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

[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!"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

The dance was suddenly over and Cloud was late to stop moving. He just really wasn't very quick to react to the music and Rinoa stopping, but then a hand found his hair as she mentioned how spiky it was and, once his hair was ruffled, Cloud looked up with wide eyes.

He almost liked horrified for a second, like he'd been violated, but his expression changed quickly and he gave an awkward smile followed by and equally as awkward laugh.

"Yeah... it is kinda spiky, huh?" Cloud reached up, toying with that largest spike.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa laughed too. "You must have terrible bed hair."

She looked around for Squall and Tifa. "Well, I'll leave the next dance to you and Tifa. Knock yourself out."

And with a quick wave, she walked off to collect Squall.