Prom 2011 - OPEN TO ALL

[miguel]

Miguel was known as a god in some places (I don't know if you knew that, but yes). He had had entire feasts hosted in his honor. He was quite used to festivities, particularly ones where there were ill-gotten gains to be had, and where better to con people out of their life's savings than at a casino. He was more than a little dismayed to discover that there was no real money changing hands at this particular casino.

No matter. He'd have to find some young beauty to woo and fleece. He flitted past Giselle, noting that she was standing near some rather buff-looking Asian guy, and decided not to mess with that dynamic, although he did give her a sultry wink (or what he hoped was a sultry wink). He was still looking back to make sure Tai Lung wasn't going to kill him via death glare or something when he very nearly ran into someone standing in the middle of the floor.

She didn't look all that princessy...not in that dress, anyway, it was a nice dress but no princess-caliber jewels or anything adorning it. But she did have something about her that caught his eye...mostly the air of naivety about her. She didn't know what she was doing, did she? Didn't know what she was getting into...

Naivety was like...well, like nectar to a con artist bee, and Miguel was on the prowl. He sidled up next to her and put on his most sincere smile.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "Bit of a massive party, isn't it? I can't think when the last time I saw one this size was."

[Deleted]

Cinderella was glancing around in confusion, so she didn't spot Miguel until he actually spoke, which made her jump slightly. She pressed a hand against her chest as she caught her nerves and smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh, oh yes it is." She agreed, dropping her hand to smooth nervously at her skirts, feeling instantly even more unsure of herself. At least he seemed to have proved her step-sisters wrong, they always said somebody would know the second they looked at her, but he didn't seem to notice at all. "I don't think I've ever been to a party this big."

She didn't remember ever going to a party at all, but he didn't necessarily need to know that.

[Deleted]

“That sounds like a great plan,” Plum agreed amiably. In all honesty it was better that the f=drinks didn’t have any real alcohol in them. She was quite the lightweight to be honest. And by lightweight she meant not even an entire drink and she was very, very drunk.

But this was what she needed. Just a good time with a good friend. She deserved it really. She’d had far too much on her mind lately and being sick was really not helping. But tonight it didn’t even matter. She was going to have a grand old time if it killed her. She took the drink with a polite thank you to the bartender. Then took a hesitant sip. It wasn’t too bad, honestly.

Plum turned at Door’s words. Beowulf, yes she knew him. She assumed the girl in yellow was Sunny. She was adorable, all dressed in yellow. And she was highly amused that Door had taken it upon herself to push them into a romantic situation. “Beowulf is very nice. I met him just the other day,” she informed her friend as they walked to one of the tables. “They would be a very sweet couple. I quite approve of this plan.”

[Mumble]

Prom. Prom was one of those things you experienced in school (usually not in university but Mumble wasn't complaining) and whether you enjoyed yourself or not, you had a good time and it was sort of a rite of passage kind of thing. It was a tradition. It was normal. Mumble desperately needed normal. Besides which, it was a dance, and Mumble hadn't missed a single dance since he'd been in school here. He wasn't about to ruin that now, not when dancing would probably be the best thing for him anyway.

He had assumed he and Andy would be going together, even though she was currently in a state of whatever-that-was. He hadn't bothered to ask, he'd just texted her "Prom " and left it at that. In her weird condition, she probably would have gone on in a spazz fit about how wonderful dances and dresses and whatnot were. When he got there, though, he took a long look around the room. He was a little nervous to be taking Andy any place public...not because he was afraid she'd embarrass him, but because he was sort of afraid she'd hurt herself.

His throat still hurt, but it wasn't terribly raw anymore. Merlin had counteracted the worst of it, and whatever remained was only the result of his own attempts to overcome the spell on his own.

He caught sight of Andy, standing with her back to him, and for a moment, he watched her. She looked amazing, even before he saw her face, he could tell that, and he almost didn't want to let her know he was there. He was nervous...very nervous. The note he'd gotten from Redd had been unexpected, and he wasn't sure if it might have been a cruel joke.

Walking quickly, he came to stand behind Andy, reaching around to put his hands over her eyes, pulling her close, holding her against him, and for a moment, he just breathed her.

