[Thread] Dilan and Lana; open to all

[lost-science.livejournal.com]

Who: Dilan and Lana, of course, as well as those Dilan asked to check in with him and anyone else who wants to say hi, really!
What: The Masquerade.
When: .. during the Masquerade? Begins near the start. (god I am so slow)
Where: In the ballroom.
Rating: PG-13, most likely.


Deep in his closet, Dilan had found a cane.

It was better than crutches, at least, and slightly less unwieldy. Plus, it did the job of helping him get down twelve flights of stairs. This was the first time in a week he'd attempted to go such a long distance, and hadn't been sure he'd actually have the strength.

The actual walk to the ballroom, however, found him fine. He was better off than he'd thought.

He paused before the door to lean against a wall and adjust his mask; a pale white-silver with light blue edging and subtle accents. (Phantom of the Opera-esque, if you will.) It had seemed to him a little odd, but he hadn't had much other choice. He stood straight, taking hold of the cane, and entered the ballroom, immediately looking around for Lana. They'd agreed to meet here, though somewhat to his chagrin, she hadn't told him what she'd be wearing. He supposed he'd find out soon enough.

Of course, Ansem's threat lurked just beneath the surface of his calm. But he would deal with that in due time.

Comments

[percipience.livejournal.com]

Creating and changing into her costume had been more than a hassle. It had been a process that had taken several hours. One of those dreadfully creepy ghosts had informed her last minute that she would not be allowed in with just a painted on mask so she'd had to build one with some fiery feathers that the castle had provided her with. Finding a way to get them to stick on had been even more of a fiasco. The outfit she'd dreamed up was fabulous, though, she was quite pleased with it and despite the fact that the castle was her kidnapper if it had been possible she'd have thanked it numerous times.

She'd had a ghost paint fiery wings on her shoulders that extended slightly down the top of her arms. They were very attractive but the ghosts gave her the willies so she'd had the goosebumps the entire time the painting was occuring.

She looked in the mirror when everything had been finished and smiled. She was all dark reds, fiery golds, and silver stars. She loved it. A little dash of glitter to accent the parts of her costume that were painted and she was through. She thanked her ghost friend very sincerely (refraining from telling it how much it freaked her out) then left to go down to the ball itself.

