Log; Welcome Ball [INCOMPLETE until everyone gets sick of it <3 ]

[megane-maou.livejournal.com]

Where; The Haunted Mansion
When; October 2; Midnight
Rating; This is a joint event for all guests. The "erotic activities" that the UPPER FLOOR guests will be participating in will come later.
Just keep that in mind, okay? Other than that, whatever's cool! ♥
Characters; EVERYONE who is attending the Carnival (BOTH FLOORS)
Summary; The opening event of the all-day carnival (Please read post for all details). This is before everyone splits up into their respective floors. Eat, drink, be merry and mingle!!
Note; (borrowing the idea Rika borrowed from Shahni, cause they're geniuses ♥) Please use the Subject Line when you want to speak to someone specifically or address the whole group.
Example: When wishing to address Kyouya, put "ATTN: Kyouya" in the subject heading.

Log;


As far as preparations went, the joint event between the Ouran Host Club Mad Hatter was nothing short of a success. The entire mansion was elaborately decorated, so much so one almost forgot that the place could send shivers down one's spine. As the guests entered, a cascade of rose petals fluttered down on them, reminiscent of the grandiose entrances into Music Room Three back at Ouran Academy. The rich scents of the food the waiters and waitresses served, paired with the strong but sweet liquors and cocktails went to the head while the strains of exotic asian instruments and the tinkling of bells filled the air seemed to aim at the heart.

Something special was bound to happen tonight...

While no one (save Tamaki) could probably see through his nonchalant façade, Kyouya, while very ambitious, wasn't used to being in the spotlight. Whether it was as the youngest of three sons or the "Shadow King" of the Host Club, the majority of his actions were "below the radar" (so to speak).

Speaking to the masses was something Tamaki was more inclined to do, but something Kyouya could easily adjust to. He patiently waited for silence so and addressed them all:

"Fondest greetings to each and every one of you. I am so glad that you could attend this celebration and enjoy this day with Mad Hatter and the Ouran Host Club.

This initial ball is to welcome you to the carnival and all the guests are encouraged to enjoy the refreshments and music. Later on we shall be separated for events on our respective floors, so for the time being please feel free to get to know eachother and mingle.

The Ouran Host Club's members are offering their services as dance partners, so if you are interested in a dance, please notify the host of your choice to be put on their dance card. As always a small fee is required to do so, however the money is going to the support of the Ouran Host Club and future events by our organization.

With that said, please enjoy the ball."

Comments

to Nathaniel

[kittyjones.livejournal.com]

"I do? A nice someone, I hope?" Kitty smiled under her mask, a genuine one, though still small. It felt slightly foreign, a strain on her cheek muscles after the last few days of them not really being used.

"Well... Jack, I... I don't really know anyone here. And when you're at a party, and you can't talk, and you can't dance, then you... drink."

She lifted the glass in a mock toast to him before taking a sip once more. It wasn't exactly strong stuff, but she could feel it nevertheless. It was warm, comforting, not like the spirits she usually went for in the hopes of getting herself completely unconscious.

"Besides, you looked lonely over here. With only your headdress for company."

to Kitty

[natty-boy.livejournal.com]

Nathaniel couldn't help but chuckle again, the smile obvious as he had taken away the bottom half of his mask. A nice someone, he thought fondly, glancing out the window as if to check if she was there. That's one way of putting it.

"A unique someone," he finally answered. "Though," he added, tone soft now, "still a someone I haven't spoken to in a while."

The young man raised an eyebrow as the masked guest before him raised her glass, then grinned slightly at her words. "Well, I hardly picked out this costume," he replied, trying to save at least some aspect of his dignity. "The only thing terribly dashing about it is this cloak..."

But despite his words, Nathaniel dropped a hand thoughtfully to the gold rose in his sash, and he bit his lip and let his hand fall back to his side, hoping she didn't catch the movement. The rose was definitely the best part, but he didn't know if she would even want...

Nathaniel shook his head and tried for another smile, raising his half-empty glass to the young Miss. "To you, then," he said with a bit of a shrug. "I do hope your evening turns out better than mine."

to Nathaniel

[kittyjones.livejournal.com]

As he smiled, laughed, Kitty couldn't help feeling... feeling she knew that smile. It wasn't exactly familiar, in fact it felt like she hadn't really seen it a lot before, but she did feel like somehow she knew it. Maybe it was... but then he broke away to look out of the window, and she lost her train of thought.

"Unique? I'll take that as a compliment, then." Despite his quiet voice his next words resonated clearly within her, and she began to think... to think of talking. Talking with a someone of her own. It had been days now since... and he said he would wait, but she...

"Maybe you should," her tone equally hushed, as though she were speaking more to herself than anyone else, "go and find them now? Talk to them. If they're that unique, maybe it's someone you should hang on to."

Unique... someone... talk... dashing... cloak... Nathaniel... God, why was she thinking of Nathaniel now? Could she not go simply five minutes without... well, no. She couldn't. Her fist clenched slightly at her side, fingers drumming into the palm of her hand, fiddling as she accepted that, however much she tried, she was just not going to stop thinking about...

