dualislogs | oh, we dance in misery

oh, we dance in misery

WHO: Open to all Dualizens!
WHAT: the Plague Memorial Masked Ball
WHERE: the Mayor's Mansion (central Dualis)
WHEN: the evening of November 16
WARNINGS: Visuals/discussion of disease and death in the setting. Anything else, please use appropriate warnings!

At 8 p.m. sharp, the lights inside and around the Mayor's Mansion turn up, and the doors are opened to the crowds that begin to trickle inside. All entrances are manned by Iterations, and all party-goers are scanned for both proper attire (formal and masked, mandatory) and weapons (absolutely forbidden) before being allowed entry.

Once inside, attendees are greeted to a spectacle of warmth and light and lavish decorations, all themed in white accented with gold and violet. Venture into the ballroom, and you'll see intricately carved ice sculptures in various representations of death, all laden with garlands of marigolds and violet chrysanthemums. At one end of the room, a rotating cast of musicians plays soft music in differing arrangements of strings and piano. Long tables at the other end of the ballroom are piled high with punch fountains and platters of delicious party foods, and a few bar stations serve beverages of the more adult variety to those of age.

Outside the main ballroom are seven smaller rooms, for more intimate conversations and quiet recovery from the main gala (or just skulking like a brooding weirdo, if that's your thing). Six of the rooms are decorated in monochrome blue, purple, green, orange, white, or violet, and the seventh room is pitch black with red accents.

Throughout the night, the mayor herself winds in and out of the crowds, shadowed by a pair of bodyguards. She is all smiles, greeting people with a friendly handshake and effusive words of thanks for attending the ball, but she never stays in one place long enough for a true conversation. This is a celebration of life and a remembrance of the dead, after all - not the time or place for talks of business or politics.

Enjoy yourselves tonight, everyone! And remember - death eventually comes for everyone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Green and a Dash of Pink

It wasn't like Zack had been to a lot of parties before. ShinRa wasn't really that big on inviting any of the SOLDIERS except for the top level ones. Which meant that Zack had often had to sit out company affairs. Which was what made today so exciting. A ball? A party? Damn right he was in. And in meant pulling out all the stops. A dashing green suitwith a nice pink flower at the lapel so Aerith would have no problems finding him, and horned mask bedecked with more pink flowers made him visible in a crowd.

Of course one of his first moves is not for the dance floor. Honestly? Zack's never danced in his life. No, he's bound for the buffet. Because he's excited to see what sorts of snacks might be available for him. What? A guy's got to have some energy for an evening, right?

Socializing Up A Storm

Mingling is good, right? Very good. So when he's not snacking, Zack's on the move through the crowd, cheerfully approaching anyone who looks like they're having fun. Not the people who seem bored or like they'd rather be anywhere else. He grins and offers out his hand and nods to them.

"Isn't this party the absolute best? Oh, what's your mask supposed to be? Ever been to one of these before? Why'd you pick that color? Ever wonder why we're celebrating the people who died and remembering them, like, has anyone ever met anyone from then?"

And maybe some of those things are meant to be leading questions, hoping he might get some clues to bring back to the unspoken resistance his buddy Cloud was starting. Who knows, maybe he'll find someone who has been here a while. Chances are, though, he's not. Either way, he can learn something new.

Even with her mask and dress, Aqua is easy enough to recognize just by virtue of her hair color alone. Still, when Zack starts asking questions as she passes by, she can't help but stop to talk to him.

"It's not a bad party," she admits slowly. "I'm not sure why we're celebrating death, though."

It doesn't seem wrong, exactly; she just doesn't really understand the point of a ball. Honoring victims of death? Sure. But not... a party.

"I don't know of anyone who has met anyone from back then. I think it was too long ago for anyone living here now."

Zack's been to parties about death before. They were mostly ShinRa patting itself on the back for winning the 'war' against Wutai. For doing a lot to take down a nation that didn't want anything but to keep the megacorp out of their land. Good thing he'd only been there as a SOLDIER guard, so he wasn't really expected to socialize then. Just stand there and look intimidating.

"Then why do it?" Zack asks as he smiles at Aqua. Because when does the guy NOT smile? He's just like that. "Also, you're looking amazing, Aqua. Very coordinated."

One day she won't blush at every compliment a man pays her. That day is apparently not today. She ducks her head just a little bit to hide that flush to her cheeks.

"Thank you," she says, still embarrassed, though pleasantly so. "Sometimes it's hard finding anything that goes with my hair. But the shopkeeper told me this would be a good choice for the event."

She feels slightly overdressed at the moment, and for all that she isn't used to dresses at all, this one is at least going well. It's just taking a little time to get used to.

"Maybe I should've worn pants instead. I haven't worn a dress like this before."

It's not meant to make her blush, he just wanted to compliment. Oops. But at least she seems pleased, and that makes him smile wider.

"The shopkeepers are really good at this. And up-selling, right? Could always get you to spend more duos. Man, I stumble over that word too much. I miss gil. I understood gil."

But the pants? Yeah, he can agree with the pants. His own are really comfortable. Beyond comfortable.

"I've seen a woman in a suit, or three. But the dress is graceful."

It’s really the mask that’s catching, that if Zack hadn’t been wearing it, Tidus wouldn’t have paid as such close attention to the guy’s ensemble once he came strolling over to the buffet table Tidus was currently engaged in. He’s got a date to wait for, so lingering around the food doesn’t seem like the worst distraction, even if his stomach is doing somersaults in anticipation for seeing Yuna dressed up for the night.

But this guy. He pauses in bringing the tiny finger food he’s found to his mouth, blinks at what he’s looking at.

“You look—” like a forest, a meadow, very green, “—floral.”