Lana had been dreading the stairs all night and the moment she reached the edge of them her dread turned to horror. That many steps in heels..she'd be too exhausted to dance.
~~~~~~~~~~

Lana reached the bottom of the stairs, shoes in hand and sat down on one to put them back on. Retying them was a little bit of a nightmare but she managed to get it done. Her ghost friend (who she'd decided to name Brutus) brought her a glass of water. She waited in the kitchen while she caught her breath and cooled down. She hated those stairs with what was becoming a fiery passion.

When she was finally feeling re-energized she thanked Brutus profusely then left. Lana probably stood in front of the closed doors for five whole minutes trying to build up her courage before entering. So many people in there she didn't know. So many people with these fantastic powers and probably ethereal beauty in there and she was just a regular girl. It did more than freak her out. She paced a couple of times, the ghosts guarding the door staring at her. She had to go in, she wasn't going to stand Dilan up. And she'd just more or less beat Clark into coming, herself and Lois had anyway. She tapped one of her silver star earings with her finger, finding it fun to make it swing while she pondered.
Finally, after all of the minutes of waiting she straightened up, checked her hair and took a deep breath. The ghosts leaned in and opened the double doors for her.
She stepped out onto a landing that was raised up over the ballroom a little bit with stairs down to the main floor. It was beautifully decorated and the lighting glanced off of her outfit in a very complimentary manner, that was good at least. She smiled very slightly to herself and pausing at the top of the stairs let her eyes drift across the room for Dilan.

[lost-science.livejournal.com]

Dilan was standing not far from the door. He was leaning on his cane with both hands as his eyes scanned the dance. He was observing, analyzing, dissecting; sorting all the information away for later, when it might be useful.

He started when he finally saw Lana come in the door, and grinned widely. He made his way over to her and took her hand, bowing low over it. "Lana. You look wonderful," he said as he straightened. "I was beginning to think you had gotten lost, to be honest," he said, hint of a smirk on his face.

[percipience.livejournal.com]

Lana smiled at Dilan and dipped a very small and graceful bob of a curtsy. She'd been taught that it was proper at an etiquette course that Nell had made her take when she was younger but never in her life had she had the opportunity to do it. She felt like a princess. She smiled at Dilan and gave him a little wink, "You don't look too terrible yourself." It took everything she had to resist a remark about his 'pimp cane' but she managed, especially when he mentioned that he thought she'd gotten lost. She blushed a little bit and shook her head, "As it turns out it's a very good thing we didn't come together. You might not have survivede the trip," She said solemnly. "The hilarity of watching me try to come down all those stairs would have a) made you laugh until your heart exploded or b) laugh until you fell down the stairs from exhaustion."

[lost-science.livejournal.com]

He laughed a little in response to her wink. She was being quite the proper lady. He found it cute, in his own way, though he'd never admit it out loud.

He blinked at her explanation of being late, then properly burst out laughing. "Good thing, then," he said, smiling. "Would have been anticlimactic if I arrived on the scene already dead."

He tapped the cane on the floor. "Sorry about this. I'll get rid of it at some point, though I'd rather find a place to set it down first. Against a wall where it won't be touched, or something similar. Besides," he said, with something of a sly smile, "you ought to get the chance to walk through this room and show off the work you've put into your appearence tonight, I think." With that he offered her his arm, not bothering to hide his amusement.

[percipience.livejournal.com]

Lana took his arm and smiled, "Well it was more of the ghost helping me's work. I decided to name him Brutus. The other ones freak me out something severe."
She glanced at his cane and grinned, "And you don't need to get RID of it. I like it! It's very.." Pimp "..Dashing."
As they walked some of the things and people she saw caused her to tighten her grip on his arm either in shock or fascination depending on the situation. There were some STRANGE people around here, very strange.

[trialbyillusion.livejournal.com]

Zexion had never intended on going to the masquerade. Too many people in too small a space. Confining, really. He wouldn't be able to maintain a proper illusion in such a crowd. Too big a risk of someone noticing it. He'd argued that much to himself while he'd gotten dressed at the start of the evening. He'd found a plain, black suit in his wardrobe and a matching mask. The suit was already grating his nerves. It fit well, yes, but it wasn't the leather he was used to.

When he finally arrived at the formal party a while later, he kept himself at a distance to the gathering of attendees. The schemer paced along the far war for a while, his one eye trained on the strangers. A slight pause and he turned back, measuring the taint the darkness through his senses, combing through the light to find any hint of the Heartless outlaw. It would have been so much easier if only he'd had his scent intact. He could have known the exact whereabouts of the false Ansem rather than all this pointless searching.

Bored at last, he dropped down in a folding chair he'd pulled aside, curling his fingers together to wait through his watch. Nothing, nothing, Dilan and some la... dy... A few moments of observation confirmed Zexion's suspicions. The woman Dilan was with must have been that Lana person. And she was... well, she was... not quite what he'd expected to see.

"You've got to be kidding me," Zexion growled under his breath as he stood and started toward the couple, his arms crossed his visible eye narrowed in a glare.

[lost-science.livejournal.com]

Dilan gave Lana a quizzical look, arching a brow, though she wouldn't be able to tell behind his mask. "Brutus?" He snorted. "Why Brutus?"

Whatever her response, though, he didn't get to hear it. At that moment, Dilan spotted Zexion approaching. His eyes went slightly wide behind his mask. Had Ansem been spotted? He felt his pulse take off with a burst of adrenaline, but kept up an air of perfect calm.

He then took brief note of the glare, and felt mild curiosity replace some of the alarm he'd started to feel.

"Zexion," he murmured when the other man drew close, and it was half a question. "I think you two have spoken briefly before, perhaps?" He looked at Lana. "Zexion, this is Lana Lang." He smiled, very faintly. "Lana, Zexion." He gestured to the other man.

He could tell, of course, that Zexion was upset. All he could hope was that it wasn't because of Ansem.

[percipience.livejournal.com]

Lana was about to answer as to why she'd called the ghost Brutus. The truth was that it just seemed like it was his name so she called him that. However she didn't get around to that as some fellow with very nice hair came stalking over looking very clearly aggitated.
Lana glanced from him to Dilan who seemed to tense up a little bit. She laid her other hand on his arm though she wasn't sure if it was to steady him or herself.
Upon introduction Lana gave Zexion a slightly uncertain smile, he wasn't smiling...not even a little. Maybe she shouldn't smile at him, he looked terribly angry. "Hello, Zexion. I believe we've talked through the weird journal. Nice to finally meet you in person though.."

[trialbyillusion.livejournal.com]

Zexion's first few grumbled words were cut off by the question and he was forced to curb his anger around the introduction. Gritting his teeth, he drew in a slow breath and held it, waiting for the exchange of names and formalities to end. His eye flickered briefly to Lana. He dropped his arms to his sides soon after, allowing his head to bow forward, "Hello, Ms. Lang. It's a pleasure to finally meet you..."

Yet a few seconds later, he straightened up and turned his renewed glare to the taller man, "Well, Dilan, I'm glad to see you've been keeping a close eye on the situation here."

He leaned forward, shifting his weight onto his toes as he tacked on a deceptively pleasant remark, "Do report it to the rest of us if the false Ansem shows up in her cleavage. I'd hate to think we're all wasting our time down here when you so obviously have his arrival covered."

[percipience.livejournal.com]

Lana looked quite startled at the words that were leaving Zexion's mouth. She narrowed her eyes at Zexion then looked at Dilan in a startled manner. "Goodness, Dilan, I didn't know you told anyone! I'm a little embarrassed now."
She looked at Zexion, "I have the power to shrink people, you see. I don't want it getting around, however. I ran into Ansem and decided to shrink him before he could cause any problems. He cried and asked me if he could at least ride in my cleavage so I, being the kind and generous person that I am, told him that that would be fine as long as he behaved."
She shrugged helplessly then fell silent for a moment, waiting to gauge Zexion's reaction. Quite suddenly, she decided that she wasn't done speaking however. "And, very charming, Zexion. The first time a man mentions my cleavage I get to feeling all giddy inside." She made a little swooning expression then her face fell to one of complete seriousness other than her one raised brow.

Sarcasm was dripping from her comments to Zexion but she didn't appear to be upset by his rudeness. Her tone was completely good natured and seemed almost amused, though she knew that she should probably be a little offended that her cleavage had just been mentioned casually in conversation.