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...

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"Led. Escorted. Accompanied. Maybe not usually, but we do seem to end up on each others' arms a lot," Pepper teases as they weave through the other dancers. Solomon could get around ridiculously well for a recently blind individual, and even sighted it was often easier to maneuver busy crowds with a friend at hand.

"Uh, Tony kind of showed me that earlier. It's sort of a four step square thing only you keep moving around in circles while you're feet are staying in a square, right?" That was about the best explanation she could come up with for Tony's attempt, which hadn't been half bad. "Could you use the shadows to help nudge my feet in the right direction?"

It's not the best use of his powers, but then again Gene tends to make tea with one of his rings, so she's seen the extraordinary regularly used for the seemingly mundane.

Edited 2015-11-08 04:30 (UTC)

"I'll be sure to take that as a compliment," Solomon said with amusement, "if only because giving you the compliment would, no doubt, be misconstrued." He lifted his eyebrow, his tone turning mock reprimanding. "Why, Ms Potts. Are you suggesting I'd use my magic for frivolous purposes?" He grinned right after that, however, a surprisingly boyish grin. He didn't look particularly old anyway, but that grin made him look younger. "My very thought."

They found an area clear enough that the shadows of those around them wouldn't get in the way, and then Solomon turned toward Pepper, letting her choose where to put her hands before he corrected their positions as needed--though not so much as he was expecting. "It's the very same," he said, "though it's a three-count step, rather than four; if Stark was teaching it to you in a four-count, it must have been horribly stilted."

He used Pepper's arms to find her hand and her waist, respectively, and used two fingers to control her shadow, testing where her feet were. Little grabbing hands pushed her into a proper position. "It's a box step," Solomon continued, "but it may be easier to think of it as two triangles. One set of three steps takes one triangle; the second set of three takes the adjacent triangle. That makes the square."

A shadow came up and tapped her right thigh. "The first step is my left forward, your right backward. The second step is to bring your other foot forward and to a ninety-degree line to the side--but don't set it down in-between. The third step is to bring your first foot to the second. The next set is reversed--your left forward, my right back, and so on. Ready?"

"No, I'm suggesting you use magic for instruction of a non-magical variety," Pepper counters, mirroring his grin. It looks good on him.

Tony hadn't actually used numbers, which showed how alien dancing was to him. They had just kind of winged it, and it had been fun albeit lacking in sophistication. Solomon's description clarified immensely what Tony had been trying to do.

"Right. Square. Four corners, not four steps. Got it," she says, putting her free hand just on the curve of Solomon's shoulder, since he's rather tall. The shadows are... interesting, but she'd get used to it, since she had brought them up in the first place. "Ready."

"Excellent." On the next applicable beat he stepped forward, using two fingers on each hand to direct the shadows around Pepper's feet; one to tug her foot back, one to bring her other across, in a mimicry of the actual steps. It was slow and clumsy at first, both because of the concentration it took and Pepper's unfamiliarity, but evened out somewhat.

There wasn't much left of the song, anyway, and it was impossible to look at Pepper's form while he was directing her feet. When the song ended Solomon brought them to a stop and asked wryly, "Do you think you can do without the shadows?"

Pepper giggles a little bit throughout the crash course in shadow-waltz, but she learns quickly by doing whatever it is she's supposed to learn. She gets the picture soon enough, although Solomon's direction helps and adds to what Tony had tried to teach her.

"Yes. Probably," she answers. "Definitely. Your toes are safe, I promise," she adds as the next song starts; she's basically got it figured out. "Is knowing how to dance an Irish mage thing, too?" Pepper asks, glancing at the others from Solomon's world that she could see. Most of them seemed to be more than adequate on the dance floor.

"That's good; Raine gets a bit het up when I'm injured," Solomon said dryly. "It seems to make her think I can't stay out of trouble." Granted, a complaint Raine had about most of their mutual acquaintances. Not without reason, to be fair.

