Welcome to Gaia! ::

She laughed, feeling more light-hearted than she had in weeks and suddenly, she was immensely glad to have Altais as a fixture in her life. "But you look so handsome," she teased, brushing some of his wild hair back so she could place a soft kiss to his forehead. It was nice to see him dressed differently, even if she'd come to be fond of his fuku.

"I know how to dance, I can lead."

Elu had been trained in the dances of her people along with some of the more classical ones of other planets, because it was her job to be the ambassador for her people. She needed to know how to make a positive introduction. She reached for his hand, slotted her fingers between his while she beamed up at him. "I haven't been to one of these since I was young, I'm not entirely sure what is expected of us," she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "You may be asked to dance with someone else." She'd be fine if he had to leave her, she would just prefer to remain at his side.

"I'm okay, this is okay. I know, I trust you Al," she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "You'd never let anything happen to me."

Signy breathed a little easier as soon as she saw Liesel approaching her. "Thank you," she said, a light blush coloring her cheeks. "And you're handsome as ever." They made for a contrasting pair, but then they always did - she thought it was fitting that the captain be the flashier of the pair. In Sailor Ganymede's presence, she didn't feel like she needed to worry about all of her individual problems - she could be part of a unit, second in the guard's hierarchy, with no eyes focused on her for too long.

"You haven't seen any representatives from the Royal House of Jupiter, have you?" she asked, leaning to kiss his cheek - though lightly enough that she wouldn't smudge any makeup on his face, which felt like it would be a crime. "I'd heard rumors..."

But no sign of their shared princess yet. She couldn't decide whether she felt relieved... or betrayed that she'd come all this way for nothing. Signy was still a student of politics; useless as anything but a lovely prop when it came to trade negotiations.

"I've never been to this Gala before," she added, glancing off towards the dance floor and the spinning couples there. "it's very..."

Europa was a less developed world, with no knights who could host this kind of thing. Nothing on her moon could compare.

"Fancy," she settled lamely.

"It's different dancing with another man," Elu remarked, following Altais' gaze to the matching pair. She hadn't met Thrymr yet, had only heard of how fondly Crims had spoken of them and she could see where the adoration came from. Even while being reserved, it was still clearly obvious that Crims was utterly head over heels for the pale haired senshi.

"I think so," she replied quietly, looking upon her friend and his lover fondly. There had been a time where she would have wanted that path with the knight, but they had been children when she had those dreams. Now, now she was content to simply have her life and some control over it.

"They look lovely together," she commented wistfully. For a moment, she seemed lost, distant like she hadn't been paying attention. "Ah, well, truthfully I don't know if I will recognize anyone. It's been-- It's been years." She'd met many on her travels both while in captivity and on her way home. She hoped she'd see positive familiar faces and none of the demons from her past.

"Let's take a walk around the ballroom."

Liesel's lips parted with the intention of answering, but a familiar voice cut his comments short.

He made an effort to control his reactions. Serge's presence always threw him off guard in public settings. He always expected Serge to do or say something that would imply an inappropriate relationship between them. Sometimes he was not wrong. Serge could not always disguise the look in his eye, and he was not always subtle with physical contact. His touch might linger. He might stand too close. It was always an effort for Liesel to school his expression and brush these instances off when he was not entirely opposed to them.

“Serge,” he said, though Serge acknowledged Signy more than him.

It was for the best. In a room full of people, with the King in attendance and the Lord Chancellor constantly eyeing him to ensure that Liesel did not embarrass either of them, he and Serge could not afford to be careless.

“I'm afraid you'd only be disappointed,” Liesel said. “The sorts of tournaments you're accustomed to would be deemed uncivilized. My people would rather compete to see who can present the universe with the more extravagant party.

“Unfortunately Serge is not wrong,” he told Signy. “If you've been to one party on Ganymede, you've been to them all. It's the same vapid people having the same banal conversations, full of trite remarks and false flattery. Gala events are merely competitions to see who can out-dress who. If you like to schmooze and ingratiate yourself among the highest of high society, then you're in luck. If not, a properly organized Gala is simply an excuse to eat good food and drink good wine.”

