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.

[identity profile] cutefiancee.livejournal.com 2011-12-06 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, okay. Let's see..." She took her time looking around and smiled as someone decided to take a turn at the piano. "Let's sit by the tree and listen to the music. I think there's some hot chocolate over there too." Her eyes started dancing at the idea of getting to enjoy the ambiance and the sweet drink. Much of this was quite unlike Christmas at home for her and enjoying the evening and her company seemed ideal.

And it was giving her ideas about Christmas Eve, which set her blushing all the harder. "It's very different here, don't you think?"

[identity profile] lost-pig-boy.livejournal.com 2011-12-06 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Ryoga snapped from his embarrassment just enough to cooperate with such an idea. Really. Why the heck was he so nervous? It wasn't like he actually had feelings for her like that... Did he? Oh god, he wasn't sure, but he couldn't back out now! This was kind of awkward. Ryoga will make the attempt to push forward.

"Let's go." They will do this! They came this far already!

He paused for a second. That's right, this wasn't home. It wasn't anything like Japan and yet, it wasn't so bad either. "No. It's not. It's kind of fun though." When they weren't being experimented on.

[identity profile] cutefiancee.livejournal.com 2011-12-06 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded and smiled. Very fun seeing new things and how different people celebrated, although she was pretty sure this wasn't quite how Americans did it. After all, there was no sign of fried chicken anywhere. Hmm.

"It is fun," she agreed, headed toward the seats she'd mentioned. A run for the hot chocolate could come once Ryoga was off his broken foot.

But first, there was something she wanted to bring up to him. It's okay, girl. Just be casual. "Hey, Ryoga?" Deep breath. She could do this. "I was thinking... Maybe we could celebrate Christmas Eve together this year." Okay yeah she slipped in a big word, the T one, but maybe he wouldn't quite notice. "You know, put up a tree and have Christmas cake, exchange presents."

She made herself look at him although she really just wanted to duck her head from embarrassment. It was forward of her and she knew it but if she could just look at him, maybe it wouldn't seem like such a big deal. Only it felt like it.

[identity profile] lost-pig-boy.livejournal.com 2011-12-06 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
As long as Ukyo thought so too. It would be a shame to come all this way for her to be bored. It was probably better she didn't attend this thing alone too, Ryoga still hasn't gotten around to trusting some of the people here. For a secluded place, it was vast.

He will take the seat once they get there.

"Aaah- what?" He wasn't equipped for a question like this to come up. Now he was beginning to freak out just a little, she didn't have feelings for him, did she? She liked Ranma right? He still liked Akane. Ryoga vigorously pulled himself together. His reply shaky, he wasn't very good with these things. "W-Well..."

"I would be...h-happy to..." Why spend it alone? That was depressing. "If you're...sure about it, t-that is."

[identity profile] cutefiancee.livejournal.com 2011-12-09 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"Well sure I'm sure." Or she was. Now Ukyo was questioning if it was a good idea or not. He sounded more hesitant than she'd hoped for. Or something.

Taking a deep breath she nodded. No need to get down about this. He'd agreed after all. "Well, we're here and no point it spending alone, you know?" Her mind raced to try to find some sort of a cover, any sort of cover to make this less awkward. Unfortunately nothing came to mind. "I'll make us a nice dinner."

[identity profile] lost-pig-boy.livejournal.com 2011-12-13 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"I guess you're right."

He paused for a moment. He as well ask now while they were on the subject. "I think this might be Goku's first winter holiday. Maybe we should be a little more festive and decorate the store and apartment?"

In the meantime. Presents. He needed to decide what to get them.