A LITTLE PARTY NEVER KILLED NOBODY // open

WELCOME TO FORESTA ACADEMY'S VALENTINE'S DAY BALL
The ballroom is decorated in hues of red, pink, and white. Streamers, balloons, giant hearts, bubble machines, cheesy music, the whole bit. It seems as if someone has managed to make the hearts float around the room, occasionally bumping into the heads of partygoers. Giant chandeliers twinkle from the ceiling. At one end of the room, a huge buffet table has been laid out with assorted foods including hors d'oeuvres, fruit, pastries, cakes, cocktail shrimp, drinks, and proper meal items--essentially, anything anyone could ever want. A few tables are set up for those who want to eat or take a break from dancing, but the dance floor is by far the most populated section of the expansive room. 

There is a small table by the ballroom entrance upon which a stack of name tags has been placed. Each name tag is gold plated with an individual's name engraved, and will complement any attendee's outfit while assisting them in finding their match for the evening. 

A small sheet of paper on the same table lists the pairs:

Dirk Cjelly and Estelle Roux
Olwen Lithisia and Eris Minas
Sarah Gauss and Terrance Brighid
Saoirse Brennan and Silas Oneirus
Elleko and Alex O'Neill 
Jax Garrett and Nina Galethren
Delia Inigo and Knell

Seren Jinxed Olwen  Amethyst Rain  drakehensley  Turtlus  Rohan
(OOC: I don't think we're gonna do a posting order, so just post whenever you need to. Also, this thread is open to everyone, the above are just the members who have signed up their characters to be in the blind date.)

    A metal hand slowly emerged from under the buffet table, blindly feeling around the table-top until it rested upon an apple. In a mere instant the limb and fruit were gone, only to be followed by manic laughter from bellow.

    Knell had found his nametag. Knell had found an apple. Knell's nametag was now on an apple. "It is...perfect," the gaseous goof reverently whispered. He did not know why his name had been on this piece of paper when he entered the room, but surely it was not needed for identification. He was KNELL, God of Limbo, Lord of the Eternal Void, He Who Waits Beyond the Fold, Master of all Fruit, Life-Giver of Parties. It would be absurd for someone to not recognize him. So the only feasible use he could think of for the tag was slapping it on an apple to amplify it's greatness with his majestic name.

    He could not feel like he was forgetting something crucial though as he slipped out from under the table. Was he not supposed to meet with some meatbag for something? He hoped they weren't one of those crazy cultists who wanted to provide him with human sacrifices. If they wanted to kill people that would be fine, but his name better not get dragged into it. They never even got him an apple first, the primitives. He decided he better make sure none of that would ruin this most wondrous of days. "WORM-CREATURES, KNELL DEMANDS THAT YOU NOT KILL EACHOTHER IN HIS NAME FOR THE REST OF THE PARTY. DO IT IN KYLAND'S NAME INSTEAD, HE COULD USE THE ATTENTION!" the shade yelled to anything and everyone else in the room.

When Braedyn had promised that he had more in store for Felicity, he hadn't been kidding. It was just a lucky coincidence that there happened to be a school-wide dance happening at the same time. He'd arrived at her door, grinning widely, and announced, "Revenge time. You better get dressed up." As for himself, he had managed to dig some nice clothing up from the depths of his t-shirt-and-gym-shorts-filled closet. He was wearing a black, button-up vest over a collared shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up to his elbows. For once, he had no headphones, guitar, or surfboard in hand. When Felicity was ready, he'd instructed her to close her eyes and follow him, gently guiding her by the elbow. Once they were by the ballroom door, Braedyn said, "Alright, you can open your eyes now," and gestured for her to lead the way into the ballroom. He tried not to break into laughter, knowing she would probably hate him for this. 

-

There was no better way to get acclimated to a new school than a Valentine's Day dance. It was even better that someone had set up a blind date event; it would be an easy way for her to introduce herself to some new people without being particularly obtrusive. Saoirse had just gone out to buy a dress from a local boutique. It had a white, strapless bodice, and a black, mid-thigh length skirt. A simple outfit, but flattering. She had paired this with black heels and large gold hoop earrings, and, of course, the Celtic knot ring she always had on (in case of emergencies). The tail of her tiger tattoo peeked out from the top of her dress, while the snake tattoo was in full view of everyone. Picking up her name tag off the table by the entrance, Saoirse began to scan the room for her assigned partner.

-

(Braedyn)

Valentine's Day was not exactly Jax's thing. He'd never been big into romance or mushy declarations of love, or the myriad of commercialized hearts and balloons and stuffed animals. In fact, when it came to romance he'd never exactly been into anything, period. Sure, he'd had his share of 'moments' but nothing that had ever come to anything. But hey, a school dance couldn't be that bad, and he figured he might as well go and see how it went. Besides, this blind date thing could turn out to be fun. At the very least it'd lead to an entertaining evening, or so he hoped.

For the first time in a very long time, Jax's usual jeans, t-shirt, and hoodie had been replaced by a suit, sleek and traditional black and white; flashy colors weren't his thing when it came to formalwear. His dark hair was pushed back from his face, all but for that one stubborn strand that he could never get to stay in place, which slanted across his blue eyes. All in all, he thought he looked significantly more presentable than usual. He was very pointedly focusing on the decorations and the other people around him, in order to keep from thinking about the fact that the last time he'd worn this suit had been at a funeral. Instead he studied the display of name tags with a bit more intensity than was perhaps needed before picking up his own and turning to the list of pairings.

