[PP-F2] A Night of Freedom.

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

'I guess that's it then' thought a certain blonde as she finished her latest craft. There had been people buzzing around the shop lately in search of formal attire for a certain event that was hosted on the 2nd floor. She too had received the summary and poorly written invitation as well. She could feel the narcissistic tendencies just by looking at the difference between the I and You's and the randomness of the capital letters didn't help either. In any case people were getting pumped, that they even dared to purchase high quality goods at her absurd items. With one gesture, she closed the message containing the invitation and open her inventory. She unequipped every little item except for the underwear and took a look in the mirror. She was pleased to see that her athletic physic was as she remembered IRL, almost scared her that in this time since this 'death game' began, she had changed so little in appearance. With another gesture, she equipped the item she had readied for herself.

It was one of the dresses from her own collection, being Aincrad's #1 tailor, she couldn't just go in any kind of dress. She had to aim for the most eye-catching dress in the party. Despite her claim it was quite a simple design: a black velvet dress, with snowflakes pattern and a split. That and a pair of mid heel shoes made up her evening attire for this occasion. Also, she tied her blonde hair in a side ponytail and let it flow in front of her right shoulder. Now she was ready.

Before leaving she took a final glance at her sleepy familiar and let out a small 'Don't wait for me!' with a giggle. A phrase that would drive her father mad in this kind of situation. She'd arrive to the location written in the message in a relatively short while but apparently a bit late as she saw Zelrius delivering the final words of what seemed to be a speech. The blonde decided to let the people finish congratulating the birthday boy before she would do the same. In the meanwhile she looked at the attendants. Most of them were unknown faces to her but she did recognize her former guild members Rebekah and Takao, the noisy slacker X, her regular clint Jomei, her old friend Azide, some new acquaintances like Red and Alex, not to mention the now orange Lowenthal. If any would spot her she would show a light smile and nod to them.

Overall the atmosphere of the party was nice, as a pleasant song rang mildly in her ear and the different tasty looking dishes laid in something like a free buffet. the thing that got her interest though was of in a more.... liquid form. As one of the waiters closed into her direction, she effortlessly swapped a slim wine glass with a rose tinge and took a light sip. "Mmmmmm its been a while." she softly muttered with a sigh, remembering that wine was a thing she wasn't allow to have IRL. As the host sat back in a old fashion rocking chair, the girl would close in on him with a smile: "Good evening and Happy Birthday Zelrius-chan!" she said with a bit of her Japanese accent showing, while bowing in a appropriate fashion for this time of event, while slightly grabbing the hem of her dress. Next she materialized a navy wrapped gift box with the crowned lion logo on it, from her inventory with his name on it and put it on a nearby table. It contained a suit  that she made for him but instead of being black it had a light tinge of azure(blue) that was accentuated by golden trimmings. 

Edited September 21, 2015 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Clarence 0]

(Yes, the return of Clarence... Hopefully).

Clarence slowly opened his eyes, not caring about what time it was. He opened his messages, the inbox always getting messages that say Are you okay?  or Where have you been? or, the worst ones. I...I miss you Clarence...  Most days, he could just ignore them, but others he couldn't keep himself together. Fortunately, for him, this message may be something he needed. Zelrius sent a group wide message to his friends inviting them to a dance for his Birthday Party. Oh yeah... It was my birthday a little while ago too.. huh. Clarence gave a sad smile, knowing it didn't make any difference. He ran his fingers through his unkempt hair and stood up, changing his clothes. Maybe I should go out.. I wont see Lowenthal so I wont rip my heart out of my chest. Clarence frowned and winced, almost as if it physically pained him. Clarence gathered his things and tried to scrape together a decent looking figure, failing even at that. "Well, I wont explain myself. Hurts to much too." Clarence mumbled and left the room, erasing the rest of the question messages he has, failing to notice Lowenthal was invited as well.

Clarence arrived where it was and sighed, his figure looking out of place. Everyone looked elegant and poised. Clarence's hair was a slight mess. His clothes wrinkled and looking like they were hanging on his frame. Physically Clarence was fine but mentally he had massive turmoil. One look at Clarence would show that he is really hurting, and not knowing what to do about it. New and familiar faces came to Clarence's mind but he tried to make sure that one person wasn't here. His eyes skimmed over the crowd but didn't see him. Clarence relaxed lightly and slowly walked forward. Hoping to find a friend to talk to soon.

