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.
all7seas: (child of the universe)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-05 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Off it came, swiftly unbuttoned.

"Shame's something I haven't felt in......possibly ever."
fleurdesel: right, serious, confused (You have my attention)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-06 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
"That much is plain." She snorted a faint laugh and looked over the healing wound, in much better condition than a month old gunshot ought to be. But he'd claimed magic had a part in it and at this point there wasn't anything she could do but take him at his word. "There wasn't an exit wound?"
all7seas: (far and away)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-06 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
The pirate obediently turned, showing off his healing back.
fleurdesel: right, smirk, smile, serious (Not certain just yet)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-06 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
"I think it is safe to say you have a clean bill of health, Captain. I would recommend you take it easy on the wine tonight, and for a week more at the very least. Not abstain entirely just...limit yourself, yes?"
all7seas: (don't have termites do you?)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-06 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"So I can be romantical with my Annie without her breaking me, then?"
fleurdesel: right, angry, serious, smirk, sarcastic (Let me use small words)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-06 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
"I wouldn't recommend you break out the shackles and riding crop right off, but yes. You may have relations with your Annie."
all7seas: (persuade me)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-06 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Mmmm. Lovely. She'd never riding-crop me, though. Annie's not that sort of rider."


This sort of talk was getting dangerously into Things Buffy Would Kill Him For Saying territory. In fact....this sort of talk was pitching a small tent in that territory with an idea of making a more permanent settlement in said territory just as soon as the time was ripe.
fleurdesel: right, serious, confused, angry (puzzled)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-06 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
"It was a joke, Captain. What you and your Annie do, don't do, or might do is no business of mine, nor is it something I think you should discuss so freely."

While she may be friends with this man she remembers nothing of it- and no matter how close they might be one doesn't discuss one's indiscretions in public. usually.
all7seas: (each left his mark on the other)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-08 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmmmm? Ah. Right! Yes. Consider it...undiscussed, then."
fleurdesel: left, smile, smirk, sarcastic (but I don't agree)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-08 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"Consider yourself free to do as you would without a mending chest wound." She gave a very faint, exasperated shake of her head. "Though I will likely check on you once more when I remember everything."
all7seas: (keep telling yourself that darling)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-09 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
"When you remember everything, I'd be glad to hear all about the times during which you had forgotten everything.

Over a drink, of course."
fleurdesel: center, smirk, flirty, sarcastic (Planning)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-09 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
"So we are drinking, kissing friends." That seemed a little odd to her, but it was harmless enough. "I shall hold you to that, Captain."
all7seas: (: ))

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-10 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"But not too tightly, savvy? My ribs will squeak." It was rather fun winding up this Before-Adele. But even Jack knew when to quit. "Enjoy the party, eh?"
fleurdesel: right, sarcastic, smirk, flirty (No plot to be had here)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-10 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"And we cannot have that now, can we?" She snorted a faint laugh and waved him off. "Try not to take anything that may have sentimental value, Jack."
all7seas: (cuffs)

[personal profile] all7seas 2012-12-11 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
"I will do my utmost, darling! Promise!"
Edited 2012-12-11 01:40 (UTC)
fleurdesel: (you done goofed)

[personal profile] fleurdesel 2012-12-11 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Off with you then, scoundrel."