The Honorary Ball

[raydensharpola]

"Just don't hurt me" She said, looking almost fragile as she uttered the words. His arm grasped protectively around her waist, tempted to promise her everything. But his lips refused to speak out. What if he unintentionally hurt her? There were times when things would go beyond his control, and he might do something foolish. Wouldn't that mean he was breaking his promise?

Afterall, wasn't that the reason he kept punishing himself for all these years? Hurting someone, even though he didn't realise it until she was gone?

His eyes clouded over for a brief second.

"I look forward to finding out just what it is you're hiding behind all your bravado but I imagine that will take time" She grinned and got up on her tiptoes to brush her lips across his in a fleeting kiss.

His eyes widened, and he yearned for more. It was so brief, a flutter across his lips, but it was so, so sweet.

He could feel a flush spreading across his cheeks. Wow, he couldn't believe that it was possible for him to feel like a crushing teenager again. And that was something of a miracle since he considered himself a seasoned veteran in the romance department.

Things were bound to get interesting, as long as he stuck around with Stella.

With a smile, he let her take his hand and lead him towards their designated tables.

"Hey guys." He nodded to the couples sitting at the table with a hint of bashfulness, still reluctant to let go of Stella's warm hand. "Took you long enough to get here." He grinned at
Stardust and and the guy next to her, taking a longer look at him. "Hey, I'm Rayden." He addressed the new guy. "Are you Stardust's boyfriend?"

[jaimelewis]

"BLAZE IS YOUR...sister?" Jaime almost blurted the whole secret for the whole ballroom to hear, and the couples dancing near the bar turned at the nosie, but she reduced her volume quickly at the warning glances and shushes thrown to her by Lawric, Deo and Van. She clapped a hand to her mouth. "Are you sure Deo? She's nothing like you and you're nothing like her!!" Her eyes widened. "Do you think she knows about this? When are you gonna tell her?"

[junkuroki]

Jun stared at Reese.

"Reese!" She exclaimed, all raised eyebrows and opened mouth. "What happened to you? Did they intimidate you too much during the investigation? Snap back now Reese! This is too unnatural!" Her shocked mein turned fluildy into one of mischief. "Meh I'm just kidding. Thanks for that compliment, although I'd rather you save it for..." She nodded towards Stardust's directon.

She looked at Stardust when the other girl expressed concern about her leg. Was it concern? Jun was mildly surprised and more than pleased to receive it.

"Oh, it's not that serious." Jun made a dismissive wave, turning around to pat Zacke reassuringly on the hand. Then she turned back to speak with Stardust. "I mean, if I whine about something like this I'm not qualified to sit at this table." She smirked. "I'd like to think I'm not that whiny."

Stella and Rayden approached the table then, and Jun noted with interest at their linked hands, but kept her mouth shut. They had only just joined the team, and probably didn't know about the team's resident Nosy Parker sitting right before them. No sense in letting them know before absolutely necessary, she decided.

"So...when are the two of you going to start dancing?" She ribbed Stardust. "I've been waiting to see that ever since you two shared a plate of fries." She smirked.

[Gemma Ridean]

Walking down the long marble corridor, Gemma could already hear the faint echoes of music. Perking up a bit, she picked up the long train of her dress, and quickened her step, trying careful not to trip or stumble.

Still have to get the hang of walking in these stilettos..

The music was growing louder.

Eyes on me...

This song was so romantic and that she couldn't help but smile a bit. Humming the melody softly, she approached the doorman standing at the entrance and handed him the ivory invitation card.
Still holding her hand, he smiled at her and tipped his hat, winking boyishly, as he planted a small kiss on her hand.

Bristling, she quickly snatched her hand away and hurried into the ballroom, completely flustered She never really knew how to react in those kinds of situations. She supposed it was the dress. She had to hand it to Stella. Never before had she felt so regale ..The smoky folds of chiffon gently swayed around her as she moved. And the necklace....Gemma sighed. The necklace was an extravagant splurge on her part, although Stella had been a strong force of encouragement...No matter. It was an exquisite piece of jewelry, and the embedded crystals seemed to dance and twinkle in the light.

However soon these thoughts fluttered away as soon as she saw what was going on around her. It was almost like a page out of a fairy tale. Everyone looked so beautiful--the women were simply stunning in their glittering gowns and the men seemed so refined, so elegant in their dark suits. Couples twirled around on the dance floor, as if they were gliding on ice. It was hard to believe that these were the same people she passed by in the hallways everyday.

Perhaps she should find the others...

Due to her small stature, it was difficult for her to see past the clump of people standing in front of the doorway. Slipping through the crowd, she spotted a small staircase leading to a balcony overlooking the ballroom.

Reaching the top, she leaned over the edge of the railing, as she searched for her friends.

