The one About the Heart's Tidings Ball at Longtail Manor - RPLOG
Participants
Date
15/2/480
Log
It's early in the evening, and the sun is just barely setting over the castle district, basking the whole place in a red glow. The torches set beside the pathway from the gates to the manor iluminating the walk the whole way, it appears there are already various beings from many different stations in life, each of them moving past the checkpoint at the gate. From nobles wearing exquisite dresses and fine suits to commoners wearing what can only be assumed to be their nicest garb, cleaned especially for the occasion.
The guards currently stationed there are a mixed group of different beings. One lion, one wolf, and a rather short, white-furred ferret, each of them making sure no being slips past without giving up any potential weapons, and leaving their name. Everything seems to be running reasonably smoothly, at the very least.
Even canes are taken to be inspected for weaponry, and any potential sword-canes are graciously replaced with with a simple, decent walking-cane.
Against her best judgement, Cirrus decided to show up to the ball, trading out her normal shorts and tunic for a rather plain, slim dress, coloured a modest shade of gray, hiding bare feet under the fabric. She'd be damned if she was going to wear a pair of heels, no matter how classy the event. And, entering the hall, she looked about -- so much for fashionably late.
Her fur was, remarkably, clean, and, against her better than best judgement, she left the majority of her weapons at home. Sure, there was a small holdout dagger she surrendered willingly to the guards, but it was less than she'd normally cart about. She takes in the space, looking about curiously at the massive hall, a raised eyebrow. She'd make a comment on the spoiledness of her cousin, but, wow.
Bazalt wanders in, wearing his yellow shirt and grey, cloth pants, appanrelty chosen not to wear his leather ones tonight-The shadow does seem to be out of placehowever-due to not having been to many balls or parties, atleast this one didnt have a pool for him to fall into however, once he spots the food however he quickly heads over to it, debating what to try first...
Reginald , dressed in rather smart, if plain, attire, and deliberately lacking certain trimmings the upper class would choose to adorn themselves with, makes his way into Manor. Having deposited his sword with the guards, the lynx can't help but look a little strange to those that know him, that certain piece of equipment almost never leaving his side. But, hopefully, there'd be no need for it tonight, these surroundings a refreshing change from the rather unpredictable surrounding he's usually accustomed to. Taking in the numerous ornaments upon the walls as he passes, the lynx can't help but smile just a little at the number of feline faces held in high regard. Spotting a familiar wolf further in, he makes his way in the canine's direction.
Fenris arrives with two other beings, one is a black fox dressed tastefully in a simple, but well made, dark suit, and the other is a huge, snow white lion dressed in a crisp, white suit. Both of them in the fashionable creator style. The tiger between them becomes a surprising splash of color in comparison.
"Always a pleasure to see you, Sirus," Hugo, the lion says to the fox, revealing just a touch of northern accent, "It is so rare to see you attending a courtly function. And this must be your new protege? You always did like them large."
The fox, who must be Sirus smiles at the lion as both of them present their equally lovely canes for the servants to inspect, though neither claims to carry a weapon and both retrieve their canes. "No need to be petty Mister Snowmane," he says with a smile, "This is Highlady Flora's night, no reason to bring up old greivances."
Fenris, caught between the two gentlemen does his best to maintain an air of stoic acceptance. He looks rather out of place between the two immaculate suits in his tight, Creator jumpsuit. Unlike most suits in the style, is has no sleeves, leaving his muscled arms and their unusual heart motif stripes exposed for all to see.
A little further back, out of sight of Sirus, Fenris and Hugo, Katrina is approaching. She's wearing the sleek, silken dress she's worn before, complete with the white linen underdress. She's foregone her usual decorated cane in favour of something far simpler, if still rather extravagant. A large sapphire inset in the knob, she carries the decorated walking-aid more for show than anything else. Her usual silver mask replaced by a shining, golden one, she simply gestures for her plus one, Terry, to give up his weapons and head into the manor with her. "Come, Terry. Best not keep the parting waiting, shall we?"
Galve stops at the door, wearing a not shabby but regular overcoat and neat undershirt, nothing posh or exciting but marginally fancy enough for an occasion such as this one. He checks his weapons, a simple dueling pistol and a long knife, in at the door and makes his way inside, tugging at the collar of his dress shirt a little. He was unfortunately here by himself, and was a little confused as to why he even decided to come, but he was sure to enjoy himself just as much as an of the other paired members.