[Persephone 0]

Lisa had met up with Lowenthal rather early for the party. She was surprised that her new friend had asked her to attend such an event, and even more surprised when he said he had something to give to her. She met him at his shop on the eleventh floor and was immediately given something and shoved off to a dressing room. It took her a moment to slip into the garment, and eventually she emerged from the dressing room tugging at the long white kit skin gloves. Lowenthal’s face seemed to light up as he told her that she looked amazing.

“Did you really make this?” Lisa said as she spun about in front of the mirror beside the dressing rooms. She was wearing the most elegant white sleeveless ball grown made of satin. The soft white material was bejeweled in crystals that decorated the bodice and dusted the skirt and looked like starlight had had fallen upon her dress. “This is so beautiful, Thank you ever so much!” She said as she approached Lowe. “I feel like a princess!” Lisa leaned in and pecked his cheek. He asked if she was ready to go, and she nodded excitedly. “But of course!” She said as she took her companion’s arm and headed off to the party.

They reached the second floor and traveled on until they came to a beautiful garden that was lavishly decorated for the event. “This is amazing!” She said in awe as she looked about her. Lowe suggested they take a seat and Lisa nodded as he lead her around. 

Edited September 21, 2015 by Persephone

[Piera 0]

Piera offered Zelrius a polite smile at his greeting and looked up at Lee as he replied, which prompted her to nod in agreement. "Definitely needed. Especially with what's coming up." She referred to the floor eleven's boss raid with a knowing look before finishing, "Regardless, thank you for holding such an open party and inviting us. Make sure you enjoy it too and don't get too swamped with your guests." The brunette then quickly sidestepped with her boyfriend in tow to make room for others that were waiting to wish the guild leader well.

Giving a wide toothy smile complete with dimples as she caught the red headed man's attention, Piera nodded at his question. "I'm completing a huge order for him and worked out a business arrangement so I guess that's enough to earn an invitation. Why, did you sneak in? Party crasher." She teased. "I bet you're just here for the food." The laden down plate in his hand certainly seemed to indicate that. "Mmm it does look good though. Maybe later." The alchemist watched with a content smile as her friend greeted her boyfriend and shook his hand, the two men exchanging platitudes. Her attention was completely taken up by Lee when he opened his menu to change into a standard but utterly classic black suit and tie with white button up shirt. "Definitely not. Very nice." Piera stated appreciatively, running a hand down his tie with a smirk before turning her head and finding that Kalesh had disappeared into the crowd. Shrugging, the brunette was fairly sure that she'd run into him again at another point during the party.

She was about to ask Lee what they should do now when she overheard a familiar accent over the chatter and music. Turning her head, Piera spotted the telltale orange of Jomei's ginger hair and smiled before smiling up at Lee. "Let's go say hi. We gotta mingle an schmooze. Schmoooooze." She exaggerated the pronunciation with a giggle as they walked over to where Jomei was speaking with Lowenthal and an unfamiliar girl in a stunning dress. Beaming at her friends, the alchemist spoke, "Lookin' good guys. Glad I'm not the only Velvet Room person here." Then turning her attention to the girl on Lowenthal's arm she greeted, "I don't think we've met. I'm Piera." The brunette unhooked her arm from Lee's to offer it to Persephone to shake hands.

[Takao 0]

Takao's attention shifted from Red to Zelrius as he greeted everybody one by one. His typical warm smile grew on his face as he inclined his head slightly in response. He felt bad for not having a gift to give, despite most of his resources being poured into preparations for the upcoming raid. He didn't have any intentions of charging the other front liners for what he could supply, given that their collective survival was more important than his own personal wealth, but that didn't stop him from feeling slightly culpable. Ultimately, he dismissed the thoughts, and turned his attention back to Red as his smile widened.

"I've been good," he said, sinking his hands down into the pockets of his pants. "I left him back at my shop. He... uh..." he paused for a moment to pull his hand back out and scratch the side of his neck. "He has a tendency to cause trouble wherever he goes, 'specially if there's food involved." Takao chuckled lightly at the thought of how his familiar would've run rampant through the party, causing mischief wherever it could. After looking at the food that had been set out for the occasion, he knew he'd made the right decision by leaving his familiar behind for the night.