Nina Galethren.

He nearly laughed aloud. What were the chances?

-

Elleko was practically shaking with nerves as she stepped into the ballroom. This was not the sort of thing she did. She didn't go on blind dates. She didn't go to dances. She couldn't dance, she had webbed feet! All she did was stumble around! What had she been thinking? And this dress...okay, so she loved her dress, but this was not the sort of thing she wore. Elleko was strictly a dresses-only-for-practicality kind of girl. After all, having a tail made pants difficult to wear. Her wardrobe consisted of simple, modest sundresses, nothing flashing or attention-grabbing. And this dress was...very different.

She'd been excited about the prospect of getting a formal dress, she would admit that. She'd never had one before, and the one she'd found was so beautiful. It reached the floor, crimson-red in color and simple but elegant in design, held up by one strap that perfectly covered her scarred shoulder. The color set off the pale blue-gray of her skin, turning it into an almost human shade, and in the privacy of her dorm room she thought she looked wonderful. Now, however, in the open, she could hardly lift her eyes from the floor to look at the dance around her.

The shark-girl shuffled silently to the table holding the nametags and took hers, fastening it to her gown with her mind full of worries and doubts. This was a mistake. Nobody would want to go on a blind date with her.

And then she looked at the list beside the nametags and her face instantly flushed a bright shade of violet as it heated up at merely the sight of the name there. Of course she'd be paired with Alex, the one and only boy she'd talked to successfully so far. The one who she had met on the beach. In his underwear. The one who she had babbled ceaselessly at out of sheer awkwardness and embarrassment. 

Of course.

Having arrived ten minutes early,Terrance had sat herself at one of the empty tables, purposely staying as far away from the growing crowd as possible. Why she had ever decided to come to the dance would forever be a mystery to herself, and why she had allowed herself to be put up for a blind date was even more baffling. She didn't date, yet alone date blindly. For someone who liked order and organization in all aspects of their life, she wished she had never signed up for the stupid date in the first place.

Watching the other guests arrive, she glanced down at her name tag, wondering who this Sarah person was. She hoped they weren't annoyingly social for her own sake, and she hoped they weren't expecting to meet some glamorous Barbie doll for their sake. She didn't own a dress or a skirt like most girls did, but she had managed to dig out a nice pair of slacks and a decent blouse to match. Unfortunately, she hadn't had any shoes to match, so at the last minute she had run out and bought the first pair she saw in the window- which were one size too small.

Her hair was styled in gentle curls that bounced against her shoulders when she had first walked in, complimenting the moderate amount of makeup she had managed to apply to herself without looking like a circus clown. She never had been one for wearing much make up, mostly because she had no clue how to use any of it besides lip gloss.

Crossing one leg over the other, she slouched slightly in her chair and glanced back and forth between her shiny nametag and the poor saps who were beginning to file in one after the other. Perhaps if she was lucky enough, her date wouldn't arrive, which would give her a reason to leave earlier than the others and have her own party of movies and popcorn in her dorm.

Nina had never been to a dance. Period. She didn't know how to dance, she didn't know why people danced, and she had no idea what social etiquette was as she entered the ballroom with an open bag of cheez-its that she was stuffing into her face. While makeup was a foreign concept to Nina, She did own a single formal outfit. She never liked the idea of looking like a dolls stuffed into a costume, and instead she had created her own formal piece, reminiscent of the cult garb that she always wore. This outfit she was incredibly proud, and consisted of a floor length rich purple skirt made of velvet. Her top was a formal sleeved belly dancer's top made of the same fine purple velvet as her skirt. To make communication possible, she still carried her normal strapped over her shoulder. Nina could hardly contain her excitement as she saw the people dancing and the over the top decor of the room. She made her way over to the table for the blind dates and saw the sign that said 'nametags'. Nina assumed that she need to make one! How could she have forgotten such an important thing for a blind date!?!? How would her date find her??? Nina's mini-crisis caused her to miss that there were nametags already sitting out on the table, and she instead opened her bag, took out a sticky note, then wrote her name on it in sharpie in big capital letter and stuck it to her dress. Satisfied with her work, Nina set out to find her blind date without checking the roster of who it was because no one had explained to her how blind dates work.
____________________

Sarah Gauss was very very new to this school and even this kind of environment. She was in no way a shy girl, but she was a cautious one. The Headmistress had said that it might be good for her to attend this dance to make some new friends and meet some of her fellow students, she had also suggested the blind date pool to help as well. Sarah thought that it at the very least could be entertaining and signed up immediately even after being at the school for only a matter of days. She knew that in blind dates you always wanted to scope out who you had and find them, see what they were doing and where they liked to go so that you-waaaait....no that was how to pickpocket someone...Well surely it wasn't much different at a dance, Sarah thought to herself in her own mischievous way. With this in mind, she had used her mimic abilities to sneak into the ballroom during setup and had planted herself as an innocent slinky on the blind date table right next to her nametag. No one would even suspect her. Now, where was this Terrance so she could observe her?

Alex

()
NEW QUEST!
CHAIN QUEST:
Go to the Valentines Day Dance and meet up with a blind date
Reward: exp:5
()

    Alex sighed as he looked at the quest marker as he got dressed for the event, this ability was annoying at time since it made him question why he did things other than for the sake of quests. He had signed up for the Valentines day dance blind date for this very reason, it was almost as if someone else who had made the decision for him. Of course he could just ignore the prompts, but the prompts were not overtly malicious so he had no reason to decline. So he set off and signed himself up.
   
