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.

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“Why compensate?” A scoff. “What are we gonna do?”

The power reminds him of the higher-ups of the religion back in Spira, but Tidus’s thoughts don’t drift towards that line, or even to the idea of compensation. He couldn’t really complain about compensation when what they were giving him—even for their own means—was worth more than any monetary value they could offer. It wasn’t the same as for everyone else (he knew it wasn’t, not with Yuna there), but…

Tidus lifts his head from the wall, his shoulder sliding up as he pulls back, turns to actually face the one he’s conversing with. There’s not much to see other than the red of her clothes, that of her mask. That maybe she’s a little younger, but he got that by her voice.

He rests his new shoulder lightly on the wall, arms folded across his stomach.

"New too?"

By his tone, their shared complaints so far, he already knows the answer.

"Yup. Just got here this month." Kyoko glances back and notices he's turned towards her. She drops the chair onto all four legs (loudly, she didn't try slowing the descent at all, but she doesn't flinch) and turns, too, to sit in it sideways.

"It's not about what we're gonna do. It's about putting their money where their mouth is. Besides, isn't it supposed to be that we're helping just by being here or something?" She wishes she got something from the buffet. She wants to be munching on something. "They brought us here," they brought us back to life, "but I don't see any reason to trust them. Paying us would show they feel bad about it, or at least are grateful." For people whose lives have been interrupted, they aren't getting the whole 'alive when they shouldn't be' thing out of it. "They're expecting our help, but haven't explained what's in it for us. See the problem?"

"Sure." He says it with a shrug of his free shoulder, but he doesn't any less agree. "I want something more out of it too, but as far as I've heard, no one thinks they're willing to give anything anyone would ask. Or why would anyone still be here?"

That was, those who did want to leave. Those that could leave. Those that could leave and have anything to return to if they did.

Maybe it was asking to be let go was asking too much, but not really the problem Tidus sees. "So far," and he says it with some consideration to lower his voice, but he's also not putting that much work into, "I've heard about robots going after people, and people disappearing before the one year. This isn't a fair deal."

But his jaw tightens, a pause before he adds:

"Doesn't mean I don't want more out of it."

Doesn't mean he doesn't want to try, is what his tone suggests.

The news isn't really a shock to her. It's not something she thought about, so it's not specifically something she had doubts about. Of course it's not a fair deal. Of course they're being lied to. Of course the supposed deal is being reneged on. She's had the feeling that's just the kind of situation they're in.

But that last thing? That last thing earns a slow but wide -- and a little bit wicked -- grin.

"Now you're talkin'." She wants to ask if he's heard about the whole thing with the clones, but she remembers what Drifter's said. They're being watched, and they need to be careful about what they say.

So, instead, she holds a hand out, offering a shake. "I'm Kyoko." They can get each others' names and then hang out somewhere else later. See about having a real talk when they're not right under the officials' noses.

Should he be encouraging this? Something about setting an example, what was their age difference, shouldn't he be more careful? But he wasn't lying, and he likes the sense of solidarity, and let the future be what it will.

She also didn't sound like the type who'd be thinking any differently without this conversation. So Tidus takes the offered hand with the tug of a grin of his own, giving it a hearty shake out of habit.

"Tidus. If you ever need a hand, lemme know. Name's the same on that device they gave us."

Which probably wasn't trustworthy either, but good for some basic things. Tidus wasn't about the get that paranoid.

"And I can do some healing, if you're desperate. But really desperate," he stresses. He wouldn't have even thought to offer it usually, but hey, that's what other paranoid people do to you. It wasn't as if he had a sword to offer up in a fight.

It's nice it occurred to him, that bit about setting an example, but, yeah, no, stopping her would've been like trying to scruff a feral cat.

His comment about healing makes any other response she had fall right out of her head. Her surprise is visible in her eyes through her mask, her cool, tough facade suddenly cracking in half. But then she quickly tries to cover it back up, schooling her expression back to something more neutral-bordering-skeptical, complete with a raised eyebrow as if a) he could see it and b) it'd save face.

"Healing? What are you, going to school to be a doctor or something?"

It's not too surprising, that reaction, not once Tidus thinks about it. Considers where they are and the situation of...different worlds.

"Oh yeahh..." Muttered to himself, but a small chuckle follows it; something a little sheepish, but more for Kyoko's comment.

"Nothing like that. It's, uh, magic?" said, as if he understands that's not normal for everyone. "I'm not really trained though. Just something I picked up. Haven't really used it in a while, and I wasn't that great in the first place, so."

It certainly wasn't anything he was puffing his chest over. That comes after with a widening smile, a thumb pointed at himself.

"I played sports! Hard to tell, huh?"

Maybe under the suit it is, but probably not. It's a joke regardless.

He doesn't seem to have noticed her surprise. Thank god.

"Eeehhh, really? Magic? That's crazy." Kyoko, you're going to kick yourself so hard for this when you inevitably fail to keep up your act of being a normal teenager. But right now, she's invested in selling it, even leaning forward against the table in interest. "How'd you learn it? I mean, I doubt you picked up while playing sports. You didn't sell your soul to some creepy monster or something, right?" Kyoko.

What's normal really, Kyoko? Tidus's mask doesn't do well with raised brows, going as high as his forehead, but his small laugh will probably do the trick.

"What? No," that's ridiculous and weird, "I was just guarding someone who was going to take down a big creepy monster. I learnt it on the way."

Which isn't the way he'd want to usually bring up Sin, but that's the way it slides out, somehow. No need to always get too personal about it, right?

"It wouldn't make any sense if I tried describing it. It's something about energy, focus..." Pausing for a long moment, and giving up and waving his free arm in a shrug. "I dunno. Maybe even you could do it."

It makes sense that there would be other ways of getting magic on other worlds, but it's difficult for her to process it. This city has magic, too, that's been obvious since the day she got here. But it's different, meeting someone else with magic, who is talking about it openly, who didn't have to pay a price to get it.

There's a chance he had to pay a price, too, and he's not mentioning it. That's something she'd do. 'Learned it on the way' isn't something that would imply the kind of price they've paid, but he could be underselling it.

"Me? Do magic?" Kyoko likes to think her voice is impressively even, all things considered. Even if she might be overdoing the skepticism a little. "I think I'll pass. What would I even do with it, anyway?" She should really change the subject.

"I bet it gives you an edge when you're playing your sport, though. I mean, it can't be common."

He chuckles under his breath when she dismisses it, but he won't press it. Could he even teach her anyway? Could anyone learn a new magic here? It was worth finding out, but from a different source.

"There's some stuff allowed in a blitzball game. And it's not easy for everyone to learn," he admits. "There's rules--they've been toning down what's allowed and what isn't for years. They used to allow custom claws in a match once upon a time, but those are gone now."

Mention sports, and Tidus easily gets lost in the subject, captivated. No wonder all the old blitz players were ragged with scars. Did the ronso play blitzball? Geez, he wish he got to see that.

"You still have to think about what you're going to do. You're swimming, you've got guys on every side of you, there's water everywhere, and magic is draining. And it's likely the other team knows some moves too, so you're not at a complete advantage."

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oh, we dance in misery

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