Destiny City Halloween Masque ~ CONGRATS ZINK + NEGAVERSE!!

[nessy]

It had become readily evident in the passing days of the carnival, that the City Council had been planning for some time to do an event of this nature and size. It shone most obvious in the Destiny Convention Center's complete overhaul from a business venue into a grand Gothic ballroom. Everything was done in shades of black and white, like living in an old movie. A few of the more typical decorations of the holiday were in evidence, but it was clearly an effort to forgo cheese in favor of class. A few younger, braver adults milled here and there in the crowd, but it was generally agreed by most of the city that this was an event for 'the young people'. After all, there had been no Prom this past school year, things had been too unstable and well...half the city had been asleep!

There were several large rooms that had had their walls removed to make a great open space, food and tables innumerate ranging through two of the rooms. The third and fourth were entirely for dancing and even a place to get your picture taken with your date for free in front of one of the tackiest backgrounds imaginable. In every room was a set of double doors that were open to the chill Halloween night, spilling out onto a long shared balcony overlooking the city center. 'Overlooking' was perhaps a strong term for something only three stories up, but it was a decent view nonetheless.

There were the standard annoyances for any large event these days, security at every other entrance to the center, someone checking costumes, tickets, and handbags for any mischief or terror. More than a few boys were turned away and back to their homes with bags full of stinkbombs and other innocent, but disruptive tricks.

Tonight was for treats! The biggest treat of all dominated its own table, a seven-tier giant cake decorated in the most immaculate black scroll-work over white icing. It was enticing, it looked delicious, but it barely outdid the smoking bowls of punch with dry ice all around it. There would, probably, be more than a few attempts to spike it all before the night was over, but for now, everything was safe.

Hopefully, everyone would have a wonderful time tonight!  

[Krysin]

Balls really weren't Delphine's "thing", yet here she was, and she looked halfway decent for it. She had gotten the memo that she should dress up, and since she'd rather not draw attention to herself by arriving in jeans and a t-shirt, she had no choice but to look somewhat presentable. Her black and blue hair was let down, falling limply over bare shoulders. There was nothing truly elegant about what she was wearing, and rather it looked as if she had went to the closest shop and pulled out a dress and some accessories that barely matched one another. The dress was simple and black, strapless and falling just above her knees. She had just barely convinced herself to wear a mask, and if she was going to ******** wear one, it was going to be cool. The mask covered the left side of her face, the base white with black skeletal shaped markings over the mouth, nose, and around the eye. Clearly the theme here was skulls, since her accessories seemed to be trashly over-done with them. There was a silver chain around her waist, and from it hung a small skull. Her bracelets even had skull charms on them. She wore flats, because heels were enough to suffer through just when powered up.

So here she was, all nice and dressed up (as much as she'd consider to be dressed up), but there was still no way in hell that she was dancing. Delphine was here for the free food. She'd come by a ticket some way or another, and while everything else in the ball may be inviting to people, the one thing she claimed that kept her here was good food. The cake looked delicious, and already she was analyzing how much she could intake without getting ill. Probably not a whole lot, each piece guaranteed to be rich and sugar-filled.

Glancing around her, she recognized no one else in the crowd. Great. So, it was time to snag some dinner and get the hell out of here and on to more interesting things. Maybe she should patrol some tonight, but with every youth in the whole goddamned city here, she doubted the youma would be getting into too much trouble. Sighing, she meandered her way over to one of the tables set out with food, munching idly on some cubes of cheese.  

[A Wandering Esper]

((Xavier looks like this, except actually good looking. Every artist I tried to get flaked on me so I had to pull a 15 mins sketch out of my a**, grr))

Security was on hardcore levels that night. Rightfully so, but it made it difficult to smuggle anything that might look suspicious. Thankfully, a pen wasn't really suspicious, and so Xavier had gotten in scot-free. There was just no way he was leaving it in his car if he could help it - the corn maze still had him on edge. It might have been a display in futility, but he just felt... better with the damn pen on his person. Less vulnerable.

He couldn't help but wonder if he was the only one that felt that way.

His headphones and mp3 player were, however, in his car - shock and awe ! - as he leaned near the entrance, waiting. He felt a little awkward dressed so nicely, and with his hair down - something he never did usually - with the mask on his face. He hadn't found a nice way to layer the two, so his glasses were in his pocket.

The poet was here. All that was missing, was his lady. So to speak.  

[A Wandering Esper]

He smiled when he saw her. "And good evening, my lady." There was something about Bell that made him so nervous, and yet so comfortable at the same time. It was harder to understand, and even harder to explain, so he gave up on it. Instead, he took her hand, and kissed the top of her palm.

"Shall we ?"  

[Silverah]

Seeing as the proper lady had found Xavier first, Tallulah was reduced to checking in on how her friends' budding romance was going. She hadn't let up on her Indian Princess bit that she'd been wearing all week, although tonight she'd added an elaborate feathered mask to the ensemble. "I'm missing my John Smith," she said, offering a tray with little clear cups of orange soda to her friends, and raised an eyebrow at Xavier's chivalry.

"Is Zay treating you alright?" she asked Bell, sipping her drink. "I have lots of blackmail material on him, if you want it."

She glanced around, looking for Jaimie, and sighed. Maybe he hadn't been able to get out of Hillworth tonight? That would kind of suck. Dateless, at the Halloween ball!  

