412/Fabulous Fall Fanciness

Fabulous Fall Fanciness
Date of Scene:	27 September 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Verone Academy
Synopsis:	High school fancy-dress dance. Fun! Drama! Pretty clothing! Romance! Angst! Dancing! Spiked punch. (From the ad: Several of the Three Wards' clothing and dress shops have come together, and have made a huge announcement: this week, they will be throwing what they intend to be the 'fanciest fall dance' for the various students of the area. The Verone Academy principal has generously granted the use of Verone's massive auditorium, but students from any of the schools in the area are welcome to attend! Put on your fanciest dress or snappiest suit, and join us for a night of fancy fun!)
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, Runealy Waldia, Mamoru Chiba, Hinote Kagari, Seishi Tamashige, Ayana, Vespa Rayne, Queen Beryl, Hoshiyomi no Mikoto, Yomi Takanashi, Cerelia Veloce

---

Queen Beryl has posed:
Verone's very spacious auditorium looks nothing like it usually does; the sponsors of this dance have really gone all out, transforming it into a very formal-looking ballroom in fall colors!

The place is pretty full, too - it looks like a lot of the boys and girls from the various schools within the Three Wards have come; most of them likely taking advantage of the ability to rent the dresses, suits, and tuxedos they're standing in.

Notably, it's a dance of all ages, as well. But everyone seems to be keeping themselves very well behaved; this isn't some American Prom!

There's plenty of teachers as well; all dressed to the nines (courtesy of the sponsors!). This includes, among many others, one Ms. Haruna, who is in a fabulously flowing dress... and getting very very close to Tsukasa Amagawa. The poor man is pinned on the other side by Kazuko Satome, also in her own flowing mint dress. Thankfully, there are several other teachers there to actually watch the students, instead of watching each other. There's a full table of small snacks, and drinks (though the drinks are, as one might expect, punch rather than alcohol.)

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Although she's normally not an overly extroverted person, Yomi Takanashi is here. Given her internship and her father's connections, it was deemed 'appropriate' that she put in an appearance. She doesn't appear overly put-out about it- the chance to dress up in fancy clothes is hard to pass up, although her usual slightly-morose mien is still her default expression.

    The slender dark-haired girl is wearing a black dress, of course. It's a rather elegant-looking thing, hugging her upper body before flaring out at the waist in a cascade of black, lacey ruffles that fall to just below her knees. She wears black stockings underneath, and of course, black shoes. The black is off-set by a sash around her waist that's tied into a big bow with tails behind the small of her back. This sash is a bright, almost neon green in color, the contrast of black and bright green mimicing her dark hair and bright green eyes.

    She walks in a prim, composed manner along one side of the room, shoes clicking on the floor, hands linked in front of her, glancing around from behind her glasses and studying the people, her expression neutral, but not particularly unhappy.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura Akemi is here, in a long flowing black dress. It's lacy, elegant, and maybe a bit expensive for someone in middle school. Well, she's an Infinity girl, and those tend to be a bit on the richer side. If nothing else it's a bit more lovely than the suit she was wearing last time, though it's a little bit gothic.

Homura sees Satome-sensei hanging onto another teacher. Offhandedly she wonders what kind of stories she'll tell about that guy, if any. If a date goes well, would Homura ever hear about it?

She is tempted, for a moment, to warn Amagawa against complaining about eggs.

Homura starts heading towards the punch bowl, because getting something to drink will pass the time until she runs across someone she knows.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Had remembered there was going to be a dance. He knew about it before. He just let it slip his mind because of all the magical happenings going on- for better or worse. But when he remembered, he offered to Runealy, that they should go to the dance! She most likely had reservations. He'd reassure her. A world can wait a day to just relax and not think for a few hours. It would be good to go out and meet people, anyways without also intent of sizing them up for energy theft for a change!

Hinote has to make a stop home. He reaches into the wardrobe where he keeps his fancy clothes that need to hang and not become wrinkled. He gets himself a simple tuxedo. He always feels like James Bond when he wears a tuxedo. He wonders if Kamen-san feels like that. No. That's something different.

Thusly, he arrives to the dance and opens the door and lets Runealy into the dance. This is gentlemanly. You do not act crass in a tuxedo.

EVER.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa is dressed apporiately for this formal fall she already had a apporate outfit for such a formal occasion. She wearing a long purple dress fitting snugly to her body with frills around the bottom edge. The top is cut in a low to show off a bit of her neckline.
"I really hate high heel shoes, a sadist must have invented this things.", Vespa muttered to herself.
"Oh don't complain so much Vespa!", the said fairy who was sitting on her head. "Just have a good time!"
"You don't have to tell me that, Sunbeam.", Vespa says. The fairy start to fly away from Vespa, she grabs it by the foot. "Where do you think your going?" "I'm going to get some food!", Sunbeam replied. "Just stay close and you get some when I get some okay? And no swimming in the punch either. I don't want a repeat of what happend last time you did that!" "Awww." For now Vespa wanders around looking for anyone she know or any guys that catch her eye so she can ask for dance from them later.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
It took some convincing, but Rune was eventually talked into coming along for this. It wasn't for lack of proper attire, though; she already owns a red and white dress - a fairly wide, puffy design in the skirt and shoulders, with bits of silver and emerald-colored jewelry laid about it. It's fancy enough, if clearly not a local style... it looks a few centuries out of place.

Her objections had been more of moral concerns, "Is it really okay, after what we did?" He pressed the matter. "Isn't that wasting time when we need to save our world?" It was pointed out that she was in /no condition/ to attempt said, so she may as well spend the time at something fun instead of just sitting in the darkness. "I don't quite look good for it." Some creative makeup and novelty contact lens-work was sufficient to hide her eye problems. So she was out of proper objections.

So now she's here, following Hinote's lead, with a smile and "thank you" while stepping inside from his door-holding. While Rune's vision is still very blurry, she looks interested enough in the decor. "This isn't... /too/ different from back home, really. I think I can keep up with you just fine here. And, hey, isn't that..." She points over at a blurry shape she thinks is Homura. "Her? Think we should go say 'hi' before it gets too busy in here?"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
A /smile/!? Yeeeesssss. Hinote knew that was in there /somewhere/ at least he found the way to get it out. So even if something horrible happens later- he at least got that. Really, that's about the minimum he could ask for out of this whole little thing. He walks in and looks around. He smiles. Runealy points towards the purple dressed Homura. "Her?"

He has to stroke his chin, a bit until realization hits over his face. "nrg." he complains a moment. "I dunno. Things like this are kinda. Meant as relaxtion and fun. I don't think me going over there right now is a good idea." he admits to Rune with a whisper. "Unless you think she won't mind?" he says. "I just don't wanna ruin anyone's evening." He keeps magical talk on the downlow. They're not here to be all sad and mopey. He smiles. "I'm used to fancy events like this. I like them." he says. "Dad goes to a lot of them when he's in town." he says.

Queen Beryl has posed:
Somewhere near the punch table (and therefore, near Homura) is a young girl from Seishou Public. With long hair and purple eyes, she stands in a flowing red dress, alone and quiet, but if you're perceptive enough, it's easy to see she's very attentive towards a few people - notably, people who are also in-tune with the magical world in some way. Then her eyes land on Homura Akemi, and she moves closer. The voice she uses to greet Homura is so quiet, but somehow cuts through the din of the room like a knife. "Hello." is all it says.

The whole affair still remains so very up-class - the band playing slow orchestral music helps. Though there's still the occasional moment of... people acting their age, sadly, as Verone's stern vice principal has to eject two young men who got into a fight. Overall, though, for the number of people here and their varied ages, everything is going pretty well.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Yomi finds herself near the punch bowl at just around the same time as Homura. The green-eyed girl gives the other brunette a brief glance- she likely recognizes her vaugely, as they are both Eclipse-associates although of different divisions. Then she's very daintily picking up two of the small paper cups, one at a time, and filling them with the ladel in the punch bowl.

    "Would you like some, miss?" She asks, in her precise, polite tones, offering one of the cups to Homura. Just then Miss Kuroki comes by to greet Homura, and Yomi looks at the woman for a moment as well, her expression unreadable, before she takes a third cup. "Some punch, miss?" She asks. Apparently, she is nominating herself as punch-deployer.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura is approached by a strange girl, one whom she's never seen before. She turns around to face Mio. "Hello," is all she says, in quiet response.

The fight between two kids is largely ignored by her. She's aware of it, but she chooses not to be involved.

