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

White is definitely new, even the White SeeDs didn't have uniforms this fancy. Theirs were incredibly plain compared to other schools, honestly. This ensemble did look pretty striking, Seifer thought. Or maybe he was just trying to convince himself so he could better ignore the subtle sting that came along with it. Knowing that he'd never earned the uniform legitimately, and never would.

Garden's loss.

Impossible not to notice Rinoa sidling up in that dress, she really did look the part of a proper storybook princess. He shot her a grin, not that she could see it under his dragon's mask. Weren't there stories about dragons kidnapping princesses? He'd make a joke but he was too busy stuffing his face. Speaking of stuffing his face he offered out a chocolate covered, cream filled strawberry on his dessert plate over to her without so much as a word. They're too good not to.

"Hey," Again, the plate. "Gettin' free dinner, how 'bout you?"

An right and proper Seifer reply. To the point and rather obvious. At least she didn't interrupt him when he was in the middle of a mouthful. In fact, that was probably what most of the waiting entailed. Approaching her target as inconspicuously as possible at precisely the right moment. The promise of chocolate-covered, cream-filled strawberries seemed like a really good one.

Screw whatever plans she had before. Strawberry Heaven, here we come.

"Getting a handsome guy to feed me a strawberry," she replied, unable to help being a smart-ass about it as she eyed him expectantly. Or as expectant as a mask was going to let her get away with. "Go on, now. Don't be shy."

A promise which of course he was going to share. Sharing food is how you show you care isn't it? Her quip at first earned a raised eyebrow in surprise, followed by a sly smirk. Oh yeah, that'll get right on Squall's nerves. Treating Rinoa is just a bonus.

"How can I say no to that?" He can't. Instead he'll just pluck up the offered strawberry to pop it into her mouth for her. There you go. Not exactly romantic, but it was playful that has to count for something.

While many things were on her mind, surprisingly spiting Squall was not on that list of priorities. Yet. As such, it was more like unintended consequence for any certain SeeD commanders who might have been spying on a certain sorceress and her antics for the night. (Seifer had not been the first to endure them, after all. A wonder he'd even avoided her for so long. Or maybe she was simply saving the best for last.)

It took her some moments to finish. That was a whole strawberry, okay. She couldn't imagine her mouth would have accommodated more than two or three or those at once and maybe in some kind of awkward chubby bunnies kind of game fashion. But when she was done, she preened and beamed.

"Thanks!" No, really. How could he have said no? Rinoa certainly never seemed inclined to make that easy. "You're not gonna camp out here and eat all night, are you? I was hoping I could steal you for a dance. You're the best-looking guy here." ~~She certainly did just go there.~~

Squall spite is pretty high on Seifer's list right now. He's still pretty pissed off about the presumption of trying to "fix" him. It's not like he's been trying to dodge her. He's just been slinking around in the background for the evening trying to catch sight of anything amusing. Or tasty. He found tasty first.

Her being busy gave him time to gobble down another strawberry himself. Greedy dragon that he is.

"I could probably be persuaded," He rumbled in a playful tone. It's a good thing he didn't know she used that line on Squall or he might have been a little less amenable to it. "What's in it for me?" Teasing's all part of the fun.

Her head tipped this way and that, wondering what she could offer him. Something for something, right? That was fair.

"Hm... depends what you're interest in, I guess," she began thoughtfully.

In the interim, she was content enough to reach for a couple more strawberries. She stalled for time as she nibbled on one and then the next words flew out of her before she could really stop them. And maybe that was because the force of thought was strong within her. "A kiss, maybe?" And then she popped in another strawberry, deciding that the table was immensely interesting.

I've said smarter things. I know better.

But maybe he'd think she was kidding. Yeah. Totally.

He was mostly teasing, just to see what she'd say or come up with. The offer of a kiss was the furthest thing he'd have expected out of her. The startled look clearly displayed that it was taking him a few moments to decide if he heard her correctly.

He did hear her right, right? Staring is rude, he knows that, but he's not exactly thinking about why she's suddenly so interested in the table either.

"..."

It's tempting to take her up on that offer. Makes his heart ache in a way it hasn't in a long time. Finally he looks away and clears his throat. Choosing to pick away at some chilled ham, or at least what he assumes is ham, while he thinks up an answer.

"Don't think I wanna give Leonhart a reason to try to kill me." Again. It's not a no. It's just reason.

An expected reaction and it almost made her laugh. Somehow, she held onto her discipline to avoid that specifically. Although just hearing Squall's name made her feel immediately annoyed all over again. Not even annoyed. Angry. She didn't want to think about him didn't want to look at him, didn't want to be anywhere near him. Good intentions or not, it was thoughtless and there was, in truth, no good excuse for such insensitivity.

"I was kidding, of course," she replied, as if she meant to save face, though she wondered if she could make the tone of her voice remain even.

"But you can choose a thing, I guess. Not sure if I have anything I can offer you. I mean, anything besides alien cats and cocoa." Still unable to properly look at him, she began to shift around the table to get a look at what else was on the spread. She didn't have much of an appetite, but it sure served as a good distraction.

