The Hapes Consortium Masquerade Ball

[Vulpesen]

He let out a small laugh and reached into his jacket as she mentioned the mask. "Perhaps you'r right." He ducked his head down and replaced the mask with one of a wolven face, broader than that of a fox with the sapphire markings being replaced with ruby red lines. It wasn't a big change, but it was something. Not to mention, this one allowed his mouth to be free in case he wanted to eat or drink... or kiss the lovely lady at his side. "Better? And besides, even if they did figure out who I am, I'll just play it off that I needed a break. Not like their first guess will be that I have an alter-ego."

[member="Alexandra Lianne Feanor"]

 

[Dissero]

"Of course it wasn't," Dissero returned in good humor, an easy smile watching over Verie as she fretted over all the trivial things that women usually fret over. Make up, hair, a mildly-crooked-hardly-noticeable seam, does-this-clutch-match-my-dress-it's-not-the-same-white-but-you-can-hardly-tell-from-a-distance-right? sort of things.

You look beautiful no matter what.

Your hair is lovely, stop fussing.

The seam looks fine, I don't even notice it for the way it hugs your a-

There are two different colors of white?

His arm looped above his date along the top of the seat, left hand lightly resting along her far shoulder, Dissero took this time to sink into the sensation of peace and contentment he had not felt in over a year, and what a long year it had been. Despite the many great accomplishments and finds; the growth of his vault collection; the many misdeeds and horrible events, it all paled in comparison to finally getting back something so near and dear to him: his humanity in the form of the lovely, flustered Verie Lacroix. With her beside him again his mind was clearer, his instincts sharper, and the dark shadow that had fallen upon him seemed to have lifted just enough to find enjoyment again. Sanity, sweet sanity, had returned, and feth he had missed it.

She was speaking words that he wasn't hearing only because Dissero was too lost in the idea that maybe his life didn't need to continue on the very severe dark and downward spiral it had been in. Maybe he could simply leave everything behind, including the location of all those things he'd collected and crafted over the years. All that knowledge just ... gone without a trace. Maybe he could go back to being what his namesake entiteled him to: Amadeus Darke, Crown Prince of Kuat.

Maybe he could finally ask Verie the question that had been on his mind through years of courtship - what had only once been a humored thought, now a very real possibility.

"...you look dashing. But then you normally do. And in a fraction of the time, too."

His hand at her shoulder he pulled the young woman close, careful not to disturb her hair, and pressed a kiss against her temple with a low chuckle.

"Only because my plumage is on my chin and not in my hair," he pawed at his beard, now freshly trimmed, before moving to pull a painted full-face mask over his head. The Archivist's signature within the Force immediately dissipated, and just soon enough. Their sleigh pulled around to the entrance stairway of the hall and from it the Kuatian Prince Amadeus Darke disembarked, turning once his feet were on the ground to help Verie out as well. He offered her his arm and once ready lead the way up through the crowds.

[member="Verie Lacroix"]

 

[Cross Ikon]

Seeing Cryax Bane and his date here was a bit of a surprise. Maybe it was time to stop waiting around, and have a little fun. I walked after them, into some hall or another, and let the metal heels of my boot clang loudly off the floor. Finally catching up with them, I grinned widely.

They couldn't see me. It was perfect. Then that girl... What was her name? Anastasia. That was it. Anastasia made a comment about how great the palace was. All stealth and pranks forgotten, I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"I honestly used to hate this place. Too many old, dead people and ghosts lurking... just out of the corners of your vision... until they jump!"

I suddenly grabbed Cryax's shoulders, and laughed. Walking around him, I pointed at the portrait they were standing in front of. A woman I knew very well. The Crown Princess of Hapes, from when I was about twenty.

"I slept with her, once."

[member='Cryax Bane'] [member='Anastasia Rade']

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax shrieked and jumped about five feet in the air as the red-haired Hapan grabbed him. He whirled around, his fists up, and saw Cross Ikon. He remembered meeting the man at a Jedi healer's temple back when he was recovering from injuries he'd gotten escaping from a Black Suns death camp. Of course Cross was here. This was the biggest party on his home planet.

