simplestgift: (Just a little idle talk of this and that)
Archie Kennedy ([personal profile] simplestgift) wrote in [community profile] lucetilogs2011-11-30 10:14 pm

Comfort and Joy

Who: Come one, come all! ...In formal attire.
What: A Christmas ball, old world style.
When: December 1st, beginning around five in the afternoon and ending when the last person leaves.
Where: The rec center.
Summary: Earth's eighteenth-century peeps are throwing one hell of a party.
Rating: Well, considering no one is serving water? Probably PG-13 for alcohol consumption and the results thereof (there's coffee and hot chocolate!).

The recreation center has been utterly transformed.

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. Cream brocades, simple but elegant, are draped over the walls. Traditional red rugs have been thrown over the floor. Gone are the billiard tables, ping-pong, and foosball. It looks like a different place entirely, every table impeccably dressed with light linen cloths and set with fine china and crystal. At least one-half of the room is cleared and ready for dancers.

The tables are lit with candles, and five chandeliers have been temporarily added to the room for more light, giving the room a golden glow instead of the sterile luminescence of fluorescent lighting. On the tables, boughs of evergreen and holly surround the candles, and mistletoe has been hung discreetly here and there. In one corner of the dancing area, by a large and beautifully decorated fir tree (Buffy’s insistence), the musicians are set up to play, unobtrusive to the diners but essential to the dancers. Leading them is Frederic Chopin himself, and few here can say they have had anyone better play for their pleasure.

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. For a complete list of the food offered, take a look here.

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, overseen by Jack Aubrey, 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.

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! 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 corner, 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 well-lit and on the opposite end of the room from the musicians and dancers, 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.

Are you lingering at the dining tables, 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?

Whatever you do, have fun.
all7seas: (salute to the fallen)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"I shall endeavor to do my best to get you roaring drunk, then. Be right back."


When Jack did return, it was with a glass of rum punch. He was possibly less willing to get her drunk than he had suggested.

"Ginia?"
shadedsunlight: (Looking back at sunsets on the eastside)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
Her drunk? Ginia laughs a little at the idea and settles into her seat, careful not to squish her feathers. Hearing Jack's return, she smiles and holds out a hand to take the cup.

"Thank you so much, I appreciate it. They really outdid themselves with the food."
all7seas: (uh...what)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
It's a LARGE glass, really. Huge. Super big.

"Indeed they did. Highly enjoyable; almost excuses Aubrey for walking about dressed as a great red prat. Where the devil did your Rupert get off to, if I might be so bold?"
shadedsunlight: (Swear to shake it up)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
And full of delicious rum punch. Wonderful. Ginia will take a first sip carefully. Delicious.

"Hold on a second, great red prat? With a funny red head with a white pom-pom on the end? As for my Rupert, I don't know. Honestly, I don't expect him to hover at my side for the whole night. I want him to have some fun while he's here."
all7seas: (tell me true)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
"....Overestimating his capacity for fun by just a smidge, are we not?" Jack sits down beside her once more.
shadedsunlight: (You make me laugh)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Am not. He has other friends here. I spoke with Grune earlier. I'm sure she's dragging him around right now."
all7seas: (hmmmm....)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
"NOT underestimating his capacity to be dragged, though. Good girl."

Jack himself had dragged Giles into the Tunnel of Love and Justice. He was draggable.
shadedsunlight: (Smile like you mean it)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Ginia giggles a little and takes another sip of punch. Oh yes, she knows Giles' draggability and ability to be convinced quite well. Why else is he here, in period clothing?

"Easily convinced with the right words, the adorable dear."
all7seas: (you're believing this right?)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
Giggling is always good. Jack tries to inspire more of them: "You should have talked him into a large, powdered wig."

And Jack would have spent the evening lamenting his lack of a camera to document it.
shadedsunlight: (Swear to shake it up)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
"Talk him into something I wouldn't be able to see for myself? Oh, I'm not that cruel. It's already a pity enough I can't see everything and everyone now."
all7seas: (I like you)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Nonsense! Think of it, darling: running your fingers through all that wig! Oh, it makes one weak in the knees to consider it!"
shadedsunlight: (Smile like you mean it)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Ginia takes a moment to think on the image before she dissolves back into laughter.

"No, no, I think I'd rather run my hands through his real hair. Besides, I know the wigs you speak of. Nothing sexy about them at all."
all7seas: (come again?)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Buffy gets stuck when she runs her hands through MY hair." It was a tall tale, of course, but Jack rather liked the sound of it. "Took hours to free her once."

And, since that last bit had sounded like a challenge:

"Bet you I could find your Rupert a sexy wig."
shadedsunlight: (Well well well)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
Ginia considers. Conspiring against her boyfriend with a pirate probably belongs somewhere on the list of "things I should not to do my significant other", but the image and idea is far too good to pass up.

"If you can find my Rupert a sexy wig, I will find a way to convince him to wear it."
all7seas: (refresh my broken mind)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
"Done. We have an accord." He will put his hand into hers to shake on it. "Mark my words, mistress--once your sight returns, you will not be able to believe it."
shadedsunlight: (First we take Manhattan)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-02 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
The handshake is returned and Ginia grins. "I'm expecting results. And let's be sneaky about this and not let him catch on, hmm? When you find a suitable wig, pass it over to me and I'll work on getting it on him. Don't worry, I'll find a way to record it."
all7seas: (dungeonsmile)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-02 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Are you all that certain you want to bring that sort of trouble down on yourself, madam? Rupert can be...touchy."

But Jack already has a selection of wigs in mind.
shadedsunlight: (The velvet sun shines on me and you)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-05 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Touchy he may be, but one only needs the right kind of touch to soothe the ruffled beast."
all7seas: (you are bizarre and confusing)

[personal profile] all7seas 2011-12-06 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
"I......really don't want to know, darling. Thanks for that."