Comfort and Joy

[simplestgift]

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.

Comments

[universal_charm]

"Well, don't let Starfleet know, but I kind of do too," he chuckled, even though Spock would be at his elbow in a second warning him away, he knew.

Still, sometimes the end justified the means, and if Starfleet's rules didn't work with that, he would toss them aside. Rules be damned. What was right was right, and if Starfleet was wrong he had no problem letting them know it. Besides, who ever had a grand adventure following the rules?

[complicatedliar]

"Is that so," Loki drawled, then grinned. "What a wicked creature you are." His hand at Kirk's back slipped a tiny bit lower, just to see what reaction that might get as he leaned in a bit closer. "Hopefully we're not at cross purposes then. That could get a bit messy."

[universal_charm]

"I thought you liked messy," Kirk retorted with a charmingly wicked grin of his own, feeling the hand slip lower. His response was to arch his brow. If it was a game of gay chicken he wanted to play, a game he would have. Kirk was secure in his manhood, and besides - it just meant he was attractive to men and women. Ego boost.

[complicatedliar]

"It wouldn't be terribly regulation for you though, would it?" Loki grinned. "Though then I suppose I could get you in all sorts of trouble, and wouldn't that be fun."

[universal_charm]

"Depends on what kind of trouble," he laughed as they swung around in one of the dances complicated turns. "I'm always up for breaking a few rules ~"

[complicatedliar]

"A mortal after my own heart," Loki said, laughing. After the turn, he took a smooth opportunity to place a decidedly not innocent kiss on the human's hand.

[universal_charm]

He should have expected it, really, but it did catch him a bit by surprise. A part of him felt guilty, for liking it, but he couldn't place why. He had been with enough girls in his years that something like that was down right mundane. He shoved the feeling aside and grinned at him, waving a finger at the god.

"Ah-ah," he smirked. "You have to work harder than that, Loki. I'm a Captain, after all. I can't give in to every little thing~"

[complicatedliar]

Well, if the human was going to be just stick a finger out there like that...

Loki caught that up and placed another kiss on it, followed by a delicate movement of his tongue. He let the finger go a moment later. "Anything else you're planning on waving at me?"

[universal_charm]

He hated himself that he gasped and shivered. It felt like giving the other to much of a victory, and Kirk didn't lose. Well, if you didn't count the number of times he had ended up a on a bar floor and that one time being ejected to an ice planet... you know what, we're not going there.

He bit his lip, watching the other and having to laugh. "Oh, I don't wave just anything at just anybody," he shook his head. "What makes you think you're so special?" He grinned around his laugh as another series of spins came.

[complicatedliar]

"Hm. The fact that I'm quite prettier than any mortal can hope to achieve makes me think I might have a little advantage." He grinned at Kirk. "Oh, and didn't you know my nickname? Silvertongue. For so many reasons."

[universal_charm]

"Well, doesn't someone have a high opinion of themselves?" he laughed as the dance came to an end, leaving him somewhat disappointed as the pairs around them stopped and bowed to part.

He sighed and looked up at Loki, not yet wanting to leave his presence. He liked the other, and he was good at getting his mind off things.

"So, want to snag a drink? All that dancing left my thirsty."

[complicatedliar]

Loki drew them to a graceful halt, and bowed, taking the opportunity to place another teasing kiss on Kirk's hand, the movement disguised with a graceful flourish. "Experience, my dear James. Quite a bit of experience."

He grinned, releasing Kirk's hand. "That sounds lovely."

[universal_charm]

He was almost sad for the loss of his hand, but did not show it. Decorum, Kirk. He had some, and he enjoyed this game. It was more fun that he'd had in awhile.

"Drinks and a game of cards or two?" he grinned, urging the other to follow him with a gentle brush of their hands. "I know you're the God of Mischief and all, but I have a trick or two up my sleeves~"

Pfffft what decorum. XD

[complicatedliar]

Loki pretended to think it over. "Hm... best two out of three for cards, and I will accept your offer." He smirked. "I look forward to seeing."

Enough decorum >>

[universal_charm]

"I don't exactly have cash, so I don't know what we'd bet, but..." he shrugged, figuring the other could make it interesting as he went to the bar to see if he could get himself some beer. Fancy drinks just weren't his style, though he had tried, earlier in the night.

[complicatedliar]

Loki grinned. "Oh, I'm certain we'll think of something to bet." He followed Kirk to the bar and acquired another glass of wine.

Quite a fun mortal indeed.

"So let's see... gaming rooms..." Hopefully one without other people in it, since that would make things even more amusing.

[universal_charm]

"This why, right?" he pointed and meandered over, sipping on his beer than god. He wasn't a fancy drink man by any means, though he could take it when he had too. But beer was fine, and he would always be a beer man.

He went to one and knocked, opening the door and grinning. "Looks like we found an empty one."

[complicatedliar]

Goodness, and James even led the way to finding an empty room. Loki grinned. "That looks perfect for our purposes," he said. He leaned against the man briefly for a moment, looking into the room, then walked inside. He idly passed a hand over the deck of cards waiting on a table, the cards flowing up into his grasp obediently. "So what shall the game be?"

[universal_charm]

Okay, that was a cool trick. He'd have to get the other to teach it to him someday, but not right now. He sipped his beer and flopped into his seat, not caring if he wrinkled his lovely jacket.

"Texas Hold 'Em or Five Card Stud?" he suggested.

[complicatedliar]

Loki took his own seat and lounged in it, looking utterly relaxed and insolent, entirely out of habit. Idly, he shuffled the cards. "Five Card Stud," he said. "What shall the wager be?"

[universal_charm]

"I would say money, but I really don't have any," he mused, sipping his drink, trying to think. "I dunno, whoever wins can give the other a tattoo?"

[complicatedliar]

"Ugh. A bit permanent and not very fun unless you want equations scrawled all over you." Loki grinned. "Go with the classic? Articles of clothing? Bits of candy? Kisses?"

[universal_charm]

He laughed, drumming his fingers on the table for a moment as he contemplated.

"Winner of each hand gets to decide - kiss or article of clothing," he declared. It seemed fair, and made it a bit more fun, giving two options.

Oh Captain Kirk Oh XD

[complicatedliar]

Loki grinned. "Those terms are acceptable." He may just not bother to cheat at this one. It promises to be quite amusing.

He dealt them each a hand of cards.

Want to go teach him magic in his new post Loki?! :D

[universal_charm]

Kirk took his hand and spread the cards in his hands, giving nothing away. He had learned to play poker down int he dirty bars, and you didn't give things away there without getting punched or robbed. So, nope, he kept a cool face, though his hand wasn't bad to begin with. He would toss one and see what came up on the river....

"All right, I raise you... " he looked Loki over. "One article of clothing, and your shoes aren't counting."