He smiled at the roguish Hapan. "You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that." He laughed, and steadied a very-expensive looking urn he almost had tipped over. "It's nice to see you again, Ikon. We were just having a quick look around the place."

His red eyes scanned the painting. "Isn't she a little old for you?"

[member="Cross Ikon"] [member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Verie Lacroix]

Verie took in the sights of what Hapes had on offer, contented simply to be where she was. She had never anticipated visiting the Hapes Consortium before; the Hapans' historical xenophobia and isolationism, whether enforced by the current regime or not, was enough to prevent Avadreia from ever taking an interest in the cluster, and so Verie had never been exposed to it or interested in it. It was too bad, because from what Verie could see it was a beautiful place to visit. The palace was a thing of beauty, a work of art in its own right. and Verie had to crane her neck to watch the towers and turrets as they moved closer.

"They're not so different from us," she murmured quietly as they approached the entrance. Hereditary matriarchy was the hallmark of Kuat as much as it was for Hapes, although Kuat's dependence upon a foreign market made isolationism both impractical and unwise. She leaned against [member="Dissero"]'s shoulder and suppressed a smile. How long had she imagined moments like these? How often had she told herself they would never occur? She allowed herself a deep breath of the cool winter air and gave a contented sigh. She was half-tempted to ask to circle the drive again, but it was too late, they were only a few sleds away from the entrance, and --

So accustomed had she been to Dissero's presence in the Force that his sudden absence made her anxious, and she squeezed his knee lightly, if only to reassure herself that he hadn't disappeared again. When their carriage arrived, Verie took Dissero's hand and disembarked. "Thanks," she said lightly, taking his arm as they mounted the steps. "How charming," Verie said pleasantly as they swept into the entry hall. The sound of music that had been piping through the speakers on their drive up was wafting softly from deeper within the palace. She allowed some butler or another to help her out of her fur, revealing a white and silver gown beneath.

"I suppose we ought to pay our respects to our hostess first," Verie said, adjusting her mask nervously, trying to sound for all the world like she knew what she was doing, like she belonged at a place like this, "And then... what do you feel like? Food, drink, or dance?"

 

[Sicarius]

Hand over hand again. Sure, hanging like this kind of sucked after a bit, but between the strength and endurance training his muscles had and the promise of the reward on the other side, he knew his body could hold out more than long enough to finish the job.

Down below, little boy blue and his blonde bimbo escort moved along. The guards moved down the hallway and away from him for the most part. That meant he was in the clear for now and needed to get moving.

Hand over hand, slide the feet up, keep things slow, steady, and quiet. Breathing, that was the key. Slow breaths in, slow breaths out. At times it felt like you were suffocating, but that was just your body's way of telling you it wanted to slow down. If you kept going and focused, your body slowly learned it was fine and that it could handle things like that for a bit.

By the time Little Boy Blue and Blonde Bimbo made it to the stairs, Sicarius was at the second chandelier. He paused for a moment and scanned the area a bit while using the chandelier to hide behind for the most part. Once he knew the coast was clear, he'd move to the third ceiling piece.

[member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Cross Ikon]

I shook my head, grinning.

"She wasn't so old a thousand years ago, blue boy. And damn, was she beautiful."

Then I blinked, remembering that there was a large amount of backstory there that I had never explained to this particular Chiss and his girlfriend.

"Also, I'm a war hero, here. They have monuments to me in this hallway. You'll scream even louder when you see what the dates on them are."

Then I heard something, or rather the hair on my neck stood up instinctually. I held up one finger to point at the ceiling, and gestured for both Cryax and Anastasia to keep talking.

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member='Anastasia Rade'] [member='Sicarius']

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax followed Cross Ikon's finger to the ceiling. Was that a man hanging up there behind the chandelier? Cryax gulped down the rest of his champagne and set down the glass on a the head of a cherubic sculpture nearby. His eyes still following the suspicious shape near the ceiling, he kept talking to Cross.

"We'd love to go take a look at some of those monuments, Cross. They're right over there under that chandelier, aren't they?" He nodded with his head, gesturing to the area directly below the figure. "Shall we go have a closer look at them?"

