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

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.

"That's lucky. For you." Reeeallly lucky. It's still bizarre, but it doesn't sound like the guy died, and sometimes crazy things just happen. Tidus can accept that. He looks for a second towards the buffet, but his thoughts hasn't strayed far from their current subject and where it's gotten to.

First meetings.

"When I met Yuna, I nearly got her fired from her new job." Well, that's one way of describing it. Tidus has a funny little smile on his face remembering it. "Luckily, everyone was just full of hot air about stopping her becoming a summoner. But if everyone tells you, hey, that person might be in trouble, what else are you supposed to do than go help?"

He shrugs.

"When I busted into where she was, I was expecting an old guy."

Nearly got a girl fired? Rude, man. That's not cool at all. But summoner? What an interesting term. Zack tilts his head curiously at it.

"I mean, if someone tells you another person is in trouble, you absolutely go help. Every single time. Though I guess you're lucky she wasn't an old guy?"

"As lucky as you dropping in and seeing a pretty face after your fall." Or it felt that lucky, anyway. "We ended up on the road together after that."

A far better time than getting stuck around with an old guy, for sure. But it's nice, this—chatting about Yuna and what they did, in a way that'll never be his definition of normal, but you can mistake it for it. He wants to ask, do you have any plans back home?, but keeps the question in his throat. Knows better than to ask a question he can't answer, it reminds them of their circumstances. Despite the light in it.

"Is she going to keep growing flowers while she's here? You two got any plans?"

That might be better. Even in this city, people had plans, from what he'd seen or heard.

"She works at a florist shop," Zack grins. So yeah, she's clearly still going to be doing that. But plans? Wow, who even knew what plans could be.

They'd barely even started dating before he'd left. Now his goal was simple.

"I want to spend all the time with her I can before this is all over."

Tidus grins, mostly to himself. “Sounds like the best plan you can have,” he submits, sparing a glance to the dance floor, to the noise and music blending together as one. You wouldn't think all the talks about murder and danger are true with a sight like this. ...maybe not until one of the ice sculptures catches your eye, anyway.

“I guess I’m hoping I make the most of it.”

He shouldn't overthink it, really.

"Then go, find your girl. Make the most of it," Zack smiles, warm and friendly below his mask. Even his eyes, faintly glowing, sparkle through the creation. "You never know when you won't have more time."

He learned that the hard way.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

oh, we dance in misery

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