Dance Dance Reprobation

[magicademymods]

The Twilight Ball Arrival The Promenade has been transformed. Literally. With Modification. Ha ha. Cough. Crickets. Toad familiars eat the crickets. Circle of life. Animals bow before singing lions. You get the idea. Neither tree nor stone form the Promenade now. It is instead a long bridge over a shallow and brilliant pool, the gentle ripples of which catch the afternoon sun and scatter it into a million highlights that play over the Great Hall, the bridge, and those who walk down it. There is no formal receiving line, merely a gentle procession of people across the bridge at whatever speed feels comfortable, slowly making their way to the Great Hall. The Great Hall itself has been enchanted to be completely invisible while one is inside it, save for the outline of doors so people can actually find their way out through means other than smacking their noses into the invisible walls till they find a place with no resistance. Thus the twilight for which the ball is named will show all around the dancers, while they are protected from any errant breezes, faint hints of rain, or slime monsters that might otherwise threaten the festivity. Come in. Find your date and get comfortable. The fun is just beginning. Let the Revels Begin After Headmaster Birony welcomes everyone with a speech about she's going to get on her boat, go upriver, and kick that sonuvabitch Bison's ass so HORDT that the next Bison-wannabe is gonna feel it, the dance formally begins with a peppy number designed to get people out and moving. The orchestra here comprises some of the finest players available anywhere in the world, thanks to the whole Valhudor shtick and graduates of said house, and the music is infectious as it drifts through the slowly-darkening air. But as the dance progresses, they play something for everyone. Martial waltzes and slow dance ballroom numbers. Powerful tunes to lose yourself in, and gentle melodies that slip beneath conversation and encourage intimacy and closeness. Professors Trammel and King treat everyone to an exhibition of what an Earth resident might call 'swing dancing on amphetamines' and many students do call 'the closest I have ever come to death'. No pause for speeches, no announcements or interruptions -- just a steady stream of music, bringing dates and lovers together in dance, as the sun sets and casts the room into gentle and romantic twilight. Also a dolphin and a whale are swimming through the floor and they, too, are unmistakably dancing. If this is the weirdest thing you've seen all night, you need your eyes checked. "Food! One of the food tables has been discreetly slid against a wall, where it positively shudders under the weight of a massive buffet open to everyone. The food here tends towards the light, such as fish and vegetables, cucumber sandwiches and thin-sliced meats. Things that will give you energy without weighing you down, so you can keep dancing till the dawn comes. At one end of the table, an owl the size of a cupboard sits on a perch, serenely watching the varied drinks laid out for consumption. 'Spiking the punch' is so cliche that no one is going to pretend it won't happen or the students will behave on their honor, so here you get a chaperone. Even so, this whole area is a popular gathering spot for those between dances or partners, drawing steady attention throughout the night. Meanwhile, Elsewhere Shockingly, not everyone has found that loving feeling, asked out an attractive someone, and gone to the dance with romance on their minds. The rest of the campus, and of course Anastara itself, remain open as normal... and perhaps even less-minded than normal. The faculty, the familiars, the cleaning golems -- almost all attention is on the dance itself. If there's mischief to manage, now would be the perfect time... or just something else besides wallflowering and missing out. Wait, Wasn't There a Ghost Dragon and an Off-Brand Shoggoth? Professor King managed to find a way around the protoplasmic ooze's resistance to magic and splatted it (with no small amount of help from students and faculty!). The dragon disappeared into the caverns beneath the Magicademy. That certainly isn't ominous and won't inspire anyone to go down there, will it? Don't fall in the river down there. Please don't fall in the river.

Comments

[blue_ice]

arrival

Kaiba, being Kaiba, has saved up and purchased the fanciest dress robes he can afford. Nowhere near as expensive as his native wardrobe, unfortunately, but still with the silver. His normally blue accent pieces are closer to a lavender shade tonight, because he's wearing his heart on his sleeve as he strides into the room.

His 'heart', of course, being a short human male with a smile. Yup. That sure is Yugi Mutou, and they sure look involved. This is public knowledge now, and Kaiba doesn't care what you think.

dances and dragons

Yugi is of course far more sociable than he is, so there are plenty of times when Kaiba is alone. He usually takes a small snack from the table, maybe a few mouthfuls of punch...