"So, how've you been?" he asked, turning the question back onto her. "Oh, and uh... you look amazing, by the way." he said after quickly looking her up and down, trying his best not to stare. His warm expression had tensed up some after speaking, though the smile hadn't quite died down, only looking a bit more nervous now.

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh smiled to Lee as they shook hands and exchanged greetings "The feeling is mutual. Your armor looked pretty sturdy, if you want someone lighter on their feet for a dungeon or something feel free to invite me along!" After offering his services in battle he glanced over to Piera to put his hand over his heart. "Why, I am hurt!" He said in an obvious acting voice "I came here with a real and honest invitation I'll have you know!" he grinned mischievously and said "You aren't wrong about the food though." He chuckles and grabs a square of pineapple and pops it into his mouth. He chuckled softly as he glanced around the mountaintop for more people from his meager friend's list around before he started to check out the other guests to get a feel for the crowd.

The first thing he noticed was that the majority of the unpaired female attendees seemed to already know Zelrius, making him grin a little before he shrugged and let him enjoy his birthday as much as he wanted! There was nothing wrong with wanting good company on your birthday. He idly remembered his birthday wasn't all that long ago, but he had decided against holding a party. He hadn't been participating enough to deserve it he thought, and he didn't exactly know a lot of people. Timing considered it was too late for him to change his mind so he'd just have to tough it out and wait for next year.

A little while later he noticed that Piera was speaking with an orange player, raising a brow as he swiftly glanced around to confirm whether or not the guardian was about to spawn. It seemed he wasn't so he merely shrugged his shoulders, a little happy this was a safe zone even if it seemed Piera trusted him. The orange player had a date! A man who had bare minimum attacked a friendly NPC or player, and at worst murdered someone, had a better social net than he did. He groaned and pressed his hand into his face at his own failings before he started to eat again to sooth the inner turmoil.

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal pulled out a chair for Persephone to take a seat. After she was seated, Lowe took his own seat. As he sat down, he noticed someone familiar walk in. But, before he could investigate, Jomei  walked up. Lowenthal looked the irishmen over. "Looking quite dapper now, are we?" Lowenthal said, noting Jomei's appearance. "Oh, Persephone. This is Jomei, a good friend of mine. Jomei, this is Persephone. My date for the evening." Lowenthal said, introducing the two to each other. Lowenthal looked over Jomei's shoulder, and noticed that familiar shape again. "Just one, second." Lowenthal said standing, only to met Piera in front of him. "Ah, Piera. Glad that you were able to join us. You look quite beautiful. Lee is quite the lucky man." Lowenthal complimented Piera. "This is Persephone." Lowenthal said, introducing her to Piera. "Persephone, this is Piera. She's another great friend of mine." Lowenthal said, now introducing Piera to Persephone. Lowenthal looked over his should, now unable to find that familiar shape. 

[Opal 0]

"PLEASE!!! With a cherry on top!??" 

"Opal-san! Ugh..."

"Come on~ I've been training so hard already, I mean you've seen me. I don't half ass things like I used to. And plus its just one night, as soon as I get over the hang over I promise to work like three times harder! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLE--"

"Fine! Go! Just stop yelling, Opal-san!" 

"Yay!!" the woman ran to her elder master and gave him the biggest hug ever which caught him off guard. After balancing himself she roared out of the room and into the washroom, "Women...and their parties..." 

-Two hours pass....

"Ugh! I can't do a thing with this hair!" the woman stepped out of the bathroom dawning a splendid one piece light blue dress that seemed to shimmer anf glint in the light. Her dark raven hair which was normally unfurled over her shoulders was now up in a bun, but several of the inky strands had been strategically placed to give it a sort of wild appeal. She was dressed in mostly a blue dress, light at top then slowly darkened at the bottom to a full sapphire blue. She wore black high heels since black went with everything, painted her nails a sterling blue and wore her trademark dark eye liner with blue eye shadow that shimmered just as much as her dress along with a red lipstick. She smiled and posed a few times in front of Master Myoga who had no words to express the woman's beauty. 

"I don't know about the whole...tattoo showing...It is elegant though. You look very beautiful, this Lawfer must be one lucky man."

