Valentine's Spoof {Thread #1}

[lala]

{If you are here then that means that you are apart of my plot thread. If you don't see your name on this list, then you are in Vincent's thread. Here is the list:

Hope | Lightning
Xemnas | Fem! Axel
Seifer | Kairi
Kaze | Yuffie
Sharkplank | Helen

Please remember the same rules from the sign-up thread and just enjoy this little spoof.}

A circle of trees each representing a different holiday. The holiday that is closest is Valentine's Day. In the world, many have prepared for this night. The night of February 14th. The night of love. As one travels through the tree of St. Valentine's Day, an event is being held in the center of the town. As you walk through the town, you see a large garden, blocked off by high hedges filled with pink roses. These hedges form what appears to be the dancefloor, where a special event is being helf. The area is covered with all sorts of flowers, images of hearts and the baby Cupid. Something special with Cupid seems to be happening tonight. A sort of spell.

A mystical aura is surrounding the area, and it is only visible for the first moment you walk in. This aura is a pink color, and a bit smoke-like. But it has a most intriguing smell. This aura is actually a spell. The minute you walk into it, a spell is cast on you. The aura causes one to fall in temporary love with the first person that they make eye contact with. The spell only lasts until midnight, when it becomes February 15th, losing the memory of the night and the temporary love. So for now, enjoy your new love, and let this night last before it just becomes a memory never to be found.

[axie]

Coughing.

Axel normally didn't have any trouble with smoke, but when there was a lot of it it got tough to breathe, and there were few things he hated (well all right hated wasn't exactly the word but) more than not being able to breathe.

It was also an unusually pink smoke, almost neon, which wasn't news. Practically everything in this town was pink, and after the recon trip to Halloween Town had gone so dramatically awry of course he was going to trip right into the potion lady's cart, too. But for darkness's sake, the tree had a heart on it. Obviously he was gonna check that out.

Once he extracted himself from that ugly situation--just a little nodding and placating motions and an eensy bribe to keep the potion lady from shrieking at him (she looked a little too shocked, but it was probably the right thing to do anyway, so whatever)--he shot a glare at the one moron who called him "miss." Some people.

Ignoring the clearly blind young man who was a little too eager to help him, Axel went right back to business. Some sort of celebration was underway, so there were too many people around to really avoid mingling. It wasn't until someone in a hurry almost ran into him that Axel noticed something was seriously--utterly--thoroughly wrong.

"Hey, watch it, would ya?"

Stop. Pause. Rewind. Repeat.

That was not his voice.

Axel stood in the middle of the road, insensate and blinking at nothing. "The hell...?" He put a hand to his throat, only for his forearm to be impeded by something that wasn't there before.

And that's when Axel looked straight down to a sight he thought he'd never see.

"...Ohman."

"Man" wasn't the word. He was curvaceous--well, more curvaceous. Than. Regularly. His hands had gotten smaller, more delicate, and his hips were even wider, swaying when he took two incredulous steps back. Fortunately enough the potion seemed to have somehow changed his clothing to fit these new dimensions, but he--but--but this--!

Nobodies didn't have feelings; they just remembered. And in this situation, Axel could only remember terror. New hands that weren't his gripped a face that wasn't his, eyes appearing larger beneath a rounded forehead, fuller lips cresting a more pointed chin and slimmer throat and splitting open in an almost genderless scream of denial.

Then he (now she) was gone, inexplicably high-heeled boots clacking against the cobblestone in search of that damned potion lady. Some people might be curious about the changes, but Axel didn't really have time to explore all that; all that could wait until she was thoroughly and completely male, because she didn't have to check anywhere else to know that this was the absolute worst thing besides dying that had ever happened to her.

She didn't have to go far before encountering a breach in the hedge to her right. There was some sort of pink smoke drifting about ominously inside, and Axel already knew from experience that pink smoke was an especially bad variety of smoke--but maybe this was the way to switch back? It wasn't like things could get worse--

Don't think like that. They will.

Still, she got a little closer and caught the smell of cinnamon...no, candlesmoke...sea-salt? Not quite, and pine...

The pink smoke vanished like vapor, and for the second time Axel was left blinking, apprehensive, and unfortunately still very female.