Yomi offers up some punch, and Homura accepts it with a, "Please, if you don't mind." Cup in hand, she sips on her punch before turning back to Mio. "Fancy party."

Yomi gets a second glance as Homura tries to decide if she knows her or not. If she does, it's not very deeply. Someone Hannah knows, maybe?

"Have we met before?" asks Homura, to Yomi. She doesn't ask Mio, because she's pretty sure she hasn't seen her before.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
Cerelia's wearing a formal blue dress. It certainly was a classy event. She's a bit surprised to see Vespa and Sunbeam this didn't seem like something the axe-wielder would attention. Still she smiles a bit as sees the pair, "Find anyone small enough to dance with, Sunbeam?" She wonder if there's any other magical creatures present. Hopefully this would stay a quiet evening she doesn't want to mess up her dress.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"We really ought to. She'll spot us sooner or later, and if she does she's going to worry," Rune remarks. "So at the worst, she deserves to know we're not here to give her trouble. At best, maybe she talks things out with us like others have. If it goes well, great! If not, we can show ourselves to the other side of the dance floor and not bother her after that. It should be fine, so, come on?" She tries to lead Hinote toward Homura.

Along the way, she reflects in a near-whisper - but loud enough for Hinote to pick up, and she is looking toward him idly while saying this: "Been a long time since I did anything like this. Six months? Longer?" She winces as a fight carries on and has to be broken up. "Well... aside from /that/? This is kind of like how we do it at home. Even the music is kind of similar. So if you're already familiar with these, then you've already got some practice for how it will be when we return."

And with that thought in mind, she continues leading toward Homura. It will be a few moments before they arrive, long enough for Homura to notice them and long enough for other brief conversations to carry on if needed.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa and Sunbeam look over at Cerelia. "Oh Hello Cerilia.", Vespa says. "Sunbeam insited she come along. She would have come even if I had said no. At least this way I can keep an eye on her, so she doesn't cause any trouble'
"I don't cause that much troulbe!", the fairy replies. "That more that enough!", Vespa fires back. She sighs. "I'm going to get a drink.", she says starting to make her way to the food and punch is.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari softly takes a deep 'stage fright' breath again. He glances over to Vespa and Cerelia for a moment as his attention is drawn up by the fight. Man that Vice-Principal comes down like an angry god. He looks to Runealy and nods. "You're...right. Let's go." now he needs to actually hold, and grasp Runealy's hand for his own comfort this time. He doesn't want to ruin this girl's evening. He almost /killed her/. This isn't some small slight.

He does walk towards that way as he hopes she just doesn't bolt or run or hide or... really anything. He might understand being punched in the gut. He'd accept that.

He whispers. "She knows you better.....can you start us off? Though there seems to be others she's talking to her now." he murmurs.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
"Yeah, there's no idea what kind of trouble she might get into on her own. She might sneak into a toy store or something." Cerelia's glad that the fairy's staying with Vespa and not her. She notices Hinote looking at her, but he seems to be already with someone. Now that she thinks about it there seems to be more girls than guys here.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
They probably-- no, they wouldn't have gone to give Usagi a talking-to on behalf of the Moon Princess, not the way they both looked when he left. But Usagi Tsukino is not here.

Mamoru Chiba is, and he's brooding so hard he probably almost counts as a dark energy source. (Just kidding.) (Not kidding about the brooding, though.)

Earlier today, he'd seen her, had fun, teased her, been teased back; they both left in better spirits than they'd started with, and he'd held out hope she'd go to this thing with her friends, because it didn't even occur to him to ask her. Not five minutes afterwards, he'd run into Rei and Makoto, and... things got way more dramatic than any of them expected, and all three left the conversation miserable.

An hour and a half ago, he broke a mug in his kitchen, stared at it for a minute, then took what was left and smashed it in the sink and thought something completely unforgiveable:

'YOLO!'

That's why he's here now, see. The ragged, raw feeling that goes with statements like 'F*** it, we'll do it live!' and, well, 'YOLO'-- it drove him like a man obsessed, all the way through his lengthy 'getting ready for a fancy formal dance' routine, all the way into his ludicrously expensive electric luxury sportscar, all the way to Verone. He'd go to the damned dance and he'd have fun, even if he was doomed to a life of loneliness, even if it was a questionable mercy it'd probably be cut short, even if life was terrible and real.

And then he got there and it all hit him like a ton of bricks again, and instead of entering the dance like a normal human being in a white tie and tails, he'd henshined into a hero in a white tie and tails and leapt to the roof and crept through a high window backstage, and he's spent the past twenty minutes lurking like a gargoyle in the stage rigging and working on his championship in being miserable.

It's not until he's distracted by Homura wearing a long black dress and actually actively goes 'pf!' in disbelief that the headache vanishes, and with it, all thoughts of Usagi and Sailor Moon and the Moon Princess and bad dreams and reincarnation and secret identities and love.

He lands silently and drops his henshin, leaving himself as the eternally overdressed Mamoru Chiba, then quietly walks out the side of the stage and down the steps. Unobtrusive, even dressed like that.

And he beelines over to Homura to feel better by being terrible. "It's not Halloween y--" he starts, words out of nowhere from behind her, and he cuts himself off and looks like a deer in headlights because that's Mio Kuroki and she's wearing a really red dress.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    "Punch, sir?" Yomi says to Mamoru, face expressionless behind the punch bowl.

Queen Beryl has posed:
Mio leans in around Homura. She has punch in her hand. But nobody saw her pick it up. It's another small, insignificent thing that adds to the almost otherworldly quality of the girl.

Of course, she is leaning around Homura's back largely to look at Mamoru. "We keep running into each other, Chiba-kun." she says, still in that cutting quiet voice. She does seem to have visibly perked up around him though, preventing her presence with Homura from causing some sort of morose girl overload.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Two people that Homura has seen before start to approach her. Well this could be interesting. She doubts that they'd want to attack her again... she actually does believe the story that Mamoru told them. Even if Rune or Hino might be lying, she trusts Mamoru not to.

So they want to come talk to her? Alright. Well, she's certainly prepared for that. Though with the various people gathering around the punch table, Homura is starting to feel like it's a bit too crowded for her to start running away.

Whatever. This is her life. If someone thinks that nearly dying is the worst thing to ever happen to Homura Akemi, then they don't know Homura Akemi.

Then she sees Mamoru arrive from the corner of her eye, and she smiles faintly. "I'm always spooky. You should know that by now, Mamo-kun." She turns towards him, and after a moment she sees his hesitation. "What's up, Mamo-kun?" She doesn't really know the significance of Mio, so she doesn't know what to conclude from that.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Yomi blinks, seeign that Mio already has punch. Oh well.. she also just offered to Mamoru, so this third cup will be re-assigned. It's almost sad, how quickly and easily the green-eyed girl falls into a servile role, all the while looking at the people she's voluntarily serving with this bland expression that soemhow just seems slightly insulting. God, if I were you, I'd smack her. But not at this fancy party, you plebian.

    When Homura asks if she knows her, Yomi offers the faintest little smile. "I've seen you around. I'm an.. associate of Takashi Agera."

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Don't worry, we'll make it quick. In and out, no chance for any of us to make a big scene out of it," Rune offers to Hinote, taking his hand and using it to help lead on. She hasn't noticed Mamoru yet, caught up in various thoughts of her own.

Once she gets to the punch bowl, she realizes it's just as Hinote said; other conversations are going on. Thus, Rune keeps her tone low and decides to make this quick while facing Homura. "Hey... listen. We're not going to bother you tonight, but wanted to say 'sorry' about what happened. Find us sometime and we'll talk it out? We..." She cuts off, upon finally realizing one of the blurry shapes nearby is Mamoru. He gets a shy hand-wave.

The others nearby get quick gazes as Rune tries to take in details about them, but no immediate greeting.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa makes her way over to wher the food and punch is with a fairy tagging along. Sunbeam floats closer to the table. "i'll take one of these and these and these.." Vespa grabs the fairy. "Just one okay?", Vespa whispers she doesnt' want to have people star wondering where all food disappeared to, most people can't see Sunbeam.. Vespa goes to get some punch still holding onto the fairy with one hand. "Let met goo!", Sunbeam says squriming. Vespa just ingores the troublemaker for moment.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No thanks, you'd probably break my nose and I don't want blood on my shirt," Mamoru says to Yomi, distracted and reflexive, half-hiding behind Homura. "Uh-- do we? Well, I did say I was sure we'd see each other around," he hedges in Mio's direction, smiling uncertainly. "Ahh-- Homu-chan, this is Mio Kuroki. Kuroki-san, this is Homura Akemi. And nothing is up! Nothing at all. Except isn't--"

Cutting himself off again, Mamoru falls silent at the approach of Runealy and Hinote, and his gaze flickers toward Homura, distracted from his distractions. One white-gloved hand very lightly touches her back, and he steps up to stand next to her instead of partly behind, opening up her exit route if she should choose to flee.