"You bet he's lucky. I haven't dressed like this since Prom..." she pointed to herself, "Which I one by the way...Though I am not expecting to be the most beautiful one there. I just want to make 'us' look good. Anyways...I am off! Don't wait up for me!" 

She ran out the door holding her dress up and tossed a crystal upwards into the air, "Urbus!"

--

Opal disappeared in a flash of light. When she came to, she was in Urbus as much as she expected, apparently this birthday was a global event gala of sorts. She saw all sorts of people dressed up and looking good for the occasion. She only hoped that she too was dressed up nicely. She walked with the fluid grace of a swan, and many whispered at one another of the woman in blue. She felt a little embarrassed as people were holding ear to ear conversations while looking at her. She wanted to panic if she looked like a mess. She calmed herself down and was united with the rest of the guests who seemed to be swarming a certain golden haired gentlemen in an exquisite tuxedo, unfortunately she could not pick Lawfer out of the many, many players that had come.  She stood in the background and smiled to others with her pearly white teeth, she wrapped her arms around her chest and walked slowly towards all the others, why was she so nervous? 

She just stood there and said hello to a few people walking by her waiting to catch a glimpse of her spear knight. "MMm...where is he...?" Opal stood looked to her left, she saw another golden haired player dressed in blue that just visited the would be Birthday Boy. She breathed in slowly and walked to him slowly and tapped him on the shoulder. 

[Tristan Delaney 0]

Tristan entered the room in full battle gear, is ebony armor equipped, along with Twinfire Reflector and Devastator showing holstered on his back. With long flowing red hair and scars, he looked the usual battle scarred veteran as he did, an imposing figure with a height matching Mack as per usual. He was in fact the only person invited that was going in full gear, which was on purpose. He was to be the bouncer of sorts for the party, the figure of "If you break the rules, prepare to be smacked in the face". Tristan smiled at Zelrius as he approached and patted his shoulder, saying "Well done on hosting such a party, let's hope with me here for intimidation we get no problems at all. If anyone is even that stupid...", a chuckle added at the end. Attendance already seemed popular.

[Miriko 0]

Miriko wasn't surprised by Zelrius's words. No one at this party knew her. I do really need to try socialize more. "My name is Miriko, You invited me to your party. Im surprised that you did. No one really knows me here in SAO." Miriko quietly said. She looked around the room at the many players that had arrived. Her eyes caught a familiar face. It was her boyfriend Vasth, who was looking very handsome indeed . Miriko slowly walked up to him. "Vasth you finally came." She planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

[Vasth 0]

After Vasth gave Zelrius a hand shake (assuming he did) Vasth saw Miriko walk up to him, my god she is so beautiful Vasth thought to himself, Miriko gave Vasth a soft kiss on the cheek and Vasth hugged her and gave her a kiss on her forehead,  "Well of course Miriko, you look like a goddess and how do I look,is my hair good?" Vasth asked her as he stepped back, letting Miriko see his clothes and his hair, Vasth saw Opal In the crowd with Lawfer  woah are they dating? Vasth thought, Vasth decided to call them over, " Hey! Opal! Lawfer! Over here!" Vasth called out.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei smirked at Lowenthal as he complimented his choice of attire, "Thank you lad, so do you. Who thought you could clean up so well." he chuckled with a wide grin. It was then that his friend introduced Jomei to Persephone, his date for the night. She was quite a sweet looking girl, he wondered when and where Lowe would have met her. He reached forward with a gentle hand, "Its a pleasure to meet you, Persephone." he also added a slight bow of his head out of respect. 

The sandy haired man seemed to look past Jomei from his seat at someone else who was approaching. He turned his body to see Piera, with her arm hooked on Lee's, walking towards the table. It was nice to see Piera all dolled up for the night, being she was already a pretty girl.. in her dress she looked even more-so. But what was more interesting was to see Lee in formal attire, since he was so used to see the man up to the teeth in armor. Jomei smiled at the two as they approached, "Well look who it is." As Lowenthal went introducing the two newcomers to Persephone, Jomei went and greeted Lee with a handshake, "Been awhile my friend, how are things?" Jomei laughed and looked at his friends.. realizing again both had dates. Great... Forget being the third wheel.. I'm the spare tire. 