    Alex arrived to opening of the venue and  was quite nervous(to put it nicely), of course he hadn't been to a school dance, let alone allow himself to go on a blind date. How could he have been so bold as to offer himself for this practice of spending a night with a random person that he probably didn't know. He mentally berated himself as he stepped through the ballroom doors. He stepped towards the table with the name-tags and bumped into a boy with odd eyes, not to offend him Alex apologized for bumping into him and then continued to search for his name tag. He found it and did a double take.
   
    The name that was on the list next to his...... it was Elleko. The very same Elleko that had seen him charge full force into a winter sea donning a measly set of boxers only. The very same Elleko that had kept him conscious while he had been stuck in the sea. The same Elleko that had walked the cold and sick him back from the beach. He had hoped that he wouldn't have needed to see her too soon since his pride was still sore because of the previous incidences, but of course his luck wouldn't allow that. It was almost as if a certain entity wouldn't allow him to dodge the bullet of embarrassment that was aimed straight at him.While he had thought that, he was still glad that he knew the person that had been paired with him and was generally happy that his relations with Elleko wasn't too bad as he would have to leave.  


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Dirk

    Dirk hadn't really been too active at school as he had no reason to do anything other than school business. And it could have been said that, while there were students who were very hard to understand, in his own opinion, he was the most ephemeral in the minds of those in the school. He had decided that he would join the Valentine's day dance in order to meet people, he knew it was out of his own character, but honestly he had been getting lonely. His only true.... acquaintance was a teacher named Lotte.  Of course he had taken part of the tournament last spring, but not too many people here would remember that.
            
    He had spent a while getting ready for the dance, after all, he decided that he would make some "friends" at least and the way he had thought to do that was through his present ability to keep himself presentable.  Due to his thought this short, shy person stepped into the world and towards the ballroom. He had his own memories with the ballroom as his first encounter with a person related to the school was here. His left eye glittered as he approached the door. Did he want to go through? Did he want to subject himself to meeting people? Was he really ready?

    Dirk grumbled as he stepped through the doors. He made his way to the table with the gold plated name tags and spotted his. He picked it up and studied it, was it really gold? It probably wasn't right? He was lost in thought when a boy had bumped into him. The boy seemed to be a little worried but picked up his tag and looked at the list. His face changed and gained a weird look to it. As the guy left, Dirk stared at the list and saw the name Estelle Roux. Who was she? He didn't know but he was sure he would find out who she was soon.


((LETS HAVE FUN GUYS!))
    

Jax still could not believe that he'd been paired with Nina, of all people. The only person on the list he knew, and though he had no romantic interest in her he didn't mind the prospect of spending an evening hanging out with her. She appreciated his love of snack foods and likes genies. That was about all he could ask for. After several minutes of wandering through the ballroom, avoiding dancing couples and searching for the familiar tiny form of Nina, Jax spotted her across the room. Eating Cheez-Its and wearing a sticky note nametag. He had to resist the urge to laugh aloud at the sight and almost started making his way towards her...until an idea formed that stopped him. Nina had never seen his other ability--his favorite mode of transportation. This would be entertaining. It always was, the first time somebody saw it.

In a scentless, silent puff of white smoke, Jax vanished from the spot he'd been standing in and reappeared beside Nina, one arm flung casually over her shoulders. "Hey. You know they have nametags, right? You didn't need to make your own. I like the ingenuity, though."

--

Elleko wasn't sure what to do next. The only thing she could think to do was wait for her date--just thinking that word set her blushing again--to show up and meet her. She wasn't the sociable person, and didn't really have anybody else she knew to talk to until then, so she hovered by the food, figuring that would be a fairly central place to either spot Alex or be spotted by him. She had all the markers of one nervously awaiting someone: she continually fussed with her hair, first tucking it out of her face and then tugging at the ends until it fell loose again, and adjusting the skirt of her dress as if somehow it was laying the wrong way, not that she knew anything about how it was supposed to lay in the first place. She flattened the fins on her forearms down to the skin, hoping to make them less noticeable, and then let them fall into their regular relaxed state when she realized this only caused her arms to have a pair of awkward elongated lumps on them, which she thought was less attractive than just her fins. She had no idea if she looked presentable or not; fish did not have formal dances. Did other people think she looked alright for a formal dance? Would Alex? Would Alex even know who he was looking for? What if he didn't remember her? They had only met the once. She wouldn't have been surprised if he'd forgotten her name entirely.

And then she caught sight of him at the table of nametags and could think of nothing to do but stand frozen in place, dark eyes wide. What was she supposed to do now? Did she go to him? Did she wait for him to notice her? How was she supposed to greet him? This was supposed to be a date, and she knew nothing about dates. How did they work? Why had her education on human culture left out this very important topic?

A silent puff of smoke surrounded Nina and all of a sudden, a boy had appeared out of it! His arm was around her shoulder and he wore a roguish grin. Before the girl had even registered that it was Jax, a spark of electricity had come from her hand and detonated her Cheez-it bag, sending the snacks exploding in a massive funnel out of the top of their container. The cheesy snacks flew directly into the intruder's face, showing him with a cascade of baked cheese crackers and salty crumbs. Nina, realizing that this was a friend and not a threat then calmed down and waved excitedly at Jax. She pointed to her nametag and smiled. Nina shoved the bag of Cheez-its into her satchel and pulled out a small pad and pen. "Hi!! Could you help me find my blind date??"

