A Winter's Ball

[ateratmods]

Who; Everyone!
What; The Ball promised by Halcyn!
Where; A newly (and quite abruptly) renovated ballroom in the Noble District
When; December 15th, evening
Warnings; None as of yet, though there is some mischief afoot for those looking for it



The morning of the 15th, the day of the Ball, opens with a letter under every door, reminding the residents that today is the day, that the Ball to celebrate and be merry is upon you. It also includes a small golden ticket that all attendees are asked to present at the doors to be allowed into the hall in the Noble District. It bids the attendees to enjoy themselves, forget their worries for a time, and is each personally signed by Halcyn.

Arrival | Under the Mistletoe;

The chill in the air at the change of seasons makes for a cold journey to the Noble district, though the streets are well-lit (an improvement in the otherwise dilapidated quarter in the first place) and at the end of the street indicated in the invitation letter, stands a beautifully restored building wreathed in white lights and adorned with wreaths and holly. All roads and citizen paths have lead to the ballroom today, and it is a beacon of civilization in the otherwise unused quarter. A guardsman is checking tickets at the door, and allowing admittance to the foyer of the ballroom.

The foyer is also decorated in trees adorned with shining lights. There are people flitting about with trays of champagne and people are greeting each other, gathering in groups and generally enjoying one another's company. Six archways lead further into the ballroom, and into what seems to be a seating area with round tables atop which glittering floral arrangements sit and to which servers bring meals for those who have a seat. At the top of each of the six arches hang six bundles of mistletoe.

Some are able to pass beneath the bundles with no issue, but others may find their way blocked by an unseen wall, unable to escape the arch until someone joins them, and a kiss is exchanged. It could be innocuous, even a cheek would suffice, but who's to know that without experimentation?

Try the Grey Stuff, It's Delicious

In the dining hall, meals are limited, but there are options for various palettes and even a vegetarian option. There is wine and champagne, and also non-alcoholic options of you're less inclined to partake. The music from the main ballroom, accessible through a set of ornate double doors, is muted here, providing a sense of ambiance but not overpowering the conversations that may occur at the tables scattered about the room.

The desert is the same for all who try it, though, and fluffy (is oddly colored) meringue that is simply to die for, but it seems to have some strange side effects. As the night progresses for those who've eaten the strange confectionary, they will begin to feel more and more happy and carefree, but also much more open. Those who are reserved about their feelings or their thoughts, even their histories, will feel less inclined to be so withdrawn. That couldn't possibly make anything awkward, could it?

Shall We Dance the Night Away?

The main even by far is the grand ballroom. A 15 piece orchestra sits atop a small stage to the north of the dance floor, their music varying between melancholic, haunting, warm, and uplifting, and the citizens are quite enjoying the time to let loose and dance the night away with their partners.

Spiral staircases lead to the balconies on the second floor overlooking the dance floor below, affording tired dancers chairs and refreshments with which to rest in order to return to the floor below. The music here, due to acoustics, is muted which affords a more intimate place to converse.

Even more intimate are the outdoor balconies accessed from either side of the second floor. Here, small sconces have been lit to afford a romantic glow to the area, but the light is dim enough to enjoy the glittering starlight above. The flames also give the area some warmth, warding away the chill in the night air and allow guests to enjoy the solitude of the area without freezing. The music out here is a pleasant background hum, making the setting even more romantic and ethereal.

Comments

[chaosvessel]

"Years. I...slept for a long time." Too long, and while sleeping, the world had plunged closer and closer to oblivion because of a boy he'd allowed to exist. In the end, though, they'd defeated him. Twice, even. Maybe everything had turned out alright in the end. Hojo's sins went far deeper than the creation of Sephiroth, after all, and farther than he'd ever been able to know. "The man who...did this to me, he locked me in a box in the basement. For...30 years, I think."

He blinked away the memory and focused on her violet eyes to pull him back to the present. "Who is KK?"

[hellofishies]

"That's a long time," she said with a slight tilt of her head and smile. "You look good for being so old." In the back of her mind she could almost hear one of the others making fun of her for her perpetual interest in older men. At least with Vincent it was easy to forget that he was older than he looked.

"KK is KK. A FreakAngel," she lowered her voice. "Kolfinnia Kokokoho. But don't ever tell her I told you that. She hates it."

[chaosvessel]

"Yes, I...don't know if I age." That wasn't precisely true. Thirty years in a coffin, forgotten in a basement, had answered that question. He just wasn't certain he was prepared to face what that may mean.

His eyebrows rose at the name and he blinked. It had certainly not been what he'd been expecting. "I think I would go by 'KK' myself."

[hellofishies]

"I don't think I do either," she said with a nonchalant shrug. They were immortal, that much had been made clear. What that implied and may mean later on was up for discovery.

"She gets really mad when you call her the full name. It's funny," she said with a grin. "I think she'd like you. Maybe. Or at least want to fuck you once."

[chaosvessel]

He cleared his throat and took to admiring his shoes at her comment. Even when he was...alive, he hadn't been the most active in the romance department. He'd always been too quiet, too shy, and when he did speak, it was abrupt and he generally left soon after.

"Maybe she'll arrive one day." He wasn't sure that was what she wanted to hear, but he said it anyway.

[hellofishies]

"You're cute when you're awkward. And you're always awkward," she burst into a tiny laughing fit and then reached over to lift his chin up. "So you're always cute." It was strange how nice this felt. There had been so many bad things back home and then so many awful things in the place they had been before. So far in this place there hadn't been nearly as many bad things. It was almost nice. A nice break. An underserved one though, at least in her case.