That's about when Runealy notices him and waves, and he gives her and her guardian an encouraging smile.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
"I'm guess she eats like a hummingbird huh?" Cerelia watches as Vespa tries to wrangle the fairy. It seems like everyone's gathering around the punch bowl so she makes her way over there as well. Plus Vespa might need a hand. She wonders what else is going on, but she's not really that familiar with anyone present besides Vespa and Sunbeam.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    "Your suit would look good with a dash of color, sir." Yomi says, in her polite, deadpan tone, but she replaces the third cup before taking her own and sipping primly.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is really way too nervous to add anything to this conversation. "Y-yeah. What she said. Later." nodnodnodnod RAPID NOD. Lalala time to talk about something else. Dododo...uh. "That's a pretty dress." he says to Homura. Yes. This. this is the way out. RUNRUNRUNrun---

He glances back over to Vespa and uh.

Is she arguing with a fairy?

You know what. He's still trying to wrap his head around 'talking bird' yesterday so he just kind of pretends he doesn't see that.

He tugs Runealy. "Let's go get some punch. Also..." he pauses. "You know how to dance, right?" he asks softly to her. "You said things like this were common...right?" he asks.

Homura Akemi has posed:
It's a good thing that Yomi said 'Takashi Agera' and not 'Riventon', though it's not like Homura is best friends forever with Takashi, either.

Homura frowns slightly. That self-important jerk? "You have my condolences."

Runealy approaches, and Homura finally turns towards her. "I wont be going after you, either. If you want to talk about it later, that's fine."

Considering how surrounded she is by other people, Homura doesn't really want to say much about it. Those who should know about it already do, and the rest of them are some kind of strange outsider. Hino seems like he doesn't want to be there, and she doesn't keep him. "Later."

Still, she seems awfully relaxed about it. She's being pretty chill for someone who is often so intense, especially considering the subject matter. On the other hand fighting for your life is just something that Puella Magi do. Mamoru's closeness is welcome in any case.

Her purple eyes spot a fairy going after snacks. She decides not to stare too long, because looking at invisible things gets people to think you're crazy, though in this case people would just think she was eyeing the food.

Yomi's dirty looks go unnoticed, though Homura swears there wasn't a punch bowl person when she started walking that way.

Mamoru introduces Mio, and Homura turns to Mio and smiles, "Hello, Kuroki-san. Have you known Mamo-kun for long?"

Queen Beryl has posed:
Mio sips from the cup. Her eyes wander over to Sunbeam for a moment. "What a curious little thing you are." she says, reaching her pale fingers out towards him. Then, she's pulled out of that by Mamoru and Homura both using her name.

Mio turns and blushes, her cheeks turning pink for just a moment. "Oh no... I don't know... Chiba-kun. I just know of him. And maybe more... I don't know? It also feels like I've know him forever..." she says softly, and definantly unsure. But then she turns back to her.

She blinks, like she's coming out of a trance. "Sorry. Hello, Akemi-san. It is good to make your acquaintance. What school do you attend? Is it Infinity, like Chiba-kun?"

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Thanks," Rune says as half word, half sigh of relief to Homura; between her words and Mamoru's reaction, this takes a lot of tension out of the princess who then backs off to follow Hinote away from the conversation by the punch-bowl. She goes several steps away until they're no longer in obvious hearing range of Homura's group, and nods to Hinote.

"We don't have them every day or anything like that, but we have them. And it looks like it's not /too/ different here. And yeah, I dance. Mom used to teach me. Said it was fun, and helped with good footwork. She..."

A brief pause as Rune is caught up in several thoughts, then finishes: "She was right on both counts. So, sure, I can dance. You can too, right?"

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa looks over at Cerelia. "Something like that..", she sighs looking at Sunbeam. "Don't make me get out the leash okay?", Sunbeam eeps. "Okay Okay! I'll be good!" Everyone going to think she crazy.. She doubles takes looking at Mio. Can she see Submeam? Mio get pulled away before she can ask. Vespa looks at Sunbeam. "Do you think she one of us?" Sunbeam crosses her arms and hmms. "I'm not sure.." Vespa ponders this while getting a small plate of food. She also offers a bit to Sunbeam to calm her down as well, the fairy happly takes it.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
Were the others from another school? That would explain why Cerelia hasn't seen them around before. "You mean one of the 13, I'm not getting that vibe from her. Though it certainly would make things easier if she were." Of course she has no clue to who Mio really is. Still she wouldn't be too surprised if they did run into someone else who was at an event like this.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Known him forever?

Homura pauses as her mind goes over that. When she's asked a more direct question, she says, "That's right. Infinity. Though obviously not in the same grade as Mamo-kun."

Sunbeam is commented on. Mio can see it, too? Homura pauses. Suddenly Mio is a lot more interesting. "You know most people can't see those..." she mentions.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru looks faintly affronted at Yomi. He wordlessly points to the red ribbon his neck badge is attached to, eyebrows up. See? Red. There's red. It's plenty of color, his expression says. And Rune and Hinote are off, then, and Homura's talking with Mio and there's a fairy oh god whose fairy is that--

--Mio's talking to the fairy?!

He's in the middle of reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose when Mio comes out with that line, and then his own face reddens. It's probably a completely natural shift of weight that lands him slightly behind Homura's shoulder again.

"I was with Usagi-chan and Mako-chan and the rest at Crown, they were having a tournament-- maybe a month ago? During break, anyway," he explains, "that's when we met."

Oddly enough, the method he just used to establish boundaries -- name-dropping -- causes his mood to fall flat. The best remedy for this is either dancing or punching youma, and neither is an option right now because Homura and Mio are deep in smalltalk and nothing's attacking. So he just stands there looking pretty and wishing he were somewhere else.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
"That's intersting cerelia. I wonder why she can see Sunbeam thought..", then the girl in black comments on Sunbeam. Wait she can see her too?? Then it seems Mamoru can too! What going on here? She looks at Sunbeam. "Did you turn visable or something?" Sunbeam shakes her head flying up to Vespa's head. "I didn't! I don't know! What going on here?"
"I need a drink..", Vespa says taking a glass of punch. She hoped someone spiked the punch. She takes a sip. Nope no one did. Darn it.

Yomi Takanashi has posed:
    Yomi can see the fairy too, although the only way anyone would notice this fact is that her eyes follow the little food-stealing thing for a few moments as she walks by. She doesn't comment- it's impolite to mention vermin in the food at a charity function, perhaps they couldn't afford proper pest control. Her expression remains as neutral as ever as she makes her way away from the group near the punch bowl since nobody (other than Homura) seemed interested in allowing her to make herself useful. Yomi hates not feeling useful, and so she begins lurking around the fringes of the room, sipping her punch.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari takes a deep breath. Deep breath. In out. Okay good. He's good now. He smiles at Runealy. "I can dance. It was part of my acting studies...." there's a smash cut here of a costume-armored up Hinote dancing with various Princesses in various stories and plays. This is a fantasy. None of this happened. Hinotes never played the hero in a play yet!. "But events like this are common for me, yes. I mean. At least once every other month." he says.

He gets to the punch bowl, he begins pouring cups. Runealy gets on. Then he gets one.

He does pause a moment and sniffs the punch. It doesn't /smell/ like anyones spiked it yet. So he takes his first sip.

He tries to find something to say when Runealy brings up her mother. He knows this is a sore spot. But...it's really important he doesn't ignore it in his head. Ugh. Life-- life is much easier when you can just say things from a script- and it tells you how to think and act for the scene--- but once in a while. You need to improv.

"Your mother sounds like an amazing person Runealy. I wish I could had known her too." he says softly. His back is away from the punch.

"Want to get on the floor now?" he asks, motning to the well. Dancing. At the Dance.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura glances back at Mamoru. She's the one meeting someone who nearly killed her, and yet he's the one awkwardly squirming. She smiles, perhaps a little sadistically. Something about seeing him off-balance increases his adorability. No one ever said she was sane, but she decides to be merciful this time.