__________

Sarah saw someone grab a nametag and sit down nearby, this person did not seem to want to be disturbed, but at the same time if she had a tag then she was part of the blind dates. Could this be her date? there was a chance for sure, if only she could see her tag!!! Sarah forced her copper body to jolt ever so slightly to the side and use her momentum to begin to wobble back and forth in traditional slinky fashion. She couldn't move quite far enough to get a look at the girl's tag though. This would take some creativity. Sarah managed to get enough momentum after several long and painful seconds of being a wobbling toy to "walk" herself across the table. She caught the edge of her nametag with her side and flicked it off of the back of the table before slinking over to the edge herself. Oh wow, that was a big fall, she thought to herself as she looked down at the colossal three foot drop to the ground. Colossal for a slinky that is. Sarah decided a sturdier form would be the best for this. She morphed into her hand mixer form on the edge of the table and oh god too close to the edge!!!!
With a thud and aching mixer head, Sarah hit the floor next to her nametag. She reverted to her humanoid form while crouching behind the table and put the tag onto the front of her simple, long brown dress. Sarah then waited a moment to make sure no one was going to investigate the thus before slinking out behind the girl's chair and turning into a chair herself for camouflage. She could see part of her tag now. just a few letters, it looked like the end of her name, '...r-a-n-c-e' It had to be her, no one else on the blind date list had a name with those letters. Sarah waited in her chair form right next to where Terrance was sitting and tried to think of what to do now that she had seen her target. 

Delia was not prepared for this event at all, but nonetheless the young girl found herself walking through the ballroom doors with a pale pink dress that stopped at her knees and a cotton lavender jacket that stopped just below her chest. Topped off with white flats that had matching pale pink polka dots on them, Delia was a picture of dainty-ness and modesty. Moving through a crowd near the entrance of the ballroom, Delia found her way to a table that had her name tag on it.

Curiously, the young girl stared for quite a bit of time before realizing what all the information in front of her meant. She had been set up on a blind date? When? How? Feeling ridiculous, Delia carefully pinned her name tag onto her lavender shrug sweater and started to make her way toward the buffet table for a small snack. Whoever she was supposed to meet apparently there name was Knell. Chewing on her lower lip the young girl sighed all she really wanted to do was just try and make new friends - not be forced into some strange situation.

It was when she was thinking to herself that a loud voice broke her concentration and a few feet away a random person (thing?) was yelling about sacrifices and how their name was Knell. Eyes wide with fright, Delia slowly started to take a step back ... if she left now maybe he wouldn't notice her and she could just get her brother to bring her something back from the buffet later.

-----

Standing over in the back of the room away from the commotion of the students entering into the ballroom, Gray examined the crowd of kids near the doors of the ballroom before looking toward Serenity who only stood a few feet away from him with her cane tapping the tiled floor slowly. "I'm guessing you're just here if there's a fight and I'm just here if a kid gets too frisky with another kid."

"You got it." Serenity replied promptly to Gray before turning away from him slightly. It was obvious the woman wasn't up for any extreme amount of conversation for the time being - she was simply just focusing on the task at hand.

Letting out a bored sigh, Gray moved away from Serenity and toward the buffet table. The dancing hadn't really gotten underway yet so the janitor had some time to snatch a few bits of food before the party really started.

-----

By pure chance as Graham had been making his way back toward his dorm, the young man had run into Esha - another student in which he had been playing some Mine Craft with on and off now for a few weeks. The conversation was casual at first and Graham didn't mind going out of his way to talk about video games with the girl. "Honestly, mechanical farms are really convenient. Once you get a good system going you won't have to worry about wheat, bread, sugar can and everything else - we should probably get started on one soon the next time we're both online..."

Graham continued on with more plans for the server as he walked with Esha, only briefly noting that they were close to the ballroom as well as several other students who were dressed up. It was only then that Graham was noting Esha's attire compared to his own, "Is there something going on right now?" Graham asked the girl then.

-----

Stella had arrived early to the Valentine's dance with her companion Hunter. Attached to her clingy black dress, Stella's name tag glittered in the light as she glanced at the students coming in from to time to time. "Thanks for coming with me, darling - My blind date should be coming anytime soon."

Hunter nodded with ease, clad in a slick black tuxedo and a dark red rose attached to the pocket of his jacket on his chest. "And if he doesn't, I'll gladly be your date for the evening." Hunter brought Stella's hand up to his lips with a charming smile and Stella shook her head at him with a light laugh. "Really now, go turn your flirting onto some unsuspecting girl and leave me out of it."

As she turned away, Stella quickly noticed who she was looking for as he walked into the ballroom. After all the young woman always made a point to know who people were, so it was with ease and finesse that Stella waved goodbye to Hunter and blew a small kiss before approaching Dirk.

"Dirk, is it? I'm Stella, charmed to meet you." The teenager then proceeded to hold her hand out toward Dirk with her palm facing down, more so of motion meant for Dirk to kiss the top of her hand then anything else. It would be very simple though to mistake it for an invitation for a handshake instead.

-----

Cora was beyond nervous, scared and excited all at once. Wearing a simple and formal orange top with yellow and red mixed in, along with black pants that were plaited and looked more like a skirt when she moved - Cora was simply put ready for her first school dance. She hadn't been at the school for too long, but when she heard some other students talking about it - Cora jumped at the opportunity to be able to meet more people.

