Open Social Ceremony and Celebration

[Cipher Six]

Six wouldn’t have a chance to learn what Five intended before someone began to wildly dance near her. She began to turn to look, but not before she was unceremoniously taken right out by a well placed kick. The Firrerreo was sent tumbling to the floor, the other agent’s heel tearing right through the bottom of her dress as the cloth ripped off.

It took her a moment to process what happened as she sat on the floor, blinking up to where she saw the agent and…was that Cipher Seven? Her long black dress now turned into a knee length one, and she tried to get her bearings to stand up. It was a wonder she didn’t punch the other woman in the face, still shocked from the abrupt disaster. What the hell was the agent doing to cause this?! Surely, it couldn’t have been her dancing.

@Orbit @Zay @Xorism

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He clapped a younger Lieutenant on the shoulder as they finished their brief conversation. "Enjoy yourself tonight," he said with a proud smile. When had he become someone old enough to be proud of younger soldiers? It all felt like a blur to him.

He glanced down at his phone, having texted Kali when he decided he was going to show up, but there was still no response. It made sense; the party had apparently kicked into full swing fairly quickly. Deciding to look for her, he walked to the edge of the dance floor, assuming that is where she would be. He didn't spot her, but his eyes did fix on something interesting.

What awaited him was a massacre he had not seen the likes of before. He stood stunned as he spotted Guin actually dancing. The shy, incredibly timid ISB Agent seemed so out of place on the dance floor. "Good for her." he said to himself as he smiled. He was proud of her for getting out there. That's when everything went wrong. She certainly had a unique dancing style, made to some rhythm, somewhere he was sure, but it certainly wasn't the song playing. As she moved around wildly, the body count began to rise rapidly.

"Oh no..." he said. It was like watching a slow-motion star destroyer crash..you just couldn't look away. He saw a familiar ISB agent hit the floor as she was kicked in the side of the leg by Guin.

He moved in, trying to pick up one of the fallen before theyfell further victim to the mayhem.

@Sreeya @Xorism

 

[Cipher 7]

Seven had never in his life said something that he regretted more than when he asked this SUPPOSED ISB to join in.

A sharp thwack snapped his face to the side. His eyes were wide with shock and he could taste blood in his mouth.

“What the fuc—“ smack he was silenced by a second smack.

This one came from below, and honestly might have been her fucking foot? Was she attacking him? Had he set off some weird fucking trauma trigger?

The emotional roller coaster of this day would have crushed a normal person, but he decided to rally and— SMACK Seven was staggering.

He tripped over his own stupid feet as he tried to get away from the psychopath doing her dance of death. He found himself flat on his stomach hands out in front like he was sliding into a base, but that base was the bottom of a freshly ripped dress.

His baby blues flicked up and met Six’s ocean eyes. The mixture of what the fuck on her face just broke him.

Seven started to laugh.

“SOMEBODY STOP HER!” screamed a voice behind him. A woman wailed. Another guy pleaded, “Stop, think of the children.”

He watched as someone began running triage and helping up casualties and pushed himself up, he offered Six a hand up saying, “I’m suddenly danced out, let’s grab a drink?”

@Raydo @Xorism @Sreeya

 

[Cipher Five]

The two flowed like water, understanding each other's movements perfectly as they danced. As he felt her fingers trickle up into his beard, she'd in turn feel his angular jaw press right back into her hand, her touch enveloping his cheek and raising the hairs on the back of his neck. After she spun around and asked her question, he smirked and opened his mouth to answer, but before the first word could come out, everything just went to hell.

Five was able to avoid being struck, but Six wasn't so lucky. While he was rather graceful and quick, the two of them were joined together, and that meant when she went, he went with her too. Thankfully, he only had one drink in his system, and that allowed him to react and prevent any serious damage to the both of them. He shot out his leg for support and used it to slow their descent, the hand that was on Six's waist sliding up to her shoulders and having her basically collapse into his lengthy arm as he guided them both down the best he could.