[radianttwilight]

[OOC :: Axel, I love you, hahaha, that was wonderful]

Why couldn't things ever just be easy?

Cyan eyes flicked about the area with a glare as a certain gunblader took in the scenery that was now surrounding him. He was new to travelling between worlds, and though he did not like to admit it - he had a terrible habit of messing it up, navigating to the wrong place, ending up in exactly the opposite place of where he wanted...and usually uncertain as to where he was, anyway. This time was no different, but he really seemed to have found the most cursed place of all.

Everything was....pink.

When Seifer had ended up surrounded by some trees with various symbols on them, he had been confused enough. However, when he casually leaned backwards against one of them to try to decide what to do and had literally FALLEN through it....well, he could only imagine what the symbol on that tree had been. His narrowed gaze took in flowers, hedges, hearts, and a strange baby...thing that he was certain he had seen somewhere before but did not really feel like trying to place it. All Seifer knew was that he wanted out, and now. This place did NOT suit his personality at all, and he had tasks to do!

However, a sudden whiff or something reached his nose, and he paused for a moment, his features temporariliy softening. What was that scent? It seemed to familiar, yet so distant....he could not quite place it. He found himself subconsciously walking towards it, a bit curious about its source, towards the pink mist that seemed to hang in the area. Nothing dangerous about mist, after all, especially when its pink. As he crossed through it, though, it seemed to suddenly dissipate, and he found himself surrounded by hedges on....could it be? A DANCE floor?

Seifer's head jerked around, scanning the entire area. There were a lot of other people here, but he avoided looking directly at any of them, desperately searching for an exit. He had never liked the dance celebrations back when he was a student at Balamb Garden, and the last 'dance' he had been to had turned into some strange murder case where he had been the most suspected, and he had spent the evening with a very, very strange woman. Nothing good ever came out of this sort of thing...

But how to get out?

[hope]

"W-whoa!!" A crash was heard and a few petals of roses went into the air, the poor little guy had crashed landed into this world and into a pile of rose petals. The irony of that being there to break his fall. What was he doing here? He didn't know really, his curious little mind got the best of him... just a peek, a little peek and BAM! He got sucked in some how. What a crazy place he got himself into! His mind was spinning and a random massive headache seem to throb within his skull. When did that happen, was it because of the fall? With a groan, he stood up... stumbling a bit before taking a few steps forward, his vision was slightly blurry and his body just felt...heavy.

"I should get out of...here...?" Hope blinked a few times, pausing, making funny faces with his mouth... and repeating his words again. Was his voice....deeper?! At first, he thought his voice was just cracking up from the fall, clearing his throat and rubbing his throat slightly with his ....no longer small hands...? Okay, what happened? Hope felt his panicky side within him building up, he was no longer ...him. No, wait, that's the not right word to say... He's no longer young, he had some how aged ten more years in a single moment! Hope quickly look down to himself, patting his sides and legs, before touching his own face.

From what he saw... He's in some spunky new black tuxedo with a nice red tie, his hair length seem to have grown a few inches longer and more wavy, his face is no longer that childish cute but... strikingly handsome. Well, he wasn't boosting himself, but heck, from what he just saw... He was.... alright.

After calming himself a bit and just finally setting his mind on finding an exit....
Nope, he was panicking like no tomorrow, he glanced around. Avoiding eye contact from looking at people that were surprisingly were around, I mean... he didn't want people looking at him and he's probably already embarrassed enough since it's a grown man acting rather strange or something. But who wouldn't go nuts after being magically changed into something he totally didn't know how it happened? But then again... he faintly remember drinking something before entering this world.... What was it did he drink? Oh, whatever! He didn't have time for that!

With that, he sprint forward, not caring where he went as long as there was an exit and ran into this...strange pink smoke... Which seem to make him cough and blind at the same time. He slowed down his pace, coughing from the weird pink smoke entering his lung. He couldn't see where he was going now... and... Whoa!!" He crashed into someone, he's really off with this new body of his.

"Um... sorry.." He spoke, blinking a few times as the smoke seem to clear from that area and move to another spot.