Moving past the group of students at the entrance, Cora made her way deeper into the ballroom - noticing that not many people were dancing quite yet. The teen had even gone so far as to wear some shoes that she would be comfortable dancing in, but the question was - how much could and would she really dance? Taking a deep breath with her chest feeling a bit tight, Cora suddenly grew more nervous than anything else at the idea of all these people watching her dance.

-----

It hadn't been that long since Constantine had been back when he saw some flyers about the Valentine's dance that was happening today. Normally, he wouldn't really go to things like this - but there had been a certain person that he hadn't seen in awhile that he was guessing might go to something like this. It was only a guess though and as Constantine walked through the school hallways dressed in a navy blue tuxedo with black dress shoes - the young man felt a strange sense of excitement bubble through him.

He had originally left school for a little bit because his mother had insisted that he come home for the holiday break to help with some things around the house, letting Delia stay at the school. Now that he was back, Constantine felt a strange mix of sadness and relief being away from his home. It was here on this island where he lost his brother, but on the same note it was away from the stress and chaos of his mother. Feeling a mixture of confusion and guilt, Constantine shook his head as if trying to shake his mind back into reality.

Constantine continued with his walk, trying to keep a tiny bit of hope in his mind. It wouldn't be long now until he got to see if she had decided to go to the Valentina's dance as well...

-----

Having made his way toward the buffet table, Eris had honestly been interested in the idea of a good dinner before going back to his dorm to lay down and sleep for the night. He highly doubted that Iris would show up for this sort of thing and so the young man had decided upon wearing a black button down shirt with a matching black tie, dark grey vest and almost black jeans with a belt to top it all off. The vest had been Athena's idea since she thought he looked great in it, Eris though was already ready to get into something more comfortable.

Having been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, Eris had completely missed the table with his name tag on it - forgetting that he had been signed up for a blind date. Instead the young man grabbed a plate and started to put a variety of food on it, not bothering to pay attention to anyone else around him.

Lisette had spent most of the winter so far wandering around the campus and island in solitude. Apparently, quite a few students had gone back home or otherwise disappeared, but clearly, the former was not a viable option. It'd been almost a year since she had last spoken to her parents, her brother, or any of her friends, and she hadn't been the best at socializing with the students of Foresta Academy. She had made perhaps a friend or two--Jeremy, for example--but other than that, it had been quite lonely. 

But it was Valentine's Day, and this holiday was sad enough without staying in her room, holed up alone. Thus, she had resolved to attend the school sponsored dance. It had taken her about a week to make up her mind and finally decide on a dress, but she was quite happy with her choice. It was a knee-length, maroon halter dress made out of a mind-blowingly soft fabric. She couldn't stop rubbing it between her fingers, especially with the nerves that were suddenly overwhelming her. She checked her reflection in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable. It was stupid that she was anxious about seeing a particular person, considering they'd been gone for ages. Even so, Lacey had to force herself to take a deep breath before stepping into the ballroom. It was a good thing she'd worn heels, because no matter how slight, they gave her an inexplicable confidence boost.

A booming yell came from the ballroom when she entered, making her furrow her brows. What the hell was going on? She quickly traced the source of the disturbance to a large, strange-looking bloke. Aside from him, everyone else seemed to be acting pretty normally and enjoying themselves. She caught herself scanning the room for a familiar figure, and mentally berated herself.

-

The loud mix of chattering in the room was a little overwhelming to Zoe, who had always preferred quieter situations. She was excited for the ball though, hopeless romantic that she was. She'd spent extra time making herself look nice and as calm as possible, and had made sure to pick out a neutral-colored dress that covered the scar on her arm. Today, she wanted to be normal, and she wasn't going to let that giant, ragged cut ruin her night. 

She hadn't realized how hard it would actually be to force herself to get into the middle of the socializing, though. Zoe quickly made her way to the buffet table and picked up a glass of apple cider without thinking. She wouldn't normally drink something so unhealthy, but she didn't realize the beverage she'd chosen until she had already taken a sip. At that point, it was too late to put it down, so she stood awkwardly by the table, sipping away, her other arm hugging herself, hoping some kind stranger would come up to her and initiate a conversation. 

    The limbo god thought it odd that out of all the people in the room, seemingly ONE of them had paid his declaration that there would be no killings in his name any mind. Judging by the fact that the person was now moving away from him Knell decided that they must obviously be some awe-struck cultist trying to find a discreet location to make the ritualistic sacrifices in a place he could not see. "Not on Knell's watch you don't," he muttered as he warped into the flooring. 

    In mere moments he was standing behind the girl, frowning with his arms crossed and foot tapping in a show of annoyance. If she backed up any further she would collide with him, which would undoubtedly cause her to spin around in confusion only to see the great and powerful Knell in the worst of moods. At least that's what he believed would happen due to common human reaction procures outside of the instinctual fight-or-flight. 

---

    Thunderous footsteps echoed throughout the room as a large mechanical figure stepped into the doorway. It moved with care, making sure not to stomp on anyone's feet as it waded it's way through the crowd over to the buffet table. Once it made its way there it began a quick inventory check of all the various flavors of soda that had been provided for those attending the dance, and then a mental check of any flavors it had that were not already on the table. Noticing a lack of Purple Pain Pop, the radical new grape soda that had been sweeping North America by storm, the mech opened up one of it's soda-launchers and quickly began arranging cans of Triple P onto the table as neatly as possible.

    Once it had finished its act of carbonated charity the machine then walked to an open portion of wall next to the buffet table and morphed into a vending machine. Here it would be ready to reinforce the event's soda supply the moment it began to dwindle, while also providing people with an alternative way to acquire their preferred drink in a pinch should the table be crowded.  