The irishman then look past his friends as they spoke towards someone who had just entered the party. At first he did not recognize who the beautiful girl was.. but upon closer inspection he realized it was Opal. His eyes widened as she walked by, he thought she was supposed to be on an isolated mountain training, what was she doing here. If he knew any better, he would have asked her to accompany him. He shrugged, raising his hand and opening his mouth, he went to call out to the girl. However, he stopped when it seemed her attention was elsewhere, greeting another blonde haired man who he was led to believe was her date for the night. Jomei lowered his hand, his mouth closed, and he look at the ground with a slightly sad expression. But he shook it off and looked back up to his friends with a half smile. "I-Its good that Zelrius decided to throw this party.. it'll really help us to de-stress and get everyone's minds off the upcoming boss battle." he spoke, trying to take his mind off of things. 

[Eulalia 0]

I-I swear I look silly as all hell in this getup... Eulalia complained as she looked herself over; maybe the orange was a tad too bright?  Were the gloves and stockings too formal?  Was the dress itself too revealing?  Eula let out a sigh of frustration at her lack of fashion sense.  That's what I get for being an almost hardcore tomboy... She gave a quick twirl one way, then the other. Eh.  Can't be that bad, can it?  The green trimming does kinda complement the orange... And maybe the ruby'll take attention off of... Everything else, she mused, taking a glance at her chest area. 

Eulalia slipped out of her in room and rushed down the stairs of the inn towards the door, impatient and unwilling show her rather exposed form to the public eye.  On the run,  she reached up to her verdant hair and began to vigorously force it into a high ponytail.  Wish Iolite was here to help with my hair, she complained, finally at least producing a half-decent ponytail as  her scarlet heels reached the teleport gate.  First time higher than floor one... Here goes... "Teleport: Urbus!" She called, and her slender figure was consumed by the blue energy.

 

-----

A pair of green eyes shot around the gathering, trying their damnedest to spot at least one familiar face.  No Alet... Or Asphalt... Or even Iolite... But... Her eyes lit up as she noticed three familiar men within the crowd; her soon-to-be musical mentor X, fellow spear user Vasth, and to her utmost delight; Kalesh... But her head was screaming at her to greet the Birthday Boy first.  She scanned the area, noticing more dapper males and absolutely stunning women... She felt completely drowned out by their beauty.  Finally her eyes laid upon the most likely candidate for the Birthday Boy, and her legs guided her towards him.

Eulalia squeaked and backed off for a fleeting moment as she watched a hulking figure make way through the crowd; ostensibly he had special permission for weaponry.  Once the 'bouncer' had passed, she approached Zelrius; the sender of the invitation. "H-hello, Zelrius... My name's E-Eulalia, but please call me Lia." Eula introduced herself with a bashful but sweet smile on her lips.  That was the first time she hadn't given the choice of the nickname 'Eula'... Maybe she just adored the attention she received from 'Lia'. "T-thank you very much for inviting me~" She thanked him, bowing her head, before giving him a friendly wave and turning to find one person in particular...

There he was; Kalesh, obviously attempting to steal all the juicy meat around.  Noting this, Eulalia trailed the redhead, before carefully halting as he stopped to eat.  Eula crept up and reached a dainty hand around the side, plucking a relatively decent-sized piece of meet from Kalesh's plate and slipping it into her mouth.  She stepped out in front of the boy and gave him a mischievous grin. "Greetings, Kalesh~" She greeted him cheekily, slowly chewing on the meat; it reminded her of the steak the redhead gave her the money to purchase upon their first meeting.

(Eulalia's formal attire: )

http://i.imgur.com/vlEuSUo.jpg

 

Edited September 22, 2015 by Eulalia

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh was busy enjoying the free food to drown out insecurities and disappointment, it was a natural thing to him, binge eating never affected his weight much to his little sister's frustration. She always complained that he stole all the good genes. While idly thinking such thoughts and slipping a slice of orange into his mouth he gasped as he noticed a slice of meat being stolen! He turns his head back with wide eyes like a beast of prey or a snake or something that was looking for its prey!... before he took a breath when he realized who it was, laughing softly to himself before shaking his head. "And hello to you too, Lia! Are you planning to upgrade the hiding skill?" He rolled his eyes as he watched her enjoy her pilfered meal. He spent a moment looking her up and down, a grin crossing his lips as her fashion reminded him of a tangerine with some leaves on top. It wasn't a bad thing to him! The colors were bright but since it was consistent it looked good to him.

