PROM 2: PROM HARDER

[these_balls]

Who: EVERYONE
Where: Scenic Tohjo Falls!
When: Friday, April 5 through Saturday, April 6
Summary: WHAT SUMMARY DO YOU NEED, IT'S (STILL) POKEPROM. And y'all partied so hard we figured we'd give you a fresh post to continue your threads in, since the other one was getting pretty huge. ♥
Rating: May vary by thread, please mark accordingly!
Log:

Please feel free to continue your prom shenanigans in this overflow post! We suggest linking back and forth between the two posts for ease and convenience, but whatever works best for you! CAN'T STOP WON'T STOP, FOREVER ON THE DANCE FLOOR, ETC. ETC. ETC.

~
☆ YOU ARE (STILL) HERE ☆




KEY:

• BLUE areas are where the bulk of the party's events will be located! As you can see, the festivities will be taking place largely outdoors, and the grounds will reflect that; there'll be the usual decorations of pretty floral arrangements, little lights, things like that. Think garden party!
• GREEN areas are where guests will be staying overnight! Unfortunately, you'll be sleeping-bagging it up, since this is a house party and not a hotel party, but this is where you'll be given space to leave your possessions, claim some sleeping room, and generally crash for the night once the festivities do you in. (Note: you're welcome to try to sleep elsewhere, but Clair might catch you and disapprove. You don't want that, do you?)
• RED areas are unfortunately off-limits to guests! If asked about them, anyone will tell you that those are the rooms and areas that the Elite Four have claimed for themselves, and they're sealed off tight. Please don't try to break into them anyway; you'll only be caught and punished.

• AREA A is the designated Indoor Ballroom area, for the people who would prefer to class it up a little more than just your standard garden party. There's a big skylight, hardwood floors, tasteful artwork, and classy music — a little more upscale than the shenanigans going on outside, for the people who'd rather that kind of thing.
• AREA B will be the area of interest for anyone hoping to sneak a little Pokemon research on the side: this is the Library/Gallery area of the house. While most of it is your standard "tall shelves of ancient identical books" fare, there are a few points of interest — a sculpture of Lugia, a painting of the Ecruteak City skyline before the Brass Tower burned down, some stone etchings of what might be Fossil Pokemon, and so on. Guests are welcome to look around a little, but burying themselves in research the whole time will be highly frowned upon, and you'll be politely encouraged to leave the library alone and go rejoin the festivities if you hole up in there for too long.
• AREA C is...well, the Parking Lot. More importantly, it's where you take your Pokemon battles if you simply gotta get your battle on; keep it out and away from the house, please, and try not to make too much of a mess. Skirmishes, sorties, and sparring will be tolerated here and here alone. Do it anywhere else and you'll be facing some very displeased hosts.
• AREA D is the Elite Four's Trophy Room. Please be quiet and respectful if you come up here to have a look around; it's a solemn kind of place. Here you'll find various collections of badges, ribbons, awards, and trophies put on display, with one wall devoted to each member of the Elite Four. Of particular note is a glass case with a broken Ultra Ball mounted inside; the brass plaque attached claims it's the ball Lorelei was using when she almost caught Articuno. On a lighter note, there are also pictures of the Elite Four themselves — your standard Official Portraits™, sure, but also some framed candids of them in various configurations hanging out with their Pokemon and engaged in various activities around the house (Agatha making waffles, Lance and Bruno clowning around in the pool, stuff like that).

~

☆ QUICK LINKS — FIRST POST ☆

Outdoor Garden Party | Indoor Ballroom | Library and Gallery | Parking Lot | Elite Four's Trophy Room | Designated Sleeping Areas

GENERAL - Ground Floor | GENERAL - Upstairs | GENERAL - Outside


☆ SPOTTED: GYM LEADERS ☆

BLUE - Elite Four's Trophy Room | CLAIR - Upstairs | FALKNER - Ground Floor | JASMINE - Outdoor Garden Party | MORTY - Parking Lot of SHAME
SABRINA - Outdoor Garden Party | WHITNEY - Outdoor Garden Party


~


☆ QUICK LINKS — THIS POST ☆

Outdoor Garden Party | Indoor Ballroom | Library and Gallery | Parking Lot | Elite Four's Trophy Room | Designated Sleeping Areas

GENERAL - Ground Floor | GENERAL - Upstairs | GENERAL - Outside

~

THE ORIGINAL INFOPOST | QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES HOTLINE

Comments

[yoctogram]

I was thinking about a spare pillow.

[He'd taken to putting the inn pillows in the closet whenever they had to leave the Munchlax without supervision.]

[belphe]

It was just that once. And likely because you were letting your team eat in the bed.

[outside the trophy room, the music changes from something thumping and obnoxious to something slow-paced with an even beat, obviously inviting those who were actually out on the floor and not snooping around in the Elite Four's quarters to slow-dance.

She wondered idly if anyone actually WAS here to party rather than seize a rare opportunity to gossip and explore a usually-forbidden building all while eating free food]

[yoctogram]

I was sick and you left us alone.

[Totally not his fault!

He tilted his head at the change in beat and grinned that shit-eating grin of his.]

Care to dance?

[belphe]

[her eyes momentarily widened, taken neatly offguard by such a bold offer before quickly regaining her composure]

I don't know how.

[or, at least, not unless Beatrice demands it of her and her sisters...which, on those occasions, is more like seven puppets performing on their strings rather than actually engaging in it themselves]

[yoctogram]

It's easy, Bell.

[He offered his naturally-coloured hand out to her]

Dance is all maths. Listen - 1...2...3-4-5. 1...2...3-4-5.

[belphe]

[She can hear it. She's not sure if the beat he's chosen to count out is quite what the music had intended, but...

