simplestgift: (Turn away.)
Archie Kennedy ([personal profile] simplestgift) wrote in [community profile] lucetilogs2012-12-01 11:05 am

Comfort and Joy

Who: Come one, come all! ...So long as you're appropriately dressed.
What: Luceti's second annual Christmas ball, old-world style.
When: December 1st, beginning around five in the afternoon and ending when the last person leaves.
Where: The Battle Dome.
Summary: Earth's eighteenth-century peeps are throwing one hell of a party. Again.
Rating: Well, considering no one is serving water? Probably PG-13 for alcohol consumption and the results thereof (there's coffee and hot chocolate!).

Upon stepping into the program at the Battle Dome, snow crunches beneath your feet. Great flakes of it drift silently from the dark sky above. And ahead...





The chill in the air is penetrated by the promise of warmth and light within the castle. As you approach, the music and festivities from inside reach your ears--tambourines and laughter and the clink of china dishes.

The doors open to a host of candles and a warm, old-world smell and feel. The scent of food and spices hangs in the air—mulled wine, wassail, evergreen boughs, fresh bread and roast meat--and you're only in the entryway.

Inside the dining room, cream brocades, simple but elegant, are draped over the walls. Traditional red rugs have been thrown over the floor. The single long feast table is impeccably dressed with light linen cloths and set with fine china and crystal.

The tables are lit with candles and chandeliers, giving the room a golden glow. On the tables, boughs of evergreen and holly surround the candles, and mistletoe has been hung discreetly here and there. In one corner, by a large and beautifully decorated fir tree (Buffy’s insistence), musicians are set up to play.

Things will begin with a grand dinner late in the afternoon, with a light supper (mostly consisting of cold meats, bread, and other lighter fare) at around nine o’clock. The selection of food on the tables is enormous. Most of it is meat-based and some of it is simply meat. Roast beef with mushrooms, goose in giblet gravy, herbed chicken, baked salmon, and a whole pig are among the choices. There is some hope for vegetarians, though, with spinach mixed with bread crumbs and cheese on small toasts, turnips (or rutabagas if you speak American), onions, carrots, parsnips, mashed potatoes, asparagus in breadcrumbs, and savory onion and wild mushroom pies. There is hot fresh bread and rolls with butter and heaps upon heaps of small mince pies filled with fruit, molasses, and yes, a little minced lamb. Moreover, there are fresh winter fruits like oranges and mikans and many different desserts, such as Christmas pudding, a rum chocolate dessert, and spotted dog with custard. Sit and help yourself.

Among the drinks throughout the evening are wassail, tea, hot chocolate (less sweet and much more intense than most modern characters would be used to, made with cinnamon, vanilla, and a hint of cayenne pepper), coffee, brandy, wine both mulled and plain, port, sherry, and gallons of rum punch. Even though the food is fantastic, the conversation is the point of the game, and who knows who they will wind up sitting beside. At the center of each table is placed a pineapple as a sign of welcome and wishes of prosperity.

In the ballroom, there is dancing light as the music itself, with Archie Kennedy and Elizabeth Swann teaching the steps of each dance before striking up the music and letting everyone go to town with it. They are poised and elegant but relaxed and seeming to glide as they demonstrate the motions with an effortlessness that comes with years of practice. They were both raised on these dances and this sort of social function and seem completely at home here. The dancing begins after dinner with the minuets and continues after a light supper with some informal English country dances. Anyone unused to dancing like this may find that it’s harder than it looks, but when one gets used to it, it feels very graceful, beautiful, and…fun! In fact, it's perfectly acceptable to goof off during these dances, as long as you're charming enough that people aren't irritated with you when you mess everyone up. The activity will only end when there are too few dancers left to continue, and will continue all night if possible. As dancers pass each other or move hand-in-hand, eye contact can be made, quiet words exchanged, subtle (or not) messages passed as they spin through the room, or perhaps the room spins while they remain still.

It might depend on how much they’ve had to drink.

Those who do not wish to dance have other activities to participate in. In one quiet room, card tables are set up with multiple decks of cards stacked up, and there is even a box or two of dominoes and a handful of dice. The tables themselves are round and made of polished rosewood or mahogany. This area is quietly away from the ballroom, probably as a mercy to the tone-deaf Horatio Hornblower who loves cards but can’t abide music. Here, discreet (or indiscreet) gambling is inevitable. There may be no money here, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to wager.