It's nice to know she still cares about him enough to ask for a kiss, even if it's "just kidding". Somehow he doesn't think so, and eyes her for a time, expression unreadable. Should he make this worse? He should totally make this worse. "That's too bad, I was thinking about doing it anyway." He offered lightly, still watching her out of the corner of his eye.

Seifer's a jackass news at eleven.

He finally cracks a grin. "A dance with you's payment enough, c'mon." He offered her his hand. Of course he was really just playing with her, not about to demand payment for a dance that's silly. He only regrets he never got to do this for real back home.

Still too much heartache there, better not to think about it. "You guys still got that little yellow glowing one?" He kinda wants the cyclops cat.

Rinoa paused rather abruptly when he continued and she was ever thankful for her mask to hide the way flush spread right across her features. He was joking. He had to be. Maybe. The weight upon her heart, invisible to everyone except her (or so she thought), grew. She didn't hate the idea of it and that made her feel worse.

She dared a look over to him, as subtle as she could muster, and when he offered his hand it took her a moment before she placed her hand in his. She'd never danced with him, but she'd wanted to for a couple of years at least. If she knew anything about the passage of time, anyway. Did something... remain between them? She couldn't help but wonder.

"That's charitable of you," she teased him as she drew closer to him. "Just because it's me, I assume." Although when he asked her about the cats, she offered him a nod. "Yeah. That I know of. Thinking about taking the little baby home? They could all use one. You could take them all and roll around in cats. That sounds like fun."

She'll never know. Seifer's not saying one way or the other. Although there is a bit of a linger, a hesitance in his tone, that might just hint that there's more going on under that bravado than he's letting on. It being so brief, however, it'd be far too easy to miss.

If only she knew he'd never really moved on. Had to let go, didn't mean he moved on.

His only response to her assumption is a faint smirk. Oh, there's so much more, but he's not answering. She'll just have to sit on it and wonder. Instead he'll distract her by pulling her along to draw her into a dance. Which, having been trained and being the stubborn perfectionist he is, he's probably not terrible at. "Don't tempt me. I'll end up fillin' the warehouse with 'em." Cats, everywhere.

The whole moment is a curious one. Rinoa had already spent so much time thinking and considering. The truth was that her ambivalence had her contemplating even before she had ever arrived in the city. But that she didn't have anyone she felt it... really right to speak with about it, she'd only ever held onto it. That was something else, truly. To be surrounded by people she called friends, only to feel that she couldn't speak with them in earnest.

Maybe she had always been lonely. Maybe that never ended, even when they had reassured her that she was one of them. Because she really wasn't. Seifer was more one of them than she ever would be. Than she ever had been.

Thankfully, he did divert her attention. He took her into his grasp, proper as it was, and she couldn't help wondering when he'd learned. Why he had, actually. Maybe he liked dancing, or maybe he'd wanted to in the past. He brought her back to cats and she grinned. "I could think or far worse things to happen there," Rinoa replied. "But then they'd get into everything. No one would ever get anything done. Or everything would get destroyed. They aren't just cats, after all. It's not like it'd be the same as a bunch of Angelos in the warehouse."

If only Seifer knew what she was going through. He'd simply assumed that she'd integrate with ease, she seemed like the type to find herself a place no matter where she was. Social, friendly, well liked... it never would occur to him that she'd struggle to fit in. Maybe they had more in common than he realized. After all, without Raijin and Fujin, and with Nida being less involved these days, Seifer's found himself quite lonely as well. Who do you talk to when you're terrible at forming close relationships?

Then again if she'd spoken her concerns he'd insist that she was far more a part of the group than he ever had been. He'd not been a part of them since the orphanage a lifetime ago. Tossed away and forgotten. Rinoa had far more right to be there than he ever did.

But, the good news was they weren't talking about that. They're going to dance and enjoy themselves in this death celebration. As for the question about why he knew how to dance? She could ask. Simple answer was like Squall, he was trained. Unlike Squall, he practiced more. Takes everything to the serious extreme. "They'd have to be sectioned off, can't have them getting into dangerous places." Like the forge or the rest of the machinery. Sounds like it'd be a real hassle.

"You're right. It's a dumb idea."

"I didn't say it was dumb," she corrected him. She'd never tell someone any idea they had was 'dumb,' because that was just a horrid thing to say. On the contrary, she always wanted to encourage. If she could be realistic in tandem. Sometimes realism didn't allow for that and as much as she wanted to with her head in the clouds, it wasn't going to happen. For a multitude of reasons.

"Just that we might have a lot to cat-proof if you really decide to adopt a bunch of them. I mean, in the end, if we can take care of them, that's what matters, right?"

Which basically meant if they couldn't, then the obvious answer was not to go crazy with power and adopt every alien cat that crossed their path. She was certain Seifer could take care of at least two before it became a handful for him, though. Yet it sounded like he had one that his sights were set on. Leave it to him to pick a special one that likely not many were interested in.

Something about the prettiest things could sometimes come in the most ugly of packages.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

oh, we dance in misery

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