"Don't say anything," he said. "If something's wrong, just...don't say anything yet, just let me imagine that it's all right for a minute. Close your eyes and pretend everything's fine."

[Deleted]

Well, Sunny hadn't come to this dance intending to...dance. Really, she'd come here intending to try her hardest not to embarrass herself in front of Beowulf - it had been a miracle enough that he'd asked her to go with him, and she was nervous as anything. She liked her dress...it made her feel happy and when she was happy, she was a little less antsy about all the things that could go wrong.

When Beowulf suddenly appeared and bowed, the nerves seemed to scamper through her whole body, combine with the slight chill from having her hair up instead of blanketing her shoulders like she was used to, and settle into her stomach in the form of bubbles with butterflies inside of them. He looked nothing like anyone else in the room, and that brought a large smile to Sunny's face, which she quickly tried to cover up with a hand, along with the giggle that embarrassingly threatened to escape.

"Debonaire," she murmured, then dropped into a curtsey. "I like your shoes." It was the best thing she could think of to say, and she hoped it would suffice. She didn't just want to say "you look nice" because that sounded terribly clichéd and like something a sort of spacy kind of girl might say if she were at the prom with a boy she-

was at the prom with. She flexed her fingers, wondering what she was supposed to do next.

"Punch?" she asked finally.

[Andrina]

Andy hadn't received a text, or, rather, she had no idea where he phone was to even read a text she might have been sent. Even with the memories of her....episode stinging her brain with sharp intensity, she could not bring herself to recall where her cell might have gone. She didn't want to dwell on it, most likely she chucked it at someone or something else awful during her time as a joyful crazy. Besides, she had far more important things to think about at the moment besides where an electronic toy might be. Things like, who she might have almost killed and why she had this tugging feeling that time was running out and Mumble. Where could he be? It was possible that he wasn't here yet, but still she stood as tall as she could to see over the crowds in hopes that her semi frantic blue eyes might find his.

It was then that she was assaulted with a sudden jolt of confusion as someone approached her from behind and slid two hands over her eyes. Why would someone do that?! Couldn't they tell that she was obviously looking for someone, she kind of needed her eyes for such an activ-oh. It took her around about five seconds to realize who had concealed her vision. Everything about him was familiar. His touch, his smell, his height, so easily measured as he held her close. She could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck and she was suddenly aware that she had been holding every muscle in her body taunt until his voice reached her ears. Slightly scratchy, like he was recovering from an illness of some sort, but his voice nonetheless. Warm, worried, but it was his and he was here and he apparently didn't hate her.

The calm she felt being so close to him was short lived, however, when he insisted that she pretend everything was fine. Everything was not fine. A sort of apologetic whimper escaped her lips and she pulled his hands down from her eyes before turning to face him. Words were taken from her for a moment as she took him in. Handsome as ever, looking like an adorable penguin in his suit, he loves penguins. She instinctively moved to fix his collar, bitting her lip and fearing to look him in the eyes. God, those big blue eyes, he could get away with anything with such lovely eyes. Last time she'd looked in those eyes she'd been playing with her blood. She cringed slightly, her own blue eyes sad as she searched his fro any sign of resentment. She raised a hand to run through the hair on the side of his scalp, but hesitated and decided against it.

I'm so sorry she said softly, realizing too late that saying anything at all was a bad idea given the word vomit she could feel creeping up her throat. I didn't...I don't know what happened she shook her head and looked down, obviously flustered. I just...woke up and I felt...weird and then... she looked up, face riddled with shame and concern Oh God Mumble, I didn't mean to! And you were so worried and I was just having some kind of psychotic meltdown! she was really getting worked up now, using large hand gestures to make her points. I don't know whats happening, or, I mean, I didn't, this isn't what I wanted, not at all, and now you sound like you're sick! You're okay aren't you? Oh of course not, I probably traumatized you for life, oh man I'm sorry... she finished her rambled apology by covering her face, terrified of his reaction.

