Diamonds - Party/Ball, All Species Welcome

[Arrianna Elaine Carstairs]

Arrianna, queen of the vampires, glided into the spacious room. It was grandly decorated, with chandeliers hanging low from the ceiling, their crystalline parts glimmering and glinting in the dim candlelight. Everywhere, people of all species were enjoying themselves -- most being vampires, but still many others had come, too.
She was dressed for the occasion -- a slightly rare thing for Arrianna -- that occasion being the ball she'd arranged earlier that week. Long, silken fabric caressed Arrianna's legs and swished around her Victorian-style black boots as she walked. A corset that matched the dark grey hue of her skirts hugged her upper body tightly, black lace decorating the bodice. Her pale skin stood out against the dark of her outfit. Her hair, which was currently dyed blonde with a single dark highlight, fell down to her lower back in waves. Light violet eyes twinkled with mischief.
The best part of her outfit -- in Arrianna's opinion, at least -- was the diamond necklace in the shape of a teardrop that caught the light in its planes and sent small rainbows of color dancing across the pale skin of Arrianna's neck and shoulders.

But enough about her. Tonight was the people's night. Too many formal, sophisticated get-togethers had Arrianna been to recently. Too many council meetings and organized committees. The vampire queen had simply had enough of it. It was time to let go, and, perhaps, have a little fun.
As guests began to notice her entrance, they fell to one knee in a bow. Arrianna's voice rose so she could be heard over the chatter and dance music, "Get up! And let's get this party started!" A cheer followed, and Arrianna smiled to herself.

[Laurnen Eliana Kiluna]

Laurnen didn't move when she was first teleported to Arrianna's palace. She knew that it was a place for all species, and anyone was invited to the party, but she still knew that vampires were generally one of the species that hated other ones, while Fae were quite the opposite. Even though she was the Queen's friend, a Queen herself, and a dangerous enemy, vampires could be unpredictable.

Taking a deep breath and smoothing the skirts of her dress, Laurnen crossed the threshold into her friend's home, keeping her expression neutral for the most part. Her long pink hair, the feature that most people used to recognize her, was done in a braid. Though the braid shortened the length, it still went well below her shoulders. Lavender-colored ribbon was also thread in the braid, with a large dark purple flower in her hair, which compliments her light purple dress. It was a simple dress, not even a gown, with no petticoats or none of that nonsense. The corset was a modest white, and the hem of the gown almost hid her shoes. Her shoes were tiny, as normal, and were white dancing shoes. As normal, she walked as a Queen would, though a bit less than normal since she didn't really want to draw attention to herself. After all, this night was about Arrianna.

Normally anyone could find the beauty Arrianna in a crowd, but not Laurnen. With her height, she had to practically hop to be the height of a man's shoulders. Pushing away people and mumbling apologies, the Fae Queen eventually made her way to the center of the ballroom, where she hoped Arrianna would be. Looking around, she quickly spotted her friend and grnned to herself when she saw the new hair colors. Even though Laurnen wanted to rush over to her, it would not be proper, so she instead stepped carefully and delicately over to the other Queen's side, smiling.

"Hello, Queen Arrianna," she said, wanting to get the formalities over with. She gave her equal a small nod and a smile.

[Arrianna Elaine Carstairs]

Excitement danced wildly in Arrianna's eyes. Pale violet orbs ran over her dear friend, Laurnen. It'd been a while since she'd seen the other queen, and it was wonderful to meet up with her again. Especially here. Especially at a party, where formalities tended to be thrown out the window in favor of rowdiness and flippancy. Despite these tendencies, Laurnen insisted on the nearly-verbatim greeting for meeting another county's leader. Well, Arrianna would soon fix that, perhaps with the aid of a few glasses of wine.

"My darling Laurnen!" Arrianna exclaimed, turning to face the Fae queen and placing her hands gently on the other's shoulders. Her gaze slid over Laurnen once again, taking her in. "You look absolutely wonderful! It has been too long." She paused, then scowled, subject to her fickleness. "But, white, really? It's much too innocent for a queen, Dear." A sigh fell out from between Arrianna's lips, as if she was telling herself, once again, that she could not help her friend's faults. "All the same," she continued, after a moment's silence and then a giggle, "It seems like you've done well since I've last saw you. I'm sure someone else has noticed, too, though. Anyone special yet?"

[Laurnen Eliana Kiluna]

"My darling Laurnen! You look absolutely wonderful! It has been too long. But, white, really? It's much too innocent for a queen, dear. All the same, it seems like you've done well since I've last saw you. I'm sure someone else has noticed, too, though. Anyone special yet?

Laurnen smiled, used to all of her friend's chatter. Waiting for the other queen to finish before she said anything, Laurnen nodded and smiled when it was right. When Arrianna finally stopped, Laurnen laughed and flushed slightly. "You should know me by now, Arrianna - white isn't modest to me. It's just normal. I'm not like you, with your bold colors and short skirts."[/b] She grinned, paused to sigh, then shook her head. "But Arrianna, really. You know that I'm not interested in anyone, even if they were interested in me." She looked down and ran her hands over her dress to smooth out the wrinkles on habit, something she did when she was nervous.

