party post } { fool and king, ghoul and ghost

[mayoralty]

On the evening of the twenty-ninth, the ballroom on the main deck of the boat is decked out in lavish black and gold, thanks to Carol and Sophie, and the assistance of the very strong men they enlisted to help (thank you, boys). It's been a while since Carol has thrown a full out ball, and she liked the chance to stretch her event planning limbs again, even if those attending are mostly the ghost robots in their cater waiter wear.

A soft music is playing over the guests as they enter. As they pass through the threshold, there's a table with simple masks for them to choose from, in case they've forgotten their's. Once they pass through the main archway, they'll find their way to the large dance space where the ghost robot band is sitting, because live music is so much better than a recording, and they actually don't sound half-bad, all things considered. They also take requests, so feel free to tell them that song where you always wondered what it would sound like with a full orchestral backing. There's a large, expansive dance floor in the middle, and you're welcome to get out there and shake your groove thing whenever you see fit.

Tables with food line the far left wall of the room, as well as clusters of tables for the guests to sit when they so choose. There's also an open bar nestled into the far corner, for all your alcoholic needs. There are also plenty of dark corners to slip into, if you don't want anyone to see what you're doing, however the narration suggests watching those dark corners carefully. Rabbit holes lurk in pretty much every shadowed area of the ballroom and while they won't always drop you into a strange location of your choosing, there's a high chance they will. There's probably a high turnover of people arriving back in the ballroom, looking like they've gone five rounds with a bull.

Probably because they have.

The boat seem to want to promote this event as much as possible. While not everyone loves a good ball, some non-attenders may suddenly find themselves in attendance, completely dressed and no idea of how they got there. Trying to leave? Might not go so well either. For some, socializing isn't so much a choice as a punishment, but there are probably plenty of people to help you have a good time.

Or you could go on a trip to Narnia. One never really knows.

[OKAY BALL IS GO sorry I was late getting this up. Rabbit Holes are to be used at your discretion, but if you need suggestions or want me to randomize something for you, just shoot me a PM/private plurk/ping me (iluvroadrunner6) and I will give you a scenario. Otherwise, mix, mingle and have fun with all the pretty formal wear. o7 Actionspam/prose/whatever floats your boat for this, it was easier to just write up the top part in prose.]

Comments

[peacecraft]

Thank you.

[ gracious as always, the vice foreign minister knows how to accept a compliment -- but she does it humbly, without a primping her hair or smoothing out the folds of her dress. it's a calm acceptance and thanks. ]

I'll remember that, should I change my mind. Honestly, it's a little... weird not being trailed after by three to five guards disguised as dinner guests.

[ a few of une's top agents plus quatre, usually accompanying her as her "date," as nobody ever suspected the head of the winner corporation of being a gunman pilot. her eyes lifted up briefly to the highest spot in the room, the window of a what looked like a technician's box where sound and lighting was likely routed. were she back home, heero would've placed himself up there to keep watch over her from above. she did miss his eyes on her, and it had nothing to do with the school girl crush she'd had on him all those years ago, a crush she'd let go of prior to the war's end. she was confident in his ability to protect her; he made her feel safe. as nice of a break as being here was, the more she stayed her, the less protected she felt. relena was far from helpless, but for all the attempts she made at ditching her security, she was beginning to miss the comfort just knowing they were lingering near provided her with.

it was taking some adjusting to, but she hid it well, like any good politician would. ]

You could do so yourself, you know. Drink. As long as it's done in moderation, this time. I don't think I could manage to fish you out of a pool in this dress.

[darkplace]

Three to five was the average range for how many guards would follow you? Must have made you feel constantly watched.

[which she obviously was, but it would be difficult to interact with people, difficult to do anything because there would be that constant awareness that all of these people were near, watching her even if it was protectively. granted, he would also understand feeling unsettled without something even something that could feel like a cage at times.

he has been surviving for so long. john has been in hiding. he has never actually been in a position where he had freedom to do anything other than survive (lead other people, follow orders, stay hidden). but he has never had the freedom to do anything that he might want to do, and he wouldn't know what to do with that kind of freedom. it'd feel unsettling.

john smirks a bit wider at what she says before he shakes his head.]

If you tried in that dress, someone else would have to go into fish you out too, and most people here are also wearing extreme fancy wear so it could be a domino effect. [john takes a sip from the flute in his hand.] I don't drink in general. That whole experience just reminded me of one of the many reasons why I don't.

[the main would be the terrible experience he had with it growing up, being on the other side of someone's hand who drank too much, too often.]

[peacecraft]

I am constantly watched, John. Or I was. When you're a high profile figure, everyone's watching, not just the people on your payroll. And honestly, I would rather have them standing watch at my windows than someone else.

[ stalkers have been a thing, so have attempted shooters. usually the preventers get to them before she's even aware of them, but they've been known to happen. nevermind the barton foundation's successful kidnapping attempt. if not for lady une's remarkable timing, she would've perished in that bunker after heero fired upon it for a third time. (nevermind the fact that relena had essentially given heero the okay to do so with her still inside of it.) ]

Then we'd all end up in the pool. [ the thought of so many people in sequined gowns and tuxedos floating in a pool makes her laugh. ] We should probably save the swimming for a proper pool party with better attire.

[darkplace]

I know you are, but it must... be nice to have freedom from that. You're just like everyone else here. Well, not like-- You know what I mean.