[member="Sicarius"] [member="Cross Ikon"] [member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Selka Ventus"]

 

[Ariella Garon]

[SIZE=13.63636302948px][member="Airal Thamne"] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.63636302948px][member="Mr. Ash"][/SIZE]

It had been a long time since coming home more then 15 years since she set foot on the planet since she been a little girl. Hearing of this ball couldn't help. Now arm in arm with her two dates which just have one when you could go as a trio. With a slide of her lips to curl upwards.

Stepping out onto the door being open for them. Dressed in a long floor lenght in floor dress of red. To complete her dress was the mask of her choosing tonight. It would be pair with her hair of golden blonde that was pulled back to give her a more classic look.

Finding herself taking the steps with in the ball room it self noting a lot of others was already there, "Better late then never at all my sweeties. Finding that this could be a good way to relax or was it always business with her and the two she was with. Only time would tell at the moment it was time to mingle with the other guess that had varity of masked ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Cross Ikon"] [member="Sicarius"]

From her nearby position, failing to flirt tipsily with a guard, Selka noticed the redhead point up, and the Chiss follow his line of sight. The redhead looked halfway familiar; maybe she'd seen him elsewhere in the Hall of Masters.

She contemplated making a scene, going full-bore distraction, but nothing that came to mind offered much of a chance of distracting this crew. So, with a shrug, she sauntered up to Blue Boy, Bottle Blonde, and the Ginger Menace, intercepting them on their way to the chandelier.

"Twenty thousand credits to each of you," she said quietly, "in cash, right now, if you stop pointing and staring at the man on the ceiling. Or feth, name your price. None of these people could imagine how important it is that that man gets where he's going."

 

[Cross Ikon]

Looking down at the woman who'd just offered to bribe me to shut the hell up, I grinned.

"How about... I help, and you pay me for my kind-hearted service. You better pay these kiddies too, 'cos I'm dragging them along."

I winked at the couple, and spread my hands out in an expansive gesture, and my voice raised to a ridiculous volume. Then I hugged the random woman, and shouted.

"MY LITTLE COUSIN! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN AGES."

The handful of people who'd been wondering at the insane redhead pointing at the ceiling just shook their heads and walked away.

[member="Selka Ventus"] [member="Cryax Bane"] [member='Anastasia Rade'] [member='Sicarius']

 

[Mirumoto Hitomi]

This was to be a lesson in observation Hitomi exited the transport very carefully taking minute steps forward as the details of her dress kept her from taking large unlady like steps. She smiled graciously at the valet who offered his hand so readily, she did not wear a mask as the others her face had been done in geisha style the white makeup covering her face and down her neck.

She had never been to something so grand as this and she did not know if she would ever again. The hall was filled with flowers and columns, the scent of a familiar lily touched her nose and made her smile. Her onyx colored eyes darted about touching upon details that drew her curiosity and wonder if anyone else had taken time to notice. The decorator had gone to great trouble to ensure that the arrange flowed over to enhance the feeling of water, it was a stunning affect with the tiny crystals in each arrangement accenting as if tiny drops of water.

Hitomi took a glass of champagne looking at it to see the tiny bubbles that burst and rose up they tickled her nose and made her smile. Yes this was very grand.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana just followed along to go view the different monuments and chandelier. That were being pointed out. She was happy with being given a tour of this place as she was sure if left to their own devises the couple would end up getting turned around and lost in here.

If they were being offered credits for their silence she wondered what the secret was. Ana had no issue taking the credits but digging into it sounded more fun. It could also prove to be more fruitful in the long run.

"Why?" She questioned looking to the woman before looking to Cross. "Can you give us a tour of this palace? "


[member="Selka Ventus"][member="Cryax Bane"][member="Cross Ikon"]

 

[Rianna Organa-Ar'klim]

The transport pulled up to let them off at the palace Erela looked out this was quite stunning she looked over [member="Noah Corek"] pleased that he had asked her to come with him. "Have you been here before?" She asked. She had chosen her dress careful much like every other woman at this ball, but for her it was about wearing something flattering, and having it be something that Noah would appreciate.

Her dress was perfect and fit where it should. They were all to wear masks as well it seemed, which was alright. She had something she wanted to discuss with Noah tonight to see how he would feel about it. She looked over at him hoping now would be a good time to do so.

