Valentine's Masquerade

[her_mouse_jesty]

Who: Minnie, Saber, and anyone who wants to join the party!
Where: Goldenrod.
When: Forward dated to 20th,with apologies for earliness, Afternoon to Night.
Summary: The girls are holding a Masquerade to finish off the feel of good vibes and loving sentiment. A chance to build CR, since they've offered to Fly in anyone for the day!
Rating: G, will change if needed.
Log:

With the last of the Pokemon singing vibes wafting their way out, there’s still a chance to have a fairly normal time here in Goldenrod. The Valentine’s Masquerade has been prepared, and the beautiful hostesses are ready to attend to their guests need. They rented out a small, one floor building for their needs, and it has been lavishly decorated in white frills, pink and red hearts, and the occasional cupid.

There’s more than enough room on the dance floor, as elegant ballroom music plays, courtesy of those nice folks at the Radio Tower. For those who are not exactly ready for the ballroom blitz, there are paper footprints on the floor to help you around if you’d like a waltz or foxtrot.

Some tables have been set up if you want a break from dancing. The first is a table for cards and masks – this is a masquerade after all! You can cut up your own from paper for cards, and paint your own choice of colors for the soft mask molds. There is glitter, feathers, glue, beads, fake jewelry, everything you’d need to create a pretty disguise and express how you feel in the written word.

A second table is full on banquet of Valentines sweets. A chocolate fountain has been set up, along with several dipping choices – fruits and extra candy, naturally. There are handmade chocolates there as well – milk, dark, white, full of peanuts, almonds, etc – but for those of you who can’t stand chocolate anymore, there is plenty of fresh cut up fruit to snack on. There’s also a large punch bowl for the thirsty, but you will get a nasty finger wagging at if you spike it.

Off in the corner, many books of poetry are piled up. Granted, they are mostly about Pokemon, but it’s the thought that counts. There’s also a stool and microphone set if you’d like to read your own creations, or perhaps croon to your sweetheart.

Please don’t tag until this sentence has a line through it. Have fun!
 

Comments

[explosivecombat]

[Shockingly. Needless to say, he will not be taking any walks out in the garden with you tonight, Armstrong; he's already narrowly avoided getting punched in the face and/or brain once tonight.]

My, do you believe me that shameless? Bear in mind that most here don't know what I've done, and as such they see no need for offense. And even those that would recognize me won't necessarily do so right away - after all, had you not spoken to me, you wouldn't have known yourself.

At the same time, I don't recall having made a secret of the fact that I take pride in my work; call it flaunting if you like, but it's hardly saying anything that wasn't already well-known.

[sculpted]

How can you possibly take pride in....!!

[[Armstrong is not stupid; he's well aware that ranting at Kimblee will get him absolutely nowhere. He can't act on his emotions in this public place filled with civilians, and he doesn't even have his alchemy. Not to mention his baby Pokemon; he can't let anything happen to Stein. Kimblee's already hurt enough of his Pokemon. No, this is pointless.

....so why can't he stop?]]

In murder?! Flaunting the fact that you have the blood of thousands on your hands?! Innocent people who did nothing to deserve...!!

[[He has to fight to keep his voice to a stage whisper.]]

...to deserve such a cruel death!!

[explosivecombat]

Whether they deserved it or not is really beside the point.

[Kimblee's voice is even, a definite calmness to his tone strongly counterpointing Armstrong's fury; what happened in Ishval, what the Amestrian army has done - what he, himself, has done...all of it combines easily to form a topic that he's never had any qualms about discussing.

It shows.]

I stood by this point then, and I stand by it now - what happened in Ishval was a job, something we were ordered to do by the State. Does my willingness to take on that job really change anything - does it make the act itself that much different than, say, what Mustang has done? Mustang has made it clear to me that he's repentant for what happened in Ishval; does that somehow make him less accountable?

If I hadn't wanted to be there - if I spent every day of my life mired in regret for what I'd done, for those thousands of lives that I've taken - would that change the result of my actions? Of course not. That would still be the blood of thousands of people on my hands. Whether I was willing or not in carrying out my orders, and whether I take pride in having carried out those orders well, is all completely irrelevant - after all, I still carried out those orders.