One tedious evening of shaving later and Esha’s skin looked just as smooth as any other human being. Not a quill out of place to suggest she was in any way outside of the norm. Minus the ones atop her head of course, fashioned to very sleekly sweep back and align with the top of her head like she had just recently stepped out of a pool. That was definitely not the case though, that probably would’ve ruined the complex amount of makeup that hid her countenance. A gentle yet sharp sweeping of eyeliner to pronounce her eyes all the better and a radiant coat of ruby across her lips that matched the bindi on her forehead.

Her dress of choice was a saree of course. It was slightly more revealing than her usual garb though, due to the fact she had skin to show. It was a lightly oceanic blue with a floral design, vines and flowers lining the stitching and disguising its imperfections. Her right arm was bare, but her left was slung with the remnants of the cloth used to create the outfit, some of it dragging against the floor. A tight top and concealed legs meant she was ready to mingle and she stepped out of her room with some confidence. She didn’t have to worry so much about Chase this time around. They had an understanding and that meant she was free to find the right guy for her.

Her thoughts couldn’t dwell too long though as a friend of hers had stopped her on the way over to the ball. Her mind quickly changed from the real world to the world of Minecraft, the video game that Graham had introduced her to in the first place. They had a fairly deep conversation on it, though Esha was somewhat straggling behind due to English not being her first language and that she was not nearly as knowledgeable about the game as the boy seemed to be. She was capable of keeping up though. “Yes, those uh- sound like… good” she answered with a smile, though was somewhat appalled by her own attempts at translating thoughts into words.

As Graham questioned what was going on, Esha was confused for a second. She thought that he was walking with her because he was going to be attending the dance as well. Then again, his lack of any sort of special clothing suggested otherwise. “Oh! There’s a dance, you should uh- come, it’ll be fun. We can uh- talk more about farming things!” she stated as she pulled Graham along. She immediately went looking for a table for the two, but most seemed to be taken up by the blind dates. She would have joined that raffle, but all things considered if she wanted a partner chosen for her, she would have just stayed home.

As she dragged Graham along (not too aggressively), she eyed around for the bachelors around the area. There seemed to be slim pickings all things considered, but she could easily waste some time with Graham until deeper into the night. “Oh, uh- yeah. I’ll uh- message you when I ah- available” she answered him back as she spun back around to look at him. “Do you, uh- see anywhere to sit?” she asked as she tried to wipe her eye without interfering with her makeup.

--- --- ---

Meanwhile, Mr. Lemaire, the resident expert on all things math, was fixing up his flashy red bowtie just outside the entrance to the ballroom. He was dressed just as snappy as usual, in fact his garb could be described as casual to him. A flashy red vest and pair of khakis, he wasn’t in the mood for anything too out of the ordinary. He was assigned to the job after all, the number of teachers must be diminishing by the second if the higher-ups thought he was the best candidate. Although, it could just as easily been an underhanded trick. Place him in here so that he wasn’t out looking for some lonely women on Valentine’s Day. They were such easy pickings though! He should’ve just called in sick.

Either way, with a sigh he moseyed on into the ballroom, not incredibly impressed by the environment. He was going to spend the next couple of hours babysitting, so it wasn’t going to be the delightful evening that the scenery promised. He could be proven wrong though. Once he stepped onto the dance floor he noticed a familiar face in the distance obstructed by the hordes of horny teens. Tonight was going to be fun after all.

He should have figured that the gruff security officer would be overlooking the Valentine’s Day dance. Cade’s brow arched upward as he crept out of Serenity’s ‘sight.’ Sure she was blind, but he knew well enough that she would catch on to one of his tricks. He straightened his back and puffed out his chest as he approached the bar, his casual wear making him seem almost like a waiter. He swept a tray off of the counter, pretending to know what he was doing. He reached behind the counter, grabbing the most elegant champagne glass he could fumble his fingers across and cloned an exact duplicate into his other hand. He sprinkled a bit of whatever alcohol he could find and then marched off toward Serenity.

“Ahem” he coughed into his sleeve before nearing the woman in an attempt to get the Cade out of his voice. Once he was within range though, he let it all out. “Excuse me, mademoiselle” he chimed in with a deeper tone to his voice along with allowing his French accent to take control. “Compliments from a secret admirer”” he stated with a bow and serving the drink forward. “His, uh, instructions were a bit, uh, how you say, bizarre, but he says you’re allowed three guesses” he stated with a slight tone of confusion at the end of his sentence. Surely, he was destined to be a great actor in another life.

--- --- ---

The school had a fair bit of chaperones at this dance in particular. No one really knew why, but there was yet another staff member lurking about to ensure that the night wouldn’t devolve into chaos. No one was really sure why the higher ups would chose Ms. Schmidt for that task, but she willfully volunteered. The gigantic bug woman wasn’t stealing the attention on the dancefloor though. It was Valentine’s Day and it was the students’ moment to enjoy. She was fine with sitting back and observing. All things considered, there could be some drama to witness. It would most likely be more annoying than entertaining, but sometimes the two mixed well for Lotte.

She stuck to a corner of the room, a hooded poncho concealing most of her bug-ish features so as to not draw attention to herself. Speaking of drawing though, it was a perfect opportunity to work on her sketching. She wasn’t so good with her left hand, but practice made perfect. The bright lights of the room refracted off of her compound eyes, but she was still capable of absorbing so much information. It was cases like these that she enjoyed the capabilities of her insectoid body. She could look at her sketch book and observe her reference at the same time. It saved a lot of senseless head bobbing.

