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

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall agreed with Cloud that it was hard to keep track of the days in Treno. "Get a good watch and calendar if you're going to stay in Treno long term." He said dryly.

Squall did know how to handle Rinoa. Usually. But even so, there were times that there was just no stopping Rinoa, especially when she got into a topic she was passionate about. So he only gave a tiny shrug in Cloud's direction.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"I wouldn't have," said Tifa, smiling, though in truth she wouldn't have liked it if he hadn't dressed up. It was a formal ball; they had to make an effort.

"I know, it messes with your body clock, doesn't it?" Rinoa agreed. "I like Treno, but I couldn't live there."

She looked between the two couples, a mischievous grin spreading over her face. "Oh, I've got a great idea! Why don't we do swapsies? Tifa, you dance with Squall, and I'll dance with Cloud. What do you say?"

"We're not really used to ballroom dancing-" Tifa began, but Rinoa cut her off.

"Don't worry! Squall will show you, won't you? And I'll show Cloud. It's okay, I'll just kick you if you step on my feet."

She held out her hand to Cloud, still grinning, as Tifa looked at Squall uncertainly.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

The blonde almost sneered at Squall's very dry statement, tempted to just make excuses and drag Tifa off somewhere they could be alone and then Rinoa was talking about dancing.

Cloud's face looked almost panic striken and he shook his head. "I can't dance. Really." Looking to Tifa, he seemed to silently beg for her to get jealous and say no and be the angry girlfriend he knew she could be if she tried.

Yet... it didn't come and Rinoa's hand was held out. Sighing, he took it and frowned more, letting her drag him onto the dance floor. This wouldn't go well.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall blinked as his girlfriend dragged off someone else's boyfriend to the dance floor. Ah well. If Cloud didn't know how to dance, Rinoa will teach him on the fly.

He turned to Tifa. "I don't know if I should apologize or not for Rinoa kidnapping your boyfriend."

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, Tifa did feel a twinge of jealousy seeing Cloud being dragged off to dance by another young woman. But she trusted Rinoa, who was clearly very much in love with Squall.

She shook her head, smiling wryly at Squall. "It's okay. I guess it was a fair exchange."

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

"If it's to be a fair exchange, than we'll have to dance too." Squall said seriously. Not to mention Rinoa will probably nag him about it afterward if he didn't. "That is...if you don't mind."

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

Tifa's smile widened. "I figured. And I'm really sorry if Rinoa comes back with injured feet... I'll try not to step on yours too."

She held out her hand, a little shyly. Squall seemed nice enough though, and hopefully he knew how to dance.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

"Rinoa's handled worse before, I'm sure." Squall replied and took her hand with a half bow before leading her to the dance floor. He could handle having his foot stepped on a few times, he was sure, and after dancing so many times with Rinoa he definitely knew how not to step on his partner's feet in a dance.

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

Tifa moved with grace, but she knew how to fight, not dance. She followed Squall's lead, glancing at the other couples out of the corner of her eye to see the steps. Cloud and Rinoa were already dancing, and as she had expected, Cloud was rather clumsy and staring at his feet.

"Not a bad party, huh?" she said.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

It was clear by the way Tifa moved that she was a trained fighter, and he spotted her looking at the other dancers.

"It's not bad, but parties aren't really my thing." He answered as he merged the pair of them into the dance.

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

"You know how to dance though," said Tifa, both surprised and relieved at this realisation.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

"Rinoa was the one who taught me." Squall replied seriously as he began to move his body in time to the beat of the music, which thankfully wasn't really all that fast. "The first time we met actually."

[heartofheaven.livejournal.com]

"Then she's a good teacher."

Tifa found it quite easy to follow his lead, especially since the music was slow. She allowed herself to relax and enjoy the dance, trusting that she had a reliable partner.

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

"She is." He and Rinoa never did finish that first dance, but they had lots of opportunities to dance after they defeated Ultimecia, so Squall guessed that made up for it. "You're a good dancer too."

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway. Grasping Cloud's hand firmly, she pulled him right into the middle of the dance floor. There she took the proper hold, moving Cloud's hand to her waist.

"Just follow my lead," she said. "Have you really never danced before?"

She began a simple pattern of steps, back and forth in time with the music, hoping he had enough grace not to step on her feet.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud grimaced slightly, feeling very awkward about having his hand on her waist. He half expected Squall to come charging over at flip out at the fact he was suddenly holding the girl like this.

"No, never..." he mumbled, watching his feet as he tried to follow her lead. He was wearing combat boots. If he stepped on her feet in those, he'd probably break her toes. So, sure, he was about the same height and build as Squall, and that'd help Rinoa be comfortable with him...

...but he had about as much grace as a one-legged chocobo.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"This way," Rinoa murmured. "Count the beats... One, two, three, four. And relax. Listen to the music."

He was too stiff, that was the problem. Concentrating too much on not stepping on her feet instead of actually dancing. Rinoa steered him as one might steer a rather confused child. He'd get the hang of it eventually, right?

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Easy for you to say..." Relax? Right. Cloud took a slow breath in, still watching their feet as they almost sort of danced. He felt like a plank of wood being dragged around.

He knew he was too stiff. He knew that he wasn't relaxing.

This just wasn't his area of expertise or a comfort zone at all.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Easy to do too," she chided him. "C'mon, loosen up! Spin!"

She twirled away from him, then back again - all he had to do was catch her hands.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

He almost panicked at that but as she came back he caught her hands and drew her close, trying to relax a little.

He even managed to crack a smile. "Um... so... how do you know Tifa?"

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Good!" said Rinoa, grinning, her hair flying out as she returned to his arms. This was much more fun.

She stepped back again, falling into the rhythm of the dance as she answered his question. "We met in Galbadia Garden. That's where Squall and I are staying now; you've heard of it, right?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Yeah... Tifa told me about it." He looked at her face for all of two seconds before those mako blue eyes found his feet again, the lights of his eyes glowing brightly as he watched their movements.

Cloud's nose wrinkled a little as he tried to be the lead of the dance, knowing it was the men who were supposed to lead. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't all that bad at it once he relaxed a little. He was slowly, very slowly, getting the hang of it.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Hey, you're doing well!" Rinoa encouraged him, happy that he was starting to take the lead. They hadn't bumped into any other couples yet, which was an improvement on her first dance with Squall.

She couldn't help but laugh at how he kept looking down at his feet though. "I'm up here," she added. "You've got beautiful eyes; I'd like to see them!"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

The comment about his eyes brought a pink tint to his pale skin. He wasn't used to any kind of compliments but he wasn't going to dismiss them. He just really didn't respond to it in any way but keeping his head down. Perhaps lowering it further, directing those blonde spikes right at her.

"I'm okay, I'll watch to make sure I don't step on your feet." He didn't want to break her toes, after all.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

"Well, you haven't yet," said Rinoa, who was finding him cuter by the second.

The song finished, and she came to a stop, but Cloud didn't seem to have noticed or perhaps he was just a bit slow to react. Either way, he was still looking down at his feet.

"Your hair sure is spiky!" she said. "You nearly poked my eye out there." And grinning, she let go of him to ruffle his hair. "Wow... soft too!"