He smiled as he looked himself over and just shrugged "You have better fashion sense than me it seems. I just got a generic black suit and a tie to match my hair." He chuckle softly, not even bothering to mention that he tied his hair back a bit and smoothed his bangs down. "Y'look good, I love the vibrant colors, it goes with your hair and eyes great!" He smiled to her, looking around as if expecting a date to magically appear behind her. "You here by yourself?" He grinned slowly "I am. I think we both have something to gain from this." He snickered a bit to himself before gesturing to the table. "Food's free~!" He happily comments while picking at his plate.

[Lee 0]

As Kalesh would speak about his armor and if he wanted someone lighter on their feet, he would surely help in that endeavor "I will actually keep that in mind, I've been meaning to get a couple of things done and hate doing things by myself."
Lee Has Sent Kalesh A Friend's Requet
Lee would stand and listen to Piera as she seemed to joke around with Kalesh and that he was a party crasher with nothing more than the food on his mind. He would nod in agreement of the costume change to something more appropriate to the evening as Piera would seemingly agree with this entirely. He would nod firmly as she would run her fingers across his tie and smile confidently "See? I can clean up damn nice when I want too." She would then turn her attention elsewhere which would be in the direction of a small group that they actually knew fairly well and he would look back down to her as she spoke of 'schmooze' and he would agree with a nod "I'm more of a migler myself." and with that, he would follow in toe with her as their arms were intertwined. Lee knew only a small majority of people at the party but he had thought to change that slightly by the end of the event.

As they met with Lowenthal, Jomei and the newly introduced Persephone. Lowenthal spoke to Piera of just how lucky Lee was to which Lee would raise a finger up and flick the tip of his nose in an overly confident manner "Of course I am, it's only natural for one such as I." He would give way to pause "even if I'm not entirely sure what 'I' am in that regard." Lee would then greet Jomei with a firm handshake and reply "I've been well, can't complain. Actually starting to get out and around as of late. Everyone is getting so active with everything so I figured I'd just scrape off the moss and do things." Lee would then take his hand back as he looked between the group but more importantly, let his attention turn itself away to whatever it was that Jomei was looking at. It seemed that it wasn't a 'thing' per say but a 'who'. 

Lee would listen as Jomei spoke about the party to which Lee would reply "Yeah, Parties are great places because of all of the people and you never know who is single yo. They are great hook-up spots. Totally legit and everything."

[Mack 0]

Mack slipped one arm around Shirosu's waist as the silver-haired woman appeared in they made their way through the fields in the direction of where the event was being held. The Grandmaster with the flaming red hair and beard knew that he and Shirosu were going to make quite the entrance when they arrived at the little soiree that Zelrius was hosting this evening to celebrate his birthday. Mack, clad in a bright red zoot suit, complete with hat, knew that he would stick out like a sore thumb and that all who beheld him would know at once that he was the Grandmaster of the Crimson Blades. The only bits of color that weren't red on the entire ensemble were the black dress shirt and a gold chain at his right hip. For her part, Shirosu had opted for a slinky strapless number in teal. Moving together, as they did, the pair of them looked almost as if they could be the living embodiment of fire and ice, respectively.

"Come along, Shirosu. If we don't hurry then all the food may be gone by the time we arrive," the Grandmaster warned, winking down at the smaller woman. In truth, the bear of a man was in a hurry to get to the party because he had big plans for the evening and the only way to put those plans into motion was to hurry up and get there. Shirosu, for her part, had also been made aware of the fact that they were accompanying one another to the little brouhaha as friends, not as dates in the romantic sense of the word. Mack had his eye on someone else whom he suspected would be at the party. 

Once Mack and Shirosu had passed by the bouncer, who ensured that neither of them were armed, they entered the party. "There's Zelrius over there, I recognize him from the Boss Raid meeting, we should go over and say hello," the Grandmaster said in a low tone to his silver haired companion as he began to steer her through the milling crowds of people with the arm that was wrapped around her waist. 