Lotte’s subject, Dirk. He was developing to be a… student, a student of some variety. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what that was, but his exploits at Foresta was always an interesting watch. It was one thing to create something like Dirk, it was another to observe it trying to interact with the rest of the world. She absently sighed at the appearance of his date though. She was too… normal. Lotte didn’t come to Foresta to sketch and observe gifted that looked no different from any other human. The least she could have was a cool scar or something, that would be interesting to draw. She might have to set the boy up with a more interesting specimen later on, but for now she supposed she could tolerate the pretty girl.

felicity

    Well, this wasn't exactly how Felicity envisioned spending her night. She had at least two tests tomorrow, but Braedyn had a different plan in mind. Here he came, Mr. Wonderful, knocking on her door with the biggest, dumbest grin on his face, and for what? To blindfold her and give her a surprise? If she wasn't so grounded in reality she might've thought that she was suddenly a part of a cheesy romantic comedy. But, that would be stupid. Surely this had something to do with their little "one-up" contest, and she would just have to wait and see what was in store.
    "Braedyn, how long are ya gonna keep me in the dark?" she snapped. She was dressed in a elegant yet professional red dress with a dark pair of strappy heels and a matching red lip. Her long platinum hair was fastened into a tight French braid that was laid carefully along her back, not a single hair out of place. No matter where she ended up going, she never minded being a bit overdressed, and today was no different. Braedyn wouldn't be able to outdo her in that department. As Braedyn gently guided her through Foresta's corridors, she tried to decipher just exactly where he was planning to lead her. There were some voices, a distant hum of music, the clanking of forks and dishes... "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
    Felicity could have slaughtered the boy on the spot. "Braedyn! What the bloody hell were you thinking?" the girl demanded, her tone rising slightly above the din of the ballroom, "You're a real prat, you know." Despite her outburst, Felicity smoothed over her dress and attempted to regain whatever composure she had left, "It's pretty pathetic that you had to resort to me as your date. What, did dog girl never give you a call back? You poor, poor lad." This wasn't going to be enough to garner a victory, though. She'd played his games before. With a rather bold smile, she grabbed his hand and unceremoniously yanked Braedyn towards the dancefloor, "Let's go, bud. We've got to nurse that broken cardiovascular organ of yours."

iris

    A Valentine's day dance sounded like a lovely idea! But, when the time came to enter her name into a blind date pool, her nerves got the best of her. She decided that she'd show up on her own, and if she spotted her few friends, then she'd stay. If not, then... At least she tried to be social. Clad in a pink, floor-length maxi dress, Iris couldn't help but feel proud. Minnie had picked out the floral dress especially for her. A couple swipes of mascara and a hint of perfume was just about as made-up as the girl could get, her wavy hair lying rather plainly across her shoulders and hanging down to her waist. And she was more than happy to rock the whole "Plain Jane" look.
    Stepping into the opulent ballroom, Iris felt painfully overwhelmed. There were so many kids, each dressed to the nines and chatting away without a care in the world. They made it look so easy. Words slipped from their lips like butter, and it couldn't have felt more intimidating in that moment. Still, Iris resolved to push on, and she approached a table with the only two names she could recognize: Eris and Olwen. Isn't that wonderful! They're going together! she thought, nearly ecstatic that her companions had decided to buddy up. But, it was vacant. With a small frown, she scanned the crowd for either of their faces. She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Eris piling some sort of Valentine's-themed food onto his plate. The girl weaved carefully through the partygoers to finally appear at his side. "E-E-E-E-Eris, I-I-I-I'm so g-g-g-g-g-glad I f-f-f-found y-y-you! D-D-D-D-Do you k-k-k-k-know O-Olwen? Sh-Sh-She's y-y-y-your date, I-I-I think, a-a-a-and I know h-h-her too! Sh-Sh-Sh-She's v-v-v-very nice," she exclaimed rather excitedly, "Y-Y-Y-Y-Your table i-i-i-is o-o-o-over there, i-i-if you'd l-l-l-like me t-t-t-to show y-y-you, o-or not, whatever y-y-y-you want.."

chase

    He shouldn't have come. The minute he stepped into the ballroom, the sounds of forks scraping against ceramic plates and the clacking of heels against tile was nearly enough to drive him up a wall. Yet, he still showed up. Sure, he'd convinced himself that it was to see Kemp, Kyland or Knell, but even he couldn't deny that he was hoping, and only hoping, that Esha would make an appearance. She was social, why wouldn't she be here? Still, he tried to keep an eye out for any of the other Serpens dorm boys. It was his "main objective" after all.
    As much as he tried to suppress it, he grunted out an audible growl at the sight of Esha and... Whoever that guy was. His mind worked in tandem with the beast's, sizing up this so-called "date" as best he could. He definitely wasn't bigger than Chase, but he couldn't deny the discomfort that spread through his body when he saw how eagerly he talked to Esha. What was he so happy about, anyways? Were they dating? She could do better than that. Okay, now you're getting ahead of yourself, he chided to himself, sighing as he headed towards a vacant table in the corner of the room. So much for using this as an excuse to be social. As he pulled up a dark, wooden chair, he couldn't help the tightening feeling in his chest. The moment he looked away, he felt like his very existence was being threatened. Now, this simply wouldn't do.
    Before he knew what he was getting himself into, Chase was striding rather quickly towards the couple. An evergreen dress shirt and silver tie and dress pants laid rather comfortably on his body, and, for the sake of his mission, he was appreciative for the way his biceps strained against his sleeves. Maybe that incessant drive to exercise wasn't such a terrible side effect of his werebeast. "Esha! I didn't expect to see you here, but it's nice to see you again," Chase called out abruptly as he neared them, holding out a hand to the marginally shorter boy, "Chase, Serpens dorm. I'm an old friend of Esha's." With his mask of monotony swapped for a much more sociable face, Chase hardly recognized what he was actually saying. He made sure to lace his words with an undertone of dominance, but it was subtle enough to be missed by a passive listener. Well, he could already tell that this was going to be one hell of a night.

