I'll touch every star in the sky

[janthony]

Who: Everyone [Open]

Where: Ravenfell, Fanelia

When: During Queen of Hearts

What: The Scarlet Court has invited everyone to a masquerade ball in honor of the Queen of Hearts' decree promoting unity and strengthening of bonds. Where else but a masquerade can peasants dance with princes, and knights dance with nobles?

Content Warning: None overall!





Posters begin to appear along the Queen's Highway, more common outside of the City than inside it. Midnight black, they seem to twinkle like stars, with metallic blood-red ink.

I - Ravenfell
The town of Ravenfell sits tucked in the shadow of a mountain valley, with crystal clear water and plenty of orchards and grazing space for sheep. If you're early for the ball, you may as well explore a bit! There's a bustling market that's always full of fresh food and craftsmen selling their wares.

II - L'Université Médicale
The other sight to see in Ravenfell, of course, is the towering university that stands imposing, almost chiseled out of the base of the mountain, with a wide, long set of granite stairs leading from the path from town. The ball is set to be hosted in the great hall of the university, known as the hall of the serpent for the royal crest inlaid into the floor, a coiled black serpent with a red belly and eyes of inlaid gold. Feel free to take a tour around, or spend some time in the library before the ball.

III - The Feast
Finally, the main event! The hall of the serpent is decked out in silver banners, with crystals hanging from the ceiling like snowflakes. The long tables are laden for a feast, with just about anything you could dream of being served, and plenty of wine to drink. There's no assigned seating, and no special place for royals. After all, everyone is masked - so get to know your neighbor!

IV - The Dancing
Just as there were no assigned seats for the feasting, there are no pronouncements for the dancing. The music that's been playing all night picks up as the tables are magically cleared out of the way, and the dancing begins in earnest.

V - Wildcard
Or anything you want!

Comments

[eastofeden]

[ Aziraphale listens, wide-eyed and yearning. It all sounds wonderful. Of course Lord Crowley would make education at the university available to all; of course he would encourage farmers and shepherds and servants to study and read and make a better, or more fulfilling life for themselves. Aziraphale's heart warms even more towards the kindly, generous Prince.

But it seems to break, at the same time. He forgets herself as Lord Crowley pulls him in close, and clings onto him tightly, his desperation and longing showing through. Oh, he wants this. Not just the university. But this, the Prince, the way he looks at him, how generous and giving he is...He's still a stranger, for all intents and purposes, and yet Aziraphale already feels as though he knows him. Even as though...even as though he could...

He falters. He thinks of his stepfather's forbidding frown. And he nearly bursts into tears as his heart sinks. ]

I can't.

I wi- I wish I could, you've no idea how much. It sounds heavenly...

[ Or better than heaven, even, given how poorly Aziraphale's own home had proven to live up to its divine namesake. ]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[janthony]

[Crowley's smile drops. He slips them out of the dance, letting him pull away but holding onto his hand so that he can't escape completely. The hall is enormous, seems to almost be bigger than it ought to be from the outside, and feels even bigger still with the tables from the feast pushed aside.

Which means privacy, along the edges of the room, while the celebration is centered on the dancers in the middle.]

Alright? Nothing to be sorry for.

[He sighs. Frowns. Pushes a few escaped strands of hair back behind his ear.]

Was my fault, I went too fast.

[eastofeden]

[ Oh, he knows what happens now. Knows all too well, from long experience with his stepfather. Now he'll be pulled to the side, out of the public eye, to be lectured and scolded and berated. Cheeks hot under his mask, Aziraphale meekly allows the Prince to draw him away. He waits, head bowed, bracing for the inevitable.

It doesn't come. Nothing to be sorry for, says Lord Crowley, and Aziraphale dares to lift his head, incredulous. ]

No, no, you didn't, I...

[ He sighs, miserably.]

Please. You've given me so much. You've offered so much more. I wish I could accept it, I do, but..

[ But he can't. And there's no way to explain. ]

Can't we just... enjoy tonight? This moment, it won't last long, but... it's... it's ours, isn't it?

[janthony]

[Crowley doesn't like it. Call him selfish, call him greedy, call him whatever you like but he can't accept that this is the end. Not after all he did to lure him back to another ball.

But everything he says just makes things worse, so even he will admit that there's a point where he has to quit while he's ahead.]

You're right, [He says, putting the charming smile back on.] 'Course, of course you're right.

Come out and walk with me? We haven't gotten that air I promised.

[eastofeden]

[ He doesn't feel right. He feels rather like he's ruined everything. Again. Just as he always does.

And there's a moment where he wishes he'd said differently. Accepted Lord Crowley's offer. After all, if there's anyone able to stand up to Aziraphale's stepfather, to take Aziraphale away from him at last, it's the Prince, isn't it? Couldn't he...?

He can't. He can't ask that of Lord Crowley, or of anyone. He can't confess all that he'd so successfully kept hidden. No, he had been right. He's had, now, not one but two magical nights, hours of happiness beyond his wildest dreams, and the second one isn't over yet. Having to reject the Prince's generosity, despairing more and more each time, isn't how he wants to spend it.

He returns the smile, and after a moment in which he second- and third- and fourth-guesses himself and finally decides to go for it, holds out an arm for the Prince to take. ]

I would be delighted.