"Zelrius, wonderful party and happy birthday," Mack said, speaking to the blonde headed party host. "I'm afraid I've nothing to offer as a gift at the present, but if you'll swing by the shop sometime and let me know what you need I'll get it if I'm able. This lovely creature on my arm this evening is Shirosu, another of the Crimson Blades. Now, we don't want to monopolize your time, so if you'll excuse us I think we'll avail ourselves of the dance floor," the Grandmaster concluded, inclining his head in a slight bowing motion to Zelrius before leading Shirosu off toward the dance floor. It was time for phase one of the evening's operation.

"I trust you can dance," he said in a low tone to Shirosu as he approached the computer generated character that was conducting the band. Explaining in a low tone what it was that he wanted, and the hand signals that would signal what he wanted each time, Mack passed a bag with four hundred col to the band conductor with a wink. Now, the only thing to do was to put the plan into motion. Taking Shirosu's hand he led the woman out onto the dance floor and flashed the conducted a single finger. Suddenly, the massive red headed man was glad that he had spent six offseasons from football, as a middle school and high school student learning how to dance to help him with his footwork and quickness as a defensive lineman. Now, thos skills would be put to good use since it didn't appear that any of the men at the party knew how to dance, if the deserted dance floor was any indicator.

Starting out about six feet from Shirosu as the upbeat swing style music began to play with his back to the rest of the party goers, more or less, Mack watched out of the corner of his eye and spun to face front a few seconds after she did, miming a couple of finger snaps a second before the silver-haired woman came hopping towards him. Mack hopped himself over until he and Shirosu had switched sides which was followed by a series of waving arms, spins, and kicking legs which caused the flaming red jacket of Mack's zoot suit to fan out crazily. Finally, the couple joined hands and began to whirl at a dizzying pace, barely hanging on to one another by their fingers as their feet continued to move madly. Eventually he spun the slender woman into his arms, wrapping an arm around the small of her back and flipping Shirosu backwards so that she landed on her feet with her right hand still firmly clutched in his left. "Not bad, I didn't think you'd know this one," he said in a tone loud enough to carry to his dance partner of the moment.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Mack

[Lawfer 0]

As he had just finished shaking the guest of honor’s hand, the golden haired spear bearer felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He briefly turned he caught sight of the honey eyed beauty. “If you’ll excuse me.” He politely interjected to the birthday boy as he turned to the woman. She was completely decked out in her a beautiful dress that accented her every feature. She had obviously taken her time to make sure she looked even more stunning than she already did. The spear bearer was taken aback at first, he didn’t know whether or not the woman would have gotten his message in the first place, let alone been able to sneak away for the night. A large smile erupted from his face. “You look absolutely incredible. The most beautiful woman here.” He said as his unrestrained smile turned to a slight smirk, as he looked the woman up and down. ‘Looks like she went all out.’ He thought to himself. “I wasn’t sure I’d get to see you. But here you are. I guess that makes me the luckiest guy in Aincrad.” He paused for a moment took her right hand, lifting it he pressed his lips to her hand kissing it gently. “Well now that we have the formalities out of the way... Hi Opal.” He laughed slightly, the golden haired man wasn’t fond of being overly formal. He had to endure it throughout his childhood and it didn’t match his current views on how people should interact. “I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I’ve missed you a little." He said, pulling her hand, he dragged her into him and hugged her for a moment. "How did you manage to sneak away from your master?”

“Enough of that though. Now that you’re here, let’s have some fun. Yeah? I hope your in the mood to dance a little bit later.” He asked rhetorically. As he leaned back, releasing the hug.  Turning his head, he heard the calls of one of his guild mates. It was the other spear bearer of the crimson blades, Vasth. “Do you mind?” He asked the honey eyed vixen. Grabbing her hand, he casually led her to their guild mate. As he passed buy a waitress he grabbed a champagne glass for the two. “Well hello, Vasth. Good to see you. Staying out of trouble?” He asked as he looked back at Opal and smiled then took a sip of the bubbly. Lawfer had noticed that Vasth was with a woman himself. Raising his hand, gesturing a slight wave he smiled. "Hi, Im Lawfer. Its nice to meet a friend of Vasth. Oh and this is Opal." He said introducing the two to the brunette. Lawfer wanted to be polite and mingle for a little, he knew that he would have all night with the Opal, and would prefer to get the rest of the formalities out of the way so that they would have more of an opportunity to talk later.