Terry steps into the room after waiting patiently in queue. He looks up to the panthress at his side, smiling up at her as they near the front of the queue. He's dressed very finely, in a smartly cut tailcoat with matching navy-blue trousers and brown leather shoes. "Yes m'aam." He answers to the panthress, before surrendering his dagger at the door as instructed, and making sure to smile politely at the servant there. He stops after walking a few steps into the grand hall, his gaze panning slowly around as he takes in the immediate area, trying to identify any guests he might know. He turns to the side to look at Katrina, and dutifully paces over to her side once more.
Angus pats Kalt's hand as they wait in line to enter the ball, smiling a bit. "Hey, it's okay. We've got a sitter for the night, we won't be coming home to a mess I promise." He reassures her for the third time in a row. For once the pair was presentable, Kalt actually wearing a dress without having had killed someone to force her into it. The cut was long, kept simple but elegant in a deep sea blue. Which went well with her Husbands attire, even if his was a little more eye catching. The Fox himself was wearing for once something other then his military uniform. The hint of Silk can be seen under the cut of his jacket, the same color as Kalt's dress, and no one could mistake the saber sitting at his hip. When the guards would approach them he'd hold up a hand, presenting it to one of the guardsman. "Afraid I won't be causing any trouble with this thing tonight, it's ceremonail. Can't pull the blade." He mentions, grabbing the grip and pulling to show he's speaking the truth. When they finally let him in he smiles, looking around to see what's going on for a few moments before walking further into the crowd.
As the various beings make their way into the manor, they're greeted with the sights, and smells, of a well-decked buffet, readily enjoyed by commoner and Noble alike. Although some of the more stuffy Nobles are perhaps a bit taken aback at having to share the same food and drinks.
It does seem like the Lady hasn't spared a lot of expense in throwing this party, at the very least. Slowly but surely, beings would drift towards the ballroom itself, where a small group of musicians is playing a slow, classical piece.
The large clock is one of the first sights for many, and some of the more poorer beings seem rather in awe at the machine, while the Nobles seem more interested in the portraits and the ballroom at large.
Finally, on a slightly elevated pedestal, there's a quartet of beings. High Lady Longtail, dressed in her silken gown, red and white of shralestan design... One black-furred tomcat standing besides her with his hand on her shoulder. Her lifebond, Matthews Longtail.
A little behind them to the right, two birds are observing the crowd, smiling lightly. Trace and Sveta Blackwing-Longtail. Each of the four is simply observing the crowd and keeping an eye on things for the time being, as people slowly make their way into the room.
Among the beings drifing in, there's Katrina, flanked by Terry, as she observes the various Nobles and commoners, and lets her eye wander around the room.
And then, when a good amount of beings have properly entered, Flora steps forward with a smile. "Welcome to the new ballroom of Longtail Manor, yes. What better time to open its doors than Heart's Tidings. That said... Let the ball begin, yes," she offers, gesturing to the musicians, whom start turning their music into a slow, steady waltz. And soon enough, Matthews guides Flora onto the dance-floor, followed by Trace and Sveta.
Cirrus lingered around the edges of the room, looking about shiftily, eying the new people entering warily. She was way out of her element, here, and that only made her defensive. So, the cat walked, occasionally taking a bit of food or swiping a glass of something alcoholic when she could find it, but not taking too much as to be seen as raiding the buffet. It's a careful balance! One she wouldn't normally care for, but there was an awful large amount of people here. And, when the music starts, she does the same thing -- linger around the edges and hope she doesn't have to rebuke someone for the whole dancing thing.
Bazalt ears flick-partly listning to the cat as she talk-right now the food has his attention. The wolf was trying a bit of each, tail flicking in some from of Enjoyment, trust the wolf to go to a social outing and be captivated by the food...Atleast Zuri would be proud.
Nicolau entered with a surprisingly small amount of protest from the guards, having been slowed for a thorough search due to his perhaps unsavory reputation, though the man appears to have come unarmed. He had even dressed a little better than usual, with a finer, gold-trimmed blue vest, and a neat little bowtie on his neck. And, having arrived late, he hurries his way over to the buffet before too much goes missing, spotting a pretty snow-cat in the process. He strolls up behind her and finally gulps down the feast he had stuffed away from the buffet, gently tapping Cirrus' shoulder. "And here I thought I wouldn't see you? Ah, the things we do for family," he teases, with a smile. "Where's your date? Such a shame to be wasting time," he notes, pointing to her bare feet. "You've even put on your dancing shoes."
