Tanabata Ball

[memento_mods]

Who:Anyone who wants to attend (Please sign up here if your characters are attending, if you haven't done so already)
What:Tanabata ball
Where: The park
When: July 7, at 9:00 P.M.
Warnings: Nothing above PG-13. Take anything else to journal posts.

Comments

[fixmyresolve]

Lloyd was excited about this. Even if dressing up was kind of a chore, he wasn't about to resist a party of any kind. The boy's face practically glowed as he took in the sights, the sounds, the people, and the very atmosphere that now surrounded him. Occasionally he would cast a goodnatured grin in a random direction when he noted someone he had met before, after all, they were all friends here, right? Even if they weren't, Lloyd thought it would be a great thing if they could be. It never hurt to be outgoing, and it was way better than hugging a wall in some dark, forgotten corner.

There were so many options; what to do first? The dual swordsman's enthusiasm didn't show any signs of dying out anytime soon, and probably wouldn't for the duration of the event unless the food ran out or everyone decided to leave early.

Lloyd laughed to himself, "This is gonna be great!"

[shoukanjutsu]

"Enjoying yourself

[fixmyresolve]

"I sure am!" Lloyd replied before he had even checked to see who was speaking or whether he was the one being spoken to. When he saw Klarth, he just broke into a bigger grin.

"It's great to see you here, Professor! I'm kind of surprised. Seems like a lot of the guys I know were pretty wishy-washy about coming at all. I practically had to bully them into it! ...well, I didn't do that exactly, but they needed some coaxing. Come to think of it, I've only seen one of the problem two. I wonder if maybe he's not coming..."

Lloyd frowned at the thought. He was trying really hard to get those guys to live a little. How could they resist something so fun?

"'Misa-Misa'? I'm not sure I've even met her before, but I don't think I've seen anyone like that around yet. Is she your date, Professor?"

[shoukanjutsu]

"Well. The rewards offered were a bit too tempting to pass up. I certainly wouldn't be here otherwise." Klarth paused for a few seconds. "Though I suppose there's something to be said for free food and entertainment. And it doesn't hurt to have a bit of a celebration to mark the beginning of summer." Klarth coughed rather pointedly at this -- If Lloyd had signed up for summer school, he hadn't shown himself in Klarth's class yet.

"Now don't pressure your friends too hard. They might just end up being sulky the whole night and not have any fun regardless. And, uhh . . . I've never actually met her before, either, to be honest." Laughing a bit at his own embarrassment, he quickly went on. "Didn't want to be bored if I came here alone, so I put out an open advertisement of sorts. She answered pretty quickly."

[fixmyresolve]

"Yeah, I guess you have a point. I'm really curious about what everyone will be getting. I wonder if they'll be wrapped and we'll all get to sit in a circle and watch each other open them... Probably not, huh?"

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, laughing off a touch of embarrassment for having come up with such a crazy thing.

"Oh right! Summer! ...summer... summer school, huh? That was a hint, wasn't it? When was that again? Crack of dawn... and..."

Lloyd laughed a little more, then cleared his throat.

"Er, right, right. I'll try to remember that, but people can be so dull! I don't know how they can stand it. Was really just trying to help them ou---"

The brunet paused as he caught wind of what Klarth was saying, his grin turned into a mischievous smirk and he gave the teacher a quick thumbs-up sign.

"Never met her before? So, is this like a blind date or something? You seem to be preeeetty popular with the ladies, Professor. Wish I had your luck!"

[shoukanjutsu]

"I expect I'll get a pair of old boots or something of the sort. I don't really expect too much from the island there." Ever the optimist, he shrugged. "Though actually, I could use some for the winters. And I think you might be confusing this with a different holiday of sorts."

He smiled at Lloyd's next outburst, casting an amused glance in his direction. "You do know, of course, that I spend nearly all my time in the library? If we're going to speak of dull, I doubt there's anyone to top me there." This was, actually, a bit of a lie. Klarth had recently discovered the establishment known as the bar, to his great delight and to the great misfortune of his progressing research.

"And that's quite enough of that, hahahaha." The man flushed red as he nervously scratched at the back of his head. "This doesn't actually mean anything, you know, just a . . . date of convenience. Don't spread it around, would you?"

[fixmyresolve]

"Oh, really?" Lloyd tilted his head in question, then shrugged it off, "I'm not sure what I'd get or even what I'd want to get. I think the surprise is at least half the fun, don't you? After it's over it'll just be over and everyone will be complaining about not getting something better'n they got."

