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

[talkyourwayout]

"Or you could do the smart thing," Louie lightly flicked Huey's forehead before patting his school bag, "and save up. Honestly, makes even more sense for you than me - you're the one who's always hungriest."

[goingbythebook]

He winced at the flick, but couldn't do much about it. For now.

"Who's to say I'm not doing both? Stock up your body and stock up your larder, and you'll be double prepared!"

...Boys, doesn't this school offer sufficient meals on its own-? Eh, nevermind.

[talkyourwayout]

"You sound old when you say words like larder, you know," Louie teased with a smirk. Then, a thought struck, and he carried on with a shrug. "But then again, you are an old man compared to me."

[goingbythebook]

He snorted a bit, turning to face Louie better. "Yeah, and don't you forget it! Maybe you'll listen to me more if you remember that I am indeed older than you."

Brotherly jabs? Brotherly jabs.

[talkyourwayout]

Brotherly jabs were welcome - especially as something normal in a place that, no matter how long Louie was there, still felt strange.

"Listen to you more? In your dreams, Hubert. You may have the booksmarts, but those will only get you so far."

[goingbythebook]

"Right, Llewellyn. But as we're in a school setting, unfortunately for you we're more in my wheelhouse than we are in yours. You may have gotten the jump on me by pure circumstance, but I'm catching up quick."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie raised a finger in the air. "School's only part of it, though. There's still other things to do - people to win over, trouble to get out of, and benefits to gain. That's my thing."

[goingbythebook]

"Then it's a war of attrition! Book smarts versus street smarts. Which will finally come out on top?"

[talkyourwayout]

"The answer is obviously street smarts, but we can pretend there's a contest there - you know, to save you from total embarrassment."

[goingbythebook]

"Street smarts hasn't earned you a win yet, dear brother o' mine! So we'll just-" And now he returns the flick, up Louie's beak with a twang. "-see."

[talkyourwayout]

Louie takes a second to grab and steady his beak, but he picks up again quickly.

"Hasn't earned me a win yet? Let's start with family game night!"

[goingbythebook]

Huey scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Only because I was incapacitated, and the deal with the Gyropuddlians kept us from playing any of the games properly!"

Then he paused and for a moment, the teasing bravado dropped. "Though, you certainly pulled it out in the end. Even my worst days wouldn't want to take you finding yourself from you."

Okay, soft and sweet moment over. "But so long as we're pulling receipts, what about me realizing how Uncle Donald could defeat that flower that was trying to eat us all?"

[talkyourwayout]

"Yu-huh," Louie responded, glazing over the moment of kindness with only a smile to acknowledge how much Huey's words had meant to him. But god, had they meant a lot.

"Okay, but if the dumb flower thing counts, then how about the time I talked Uncle Donald through his competition with Gladstone?"

Which was... Not exactly how that had gone, but okay.

[goingbythebook]

"Okay, well, you weren't there but I figured out how to save Dewey, Cousin Fethry, and me from the deadly sea vents! Via a monstrously mutated deep sea krill, but considering we thought she was going to hurt us until otherwise was figured out, I think it still counts."

[talkyourwayout]

"But like you said, I wasn't there. How do I know that even really happened?"

Not that mutant krill would even break the list of top four weirdest things that have happened to the Duck family...

[goingbythebook]

Huey snorted softly. "What about giant Lil' Bulb sorting mecha? How do I know that actually happened?"

[talkyourwayout]

"Because I don't care enough to make something like that up, duh," Louie pointed out.

[goingbythebook]

"So if we're using character traits, then you know that you would've easily seen through any lie of mine, therefore the kaiju krill wasn't made up either!"

Checkmate.

[talkyourwayout]

"-!" Louie opened his beak, but darn it, Huey was right on that one. He couldn't debate it.

So instead, he pulled down on the bill of his brother's always-present cap, dipping it into his face.

[goingbythebook]

That got a squawk out of him and his arms spiraled momentarily before he could shove the hat back up. Louie got a teasing shove back, as Huey laughed.

"Book smarts~"

[talkyourwayout]

"Okay, so you scored the first point. But we're not done with this, bro."

Honestly, this was possibly the most fun he'd had since coming here.

[goingbythebook]

"I think most of our other adventures we were both there for, so we'll put a pin in this until we've got more to work with. Including whatever we both do while we're at the magic school."

He snickered through his beak, and poked him playfully. "So no, this isn't over, brother."