All of us carried out atrocities in Ishval, and we carried them out because in being State Alchemists, we chose to be there. Those are facts that can't be denied. The rest is a matter of interpretation, of point-of-view; I can't say that I understand the stance that you lot insist on taking.

[sculpted]

[[....no

no don't you dare you're doing the same thing you did to him seven years ago no]]

I-I...

[[Kimblee's words are bringing back memories, but rather than the fuzzy snippets he's used to these ones are clear, and they're there and he's breaking down a hole in the wall so they can escape and they're free and then they're gone, right before his eyes they're gone and there was nothing he could do and there's a hand being offered to him as he collapses onto his knees-]]

No.

[[The word is sharp, spoken clearly and abruptly, his hands tightened into fists, and it's unclear just whom the word was meant for.]]

Next time....next time I will say no.

[explosivecombat]

And that choice is yours to make. If nothing else, I find your dedication to moving forward to be admirable. A powerful decision, if you can hold to it; such a thing requires strong convictions.

[He smiles a bit then; it's about as close to genuine as he gets. It's still a long way off, however, and closer to a smirk than anything.]

That's a strength that I genuinely think you have, by the way.

[He pauses for a moment before continuing, his expression going mostly impassive again. That smirk is still there; any warmth that had been in it is dead.]

However. That still leaves thousands of Ishvalans dead. We can remember those we've killed, and the victims we've left alive; it would be disrespectful to do otherwise in the case of the former, and stupid in the case of the latter, as they won't forget us. No amount of repentance, no amount of altering our course, will change the paths already taken.

You can say "No" all you want in the future. At the same time, that doesn't change the fact that, back then, we said "Yes." Our reasons may have been different; what we came away with was different. But in the end, we chose to be there - you and I both.

[sculpted]

[[Armstrong....really isn't sure what to do with those...compliments? They're compliments, aren't they? Kimblee is the last person he expected to be offering anything by the way of praise, so he listens quietly to what he's saying, fingers absently stroking Stein's feathers.]]

I will hold to it. There's no question of that.

[[...the second part of his speech, however, burns at him. Mostly because it's true and he knows it. No matter how hard he tries to forget, no matter how many excuses he makes...he was there. He fought and killed, whether directly or indirectly through his earth-shifting alchemy.]]

I'm not...denying anything. But the difference between us is that I regret it! Every day, for the rest of my life, I will regret it! But you....you're so....

...you're so cold!

[explosivecombat]

That is a difference, yes - that's a very large difference indeed.

[He doesn't seem bothered by it.]

But again, I do have to ask: as far as those we killed in Ishval would be concerned, what does that change?

[sculpted]

It....!!

[[Dammit dammit he can't BSOD now he can't]]

It changes nothing.

[[...and there isn't BSOD but there is...well. His voice will audibly crack when he says that final sentence, his hand moving to cover his face, even with the mask. He trembles slightly, burying his expression within his palm.

But there are no tears. Not this time.]]

[explosivecombat]

My point exactly.

[He pauses for a moment, head tilted slightly to the side; the reaction is interesting. For a moment, he wonders if Armstrong will cry; what with the mask and the hand covering his face, he can't be sure if he is or not.

It matters very little to him either way.]

Don't waste time questioning morals; don't make it a matter of willingness or unwillingness, pride or remorse, coldness or regret. Acknowledge what was done; never forget. Never want to let yourself forget. If you ask me, the real difference between us will lie in the paths we choose to take; where we go from here.

Don't let yourself forget that, either.

[sculpted]

[[Armstrong's hand remains over his face for the duration of Kimblee's speech, but it's clear he's listening. How could he not? The words burn at him, at his very being, the truth proving much harder to swallow than he thought it would ever be.

When Kimblee grows silent, Armstrong pauses, his hand falling away from his face and through the mask his eyes are dry.]]

Excuse me.

[[Ever the gentleman, Armstrong excuses himself and heads out the door into the garden, seating himself on a bench. It's a quiet, mild night, and he's alone out here. The perfect atmosphere, really.

The mask falls to the ground with a soft thud, and he bends over, burying his face in his hands as his shoulders start to tremble.

Yes; a beautiful night.]]