[OOC: Older Hope, ftw! <3 I'm in school, so I couldn't put up my awesome Hope picture I found long ago. -sighs- xD;; Also, Hope is 14...so... plus 10 years... ;'3 And...lame post. xD; ]

[roen]

How'd I end up here? This was the first thought that crossed Kaze's mind after landing, hard, on smooth ground. He then quickly stood up and took a look around his surroundings. The whole place looked like it was getting ready for somesort of celebration. Oh Yeah Now I remember how I got here. I feel through one of those trees outside of the place called Halloween Town. I beleive that was it's name? Kaze thought as he explored the town.

Maybe he could find some information on how to get out of this strange place. After awhile Kaze was nearing the center of the town. The first thing he noticed was the pink smoke that surrounded the center of town. Kaze carefully sniffed the smoke and it sort of smelled like a mix of gunpowder, soil, and chocobo feathers. Surprisingly enough it smelt good to him. The smoke then disappeared just as quickly as Kaze saw it. The next thing he noticed was that the place looked like a dancefloor. What is this? Kaze asked himself as he looked around the place.

[kujitsu]

Halloween town was never somewhere Sharkplank expected to visit. What use was there in being a notoriously feared pirate, if everyone just complimented your fearsome costume? He had half a mind to pull his gun and show them what was -really- scary. But then he figured they'd probably just be impressed. So, without saying so much as a word, he and a few members of his crew, who were carrying a large, old-fashioned chest.

Walking for a few minutes, they eventually stopped in the graveyard, when one of the crew asked

"So Cap'n, what we be doing o't 'ere?"
"We are going to be burying our booty, so no one can find it!"
"Bu' then...'ow will we find it?!"

The crew muttered and looked genuinely distressed at the prospect.
"That's why we brought a map!" Sharkplank replied, as if he was talking to a bunch of toddlers. The crew looked excited and all began to Yarr loudly. Handing the map to one of the crew members, Sharkplank turned around, and looked about the misty forest.

He was about to make a speech about the importance of burying your booty when he heard a loud "YAR!" followed by much more "Yaarrghs!", all sounding obviously distressed. Turning around, he saw that the Helmsman had dropped the map, and it was blowing in the wind.

"Avast, you scurvy dogs! I'll get this map, you keep digging!"

The crew yarr'd in agreement and resumed their work. The captain however, began to run after the map.

It kept blowing in the breeze, as if something was pulling it away. He was running for a good few minutes when he finally saw an opportunity to catch it. Running at full speed, (which was remarkably fast) he leapt after the Map, leaving the ground in a full-force jump. His fingers clasped around it, and he sighed in relief. Composing himself to land, he saw he was about to hit a tree. Not just any tree, a tree with what appeared to be a heart shaped door, that was wide open. Before he could even say "Wait, what?" he had already fallen down the hole.

Tumbling down into darkness, Sharkplank made traditional comical ouch sounds as he bounced off the walls. It wasn't long before he landed, much more softy that he should have at that velocity, and looked around.

What he saw horrified him even more than Halloween town.

It was pink. And full of bright hearts and the like. It was the very opposite of everything he stood for as a pirate. It was girly, it was pink and it was non-violent. Feeling suspicious, he pulled his gun and cocked the trigger, and approached the exit to the tree trunk. The place seemed to be covered in a light pink mist, so he covered his mouth on instinct as he walked in. However, the moment he touched the mist, it disappeared, so Sharkplank lowered his hand, but kept his gun pointing forward as he emerged into the area, cautiously. The first thing he noticed was the place seemed to smell of something that he knew what it was, and could not remember. He only knew it smelt pleasant, but he had no idea why, and couldn't place what the scent was.

He dandered around, looking for another sign of life, but never once taking his gun down. He wasn't going to be caught off guard by whatever foul beast lived in this pink abyss.

[kairi]

There was so much, well, pink!

Kairi supposed she fit in rather well with the decor, and she glanced down at her pink dress, just a little embarrassed. The young woman enjoyed the color immensely, but even this was a bit too much. The town reminded her much of Christmas Town, but where the town square was covered in white, this was covered in pink. Oceanic eyes looked about warily, and what she caught sight of both intrigued and made her wary. A wafting pink fog was emanating through the area, and the Princess was quickly looking for the exit. The scents of the various flowers invaded her senses, seeming to cloud her mind. Where she had been trying to venture into Christmas Town, Kairi had fallen into the Valentine's world instead. Hesitantly, Kairi began walking forward, and she could feel herself being lured in by whatever this fog was, and she vaguely realized it had to be a spell of some sort. Her body was not hers to control, though, and she continued walking forward.

