one thing's universal, life's no dress rehearsal

[stagemanagers]

[Prom night! The greatest night of your young lives if you watch any Western high school media from the past 60 years. The looks, the music, the copious amounts of fancy snacks, the sore feet from dancing heels and then spending the rest of the night in bare feet- it’s all part of the bigger package.

The courtyard and the roof have both been decked out in a special way for tonight, despite no one really seeing Hester or anyone/anything else decorating. There are round tables set-up in both places, covered in yellow-gold tablecloths. Some of them have platters of snacks laid out on them, one has a large punch bowl that never seems to empty no matter how many drinks are taken from it.

On the roof there’s an extra table with pencils, small slips of paper, a box wrapped in gold wrapping paper and a notecard labeled Song Requests. Just write a song, pop it in the box and within a few minutes it starts playing! Weird, there doesn’t seem to be a sound system anywhere...

Red paper lanterns have been strung around the outline of the roof and between stakes in the courtyard, granting soft romantic light for a night to remember. Put on your best costume shop formal wear, get ready to lose your shoes after an hour and sneak in liquor even though most of you are of age.

After all…tonight belongs to you.]

Comments

[fourbutts]

[ And keep up she can! She might not be a broadway actress, but she has the physique of one on account of how close she keeps to the fourth wall - and it's not a dancing-heavy role, so she's hardly amazing, but she can definitely dance. ]

You know, I always kind of wrote off the full-on prom as a "the heterosexuals are at it again" kind of thing, but this rules.

[fourbutts]

[ at least in one dimension disney is going to go through a Big Change ]

No kidding. It's... [ She looks over towards Maya, wherever she is. ] I have a girlfriend with a sword, and that's really neat for a lot of reasons.

[fourbutts]

I mean there was supposed to just be the one, then Cady made a whole thing about it and broke the tiara into a bunch of pieces, and the teachers just sort of went with it?

[ She shrugs. ]

And so, at least while I'm at school dances, I am in fact Queen Janis. We could always get a vote going...

[tailor_made]

[She lets out a thrilled little laugh.]

Je te parie qu'à toutes les filles avec qui tu ne sors pas déjà. [She pauses.] Et ceux que vous êtes.

[I bet you day that to all the girls you aren't already dating. <...> And the ones you are.]

[comeandfindme]

One two... [ Under the music, she picks up Hester's light humming. It throws her off for a moment. ] ...Is that...that's not the same song.

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine snorts. ]

Oh, you are shameless. ...Though, who knows, maybe I'd be too, if I showed up to prom on horseback...

[comeandfindme]

No. [ Just! Instantly! ] Before either of you get the idea, no. You go be royalty, I'll be the...royal photographer.

[ Is that a thing? It's a thing now. ]

[mayavericks]

As if I would let anything be heterosexual on my watch!

[Maya seems relaxed in a way she hasn't been not just this week, but in the last several weeks. Confident and in her element, but also at ease with her surroundings. There's a strange confidence gong into tonight and tomorrow. Everything will be alright.

They're stronger than ever.]

[mayavericks]

[If they were at that point, this might have been where she leaned down to kiss Hester. Instead, she's left to only stare dreamily into her eyes, before righting her once more.]

Peut-être que j'aime juste les femmes. Appelez-moi un romantique!

[Perhaps I just enjoy women. Call me a romantic!]

[mayavericks]

Janis told you about that, then? [That gets a warm laugh out of her.] I'll have to do it again later, just so you get the full picture. Words do not do me justice, you know!

[mayavericks]

[Maya can't help but laugh, both at Janis's tale and Peregrine's reaction. Perhaps it's wrong that she feels so comfortable like this, in this place. For right now, she won't question it.]

But Peregrine, I am no one without my queen of the forest!

[comeandfindme]

Maya, I think if you can get Janis to shut up about how cool you were on the horse, that's a sign it's not actually Janis.

[ like. like, maya, have you HEARD janis talk about you— ]

I...wouldn't say no. I never really got the appeal of riding a horse, but...Cass let me on Fidella earlier in the week, so...it might be pretty cool to see.

[fourbutts]

A while, huh? Yeah, just... give me a sec to make a request.

[ ... You know what, it's a good song and she's a narrator. If she does this with intent, maybe something will happen.

Either way, she's going to come on back and. ]

You know, while we're waiting... I have most of the portrait roughed out except the face. Can you spare some time out of your busy schedule to come model for me at some point?

[mayavericks]

No creature could ever possess our Janis and get away with it. I don't think anyone could match that level of sheer infatuation.

[Which like... if Maya sounds teasing, it's only because she's covering up how touched she is. Sometimes your girlfriend is both gay and adorable.]

Far be it from me to let you miss out on something so wonderful.

[fourbutts]

[ There may come a point when Janis is asked why she was so ready to defend and protect Maya, even when things went south. If she had to point to one moment, one single piece of evidence in the cosmic trial of Maya Tendo? This dance very well might be it. ]

You are consistently excellent at dispelling any kind of heterosexual thought.

[fourbutts]

I think if cool lady knights were a social group at more high schools, high school would be way better.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis laughs. ]

See? We're both queens, it's only fair.

[comeandfindme]

[ ...Heh. It's kind of weird how Peregrine tripped into all of this—that's what she'd say if asked, that she tripped into a relationship, her first relationship, with more than one person, on the heels of Connor's death, that something she'd never considered before could become so natural.

She loves Maya. She loves Janis. But something about seeing them love each other fills her with a kind of affection she didn't know possible. The people she loves, so happy.

Peregrine laughs, shamelessly. ]

I dunno if I've ever met someone with so much self-confidence. So much entirely earned self-confidece.

[comeandfindme]

[ Maybe it's the whole illness thing, but Peregrine's face looks pretty red! Huh! ]

You guys are impossible.

[ ...But she's smiling. ]

[tailor_made]

[It sure is worth a shot.]

Mmhm, oh sure! I'd love to. I've been told my face can be a little hard to capture right on the first try. Before I graduated I had to get my school pictures retaken at least once every year since they never turned out right.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis laughs. ]

My problem is always that I'm very bad at wearing appropriate clothing for them to take my picture in the first place.

[whatyouwant]

[Elle pulls a small pack of tissues out of her skirt pocket and hands it off to Maya. A girl's gotta be prepared!.]

We have! I still want to get a few more dances in with him, though.

What about you and Janis and Pegrine?

[whatyouwant]

It's only too fancy if you don't like it. You get to decide what is good for you to wear and what isn't, and it isn't some arbitrary rule about how 'fancy' someone's allowed to look.

[Elle give Peregrine's shoulder a squeeze.]

You are a beautiful girl, and you've got two beautiful girlfriends up there and a whole bunch of family who want you to have a good time and feel good about yourself. If you try it on and hate it, I promise we will look for something else.

[whatyouwant]

[They kiss, and it feels so amazing she doesn't want it to stop. It doesn't have to stop. They could just sit here all evening wrapped in each other's arms, pretending the rest of the world doesn't exists.

But it does exist, and they can't ignore it forever.

Elle pulls back and smiles up at Angus.]

I love you.

[tailor_made]

I believe it. [She giggles and pushes a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear.] I like the way you dress though. It's...unique. It feels very you, if that makes sense.