Reginald pauses for a few moments to take in the regal scene, both in awe of the sheer scale of the event, and also just a little unsettled by it's extravagance. However, vowing to enjoy himself, the lynx restarts his progress in the direction of a familiar looking wolf. Moving quietly up behind him, he reaches out, resting his hands on both of the canine's arms, as he whispers softly. ".. I don't suppose I could interest you in a dance?"
Fenris takes the first opportunity to slip away from his black and white escort, leaving the two of them at the portrait of Alessa Longtail, having polite conversation full of innuendo and disguised barbs that he is sure he will hear all about later. As a pretence to escape, the big tiger casts around for an available dance partner.
Galve finds himself lurking near the buffet, having no partner to dance with, slowly tapping his feet to the slow waltz. The music was nice, the atmosphere was cheery and full of the warm ardor that the occasion entailed... but all in all it was kind of lost on the wasp who was here by himself. Either way, he figured he'd at least enjoy the expensive food and drink while he was. Might as well get drunk on someone else's dollar when you have nothing better to do. At least it was delicious.
A lazy whistling announces the (fashionably late) arrival of everyone's favorite Coyote, forgoing his trademark outfit something more...debonair. He tips a nonexistent hat to the guards. "Nothing but the best vodka," he says with a grin, emptying his pockets for the ferret.
He slips into the ballroom, taking in the scene with a lazy smirk. He nods to the other guests, immediately grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. Time to get the party started.
Terry steps up alongside Katrina, glancing around the room with a trained eye. He slinks away, moving away from his 'date' as the dance begins. He doesn't join the beings in the dancefloor itself, however, but instead mosies around to the refreshment tables, seemingly in search of someone.
Fenris would find he's short one possible choice for dance partner, Angus already taking to the dance floor with his lifebond. He smirks as he passes by Flora, giving Kalt a spin. "Good evening Lady Longtail, i did not even know you knew how to dance." He quips, catching Kalt as she returns.
"Flora can dance, yes," the she-cat offers with a smile, as she follows Matthew's lead. The music goes on for a while, shifting from song to song, as the waltzes move, and the patterns change. Many of the Nobles and their dates are slowly taking to the dancefloor, and the same holds for several of the upperclass beings, although the lower one goes on the social scale, the fewer beings you'll find swaying to the music. Many of them are content simply eating to their heart's content and sharing the fancy food with their partners and bonds.
All the while, the slow, waltzing music continues to play, and the various beings continue their steady patterns on the dance-floor, and slowly, even the common beings manage to pull themselves away from the food, and onto the dancefloor.
Still, it doesn't take long for Flora herself to end her motions, only a dance or two, before heading off with her partner for some refreshments and winding up near Sirus and Hugo. Trace and Sveta, on the other hand, are still steadily swaying, moving.
Alarmed, Cirrus whirls around, facing the cougar with her claws out. Of course, it's a lot less threatening with a glass of fancy wine clutched in her other hand, the snow leopard clutching the glass carefully to avoid spilling it and making yet another faux pas. Of course, there was probably plenty of wine, but she was hesitant about standing out too much. "I'm just here to look around and be counted as present. There's an awful lot of unfamimliar people here, y'know." She makes a little waving motion with her other arm, gesturing out to the ball as a whole. "Also, I don't dance. That's not really... my thing."
Nicolau waves a hand dismissively. "No? That's a dreadful shame, you keep getting my hopes up with all your mysterious appearances," he says, with a sigh. He glances around for a dance partner, spotting Fenris alone and giving him a wink as an offer, though he doesn't expect much in terms of response. "Your dress looks wonderful on you," he notes, with a nod. "Perhaps if you had a blade instead of a glass of wine you'd be comfortable, but unfortunately, those weren't allowed. Perhaps when the Solacious' have their ball."
Bazalt Freezes as he's approached and spoken to until he reconises hte voice, the Wolf turn round, suprised. "R-reginald!" he Smiles and hugs the lynx, tail flicking and wagging upon seeing him! "I...i've never really danced before B-but.. sure..I guess?" he rubs his head-suddenly looking rahter nervous as his tail proceeds to wrap around his own leg "i.. can.. try to?.."
Reginald just chuckles, and smiles softly. "Don't worry, I'm not that good myself. But, I'm sure you'll do fine, and that it'll be fun." Taking the wolf's hand in his own, the lynx leads them to a quieter corner of the ballroom floor, before turning back around towards his mate. Placing one of his hands upon the canine's hip, the other outstretched, he motions for the wolf to copy, in no hurry as merely being Baz's presence is enough to make this feline grin from cheek to cheek. When a noticeable break appears in the music, he speaks up. "Ready?"
