Who: Dorian Gray and Vanessa Ives When: Backdated: Early October Where: Their Home What: Discussing plans for a masquerade party Rating/Warnings: Mostly Family Friendly. Status: Complete
Dorian stood in the entryway to the ballroom unable to remember the last time it had actually been used. He’d thrown parties quite often in the time since his parents had died, but none had been in the ballroom until now. After his dream about Angelique’s Coming Out party he’d gotten the idea to throw a masquerade party for Halloween and what better place for it than the ball room? It was much different than his ball room in his dreams; partly because the walls weren’t lined with various portraits, but also because the colors were much darker than those of the one in his dreams.
Stepping further into the room, he placed his hand against the wall until he felt the light switches under his fingers and flicked them on, bringing the chandeliers and scones to life. The room would need a good cleaning before a party, but that would be nothing his cleaning crew couldn’t handle.
Following her instincts upon arriving home Vanessa made her way to the ballroom, it was an incredible room but one they didn’t use at all. Which was a shame, the balls Dorian threw in the dreams were incredibly affairs, and she had to admit part of her missed them. She herself enjoyed parties a little more than her dream counterpart.
“You’re thinking of holding a party” she said with a smile, seeing him looking around the room contemplatively.
Dorian turned at the sound of Vanessa’s voice and smiled at her, “I am. A masquerade actually.” He was already making lists in his head on the decor and catering and music. A live band of some sort was a definite and he’d likely contact Riza about flowers as well as a personal invite. “Complete with masks and fancy dress.”
“That sounds wonderful” Vanessa smiled, “I think the room needs something like that, as do we. It has been too long since you hosted one of your wonderful parties” she moved closer and wrapped her arms around Dorian’s waist and smiled up at him, “Masks and fancy dress sound perfect for Halloween as well”
Dorian smiled and wrapped his arms around Vanessa in return, “I haven’t had a party in some time so this would be a perfect time.” A custom made dress for Vanessa was also on his mental list of things for the party, “Open it up to anyone on Valarnet who wants to come.” He had enough room after all; why not share it?
“You are daring” she teased him, though he could tell by the light in her eyes that she liked the idea just as much as he did. It would be nice to hold a ball, their first together too. “We'll be rather popular I think, a Halloween ball will be a lot of fun and people get to enjoy our home”
“I’ll have to hire some more security to keep people from wandering where they shouldn’t, but that’s to be expected.” It wasn’t the attic that Dorian was really worried about anyone wandering into, but there were other rooms that Dorian would rather people didn’t go into. “Being popular is what I strive for.” Smiling, Dorian moved one hand till it was resting on Vanessa’s waist and the other took Vanessa’s, “Dance with me.” Sure there was no music, but Dorian didn’t mind that.
“Of course, we’ll take steps to keep the guests where we want them to be and only there” Vanessa agreed before laughing softly, “You achieve it effortlessly” she told him before nodding, “Anytime” she said as they began moving around the room together. It gave Vanessa flashes of her dreams and for once they were happy ones.
Dorian smiled as they began moving around the empty dance floor, “You’ll need the best dress of course. Custom made.” Dorian’s mother used to get dresses custom made for various events and Dorian had contacts to have a dress, suit and masks custom made for the two of them.
“I’ve never had a custom made dress before, here I mean” In the dreams she had of course but here it hadn’t really ever been her world. That had all changed with Dorian, it was taking some getting used to but she couldn’t deny she liked his way of life.
“I’ll make a few phone calls then and make an appointment for us,” Dorian stopped long enough to spin Vanessa then continued on around the dance floor, “Perhaps we could borrow some inspiration from the dreams.” Victorian London was extremely intriguing to Dorian now and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been wanting to see Vanessa in a dress like the ones she wore in the dreams.
Vanessa laughed softly as she spun before returning to Dorian’s arms, “I could easily be persuaded” she admitted, because she couldn’t deny the clothing was beautiful, “I have a feeling you already know your way around a corset” she grinned, because he’d need to do her up as well as undo her later on in the night.
“Well, I’ll admit I had quite a bit of practice in the dreams,” If he were honest, Dorian found corsets fascinating and was dying to see Vanessa in one in the waking world. “I could also hire someone to assist you in getting dressed that night. I assume there was someone to help you in the dreams?” Dorian doubted very much that Sir Malcolm Murray helped Vanessa get dressed so he assumed there must have been a number of people on staff at that house.
“My heartbreaker” Vanessa teased him, though truly she had been guilty of that in the dreams when it came to Dorian. She was thankful things had not gone down that road here, she couldn’t imagine being this happy with anybody else. “There was” she nodded, “But we don’t need to go to all that trouble”
Dorian smirked and as he brought the dance to an end, he took a minor step back and bowed to Vanessa before straightening up, “Then I suppose I’ll just have to help you get dressed for the party.” He took her hand again and kissed the back of it, “And undressed after.” While there were more modern ways to do a corset these days, Dorian liked the idea of their outfits being fully authentic.
Vanessa curtsied in proper response and smiled, “I look forward to it” she said, “Especially the undressing part” she added, tugging him a little closer to press a kiss to his lips. Yes, she was very much looking forward to their party.