A gala for serendipity.

[the golden flower]

Lance had left her behind, returning to Gaia to take care of what he needed to back home. She felt exposed and lonely without him there. At least he had been there to get her dorm room and then to sign her up for classes, but then she was alone. She sat on her bed, trying to muster up the courage to go to the Gala. She guessed it was a good way for her to meet new people but she really didn't want to go. Did she have to?

The answer came back to her quickly, yes.

She got ready for the party the best she could. She combed out her long orange hair, carefully putting it up in a pony tail. She put on light makeup. Just a hint of eye shadow, a bit of lip gloss and some blush. She was a alright looking girl, Ceaser told her to never think of herself as anything but pretty. What ever she though she would keep it inside. She didn't need anyone at the Gala to see her look troubled. She found one of her few dresses and slipped it on. It was a simple dress, but prefect for the weather. She sighed softly and fixed her mother's necklace around her neck.

Time to go and face the crowd.

She made her way towards the Gala, looking up at the stars. As she got closer to the hall, the sound of music came roaring out. The party was in full swing. She was nervous and scared, but she knew that eventually she would have to face it. She opened the door to the hall and gasped.

How beautiful.

Maybe she could do this.

[animosity!]

gia.jpg

Hands reached to face, and a fierce dragging down of fingertips against skin would leave one with the impression that Gia was attempting to rip her face off. She was. Two days after stumbling into the academy, (literally stumbling. . .much thanks to the aluminum flask kept in her pocket) and already she was on the verge of turning and running as fast as she could. Gia didn't care very much for responsibility at all. In all honesty, she completely loathed it, but somehow. Somehow, in a fit of rare realization for the importance and necessity of education, she had landed herself in the melting pot of Terrenus's bright stars of the future. Hooray, right?!

Aloof, unconcerned, and ever the last to arrive, the girl pushed her way through the doors and into the hall. A lot of people gathered the wrong impression of Gia. Sure, she was a well-bred bombshell knocked down the totem pole of society's finest by her own parents. A sewer rat in a sea of sweetpeas. People knew this and they processed that, along with her discomfort in conversation and manner in which she dressed as a sign of misanthropy. She was hardly approached, and subject of naughty rumors circulated wherever someone noticed her face. But she was there by choice. Pfft.

Gia strutted her stuff all the way to the damn center of the room and three sixtied her body to gain a decent idea of who was least likely to annoy her to near death. She circled slow and examined every single person left at the party. A smirk here, a gesture of the middle finger there to any one making a spectacle of her arrival and forward observation of the party goers. After unsuccessfully seeing anyone of particular interest , she walked backwards to the stage upon which the podium sat and pulled herself up to sit on the edge. It was comfortable enough.

A flask was pulled from her jacket pocket, opened, and placed against her lips. She only sipped, as to not come off as a total whiskey dump on her first day. First impressions were the most important after al! Or whatever. The lid was placed back on the flask and shoved between destroyed, denim covered, crossed legs. Gia's hands moved back to prop her torso up at a inclining angle necessary to gain a view of the room in its entirety. The perfect position to siphon in the rumors and "girl talk" bound to happen starting. . .now.

[Lunadrakla]

Kacey was unsure why the sound of the doors that had been opening and closing since her arrival pulled her attention now. But it did, dragging her eyes from Esben to a girl that had hair of orange that was sure to pull in attention. The attention she saw that was headed her way though, Kacey’s ears had already determined as trouble.

The girl looked just as nervous as Kacey felt inside. Looking back to Esben, Kacey took a step forward moving into his personal space. While there, she let him know the general area that her room was in case he just wanted to talk and they didn’t run into each other again that night. She was seriously interested in getting to know him better. Her voice told him that she meant strictly just talking and the invite to her room’s general location was not a pick-up line.

Turning to the punch, Kacey’s fingers worked quickly at refilling her cup and filling another before moving with speed she hadn’t given any sign of earlier. Her steps were silent, her movement graceful as she avoided the bodies that littered the room. Even with her sudden quick movements, she knew how to move so the majority of the people who saw her paid her no mind.

She just barely made it to the girl’s side before the group of boys that had set their sights on the flickering flame of the ball. Her voice was soft and could have been mistaken for a trick of the mind when she spoke, “Excuse me…a drink?” She held the punch out for the girl but made sure that it was no where near her to be threatened by sudden movements.

Kacey while waiting was starting to wonder how she was going to keep the boys at bay when another girl walked in through the doors, causing the males to disperse. She wasn’t sure why, but perhaps till she could determine whether or not this flame had a way to take care of herself they could use the other’s ability to deflect problems to their advantage.

She didn’t tell either, but once the punch was accepted, Kacey would motion for them to move from the doors and lead her to the clearing that the other girl seemed to create. While they walked, Kacey heard talk of the deflector, but she found the talk non-disturbing.

“I’m Kacey….I…I just arrived, you?” The girl would find that Kacey seemed to always talk slightly above a whisper, her words meant for only one person.

Once they would arrive to the clearing, Kacey would give the deflector a look of acknowledgement that would tell her that she knew she was there and welcomed her to join them if she wished.

[the golden flower]

Ailsa wasn't sure of herself at all. This place was noisy and loud, filled with more people then she would rather deal with on her first day of school. She rubbed her hands together, keeping an eye out to make sure no one was doing anything... dangerous. She wasn't allowed a weapon, and it made her nervous. It wasn't like she was defenseless, but she would rather have her sword around to make sure she could show that she could defend herself.

