after-party ♔ la lune trop pale caresse l'opale de tes yeux blases

[wynn]

♬ Complainte du la Butte - Rufus Wainwright

WHO || Wynn, any and all Knights
WHAT || Squiring Ceremony Afterparty
WHERE || Knights Headquarters, the Ballroom
WHEN || February 1st, 2012, 9:00PM
HOW || Prose OR Actionspam

The "afterparty" is rumored to be the real main event of the night. A black-tie affair in the lavish, opulent ballroom, it is every new Knight's chance to mingle and meet some of their new brothers in arms. Of course, a couple hours are provided following the ceremony for everyone to change, do hair and makeup, and choose from the vast array of formal attire in the closets of the balcony "dressing rooms" located at the top of spiraled staircases on either side of the ballroom. A separate dressing room exists for men and women, and they include full bathrooms (with, thankfully, very modern plumbing).

The squires are usually among the last to arrive, and the ballroom is full to the brim with a fancy array of people, of all shapes, sizes and species.

Hope none of you are shy. They're all here to meet you.

Feel free to make your own open threads for people to come congratulate your newly pledged knight.

Comments

Ethan Mavery }{ open

[militarized]

[ Ethan manages to stand out in the crowd pretty easily due to his decision to skip out on the standard formalwear of a suit or tux and instead don the blue dress uniform of the Queen's Air Force, including all the bells and whistles. Old habits. A military man never finds himself in a tux, because the dress uniform is always the formal attire.

Once he's down the stairs and in the actual party, he seems to blend right in, charismatic and chatty. He spends some time at the refreshments table hooking himself up with finger food and a glass of champagne, then goes about on introducing himself to the pretty ladies. :) ]

[socialgraces]

[Francesca can't help but take a moment to admire the man in uniform, if only for customary appreciation. She watches him effortlessly move from person to person, and casually positions herself in his line of sight, should he look up. She then nonchalantly makes light conversation with a fellow Knight, keeping it short and making herself open for his approach. She's not really trying to be sneaky, this is just usual conduct for her in social settings.]

[militarized]

[ As Ethan closed conversation off with a girl who moved past him on some other task, he glanced up to where Francesca was. He'd seen her during the ceremony, and it looked as though now would be his chance to speak with her. He moved between a small group of people to get to her, giving a brief, apologetic nod of his head to the Knight with whom she spoke. ]

You know, I hate to interrupt, but I was hoping I could cut in and borrow your friend for a minute. You don't mind, do you? [ He clapped a hand on the knight's arm. ] Thanks. [ He maneuvered himself between them and glanced down at Francesca, eyebrow arching. ]

Ethan Mavery. Which, given your rapt attention at the ceremony earlier, I'm guessing you already knew.

[socialgraces]

[Slightly taken aback by his brash introduction, Francesca's head tilts slightly to the side and the corners of her lips twitch upwards.] I think you managed to garner most people's attention at the ceremony, Captain.

[She gives an honest smile now.] But yes, I did already know who you were. I'm Francesca. [And she holds out her hand towards him.] I assume you've heard of me as well?

[militarized]

[ He reaches out to take her hand, but instead of shaking it, he kisses the back of it, giving a smile. ]

Plenty. Only good things, ma'am. I was told you'd be squiring me. [ Was that proper use of the verb? Maybe not. Does he care? No. The point is conveyed and he has a charming tone when he says it. ] To be honest, when they told me I'd be squired under a female knight, I didn't think they'd come this beautiful.

[socialgraces]

[Yeah, she definitely hasn't heard that one before... She'll enjoy the chivalry, smiling at his gesture. As for the charm... she keeps the smile but raises an eyebrow. She can appreciate the charm but she's not one for heedless flattery. Not unless she's the one doing the flattering.]

Well, thank you. [And moving right along...] You seem to be enjoying yourself. Make any new friends?

[militarized]

More than I can keep track of. If I'd known the knights knew how to party, I might have joined sooner.

[socialgraces]

Only one of the many perks of service, I assure you. [She takes a drink before scanning the room. Her face never changes as she moves from face to face and it's hard to tell what exactly she's looking for.

And then she must find it, or decisively not find it, because suddenly snaps her gaze back to him, smiles, and asks:] Would you like to dance?

[militarized]

I thought that was my line. [ However, the forwardness made him smile wide enough to make it clear he was teasing her; he set his glass aside on a passing waiter's tray and reached out to take her hand. ] Happy to.

[socialgraces]

I promise I'll let you lead. [She returns his smile and sets her own drink down. She takes his hand and follows him out onto the floor. She's an excellent dancer and can gracefully match his steps with little thought. Instead she focuses on making conversation.]

I must confess it's been quite some time since I've taken on a squire. I hope I don't bore you.

