dualislogs | 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

Even with a mask on, Aqua is easy to recognize. Her blue hair stands out almost too well unless she wears a wig or a full-head mask and hat, which she hadn't wanted to do for this. Still, she tries to mingle, despite how awkward she feels wearing a full dress. Times like this she wishes she had Cinderella's poise and grace, but Aqua has never been good in a dress. At least her shoes aren't bad.

She can be found by the punch fountain watching it and getting a drink, by the food, or just walking around the dance floor. Eventually, she's had enough of the party and decides to head to one of the small rooms to take some time away, like she had at the young adult's club on Iteration world. Sometimes, a person just needs some time away from all the partying.

While she's out in the main ballroom, she's friendly enough and if someone asks her to dance, she might just say yes!

South isn't hiding, she just so happened to pop in one of the side rooms as the Mayor and crew came wandering by. Look, she did her stint with the babysitting tonight, she's not looking to hook another round of toddling after the Mayor if she can help it. Out of sight, out of mind? She hopes.

She slips just past the door and hangs around the wall, waiting and listening until the group passes by before she lets the tension out of her shoulders. Safe once more.

Glancing around the room, she spots an unfamiliar but...interesting person. The blue hair isn't what catches her attention right off, it's the dress, and she thought her dress was bad-! She's making her way over, drink thankfully still in hand, and... Yeah, she's not going to say anything yet, she's going to circle around the girl to get a look at the incredibly (in her opinion overly) formal attire.

Aqua isn't paying the best of attention at first. She's a little preoccupied with examining the room and thinking about everything that has happened so far. Eventually, she does notice the other woman, mainly because said other person is almost circling her. Aqua's eyebrows arch and she gives the woman a cursory glance.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, hoping that they aren't about to have a fight in dresses in the middle of an event.

No fighting, at least she doesn't plan on any, well, not right now. Cause who knows what the future holds?

"I know this is, like, a formal thing, but why are you all, like...Disney princess up in here?" She replies as she stops in front of the the woman.

"Huh?" Aqua is exceptionally confused at this point. She understands the idea of "princess" and she definitely wasn't going for that, but the Disney reference is entirely lost on her. "I picked something that looked nice. I'm not used to wearing anything fancy and the shopkeeper told me this would go well with the event."

She isn't sure she likes the judgmental air about the other woman, but she reserves her own judgment. Or at least tries to.

"It's just...extravagant." She explains, still super judgmental but she's not intending to be a dick.

As easy as it might be for others to recognise her, it still takes Tidus some pondering to finally conclude that it might be her. The woman he met at the pool, had some good ol' ball fun with. He's new to the city, and what does he know? There's other blue-haired female-shaped figures around this dance after all.

He hasn't been shy about mingling, but it's reason enough to approach her, dressed himself in blue suit and a orange-gold tie to match his hair, his half mask of the same blue, but his smile is more than apparent, his energy friendly.

"Hey! Looking for a dance?"

Because she's looking pretty partner-less!

Dancing hadn't really been on her mind when she'd come here and given her experience with everyone flirting with her, both at home and here, she opens her mouth to protest. A moment later, she shoves the instinctual urge aside and offers a smile in response.

"I'm not very good at dancing," she admits, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as she feels. "But if we can take it slowly, I'll try."

"Slow's good with me," Tidus agrees, offering out a hand for her to take. Leans in his head a little to admit, "Don't tell anyone else, but I'm not very good at dancing either."

It's playful, but in a fond way; a joke meant to ease her hopefully, if he can. He takes back his head to smile at her encouragingly.

"We'll count into it, and go from there."

oh, we dance in misery

aqua | kh | ota

Small Rooms

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dance floor

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