"You know, Mamoru, we should have a dance sometime. You know... a real one. Without all of the intrigue. Not that I didn't appreciate last time." Yes, she offers this right in front of Mio, completely unaware of how she might react. "I wonder if they'll play a waltz if we ask."

She turns around. She's actually very well dressed for it. Perhaps she was attempting to keep up with Mamoru in terms of fanciness?

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
"Did you get fairy dust in the punch, Sunbeam?" Cerelia's wondering why everyone can see her all of a sudden. This was getting a bit awkward. "Or maybe she regained some of her power? Maybe we should meet in private later?" It wasn't a good idea to talk about this in public. They certainly could use a distraction about now, "Want to dance, Vespa?" That would certainly take some attention off Sunbeam.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"...Why are you smelling the drink?" The idea of someone messing with it is utterly alien to Runealy; dances back home were very carefully coordinated matters, with well screened guest lists and the scandal of messing with a dance sponsored by - or even attended by - the royal family would have been largely unthinkable near the capital. So it just does not occur to her.

She nonetheless takes the offered drink and insists: "The best. She's absolutely the best. I'll at least show you a little bit of what she taught me... I'll keep up." She takes a bit of the drink. "You lead, and I'll keep pace, no problem. Just need a sec to figure out whatever style you're going with. I bet Earth dances," she flagrantly mentions 'Earth dances', knowing the crowd here is too big for most people nearby to idly pick those words up or care, "can't be too hard to pick up. Right? So we'll give it a try. Even if it's something fast, I'll do it."

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa nods to Cerelia. "That proably a good idea cerelia. We will have to meet her later." "I've been good all night!", Sunbeam says, sightly pouting. She blinks in surpise at Cerelia question. "Sure why not?", she says smiling, it will help her to relax a bit.

Queen Beryl has posed:
Mio nods a bit. "I thought you might be /that/ Homura Akemi." she says. As though Homura Akemi is, at all, a common name, or that there might be more than one (at least, in any given single timeline!). "Akemi-san, are you dating Chiba-kun?" she asks, rather clearly and bluntly. All of her attention has been diverted from Sunbeam for now, at least... as she looks at Homura. There's not any malice in her tone, really. Just a very clear interest in whatever the answer to this question might be.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari replies. "I told you, this wasn't my first dance." he insists with a smile. "Sometimes a rambunctious teenager will get ahold of some alcholol or spirit and dump it in the punch. It affects people, all that. It's meant to troublemake." he says. He slips into large words suddenly. He's in a mood now. He walks to the edge of the dance floor, and tugs Runealy along. "Okay...." he says.

He grasps Runealy's hand and slides it up. He places a hand on her right waist, and he waits for her to situate themselves and----

They're off into whatever lovely spinning dance is going on right now. Hinote is an experienced dancer. He manages to not step on toes. His movements are delibrate. Runealy should have no problem keeping up. Really. Hinote might need to keep up with her. This isn't hard for him to do- but it's just a little obvious when he's lagging behind just a smidge.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
Cerelia's ears rise a bit as Vespa actually says yes, she wasn't quite expecting her to take her up on the offer. "So should I lead or do you want to lead?" She's not quite sure what dances Vespa's familiar with. Hopefully they wouldn't step on each others' feet too much.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
"You better lead Cerelia.", Vespa says. "It been a while since I've last danced!", acutally can't remember when she last danced. She starts to make her way to the dance floor.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"What!?" Runealy is shocked, scandalized by the idea someone would mess with a party like that. "Wow, that... would never happen back home!" Or rather, it would; just with parties not directly connected to royalty. With parties further from the capital; she's just sheltered.

There's a tiny gasp as Hinote prepares to start them off, then... she follows along. At first she's just stalling for time, taking very small and careful steps to buy a moment for her to figure out the flow to this dance; to look aside and see if she can take clues from others.

Then after several seconds, she figures it out and begins to spin along with Hinote. Despite being in frail health right now, she's not completely delicate or without balance, and is able to hold up with this routine just fine. "You're right, this obviously isn't your first." She's not world-class at this either, but definitely knows what she's doing and getting into it fairly well; a second, faint smile for the evening forms.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
In the same spirit of ill-conceived YOLO that got him here in the first place, Mamoru's gone digging in his subspace pocket. Nope, that's a rose. No, that's a top hat. N-no, that's the quacky duck keychain he got for Usagi at Kyouko's conbenie.

Usagi. :(

He lets out a tiny sigh, and then his gloved fingers light on what which he sought from the start:

The bottle of vodka he stashed there earlier when he decided to come to the dance after all.

Yomi's walking off, so the punch bowl is unguarded. Poor Runealy: not only will the punch be messed with, it'll be messed with by Mamoru Goddamn Chiba.

As Homura turns around, he reaches behind her, using her as a smokescreen, and dumps the entire bottle in the punch. The empty's sleight-of-handed back into his subspace pocket, and he smiles quickly at his friend. "They probably would," he agrees. He's about to ask her something else when Mio drops a bomb on the conversation. Like, a Homura-in-a-fight bomb. A scorched-earth burninating-the-countryside bomb.

"I don't date," he says sharply, expression flat. Rude!

Homura Akemi has posed:
"Nobody knows who Mamo-kun is dating," replies Homura, a bit humorously. "It is a mystery to everyone. I wonder even if Mamoru-kun knows."

This is timed to happen just before Mamoru's line, and Homura shrugs at Mio with a sort of 'there you go!' statement.

She elbow-pokes Mamoru in the ribs before saying, "Seriously though, no, we're not dating. He's a very good friend. A friend who is handsome, dresses well and knows how to dance."

She tries not to be rude, but it's important to be clear. She doesn't want to deal with the lunar love polygon and she really doesn't want to join the legions of women who intrude upon Mamoru's comfort zones.

Well she imagines there's legions. It's probably just like one or two.

Homura's eyes glance towards the punch bowl as Mamoru starts to augment it. She doesn't even hestiate before scooping a bit into her own nearly-empty cup.

What? Puella need to unwind sometimes. Don't judge!

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
Cerelia follows Vespa onto the dance floor. It looks a bit odd as she leads the dance given the height difference between her and Vespa. The fact she's not wearing heels only makes it larger. Hopefully she isn't too doing too badly here, it's been a while since she's danced as well.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari grins at Runealy's scandalized look. He imagines royal balls conduct themselves properly. They dance around the room a few times, but then something seems a little off. Is something wrong? No. But.... He softly and with a gentle push to the right slips them out of the crowd without near a table and chair that haven't been claimed. "Have a seat." he says.

Most likely all the demon poison might be making Runealy feel like crap suddenly= at least enough to sit down and out of the way.

Queen Beryl has posed:
Mio smiles a bit. "Of course. The rumors say different, you know." she adds, a bit offhandedly. There's a smile. "You /don't/ date, or you /won't/ date? There are a lot of people who would like to date you, Chiba-kun. Or even just dance with you. I hear you dance marvelously." she adds. It's obvious she would be one of those people, though she also clearly isn't saying it.

"I still want to know why I feel that way about you. I suppose you don't reciprocate the feeling, or you'd be curious too?" She asks, before she takes a drink of the punch in her cup again. She hasn't drunk any of the Bonus Doctored Punch, though.

Then she smiles - it's a strange thing, kind, yet cold - distant, perhaps. "Maybe I'll never figure it out. But maybe it has something to do with why I can see those thinks - like the fairy earlier - that other people can't... after all, you could see it too, couldn't you? I'm not crazy." The last bit is said as a statement; not defensively, just as easily as if she was stating that the sky is blue.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa stumbles a bit a first, she out of pratices and these high heels are not helping one bit! But she finds her rythm and keeps pace with Cerelia.

Cerelia Veloce has posed:
Cerelia does her best to try and stay balanced along with Vespa. Good thing for all the strength training she does or they would certainly be on the floor about now. She's not wearing heels herself after all a foot or leg injury could cause some serious problems.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
Rune is indeed tiring after a while, the occasional cough slipping in; she manages to look aside mid-dance to cover her mouth during them, but it's still pretty obvious. She ends up taking the cue to sit down though, but... does remain smiling. "Glad you..."

She takes some breaths, oddly winded after what would normally be perfectly average activity for her. "...Glad you found out about this. Pretty fun." She's not drinking much right now, which... may be for the best at the moment, as /someone/ seems to be up to some 'scandalous fun' with that.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There will, over the years, be legions. Right now, yeah, it's probably just two. Or one, depending on the definitions of 'one' and 'two'. Still looking incredibly off-balance, Mamoru finally scoops himself a cup of punch. Maybe by the time he finishes it, the current dance will be winding down and they can accost the DJ and get a waltz in.

