{WELCOME TO THE SUMMER BALL}{Open to all}

[sora]

Riku had gotten between the two. He sighed in relief and looked up at him. What was he going to say? There was a strong look of worry on his face. Alright, were his lips blue again? Alright he had been mistaken for dead on several occasions due to his unsual sleeping habbits and unreal love of blue candy. He frowned and wiped at his mouth, nothing came off. So what was Riku's problem?

Did he eat something off the floor? Was his Drink spiked?! He couldn't believe what he was hearing, couldn't he just be in a dress without worries? He stuck his tounge out at the older teen and latched onto his arm again.

"I just wanted to wear it!" he countered, looking up innocently "I think it looks nice on me." Then it struck him. "Wait, I dont look fat do I? O-or myabe you just dont like dresses" he went on, rambling to himself.

[yuukoichihara]

"Ahhh. A dance. How wonderful, neh, Watanuki-kun?" The Witch, Yuuko, said smoothly in a singsong voice, intentionally doing so to annoy her employee.

Feeling refreshed, even if she had her hair informally cascading over he shoulders and accented by a light blue butterfly hair pin, the woman entered the clearing with a generally happy grin, even if her flustered and slightly frustrated companion glared up at her with intense mismatched eyes.

"No. It's not." He spat, tugging in an angry way on the ruffly cravat attached to his overly formal outfit, "For one, you just had to pick this distracting outfit, didn't you?! People are going to stare at me all weirdly and I've just entered this school! I already have like, no friends, and any ones that I had hoped of having will now never look at me again for fear of getting the contiguous embarrassment!" He huffed right, crossing his arms over his chest and flattening the ruffles, "I don't see why we had to come to this school anyway. You kind of never fit the 'teacher' image to me."

She gave him her trademark witchy grin, grabbing his chin and turning his face to meet her gaze. "Why, I never knew you felt that way. In that case," she let go of his chin, giving an oddly elegant sigh, "You never know about the things I know how to do." She chuckled a little. Changing the subject on Watanuki was always good for a couple of laughs. In the other world, she was in fact principal of a school. And Watanuki went to that school too, but that story was for another day. "Anyway, I see my date." She said with a soothing tone, smiling smugly at him, Oh, Watanuki? Heed my warning tonight. Evil may in fact be afoot. And with that, she turned and left her bespectacled employee standing alone as he approached the man in white, Sebastian.

"...Ugh! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" He hollered after her but to no avail. She already touched the shoulder of the man so far away and he was left to stand alone and wonder who to talk to.

[Joshua]

"Oh no~?" Joshua twirled a bit of the fabric around one slender finger, either to test its strength or just to get at the skin underneath. "Hee hee--I'm afraid you still qualify, Neku~." He let go and drew back, instantly the distant Yoshiya Kiryu again. Violet eyes wandered the scene--which, while impressive, didn't hold a candle to some of the parties that took place in the heavens. The scattered refreshments weren't ambrosia and the punch wasn't nectar, but it would do. "At any rate, I don't see anyone dancing, and considering you're dressed for the occasion..." He took Neku's forearm in a deceptively gentle hold, pulling the orange-haired boy's hip against his. "Shall we~?"

[axeldangerflynn]

Axel pouted when he was hit, knowing he'd brought it upon himself but still.

It was soo fucking funny.

"Roxas," He hissed, leaning down a little as Roxas stepped closer, "Is that really who I think it is? Or am I hallucinating? I mean, I know that cafeteria food was a little wonky, but still. Holy shit." He ran a hand through his firey spikes, straightening up.

"Hey Sora," He started as he lifted a hand elegantly, "I think that dress looks quite charming on you." He grinned, trying his hardest not to snicker uncontrollably. It took a lot of willpower, "And the way Riku is letting you cling to him just might means he thinks the same way."