It doesn’t really hit what he wants to say, even if it’s massively better than calling someone a forest. Tidus adds, “What’s the inspiration?”

Floral? Zack can absolutely accept that. He grins and nods, which tips his antlers and their flowers toward Tidus. Doesn't he just? He looks AMAZING actually. Aren't you jealous?

"My girlfriend. We promised each other that we'd wear pink when we met. But the green looked SO good. So I wanted to be easy to find. Plus she sold flowers she grew. So isn't that a good touch too?"

Because he thought it was. A great explanation, right?

Was it a great match? It sure was something. But a something with thought, so Tidus doesn't want to think or speak poorly of it. It left an impression, anyway, and wasn't that more than most of them would?

"Sure. It's kind of all...nature-y together. That matches flowers." It's an attempt at a compliment. Fortunately, Tidus finds it easier to go on and ask: "You didn't come together with her?"

"Nature, well, that is really her style," he muses, and he smiles so warmly at that. Excited. But when Tidus asks, Zack laughs.

"Oh come on, how am I supposed to be wowed at her entrance across a room if I've already seen her?" Zack asks, grinning to himself.

That gets a chuckle from Tidus, who nods his head, impressed.

"I didn't think of that! I said we should play up the anonymity angle." He points to the side of his mask. "Make some fun out of it and see who finds who first. I think I'm going to lose," and he shares it with his smile widening into a grin. "She's pretty good at getting what she wants. But, she knows how to grab my attention no matter where we are, sooo... I think I have a chance."

Just two lovestruck boyfriends over here, don't mind them.

Lovestruck boyfriends indeed. And the best thing about lovestruck boyfriends? The fact that you can really get on a good 'omg lemme tell you about my girlfriend' going on.

"Lemme guess. She walks into a rom and your eyes are on her immediately, you heart always so full. It's like the sun coming out from the clouds, right?"

Because that is what Aerith is like for him.

"Maybe we can help each other?"

Could his grin grow any more? It wants to try, because wow, does Tidus love the sound of that kind of love. Their story didn't get to quite be so romantic, but he wouldn't mind it—now, when there's the time to. The chance to appreciate Yuna without Sin or Yu Yevon in their way.

"She did open my eyes to a lot I didn't know," he fits into that, a playful tilt of his head. Then Zack has him curious.

"What are you thinking?"

Because it sounds like it might be fun.

The same was true for Zack. Aerith had made the world look different, brighter even. Gave him color in the drabness of Midgar. Of course things had come apart for them too.

"Keep an eye out for each other's ladies?"

“Sure,” Tidus accepts with a huff of a laugh. “Is there anything else you can tell me about her than a pink flower? I think her magic power of drawing you in might be exclusively for you.”

Which is said like it’s a privilege, and it is. A boyfriend privilege.

"She'll probably wear pink. Her hair is long and brown and often braided, and she'll probably have a bow in her hair. Her eyes are this beautiful shade of green. And her smile? Fills the room."

What, he's definitely waxing poetic about her.

Uh huh, uh huh.

"Wow. Do you really need my help with a smile like that?" So he says, but then Tidus tilts his head thoughtfully.

"Then again... if Yuna's around, you know, she has a grace like no other. And when you see her... she's like the moon in a night sky. You don't want to look anywhere else. Nothing's more beautiful, or brighter."

...

"I can't believe I've fallen for a girl who makes me say that and be fine with it." He's not even embarrassed.

Well yeah, he wouldn't be asking if he didn't need help. And he laughs, because Tidus gets it. It's less about the help, it's about the talking the girl up. It's letting the poetry out. He pats the other guy on the back.

"Exactly. Looks like you got yourself a moon. But me? I've got the Earth under my feast, sweet and kind and always nurturing. Flowers must want to bloom everywhere her feet touch, just to be close to her."

Come on man, step it up, more talk.

Tidus sputters into a half-laugh, half-chuckle, shaking his head.

"Okay, I am NOT that corny," he protests, his shoulders continuing to be giddy with mirth. "That sounds great for business, but messy everywhere else. You're gonna step all over her flowers! Then how you going to dance with her?"

"Wow, it wasn't corny," Zack protests, frowning. He legit meant all of what he said about her.

"When I first met her, I had fallen through a church roof and onto her flowers. I tried not to hurt them after."

Sorry Zack, that totally stepped right into cornsville. But Tidus will raise an eyebrow than argue that.

"What were you doing on a church roof?"

This is far more pressing to ask.

"I... wasn't on the church roof. I fell through a church roof. I was actually a good deal higher than that."

The bottom of a plate. You know, just falling from an impossible height and being alright. It... doesn't make sense, even to him. He tries not to think about it.

"Ohhhh. That explains it."

Let him give a moment for that sarcasm to mature.

"No?"

Come on are you really going to leave Tidus hanging here.

Wow, man, you're really getting pushy there. Zack sighs and shakes his head.

"So the city I'm from? It's two cities. A slums, the old city. And over that, higher up than a building, than a few buildings on top of each other, another city. On plates. I fell from the bottom of a plate. I'd say, what, six or seven stories? Maybe higher? I don't know."

People don't just fall through roofs, Zack. Anyone would ask. You can't hide behind pedantry!

Not that the explanation helps, either. Six or seven stories? That's... high. Tidus's mask hiding the height of his brows doesn't really help here.

"Those must've been some really cushy flowers," is all he can think to say. Like, seriously cushy. "She wasn't a part-time nurse too, was she?"

Wouldn't that have been Zack's luck.

And yet there they are, with Zack not explaining anything. But he chuckles at the nurse comment.

"Oh, she's just a talented healer with her magic."

So yeah, his luck was fucking awesome.

oh, we dance in misery

Zack Fair | FF7

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