Beneath the Chandeliers
July 12, 2026 | London | word count: 291 | outfit | speaking:#520000
The manor glittered like a jewel against the darkening evening sky.
Rows of enchanted lanterns floated above the long stone pathway leading to the entrance, casting golden light across perfectly trimmed hedges and gardens that looked more sculpted than grown. Because that's how it always was—perfect.
Vivienne was attending an event tonight. A ball, if you may. Balls of such sort weren't unusual, there always occurred one around this time of the year, based on what Vivienne remembered from her last 5 years of experience. As soon as the girl had become old enough to accompany her parents, she had done so.
Initially, Vivienne had convinced her parents to not make her attend. She'd planned out her evening already; two hours of piano practice, a well-written novel, and then maybe a few hours of the enchanted board game her brother Atlas had been begging for her to play with him for weeks now. It was then that her parents decided to drop the bombshell on her, they'd changed their minds about letting her pass an event just this once. Typical.
So now she stood near the edge of the ballroom, hands neatly folded behind her back as she watched dozens of witches and wizards glide across the polished floor. Vivienne smoothed an invisible crease from the sleeves of her yellow dress. It was, again, not something she'd been given the liberty to choose herself. Which, along with all of the other things that had been forced upon her tonight, admittedly set her in a very sour mood. It was unusual for her to mind her parents, but tonight seemed to be testing her patience to the limit.
It was safe to say that Vivienne could not wait to go home.
@Kahira Valerian
Beneath the Chandeliers
| xxxxx | It was always lovely to leave the confines of the Valerian estate for a girls' trip out with her mother, Eloise. Kahira Valerian had been to many a pureblood ball - several just this summer, with at least one more to come in the next week - but those were usually with her whole family, including the brother she wished so desperately she didn't have, @Blaize Valerian. On rare occasions, when the reason for attending tended more towards the Herbology side of things, the women went on their own, and tonight was one such event. She swanned in by Eloise's side, the two curly-haired girls dressed both in matching shades of pastel pink; whoever had said redheads couldn't pull off pink had never met Kahira. It wasn't her most flattering colour, certainly, but she carried herself with such half-earned confidence that the ruffles and sparkling diamond brooch at her right hip didn't look nearly as gaudy as they would have upon a different person. Of course, her mother almost immediately began to discuss business with some of the other pureblood herbologists in attendance, and a wave of her hand dismissed Kahira; the eleven-year-old was more than happy to wander away from the boring talk of fertiliser and screechsnaps, whatever those were. She took a stroll around the edge of the dance floor, eyeing the other guests as her low kitten heels clicked against the wooden surface beneath her feet. Most of them were older, at least teenagers, though speaking to elders had never really bothered the self-assured young lady; still, they were mostly speaking to each other, and Kahira had learned over time to not interrupt a conversation in which she'd be seen as an annoying younger impostor. And so finding a girl her own age, lurking in a very wallflower-ish position, was simply a stroke of luck. She took in the butter yellow dress and black shoes - seriously, black and yellow? Had the girl decided to become a bumblebee for the evening? - before taking a sideways step closer to her, crossing her feet at the ankles and allowing herself to lean slightly back upon the gilded wall behind her, as if bored. The other girl seemed less than excited, and even though Kahira loved a ball, she could not embarrass herself by seeming too enthusiastic around someone who managed to seem nonchalant about the whole affair. "You," she said, quietly, almost out of the side of her mouth, "look most positively thrilled to be in attendance tonight." |
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| kahira valerian second gen | _____________________ | shop | ___________________ |
Beneath the Chandeliers
July 12, 2026 | London | word count: 310 | outfit | speaking:#520000
The solidarity of Vivienne's newfound corner was interrupted by a presence.
It was annoying, to say the least, for the young lady to have to interact with someone this ball. It gave her only the slightest bit of relief to see that the person who had approached her was neither an adult nor a member of her own family trying to tell her off for something. It was a girl, looking to be around her age, with defined curls for hair and a pink gown that made her look like some sort of a pretend princess. Vivienne glanced sideways as the red-haired girl settled herself against the wall nearby, carrying herself with an ease Vivienne couldn't quite place, but noticed all the same. Maybe she could get to know someone new, and her evening would be saved.
That thought was just occurring to Vivienne, when the girl opened her mouth, and changed Vivi's perception of her.
Sarcasm. She liked it.
Her attention remained fixed on the dancers for another moment, as though she were considering whether the comment deserved a response at all. In truth, she was simply surprised someone had spoken to her. She wasn't expecting any interaction this evening, let alone with someone her age who'd caught on to her absolute unwillingness to be attending this ball.
Vivienne finally turned her attention toward the girl who had approached her “Do I?” She questioned rhetorically, in a manner that felt thoughtful as if she was actually considering the possibility. “Then I must be doing something terribly wrong.” She continued after a pause, taken aback by her own response that had come far more easily than it should have.
Her father would undoubtedly have something to say about it. The thought should have bothered her more than it did. But then again, very little about tonight had gone as planned.
@Kahira Valerian