Looking back up, she kept a smile on her face, though it was teasing. "Well, what about you, Arrianna? Enough with questioning me. You have your eye on anyone?"[/b] She raised a slender eyebrow, giggling softly. It was nice to be with her friend again for a while, and be herself instead of the stiff Queen she had to be in public.

[Arrianna Elaine Carstairs]

Arrianna raised an eyebrow in return, then chuckled. "Would you really believe I wouldn't have my eye on someone?" She glanced over Laurnen's shoulder at a male fae who was currently standing against the wall and talking to his friend while sipping from a wine glass. "In fact, he looks quite delicious."

With a carefree laugh, Arrianna spun around in a quick circle. She stopped so she was facing the crowd, Laurnen by her side. "Of course, I still haven't found anything serious. There's just not enough. . . Well, there's just not enough in men anymore."

Of course, the matter had often been impressed upon Arrianna that she should choose a consort. But, come on, what was the fun in that? Arrianna had spent her younger days dreaming of a perfect marriage in all it's glory, but that was before she learned to live. And that life wasn't as perfect as it seemed.
So, despite the common opinion of many, the vampire queen wasn't so immature as she tended to appear. Sure, she had her quirks -- some times where she felt she had to assert her authority just so she could wear shorts instead of a gown like any other queen would -- but she knew what it was like to feel pain. To hurt. To despair.
Shaking her head, Arrianna turned from her thoughts of her past the idea of the present. Well, more than just an idea, it seemed, with all joy and gayness dancing around her. "Well," she added with another chuckle, turning her head to face Laurnen. "Perhaps we'll find something of interest here, hmm?"

[Laurnen Eliana Kiluna]

Laurnen followed Arrianna's gaze and giggled, rolling her eyes. "You probably just chose him randomly!" She leaned in close to whisper, "Just don't be too hard on him." She winked and straightened back up, letting some of her natural, unqueenly personality show through. She normally acted all queenly, full of decorum and fairness, but that wasn't who she really was. Sometimes, she just wanted to leap up and run out of whatever meeting she was in then, and instead dress up and go out for a day for herself and by herself, just her and nature. Sadly, she would never acutally do that, no matter how much she yearned to.

Laurnen soon realized that Arrianna was speaking. Jerking slightly, she opened her mouth to say something just as the other queen was finishing, "Perhaps we'll find something of interest here, hmm?" She blinked, trying to recollect her thoughts. They had been talking about men and love and such. Just in time, with only a beat of silence in between them, she replied while smiling, "Yes, perhaps."

She didn't really plan to seek any one men out. Sure, if someone was looking at her, she'd look back, but she wouldn't start all the nonsense. After all, it would just end with someone's heart breaking and hasty, ummeaningful goodbyes, and Laurnen would prefer that had not happen. She had never fallen in love before, so she didn't know what it felt to have her heart broken, though she guessed at what it was like and wanted to spare others from it.

[Arrianna Elaine Carstairs]

Though Arrianna didn't catch the lapse in friend's attention. She did notice, however, that Laurnen's thoughts had trailed away from the conversation after she replied, "Yes, perhaps." Arrianna's eyes remained on her friend's expression as Laurnen lost herself in her mind. While still wondering what was going through her fellow Queen's mind, Arrianna turned and beckoned over a waiter, ordering two champagnes. She'd get Laurnen to have a glass one way or another.

Finally, Arrianna's curiosity made her speak. As the waiter brought her two glasses of pale liquid, the vampire Queen asked, "What's on your mind?" She handed a glass to Laurnen and took a sip of her own. "And have a drink. You must be gasping."

ooc: short, but, meh. ;A;

[Laurnen Eliana Kiluna]

Laurnen accepted the glass absentmindedly, tapping her fingernails against it. The liquid swished back and forth, and she watched it for a moment. Finaly, she murmured, "Oh, nothing, just curious about the matters of the heart. Just wondering about what love, true love, feels like, and how you know . . ." She sighed and looked up at Arrianna, smiling sadly. "Oh, nothing, nevermind me. Just some ramblings from my mind. Now, tell me about how you've been since I've last seen you."

When a waiter passed her, on his way to someone else, she quickly placed the champagne on the silver tray, not missing a beat and careful not to make it tip over as he kept on moving. She glanced at Arrianna and smirked slightly, offering a challenge. Of course her friend knew that she wouldn't have drunk - maybe one or two glasses were okay, but the Queen wasn't that good at keeping her liquor, and the last time she had actually gotten drunk . . . Well, she didn't want to relieve that day, however hilarious it had been to Arrianna.

[ now we need a thread with micah and laurnen, and laurnen gets drunk xDD ]