She regards the offered hand for a long moment, waiting patiently for him to withdraw it on his own. When it doesn't seem he plans to, she moves gently push it aside]

[yoctogram]

[If you give a Sho an opening...

He clasps her hand gently, but firmly, in his own and pulls her close. While he isn't as hot as he was when ill, there's still a surprising amount of body-heat present in his (still shirtless) form. His right arm drags hers up and into proper position, and his left goes around her back to rest in the small of her back, several inches above her rear.

He's got the grace of a drunken hippopotamus out in nature, but inside a building, on a "dance floor" of sorts?

Mercury isn't as smooth. He's more graceful than anyone in boots should be, utterly at ease and confident; and even the shit-eating grin is replaced with a much more contented and calm smile. Maths in motion, is there anything better?

It doesn't really even matter how stiff she is, he can work with that and make it part of the tango.]

[belphe]

[Someone who knew what they were doing on a dance floor might have had a deep appreciation for Sho's cat-like grace and confidence. Where Belphegor is concerned, it's all she can do to keep up with his fluid and seemingly ever-changing steps, lest she end up tripping and being dragged after him.

In her proper body, it would have been little matter for her. If she was unable to match him move-for-move, then floating would suffice (and save a lot of face). In this human form, she was given no alternative. And she didn't think much of it.

....all the same, for the moment, she endured the awkward arrangement, not one to back down from a presented challenge, intentional or not.]

[yoctogram]

Relax, Bell,

[He purrs it into her ear]

follow my moves. Feel the rhythm in your bones. Step...step...step-step-step...

[belphe]

You never struck me as someone with a passion for rhythm...

[trying to distract from the fact she's still fumbling to match him. Slowly, it's getting easier.]

[yoctogram]

I told you. It's maths.

[He doesn't mind, really. He knows he's awesome, it's not her fault she's not awesome at this.]

I love all forms of maths.

[belphe]

[YOU DON'T SAY...]

Why is that, exactly...? Is it that you prefer having only one right answer in the end?

[yoctogram]

Maths are the foundation of the universe, Bell.

[He said it calmly, but intently.]

Every flower, every person, every rock and strand of DNA can be defined by mathematical equations. Within π exists every possible combination of numbers; translated into ASCII it holds every possible piece of information. Translated into a bitmap it holds every possible sight; the first thing you saw when you were born and the last thing you will ever see are somewhere inside it.

Maths control economies, they can unlock the secrets of planets and stars - or they can describe the movement of a single insect.

Maths are beauty, Bell. They're beauty and horror, sanity and madness. They are the purity of control and the freedom of chaos.

What's not to love?

[belphe]

[She had not known what, exactly, she'd expected his explanation for his mania to be. Probably not something nearly so eloquent or deep, though.

The idea of Sho having depth that exceeded a bullhorn's cup, really, seemed like a stretch most days.

By the time he's posed her the final rhetorical question, she remains quiet, the beat of the song from elsewhere in the manor, and the shuffle of their footsteps on the floor providing the only ambiance.]

That's... [she finally begins] ....that's much the same way magic is described where I come from.

[yoctogram]

[That's the problem with having psychotic episodes as often and as rapidly as he did. It gave the idea that there was little going on under that grey hair of his.]

Someone said once that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic. Science, too, is the practical application of maths.

If it follows rules, maths can encompass it Bell. Even if we don't know how yet.

[belphe]

[It made sense, she supposed...whether people acknowledged magic or not, there were its miracles all around them. They would surely find explanations that satisfied their own standards as to why they existed. Scientific explanations. Mathematical explanations.

Then....perhaps he understood better than she'd previously thought.

In musing over this, a hand crept up to move a thorn of said gray hair out of his eyes so that she could see them better]

[yoctogram]

[They were still a feverishly bright yellow, but it could be seen for passion as well as madness. He blinked a little at her touch, but didn't say anything.]

I'm an artist, Bell, [He ended up saying] a mathematician and an artist. I can't subtract them from each other.

[belphe]

Nor should you. There is nothing that kills you faster than being denied what you are.

[Believe her. She knows from firsthand experience. Being shattered out of existence by a young master who did not yet understand the limitations of her inherited furniture is not an experience she's eager to repeat]

[yoctogram]

[He should do something. He could tell that there was...something he should do here. Something.

Nope, no clue.]

What's your beauty, Bell?

[belphe]

Hmn...?

[She has lots of things...beauty isn't one of them, in her opinion. That's Asmo's territory, always trying to look the part of a beautiful princess in hopes of one day snagging her perfect prince.

Belphe is just Belphe. The rest of the sisters would be quick to say so, and so would she.]

[yoctogram]

[He found the binary graph of her form beautiful, but that wasn't what he was talking about really.]

What makes you happy? What makes you feel good? What makes life worth living for you?

[belphe]

[Ah~ That's a little easier to answer...]

Lady Beatrice is my greatest joy. If not for her, my sisters and I would not exist or have purpose. Every human heart I pierce, all of the blood that I spill, all the lives that are laid to waste, are all for her.

[yoctogram]

[He took that in stride, laughing a bit in that way where you're surprised but not mocking]

Fair enough! What about here, Bell?

[belphe]

Here...?

[honestly, she hadn't really thought about it. These last few months she's been operating under the assumption that, any day, they might be glitched out of Johto just as suddenly as they were brought. She did what was needed to get by, but refrained from putting down any roots.]

I enjoy working. [she settled on at last, when their tango had reached the end of its line and gone back the other way] And seeing the results of that work.

[yoctogram]

It is satisfying. I enjoy seeing my team add to their power lvl. The execution of a good plan is beautiful.