...and maybe it's the punch, but he's not immediately rebuffing most people who approach him tonight. No, it would do him some good to socialize some. Especially with those who are close to Yugi, for...reasons that are unimportant.

"Enjoying yourself?"

That's about as polite as it gets for Kaiba, but give him time. And more punch. With enough of both, he might even accept a dance invitation with someone he sufficiently respects.

in the quiet

Even as practiced as he is with mandatory social occasions, he has his limits. He steps outside and fastens his cloak around him at one point, tucking into a nook and watching the stars.

But of course, being this school, he has to pull his feet up when something small scurries by. Either someone's lost their familiar or there's a dangerous experiment on the loose, probably. He sighs, determined to ignore it.

Good luck with that. Should anyone approach here, he'll give them a minute nod.

(closed to yugi)

[blue_ice]

[ It's a nice enough night, he supposes, but Kaiba's major concern here is with the man he's with. They manage to pass through the entrance gauntlet without much of a fuss, and at the end of it, he simply stops and takes Yugi's hand in his own. Everyone knows now. Everything's fine.

There's a hint of a smile on his face. ]

That looks even better on you in this light. Heh. I might have to worry about you.

[puzzlers]

H- Hah, [ he looks up at kaiba and huffs a laugh, shaking his head as he stuff his hands in his pocket to keep from looking too nervous. ] I don't think so, but thanks all the same.

[ he had done everything in his power to avoid thinking about the dance, because while he was looking forward to it he was also not looking forward to it, but now that it was upon him, well, he couldn't exactly avoid it anymore. ]

Flattery will get you everywhere, Kaiba. [ he's half kidding. he doesn't mind the compliments, especially not when kaiba's being so sincere. ] I had to make sure I looked even half as good as you! [ he gently ribs him, removing a hand from his pocket to, instead, reach for one of his. ]

[blue_ice]

[ Kaiba smiles back and links their hands together. It still feels a little strange, being so open about it...but this is the perfect night to do it. As much as he resents the strangeness of this school, he has to admit that their event planning isn't the worst.

He walks with Yugi to a slightly quieter place, away from the food, and reaches to brush his shoulder. ]

Do you remember the horde of admirers I had to pull you out of to get you here? You look good, everyone knows it...and more importantly, they know that I'm with you.

[ The haughtiness that would normally accompany that comment is a joke, if anything, going by the gleam in his eye. ]

Shall we dance and really drive the point home?

[puzzlers]

[ he seems relieved when kaiba leads them to somewhere much quieter, even though it's only momentary. though he's happy to be spending time in his boyfriend's company, especially in this sort of environment, he can't help shake the feelings that have been simmering all week. ]

I remember. [ he looks aside and gives a laugh. ] Hard to forget something like that. [ gazing back at kaiba he smiles and, using their linked hands, he tugs him down for a brief kiss. ] I think that much is definitely obvious tonight, Kaiba, you're not pulling any punches, huh?

[ not that he's about to complain. it's cute and he's glad that kaiba isn't any kind of embarrassment or nervous about them. ] S- Sure, we could dance. [ he knows kaiba has more experience, but he'd been doing a little practicing, himself, so this should be fine. ]

[blue_ice]

With you? Never. You're my equal and it's perfect.

[ Okay, he might learn the social grace to occasionally pull a little punch, but he's content right now. His plans for later notwithstanding. Kaiba smiles into the kiss...it really is freeing, not caring who knows it. He doesn't have to care in this world.

All he cares about is getting this right. So he squeezes Yugi's hand and steps out, and...of course the tempo slows. Of course. He takes him into a polite hold at first, before drawing him a little closer...this was his boyfriend, not a client, so that was appropriate, right? ]

I've never done this for pleasure before. I think I finally see the appeal.

Dances

[stillnewatthis]

[Orisa is, to all evidence, enjoying herself. Now, the fact that she's waving around an integrated high-power weapon with both a fusion generator and a miniature Tobelstien reactor has caused some mild levels of alarm, but no one's had a word with her about diminishing her enthusiasm... so when a slower number ends and the tempo ticks upwards once more, she tromps over towards Kaiba with a hand outstretched.]