Well, after all, Sora was wearing a dress over this guy. Sacrificing his manly pride and all that shit. What would be the harm in pushing them to go off and dance somewhere so he and Roxas could hang out? Not that he didn't like Riku or Sora. He just didn't feel like dancing with them or bringing back weird, awkward memories. And watching Sora cling to him like that kind of made him feel all weird and he didn't feel like trying to pinpoint and figure out what those feelings were.

[Neku Sakuraba]

Neku looked away, closing his eyes. Why did he have to continue to touch him like that? It was so odd...and it was making him feel so weird. He couldn't tell if it was a good or bad thing...

He watched as Joshua scanned the place. He was probably critisizing it in his head, like everything else. Why couldn't he just take things for what they are from time to time? Can't expect the world from everything all the time...

Neku looked back to Joshua as he spoke again. A dance? They'd be the only ones! People would stare and make fun...but he wasn't really caring at this point. He made a small noise as he was pulled closer, a slight pink tinting his face, "...Yeah." he replied quietly.

[sora]

Sora frowned and picked up his dress. Axel was obviously teasing him. Roxas wasn't happy and Riku thought he was on crack. He sighed and stepped off to the side "I'm going to go change!" he yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear.

He released Riku's arms and charged off....

He came back moments later dressed in black slacks and a pink jacket compleate with black bowtie. Alright so he had an extra outfit prepared. Sue him. He knew people were going to react weird...

"Better?" he asked, looking over at the familiar red head.

[Roxas]

For an instant he was sure he hated Riku, really and truly hated him, but Roxas let the silver-haired boy push him aside. Sora's words burned him worse than Axel ever could. No it's not just yours...I'm here too, I thought you realized that...I thought I talked to you, I thought you understood...!

Disgusted, he spun away from them both and stalked towards the dance floor without caring where he was headed. "C'mon Axel," he called shortly over his shoulder. Let them hang out and be best friends however they wanted, the way he and Axel couldn't, just so long as Roxas wasn't around to see it. So what if he thought things would be different around Sora? So what if he'd hoped he would be appreciated instead of stepped on and ignored? None of it mattered. He wasn't real. Sora couldn't hurt his feelings if they didn't exist.

[r]

Riku released Sora in surprise when the kid latched onto him again--Sora had done that back at the World That Never Was but Riku hadn't expected it to be a regular thing, how much had his best friend changed over the years?--and gave him a look similar to a child watching a kitten run at an oncoming train. "...Sora, you're skinny as hell, you wouldn't look fat in a fat suit--what are you talking about? Is--is this a joke? Are you impersonating Kairi? 'Cause I don't wanna rain on your parade but she's kinda not here..."

Not that Sora didn't look...interesting in the dress, in a way, but quite frankly it freaked Riku out and he could have lived a happy life without that image in his head.

Axel was having fun with it and to be honest Riku was having a hard time hiding a smirk. He probably would have doubled over laughing if he'd known it was a joke and wasn't scared that Sora had been drinking lead paint or something. "Shut up, Axel," he murmured instead without much conviction.

"I'm going to go change!"

It was the same note Riku used to hear in Sora's voice back when the kid still threw tantrums, but he'd never expected to hear it again over a dress of all things. "Um," he started to say, but Sora had already flounced off in the dress like an insulted princess.

...Okay what the hell was all that?!

He ignored Roxas storming off in favor of greeting Sora with relief in his voice when the Keybearer got back. "Uh...hey. Yeah, that's...better. Seriously, what was with the dress?"

[rikka]

"Wow you really hate punch."
Directed to: Kuro

"Maybe, you never know."

"Of course you miss me. A butler is nothing without his master." Rikka replied with a small smirk. She once again took another sip as he came closer. Her mind staring at the moon for a moment before she went to stare at the direction of the ball. Hmm, it was strange that they had picked that kind of location to hold the party but whatever. At least it wasn't her secret spot. This spot was a place where she could easily read and think without anyone judging her since usually no one is here. That was why she liked this place so much. Also, the trees provide good shade and sometimes she would jump into the lake with her dress on and not care. She had a lot of fun times here each and everyone of them a secret.

