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

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

He had refused to wear anything from this era. Refused and refused... and then gave in because, hey, once you'd worn a big purple dress, tights were nothing, right? Still, he'd managed to get away with wearing his black leather pants with the zippers at the hems instead. Wearing a white shirt with frilly cuffs and a waistcoat that was almost as dark as his pants, Cloud had even kept his boots in place.

He had managed to convince the guards that he really wasn't going to murder anyone with the Buster Sword, and had headed in with Tifa. Cloud glanced around, his abnormally bright blue eyes focusing on very little. He just couldn't take it all in at once...

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall definitely looked out of place in this crowd that was mostly dressed in the finest of Gaian fashions while he stuck with wearing only his formal SeeD uniform. The rest of SeeD and Rinoa had gone for local fashions, but Squall thought it was a good thing at least one of them still looked like they were SeeD

Besides, why waste money on new formal clothing when he already had something suitable already?

Entering the already crowded ballroom, Squall began to look around to see if he could find any familiar faces around.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Of course Cloud noticed Squall. He was probably one of the only few that didn't look native to the place. Glad that his shirt really wasn't as flouncy as some of the shirts men here were wearing, he adjusted that shoulder guard that was strapped around him, the Buster Sword clinging to his back. It really was an enormous sword. Almost as big as him, which said a lot. Perhaps that was why the guards let him have it inside. It looked so big and he, well, didn't, so they probably doubted he could wield it.

Stepping through the crowd, he tried not to get swept up in the storms of people as he hoped to find his way to get a drink. Anything to lighten the mood.

/threadjacks, because otherwise they'll just go ... for ages :P

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Guess what, guys? Tifa and Rinoa had already met. Rinoa spotted Cloud and Tifa moving through the crowd, and immediately turned to Squall.

"Hey, there's Tifa! Let's go talk to them."

She grabbed his hand to lead him over to them, at the same time as Tifa saw them.

Tifa nudged Cloud gently. "Hey, did I tell you about when I travelled on Galbadia Garden? It looks as though the SeeDs decided to come to the ball too."

lol what'd you expect?

[tempest-lion.livejournal.com]

Squall had seen what the locals considered 'formal wear' with their big flouncy lacy things and had refused straight off to wear anything like that. He spotted Cloud near the drink tables as he was tugged over to the other couple, his eyes drawn immediately to the huge sword the other bore on his back.

Definitely not a local, Squall decided. The shirt didn't quite match the pants, and he'd not seen another sword like that one in the local armories.

[livelyangel.livejournal.com]

Rinoa caught up with the other couple just as Tifa was getting a drink, and she greeted her friend with much enthusiasm. Tifa welcomed her warmly, but naturally it was Rinoa who got to the introductions first.

"Squall, this is Tifa. Oh, and who's the gorgeous guy with you? Is that Cloud?"

Tifa nodded and Rinoa ploughed straight on.

"Cloud, hi! I'm Rinoa. It's great to meet you! You both look great. Squall here insisted on wearing his SeeD uniform, didn't you, Squall? And I was so looking forward to seeing you in fancy cuffs, but I guess this is fancy enough for you already."

She laughed and poked him, a teasing look in her eyes.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

The mako in Cloud's shimmering blue eyes brightened slightly, almost in defense against the girl who was frighteningly more forward that Tifa. She was like the mid-point between Tifa and Yuffie. Maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Uh... hi." Yeah, he flushed a slightly pale pink at the comment about him being gorgeous because he just wasn't used to comments like that and them he fell silent, just crossing his arms.

Right that minute, he couldn't have felt more awkward if he'd have been wearing that big purple dress. Which, surprisingly, was still in his closet back home...

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

Luneth was sure he had never seen this blonde guy before. For some reason, he looked really mad, and he suddenly had the thought that maybe Cloud was actually Kain, and finally removed his dragoon armour! It would make sense, since seeing Ingus in that armour just made Luneth laugh.

He snatched up a little bit of fruit and came toward Cloud. Before he even got to close, the light reflected perfectly through Cloud's eyes and the true Mako blue hues stood out before Luneth got to close and it seemed to fade again. That blue... was like the blue of the oceans on the Surface World. It suddenly brought him a wave of nostalgia.

He offered Cloud an apple.

"Hey guy! I can tell you're not really enjoying this place. Hehe."

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

As a voice prodded him out of his thoughts, Cloud looked at Luneth, blinking a few times before taking the apple with a slight nod of his head. "It's not that. I just... I'm not used to it." His voice was deep and low, almost soothing yet slightly gruff, almost like he had a sore throat. He didn't.

Looking around a little as he bit into the apple, he swallowed the mouthful before speaking again. "Uh... thanks. For the... for the apple." He wasn't the best at small talk. Or talk of any kind, unless it involved battle strategies or someone he already knew.

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

Even though Cloud seemed uncomfortable at the setting and people, Luneth just thought he was upset at something. Seemed like a storm raged behind his eyes or deep inside his mind, and only faded when distracted.

"You don't go to parties? Someone like you? ... Hehe, seems like girls would be on you all the time."

But Luneth smiled when Cloud ate the apple a bit. He looked Cloud up and down and then made an obvious observation.

"You're... not from this world, huh?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"I go to parties when my gi-- friends make me." He gave a shrug, and noticed the elevator look that Luneth gave him, his shocking blue eyes narrowing, a slight spark of life in them. He didn't like being looked at in any kind of critical manner.