Like a sailor, Kairi was being lured in by the siren call in this pink sea of fog.

And just as quickly as it had appeared, it had dissipated. Kairi suddenly found herself within what appeared to be a dance floor, and she could suddenly remember the last ball she had been to. That dreaded Masquerade Ball where everything had turned out so horribly. Anxious, the Princess of Heart was already glancing around for the nearest escape route. This world was not what she had come for, and she would be very glad to leave right about now. Ducking her head, the young woman suddenly began moving forward, feeling just a little panicked. What this a trap? What had been the pink fog? Was she going to be ambushed? Various thoughts raced through her mind, and Kairi was suddenly rushing around in what felt like circles. Flowers blurred together from the corners of her vision. As usual, of course, the Princess would soon land herself into a rather troublesome situation.

She had suddenly met a rather warm wall.

Kairi blinked, and she suddenly realized she had just walked into a chest--a very male chest. Her cheeks burned brightly, and the Princess looked up, absolutely embarrassed by being so absorbed into looking for an exit. Until she recognized the rather familiar features. The scar across his face was a rather distinguishing feature as well. Oceanic orbs widened, and Kairi was looking right up at the taller male. "S-seifer?!" Whether she was relieved or surprised, even she could not tell. Something was happening, and Kairi had the feeling she was soon about to find out.

[Lightning]

Valentine's Day.

It had always been a stupid holiday to the ex-soldier. Just a chance to waste money buying flowers, candy and other gifts that were overpriced for this holiday in paticular. And people just went plain obsessive about it. So obsessive that they made all sorts plans, went all out with buying all sorts of lavish gifts. The whole thing just felt like a big waste of time to her. She never did anything on this day in paticular in the past. Back in her days as a soldier, she was doing some sort of work. And last year she had mainly been looking out for Serah. She didn't trust those teenage boys at all. And now her sister was off WITH one of those teenage boys. Probably the one that she disproved of much. Snow. They had been talking about some sort of plans for today before, and all she could do was roll her eyes. She just let them go, giving up on the matter. Its not like he could do that much harm to her. They claimed to be in 'love'.

Love. Another thing Lightning hardly understood. Sure she did love her parents from when they were alive, her sister Serah and even her friends to an extent. But she never felt that love. The love between a man and a woman. The love that Serah and Snow claimed to have. She never loved another man like that. Maybe she didn't want to love a man. Or maybe she was just oblivious to the feeling of that love. She did like to feel love from her close ones. But ever since the death of her parents, some of the closest loved ones to her, she started to isolate her emotions. Maybe she was choosing to isolate the chance at love either. She really wasn't sure why she did it. To be stronger or what not. But she did. And here she was today.

But...how on earth did she get here? She had a sip of some odd drink that she had found. Some weird Valentine type drink. She wasn't sure why she even decided to drink it in the first place. She only bought it because it was cheap and she was thirsty. The can had been beyond tacky with Valentine's decoration and colors. Taste was overly sweet. But she drank it. And next thing she knew, she was here. This world. The world full of the holiday she had absolutely no interest in. Valentine's Day. Thats what she got for buying cheap drinks in worlds that she wasn't native too. Either way, she wouldn't be doing it again. How did she get home now? She wasn't sure.

She took a moment to look down at herself. What...what was she wearing!? She expected to see her usual outfit but instead she saw a long red dress. She poked at one of the thin straps and rolled her eyes. The drink that she had must have been some sort of potion. And it came with...outfits. This was going to be great. She walked toward what appeared to be the dancefloor, and then a pink mist went by her. She coughed waving her hand to get it away. What was that stuff? Some sort of perfume? It had the sweet smell like perfume but there was so much of it. And then as quickly as it came it disappeared. She shook her head and just walked, looking down. She didn't want to be here or talk to anyone. So she was avoiding eye contact. But then she ran into someone. Now she would HAVE to talk. She sighed and looked up to the taller male. What...what was going on?