Since Fenris has no dance partner of his own, he moves in and out of the dance, borrowing partners as he goes. While he is not actually dressed like most of those present, he manages to compliment whatever partner he finds himself matched with, however briefly. He even manages a lazy little salute to Angus as he steals his wife for a short turn. Nicolau does get a returning grin, but the oddly uniformed tiger does not come over.
"A fine piece," Hugo is saying to Sirus, "You know, she was the orginial Spyguard, they say? Not that you would have any interest in that sort of thing. Just a bit of trivia." Sirus seems to have little to say, only shrugging and smiling at the big lion.
Terry perks as he spots Mal across the way, milling about at the entrance. He smiles and starts going towards him, a large and busy crowd separating them. He takes a stride forward, breaking pace. "Sir! Sir!" He waves, trying to get Mal's attention, but at that point smacks snout-first into a rather portly rhino lady. A few awkward seconds of flailing, holding onto her for support, and apologising profusely ensue before he breaks away from her and her annoyed plus one in order to speed over towards Mal. He offers a weak smile. "Hello sir. Do you remember me? We met some time ago."
Angus laughs a little as Fenris manages to butt in for a few moments, shaking his head at the antics of the Tiger. Once he does manage to get his wife back he leads her off the dance floor. He finds her a sceat before heading over to the buffet. Ears perk when he sees a familiar face, stepping past Bazalt with a tip of his hat and a grin before he picks up a full plate, balancing two wine glasses upon it as he passes the couple just as they are heading over to a quiet corner. "Good evening." He murmurs loud enough for them to hear before he's taking the food back over to Kalt
Perhaps late, but still arriving, Selena makes her way into the ballroom and slowly walks around the perimiter, taking a sip from a newly opened bottle of cider. Seeing Angus, she offers a wave, and noticing Kalt a bittersweet smile crosses her lips, making her way over to the noble and offering a quick greeting; "It's good to see Kalt's still in town. I was beginning to worry when she never replied to the messages I was leaving." She comments, shaking her head. "Though I suppose it'd be better not to interrupt your evening too much." A gesture is made to the platter and wine glasses with a smirk. "Flora has done a good job of restorations here though, I'll have to give her that..."
Mal takes a sip of his champagne, making a face as he does. Not as good as vodka. He shrugs and takes another sip as he strolls around the ballroom, looking at the portraits curiously. After all, it's not like Father ever hung paintings on the wall. A very sparse man.
The Coyote blinks and turns to face the flailing feline, breaking into a grin. "Of course! It's, uh, gimme a second," he says, with an overly-expressive look of one trying to remember. "Ehhh....Terry! We met at the set-up for the riding competition," he says, grinning. "How are you? Anything exciting? Pet any more Buffalos?" he asks, taking another sip of his champagne.
A small smile from Flora, a small cough to announce her presence to Hugo and Sirus. "Flora assumes everything is agreeable, yes? And Mister Hugo seems... At least somewhat satisfied with Flora's choice of decoration?" she offers, smiling lightly as she watches Matthews head off and chat with some of the other beings at the dance. "Flora realized it isn't like the family of old. But, as Flora said, while the old is to be respected, this is not the same house Longtail. Flora is not suited to lead the spyguard, and Flora wouldn't want to, either," she offers to Hugo and Sirus both, before taking a sip of her own drink. Juice, as usual.
The music still continues, until finally, the fourth waltz comes to a close... And then, the tempo changes significantly. The music is far more reminiscent of the creator-hymns about love and its effects, and the dances that accompany it are far, far more suited to twirls, rapid motions, and various other wilder moves. And amidst it all, there is one pair of birds that seems to absolutely be stealing the show...
"Aye, I would've been much more comfortable with a sword on my hip and something I can run in without tripping and toppling over in." Cirrus says, glancing over at Flora. Truly, Cirrus did need to get out more. The leopard sighs, taking a sip off of her glass and holding the liquid up to the light, waving Nicolau towards the buffet table with her free hand. Specifically, to the liquors. "At least the wine's good. You might want to spring for some of the harder stuff, or pester one of the waiters to get you a cocktail, though. And, hah. The dress was cheap. It probably won't hold up to the end of the night. Fancy vest you have there, though. Gold foil is hard to come by." Unless it's not real gold. Appearances are always deceiving.
The Rhino lady that Terry bumped into simply smiles and shakes her head, reassuring the ocelot that everything is fine, and she's sure he didn't walk into her on purpose. She even spends a couple moments offering some idle flattery. She might've just mistaken him for a cousin of the Lady, considering how sharply dressed he is.