When he led on the first step Pepper followed easily, and Solomon nodded his approval. "More like a product of our eras," said Solomon with a smile. "Skulduggery and China and I were all born into noble families some centuries ago. I've no idea what background Ravel had, but from what I've heard he's always enjoyed companionship, so frankly I'm not surprised he has some skill on the floor." He paused and tilted his head without missing a beat. "So does Rue, some to that, though what he lacks in skill he makes up in exuberance. And Shudder, of course, is simply old--dancing was a frequent past-time, back in the day. Though I'd be surprised if he knew anything popular in the Pale; commoners' dances are rather different."

The last was said thoughtfully.

Pepper listens with interest, finding that she actually does better at the dance when she isn't paying complete attention to her feet. She tends to learn better by doing.

"So Anton is older than all of you? Huh." Thinking Solomon and the others to be centuries old was rather difficult, since they definitely didn't look it. Even Skulduggery didn't seem that old, although he kind of gets away with being ageless forever, now that he's got no soft bits to age. "And China's from a noble family. That explains something."

It's not said very kindly. Pepper glances around the dance area for a moment, but doesn't immediately spot the woman. Rue on the other hand... he's quite hard to miss.

"And yet you've seen or done enough to know the difference, Lord Solomon," she says impishly, raising an eyebrow. "It's like rock and roll in the sixties all over again. Except, you know, before."

"You can usually tell a sorcerer's getting on in years when they start going grey," Solomon said dryly. "Shudder's at least five hundred, maybe closer to six--middle-aged, for a sorcerer. The rest of us are aren't quite so far along."

Solomon was fairly sure China was only a couple of decades ahead of him, at the most, and of course Skulduggery wasn't far off either; Ravel he didn't know for sure, but at an estimate Solomon doubted he was much older either. Rue ... it was impossible to tell with Rue. He dyed his hair, wore makeup; he could be eight centuries for all Solomon knew.

Either way, he chuckled at Pepper's tone of voice. "Ah, you've met our dear China Sorrows, I see. Yes, her family worshiped evil gods. China is actually a black sheep in the family--she opted not to indulge in the torture and killing. ... Much."

China Sorrows was a much better topic of conversation than his own knowledge of common dances.

"I can't even imagine what I'm going to be doing when I'm twenty, much less what living for centuries would be like," Pepper remarks.

She frowns at the mention of China's family history. There had been something sharp about the woman, like Pepper was looking at a dagger. A dagger that tried distracting you with something very shiny while it stabbed you in the neck.

"We had a... chat. She tried to get me to talk about Bakura." Pepper suppresses a shudder. "I'd give her a piece of my mind if I didn't feel like worshiping the ground she walks on whenever I'm within snaring distance. It's very annoying."

"You'll find that less problematic as you get older," says Solomon dryly. "Or at least you'll get used to not knowing anything and much, much better at bluffing that you do."

Solomon feels the shudder, even suppressed, as a little quiver. Interesting. Not surprising, but interesting, and the fact that Pepper is aware of the effect of China's presence means she's some ways along in being able to break it.

"It takes practice," he advises as the song starts to wind down, "but it is possible to overcome those feelings. They'll never go away, but you'll be able to control how you behave."

"I'll take your word for it." Solomon certainly had enough experience with getting older that his word was good on that particular subject.

"That's a relief to hear," Pepper remarks with a nod. "Although I have zero plans on spending time near her ever again, so that's practice I might not get."

The song comes to a close, and she smiles at him. "Thanks for the dance, Solomon. Seriously, this was a lot of fun. Can I escort you back to your very lovely date?"

"You're quiet welcome, young lady." Solomon bowed and brushed her knuckles with his lips, and when he straightened he held out his arm for her. "Please; I'd appreciate it. I'm sure there are some young studs or lasses around here interested in a dance with you."

He said the last with a flashing, teasing grin, as she led him toward Raine. So far, the evening had been worth the effort.

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Event | Masquerade Ball

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mind if we wind this one up? since they can gossip about China in the later thread :3

Sounds good o7

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