They still hit the floor, but at least softer than they initially would. Five would end up crouched on one knee beside Six as he peered down at her, his hair now tousled as the black strands spread across his face. He cocked his head slightly, still answering her question in a humorous tone, "I was going to say to the fun parts, but it seems were there." His eyes then quickly scanned over, noting the torn dress, before he asked, "You good?"

Before the two could say anything else, a new figure approached. Turning his gaze, he saw it was an eager Seven capitalizing on the opportunity of chaos, his question and hand only directed to Six. With no mention to him, he simply let out a wry chuckle, unable to fault him, before replying smoothly, "Thank you for your concern and help, Seven." Five helped himself up, offering his hand to her too before dusting himself off.

Once all of them were on their feet, Five ran a hand through his hair to tuck it away again before saying to Six, "Well, I believe that was our one dance." His prediction turned out to be more than true, as they barely even finished it. "Thank you for the memorable experience," he complimented truthfully; it certainly was one he wouldn't forget. Five then directed his words to both of them with a smile, "Don't let me intrude, I'll make my rounds. You two enjoy yourselves." Five offered them both a nod before he started to walk away.

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Cipher Six]

Six wasn’t exactly the clumsy type, so this entire thing threw her for a spin. Five was ever the gentleman, managing to cushion some of her fall at the expense of straining his arm. She shook her head as she looked at him, reaching over to fix the strands that fell over his face, “I’m good,” She said with a smile before looking over to see 7 topple over near them. Now this got her giggling as she took in the absurdity of it all. Multiple people were slipping, falling, running into others, and it was chaos on the dance floor.

With their help, she was back on her feet, reaching down to tear off an errant sliver of her dress to make the hem smoother, “Nice to see Ciphers consist of some of the finest gentlemen the Empire has to offer,” She said with a grin, genuinely impressed by those she had met thus far. Six turned to Seven, giving him a nod. What she really needed was a smoke, but that could wait for now.

Six took a seat at the bar, ordering herself a custom mixed drink, “I have to say, your pick up methods are evolving day by day,” She chuckled as she thought about his slide across the floor that was then salvaged into an ask for drinks.

@Orbit @Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Five materialized out of thin air like a shadow come to life letting Seven know the assault he’d just been through had been a through one.

“My bad Five, I was at the eye of this little storm. “ he said gesturing toward the chaos around them.

“Plus she’s kinda distracting,” he said with a smirk.

Six made a few wardrobe improvements and called them gentlemen, Seven inclined his head.

Six took a seat at the bar and he slid in next to her leaning on it, mirroring their night at the bar on Level 130. She got her drink and he order whisky.

“You think, then when am I taking you to dinner?” He asked, leveling her with his half lidded gaze.

Their drinks were delivered and he took a sip, small smile on his lips.

@Sreeya @Orbit

 

[Altair Din]

Altair yelped as she suddenly came to life and clutched his shirt like something out of a horror movie. What followed next was a downward spiral that only got worse. He stumbled to his feet and was barely making sense of what happened when she started blabbering about his wife, “What wife?!” He practically screeched, “I ain’ got a wife!” His farmer accent slipped out from all the drinking, “A wife would beat my ass if she saw me like this,” Altair gestured to his drool-covered outfit, “And why you got cake on you, girl, you a hot mess,” He remarked, forgetting that he himself put the crumbs there.

He was still talking to himself as she dragged him along, “Where are you takin’ me?!” This felt like a kidnapping, but he was still wondering about his ‘wife’. He entirely forgot about the wretch he married for five minutes before she choked on a cake he made. Altair grinned at the memory, slowly realizing that Kalique was somehow tripping balls.

“Yeah well Klava is lookin’ for you,” He said suddenly as he was dragged along, “She wants to invite you to dinner,” He said with a snicker, almost running into a statue from all the zigzagging. At some point his face planted against a wall, but he was moved before he could complain.