He takes the literal ribbing good-naturedly, though there's still a faintly sour look on his face, and it's only mollified slightly by Homura's appeal to his vanity. Handsome, dresses well, and knows how to dance! True, true, and so true. He sips his punch and suppresses the resulting shudder. "Don't, won't-- does it matter? I like someone, but I haven't asked her out, because I don't date."

Then he downs the entire rest of his punch in one go and puts the empty cup on the table with the other empty cups. "For the record, the someone is not you. I will be your friend if you want a friend, Kuroki-san, and I will help you with the things some people would say are crazy, and I will open doors for you into investigating the cause of this sense of familiarity, but I would appreciate it if you took a little less interest in my love life-- or lack thereof."

Even the vodka in the punch isn't unwinding him. Maybe it's winding him up. "Either way, I had a really horrible afternoon, and I just came here to see someone who's not here after all, and if you're dead set on a dance with me, we'll dance after I dance with Homu-chan. She didn't ask before you didn't ask."

It must have been a REALLY awful afternoon, and he must be an amazing lightweight. Homura's probably never seen him this straightforward, this edged, this volatile. This generally rude.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
You know? That's not a thing Hinote's heard since Runealy got to Earth. Stuff was always about--- attacking people. Draining energy, teaching them about Earth stuff that never seemed to stick properly because they still called light bulbs glass-candles and horseless carriages and stuff like that. You know. When Hinote gets to Waldia, he's probably going to call stuff like carriages 'Engineless Cars' just to playfully tease.

He holds out his hands across the table and smiles.

"Yeah, you seemed weak there a moment, so I got you over here."

"It was very fun, Runealy. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." he smiles. He looks over across the floor. Mamoru seems to be... dealing with something unpleasent. Hrm.

Homura Akemi has posed:
"There are rumors? Honestly. The things people say." Homura blows it off with a flip of her hand. She doesn't want to waste time on that and the punch is rapidly improving her mood while it simultaniously diminishes her fine motor skills. Tonight is probably not a night for shooting Witches.

"Yes, I saw it, too," says Homura ", but I'm also a little crazy, so no help there." Whether or not Mio is crazy is a matter that Homura chooses not to debate. It's not that she believes it, it's just that Homura has little room to talk on that front. The fact that she finishes off her special punch in a hurry emphasizes that fact.

"Hey now I totally asked! Sortof... indirectly..." She certainly seems a bit more relaxed than she was a minute ago. Those who know her might think it's a bit strange, and sure she could probably exploit some Puella Magi Soul Gem shenanigans to sober up, but that defeats the point of drinking special punch!

She turns towards Mamoru to grasp at his hand, saying, "Hey come on let's go. It'll be fun I promise!" Liquid courage is a strange thing.

She tries to pull Mamoru away, because she's never seen him like this before, and she's concerned that something's wrong and she doesn't want to ask in front of Mio.

Vespa Rayne has posed:
Vespa is enjoying herself dancing with Cerelia thought they do look like a mismatched pair. "You pretty good at this Cerelia..", Vespa says smiling. She would have prefered to dance with a boy but this is allright too.

Runealy Waldia has posed:
"Good idea..." Rune agrees, shaking her head a few times to clear it. "One of these times we'll do this right. I'll be up for the whole thing and we can dance and talk and drink and snack and all of that until the event is over. Give me a few to rest and maybe we can go for another round of it?"

She's clearly tiring, but trying to show Hinote a good time with this. "Do you like going to these, by the way? I... ...you know, I never really figured out what you do for fun. Been so busy being wrong. Maybe now's a good time for me to hear about that sort of thing?"

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
A certain student of the school has decides it is a good idea to grace the event with his presence. It will, at the least, serve as a nice distraction from more important matters. Of course, Ichiro is somewhat fashionably late to the event, but he is definitely dressed to impress when he comes in through the doors, sporting a neatly pressed suit and tie get up. One would almost suspect that he's attending something a little more grand, but it's merely a product of his belief that if something is going to be done, it should be done properly.

Of course, that said, when he does walk in, he doesn't really have anything to do so he mostly moves over to get some refreshments. Just a little bit of punch to perhaps nurse while he stands around and watches people. Of course, he's watching very intently, studying those having fun. Or perhaps he's wondering what he's doing here. He has far more important matters he could be tending to, but... well... the most movement he makes is just enough to get him leaning against a wall.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari smiles to Runealy. "Yes. I do go to these often. The school ones, and the ones my dad attends, but those have more grownups than boys or girls my age attending them, so I often just sit and talk." he admits. "I read. I take care of the small garden my mom has on the rooftop. I'm in the drama club. There's more. We can talk about that later. I don't want to overwhelm you right now, Rune." he says with a soft smile.

"I do know I should be able to continue a good lot of what I like to do when I get to... um." yeah there's people around. "From 'Europe'." You can hear the quotes bleed around Europe.

"Technology isn't super important to me. A lot of what I like to do doesn't involve a lot of it." he smiles.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi almost didn't come, even though as of yesterday she's officially no longer grounded. She debated it right up through this evening, and nearly talked herself out of it completely... but in the end, after three weeks spent mostly stuck going stir-crazy at home when she wasn't at school, she had to get out and do *something.*

So, late though she may be, eventually Seishi comes wandering into the auditorium. She'd half braced herself to feel like a sore thumb, but her long plum-colored dress with its lace cap sleeves is nice enough, and she's even done up her hair for the occasion. So she looks nice enough, if slightly anxious, as she looks around the party in search of familiar faces.

Queen Beryl has posed:
Mio looks up. For all of Mamoru's rudeness, this doesn't seem to bother her either. It just bounces off of whatever oddness seems to surround her at all times.

"That's okay, Chiba-kun." she says, after a moment. "I think I would much rather dance with you, when you want to dance with me... which does not seem to be the case today." she says, rather nonchalantly. Though there's an odd subtext; that she clearly believes -or at least hopes- at some point, Mamoru will want that dance. "I think I can find someone who will perhaps not be as handsome or talented as you... but will, at least for the evening, enjoy my company more." she adds. Then, she makes a small bow at walks off. "Enjoy your evening, Chiba-kun, Akemi-san."

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
Yes, the more he stands there, the more he's fairly certain he has no business being here. Ichiro takes a deep breath, eyes closed, and leans his head back so he can stare at the ceiling. Thoughts wander to more pressing matters, of a certain person apparently reborn. It makes him frown just a little bit. The boy shakes his head, looks back to the dance, and watches everyone more closely. It was a girl. Could she be someone here? He's not sure what he would do if that turned out to be the case. Though ultimately he decides not to dwell on it, and runs fingers through his hair before he tries his first taste of the punch. He stops the moment it hits his tongue and he finds himself staring down into the cup. That... that is definitely not the taste of just punch in that cup. He frowns.

Eyes wander, apparently having decided to just drink it and not worry. It's not as though he has much worry about being intoxicated, though it does somewhat amuse him that someone would do something like this. Seems no matter the age, some things never change. He does eventually catch sight of someone he does know, but at first he doesn't so much as try to make his presense known to Seishi. She might have business with someone else here, so there's no point in trying to take her time just yet. Besides... whatever that Chiba kid is going through seems like it might be interersting to watch.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And people just arriving will be treated to spiked punch and mild drama: Mamoru Chiba, a familiar face to many, is both wearing a white tie and tails and kid gloves and the neck badge and everything... and being pulled, red-faced and coming a little undone, onto the dancefloor by Homura Akemi in a floor-length black dress. "Yeah, okay, I will enjoy my evening, Kuroki-san!" he calls back after the redhead in the red dress.

And then they're on the dancefloor and his eyes are bright and his face is set, flushed and showing an unholy mixture of unpleasant emotions.

He doesn't look like he's enjoying his evening.

But gamely, he starts to dance with Homura once they're out there, and he calms down by inches through the well-practiced steps. This one isn't technically a waltz, but it's in 6/8 and can be battlewaltzed to, at the very least.

"I'm sorry," he mutters. "I'm really sorry. Everything is terrible and I do feel like I know her but she's-- it's like she's after me. And after today I don't have any patience for that."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari lets Runealy have some unwind time to listen to the music and rest from exhaustion due to demon poison. He gets up and walks around the edge towards the punch bowl. He pours himself a glass. He doesn't sniff it this time. It tastes a little off? Maybe it got too warm. Eh. It's fine. Right? It's not like a big opening was left for spiking, right?