Still no sign...

A crimson flash suddenly caught her eye.

Was that...?

She leaned over even further, squinting her eyes to see better.

It looks like....no wait....IT IS!!!

She never thought she would see Blaze in such a dress.

Waltzing.

With Hadrian.

It was too much for her to handle, she clapped a hand over her mouth as she laughed heartily with delight.

[Reese]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GEMMA'S FINALLY HERE. ^_^

Okay! I'll make a big ST post VERY soon (probably tonight), where they'll recieve their honors and stuff ^.^

---

"Are you Stardust's boyfriend?"

"So...when are the two of you going to start dancing?"

The table was becoming rather populated, and although the questions were harmless, Reese felt uncomfortable just thinking about the answers. He consciously avoided looking at any of them--especially Stardust. Maybe he could just pretend he wasn't listening or something, even though that kind of behavior would probably be taken as impolite. Oh well... he thought, looking away and slipping into a rather cynical disposition.

The question of their relationship wasn't really for him to answer.

[Jun]

Reese looked uncomfortable at both Rayden's and Jun's questions. He seemed a little out of the whole situation, but Jun supposed that it wasn't really surprising considering the things he was facing.

She glanced at the stage, where people were setting stuff up. Then she realised that they were probably going to do some speech thing, and then there'd be toasts and all that congratulatory stuff.

NOT GOOD! She realised she would be placed in a tight predicament if she was forced to imbibe alcohol in public.

She stood up abruptly, carrying her bulky purse with her.

"I'm going to get a drink, anyone else wants one?" She asked out of courtesy, but nobody replied, so she excused herself, walking quickly towards the bar, her sore feet quickly forgotten with an urgent purpose in mind.

When she approached the bar, she waved distractedly at the Opps gathered there, not even heeding their solemn expressions.

"Do you have anything non-alcoholic?" She asked the bartender.

'I am under strict prohibition from serving anyone above 18 non-alcoholic drinks. As specific by Miss Selphie and Sorceress Rinoa." The bartender replied politely.

"WHAT?"

"Said something about can't loosen up without alcohol." He said apologetically. "So what else would you like?"

"Oh...do you have an empty glass?" She frowned. Good thing she was prepared.

The bartender handed her an empty wine glass with a quizzical expression and she quickly strode away from the bar, ducking behind one of the pillars and unzipped her purse, taking out a small bottle of sparkling nonalcoholic grape juice and emptying its contents into her glass. She put the bottle back into her purse, and strode out confidently with her glass, which now looked convincingly filled.

Always be prepared. She thought to herself smugly, making her way back towards the table.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Oh, Blaze is just evil XD So ebil LOL
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"I don't have a brother." Blaze ended firmly.

"What do you mean you don't have a brother?!" Or rather, that was what Hadrian wanted to say but chose to remain quiet. He felt that if he pressed Blaze even more, he was going to be a meddler, and he didn't really feel strongly about the issue to go that far. Of course, hacking into her private background wasn't considered meddling to him. He did that to people all the time. It was just a harmless hobby.

"Whatever you say...but I still think Deo is---" The next thing he noticed, Blaze was yanking his arm again. And this time...

Oh hell no... His laid back smile slowly died. Blaze wanted to dance. Did she even know how to dance?

"Too low!" yelled Blaze and Hadrian stiffened. Shyznit. This was just way off from his plans. He couldn't dance. He just couldn't. He would repeatedly step on every girl's foot and, everytime, she would slap him once the song had ended. If he slipped up even one bit in front of Blaze, this girl would make fun of him. She would. He could tell from the likes of her.

He forced a smile on her as she delivered her death grip on his hand. "I am assuming since you wanted me to be your date, you want to dance with me, correct?" Blaze asked, standing in front of him as if waiting for him to lead. "Then this is your chance. Your lead."

His forced smile became rigid. He couldn't have that. He wouldn't let this maniac in a girl's clothing get the better of him.

As if on cue, the orchestra started playing a different song. The song Hadrian hated the most---Eyes on Me--the most mawkish song ever invented on this planet. It was playing, signaling the sound of his requiem.

What would he do? He planted his gaze on her face. It was getting harder to keep his fake smile on. Blaze was still standing. Waiting.

Bah, screw it. He matched the death grip Blaze had over his hand.

Placing his other hand on the small of her back, he pulled her closer to him--closer than usual. He could feel her breath against his neck.

How do you like this? he thought savagely.

"Are you..." He lowered his head and placed his lips near her ear. "...ready?" he whispered tenderly, then softly blew on her ear.

Back off or I'll devour you.

[stardust]

"I don't care that you didn't wear a dress, Sergeant. I think you're a cutie-patootie, no matter what you wear... "

"Cutie patootie, your face..." she replied gruffly, scowling straight at him. When was the last time Zacke became a jerk? She couldn't remember, probably it was because everytime, he was a jerk.