"Oh, I hope not. We have things to do at home and no more of us should be taken from it." She looked down though. "I've never been without them. You wouldn't like her I don't think. KK is a lot of KK. Loud and a lot." People just had to get used to her.

[chaosvessel]

He wasn't sure if he was still capable of blushing but his felt his cheeks warm as he looked down, suddenly finding his feet much more interesting than looking at her.

"Loud...how?" He focused on her conversation, trying to use it to distract himself from his awkwardness. He didn't deserve this, either. She cared for him, she liked him, and he...he was this, and he'd done so many things...hadn't don't so many more.

[hellofishies]

She leaned down and turned sideways to look at his shoes. "Is there something interesting about your shoes?" She knew there wasn't and that it was mostly just that he was awkward. Sometimes she just couldn't help but poke at him a little bit.

"KK is KK. Loud like...KK. She drinks a lot and goes out to find guys. Connor hates that. But nobody really likes having KK's adventures in our head." She laughed at the thought of how both Karl and Connor recoiled at the images they got from KK sometimes.

[chaosvessel]

The warmth in his cheeks only grew as she teased him about his shoes but he shook his head, choosing instead to focus on what she'd said about KK.

"You can...hear one another?"

[hellofishies]

"Sometimes, if we want to. Or if we want someone else to hear something. I think KK likes making them see the things she does because of their reactions." At least that was her theory, she found their reactions funny sometimes. "We're all telepathic and connected. It's why I mess them so much. It's quiet."

[chaosvessel]

Vincent had no idea what having a constant connect to others would be like, though her story was making him even more curious.

"You...mentioned you all have different parents. Did you...always know about each other?"

[hellofishies]

She nodded and smiled. "Of course! We were all born on the same day at the same time. It was a big deal everywhere. Then we all grew up together in the same town. Celebrated every birthday together!" A tiny frown slipped onto her expression for just a second before she forced a smile back. "Sometimes we got along better than others, but it was nice. Mostly."

[chaosvessel]

"Have you ever...determined why?" It could have been many things, though with the surprise, it seemed unlikely it was something contrived, at least not by the people who experienced it.

It didn't really occur to him that this topic might make her uncomfortable or sad.

[hellofishies]

She shook her head. "No, nobody ever did. Even after our parents sold us to the military, they couldn't figure it out." She shrugged. "We're still not even really sure what we are. Or why we are."

[chaosvessel]

He frowned at that. It was one thing thinking they'd never known each other, but for so many families to decide to sell their children off at the same time? It was almost too much to think about.

He had an answer for her, though, at least as far as he knew. He didn't, after all, know what he was anymore, either.

"You're...Arkady. That's enough."

[hellofishies]

A hint of sadness touched her smile and she looked down. "Is it? Our parents didn't think so," a bit of rebellious teen anger managed to slip into her tone. It was hard to forget just how angry they'd all been at the fact that their parents had just sold them over to the military.

[chaosvessel]

"It is for me." He gave her a small smile, though for him it was pretty large. "I can't speak for them."

[hellofishies]

She laughed. "As long as I'm good enough for you then that's enough for me too then." She put her arms around his neck and looked up at him. "I like you." Maybe she'd had a bit too much to drink and too much of that meringue. "I used to think maybe you just reminded me of someone else. But that's not it."

[chaosvessel]

He blinked both at the embrace and her admission. She liked him? With no attachments, no expectations? Could it really be that simple?

"Who did you think I reminded you of?"

[hellofishies]

"Connor. He's...awkward like you. Quiet. Kinda our leader!" The smile on her face was warm as she spoke about Connor. "When I od'd he was the only one that checked up on me. He let me come stay with him and he didn't treat me different. Everyone else treated me different. Like they were afraid or felt responsible. Not Connor though, he still treated me the same. Well," she chuckled. "with a little annoyance over what I'd done."

[chaosvessel]

He frowned but didn't comment on being called awkward. He was, after all. There was no point in denying it. He also couldn't deny there seemed to be at least some similarity between the two of them, himself and this Connor. He wondered what he might really be like.

"He...sounds like a good person." Except that. Vincent didn't see himself as a good person.

[hellofishies]

"He's the best of us." By far. There was no shortness of fondness in her voice with that statement. Connor had always been the best of them. He was the one who got into the least amount of trouble and the one who somehow always managed to keep his cool. Everyone else had their arguments and their addictions, but not Connor. He managed to keep them all together somehow and she missed him more than she realized. More than she let herself realize.

"He wasn't like me. He was never angry about what they did to us and he never did the things I did. I wasn't a very good kid. Or teenager," she laughed. "Or adult. Maybe I'm the worst at that. But he still cared about me. Even if he didn't realize how much he did. He was a silly boy."

[chaosvessel]

So not as much alike as she seemed to think. If Connor truly was the one who kept them focused, kept them together...no. He and Vincent didn't have as much in common as he'd thought.

He frowned at her words, though, looking over to her. "Caring about her doesn't make him silly."

[hellofishies]

She laughed and shook her head. "Oh, it definitely does. It's a bit silly to care about someone and not even know how you care about them," she tilted her head. "Isn't it?"

[chaosvessel]

Was that silly? He had a feeling it was and he wasn't sure how he felt about the correlation. He didn't know how he felt for Arkady, after all, but he did know he cared for her. Was he running similarities between the situations because of something he didn't want to admit? Was that her point all along?

Did Connor have feelings for her he didn't recognize or didn't wish to convey? Did he? He didn't have an answer and so he offered none to her question, but she would know.

She always knew.

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