[Red_Rose 0]

Red looked down at her dress with a giant smile and pulled at it nervously when Takao mentioned how she looked. She was trying to look ok, with her hair done up and nice clothes, but he thought she looked amazing. This caused her to flush up again, and for a moment she found herself unable to speak. Once she managed to regain her composure she raised her own green eyes to meet up with his. She always did like green eyes. "Oh you Like it?" She said trying to sound nonchalant about it. "It's just a thing I found. But you look great." Her voice trailing off while she leaned closer to him, standing on her tip toes, and reaching her hand up to straighten his collar. This was just a natural instinct for her, and she hadn't even noticed she was doing it. "I've been doing so well. Much better than when you found me" She chuckled as she lowered herself back down again. Her flush had settled down a bit now, and she felt a little more relaxed, despite her heart still racing nervously.

"It's a shame he couldn't make it." She said in reference to Takao's familiar. He was a darling little creature, or rather had at least appeared to be, and she was sure he was going to be sad that he missed the party. She felt better now that things had started to progress, or rather that they had at least begun to talk. Clearly though she still hadn't gotten over his daring rescue of her from the other day. She still pictured it clearly in her mind, how the rampaging animal was going to do her in, when out of no where Takao showed up and saved her, before they shared a passionate... She blushed again as her mind wandered. She gave her head a quick shake before thinking to herself that it hadn't actually happened quite like that.

"So how do you know Zel? I just met him the other day on floor 2."

[Eulalia 0]

"Hmm... That might be a smart idea, actually." Eulalia replied, pondering and scratching her cheek.  She'd been thinking of making a sort of Tactician build, to strategise in parties to find the best strategies, and the Hiding skill would come in handy with that endeavour.  The moment Eula's attention was brought back to the redhead, her attitude quickly slipped into bashful when Kalesh praised her fashion sense. "N-no, not at all, I don't look that good... Y-you look very handsome in that suit, on the other hand..." Eulalia chastised Kalesh, twirling a lock of lime green hair around her index and middle finger. "A-and I like how you've tied your hair back, it makes you look more mature~" She acknowledged, smiling sweetly.  

Eulalia flushed red as Kalesh complimented her and she hid her face for a moment, before popping it back up again. "Aww... I don't look good at all... I look silly... But thank you anyway, Kalesh." She gave him a weak smile, reaching out and giving him a friendly tap on the arm. "Yes, I'm alone... I knew no one was going to ask me to come with them..." She belittled herself, hanging her head.  She looked back up slowly when Kalesh mentioned that they both 'had something to gain', before munching on more food.  With a mischievous grin, Eulalia briskly abducted the plate from Kalesh's hand and set it on a nearby table. "I was thinking we might have had something else to gain~" She told him, before slipping her arm around his and pulling him towards the dance floor, where a giant of a man and a girl with snow white hair were already taking position.

[Kalesh 0]

Kalesh smiled a little shyly about the praise "You are too kind~" He manages to get out before just needing to focus on something else so not to take her compliment too-too deeply. She could very well have just been being nice! "Really, you think hiding would be a nice match for you?... there aren't a lot of two-handers with stealth in mind." He grins, more thinking it a chance to surprise someone than thinking it was a bad thing. Briefly however, the memories of a ninja clad in orange went through his mind's eye. He glances at a menu in front of him a moment later and smiles as he happily hits the accept button on the friend request from Lee before turning his attention back at the lovely lady next to him. "Oh, and you cannot convince me you don't look good... but you can keep trying if you want." He chuckled softly, her shy stuttering and fumbling with words was a little cute!

When she took his plate away he made a sad whimper but then perked up again when she wrapped her arm around his. It took a few moments for it to click before he says "Oh!" And wraps his arm back around her own and he smiles, clearing his throat to say "I would be honored to accompany you this fine evening, Lady Lia." He grinned, using his best butler voice in the somewhat playful attempt to be all formal and gentlemanly. He noticed and recognized both Mack and Shirosu, about to greet them before a crimson blush rushed over his face and he had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide it. Those kinds of... jigs... were very embarrassing to him, they just seemed so retro and upbeat! He shuddered a bit and leans down to whisper softly "C-can we just do slow dancing like in the invitation?" He smiled shyly as he held out a hand to his newfound date, waiting for her to take it so they could share a dance together. The size difference between them not as huge as the other two on the floor. She was only two inches shorter than he was!