[Deleted]

Sunny seemed to be happy and pleased to see him. She looked very pretty in her yellow dress he thought. And he knew he wasn’t wearing anything remotely like what everyone else was wearing, but he was a Viking. And Vikings were allowed to wear whatever they wanted. Besides, he liked what he was wearing. And that was much better than wearing one of those stuffy suits all the other men were wearing. And he didn’t have to wear a tie because they were absurd and would probably choke him anyways.

The word Kettlingr said sounded vaguely French, though he hadn’t a clue what it meant. He didn’t speak French and Vikings typically did not like the French. Actually, the Vikings didn’t really like anyone other than Vikings, come to think of it. Everyone else was a heathen. Though Beowulf couldn’t really say he hated all heathens. Some of them were very nice, like Sunny. Some of them he could tolerate, like Door.

He looked down at his shoes when Sunny complimented them. They weren’t anything special. They were just the regular shoes he wore every day. He hadn’t wanted to shop for other shoes because that would be absurd. He would probably never wear those other shoes again. And if he did it wouldn’t be often. He looked back up at Sunny. “Thank you.”

And now he didn’t know what to do. Vikings didn’t have proms. He wasn’t quite sure what he should do now. He had no idea at all. Whatsoever. It was very good that Kettlingr had a suggestion because Beowulf probably would have just stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do.

“Ja,” he said decisively. Then he didn’t know what to do again. Should he offer her his arm? Although, offering her his arm would probably cause confusion because Vikings just had to be different. Instead of tucking her arm through his, he meant that she would lay his arm over his because that was what Vikings did. This was extremely uncomfortable.

[Deleted]

Sunny had never been to a prom before either, so she was running on instinct as much as Beowulf was. Anyway, she reasoned, surely all the proms weren't alike, so maybe nobody really knew what was going on until they started to explore a little bit. Some people were already off betting the fake money they'd been given, and some people were standing around talking to each other in what looked like really boring conversations, so maybe standing here being awkward wasn't the most outstandingly obvious thing she could have done to prove that she didn't have any idea what she was doing.

"You're welcome," she said, a lot more quickly and easily than she would have anticipated. That hadn't been as difficult as she'd thought. Then they stared at each other for a moment, and she tried to figure out what the best course of action would be. Ja meant yes, he wanted punch, she was pretty sure of that, so...they should go get punch.

The first time she'd met him, Sunny had grabbed Beowulf's hand because it had made her feel safe. She had been running from something, she didn't even know what, and he had saved her from it...and in the middle of that rescue, she had decided that holding his hand would be a good idea, because he had made her feel safer than she was without him.

Well, she was pretty sure they were safe here. But Beowulf looked uneasy...and Sunny thought that maybe it was her turn to do something to make him feel like he was safe...like he could trust her to lead him to the punch or wherever without anything horrible happening along the way. So she grabbed his hand, wrapped her smaller fingers around his, and gave him a tug, starting off in the direction of the punch bowl. Just keep walking, it's not not normal until you make it not normal. she told herself.

[Mumble]

If she was looking for resentment, she wouldn't find it. If she was looking for anger, hostility, or some indignant fire in his eyes, she wouldn't find that there either. The only thing he hoped was in his eyes was...well, hope. Hope that she was maybe...if not normal, at least better than she had been. Hope that something, just one little thing in his life could work out for just one night. And there might have been fear there as well, that she'd be just the same pseudo-psychotic as she had been before, and that nothing would have changed. But as soon as she started talking, it didn't even matter what she was saying because he knew, he really knew deep down in his heart that this was her. This was Andy...not drunk Andy, not crazy Andy who thought bleeding was an opportunity for artistic expression...just Andy.

His Andy. The girl he had fallen for without even meaning to, without even considering her an option on the falling-in-love-with list, the girl he had kissed without permission and apologised to ten seconds later. It didn't matter if she was saying sorry or making excuses or just talking about the weather because he could tell, just by looking in her eyes, that the things about her that he loved were all there, perfectly intact. Redd had kept her word, it seemed. She had made good on her promise. It was always possible that some horrible thing could happen later, but...he chose to think instead about the fact that in this moment, one tiny moment, he was given the girl he loved, completely herself, and completely, breathtakingly beautiful.