Sip.

Oh... Mamoru.

He doesn't look in a good mood. But. He also doesn't want to bother this man later. He really, never wants to bother this man ever ever again. He's done so much. What more could they possibly accept? Besides..maybe. Maybe it'll lighten his mood.

"Uhm. Hey." he says to Mamoru. "Thanks for. Um. The phone number. It's working out very well. I've never seen her relaxed.... or smile.. or say she was having fun until just a few minutes ago. That's. um. I'll go over here now!" he says as he begins to walk away. Yeah. He doesn't wanna bother Mamoru. He has nothing else he can say-- he doesn't listen in on Mamoru's and Homura's talk.

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Business - no. In truth, looking out over the auditorium, Seishi feels a little bit at sea. It's been quite a while since she's been to any party this big, or this formal. What do people do, she wonders?

It doesn't help that she doesn't see many people she knows, or at least not that she knows well enough to be friendly with. She catches a glimpse of Mamoru amidst the sparkle and glitter, but he's busy dancing. So when her gaze falls on Ichiro over where he's holding up the wall, Seishi's expression brightens with a certain amount of visible relief.

In another moment, she's making her way over. "Sakamoto-san," she says, with a polite nod of greeting. "How are you finding the party?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura gets Mamoru to the dance floor and begins to follow his lead. She did want to dance, but now her concern is starting to overtake that. She moves to the steps according to Mamoru's tempo, doing a pretty good job and not really missing as many steps as she might expect she would. On the other hand Mamoru isn't exactly pushing her limits here.

"You don't have to be sorry. We all have bad days. I mean, look at who you're talking to."

Her eyes are soft, and full of concern. Mamoru may be 'just a friend', but he's a precious friend, and Homura doesn't like seeing him hurt like this.

"Do you want to talk about it? I mean... it can't be much worse than the crap I deal with every day... Or is it actually worse? We don't have to talk if you don't want."

Homura glances over towards Mio for a brief moment, but only briefly, before looking back up at taller Mamoru.

She glances over as Hino comes along... and doesn't comment until he goes again. "They really are just like you said."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana is here. Oh yes, the too-tall black-haired blue-eyed weirdo from Seishou is definitely here. The problem is, she has no idea what to do, no idea where to go, and no idea why she thought this would be a good idea. So hiding neatly under a table, her back to the legs, her toes (or more precisely the sparkly black rhinestoned pumps she has on her toes) sticking out beneath the tablecloth, with her phone in hand. She's far more interested in reading stories on the internet and hiding until everyone just goes away than she is in getting out and actually /dancing/. Even if someone did manage to convince her to wear a quite nice ankle-length gown.

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
Another sip, more watching. There's really nothing for him here, is there? Ichiro is actually considering calling it a night before he's even really had the chance to do anything when Seishi comes to the rescue! He's about to get off the wall when she speaks up and instead he halts, eyes shifting over to her. Now, it might be a bit impolite of him to stare but, how can he not notice the dress? She's rather fetching in it! Or perhaps he just thinks so because all he's ever seen her in is a school uniform or practice clothes, of which none are particularly flattering.

"Oh, quite fine," he begins as his eyes lock completely with hers, a pleasant enough smile on his face. Though the expression seems perhaps a bit forced, as if to say he's a bit out of his depth here. "Certainly important enough to make sure the wall doesn't fall on anyone." A shrug of his shoulders and another sip of his punch. Somewhere in his mind, he's trying to figure out what it's been spiked with, almost as if its a game. Try to figure out what the teenagers are getting messed up with!

He motions over to the punch, getting off the wall as he does. "Would you like a drink?"

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi at least doesn't seem too put off by being stared at, though it does make her a little more self-conscious. She manages not to stare back, if only because she already knew Ichiro was good-looking even in the unnecessarily pink Verone uniform.

"Hm, that does sound like an important responsibility," she quips lightly, gentle teasing to cover her own vague awkwardness. "Did someone assign you to that, or did you appoint yourself head wallflower?"

She blinks in momentary surprise when he asks if she wants a drink, and then Seishi smiles. "Sure, why not?" She could've gotten some punch for herself if she'd thought of it, but since he's asking... "Thank you."

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
Ichiro can only shrug, though he does chuckle a little bit. "Oh, I felt it was necessary out of the goodness of my heart." Suddenly happy for the company of someone he knows, he's off to fetch that drink. Normally he'd probably just let Seishi go and do it for herself, but given the nature of the punch... well, he can't really do that in good conscience. Or... could he? "I was actually planning on leaving, but I suppose fate's decided I should stay," he calls back while filling a cup.

He stares at the cup, curiosity budding in his mind, wondering just what Seishi would be like if he let her drink the refreshments as is. It could prove humorous, though it could also ruin the poor girl's reputation. Quite the moral choice! One difficult enough that it takes him a whole 15 seconds to come to a conclusion. It's just a little magic, though enough that people gathered might be able to feel the very brief spike in the area. Simple manipulation of Water to purify. It doesn't take long at all and then the magic is gone and he's turning around to bring Seishi her drink.

"Here you are, one fresh glass of punch," and, in spite of the trouble he has gone to, Ichiro rather unknowingly offers Seishi -his- cup! Oh dear.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Speaking of too-tall black-haired blue-eyed weirdos-- yeah, Mamoru is upholding the time-honored tradition of dancing to hide conversations about sensitive matters. He gives Hinote an attempt at a smile: it's for Hinote's benefit, he wants Runealy and her Guardian Knight to feel like they'll really be okay, he doesn't want to damage the tenuous links... but it's an attempt, because he can't wear any masks right now. He's too fussed, he's too much of a hot mess, and he had some of his own handiwork from the punchbowl.

Then the Waldian Guardian is already gone before Mamoru can even get a word out, but it's okay, because he can't generate anything useful or helpful to say.

"They are," he agrees, "if what I said was that they're terrified and not evil. I can't think about that. I can't think about anything right now but my own stupid problem."

He closes his eyes tightly for a second, relying on Homura's view of what's going on to keep them from actually crashing into anyone, and he grimaces. "It's stupid. I'm stupid. You already gave me a talking-to about it. I just got another one but it was a lot worse. I already told you who I'd choose. For some ungodly reason, the Senshi seem to think that if I like her it's a catastrophe. You warned me about this and I'm just-- I'm an idiot. And they tried to let me down easy, or something. I think they were suggesting she likes someone else. All I can think of is that I stopped trying to find out who the Princess was when I realized I wanted her to be someone specific, already."

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi waits, oblivious to any and all shenanigans involving the punch, until Ichiro comes back to offer her a cup.

"Thanks," she says again as she accepts it, and smiles. "I'm glad you hadn't left yet. I kind of had an argument with myself about whether or not to come, before I talked myself into it. It would've been a shame to show up and not know anybody."

Pausing there, she lifts the cup of punch to take a sip - and promptly makes an odd face at the taste of it. What kind of punch is this?

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura frowns. So, the little bunny has someone else. That has to be hard. "That's too bad... I guess there's just the other one? I mean... since the other other one hasn't shown up yet."

She meant the reference to the Moon Princess as playful, but it's only after the fact that she considers that it might be a sore spot. She bites her lip. "Sorry, maybe I shouldn't say it like that."

A catastrophe. Sounds serious. Homura doesn't really know those people other than the fact that they are friends with Mamoru somehow, but on the other hand... "I don't know... I think if I had reason to think that a catastrophe was going to happen, I'd want people to believe me. Even if it seemed ridiculous."

She totally does know things about various catastrophes and people totally won't believe her, but according to Kyubey (as far as that white rat can even be trusted (not at all)) it might be better that way.

She keeps in step with Mamoru. Grace and elegance is a little too much to ask considering how fast she drank that punch, but she settles for looking casual. She's at least trained enough where she can look decent if they go slow enough.

"I'm sorry, Mamo-kun. I know it hurts, but there's a bright side on the other end of it, right? I mean you can't give up hope." Hope for what? Homura doesn't know. It sounded good to her somewhat tipsy mind.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari just doesn't want to make Mamoru's current apparent bad mood worse. He doesn't want to un-nerve Homura. Heck. He still doesn't even know her name. He--he needs to try to meet her later. He still has all those questions he meant to ask---but instead shot firebolts at her.

