvine chuckled and replied, "Would you like it, if you stood on my feet and danced with me?" But when she showed her eyes pierce his own, nothing else mattered in the world, everything around them melted for Irvine as he just looked and simply stated, "And much more...Selphie..." He was still left awestruck as he simply smiled and continued to dance with her, now completely distracted by her.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

"I'm thinking about how lucky I am to be dancing with the prettiest girl in all the palace," he stated with a soft smile on his face. He continued to look at her, still listening to the music, as he dipped her down, then back up to see her again. He was so tempted to just feel those lips on his own, it was almost driving him insane. His whole body still moved to the music as he asked her, "What are you think Selphie? And be honest."

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

Something Irvine loved to hear. He chuckled and replied, "Oh you think I'm cute huh? Well I guess us cute and beautiful people always stick together. Guess it explains why I'm here with you." His eyes still glued to her, as he simply just grinned and lowered his head to hide what little red he had. Inside of his head, he just continuously kept repeating, "Kiss you fool, kiss her, kiss her!" But his mind and his body were completely disconnected as he twirled her out then pulled her back in holding again with that same level of comfort. He was just perfect in this moment in time.

[ladiesmanirvine.livejournal.com]

He would be lying if he said he didn't expect such an impulsive behavior from her. When the music stopped his eyes looked away for a brief moment, then back to her with a dead serious tone, "Of course I like you Selphie, I mean I like you a lot." He still couldn't say what was on his mind, but all he did was say, "And I never want to see you sad." The music had stopped, but Irvine was still close to her. He then leaned down and kissed Selphie on the cheek very softly.

He finally let go and replied, and almost acting like his normal self stated, "Well, Ms. Tilmitt, it was an honor to dance with such a fine lady such as yourself." With that he bowed and started to make his way through the other party guests.