@LadyRen

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The shear chic of this total dancing queen was off-putting to mere mortals, but to the gods of dance, it was pure worship. Or so the overly confident woman continued to think. Like Pandora's box, once it had been opened there was no going back and the wild moves flew across the floor with no real aim, coordination nor grace.

So committed to the act, she powered through the small bumps and knocks that came from revealing her passionate art, revelling in the space that opened up around her.

A nearby woman was simply amazed, offering sincere compliments on the routine as the agent came to her climatic finish. At last, she finally eyed the room, seeing how the surrounding space had been cleared, and much room afforded for her.

The gawking eyes and shrivelled stares made her suddenly realise that the watchful crowd was more concerned than cheerful, but she wouldn't let that stop her, oh no. "Guess you guys aren't ready for that yet…but your kids are gonna love it"

Attempting to slip away, she made for the bar to order a stiff drink.

 

[Kellan Solari]

The sight of a mountainous tiefling navigating their way through the throngs of Imperial partygoers was enough to draw Solari’s attention. Once the realization that this particular tiefling was in fact the Grand Marshall of the Empire (@Sreeya) set in, he could do little but stare in muted shock. He had seen countless holographic images of the legendary Altair Din over the years and had on several occasions viewed him from afar at various events and ceremonies. But never had been so close to the fulcrum of the Imperial war machine. And then just like that, the Grand Marshal had waded his way back into the increasingly frantic dancefloor.

Knight Sere (@Volene) and the apparent squire (@Xorism) were addressing him. He blinked hard, redirecting his attention to them.

“I’m sorry?” he managed. Stunned and mistaking the adolescents outstretched hand for a greeting, he met it with his own. “Ah yes…the sound of a TIE. The ion engines expel charged particles at a terrific rate you see and-”

Before he could finish, the youth had peeled off in the direction of the bar dragging the befuddled pilot by one hand and Knight Sere by the other. A mass of bodies encircled the bar. The dancing, laughing, gesticulating forms all segued into a single, living wall that the young squire seemed to have no problem weaving and slipping past, dragging her larger companions awkwardly through.

“Excuse me. Beg your pardon. So sorry.”

The bar finally materialized into view and Kellan clung to it as a castaway might a lifebuoy. He positioned himself next to a ruddy and stalwart looking Imperial Army officer (@Versok). An erudite bartender with an industrious sheen of sweat upon his brow took the squire’s order and then glanced expectantly at Lieutenant Solari.

“Whiskey. Neat!” he shouted. “What'll you have Knight Sere?”

 

[Kalique Baize]

Kalique was truly concerned that his dead wife's dark spirit was in this very room. Maybe it had been the alcohol intoxication or something worse had been in the shots, but as Altair wasn't in any position to drag her back into reality but even made it so much worse, the two were happily spiraling further.

"Oh jeeeez Altair, yes you do!! You married her in your skirt!! And yes, she tragically died-" Kalique vividly remembered her purple face -"But she's back now! Move your Tiefling ass!". She was definitely in a hurry to get him out asap.

Klava...she could literally smell the greasy goat leg she waved in front of her. Had she forgotten a dinner invitation?! It kept Kalique so confused and distracted that she didn't even notice the wall Altair kissed before he was squished against it.

"Stop being silly now!" she reprimanded him, shaking her head vehemently. It made her much dizzier, so that she did another wide sidestep, circling Altair for a moment, reaching into thin air before she finally managed to grab hold of him. She shoved him I'm front of her, then pushing and thereby guiding instead of dragging him, but as she did everything but to follow an actual straight line, they moved in half a circle.

She stopped for a moment, staring at Altair in completely confusion. Where were theye even going? She had no clue any more. The idea had just vanished into thin air. "Huh". She started picking some crumbs from her uniform, squinting as everything was still blurry.

She turned Altair around, intending to ask him why they weren't dancing, but she was then hit by the realization that they were still haunted! "Out! To the fresh air!". If the spirit was in the room, it wasn't outside. So she did grab his shirt again and marched towards the nearest exit.