He finds his way back to Runealy's table and fades into the background.

Like a bad animation error.

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
He shrugs, admittedly not sure what else he would have done with his evening if he'd left. Until he figures out what to do with this new information about a certain ronin coming back sooner than he'd thought would be the case, he can't really proceed on his plans without concern. So for now, he will busy himself with enjoying the world just a little more while he can. "It's not as if I had other plans tonight, Tamashige-san. Perhaps I'd be in a park swinging a sword around if I wasn't here, though I'd wager everyone in the kendo club would give thanks if I didn't practice every day." He chuckles, though he's really not sure there was much in that to find funny.

And then he takes a drink, and he makes an odd face for an entirely different reason. This... this actually tastes like punch. But he... eyes go down to the drink in his hand and then look over to the one Seishi is holding. Oh dear... how to fix this mistake without coming across as a bad guy?

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi laughs a little herself, though it's more incredulous than humorous. "I don't know why," she counters Ichiro's assertion. "We're supposed to practice, aren't we? Rather than complaining that you practice too much, I'd expect them to be on the cases of the club members who miss practices."

Like herself, she has to acknowledge privately with a wry little twist of her mouth. Not that she missed those club meetings on purpose, and she's been scrupulously diligent about training once she recovered from her brief hospital stay - but it's still embarrassing.

Another sip of punch, and Seishi makes a face again. That really doesn't seem quite right. Brows drawing together, she looks up toward Ichiro to wonder, "Does the punch taste a little weird to you, or is it just me?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I can't think of her like that-- them-- like that," Mamoru says in a low voice, looking down and away; he's still red-faced, his tie feels too tight, and his hair's not nearly as perfect as it was when he came in. "I don't know if she really does like someone else. I don't know anything. There are secrets and secrets, and some of them are mine, and some of them are theirs, and some of them-- well, some of them belong to no one, existing to confound the enemy but complicating the lives of allies."

The steps may not be pushing the envelope, but they're quick. Waltzes aren't slow to begin with, and this isn't even meant to be waltzed to-- but between the two of them, loose-limbed and casually graceful, they look like elegance that's stopped bothering for the night.

"I can't trade one for another. It doesn't work like that. None of it is my choice anyway. Fate certainly isn't, and that's-- they were concerned. They were worried. It was because this involves their dear friend, and it involves their princess, and it involves me-- it started because they were angry that I risked my life to protect her, that I was reckless, endangering myself. They wanted to know what the princess would think if I were too hurt to help once she showed up... sound familiar at all?"

There's a little salt in his tone, but it's salt that's just resting atop an open wound. "God, if they knew about Moon..."

And there's the headache, he can't ignore it anymore. With a look of resignation, he slows down and stops, knuckling the pressure points on his face. "I can't. I need some more punch, maybe. I don't even know what I hope for anymore. I just don't want her to cry."

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
"I suspect most of the people in the club don't actually want to put forth the effort to scale a wall placed in front of them," he says, though it's just as likely that he's wrong about that assessment. But it isn't as though he has no experience with people who have that sort of attitude. "Or... I suppose those that are already exceptional might feel threatened?" He shrugs, looking off to the side, to the dance floor, before snapping his attention back to Seishi. "I bet they'd feel more threatened if you put more effort into showing up for practice. I doubt they've even entertained the idea of the potential that's standing before them."

But those words, touching though they might be in their own way, are shot down wonderfully by that question. Ichiro is suddenly looking at his cup, wondering what he should say or do. While he knows the punch was messed with well before he got here, he's not sure he could make a strong argument for that after handing Seishi bad punch after being the last person near the refreshments. "I don't think so," he says, "but if you think so, you can have mine. It tastes fine to me." He offers the cup to her while not really looking directly at her. There's embarrassment there, for how could he make such a mistake as giving her the wrong drink?

Ayana has posed:
Beneath the table, Ayana's toes tap gently against each other. The girl makes a soft noise of amusement at something in the game. She hums to herself as she wickedly does horrible things to the characters in her video game. Victory? That's boring, she's busy ensuring the most embarassing or ridiculous outcomes possible come about.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura frowns. Can't trade them out. Well of course not... could she really trade Madoka for anyone? It would never be that simple.

"I understand... on some level... caring about someone that much, I get it. I don't really know what to do about it either, though."

"I know they both mean a lot to you... and yeah, it's true, I've been mad at the way you've thrown yourself into harm's way. I mean, I put myself at risk all the time, but what you do isn't a risk. It's a certainty that you're going to get hurt."

Homura frowns. She's starting to lecture, and doesn't want to. "... but I guess your feelings wont let you act any other way. Maybe instead of lecturing you we should just get you some kevlar or something."

She stops talking for a moment, considering.

"Do you need kevlar? Because I can get kevlar armor if you don't ask where it came from."

She actually isn't sure how much that would even help, but hey, every bit helps right? It's not like she really condemns Mamoru's intentions... just... a lot of people care about his well being.

Mamoru gets a headache, and Homura slows to a stop. Mamoru wants to stop dancing. She smiles and says, "Well, thank you for this dance, Sir. It was lovely."

'I just don't want her to cry.' Oh, Mamoru. No matter how stupidly heroic you are, or how graceful you are on your feet, Homura will always see you as the gentle, sensitive type.

"Come on. Let's get some more punch." More of the punch that has a kick to it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Kevlar would completely destroy my suit silhouette," Mamoru tells Homura with a laugh that sounds like there might be a hiccup behind it, off-kilter and ungainly-- but he passes his hand over his face and manages, now that he's distracted from the topic of bunnies and princesses and pretty soldiers with odangos, to at least clear his expression into something less flustered, less raw.

"It's armor anyway. Don't worry about it. I just wasn't, you know... I was wearing a t-shirt," confesses Mamoru, half flinching in advance as they approach the table with the punch. Almost as soon as they're there, in fact, he's already got them both cups, and as soon as he's got a cup, he downs it all in one go again. None of the adults have discovered the fun yet, it seems. It's as he's moving to refill his cup for a third serving of ill-advised courage that the cumulative effect of two vodka-and-punches, a bad day, and magic-induced migraines combines with feet outstretched from the table--

--and suddenly there is, in fact, alcoholic red punch all over the place and Mamoru is on the floor and halfway under the table.

Complete silence for a second.

Mamoru looks up at Homura.

He just looks so done.

"Just leave me. Save yourself. I'll come out when the party's over," he says in a very small voice. "Thank you. Sorry. Goodbye."

No for real he legitimately scoots the rest of the way under the table, vanishing behind the cloth, not actually aware of what he tripped over or the fact that he's not alone. Yet.

Ayana has posed:
Ayana lets out a yelp of surprise as her toes are used as a trap for Mamoru. "Hey, watch where you--" her feet are now covered in /punch/, and there is a /boy/ crawling under the table with her. Eyes wide, she stares at him for a very long, very confused moment, then actually manages to ask, "Are you okay?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
He was wearing a T-SHIRT?! She wants to yell at him. Habit says to yell. She opens her mouth. She looks up at him. She sees how pitiful and sad he looks. She just... can't do it. Maybe she should but... no, no, no actually she shouldn't. She can't tell him anything that he doesn't already know.

Oh geeze. Did he just trip? Homura looks down at the fallen Mamoru with a sigh and a chuckle. "Such a nice suit. I'm afraid 'spare shirt' isn't on the list of things I carry around with me, and I didn't bring the towels this time."

She smiles down at the table that Mamoru just vanished under, saying, "Thanks again, Mamo-kun."

She turns to leave. She really should. She has to get home, and find a Witch to hunt, and suggest a dress to Kyouko... and... and...

So much stuff on her plate. Homura's a very busy girl. She thinks about all of this as she leaves the dance, specifically trying to avoid the Waldians as she leaves, but not for the reasons they might think.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru watches Homura's feet leave. All of a sudden, someone making a lot of noise next to him registers, and he startles, abruptly looking at Ayana like he's about to get his face gnawed off by a youma. But that's not a youma. That's a girl under the table playing otome games on her phone.

