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

[comeandfindme]

[ outfit decision changed midtag- she's going the full dress except with hiking boots and her cloak. ]

Then... Who did all that? There was weird magic and- what? [ ...Oh. Oh, she's— Hester's talking about— ] Oh, it's just— thank Elle. It was all her.

[whatyouwant]

[Now is snuggle time. Flower time can be later.]

Other than what you just said, no. What do they represent?

[tailor_made]

Yeah, that tracks. [Janis probably can't see these brackets but the amount of "she's so pretty" Hester is thinking can't be contained within a Dreamwdith character limit.

She considers the offer for just a moment before downing her drink and extending her hand to Janis.]

Sure. I just hope you can keep up.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[For what is, apparently, a very important occasion, prom is no different to Cassandra then a good number of the parties she attended in her life... But it's still a party. They can enjoy themselves here, motive or no motive. Corona thrived on grand celebrations, and maybe... if just for this night, Cassandra can advocate for her national pastime.

Starting with loaning Fidella the horse to Maya. What an entrance, right?

Cass herself arrives a little later, dressed perhaps not in the way you'd expect. She's quickly flanked by Owl, who lands on her arm with a dapper little bowtie tied around his little neck.]

...Oh, come on. I'm enjoying this, okay? It's only for tonight.

[Yes, she is talking to her owl.

For most of the party, Cass mingles. Floating from one person to the next, enjoying the snack assortment, and even - shock and alarm - trying her best out on the dance floor.]

I've never heard this song before.

[Later in the evening though...it hits. And Cassandra disappears. A cursory investigation will locate her on the roof, standing in front of the song request box. Bent over, scribbling away at a slip of paper before she slides it in.

She waits. And waits.

And slowly, the music starts.]

Life's been so unsatisfying
Look, suddenly now I'm flying
Freewheeling from cloud to cloud to cloud...

[whatyouwant]

Yeah, it was really weird. It was mostly just French stuff like pastries and wine and stuff, but if you went in you couldn't talk for the rest of the day.

[mcfife]

[Angus clasps a hand on Spongebob's shoulder - the one not attached to a broken arm. He's got it. He's got his spirit back.]

We aren't giving up on you, either. Even if you do not have a home, you have us. Hell, you have many homes you can move to after this.

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Once Owl breaks away from Cass upon their arrival, he's pulling a full-time babysitter for his owner, and Elsa's, snowgies.

Which are wandering around, trying to stick things in their not-mouths.]

[fourbutts]

[ She doesn't need to narrator her way into Hester's brackets to tell, because like. Mood, girl.

She takes Hester's hand. ]

I think I can manage. I'm half narrator, you know. On my dad's side.

[comeandfindme]

Oh, um— okay. Okay, sure.

[ It's now that Peregrine remembers other shoes exist; she's been wearing these boots here since she found them on like day two.

She starts looking through them but the only things that seem to catch her attention are...more hiking boots.

Elle I'm sorry. ]

[tailor_made]

[Hester's been dancing up a storm all night but, despite how tired she's been in recent weeks, she seems to be just as full of energy tonight.

She smiles at Eurydice, warm as sunshine, and takes her hand.]

I would love to.

[mcfife]

Determination. Bravery. Strength. The ability to endure anything. They are like sunflowers, in that they represent the fire in all of us, but they are more than just pretty, tall flowers. Thistles tell us that our journeys may be painful, but that it is possible to survive anywhere.

[He looks down at Elle's hand, and rests his own on hers.]

They can also symbolize devotion.

[defyingfrigidity]

[Be the hero elsa and all frozen fans deserve, janis]

Yeah... there's something really comforting about those sorts of people, isn't there? [It's. Very attractive, yes. But more so than that...] Managing to feel safe in a place like this... it means a lot.

[fourbutts]

[ Janis holds the kiss until Peregrine moves away. ]

God I'm glad we're not fighting anymore. Not to, like, talk about it, but.

[tailor_made]

Lucky. I wish I knew what, if anything, I got from my dad.

[Hester flashes her a grin and spins her out on the dance floor as the music plays. Congratulations, Janis, you get to learn firsthand that Hester is a bomb ass dancer.]

[comeandfindme]

We- we don't have to not talk about it. Just. You know.

[ Oops all awkward. ]

[tailor_made]

I don't know, honestly. It might still be him and he just didn't tell me, but... [ You know what, it's a dance! Why's it so important that they know who threw it?] Elle did a really nice job. You look super pretty, Peregrine.

Boots and all.

[tailor_made]

That's so weird. What happened to having normal clubs like A/C club or paintball?

[comeandfindme]

[ Peregrine quite suddenly finds herself very aware of those boots. She's not usually self-conscious like this! It's weird! ]

I just asked her for something that's like...you know. Easy to move in. [ ... ] Thanks.

[fourbutts]

Well... if I've learned anything here, dad is a state of mind. Especially when you don't have a canon one.

[ Then who was dad, Janis!! Anyway, "bomb-ass" may not quite be right for her, but if romancing Maya Tendo has prepared her for anything, it's using her moderate-to-solid dancing ability to keep up with bomb-ass dancers. ]

[brokeforgood]

… Those aren’t our posters, H. [She forgets for a minute, that she’s supposed to be mad at Hester, slipping back into the find use of the nickname that she had used before her dad had died.]

Are you… okay?

[fourbutts]

I know.

[ She shakes her head. ]

Not on prom night, at least.

ukulele

[feudalladyshandmaid]

[Oh..... how fancy. But Cass would trade it all away to see Spongebob looking the way he normally does. All happy-go-lucky and schmaltzy.

She takes a break from mingling with the others to venture his way. She's trying very, very hard to not look at his other hand.]

How's the arm doing?

[Fuck.]

[comeandfindme]

Prom night... Never thought I'd end up here.

[inaclearing]

[She turns, but there's nothing there. Maybe she's feeling better tonight. Or, here in the light, with people around, maybe it's harder for the mind to fool itself. He's not exactly a Howl, anyway.]

I'm...what do you mean, by another voice? [His own voice seems...tense.]

[comeandfindme]

[ She tries to keep it down, because...because she doesn't actually want to stop hearing his voice. Still, she wraps her arms around herself.

(Incidentally I could've edited this but forgot- she is absolutely wearing a dress instead with her cloak and boots.)

If there's no one physically there to talk to, then she'll look at the ground. ]

I'm hearing things. Seeing things. It's— you're not...really here.