"Ohhh I like this song" she absent-mindedly started moving more rhythmically, still targeting the nearest door, yet it was simply hard to reach. "But wait...where is your son by the way?!". The memories just flashed by and she remembered the Queen had had a son. Had they forgotten him in this whole mess?

@Sreeya

 

[Cipher 4]

Marsh remained by the snack table, clearly having a blast as she picked one piece of food after another. Making sure to keep her hands clean, the pink-haired woman adjusted the hearing aid she wore on one ear and almost smiled at the music playing. Too lost on the palatable wonders in front of her was she that the operative had completely missed the dancing and revelry around her. It wasn't for her, though, she reminded herself so she was, in a sense, not missing anything.

Reluctantly, she knew she had to remove herself from the area lest she proceed to snack on the rest of the hors' d'oeuvres and leave none for the guests. Impossible, of course, but she didn't need to try her luck...

Wiping her hands on a tissue offered to her by a passing server, Marsh signed her thanks before wandering over towards the bar.

Cipher agents, making merry.

The woman gave them space, both literally and figuratively, as she sat herself by the far end of the bar. Signing her order at the barman, Marsh simply shrugged when she was asked if she truly wanted a milkshake, of all things...

"I serve alcohol, for kriff's sakes," muttered the server, shaking his head as he went on to proceed with making the ordered drink instead.

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He helped the unknown woman up from the ground who had gotten a little too close to the danger zone.

By that time, enough room had cleared to let Guin finish her dance without further casualty. When she finished there was a bit of awkward stillness, music still thumping in the background. He glanced around the room for Kali, but she was nowhere to be found in the large mass of people.

He made his own way to the bar after Guin. “That was incredible.” he said to her pulling up to the bar beside her. “Where in the Galaxy did you learn to dance like that?” he asked. He ordered a drink of his own and leaned his back up against the bar. “How have you been, Guin?” he asked cheerfully.

In the background people finally started filtering back onto the dance floor, testing the waters to see if they were safe.

@Xorism

 

[Edward Haren]

In his own little world, Edward danced and danced on his own, not caring about anything else in the world. He had invented a new way of two-stepping while dancing, which involved taking a big sip out of his glass of whiskey and then swapping it from one hand to the other between the two steps. As one could guess, he had spilled half his drink on his shirt and the people that were initially around him as a result. So eventually he added a "steal from the bartender's tray of drinks" move to it in order to keep up with his alcohol needs.

Thankfully, as a result of both his horrible dance moves and the fact that he spilled a lot of alcohol everywhere, leaving a nasty sticky floor to dance on, most people had given him quite a lot of space. Of course, he thought this was the case because the rest of the people were in awe at the greatness of his dance moves. However, he would eventually come out of his dancing trance once people started to get closer to him as a result of a young woman (@Xorism ) dancing even crazier.

"Pfft, show-off" Those words would be lost amidst the music and chaos as he looked at Guinevere's finishing moves. Eventually people would get away from him once more, but that just made it easier for him to get to take the chance and beeline towards the bar once more, having finished yet another drink.

As he made his way to the bar once more, he positioned himself beside someone that was apparently asking for a milkshake (@Forsythe Crowholde), ending up between her and another man that had arrived just in time to ask for Whiskey alongside an Imperial knight (@Tic, @Volene ) "Then alcohol you shall serve, friend" He would tell the bartender. Were they actually friends? The bartender probably didn't think so, but Edward would always consider those who fed his alcoholism his friends "Another glass of whiskey, you know the deal, not so neat." Edward asked the barman.