Still, he didn't say anything harsh. "No, I'm not from this world. I'm from a place that's just called the Planet." He bit into the apple again, huffing slightly at the flouncy cuffs of his shirt.

"Are you from this world?"

[flythesurface.livejournal.com]

He could tell! He could tell Cloud was about to say "girlfriend", but he didn't want to upset Cloud if Cloud was already in a somewhat bad mood. But he didn't want Cloud to think he was judging him; Luneth just liked to learn about people and explore. His curiosity often got him in trouble, so if he looked too long, he might be under Cloud's giant blade in no time. He rubbed his head and looked away.

"The Planet...?" He thought about it. That seemed a good name for any place someone might live, though the people of the Surface World didn't call their home that. He wondered why, until Cloud asked him if he was from here.

"Hehe, I'm not from here either. I'm from the Floating Continent!"

He often forgot that that sounded weird to the people of Gaia.

"Umm... hehe, why don't you dance with someone?"

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Are you offering?" Cloud's poor attempt at a joke, and his serious tone really didn't help in the slightest. Finishing his apple, he tossed the core into the trash, crossing his arms.

The blonde shook his head, adjusting the guard that held the sword against his back. "I don't dance. I... can't." He really couldn't. Sure, he could do the stiff slow dancing thing with Tifa, but she'd only recently taught him that back in their own world, so this Tifa really didn't know he could almost, sort of, kind of dance.

"What's your name, anyway?" It was uncomfortable to talk to someone whose name he didn't know.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

As he was suddenly accosted by a small girl with a very loud voice, he blinked a few times. "Uhm... hi?" Okay, so she didn't have an indoor voice? Really? Still, he gave an awkward smile.

"You're... the girl I spoke to about the play, right?" He could vaguely recall meeting her over the network and she had been really nice then. He was kind of glad she wasn't just a random person coming to say hi, because he didn't deal well with those sorts of things. Really, not well.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud took a slight step back, his eyes widening. "Uhh... thanks?" Almost like the roles were reversed and he was a girl being hit on by a pushy guy, he slipped his hand in between them, for her to shake.

"I'm Cloud," and he knew how stupid his name was, "I... uh... nice to meet you."

[alittlebitesper.livejournal.com]

Terra was making her way back through the crowd after her failed attempt at finding food, doing her best not to bump into people or walk between various conversing couples, which meant it was taking her far longer than she might have liked.

She turned quickly to avoid one gaggle of talking people and had to slip past another pair that looked like they were about to start kissing, probably from enjoying the drinks a bit too much. She was rather surprised by that, her eyes wide, and in her momentary distraction as she watched them, bumped bodily into the person in front of her, who happened to be Cloud.

"Oh!" The green haired woman took a half-step backwards. "Excuse me, I-I am sorry."

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Reaching out a hand to steady the young woman, Cloud grasped her elbow. It was quite difficult for anyone to ever knock him off balance. Especially someone smaller than him. "Are you okay, miss?" He wasn't sure if he recognised her or not. There weren't too many girls walking around here with green hair.

Still, he wouldn't be surprised if he'd spoken to her over the network at some point or another. "Did you get hurt?" He wasn't sure if she'd caught herself on the Buster Sword that the guards seemed to think was for decoration. Of course someone his size couldn't wield it. Right? Wrong.

Either way, Cloud was a little worried the girl could be hurt or startled and his mako blue eyes glowed an amazing blue as he looked her over.

[alittlebitesper.livejournal.com]

Terra was easily steadied when he caught her elbow, and she shook her head at his question, smiling faintly. "No, no, I am fine. Just..." She glanced back the way she had come before turning to him again, smiling a little wider. "The crowd doesn't make it that easy to move around sometimes."

She seemed to finally notice who she had bumped into now that she had a moment, her gaze flicking from her eyes to his sword, and then back to his eyes. She knew many people with blue eyes, but none of them were quite like that. She probably would've commented on his giant sword if not for those. "Are your eyes magic? I have never seen that color blue." She asked, and then looked faintly embarrassed for the question.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that's why I tried to stay back..." He gave her a slight smile and then, suddenly, that question came and it took a lot for Cloud not to back away from her. That had been possibly the worst time in his life and he really didn't want to discuss it, much less relive it. Glancing away, Cloud crossed his arms with a slight shake of his head.

How could he explain it? Brief was the least painful... "It's something called Mako. A source of power where I'm from. I'm... fused with it. Kinda..." He scrunched his nose up slightly. "My friend, Zack... he's got eyes the same colour..."

[alittlebitesper.livejournal.com]

Terra could tell she'd made him uncomfortable, and she certainly hadn't meant to! "I'm sorry." She said quickly, as he looked away. "I was just..." There was a distance in her voice. How many people did she meet that looked like they might be part magic? But he wasn't, not really...he was more like Celes and Kefka, infused with magic rather than like her...being born with it.

"I don't meet many other people who look like they're magical. I didn't mean to offend you." She finally said, her voice soft.

[ava-illumina.livejournal.com]

Cecil was casually making his way across the room, on the lookout for his other friends, when he accidentally bumped into someone. "Excuse me," he said politely, turning to face the stranger with a smile.

[loveandstrife.livejournal.com]

Cloud blinked as he was yet again bumped into and considered moving from his current place. Catching sight of who it was, a mild smile came. Cecil, the guy who wanted to buy his other sword. "Oh, hey, you're... Cecil, right? You wanted to buy my other sword."