07.01h: The Seventh Winter (Dance Floor)

[Joshua]

This is the after-dinner ballroom dance. Not quite as lavish, and since the hour is late, there's only a handful of couples on the floor. Still, it's practice for the more formal dance tomorrow at Rebma.

[Ruben]

For the first time in a while, Ruben looks completely at home on the dance floor. The gold-braided epaulets on his dress uniform goat shining brightly as he leads Renny through in intricate formal dance, in which their bodies frequently intertwine, but narrowly avoid contact. He smiles broadly as he focuses on the movements.

[colomon]

Given Ruben's steady lead, Renny keeps up without much effort; she knows dancing, if not this particular dance. "Is this one of the Rebman steps?" she asks.

Not sure how steady my Internet access will be this week -- might find it hard to post, or I might have a solid Internet connection and little else to do!

[Joshua]

The other dancers are not currently in formation with you, although, if Ruben wanted to, it wouldn't take much to get the nobles to help with impromptu musical theatre. A handful of nobles are still there, the tend towards the more formal (who wouldn't leave without the dance) and the more athletic (who are clearly warming up for tomorrow night).

[colomon]

Edited because we are the only ones dancing ATM, so quadrille is not appropriate. But Renny will certainly try to get a group dance going at some point...

[colomon]

As they whirl around the floor, Renny quietly asks Ruben, "What did you make of Nathaniel?"

Edited because no one had replied yet and it occurred to me this might well be more on Renny's mind. And edirted again to fix his name, sigh.

[Joshua]

While you're having a conversation, one odd sight you'll catch glimpses of (this is more a background note then a "you should stop talking and deal with this") is that Quin has joined the dance, and swings nearby with several different partners (male and female) over the course of the dance. He is being serious during it despite leaving the jester outfit on. (So, no overemphasized clown steps or anything. He really is a terrible jester.)

[Ruben]

Ruben smiles at Quin, welcoming him to the dance floor as the the couples narrowly but elegantly glide past one another.

Turning back to Renny, he slows the dance slightly to answer, "You mean our young friend? I have no idea what to make of him. On the surface, the source of his agitation, and our potential to allay some of it, seems simple enough. But I'm a bit confused by his mere presence. I've come to expect these meetings of the court to be completely divorced from the broader world. Between Nathaniel's anger and Dworkin's odd guest, there seems to be a distinct undercurrent of turmoil tonight."

He pauses to twirl Renny, then anchor her arms in the air as Quin and his latest partner glide between them.

"I came looking for an escape, and there has not been much of that tonight," he says, still scanning the room and relieved to find no one paying particular attention to them in return. "Well, except for those who have already disappeared!"

[colomon]

"What struck me is how he was very quick to anger, but almost meek otherwise," Renny observes. "It makes me think he is genuinely upset, rather than just a hothead."

[Ruben]

I think that's a fair assessment. How do you think he got into the Hall? Was it a security lapse, or was it part of the plan for the evening?