This being a castle, there are other rooms to explore. Up in the towers are bedrooms, nooks and crannies, and a large private library. Sneaking back to the kitchen between meals for a preview or stolen taste of supper to come is not out of the question, either.

Are you lingering in the dining room, drinking and talking loud and laughing with friends, or will you shyly sit and watch the dancing and games and hope to be invited in? Are you sitting quietly alone and listening to the music as your foot taps on its own, or are you unable to sit still and ready to dance all night if they’ll let you? Are you playing cards with a few new acquaintances, or are you hanging on someone’s arm and helping them cheat? Are you content to enjoy the presence of people, or are you exploring the castle with a special someone?

Whatever you do, have fun.
savedtheworld: (halfsmirk)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-08 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[And at one point when she is in Aang's custody, he takes her over towards the snacks at the buffet table.]

Alright, Ikki. Pick your sweet, and pick wisely!
breezing: (= what.)

[personal profile] breezing 2012-12-09 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ This. Buffet table.

SO MANY OPTIONS.

She's got a kid mind stall right now, please hold. ]
savedtheworld: (pondering)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-09 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[And he will make a very observation-y face while watching the selection progress.]
breezing: (& jinora: YAY!)

[personal profile] breezing 2012-12-10 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ CHILD BRAIN CAN'T HANDLE

no okay she can actually handle this. ]


Let's try the pudding!!!
savedtheworld: (friendly)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-11 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
Sure thing, princess!

[He quickly prepares her bowl.] Some for you... [And then he gets his own. He's been doing the best to make sure he follows the same sweets limit as Ikki for fairness's sake.] And some for me! Plus a little Avatar blessing. [He says as he dramatically blows on her pudding.]
breezing: (+ i'd love to!)

[personal profile] breezing 2012-12-12 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ And Ikki might not even have noticed the sweets limit following on Aang's part, except that he's probably the only adult who does. Which is nice. ]

I hope it's good! [ ...because if not what a waste of a sweet. ]
savedtheworld: (mischief)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-12 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[He smiles at her and takes his first taste, clearly please.]

Mmm. It's good!
breezing: (Default)

[personal profile] breezing 2012-12-13 03:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well, if you say so, grandpa...Ikki takes her own first bite, and lights up. Clearly she approves! ]

It is!!! Do you think they'll tell us the recipe if we ask?
savedtheworld: (just a simple monk)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-14 08:39 am (UTC)(link)
I believe it! Whoever it is must be nice enough. We just gotta figure out who it was!
breezing: (& sibs: OH I KNOW THE ANSWER.)

[personal profile] breezing 2012-12-29 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Like a detective game?
savedtheworld: (coy)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2012-12-29 11:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, or a ninja!
breezing: (Default)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-01-17 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
So what're our clues?
savedtheworld: (Avatar thoughts)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-01-17 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Well... we have the way it tastes! And we gotta remember everyone we saw so far here and if they can make stuff...
breezing: (= snowbending.)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-01-27 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
So...someone who looks like how it tastes?
savedtheworld: (goofy)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-01-29 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
Wait, what? N-no, someone who looks like they could make something that tastes like that. But I guess we could look for that, too.
breezing: (Default)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-02-15 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
What would someone like that look like, though?
savedtheworld: (bored)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-02-15 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a good question, Ikki. Maybe I can just ask the people who arranged this later.
breezing: (+ the baddest. arms up y'all.)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-02-17 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
That might be easier, but not as much fun!!
savedtheworld: (chillax)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-02-17 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
You're right. We gotta be detectives.
breezing: (+ let me hug you.)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-02-17 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
I think we need special hats, too!
savedtheworld: (bored)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-02-17 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
I would've brought some if I'd known! How're we gonna get those now?
breezing: (= considering this.)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-02-17 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Ummmm. Raid the coat room?

[ SURELY SOMEONE BROUGHT A DETECTIVE HAT.

/child logic. ]
savedtheworld: (tricky)

[personal profile] savedtheworld 2013-02-17 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, let's check there!

[And he grabs onto Ikki's hand to start running there.]
breezing: (~ air scooterin'.)

[personal profile] breezing 2013-02-17 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ And two airbenders running leaves a comical trail of air in their wake, probably.

So stealthy. ]