He cut her off mid-sentence, somewhere between "I'm" and "sorry," and at that point, he let out a little "Mmf." of his own, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. And he looked down at her, just for a moment, just long enough to commit her face to memory, in case he might forget how she looked right in that instant, before he pulled her close to him and kissed her, hard and fast, like he might never have the chance again.

"Don't leave me," he breathed. "don't you ever do that again. I don't know what happened, I just don't want it to happen again. Just...just be you, and be with me, because Andy, I promise you, that's enough. It's enough. What you are, and what we have...I'm happy with it."

[Vlad Dracula]

Prom, in the past, had been a chance for Dracula to woo some unsuspecting victim and lure him or her off into a dark corner. For reasons beyond his comprehension, though, the school had suddenly decided to up and promote his wife to headmistress, which meant that he might actually have to behave himself tonight. Ordinarily, he would have just avoided attending at all if the threat of proper behaviour was involved, but apparently it was expected that the new headmistress would bring her husband...so here he was.

And he was really not happy about it. He had his arms crossed, and stood behind her, giving his most plastic smile to anyone who had the misfortune to look in his direction. He felt sort of like the first man or something here. It wasn't that he really wanted to be the center of attention all the time; being in the spotlight wasn't so good for doing the kind of dirty work he did...he didn't know why this felt so different. Glinda was always in the spotlight, it seemed...he didn't begrudge her that. She was popular (that was sort of her thing), and this shouldn't be any different.

No, Dracula decided, it wasn't because she was popular that he was feeling uneasy here, it was because of the extra attention this might attract to him. He certainly hoped there wouldn't be any newspapers or anything buzzing about trying to get him to do an interview on the "inside story" or the personal life of the headmistress or any such thing. You could never tell...everyone had been so terrified of the previous headmistress that they might go a little crazy now that they had one who was congenial and accessible without threat of bodily harm.

"Entertaining the masses, darling?" he asked, leaning a little closer to Glinda. "You do look lovely this evening, I feel I should tell you that."

[glinda]

The feeling of being watched crept over her before her husband came up to stand beside her. She very nearly sloshed her drink down her front, startled slightly. She regained herself momentarily, flashing a brilliant smile. Leaning over, she stole a quick kiss.

"Entertaining is what I do, sweetie." She replied, glancing back toward the entrance. There was plenty of other entertainment this particular night, however, which placed Glinda in a position to merely stand by and watch for once. Her free hand found his, one hand still wrapped around the fragile stem of her glass.

"Thank you.You clean up well yourself. Very handsome." She smoothed down an invisible wrinkle in his suit, rubbing it across her fingers for a moment. Almost on instinct she glanced about the room again. It was fun being a chaperone, but Glinda honestly wanted nothing more than to spend the night with her husband - and somewhere other than prom.

"I'm glad you decided to come. It would have been quite boring here otherwise - I don't think the students are going to try anything bad knowing their headmistress and her delightfully, devilishly handsome husband are watching at all times." She added.

[Deleted]

Beowulf had absolutely no idea what he was doing and rightly so. Vikings had celebrations and feasts, but nothing like this. He had no idea what a casino even was or why he’d been handed fake money upon entering. He did notice however that most everyone else seemed like they knew what they were doing. It was really just them standing awkwardly and probably right in the way of other people. Not that Beowulf cared about other people, but he was really feeling like a fish out of water. And that was never fun.

The two of them were just awkward. Beowulf was finding this very uncomfortable. He didn’t like things to be awkward and uncomfortable, but unfortunately it just sort of happened. He caused a lot of unnecessary awkwardness very often, like right now. His not knowing what to do was making this whole thing awkward. He should have taken charge of the situation, but he had faltered because he didn’t know what to do.

It ended up that Sunny was the one to take charge. She took his hand and began to lead him off somewhere. And though Beowulf was very awkward and uncomfortable with touching, this was okay. Her hand seemed so tiny in his own, like he needed to protect her, which he always would if the need should ever arise.

And somehow it put Beowulf at ease. Which was extremely odd since he was usually so against touching. But this was Sunny. This was his little Kettlingr. He couldn’t refuse her anything he was finding. And that included touching.