"What do you have in here anyway? Anything good?"

"I have chips, soda, candy, sandwiches and that's all." in other words they were things that didn't need to be cooked. Yep that was all there was. A small smile graced her lips as she slowly took out a small camera. She knew that pictures were going to be taken for the year book but she wanted to get some herself. Some that only she could have and that only she could remember. One of it being this lake. Maybe even a picture of people falling for her pranks. That would be fun.

She soon lied down to stare up at the sky. She smirked when he mentioned something about anything being better than punch. What did the guy have against it? Whatever. "So how come you knew I was here?" she asked. She was a bit curious. She had spent a whole night thinking of her plan and for someone like her, that took a lot of will power. She never thought someone would had figured it out so quickly. Obviously the queen didn't give her servant enough credit.

[axeldangerflynn]

Axel kind of shot Riku and Sora and glance before huffing off after him. He applauded the pair for getting Roxas all riled up like that, but it wasn't the funny/cute/flustered/blushy kind of angry that Axel always aimed for. 'Cause now Roxas was all ten kinds of pissed off and Axel had to cheer him up one way or another.

Stopping short next to the refreshment table he sighed in frustration, he touched the blonde's lower back to get his attention, "Hey."

Well, Roxas and Axel had decided to meet up here, and neither Roxas nor Axel had gotten any invitations to dance or anything remotely associated with girls, so he sighed a little, "Look...I know Sora didn't really mean to hurt you, but you know that he's gotta be kind of weird around you. I mean, you're his Nobody, and he's not used to really seeing you out of the shell. Plus he's hanging out with Riku and he seems awfully funny with all that clinging, I know, so maybe he's acting funny because he's around him, and, um. I kind of have the urge to dance with you," He admitted with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck, "You do look awfully dashing," He said to try and save himself but to no avail.

[clumsykohaku]

((directed to: valentine marcel))

"OK, subject dropped," Kohaku said. "And to the drinking part, I don't think I'd even like it." Kohaku didn't like the smell. Maybe a stupid reason, but that was why. "Well, I've probably annoyed you enough. I think I'll be taking my leave from this 'party' seeing as how nothing is happening." She might stay if something happened on the way out. But no one here really knew her and others probably couldn't care less if she left. Kohaku grabbed a few more sandwiches to munch on. She passed an angry princess flouncing by and did a double-take. That... was most definitely a guy... There were some fairly interesting people here at the academy. Kohaku turned away trying to erase the burning image from her mind.

[Sho Minamimoto]

Dancing was so zetta not Sho's thing. In fact, he hadn't even known there was a dance of any sort going on at all -- or maybe he'd just heard it in passing and forgot about it. Either way, it caught him off guard when he came upon the scores of people all dressed up and having the time of their lives -- sorta, kinda. And here was Sho, bags under his red eyes from lack of sleep, looking every bit as ragged as he usually did in his slashed jeans and torn jacket that probably hadn't seen a washing machine in weeks.

Awkward didn't even begin to describe it.

And just what's so great about a dance anyway?

Trying to stay out of sight for the most part, Sho skulked around the outer parameters of the party, eyes locked on Joshua. He was trying not to make it obvious that he was stalking someone, or whom he was stalking, but going without sleep for 136 hours and counting did very funny things to one's brain, and as such he didn't really trust himself to calculate the difference between a hexacosichoron and a block of cheese, let alone be anything even close to resembling stealthy. On the other hand, he considered the risk of not stalking Joshua to be much greater, and so stalk he did.

It was difficult to weave in and out of the crowd, however, and he couldn't help but bump into a few people even when he was seriously putting forth the effort not to. Some brown mass of polygons in a dress almost knocked him over in his/her/its hurry to get...wherever it needed to be, and Sho wondered for a moment whether or not he was beginning to hallucinate.