Hope? He looked about ten years older! It couldn't be him. But yet...it was. Somehow. And when she looked him in the eye she felt a feeling. A weird feeling that was native to her. She wasn't sure what to think about it. But she partly liked it. "H-hope? Is that you?" She asked still surprised. And plus she still had that weird feeling.

[radianttwilight]

[OOC :: I am going to assume this is going to work like the Birthday Bash, with no real posting order except for waiting for your 'partner' to post again, obviously. So yeah - don't mind me jumping in again, heh]

Fingers massaged temples as the blonde gunblader was slowly realizing that no real exit seemed to be apparent to him, and he felt more trapped than ever by this strange, pink, happy place. However, that did NOT mean that he would need to participate in any of the 'activities' that might take place on this dance floor, because he assumed some sort of celebration was rearing soon considering all the others around him...but the one that usually wanted to be the centre of everyone's attention found himself wanting nothing more than to avoid attention and be ignored by all these others. Parties had never really been his thing, and he could not keep his mind from wandering back to his last similar experience...

Seifer's eyes had closed in the process of trying to calm himself down and shake the strange feeling that seemed to be seeping through his body and making him feel a bit uncharacteristically light-headed, but his eyes suddenly snapped back open again when someone rather brusquely ran into him squarely in the chest. "Hey, why don't you watch--" Seifer immediately began to growl at the person he already was considering his opponent before he realized that those soft features and auburn hair were actually rather familiar...

When the girl spoke his name, Seifer was certain that he knew her - what was her name again? Kerry? Keisha? Corley? No, wait....Kairi. Yeah, that one was right - for a moment, the blonde inwardly congratulated himself for successfully recalling it, but quickly stopped as he wondered why exactly he found himself caring anyway. She was just a friend of Hayner's gang, and that annoying spikey-haired brunette brat that had randomly showed up in Twilight Town one day....and they had had that struggling spar that felt like years ago, even though Seifer was uncertain just how much time had actually passed since that event. Either way, she still deserved a glare for running into him - and generally just because he was unhappy about his current situation and needed someone to take that out on - but when he glanced down at her, his cyan eyes meeting her bright, azure ones, he suddenly found his characteristic glare faltering for the first time in his memory.

Those eyes of hers....they were just so deep, so...intriguing...

Wait, what? Since when did Seifer have those sorts of thoughts? Not since maybe Rinoa if even then, but that was not something he wanted to relive at the moment, and yet....he found himself unable to turn his gaze from hers, and finally pausing long enough to actually look at her, he discovered that she really had a beautiful face, and an attractive figure. He realized that his mouth was actually open a little bit then, and quickly snapped it shut, clearing his throat and shaking his head as he took a step backwards from their close proximity.

"Yeah, its me," Seifer then said a bit gruffly in response to Kairi's words, but he still felt a strange sensation running through his veins. Of course, there was certainly nothing wrong with noticing that a member of the female race was good to look at, and perhaps let one's thoughts wander a bit on that subject, but this...this feeling....almost one that wanted some sort of....attachment?! He didn't think he had ever felt that before....where did it come from...?

And why couldn't he shake it?

[kairi]

Oh, Seifer did not look rather happy.

Kairi peered up at the blond nervously, an apology already upon her lips. Really, she had forgotten how angry he could be at times, but it was not like she had run into him on purpose! She had been searching for an escape route, and she was quite sure he had been doing so as well! An indignant pout was already beginning to form upon her lips, but as her gaze met his, she felt that she could not quite remember why she was peeved at the blond. Blinking in confusion, the Princess of Heart felt her own heart beginning to race, and a blush begin to burn at her cheeks. His eyes reminded her of a clear summer sky, with no hint of cloud nor storm. Something about his gaze was charming and dangerous, though, and Kairi could already feel herself leaning toward Seifer without thought. Her gaze became half-lidded, and that odd emotion was clouding her mind once more. Why did he suddenly seem so interesting? Why was she leaning toward him?