[Kaori_luv]

Lily walked into the ball smiling lightly to herself at how lovely the ball seemed to be, gothic as it was it was still quite beautiful. She looked down at her ballet slippers and wandered how long her feet would remain comfortable, but decided not to think of it as she ran her fingers down the soft feather's of her custom made costume. She was dressed as the swan princess, her red curls tucked beneath a feather circlet, a tiara placed upon her head and soft satin ribbon tied loosely around her neck with a little clear crystal hanging from it. She was completely in love with the costume and prayed it would remain its pristine white throughout the night.

Lily moved forward the soft sheer fabric of her skirt swaying about her knees. She was excited for the night to begin, to dance, chat and have a ball, no pun intended. She stood still for a while looking around to see if she noticed anyone she recognized and hope it would not be to difficult as she could see most wore mask, herself included.

She reached up and white, delicately decorated mask, with its pretty pearls, silver swirling designs, and soft down feather lining the masks edge. 'Where to start, where to start,' she thought to herself.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Xavier accepted the little paper cup from the tray Tallulah was carrying, and then rolled his eyes. "Careful with the blackmail offers here, Pocahontas." He downed his soda in one glup. "I've got as much dirt on you than you do on me."

All in playful jest, of course. The two of them looked more like spatting siblings than anything else. The assumption wasn't all that far-fetched.  

[Silverah]

Tallulah raised her mask and winked at the other girl. "Zay forgot to mention me?" she asked, holding a cup out to Bell. "I told him I knew you. Huh."

She wasn't sure yet if Xavier and Bell had exposed themselves as Themis and Bellatrix yet, and in fact was almost certain that they hadn't - Xavier would have called her and demanded to know if she'd known. "We've been friends since we were in diapers, practically," she explained for the other girl's benefit, and set the tray aside.

"Do you see Jaimie anywhere?" she asked, scanning the crowd on her tip-toes. No Jaimie in sight, blonde hair or otherwise, though she did spy Lily - She could catch up with the prima ballerina later. Right now she needed to eek out as best she could how Zay and Bell were doing.

"Are you guys here together?" she asked innocently.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Xavier had never truly met Jaimie, per-se. He'd seen a blonde guy at her side often while she was in coma and assumed it had to be him, but when the other was there, he'd made himself scarce until it would have become his turn to watch over her. Better not to intrude anything.

But then the question came. His mask aided little to hide the full-face blush that resulted. "Well... Yes." He admitted.  

[thefancycakes]

Oh, how Elegancia had pined for such an extravagant event! She had never been one to enjoy the Halloween festivities, not even as a child, but in the form of an elegant ball, how could she resist? The moment she received the invitation, Elegancia had decided to attend. Especially because it was an opportunity for her to shine! Not only was the Ball so attractive to Elegancia because it was formal, but because no super-powered beings were allowed! The brunette truly believed that this was a safe haven from any senshi vs. negaverse battles. For just one night, Elegancia hoped she would not have to transform into Sailor Rosalind. She never stopped to think that evil never rested, but who cared? It was a Halloween Ball!

Although she always looked exquisite, Elegancia was particularly on the top of her game that night. In a frilly and powder-blue gown and matching jewelry, the copper brunette looked like an elegant princess strolling into a dark wizard's palace. In addition to her extravagant gown and jewelry, Elegancia had a rather gaudy mask on, as well. She waltzed in, looking like a graceful snowflake. Now, where was Adira? Elegancia, unfortunately, could not commit her outfit to memory-- she'd have to survey everyone in the room, and it looked like she had her work cut out for her. There was one familiar face right off the bat-- one Bell McMahon. Elegancia wasn't sure if she should stop to converse with her or not, as she seemed rather preoccupied.

So, the green-eyed Elegancia stood within sight of Bell and waited to see if she'd come and talk to her, scanning for Adira all the while.  

[Iris_virus]

-Promptness was a virtue, so it was no surprise that Aurora had been there when the doors open, carefully clutching the ticket she'd purchased, waiting patiently in line to be checked out. For her the security was a relief, not a pain, she'd figured the ball would be more of a ruckus, but from what she'd seen so far it was very elegant.

Aurora was a supposed to be a snow princess. A layered dress of shimmery soft blues and whites glimmered with rhinestone and faux fur accents. A sparkling mask hid her eyes and in her hands was a staff that had given the security a moment's pause. After working so hard on it, getting metal crafted to safely hold the snowglobe that was mounted on top, there was no way she was going without it. Luckily they'd relented in the end. She hadn't seemed like the sort that would be trying to smack people with it anyway.

Entering the ball Aurora peered, enamoured with the decorations for a long while. It was dark and dreary, but still so beautiful... the fog from the dry ice adding to the ambiance. Peering around Aurora attempted to look for anyone she might know in the slowly filling room, laughing a little to herself once she remembered that everyone was behind mask and costume.

Her hair was easy enough to pick out, she hadn't styled it much differently then normal.. but maybe it would be fun to be someone else today?-  

[thefancycakes]

When Aurora, the white-haired and mild-mannered beauty, made her snowy entrance, Elegancia felt compelled to traipse over to her and make idle chit-chat. She recalled last Christmas at Crystal, and that it was almost a year ago. How time flied-- Elegancia felt somewhat melancholy for a moment, but it passed over when she was in front of Aurora.

"Hello, Miss Namid," she began, "how are you? I presume you're... an Ice Queen?" She chortled in her mind, thinking 'she's as far from a snow queen as possible,' but dismissed the thought. "Has your cooking been coming along nicely?" She stayed within sight of Bell-- maybe this could be a big, nice Crystal reunion.