Liesel lifted his wine glass as if to toast the occasion, before taking a rather large gulp of the wine.

"Valhalla!" Signy exclaimed as the knight swept towards them. Liesel might feel comfortable using first names with him, but she wasn't sure they were at that point. She dipped towards him in a small curtsey, and then, tapping a finger to her lips, "I suppose it was just a ploy to convince me to come, then."

She sighed - she hated how easily the chancellor could manipulate her, but in this case it had probably been for her own good. Probably...

"Better now that you're here," she assured Valhalla. If Liesel made her breathe easier, then Valhalla took the tension out of her spine. At least she wasn't alone and slowly blending into the wallpaper now! And considering their positions, they seemed unlikely to abandon her in order to go dance together.

"You should join us for the guard's training exercises on Io," she suggested, feeling so bold as to put a friendly hand on his bicep. "Combat drills, living rough, and the scenic volcanic highlands. I quite prefer it to all of this politicking."

She felt so much more herself in her senshi uniform, magic at her fingertips, than she did in a ballgown. Unfortunately, she spent much more of her time dressed in the latter. "Liesel," she said, "This event looks to have attracted a great number of attendants from outside Jupiter's sphere of influence. Surely they don't come to every event... do they?"

It seemed like an awfully long way to travel just to drink and dance, she thought, tracking a white-clad Cosmos knight as he made his way across the room. He couldn't possibly have had a short trip to be here...

Sorscha hadn't been the guardian of Nis for very long. A year or two at maximum. Maybe. She wasn't entirely sure. As she gazed wide-eyed around the ballroom, she felt very small and found herself half-wishing that she was back at her wonder. Still, the whirling jewels that were dancing people were fascinating to watch.

Tapping her foot softly, in time with the music, Sorscha decided that her wonder and her charge could do without her for one night. It seemed as if it had been ages since she'd been around this many people...

Bright, lavender eyes came to rest on a blond in a beautifully crafted outfit who seemed just as alone as she felt. Well, that was easy enough to fix, she decided as she made her way to his side and stood there a moment. Nis' current guardian was hardly shy and would have probably stood out more with her ebony colored skin and diaphonous, rainbow hued gown. Good thing for her that there were so many more interesting people around! Deciding that timidity was hardly going to find her dancing partners, she tapped the blond on the shoulder and flashed a brilliant smile.

"Come dance with me," she said and held out a hand. "We can both get a better look at everyone if we're moving around."

Then, remembering manners, she placed a hand over her heart and gave the blond a small bow.

"My name is Sorscha. I'm a Page in the service of Cosmos. I look after Nis."

It was easy to accept the seashell senshi's easy, pleasant smile as genuine until Midgard, or Amelia, approached - and when the knight called her name, in an instant, it was more obvious than Amphitrite would have wanted just how false it was as that smile grew, finally reaching her eyes. However her excitement though, her fingers winding together before her, there was a moment where she glanced back at the three rulers of her planet, wordlessly confirming that it was, in fact, alright for her to go off on her own.

"My lady, " and she gave a polite flourish of a bow, the smooth, silken fabric of her dress flowing around her - long and elaborate to bring to mind both the sea and her trademark shells, and yet just as deliberately revealing, intended to draw attention. It was not something she would have chosen for herself. "It would be my pleasure, " and she offered her hand.

Nuxaz

Beauregard kept his eyes on the fashion as guest after guest came in with increasingly stunning outfits - and the occasional horrendous tragedy that bordered on terrorism. For those, they were just erased within his mind's eye, entirely removed from existence at such an elegant event.

His attention from the fashions were broke, delightfully, with the approach of a silver-haired guest.

"Good evening, sir," Beauregard gave his flute of champagne a slight raise and gave a subtle bow to the well-groomed man. "Welcome, and thank you ever so much for attending. I must say, I positively love your vest. The stitching is quite remarkable and that fabric is just fabulous." He pressed a thumb to the man's chest and gently caressed down the sternum, feeling the fabric. For Beauregard, touching strangers to feel the fabric was completely appropriate, even without formal introductions.

"Now tell me, where do you hail from?" he asked.