She slipped out of the transport giving her hand to the valet who helped her up. She smiled proudly and waited for the most handsome man at the ball.

 

[Amarant]

Mr. Ash smiled and walked in, accompanying two women he actually trusted somewhat. Thankfully, it was unlikely any force-heavy muscle would home in on him being a droid, with all the chaos running around here. He smirked and gazed around the room, wearing a rather goofy gold and black mask over his face as he walked in. He wondered if he'd make some new friends. That'd be nice.


He nodded to his cohorts. "Have fun and keep in trouble. This should be a wild one." He adjusted his tie. A nice suit. A good hat. He looked great in white, it was handsome, striking, intense. It suited him on nights like this. So many sharks. And he was a good fisherman.

[member="Airal Thamne"] [member="Ariella"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Darth Tsolan"]

"Maybe not their first but you don't exactly have the best record for keeping hidden... atleast you haven't for me, maybe i just have better eyesight than everyone else in thsi blasted galaxy ehh fox face?" She smiled and turned to him, heading out into the dance floor and taking his hand and starting to dance with him when the music would begin, at first a bit distant but soon coming closer and leaning her head on his shoulder. "Now this, is something that i would love to do over and over again instead of fighting."

 

[Aiden Merritt]

[member="Melanctha Dallamoor"]


Aiden tried hard to keep that cordial, yet deferential look on his face expected of the well-trained Hapan male as they entered the ball room; however, he couldn’t conceal every trace of his smirk as they mingled.

He was very happy to see Mel again. They hadn’t had much time together when they could talk privately since they announced their decision to their parents. They were each pulled into the planning and business of their own systems. The union of Cheruba and Relephon was turning out to be a much bigger deal than Aiden had ever imagined.

He guided them into the center of the room, displaying Melanctha proudly for all the attendees to see and wonder why she was there with him. He couldn’t help but chuckle at that thought.

Aiden looked up at the lights and decorations adorning the massive room and admitted to himself the Hapans did know how to throw a party.

“It really is gorgeous, Mel,” he responded to her in a low, intimate voice; leaning their heads together as they spoke as an adoring, newly engaged couple would be expected to do. “However… if you want to see something really amazing, let’s sneak down to the foyer outside the Queen Mother’s residence and see the Wind-Crystal chandelier. I may even be able to conjure up a slight breeze so that we can hear it play.”

 

[Thalia Rist]

Thalia watched every person silently and smiled as she rolled her neck back and looked up at the ceiling far above. She breathed in and smiled as she stood there before looking back down and finding a chair or something to sit in. After all there was no reason to just remain standing here for no reason past it made her more obvious, which is something she had no reason to do at all nor wanted to do.

She did watch others, from those dancing, to those simply talking, and those arriving. All of them seemed to interest her a little and all of them made a bit of a spectacle to be sure, but now she wondered if there was going to end up with everyone having a partner to dance with, or if it would turn into an interesting bout of wall to wall staring.

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Mirumoto Hitomi"]

"A pretty sight, dont you think?" He smiled as he walked up beside her, still wearing the dark blue mask that clasped over his features and hid everything but his eyes and mouth. Not that speaking with the thing on was exactly pleasant like if it was off, but he was fine with it so he wore it so to keep with the whole tradition of this sort of deal or what ever. His eyes did focus on the subject of his question and he smiled lightly and a bit widely as his eyes focused on her.

"I suppose asking for the name of a pretty girl is something not done at this, so instead how about a dance miss?" He turned to her, giving her a bow of his, his right hand over his chest and left behind his back. "You can call me Shade if you want, not a name but easier to call someone something no?"

 

[Vulpesen]

"I think you're forgetting a few factors. Before and after I became a sith, I always went out to find you. Not hard to figure out who I am when I'm so pen with you. Hell, I can hardly relax if I'm with anyone else." He walked with her as they went out to the dance floor, his tail fluffing just a bit as they started to dance. "Actually, this kind of reminds me of the days back when I didn't get shot at. Zarro brought me to these kinds of balls all the time."

[member="Alexandra Lianne Feanor"]