[Deleted]

So you know those things that your parents encourage you to do, but at least it’s not telling you to clean your room or take out the garbage, but is instead something sort of fun, so in spite of the fact you’re not so keen on their motives, you go along with it?

That was the sort of convoluted situation that left him pulling out the tux that he usually reserved for banquets back at home. Grimsby dropped some heavy hints when they parted about how Prom was coming up, and there were undoubtedly going to be some very pretty girls there. Eric made it clear for what was the hundredth time that he still wanted to find whoever owned that voice (with a smile of course, Grimsby was one of his best friends, after all), but as an afterthought, he realized; Prom involved music, running into people…so why not? So what if he didn’t know anyone? It could still be fun, and he was an outgoing person. Chances were, he’d find some friends by the end of the night.

For now? He was just going to dance. While it wasn’t as strong of a suit for him as, say, his guitar or flute, he wasn’t half bad, of course. When you loved music as much as he did, you had an inkling of rhythm that came naturally. Besides that, he had the added bonus of having no desire to particularly impress anyone, because even the best dancers felt like newborn giraffes once they got started. What was the point of letting insecurity like that hold you back from doing something so fun.

And what could possibly have been more fun than singing the words to the song that he knew fairly well as he danced? “You’re waking up a part of me I’ve never kno-own, and I’ve never felt so invincible, what took you so far away?” He had to admit, that was actually working pretty well for him now, because…well, why else? All he could think about since that storm that almost killed him was that girl, that voice…and he was almost calling to her even though he was supposed to be having simple fun where he hopefully would socialize and not completely lose himself to thoughts of a girl he might never see again. But how could he help it? His heart was already a lost cause, even when he was in a crowded room full of plenty of beautiful girls, dying for a fairytale prom.

[ariel]

Ariel had never been to Prom, but from what she'd discovered while being on land, it was a a big deal. She decided it was worth going to...but what did one wear to prom? She turned that question to several teen magzines. She learned how to find a perfect prom dress and hairstyle so she felt ready to go. So when she entered the prom, she clearly could rival any other beautiful girl in the room.

She especially looked like a princess that night. Her dress was a beautiful ice blue color with beading on ther waist. It was strapless and fit like a glove. The back had some flowers on the back and the beading continued down. She had a golden beaded purse on her shoulder, which held her little pad and a pen inscase she wanted to talk to anyone. Her hair[ was curled in ringlets with her bangs hanging down on her forehead. All she was missing was the tiara or it would have been clear she was a princess.

Ariel felt pretty...or so she guessed. She never had to think about if she was pretty or not before...it wasn't a concept she was use to. She hoped she looked all right as she walked into the prom. The room was full of other students...and that made her realize she knew no one still. It'd be rather hard to meet anyone as a mute too...So she wandered a bit as she looked about the room. Then the sound of someone singing along to the song caught her ear. “You’re waking up a part of me I’ve never kno-own, and I’ve never felt so invincible, what took you so far away?” She reconized him instantly. Also instantly, she stopped and just looked at him, unable to stop herself. She had saved his life. She was here to find him and there he was...and words wouldn't come to her lips (or mind so she could write them). She just looked at him. She was closer than she'd ever been to him before...he was even more handsome this close.

[Deleted]

Sunny didn't really blame Beowulf for the awkwardness; as far as she was concerned, it was just as much her fault as it was his. She was pretty good at making people feel awkward, so when things felt uncomfortable, she generally assumed it was the result of something she'd done.

But she also thought that maybe things wouldn't be half so awkward if she just stopped thinking about them being awkward. When she hadn't thought about it, having her hand wrapped up in Beowulf's had made perfect sense, it had felt natural...then she had to go and worry about it and now she was having a mini panic attack on the inside over whether he'd hate it.

Fortunately, they managed to cross the distance to the punch bowl without anything terrible happening, at which point Sunny had a reason other than embarrassment to tug her hand free of his and start pouring punch. She poured two glasses of it, and handed one to him, then, just before she was about to take a sip out of hers, a memory came back to her.

"Do you think it's poisoned?" she asked, looking over the cup at him, her glance uncertain...would he remember that as one of the first things she ever said to him, or was she reading far too much into this?