Would you dance with me? I would consider it an honor!

[blue_ice]

...You dance?

[ Obviously she does. She's impossible to miss on the dance floor, being twice the size of most of them and wielding that huge gun. But as ridiculous and alarming as this should be...the night has been strange enough that fearing for his life for a few minutes loops right back around to being a welcome distraction. ]

Why not?

[ He takes her hand and seals his fate, wondering if 'swing' is about to take on a whole new meaning. ]

[stillnewatthis]

I observed that you came with a date, so I shall not keep you long. My own is currently aiding his wizard. [Orisa almost started off a bit too fast, but immediately moderates her speed to a slow walk that he can keep up with at a stately pace.]

[blue_ice]

[ Huh. Kaiba cranes his neck to look for her date and shakes his head, turning his full attention back to keeping up with her. He almost trips, but she slows just in time. That would've been embarrassing. ]

He'll be making the rounds for a while. No need to rush.

[ And just to be the barest minimum of polite: ]

How's your night going?

[stillnewatthis]

I am having an extraordinary time. This is far outside my programming so I am compiling vasts amount of data for analysis. Are you observing similar effects?

[Sorry, Kaibi. She's pinned you for someone else to whom dances like this are also strange.]

Arrival

[talkyourwayout]

There are definitely some new relationships to learn about for Louie that evening. Kaiba and Yugi’s is one, and fortunately, he wasn’t in deep enough with feelings for Yugi that it hurt. Instead, it really just made Kaiba even more impressive. Louie was pretty good at tuning into emotions when he bothered to try, too. This hardly seemed like something brand new... He caught Kaiba in a moment alone, his expression somewhere between amused and downright smug.

“So, when did it start?” he asked, nodding a ways over toward Yugi.

[blue_ice]

Ah, there's Louie! Kaiba nods to him in greeting, but that question really catches him off guard. Isn't he a little young to be interested in that? He's a little younger than Mokuba, right?

(Someone's deeply in denial because he's a big brother and does not want to think about Mokuba's first dates.)

Kaiba manages a small smile. He supposes he and Yugi are such opposites that the questions are inevitable, so he'd best work on his answer now.

"Depending on how you define it...I think the groundwork was laid before either of us arrived here. We're from the same world, and there we were classmates and rivals in Duel Monsters---our world's card game. It's something like Fantastic Foils, if you've seen that around town. I wasn't the best person back then, but Yugi and his best friend Atem challenged me. They pushed me past my limits, beat me again and again until I re-evaluated my priorities, and Yugi in particular kept offering me his friendship, no matter how many times I scoffed at it."

He snorts and closed his eyes. "In the course of our duels we dealt with ancient shadow magic interfering with our lives. I don't believe in a thing like fate, but that's what some would call it, I guess...and over time, I found myself valuing his challenges. His opinions. Then we arrived here, and I eventually realized how important he'd become to me. A rogue spell had something to do with it too. "

With one last smile in Yugi's direction, he looks back at Louie. "You came with a friend, right?"

[talkyourwayout]

There are a few reasons for Louie to ask about it, honestly. He's genuinely curious, as he considers Yugi a friend and Kaiba a valuable ally - but on that note, it's also just good business to at least act interested in things important to a potential business partner. Besides, maybe he'll gain some insight on his crush on Webby.

Speaking of...

"That's cute. Yeah, I came with Webs, but can we get back to the ancient shadow magic thing for a second?" he sounded casual as he asked, keeping up his guard, but the words had given him a start. "Sounds like something we have in common. What's that like in your world?"

[blue_ice]

Kaiba would roll his eyes if he was talking to anyone else, but this is a magic school. This is a subject people are interested in here.

"Yugi and Atem know more about the subject than me, and it's not my place to tell you everything, but suffice to say that our card game was created in the image of ancient Egyptian games involving the transformation of human souls into monsters. Magic that powerful was conferred by ancient items that were dug up at exactly the wrong time, and somehow all our duels ended up being haunted by the ghosts of the past."