Wiping his whiskey soaked hand on his whiskey soaked shirt, the man tapped his fingers on the bar, looking around as he waited for his drink "Bar's quite crowded now, huh? Guess everyone needs a rest after that." He said out loud to no one in particular, talking about his great moves and oblivious to the other many reasons why someone would need to get off the dance floor. The people there could probably entertain him with some small talk...Well, maybe not the woman that asked for a milk shake, didn't seem to talk at all.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair started laughing as he recalled that skirt, “This is bullshit, how come you never had to dress stupid for any of our missions?” He pondered, feeling scandalized. He had to put himself through all manners of nonsense and Kalique got to be in the audience! Altair was dragged again and he scowled, “You’re ruinin’ my dress shirt, woman!” He called out, looking at his disheveled state of attire. It was a miracle he didn’t spill anything on it at some point.

However, all the zig-zagging while he was already sloshed was catching up to him. The tiefling groggily followed, the door opening to a balcony. When she asked about his son, Altair opened his mouth to answer, but what came out was far worse. All the zig-zagging, running into walls, being completely drunk all suddenly caught up to him. And he accidentally puked on Kalique’s uniform, unleashing a mix of cupcake and mixed drinks. His eyes widened.

“Oh shit- I’m-” He started to talk, but turned to hurl over the edge of the balcony railing. It was beautiful night - the moon was high, the starts glinted against the sky, and the Grand Marshal was hurling over the edge of a balcony. He half puked and half apologized, finally wiping his mouth off. He was almost too afraid to look at Kalique. How do you even recover from that?

“I…like this song too..?” Altair finally said weakly, wishing he had Andruil’s teleportation abilities.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

She couldn't help but to laugh at his remark as he was literally complaining about his attire now. In her memory he had been fine with it back then, so why didn't he need them to be even now? "Excuuuuse me, Mister, I wasn't marrying a Queen!" she reminded him, tipping her forehead with a finger, speech still slurred.

"Shush you, I'm just saving you" she shook her head, again, something she regretted, because she was so close to tripping before they finally found themselves on a balcony. It was a miracle as Kalique had absolutely not straightly steered towards it, but what mattered was that they were finally there.

No evil ghost, no shitty orchestra, just fresh air. She took in a deep breath, her mission a full success before Altair suddenly projectile vomited on her uniform. As inhibited as her cognitive abilities were right now, she just stood, fully perplex and didn't flinch. She then blinked a few times, the realization finally hitting her.

"Did...did you just...vomit...on me?" she voiced slowly, a genuine amount of disappointment in her voice. She met his gaze, her own features someone sad, as if that had been hurtful as her chaotic thoughts somehow made her take this personality. She then swallowed, a wave of nausea washing over her before she suddenly broke into laughter at his subdued comment.

"You know what?" she stepped closer, sympathetically patting his back before realizing that his shirt was so...clean. "Give me your shirt! It's hot in there anyway, so you won't need it!". She demanded, tugging at the fabric. "They won't even notice! I've seen an agent in a charcoal suit, you'll look just like him!". In her hazy brain, it seemed like a legit idea to just swap and leave the dirty uniform out here. With a outstretched hand, she expected to claim what he owed her after this mess.

@Sreeya

 

[Max Dram]

"It's me who has to do the thanking" Max said, slowly relaxing into the booth seat opposite the Knight (@Mr. Teatime ). It felt no better spoken aloud; thanks simply did not cut it.

"Well enough" he answered, shaking off his right arm as if to brush away the dull pain "and please, Max is good enough right now. We're not on parade again just yet, and you're the one in the medal". He took in the half-Tiefling woman's amethyst eyes for the first time and the way hair, horns and pointed ears combined. The woman's exotic look only reminded him he did not really know her at all.

"Al-Bashir, Astrid - if I may - a man can't complain about a few burns when he shouldn't be here at all". His hazel eyes gazed at her intently. He wanted her to know he was in no doubt about what she had done for him. The scale of it and the cost. "A solider goes into every field of battle knowing it might be his last. Knowing his luck might be up, or he might have to sacrifice it all for victory".

He clasped his hands on table between them, metal fingers and grazed knuckles entwined. "I was prepared to die on Dathomir. Instead, I owe you my life.". For the hundredth time, he replayed the way the bolt of energy had arced away from him.