"There's nothing wrong with libraries. They're too quiet for my tastes, but a lot of people go there, and they come back knowing more than they did when they left. It's when people cut themselves off from everyone else and try to live like hermits and never get out and enjoy themselves that it's bad. That's the kinda dull I mean. You're plenty interesting, Professor, because you know so many things

[shoukanjutsu]

"I suppose you're right." Truth be told, there was a small part of him that was just as eager as Lloyd appeared to be. Would he get a memento of his family? Or perhaps a useful item for his research? And even if he did just get nothing more than a set of old boots, it was, at the very least, something from home. "At this point, I'd be happy with anything. I expect a lot of people feel the same way

[fixmyresolve]

"Yeah," Lloyd agreed, "Even if it's not something expensive or rare, it's a little piece of home, isn't it? Maybe some of the stuff people get will help them remember more about where they came from and who they are."

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, as if the gesture would actually help him think better. Lloyd was by no means a scholar, but he was fairly open-minded.

"Well, some of them, not all. Lots of times I see people going in and out of the library on my way home from work, so I guess they like spending time there. I think people should live life how they want to. I mean, within reason and all. Like I wouldn't say people should be able to make others suffer. That would be wrong. What I mean is I like it when people live life a little, and get out there, but that doesn't mean everyone's gotta live that way. 'Et cetera, et cetera.' Heh."

Lloyd blinked at this. Did Klarth know something he thought Lloyd was too young or too stupid to understand? Well, maybe he was, but it was still kind of suspicious.

"Uh, yeah. If I had

[deadly_lance]

Having arrived at the location of the the ball, Lust began searching for her, er... "date". She wasn't exactly sure if Louise had informed the boy that she was supposed to spend the evening with him. Either way, she was pretty sure it would turn out to be interesting.

After a few minutes of wandering around the park, Lust spotted the person she was hoping to see. "Ah, Lloyd. I've been looking for you." she said, approaching him.

[eccentricsniper]

Louise saw Lust approach Lloyd as she made her way over to the boy. She had hoped to reach him before his date did, if only to prepare him a bit... but it was too late for that. Smiling brightly as always, she waved to them as she walked closer.

"Forgive me, Lloyd; it seems that Lady Lust has found you before I could!"

[fixmyresolve]

"Uh, hey Louise," Lloyd finally managed, although he could tell his face was still hot from having been approached by Lust a few moments before, "Um... what exactly's going on?"

[eccentricsniper]

Oh, this wasn't good. Louise felt terrible about not reaching him first, to at least give him a brief warning. "Ah... Lloyd, dear, I found you a date for the ball! Lady Lust was very interested in going with you, and I'm afraid that I didn't have the chance to tell you." She paused, frowning lightly. "I am sorry for that. I should have informed you right away."

[fixmyresolve]

"Oh, I see. Now it all makes sense!" Lloyd offered Louise a rather gracious smile.

So Louise had been looking for a date for him? That was kind of nice, especially since he had only jokingly told her to keep an eye out for him. Maybe she had thought he was really telling her to find him one? Lloyd really hoped that this wasn't the case, and that it was just an act of charity. Either way, what had been done had been done, and Lust was certainly... er... she was certainly nice to look at, and she seemed like she must be really smart.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it! I'd be happy to spend the evening with Lust. We've talked before, but I don't know her very well, so maybe we can become good friends before the night's over! You don't have to apologize for it."

Lloyd laughed nervously, then cleared his throat and tried to make himself look taller. If Lloyd was trying to be a man... it really wasn't working.

"Thanks. I owe you one."

[eccentricsniper]

She nodded and relaxed when she saw his smile. Lloyd was quite good at remaining positive, no matter what - it was an endearing trait, and one that she very much admired and tried to hold true to as well.

It had, of course, been an act of kindness. Lloyd was dear to her, and she wanted to see him happy. She knew the boy hadn't been completely serious about telling her to keep an eye open for any single ladies, but she had taken the idea and ran with it, and she was very pleased with the results.

"You know her, then? I thought you might, she seemed to know of you as well." Louise hid a chuckle as the boy tried to make himself appear more manly. He really was adorable. "It's no problem at all, dear. I'm happy to help!"

[fixmyresolve]

Lloyd just didn't see the point in being negative. He had friends who got bummed out, and he never knew exactly what to say when they were being like that, so he figured he'd stay cheerful and avoid putting others in a similar situation. Not that he had anything to be pessimistic about.

"Yup, that's right!" Lloyd grinned enthusiastically, "I think I've talked with Miss Lust about twice now, well, three times if you count tonight. She's real nice."

He failed to specify just how he thought she was nice.

"Well, err... guess I better show her around then! Wouldn't wanna be rude, yanno? You have fun, too, okay?"