"The items could condemn souls, contain souls, show visions of possible futures, invade minds, possess people...they were dangerous, in other words, and we had to duel the people wielding all of them, almost none of whom should have been entrusted with that power."

He scoffed and shook his head. "You try to throw a tournament and all this nonsense keeps happening. I hated magic until I arrived here, and I still don't like it much. It's too easy to abuse."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie considered this - he wasn't exactly sure why it was called "shadow magic", what Kaiba was described, compared to the shadow magic he'd had to deal with. It didn't seem to involve literal shadows, at least, not nearly to the same degree. Still, it was an interesting topic - not so much the magic itself, but how it had turned Kaiba off of magic on a larger scale.

"Yeah... I know what you mean. Magic here isn't - It isn't as bad as I thought it'd be, but after what I've dealt with back home? I wasn't exactly thrilled to start learning magic when I got here. It's kind of..." Scary was the word he was looking for, but was unwilling to say. "...Too weird."

Dances and Dragons

[outofyourshadow]

Lena had been off to the side of the dance floor, drinking a bit of the punch herself when she'd heard Kaiba. And though she was a bit surprised that he was starting the conversation, she didn't mind all that much. Even if they weren't particularly close, they did belong to the same house, and she could appreciate his cooler demeanor.

Plus, Yugi liked him, so he must be okay.

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied with a shrug. "I was worried this would be kind of stuffy, but it's actually been pretty all right."

[blue_ice]

"The only social events I ever knew were stuffy, so I'm feeling a little out of place."

He watches as the swing dancing gets particularly intense and sighs. Thankfully that number seems to be almost over.

"Instead we have a student body obsessed with impressing their dates. I'm not sure if that's worse."

Says someone dressed in his finest light colored suit to impress his own date.

[outofyourshadow]

She does catch the irony in his statement, but other than a raised brow she doesn't comment. Instead she glances out at the dance floor as the current song comes to an end.

"Hey, it could be worse. We could have that, and it still be boring."

Then she glanced at him again with a small grin.

"Besides, at least you came with good company, right?"

Because she's definitely heard by now who he's with.

[blue_ice]

"I did..."

Kaiba's a little unused to all this attention, but every time Yugi is mentioned he can't help but look over at him. No matter what's going on, he always seems to draw people in like a magnet.

"He's clearly the better half in this situation, and I won't dispute it. Never a dull moment."

But then he looks back at her. "I trust you're not bored?"

[outofyourshadow]

"Actually, yeah. I didn't really expect to, but the night hasn't been so bad."

Dare she say, she was actually having...fun?

Dances and Dragons

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Well, I did promise my date I wouldn't stay attached to his hip all night, so here I am. [Her tone was gently teasing, but really, Isabel would have let Eleven do whatever he wanted, pretty much. She didn't know that he'd known Kuja, for example, but he'd seemed to enjoy it when they danced together, so that was what was important, if you asked her.]

So what about you, Seto? Enjoying yourself? Care to go slumming and give me a dance?

[She's teasing again at that, to judge by the wink she gives him...]

[blue_ice]

Mm. It could be worse.

[ Kaiba raises a glass to Isabel, and the look on his face is almost approving. Congrats on being on the short list of people he tolerates. ]

And I could. Come here.

[ He moves into a perfect posture and offers his hand all gentleman-like. He has a handle on this part, at least.]

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

[It's clear that Isabel has done this sort of thing before as well. She takes Seto's hand with a slight twirl of her knee-length skirt, making a pretty curtsey. Entirely playful, and smiling cheerfully to see he's willing to entertain her.]

So, have you been enjoying yourself so far? I think I've seen your date around campus--he's got quite the sartorial flair, if I do say so myself.

[Not to say that Isabel's a clothes horse, but both of her parents had an eye for dressing well, and she certainly inherited it, on her part.]

[blue_ice]

I have. Yugi worked hard tonight. Between us, I'm the aristocratic snob, so to speak...but he did his part.

[ Kaiba was a fair dancer, twirling her at just the right times and keeping an easy rhythm going. ]

And you've done a fair job yourself, Isabel.

[ That was how to compliment a lady's formal wear, right? Right? Sorry, he doesn't usually do this. ]