Kairi found his features to be rather fetching, the scar across his face distinguishing for him. She had always wondered where he had acquired of it, and for a moment, she vaguely remembered Leon, who had a near identical scar, but in the opposing direction. Why was she even thinking of Leon, when Seifer was here in front of her? Kairi mentally slapped herself, but she found that it did not do all that much good. Whatever that pink mist had been, she had a sinking suspicion of what it did to those it touched. "I-I think that pink mist has something to do with this," she replied after a moment of thought. As Seifer stepped away from her, the Princess merely took another step closer. His voice sounded strained in a way, almost as confused as she felt herself. It was hard to resist the urge to be close to him, though, and the emotions that coursed through her, Oh, this was surely not going to end well at all!

"You know, your eyes are really nice to look at," Kairi murmured. Her oceanic orbs seemed clouded over with whatever strange emotion was overcoming her, and it was quite familiar to her. It really was overwhelming, and even though her mind screamed at her to stop and think, she had no control. Whatever this was could not be shaken off, and the Princess was slowly forgetting why she would want to anyhow. Her lips had curled into a sweet smile, and she gazed up at Seifer gently. Oh, no, this was surely not going to turn out well at all.

[radianttwilight]

"The pink mist, yeah..." the words were barely muttered out of Seifer's mouth, because the longer he looked at the auburn-haired girl before him, the less he found himself caring about just how this had happened in the first place, and the more focused he found his mind simply on...well, on her. He vaguely remembered something about walking through that annoying pink mist, but it had disappeared quickly, so why did it matter anyway? Right now, little else seemed to really exist in Seifer's world aside from...Kairi.

How....unexpected.

And yet, the feeling could not be shaken, and the usual villain found himself not even able to offer a glare for the moment, but rather just an intrigued stare in the direction of a certain girl. She had not been half bad at struggling, actually...he had noticed that much from their short sparring session, and she certainly had been stubborn and determined - those were good qualities, he supposed. He always liked his women a bit headstrong - like RInoa, or even Fujin - because that always seemed to make things more....fun. But neither Rinao, nor Fujin, was currently here....only Kairi. Wait, there were other people around, right? And yet, the gunblader couldn't find the strength to look at anyone else...nor did he really want to.

Kairi really was attractive.

Wait, didn't she already at least sort of have someone? In the back of Seifer's mind he had vague recollections of her association with that annoying spikey-haired brunette chicken wuss, but now he was starting to understand what that loser had seen in this girl. Maybe the lamer wasn't as stupid as Seifer had first assumed - or he was just lucky. However, that brat was not here right now, and Seifer was, so that gave him the upper-hand - and not having much of a conscience when it came to this sort of thing helped spur that right along, too.

Kairi's soft words threw him a bit off guard, though - nice eyes? That was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. After quickly sorting out and regaining his composure, a sly look crossed the blonde's face as he vouched for taking that step back towards the girl that he had taken away from her earlier, those 'nice' eyes deeply focused on her own. "Well, of course they are," he then replied a bit smugly, "And right now they're all yours."

Oh, his self-confidence knew no bounds.

[kairi]

There was a reason not to want this, but she forgot.

Kairi could not quite reign in the passing emotions that were flowing through her veins. Her heart was racing quickly against her chest, and her pulse was fluttering wildly beneath her skin, like a trapped butterfly. Her gaze slowly moved away from Seifer, with the utmost reluctance, which did not make sense, and she noticed others around her. Some were vaguely familiar, and one sight had made the Princess of Heart do a double take. W-was that Axel? As a woman? What, in the name of Kingdom Hearts, was this world? First, she had suddenly become attached to the first person she had seen, which, admittedly, she was glad had been Seifer. Now she was seeing a female Organization member, who had once been male. Kairi needed a place to sit down, or a place that she could hit her head against repeatedly, because nothing was making much sense right now. Reality was quickly distorting around her, and the sad thing was, this was really happening.

Her gaze returned to Seifer, without her even thinking about it.

Whatever this spell was, her feelings toward Seifer had become romantic. Mentally, Kairi was trying to panic, but her heart was not allowing her to do so. As usual for her, her heart was winning over any logical thought. Her lips curled into a smile, and regarded his rather handsome features once more. Oh, the Princess had never stood a chance, from the very moment she had walked into this world. Soon, her train of thought was replaced how lovely Seifer's eyes looked in the dim lighting. Once more, the thought of a clear summer sky before a storm entered her mind. Kairi watched as his expression seemed to become more confident, becoming his usual self once the worrisome thoughts seemed to dissipate. A grin curled upon her pink lips, her oceanic eyes sparkling in reply to whatever challenge Seifer would come up with.