[there is less of an issue of stalkers when people don't realize who she is, when she doesn't have that power and position and all of that. she can be anyone here even if that means just being someone else who is part of the crowd. this can be a real vacation for her, and he wonders if she has ever had one of those.]

We would. It'd be water and sequins and fancy wear in the pool. [it makes him smile a tiny bit in amusement.] You're right, which is why I'm avoiding drinking.

One of the many reasons why. Apparently, my reaction to being drunk is to fall into the pool. I'm saving all of us this trouble.

[peacecraft]

[ not unless you count family vacations when she was a child, but those probably don't mean much anymore. ]

You thought it was a giant sink. [ she doesn't know if he remembers that or not, but she's reminding him of it anyway. ]

[darkplace]

[john winces slightly at what she says, and his hand slides behind his neck. he didn't remember that at all.]

...wow. [he laughs softly, shaking his head at himself in light amusement even with the groan that threatens to escape him.] That isn't normal for me. It's not even... rare for me. It literally was a once-in-a-lifetime... moment.

[peacecraft]

I'm sure we all do and say things that are slightly out of character when alcohol gets to us.

[ not that she could speak for herself. she's never been drunk before. ]

[darkplace]

It was a one time thing. [john smiles a tiny bit even as he winces further.] I don't like alcohol.

I don't recommend getting drunk but drinking a little isn't completely terrible if you want to.

[it's just that the alcohol can bring out the worst parts of someone. he still remembers the smell of whiskey and the fist when he was ten years old.]

[peacecraft]

Would it be out of line for me to ask why you were drinking when you don't like it?

[ she won't be offended if he says yes. they don't really know one another, after all. it's none of her business if he chooses to keep that reasoning to himself. she can respect that. ]

[darkplace]

[john pauses at the question, senses there is no pressure at all to answer it necessarily. he breathes in deeply and then out again, shaking his head a little.]

Honestly, I don't... really know why I did it.

It'd been a lot of terrible weeks, and everything I'd managed to set up over the last three years was torn away. I was... lost. I don't know why I thought I'd find my way again at the bottom of a bottle.

[maybe he didn't. maybe he just... wanted to be lost for awhile. his family was gone, he was kicked out of the lair, there was danger and being hunted constantly above ground and maybe he felt like he deserved to be caught again for all he'd done. the lies he's told.]

[peacecraft]

[ relena lays a gentle hand on his arm. ]

I think I can understand that. I know what it's like to lose everything and not know where to go from there.

[ several times over. she looks left, then right, before admitting to him: ] I pulled a gun and shot at someone who was responsible for taking my adoptive father from me. I could have killed her, but at the time, I was so angry and lost, I thought that doing the same to her would make me feel better, somehow. [ a frown, a laugh. ] It didn't.

[darkplace]

[john smiles softly at her when she places her hand on him with such gentleness. his chest aches helplessly at the story that she relays.

he knows what it is like to hold a gun in his hand, to shoot, to kill. people like him, they can't kill. john thinks there's a reason for that. it destroys something. a part of your soul you can't get back.

there's no judgement in his expression at her admittance. just a nod of understanding.] Sometimes when you're angry and grieving and lost, you'll do anything. You don't even think about it. [it's said softly.] I don't blame you for shooting at her, but I'm glad you didn't end up killing her.

I wouldn't-- It doesn't ultimately help, and it's something that stays with you. She's not worth that whoever she is. [and there's a slight ache through his chest again at that laugh.] I don't know if there is any feeling better after something like that. Sometimes it's just... pain, loss... that you have to feel. You move forward because you have to, but you still feel it.

[peacecraft]

She gave me the opportunity to do so again, but I declined. You see, I'm a pacifist, silly as it sounds. By then, I had parted ways with my desire to do her any harm. Killing her wouldn't have accomplished anything, and I understood that she hadn't been acting entirely of her own accord.

[ treize khushrenada had some sort of power over lady une, and for a while, it was if she transformed into an entirely different person whenever she was around him or following his orders. relena trusted une explicitly now, fully supporting her creation of the preventers and owed the woman her life for knocking her out of the way of falling debris when heero destroyed the brussels's presidential residence a few months ago. she was over it. ]

The war made a lot of people do things they wouldn't otherwise do. That's what war does to people.

[darkplace]

If she gave you the opportunity to do so again, it sounds like she realizes what a great wrong she did to you. [john smiles at her warm, understanding before he shakes his head in response.] It doesn't sound silly at all. Killing doesn't accomplish anything.

[or it does. but when it does, it comes at a cost. he'll kill to defend someone he loves, but it still feels like losing a part of his soul whenever he kills someone because there is no other way. that was only true with killian so far, but he knows what war requires, and cara has already asked him once to kill again because there was no other way.

he didn't. couldn't.

then he nods in understanding.] It is. I've seen it time and time again.

[peacecraft]

I believe she did, and she's a far better person now than she was during the war. You could say that she's one of the people I trust most nowadays.

[ most, but not explicitly. no, that level of trust was reserved for one person and one person only, and that person was the man who would be guarding her if she weren't here. heero was worthy of her trust. relena's own brother, the "late" milliardo peacecraft, wasn't even entitled to that. ]

...were you caught up in war, John?

[darkplace]

I'm grateful to hear that. It is rare that a relationship can change so drastically.

[but it can be important too especially when that change is for the positive. it just also reminds him of the drastic change he has had in some of his relationships. they were very necessary changes, making him see jedikiah and ultra for what it truly was.]

Something like that. It... was a shadow war between my people and an organization that wanted to make us extinct or control us completely.