And then it happened: in the process of trying to see where the crossdresser was running he epic failed and tripped over his own feet, falling forward and smashing face-first onto the refreshments table with a BANG, bringing a horrible numbing sort of pain upon his nose and leaving a very prominent splatter of blood onto the table's white sheet. In the process of trying to keep himself from falling the rest of the way onto the ground, Sho instinctively reached out to grab something sturdy enough to right himself -- which unfortunately turned out to be the sheet, which wasn't sturdy enough to hold his weight, and in one fell swoop everything came crashing down.

"FU--"

Sho bolted, absolutely refusing to give anyone the chance to observe his fail, and proceeded to (stupidly) attempt to hide behind the closest tree.

Smooth.

[Roxas]

He was grateful to Axel for coming with him and not making him look like a total prick storming off like that, but he knew it came at a price. So he folded his arms against the refreshment table and let Axel catch up, let him try to console--he wasn't all that good at it in Roxas's opinion but somehow it always seemed to work on the blond--but Roxas wasn't willing to let this one go just yet.

"I know but it's like he doesn't even--!" Roxas stopped short, blinking, and tried to rewind his brain. "...What?" he asked finally, giving up and turning surprised blue eyes on Axel instead. "Y-you wanna." Well, damn, it wasn't that odd--girls danced together all the time, but why did Roxas's brain have to go there of all places? Right back to the boxer glimpse and the nudge at the ice cream shop. On the other hand, Axel had just called him dashing...but maybe that was just a reassurance, a compliment to offset the sight of his Other in a dress.

He snickered. "Axel, sometimes you try too hard." Even so, he cast a wary look at the dance floor. "You know I'm crap at dancing...but...sure."

Wait, what?! Roxas, you weren't supposed to say that!

He didn't take it back, though. After all, Axel tended to be right about these things--maybe unwinding on the dance floor was what he needed.

[axeldangerflynn]

"Oh, well, if it's weird then we don't you know-" He started before Roxas finished it off with a nice smug acceptance. He smirked his usual Axel smirk, crossing his arms, "Yeah right. You know who has the two left feet of the pair, and it's not you. You're a short, skinny, quick little thing and I'm all tall and clunky," He said, referring to the numerous battles of their previous lives of Organization XIII.

He stepped a little closer though. "It's not a very fast song, is it?" He asked as he raised a crimson eyebrow, "I mean, two boys don't usually romantically slow it up out there but if you're fine with it I'm all game. Not trying to like...hit on you, or anything..." He said the last few words quietly, "If you're weirded out by it..."

[Joshua]

The whispered acquiescence made Joshua smirk, even if it also made him double check to make sure he hadn't altered Neku's will--only to discover that he couldn't do the one or the other. He kept forgetting just how limited he was in this form, and that was going to be a mistake if he kept it up.

"Really~? After all, I'm sure you could attract some other young charmer in tha--"

BANG

Pale hair whipped against his cheeks as Joshua's head snapped in the direction of the disturbance, catching the flicker of a gray belt, pi-colored coat, and torn black jeans disappearing around a tree trunk.

Subtlety has never been your strong suit, Sho.

At least Minamimoto had announced his presence. Joshua never dreamed he'd pay enough attention to realize there was actually a ball going on, much less take enough of an interest to attend, and while he was certain he'd smell the junk or that strong fabric scent of his coat long before the Grim Heaper got anywhere near him, it was nice to be warned ahead of time. Just in case, Joshua scanned the forest for telltale signs of a booby trap, decided there was nothing, and hooked an arm around Neku's waist, guiding him gently but firmly towards the dance floor. "He certainly knows how to make an entrance, doesn't he?"

Stopping, he turned to face Neku, his hips level with the orange-haired boy's--and even though he was shorter, especially with Neku's high heels, Joshua still managed to look more dominant. His left hand brushed Neku's forearm lightly as he sought Neku's right, and he gave his proxy a cheeky little smile. "You do know how this is done, don't you~?"