"So...when are the two of you going to start dancing?" Stardust was suddenly ribbed by Jun. "I've been waiting to see that ever since you two shared a plate of fries." She smirked.

Her frown-etched face worsened. Rayden and Stella joined the table just then. Their linked hands were hard to miss. If Jun thought Reese and her were like that. She was getting the wrong idea. It wasn't like that at all. She turned to Reese.

He had that complex look Stardust couldn't figure out. He didn't look comfortable. In fact, he looked rather annoyed with what Jun had said. She felt better. Atleast Reese held her sentiments exactly. She shook her head.

She was going to ask Jun to get some drink for her too, but she left immediately.

"And don't think I've forgotten that Sergeant bit you always throw at me!" Stardust looked at Zacke again. Nothing would get through his thick blonde head. "I told you, stop calling me that, Zacko." She narrowed her eyes.

[Stella]

OOC: I had Jax heading back towards his date I hope thats all right Myacu.

---

Stella rolled her eye as Stardust started yelling at Zacke and then suddenly realized that Gemma hadn't arrived yet. Glancing around she spotted her friend on one of the balconies looking down at all of them. She gave Rayden's hand a squeeze and smiled at him warmly before slipping her hand out of his.

She left the tables and sauntered across the hall heading for Gemma and then stopped suddenly as she glanced outside and noticed Jax's date standing on the balcony trying to tend to her smeared makeup. Glancing around she spotted Jax heading that way with a Martini and a Scotch in his hands. Even though it was still fairly early he looked really tired.

"Hey Jax, you're looking good" she said with a grin as he approached, "quite a strong drink selection you've got there"

"Looks like your sister is here" Stella continued motioning towards Gemma on the balcony, "you should join us at the tables once you've calmed your date down... if that's possible.."

[Jax Ridean]

No problem Al!

---

Jax was about to head back to the wailing banshee when he suddenly bumped into Stella.

"Hey Jax---" Spotting the two drinks he held in his hands, she piped, "Quit --ah sturg--rink election -- yoove got hair."

What the hell was she talking about? He was having trouble making out what she was trying to say. All he could hear was this grinding buzz in his ear.... Wiggling his ear slightly, he leaned forward to hear her better.

"Look's like yore swing set's here."

Jax was confused. Trying to look where she was gesturing, all he saw was an old man sitting in a chair on top of one of the balconys overlooking them. He stared back at the girl, blinking his eyes several times, as he tried desperately to understand what she was saying.

"--You should join us at the tables once you're done...if that's possible."

His eyes widened. He didn't know what to say. All the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs. A few minutes of silence fell between them. Finally, Jax, taking a good look around, hesitantly leaned in forward and whispered softly in her ear.

"How did you find out about the swing set?"

[Blaze Sanaku]

HAHAHHA Gemma XD and omg I love how Hadrian keeps getting himself out of disasters XD

---

Blaze felt her body temperature rise when she heard "Eyes on Me" begin playing in the background. What?!?! She hadn't planned on a slow song. She took note of finding out the names of each person in the orchestra and personally making sure that when she was through with them, their fingers would hurt too much to play "Eyes on Me" ever again.

Hadrian took full advantage of the situation and pulled Blaze closer to him. She inhaled sharply, as if Hadrian had stabbed her with a knife instead. He was going to slow dance with her! This ruined everything. She expected to make a fool of Hadrian and walk away from him laughing evilly at his stumbling feet and embarassed face. But instead the song had changed to this stupid corny romantic shit and Hadrian had saved himself. Any idiot could slow dance. Ugh, Hadrian had won.

"Are you..." He lowered his head and placed his lips near her ear. "...ready?"

His hot breath tickled her ear and Blaze shuddered involuntarily. Hadrian was holding her hand in such a death grip that she was losing feeling in her fingertips.

"Are you?" Blaze replied harshly. She dug her nails into his back. She was so unbelievably pissed right now. She could feelt malicious intent radiating from her body. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't exactly back away and slap Hadrian since it was she who had asked for the dance. Dammit! She shouldn't have let him lead.

Suddenly she was fully aware that she was slow-dancing with Hadrian in full view of everyone. Zacke could see this right now... Stardust could see this. They wouldn't know that Blaze had planned on humiliating Hadrian on the dancefloor, they'd just see her romantically entwined with him without protest. Blaze almost gagged thinking about it.

Come to think of it, they also had no idea that Blaze only went with Hadrian because he bribed her. They must all think she wanted to go with him because he was good-looking or some shit. She felt like gagging again. She had walked into her own deathtrap on this!

The song that had lasted decades finally ended and Blaze broke free of Hadrian as fast as she could.