[militarized]

How generous of you. [ And lead he will -- he's not classically trained, by any means, but he knows what to do with himself. A product of his time, the dance steps themselves are clearly dated. ] I'm sure you'll do anything but. Why the dry period?

[socialgraces]

It wasn't really by choice. Most recruits end up being squired to the Knight that brought them in, and I haven't managed to enlist anyone in a while. My recent missions haven't really afforded me the opportunity. [Speaking of boring <.<]

And I suppose now would be an appropriate time to ask you how you came to be in the Knights' service?

[militarized]

I'm just gonna call it good luck, especially if all the women around here look like you. [ Why, no, he will never stop. And he will also never enjoy talking about himself. ] What kind of missions have they had you on lately?

[postergirl]

[Welp, this pretty lady is probably going to introduce herself when she sees him making the rounds. She'll just sliiiiide her way around whoever he happens to be talking to, and dump her drink on their shoe by "accident". How unfortunate.] Oh, how silly of me! [It couldn't be more fake if she tried, which she is ... not really bothering to do as she turns to the other girl] Lucky they have so many extra pairs right upstairs. [She shoots her a territorial grin, before turning on her heel to look Mister Captain here up and down, leisurely and quite openly checking him out.]

... Well, hello. God save the Queen.

[militarized]

I think God might want to start by giving Lucy a hand first. [ Yeah, I just named the bitch he was talking to, what are you gonna do about it. However, he raises an eyebrow at this pretty lady. ] You know, in polite circles, we introduce ourselves before we go around dumping drinks on people.

[postergirl]

[She just grins wickedly at being called out.] One more reason polite circles are vastly overrated. [She extends a limp-wristed hand] It seems more productive to have something to talk about.

Dumage Moulet. [Prounounced Doo-MAHJ Moo-LAY with that same lascivious tone.]

[militarized]

[ Wow I speak French ok I knew how it was pronounced X( He takes the offered hand and leans forward to kiss it, then doesn't let go of it as he straightens up again. ]

Captain Ethan Mavery. Are you with the Knighthood, or are you a guest?

[postergirl]

[WOW I DIDN'T KNOW THAT OK /learns something new. But mostly I couldn't remember if either of those were real... words...

His insinuation that she's just some high class hooker working the Knight parties visiting and not a knight herself seems to amuse her at least.]

Wynn's not particularly fond of inviting others to his little parties. If you didn't notice that professional paranoia when he made you come to the castle wearing a blindfold the first time.

[militarized]

[ They aren't. But French is better than English and pronunciation is pronunciation. There are like zero exceptions. /teaches you more. ]

So, I noticed. But, the talk in the locker rooms is that there are a good number of knights who keep their families here with them. [ He leans in to whisper near her ear. ] I didn't want an angry Monsieur Moulet finding his way over if I asked you to dance.

[postergirl]

[I LOOKED THEM UP, THEY TOTALLY ARE.]

As much as I do love watching two men fight over me, I think I'm rather glad the answer is 'no'.

To a Monsieur, that is. You'll have to ask, to find out about the dance. [She doesn't budge from where he's leaned in close, smiling up at him with a glint in her eye.]

[militarized]

[ WELL THEY WEREN'T IN MY VOCAB, what do they mean.

That gets quite the smirk out of him, and he has to cant his head to the side a little, impressed with her and still surprised by the behavior out of a nice classy lady. ] Well, in that case, Mademoiselle, [ he holds out a hand, straightening up. ] May I have this dance?

[postergirl]

[IDK BUT WHEN I GOOGLED THEM THEY WERE LEGIT NAMES IS WHAT I MEANT D:

She slips a hand into his, looking quite pleased with herself.]

I thought you'd never ask. [Yep, waiting 3 seconds is a long time in Dumage-land]

[militarized]

[ OH THEN THEY'RE NAMES NOT WORDS, GURL.

It's okay, he'll accept her overzealous maneater life and just step closer, resting one hand at her waist, keeping his hold on the other. ] I like to take my time. Some women might consider that a good thing.

[postergirl]

[omg fine /bracket convo outro

Except that I'm still down here. Awkward. Like when you say goodbye to someone and then have to walk through a parking lot together to get to your cars cuz you didn't realize you were parked next to each other, but you already said your farewells. /bracket convo awkward extended metaphor Oh my god, his dancing is so old-fashioned-y. She just wraps a hand on his shoulder, close to his neck.]

You do realize we deal with life and death missions here on a regular basis? There hardly seems a time like the present, when you think of it that way.

[militarized]

I like to have more faith in our positive outcomes than that, Dumage. [ He says it with a casual honesty and DON'T MAKE FUN OF HIS DANCING, HE IS A GENTLEMAN. ] When you've seen as much as I have and lived through it, you stop living like there's no tomorrow. [ He spins her under his arm, then pulls her back in. ] Unless Wynn's got a habit of getting us in over our heads that I should know about.