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.
shadedsunlight: (Know that I am the luckiest)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-22 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
A wave of shyness suddenly washes over Ginia. While she's certain she can still play the piano even without her sight - she barely looks at the keys these days anyway -, she had a very set list of songs to play that would be appropriate for the party. Not that Scarborough Fair would be unwelcome, but it's different.

"Oh, I don't know, Grune. Perhaps another time."
lostinmyway: (It's always a sunny day.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-23 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Grune doesn't understand appropriateness--or shyness, for that matter--but she does have her own personal logic, which says that since the piano is busy, that's why Ginia doesn't want to play right now.

"Oh, all right. I can't wait to hear you," she says with a smile in her voice.
shadedsunlight: (This is quite embarrassing)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-24 04:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Sometime, I promise. I'll play it for you. M-maybe sing it too, I remember the words. It's a story, you know. A man setting forth a list of impossible tasks for his lover, and if she completes them, he'll take her back."

...Upon reflection and saying it that way, the song suddenly doesn't sound so nice.
lostinmyway: (Headtilt?)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-24 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Grune both looks and sounds puzzled by that. "Doesn't he want to be with his special someone?"
shadedsunlight: (Heaven ain't close in a place like this)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-26 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"He does, but it's like a test. A test for love."

...

"It's still a pretty song."
lostinmyway: (Tender.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-28 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, I'm sure it is," Grune says with complete confidence. "I'm sure you'll do a very good job with it, Ginia."
shadedsunlight: (There's one thing I have to say)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-28 06:08 am (UTC)(link)
"Do you... um... do you want to hear the song? I mean, I know the lyrics at least."
lostinmyway: (Oh my isn't this lovely?)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-29 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Immediately, Grune exclaims, "Oh, I'd love to! Thank you, Ginia!"

She settles in, all ready to listen her best.
shadedsunlight: (Know that I am the luckiest)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-30 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
Ginia blushes a little and sits up slightly, clearing her throat.

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Remember me to one who lives there,
For once she was a true love of mine."
lostinmyway: (Tender.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-31 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Grune smiles as Ginia sings. The melody is lovely, and she has such a beautiful voice; even if it's only hers for a little while, it's a real pleasure to listen to her. In a way, that her voice will be here for such a short time makes listening to her even more special.
shadedsunlight: (This is quite embarrassing)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-31 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
In many ways, singing is easier than she thought it would be. Sure, there's the occasional flat or sharp note as her untrained voice falters a little, but she moves along smoothly, recalling the notes, the melody, the way her mother would sing it to them when they were fussy children who wouldn't sleep, or how she'd hum it as she did the dishes or cleaned the house.

When Ginia finishes singing, she blushes and ducks her head a little, glad no one else could hear over the music and chatter of the party.
lostinmyway: (Because I love all of you so much.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-31 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Grune beams and applauds, absolutely delighted. "That was so beautiful, Ginia! Thank you!"
shadedsunlight: (Know that I am the luckiest)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-31 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"Y-you're welcome, Grune. I, um, I'm glad you liked it."
lostinmyway: (Oh my isn't this lovely?)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-31 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, yes," she assures her. "You have a wonderful voice."
shadedsunlight: (You aren't so bad)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-31 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"Thank you. It-it is quite nice. I suppose I have the Malnosso to thank for that."
lostinmyway: (It's always a sunny day.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2011-12-31 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's nice of them to give you such a pretty voice for a little while," Grune agrees--or thinks she agrees.
shadedsunlight: (There's one thing I have to say)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2011-12-31 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, Grune. Ginia can't find it in her to be cynical or grumpy or anything of the sort. Yes, she had to lose her vision, but at least they left some way of communication for her. Everyone seems to enjoy it too, so why not make the best of it and like it? "Yes, it was very nice of them. I... I appreciate them doing that."
lostinmyway: (It's always a sunny day.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2012-01-01 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"It must be fun to be able to sing for the first time," Grune continues, unaware of Ginia's internal conflict. "Maybe sometime we could sing together!"
shadedsunlight: (A firefly caught my eye)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2012-01-01 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
It is fun, that she can't deny. Giles would certainly enjoy it. "I'd like that."
lostinmyway: (It's always a sunny day.)

[personal profile] lostinmyway 2012-01-02 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
"We could sing this song," she suggests. She's already forgotten the title.
shadedsunlight: (Default)

[personal profile] shadedsunlight 2012-01-03 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
((ooc; Continued here!))