"They're doing the announcements soon," she informed him blandly and began walking back to the seeD tables without him. Hyne, she wished she could sit somewhere else besides the seeD tables. She hopes that amongst the other couples that had been dancing at the time, none of her teammates had seen her.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

"They must all think she wanted to go with him because he was good-looking or some shit. " LMAO!!!

*throws candles on Hadrian* Darn, and I was ready to bury you and all. I even readied my eye drops and these little boxes for your limbs HAHAH XD *ahem* Hadrian's side of the boat.
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"Are you?"

Hadrian turned pale. Blaze wasn't going anywhere. How come?! He grit his teeth when she dug her koala-like nails on his back. Somehow, he would've liked it better if she snapped and made a bloody mess out of him on the ground. That was right because he would rather bleed to death than be criticized by this girl. This was unexpected. Truly unexpected.

"Don't fall back now," Hadrian calmly said, disguising the uneasiness. Situations like this were a hassle. If there was any good thing about the song, it was the fact that....no, there was no good thing. His gaze fell over Blaze's shoulder and onto the ground. From there, it was just the ground and him and...the potential reputation ruiner.

Slow dance. This would be difficult. But he should be able to pull it off if he focused and, not to mention, followed her lead discreetly.

Once Blaze started to move, he followed. Moving his lips soundlessly, he started to count in his mind. 1,2...1,2...2...dammit...1,2... Indeed, Blaze was too close. She's good. What kind of strategy is this? Her soft body was distracting him.

/Decreasing the movement of one's feet reduces the chances of feet collision therefore is adviced./ input CQ out of pity. He swallowed and continued counting again, noting his GF's advice and mimicking his partner's sway. One and two, one and two, he rambled on in his head. It was weird how despite Blaze's "sneak attacks", he was able to keep up with her.

Alas, the heavens sang and the song ended. Hadrian didn't budge and just watched Blaze back off from him.

Did she notice?

"They're doing the announcements soon," Blaze said icily and walked past him. No hyena laughter, no name-calling. That's it? Hadrian let out a sigh of relief. He felt like laughing. That was close. I just copied how you move. As expected, she was too dense. Almost got me there.

/According to Hadrian's archive of failed dances, the most recent encounter has increased his dance success rate from -0.01% to 1%./

"Thanks," Hadrian said to Blaze, feeling himself grin. And he meant that. He stepped back and headed further into the dancefloor. It was time to fetch big brother and friends.

"Hey, Opps team," he greeted the bunch and joined them. "You might want to sit with us. Come on."

[vanesse]

Vanesse and her teammates were still talking about Deo's problem when Hadrian suddenly approached them. She checked to see if Blaze--Deo's supposedly dead sister--was with him. She slouched when she noticed he was alone. Maybe she dumped him. Vanesse thought, empathizing with the idea. She wanted to talk to Blaze about it, but she didn't know how the girl would react or even believe her. Besides, would Deo even let her?

"You might want to sit with us. Come on," offered the hacker.

Vanesse was still not cool with him, but decided to let it go. She wasn't good in holding grudges even if she tried.

"Ah, y-yeah, we're coming," she answered. Inside, she thought how awkward would this be for Deo. "To tell, or not to tell. That is the question," Vanesse suddenly said as she faced Lawric, Deo, and Jaime. She slipped a glance towards Hadrian to make sure he didn't know what she was talking about. The hacker just tilted his head in curiosity.

"I just thought it would be awkward for, you know." She looked at Deo. "What do we do?" she lowered her voice.

[Gemma Ridean]

After she finally teared her eyes away from the couple, Gemma spotted a familiar face in the crowd staring back at her. Eagerly waving her hand, she mouthed back, "Be right down!"

Racing down the stairs, she quickly caught up with Stella.
"Stella!" she squealed, as she embraced the woman. Suddenly she took step back to apprise her friend's appearance. Simple yet chic, the jade chiffon dress looked absolutely stunning on Stella. "You look so beautiful!" she gushed, suddenly feeling very drab in comparison. Shyly holding the sides of her gown, she twirled them around rather girlishly. "Well..." she smiled meekly. "What do you think?"

[Stella]

Swing set? What the hell?... She gave Jax a strange look leaning in closer to him. Oooookay someone had all ready had too much to drink tonight. She was tempted to pluck that scotch glass right out of his hand.

"What swing set?" she asked carefully afraid she was missing something here. Then their conversation was interrupted by an approaching Gemma. Stella leaned away from her brother and gave Gemma a big hug back as they embraced.

"Dang girl, you look hot" Stella said as she admired Gemma twirling around in her lovely dress. It had totally been a good choice, it really seemed to suit the girl.

"We so have to find you a boy to dance with, maybe Zacke" Stella said giving her friend a little wink before glancing at her brother with concern in her eyes.