"Why?" he asked gently. "Why did you give so much to save me?".

There was plenty happening over his shoulder, but Max only had eyes and ears for the woman in front of him and the mystery of the Knight who saved the General from the Queen.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair felt like absolute crap when she looked at him all hurt and sad. He fidgeted in place, his tail drooping down. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how to clean the mess, “I’m sorry, Kalique,” He muttered, fiddling with one of his horns in his shame. However, she burst out laughing and he gave her a genuinely puzzled look. Altair was surprised when she asked for his shirt, rambling about him blending in with some mook wearing a black suit, “Wow,” He shook his head. Did she realize how insensitive that sounded?

The tiefling thought about arguing, but he did technically ruin the uniform. He didn’t see how his shirt was going to solve the problem, especially as it had his sweat on it, but oh well. Altair shrugged, unbuttoned the shirt and handed it over. With his far taller and wider build, she would drown in it. It smelled of fancy cologne and expensive deodorant near the pits.

Meanwhile, Altair was left in a tight tanktop, the green lightning scar prominently visible now. He had a wide, muscled frame that definitely showed the product of following the Thorne routine.

“This is totally your fault,” He reminded her, looking away as he rested his elbows on the balcony.

@LadyRen

 

[Kalique Baize]

She waved off his concerns, however her gaze lingered on the way her hand suddenly moved so quickly before she snapped back into reality. "It's okay. I guess the cupcake was bad!". He seemed to ponder on her idea, but there was no way she'd go back in with the puke uniform and so he finally accepted.

"My fault? Woooow....how is this my fault?! You said shots" she replied a little grumpily for a moment, slipping out of her uniform and into the shirt and trying to button the shirt again with uncoordinated hands. It took a moment, but as she was done she joined him at the railing again, choosing a clean spot.

"If you have to puke again, do it here, not inside there", she warned him, however a smirk crossing her lips again now that she was dressed in a surprisingly clean, however slightly creased and definitely oversized shirt. "Thanks though" her gaze darted back down, realizing that from her POV it didn't even look that large.

She then looked down over the balcony, spotting something shimmering down below that piqued her attention. "Do you see that? What is it?" she squinted, pointing at it, but her finger was drawing eights into the air. "Would you rather climb down and check, oooor, refill on the shots you've just lost?".

@Sreeya

 

[Guinevere Delevigne]

The bartender shot Guin a cautious stare as he poured her a shot, quietly hoping that she wouldn't invite him onto the dance floor. Fortunately, the agent was preoccupied with the sudden arrival of Jon, which only served to bring a smile to her dial. "Jon!! There you are, I was wondering if you were going to miss the whole thing!"

Grinning candidly at his compliment, she blushed. "It's not something you learn silly, dancing is an art, you have to feel it and let loose " looking back at the resuming activities proudly, she was convinced she had done just that.

"I'm good, I think. I have a really troublesome case that could make or break my career, but it is a lot of stress. Speaking of, have you seen Kali? I wanna ask if she saw my daaaance?"She was just here before, Guin was sure.

@Raydo @LadyRen

 

[Jonathen Baize]

His smile widened when her face lit up. "You think I was going to miss that? Not a chance," he said, nodding his head back towards the dance floor.

"Ahhh. That explains it," he said as she explained her art. It actually didn't explain anything, but he let it slide. "Well, you certainly did that..." he said with a chuckle, taking another drink from his glass. The liquid burned slightly in his stomach, making this place a bit more tolerable.

He tilted his head slightly. "Well, I owe you; if there is anything I can do to help out, just ask," he said in regard to her case. She had helped him on several occasions. He shrugged when she asked about Kali. "I don't know. I got here a few minutes ago, figured she would be with you..." he said.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," he said. He pulled out his phone, texting one of those who had been filming the whole thing that he knew. Within seconds, he had the video. "This gem is getting saved forever," he said, shooting her another grin.

@Xorism