But what ever, she needed to get into the party. Moving deeper into the crowd, she was suprised when someone spoke to her. It was a girl with pink hair, around the same age of her. She was offering her a cup of punch, and she did accept it. "Sure. Thank you."

She was nevous, but she tried her best to hide it. It wasn't working too well, but at least she had a drink to distract herself. She walked with the girl to the open area and looked at her again. She was dressed very pretty, much better then her black and yellow dress. It was a yellow dress with short, black puffy sleeves and gloves that went down to her arms with yellow and black straps. She wore black stockings and simple yellow flats. But she felt subconscious and wondered if she should have chosen a suit instead.

"Yes, I am very new. My name is Ailsa Graystone." She tried to be friendly, and actually managed to sound like she wasn't silent. A good start. "Nice to meet you Kacey."

She looked where Kacey was looking and saw the girl. She nodded a greeting and turned her attention back to Kacey.

[Lunadrakla]

(srry for the shortness of my post)

Kacey repeated Ailsa’s name a few times in order to remember it. Once she was sure the name was locked firmly in her mind, she stood an awkwardly sipped her punch, not sure what direction to take the conversation now.

After a moment though the normal questions one could ask aquestion came to mind. “So do you have any family?” Although Kacey hated the subject it usually gave others free reign to take over the conversation.

She then began to carefully observe not only Ailsa but the deflector as well. It would appear that she was merely appreciating the others choice of attire.

[the golden flower]

She was unsure of what to say herself. Carefully holding the glass of punch she looked around the room. The people were thinning out and she was lucky to have someone to talk too. She felt really out of place among all the people who were actually around her own age. Most of the people she knew were older then her. But it was nice to actually talk to someone her age.

"Oh yes. I'm a twin." She took a drink of her punch, savoring the sweetness. "My twin is named Celeste. She's blond haired and everything I am not. I also have an older brother named Lance. He's the one who brought me here. Lance thought I needed to learn more, and thought an Academy was the best place to learn."

It wasn't exactly the best thing, at least she though so. She would have rathered just stayed in Gaia and learned on her own. She didn't really need others. Never. But here she was on her own. With strangers all around. She wasn't sure if she could deal with it.

"What about you?"

[Lunadrakla]

Kacey listened to Ailsa talk about her family. She actually found it intriguing that she had a twin and brother. It made her want to hear more; to know more about their relationship that their family shared.

She was actually trying to think of the right way to word the question when Ailsa ask hers. It was understandable, Kacey had just asked about her family, so it was just right that Ailsa would ask about hers.

The urge to lie came upon her, but she reminded herself that this wasn’t work. Taking a deep breath, she weighed the options. Her voice came out even quieter then before, “I had a brother…I think. My parents were…are gone. My family is dead. They have been so for a long time.”

She gave a slight smile to try and show that it wasn’t something to get worked up about. “Can you tell me more about your family? I love hearing about others families.”

She loved to hear about families in detailed not only to know what she missed, but also to have personal stories that come in handy later when she needs a background story.

[the golden flower]

Ailsa frowned. "Believe me, I know how your feel. My father died about... two years ago, followed quickly by my mother. Lance basically became our caretaker."

She still remembered it clearly, the day that Lance had came back from his and their parents home. He had been tired and sick from the fight but he had come for her. He told her that they couldn't go back there, and would make a new life somewhere else. Some where were people didn't know about the Graystones. It felt nice for a while, but now she was here.

"If you want," she gave a slight shrug. "My sister Celeste is better at magic then me, but she is also more mature then me. Or at least that's what Lance said. That's why she isn't at the Academy with me. She's also the one who told me what classes I should take if there were any classes like them available."

She had wanted to take more battle oriented classes, but she could always take them later. For now she needed to build up her magical abilities a bit. If she could do that, then she should be ready to learn some more powerful spells and then be able to enchant her weapons again. And she would be the best again.

[Lunadrakla]

Kacey lifted an eyebrow at Ailsa just slightly, “No offense. But you don’t appear to me as the spell flinging type.”

It was apparent that Ailsa didn’t enjoy talking about family, so she didn’t want to press the matter. She was about to follow with the skills of Ailsa, when movement in her peripheral caught her attention.

Slightly shifting her weight she tilted her body so she could figure out who or what it was that had drawn her attention. What she saw didn’t put her at ease any.

There was a student that obviously had too much of the previously spiked punch due to his staggered walking, and he seemed to be locked onto approaching the girls.

The boy staggered over and landed almost full bodily landed on the shoulders of Kacey and Ailsa, hands grabbing a firm grip of flesh and didn’t give any sign of letting go, “Sooo, what are to pretty ladies doing standing all alone?” His voice was severely slurred as well as reeking of alcohol.

[supernal]

Off topic:
Thread will be closing within a week to make way for the next event thread. Players that haven't already are advised to make side-threads

[Lunadrakla]

Kacey snagged the wrist of the boy and twisted it while removing her body from underneath his. With a quick jerk, the sicking sound of bones snapping sound through the room, that along with the yowls of the boy.

She hadn't meant to break his wrist but she had acted out of reflex of being suprised from behind. Before she could react to the scene, another hand came down upon her and the boy leading them away from the party.

She had started to react with the chaperone that had taken ahold of her but a sharp yank of his hand on her shoulder immediately placed her into a docile submission, following without trouble.

(srry for the sudden post, but exiting thread)

[supernal]

Off topic:
The gala is finished.