tushanshu_logs | Event | Masquerade Ball

Event | Masquerade Ball

Characters: All
Date: The Evening of October 30th
Location: The Courtyard of Public Opinion
Situation: Valdis and 'Rue' have put together an All Hallows Eve Masquerade Ball.
Warnings/Rating: None

The day has finally arrived and the morning and afternoon are spent putting together what will be the scene of the Masquerade Ball at the Courtyard of Public Opinion. Kedan can be seen coming and going, carrying in decorations and lights and later on, various foods and desserts. Valdis, and Rue can occasionally be glimpsed directing people and moving things around, but anyone not a part of the setup will be ushered on and discouraged from lingering.

As night falls, the Courtyard will be brightly lit and ready for guests...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a good enough description for Pepper, and she makes a note to try some later.

"Thanks!" She spins in place to show off the outfit. "I don't usually go for dresses but there was no way I was wearing pants to a ball."

She just shrugs at his admission that he can't really dance either. It doesn't entirely surprise her; Tony cares more about science and tech than almost anything.

"That's more than I can do. I'll try not to step on your feet," she jokes, nudging him with her elbow.

Tony smiles. "Well, it looks great on you." It does. He feels a brief pang of... something. Sort of like nostalgia, if you could be nostalgic for something that had never happened. The road not traveled.

He shakes it off before he can make things weird, and finishes his cake so he can set the plate aside. "So... a waltz is in three-four time." He listens to the music playing to check that it's the correct meter. "And it's basically... stepping forwards and backwards in a circle. Want to give it a try?" He holds out his hands.

Pepper appears oblivious to Tony's state of mind, but she wonders what this moment might have been like under different circumstances. She doesn't show it, though, except to smile at him for the compliment. This isn't the time or place to worry about whether she's still hanging onto the hope of him or not.

"Yep! No time like the present." She takes his hands and, in somewhat un-Pepper-like style, let's him lead. "This is so much cooler than prom."

"Prom, prom... you mean that thing where everybody dresses up in bad formal wear and dances awkwardly in front of a bunch of parent chaperones for three hours? Yeah. This is way better."

And speaking of dancing awkwardly: Tony spends a few minutes teaching Pepper/reminding himself how to waltz, which is probably amusing to watch (Gene will definitely tease him about it later if he's watching). But he gets the hang of it eventually (other than occasionally glancing down at his feet).

"You know, now that everyone knows who I am at home, I could totally show up to prom in the armor."

"Totally better," Pepper agrees.

She manages to not look completely foolish as she tries to follow the steps, doing her best not to make Tony lose any toes. There's a fair bit of giggling on her part, because even if she hasn't gotten the waltz down, this is fun.

"You could," she considers. "I suppose if it's going to be three hours of awkward dancing anyway, having a dance partner who can do a proper lift can't make it any weirder. You might still want to wear a bowtie, though."

"A bow tie over the armor. Classy. Also, I could program the armor to do all the sweet dance moves for me on autopilot, and then I could camp out at the chocolate fountain."

Because, obviously, the most important part of prom is the chocolate fountain.

"Hey, there's a dress code. Kind of," Pepper insists. "I feel like that's not a particularly responsible use of the armor. But that's also sort of a great idea."

Chocolate fountains were indeed of great import. And if everyone was watching their armor dance around, more chocolate fondue for them.

"I'm glad you didn't wear the armor to this, though."

"What's irresponsible about it? Hey, if any supervillains attack prom, we'll be ready to roll." He actually has a point.

"I can't wear the armor to a masquerade, everyone knows its mine. That doesn't count as a costume unless my identity's still secret," Tony points out. Though he's not really unrecognizable in this outfit, either.

"True," she concedes. "But I meant using the armor as eye candy distraction. We fight off bad guys, not keep girls wearing too much raffia and satin from chocolate fountains," Pepper teases him.

"So, if people didn't know who you were you would wear the armor to a masquerade?"

Just don't get drunk and start a fight with Rhodey. We all know that ends badly.

"Iron Man goes wherever his powers are needed," Tony replies solemnly. Especially to chocolate fountains.

"Maybe. Seems like a pretty specific scenario. I never thought I'd end up at even one old-school masquerade. Why? Too over-the-top?"

"I'm sure Hershey Park will be thrilled to hear it." Clearly she's not going to get anywhere with the chocolate fountains, but arguing with Tony is fun.

"Well, technically speaking a masquerade is about wearing masks, not suits of armor, although I suppose the tradition is old enough that maybe people did actually wear armor at some point, even if they couldn't actually move," Pepper considers analytically. "But it might soften the image a bit. When you get older it could pop back up if you mess up somehow, even if you wearing the armor to a ball literally has nothing to do with anything."

Security was as much good PR as superior firewalls and minidrones with a license to kill, after all.

That's a great idea, Pepper. Hershey would probably give him free chocolate for life if he did some kind of promotional gig for them.

"What makes you think I'm going to mess up?" Tony asks, sounding amused but also slightly indignant. ~~Oh, I don't know, Tony, maybe your almost two-year record of messing up just about everything you encounter? Just saying.~~ "Besides, I think saving the world from an alien apocalypse is all the PR I'll need for a while."

Don't turn into a corporate sell-out, Tony. At least hold out for a better chocolate deal.

"You're the son of a multi-billion-dollar business empire, you're a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and you're too smart for your own good sometimes. It's a statistical likelihood," Pepper says, shrugging. "But I think we've got a lot of goodwill to tide us over for a while."

Tony's the corporate people sell out to, Pepper. He can't sell out to The Man. He is The Man.

"You say those like they're bad things," Tony jokes. (...But seriously, though, Pepper, how are those bad things?) "But okay. I'll start working on my party suit."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event | Masquerade Ball

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why the hell wasn't there a junior prom episode. DAMN YOU, MARVEL. IMAGINE WHAT WE COULD HAVE HAD

I know, it would have been so glorious

I guess prom doesn't exist in Canada and/or France. Squares.

Banned by Parliament.

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