{ooc: outfits for iris, felicity, chase}

ooc; Serenity's dress

Delia had just been in the process of moving away from the loud student, when her back collided with said student in question. Letting out a an extremely high pitched squeak, Delia turned on her heel and pulled her bow from her shoulder - even at an event like this the girl had been much too scared to leave her dorm without both her bow and arrows.

Reaching for an arrow with surprising speed and trembling hands, Delia wide eyed with fright spoke a quick warning to Knell. "P-P-Please do-don't d-d-d-do anything t-to m-m-me!" She stammered out at the looming figure. Now, holding her arrow and bow in a position to where she would be ready to shoot it at any time - Delia looked up at Knell, the fact that he was twice her height making him all the more intimidating.

-----


Serenity had been enjoying her solitude and listening to the various conversations of the students around her, when suddenly she was being spoken too by a waiter. Frowning, Serenity turned toward the direction of the voice - remaining quiet as a drink was offered toward her. It was in that moment that the older woman suddenly felt a bit awkward in her attire. Earlier that day she had gone to one of the clothing stores in the village, thinking that one of the women in one of these stores could help her find something professional and fitting for the event at hand.

The woman at the store had told her that the dress was an earthy green, with blue and white as well. She had also picked out heels for her to match the dress with, but when the woman had offered to pick out some jewlery Serenity had simply shaken her head. It was enough of a stretch for her to wear high heels, anything else would just get in the way of her job.

Carefully, Serenity reached forward until her finger tips collided with the mystery man's wrist. Slowly allowing her thumb and pointer finger to trace up Cade's hand until it came upon the drink in question, Serenity smiled with ease as her fingers wrapped around the stem of the drink.

The woman hadn't really realized it was Cade until she had touched his hand. This was purely thanks to her power since the first time she had been able to touch his hands and arms she had recorded that memory into her mind for later use. It was a requirement for using her power that she be able to remember the feel of someone's skin and every other little detail.

Feeling an odd sort of giddy-ness, Serenity quickly stifled it as she took a deep breath and sniffed at the drink in her hand. "Alcohol," Serenity said at first - thoughtfully. "Well, they must be a smoker whoever this person is." Serenity finally said - humouring Cade for the time being.

-----

Esha seemed only mildly interested in the conversation at hand until they had arrived at the ballroom, in which the girl had quickly invited Graham into. "Yeah, that sounds cool." Graham nodded with ease as Esha pulled him along, he really wasn't dressed for the occasion at all - donning some black tennis shoes, light blue jeans and loose fitting t-shirt that had one of his favorite game logos on it. Nevertheless, the idea of introducing more ideas to someone that wasn't completely familiar with Minecraft was incredibly interesting to him.

Graham and Esha came to a stop then as the teenage girl asked him if he saw that there was anywhere for them to sit. Looking around, Graham had spotted a table in the back and was about to speak when a sudden male voice interrupted his thoughts. Turning back around, Graham came face to face with a male that was significantly larger than him.

The male in question introduced himself, announcing his connection to Esha as if Graham had been the one intruding on the conversation. Taking Chase's hand and allowing for one solid shake, Graham nodded at the boy "Graham, Pyxis." Somehow, Graham felt ropped along into whatever Chase was doing. Normally, the young man would have just shrugged and been on his way but there was something about how Chase had approached them that didn't sit quite right with him.

Turning back to Esha, he pointed toward the table that he had been looking at before. "If you want to sit and talk more, there's a table right over there."

-----

Constantine had finally made his way into the dance, being one of the few stragglers that were just a bit late. The ballroom was busy with activity as Constantine navigated his way through the different students, scanning the room - the young man suddenly stopped in his tracks as a familiar figure came into view.

The color of her dress was what caught his attention in the first place. Taking a deep breath through his nose and out through his mouth, Constantine started to make his way toward Lisette - each step seeming to echo loud in his ears. Finally, once in front of her Constantine blurted out a simple "Hey." His mind at a loss for what else to say.

-----

Eris jerked around briefly at the sudden sound of Iris's voice, with raised brows the young man stared at Iris with a bit of bafflement - obviously surprised to see her. 'I don't know why you didn't think she was going to be here, she's a teenage girl and this a social event. It's obvious.'

"Olwen? No, I don't think I do." Eris replied to the girl then, looking briefly confused at her mention of a date. A few seconds later, a brief realization spread over his expression - "Oh, I completely forgot."

The blind date thing didn't really matter to Eris in the first place, in fact he was pretty sure Athena or Gaia had snuck out in the middle of the night to sign his name up for it and then told him about it later. Once Iris started talking about them sitting down at a table, Eris hesitated before nodding "Uh, sure. If you say so, yeah you can show me."