And then she realised her companion was raising his glass, smiling a little, toasting her. How very amiable of him. It was clear he was rather accustomed to these sorts of things, second nature to him, but Kitty didn't really mind. He seemed to be making an effort, at least. So she returned his smile, and finished draining her glass before reaching for another one and raising it in return. "And to you," she responded, nodding good-naturedly, "I do hope your pessimism dwindles as soon as possible."

to Kitty

[natty-boy.livejournal.com]

Nathaniel's smile faded at the young woman's words. The mirth all but dimmed in his eyes and his chuckles trailed away to silence; suddenly he held a mask beneath a mask, a stoicness that he should have left in his flat -- No, in London.

He shook his head, smiling again, though sad and bitter in its reappearance. "I don't know if they want to see me again."

Was that true? His fingers curled tightly around the stem of his champagne glass at the mere thought -- he had convinced himself that it was. Now he could no longer seperate what could have been fact from his own grim thoughts and it irritated him. He snapped out of his thoughts when his guest toasted him in return, and he tried to soften his smile.

It... didn't exactly work, to tell the truth. It wasn't a hard smile in comparison to his last, but it was crumbling at the edges, and not even alcohol could paste it back together with false giddiness.

"Perhaps it may," he answered. He opened his mouth to add more, but the words were still-born, and he found his thoughts drifting to where he had forbidden them to wander that night. Grimly, he downed the rest of the sparkling liquor and sighed.

"I am sorry," he murmured instead, taking up his mask-half and fixing it back on, hiding his face from the world once more, suddenly naked without it. "I can't keep my thoughts in once place, it seems. I apologise if you wished for better company tonight -- you're a charming young lady, certainly." He chuckled quietly, to make his comment seem carefree and conversational. Instead, it echoed in the gold mask, reflected and laughed back at him.

Laughed back at him... Yes, that was probably what his conscience was doing now.

Damn it.

to Nathaniel

[kittyjones.livejournal.com]

She stood still for a moment after he spoke, her mind flooded with emotions of her own. The glass felt heavy in her hand, her very bones seemed wearied, her head was hot with a swirling mass of thoughts. I don't know if they want to see me again. Would Nathaniel want to see her? She knew that Nathaniel was waiting, or at least, he had been waiting. Now she wouldn't be surprised if he had given up all together, come inside from the cold and shut the door to his flat, not prepared to wait any longer. She'd missed her chance. I've been stupid and run away and not given him a straight answer and now he...

"You won't know unless you..." Her voice was low and steady, without belying a single emotion, not to give comfort, nor to show bitterness. On the surface it was simply an incomplete statement.

You won't know unless you try.

Looking up in that instant, Kitty knew that both she and the man had the same problem. Both were trying to smile, but it didn't reach their eyes – not, of course, that either one of them could see the other's eyes. They tried to be amiable, sociablem but really they were both... waiting. Unfinished. Neither would be able to really do anything until they pulled themselves together and...

She nodded slightly, almost unnoticeably, as he fitted the mask back on his face. Yes. They were the same.

"Nothing to be sorry for. You and me, it seems we're..." she gestured to the throng of couples and groups in the centre of the hall, moving in a flurry of silks and sequins, "you could say we're the odd ones out. So the company is somewhat perfect. Besides, by having thoughts it means you actually have a brain to think with, which puts you above most of the other people here."

Kitty smiled a little beneath her mask, but she felt... wrong. I feel guilty. She should be finding Nathaniel, not trying to act like she knew anything about balls and dancing and polite conversation. She had things to tell him, things she needed to explain, things he needed to know. And apologies... so many apologies she had to make. This guilt was furthered by her acute feeling that the man before her also had a someone he should be looking for, and that she was somehow preventing this someone else from being found. "Do you want to go and find... them? I won't mind if you do. If you want to then I think... I think you should try."

Try.

You should try.

to Kitty

[natty-boy.livejournal.com]

Nathaniel froze, hearing but not really comprehending the words spoken to him. And then they hit him, meant something, reminded him how stupid he was and that he should have waited. It was giving up hope, coming here, trying to forget. He knew that now, and it simply was not acceptable. He was a coward sometimes, but he shouldn't be when it came to...

He swallowed roughly, putting down his empty glass on the window sill as he brought up a gloved hand to wipe over his face -- only to realise his mask was still on. He was sweating now, trembling a little inside. What if she had come while he was here? Was he flirting with this woman earlier, even? God, how could he...

The young man pulled himself up straight, resolved. The ball was fantastic, it was fun and brilliant, but he couldn't be here. He shouldn't be here, not when he swore he would wait. She said she might not come. That didn't matter.

Nathaniel turned back to the young woman after a moment's silence and pulled away the bottom half of his mask again to smile at her. "Thank you," he said, the words soft and geniune, "for showing me how foolish I've been. And not at all in a bad way. I apologise for the fourth time in your company, and I do beg your pardon, but I must go."

He chucked quietly, glancing back out to the night. "I need to see if she still wants me," he murmured softly, more so to himself than to his companion. And before he gave her a chance to reply, he took the young woman's hand in his, kissed the back of it politely, fitted the mask back into place and swept up his cloak in an admittedly dramatic and dashing departure.

"Adieu, Miss."