For reals, he is a hot mess. He smells like vodka and his hair's a mess and there's red all over his shirt and he looks sad and exhausted, and he finally gathers his wits enough to answer her question, eyes altogether too bright. All the wrong kinds of bright. "Not even a little bit. But I'm not injured. Was that your feet? I'm very sorry."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana taps her toes together again, then glances at her phone. It's got fox decorations all over it, including a foxy charm. "Uh," she says, then hastily thumbs the power switch and tucks it into a cleverly hidden pocket on the front of her dress. "Yeah, that was my feet. " She leans forward and starts to sniff him, carefully, then wrinkles her nose. "Ew. You smell like alcohol. Aren't you a little young to be drunk?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Someone spiked the punch," Mamoru says distinctly, "and it got spilled all over me when I tripped on your feet." He doesn't answer any questions about being drunk or being too young to be drunk. Instead, he rubs at his face, then wrestles out of his tailcoat and uses it to dry his hands and his face and his hair. "And now I'm not going back out there until everyone leaves because today has been a trainwreck."

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
What Ichiro is saying is a compliment, in its way, but Seishi winces a little and ducks her head in momentary self-consciousness all the same. "I didn't miss practice on purpose," she objects, weakly, knowing it sounds like the excuse it is. "Well, you're right, though," Sei admits a moment later, sighing. "I'm still trying to catch up from the days I missed."

When he offers her his cup, she glances down at her own, then shakes her head and smiles. "That's okay. It's from the same bowl, right? Maybe it's just me." But she does move to set her own cup down on the table rather than keep drinking it--

And, thus, ends up in the line of fire when Mamoru takes his spill and punch goes everywhere. It all happens so quickly that Seishi ends up standing there blinking in dumbfounded surprise, red drops trickling down her face and dripping from her hair.

Maybe she should've stayed home after all.

With a fixed, awkward smile on her face, she looks toward Ichiro. "You wouldn't happen to have a napkin, would you?"

Ayana has posed:
"Well you can't stay here," Ayana replies, furrowing her brow unhappily. "This is /my/ hiding spot. I had it first," she notes to him, then frowns just faintly in thought. "Well, I guess you could stay here if you paid for it. That's how all the people in stories handle this, right? You have to pay for room in the inn. Welcome to Ayana's Inn! Yes. That's how it will be. You may stay, but only if you pay me rent for staying here."

Hoshiyomi no Mikoto has posed:
Ichiro nods. They might sound like excuses to her, and he might think they are, but Ichiro nods all the same, understanding that sometimes things happen that no one can foresee. "Well, as long as you make an effort to keep up your practice." He would hate to see such promise go to waste for no good reason.

As his offer is rejected, he's preparing himself to have to deal with a drunken Seishi, which he must admit would probably be somewhat humorous to see, is not something he is particularly interested in dealing with on this night. Thankfully though, that doesn't seem to be the case. "Yes, of course, it did come from the same bowl. I'm sure it's probably just something that's... not to your liking." Not necessarily untrue, that. He'd offer to do away with the cup for her, but Seishi is already in motion and already in the line of fire.

He winces, actually drawing back some and closing his eyes when it happens. That is a smell that just isn't going to go away with a napkin... but, at her request, Ichiro reaches for his breast pocket, producing a kerchief for her. "I do happen to, though I'm not sure if it will help with the smell."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The tailcoat lowers and Mamoru gives Ayana some serious sideeye. "This is a table," he points out, "that you don't own."

If nothing else, he should be paying her for the distraction.

"It's not an inn. But let's assume for the sake of argument that it is an inn. An invading army doesn't have to pay for rooms, they commandeer rooms. Eminent domain. I am armed with alcohol and punch soaked into my shirt, elite dancing skills, battered arrogance, and angst. Do you have the resources, as an inkeeper, to fend off weaponry like that?"

Ayana has posed:
"I have magic," Ayana points out to Mamoru with arched brows. "And I'm adorable, wearing a dress, /and/ I put on high heels. Seriusly, do you know how much damage high heels can do when used as a weapon? If it's even half as much damage as they do to my feet trying to walk in them, they should require government supervision!"

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Head bowing in wordless gratitude, Seishi accepts the handkerchief and uses it to blot the punch off of her face. And, smelling it clearly now, she winces visibly. "Ugh, no kidding. I smell like..." Horror dawns slowly in her expression as recognition finally clicks. "I smell like my dad coming home from one of those late business drinking things. No *wonder* it tasted weird."

She takes a moment to absorb the full extent of the turn her night has taken, and then, slowly and helplessly, Seishi just starts laughing. "At this rate," she says, very wryly, "I'm never going to be allowed out of the house again."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru squints. "Can you walk in them? I didn't see you out there, were you under here the whole time? Because you can't walk in your heels? --and yeah, who DIDN'T see Anne Hathaway owning someone with her stilettos as Catwoman."

He looks thoughtful, though, slouching over to put his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist. "Magic's pretty common around here," he observes, glancing aside at Ayana. "Seems like you can't throw a shoe without hitting someone magical in the head. One learns to cope."

Then he sits up and shifts around until he's sitting crosslegged, facing her, head only ducked a little. "Now: I'm pretty sure my battered arrogance can stand up to your magic. My angst isn't holding up against your armor-piercing adorable, but I think my alcoholic shirt and elite dancing skills can give your dress a run for its money. It'll be a long and drawn out battle, and resources are limited. After all, sooner or later one of us will have to get up for physical maintenance purposes."

One eyebrow lifts, so Spock, so very Spock. Captain, you're illogical. "What's the rent, anyway?"

Ayana has posed:
"Catwoman?" Ayana starts to ask, but she says it so soft that Mamoru might miss it as he moves on to more important topics. Like comparing assets. /Military/ assets, of course. And who can help it? Ayana starts to smile--slowly at first, but by the time he's done comparing all of their various listed assets, she's actually blushing /and/ barely repressing a giggle. She reaches up to clutch the dark, starry pendant dangling about her neck, then looks away.

"I hadn't thought that part out," she admits after a few moments of regaining control. She stays silent another moment, then looks back towards Mamoru and tilts her head just faintly at him. "I really have been down here for the whole time," she admits quietly. "I didn't really want to come, but a school friend convinced me that he would dance with me, and then he didn't show up and these heels are uncomfortable and I feel as ungraceful as a tanuki on stilts. I thought it would be safer to just hide until everyone goes away than to make a fool of myself. I'm already the weird girl at school. I didn't need to be laughed at for being the only one who can't walk in heels, waiting for some guy that stood me up and will probably laugh at me in class tomorrow."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm not sure I want to ever think about a tanuki on stilts again," the wreck of a blue-eyed boy says apologetically, "but my battered arrogance might be able to help you out on that count, anyway. Even if I'm a royal mess right now, I've still got an epic rumor mill surrounding me and I've been told I'm somewhat popular. I'd be happy to dance with you, and you can leave your shoes under the table."

He holds out a hand-- the kind of gesture someone would use to help someone else out of a car, not the handshake kind, and his eyebrows are up. "No one will laugh at you."

Ayana has posed:
Ayana blinks at the offer, then leans back just a little in surprise. "They might say that you only danced with me because you were drunk," she notes quietly, then leans forward to inspect his shirt. "Hold on a minute, maybe I can make it so that you don't look quite so much like a mess." She studies him a moment, and then reaches up to touch his soiled shirt. A pair of black, furry ears pop up atop her head, as if by magic. The punch stains all vanish. It still /feels/ wet, but at least at a glance it looks like any other normal shirt. "There," she says, then puts her hand in his. Her long gloves are made of soft cotton. "I suppose I'd be delighted for a dance," she says. Those fuzzy ears vanish as she lets him help her to her feet--were they ever really there? "That would show those boys that I'm not just a weirdo." She's left those shoes on; either they're not as bad as she's made them out to be, or she's determined to prove something to someone about them.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I doubt it," Mamoru starts, "I only danced with a friend of mine tonight, and I'm not drunk--"

(just buzzed enough to be open)

--but then Ayana's doing magic, and Mamoru's senses flicker with it, and the taste of illusion on the air is a familiar one. Something jars a little in his heart, but he dismisses it as debris from his overemotional day.

He glances down at his shirt, then up at Ayana's fuzzy black ears, and then he grins rakishly. Out from under the table they go, and it's his turn to pause them for a moment. "Just a sec," he says, the brightness of his eyes a much better one now, sparkling instead of rekt and glistening.

A twist of one kid-gloved hand, and the boy's tucking a bright red thornless rose behind Ayana's ear. "There," he says, deeply satisfied.

Neither of them, as they glide onto the dancefloor, looks remotely like the 'how to people??' type who would hide under a table at a school dance and either mope or play otome games. They look like someone's classy full-spread glossy magazine photoshoot, and -- even more importantly -- they look like they're having fun, because they are.

Follow-up cutscene: The Weird Girl