"Of course they are~! And mine are all yours," she replied with a slight wink. Carefully, the Princes glanced over her shoulder. Music was wafting through the air, and the dance floor was there for a reason. Her lips suddenly formed into a smirk, the thought of leading Seifer into a dance too tempting for the young woman to resist. In a movement too fast to track, Kairi had grasped both of Seifer's hands, and she pulled the taller male effortlessly onto the dance floor. With a critical eye, she grasped his own hand, placing it just above her hip, before she quickly laced her fingers with his. Her free hand was left to rest lightly upon his shoulder. The music seemed to be a waltz of sorts, and so Kairi looked to Seifer with a grin on her lips, and she pulled him into a dance with little thought. Perhaps the challenge that a girl was leading him would not sit overly well with the confident male, and Kairi was always up for a challenge~!

[[OOC: Does this scene seem familiar, Seifer~? -giggles- And her dress~!]]

[hope]

"H-Hope? Is that you?" Hope's wandering eyes went back to land on the person he bumped into, finally getting a good look on who it was. To his surprise, it was Miss Light! "Miss Light!" Hope said rather cheerfully, extremely happy just at the sight of the pink haired female. Maybe Lightning knew Hope was indeed in trouble and came to his rescue? Help him from this pink hell hole? Did it matter? As long as Miss Light is by his side, he wouldn't mind spending his time with her---

Wait, what? When those thoughts come into his head?

Now that he actually got a better look of Lightning... He couldn't stop thinking of her for some reason. Not only that, she wasn't wearing her normal clothing, it was different. A long red dress that seem to expose the shape of Lightning's body rather nicely, along with her shoulders being exposed from the thin straps. Not only that, for once, he didn't at to look up at her, but actually stare down now because of the sudden height difference. Who knew he'll be this tall when he's older.

Whoa, what am I thinking?! Hope panicked within his head, wanting to just turn and sprint away from Lightning to get rid of this strange feeling, but it seem his feet was glued to the floor. Well, to him it felt like it... His heart was racing ever so quickly. "It's me..alright, something strange happened and..." With each word that he spoke, the longer it felt like his tongue was going to fall out and would probably stand there dumbfounded.

But something in him just started rushing words in his head, words that he never thought of Lightning as, or even think about. After all, they were only traveling buddies, even if Hope knew a lot more about Lightning then anyone else. It's not like he could just suddenly fall in l-- "You look beautiful." Hope's cheeks went a little red as he let out a genuine smile toward the pink female. Honestly, his mind was going on about on why the hell he just said that for, but the more he thought about it... the more he thought about Miss Light.

Around her, he felt comfortable, even if he was mostly unstable and feeling rather down. Around her, he felt like he could just smile in the inside and outside now. Whatever this strange feeling is, it's taking over him rather quickly and his beating heart. A small nervous laugh passed his lips as he scratched his cheek, his head lowering to stare at the ground to hide his rather redden face. Even if he was grown man now, his habits of a child still remained. Plus, wasn't this a feeling that he hasn't been experiencing before? So how was he suppose to know how to act when he felt like this?

[radianttwilight]

Confidence met with confidence. Well, that was not necessarily a bad thing, either - at least it would keep things more interesting. Sure, now and again it was fun to be the overbearing one and have a fully submissive victim, but a challenge was just that much sweeter. And Seifer never, ever lost challenges. He was a winner, after all, and would settle for nothing less than his own victory - but at the same time, he enjoyed the struggle towards that victory just as much as the victory itself...or at least pretty close to as much. It did make the prize all the sweeter in the end, and he had a feeling that this particular 'prize' was going to be a sweet one indeed.

However, none of this had ever had a feeling like the one he currently had pulsing through his veins and clouding his thoughts attached to it. Would it make the end result better, or worse? Looks like an experiment was necessary...and the feeling certainly only made him more determined. Actually, he couldn't think about anything else...

Lost in his own thoughts about challenges and Kairi and whatnot, Seifer stumbled a bit when Kairi suddenly grasped his hands and pulled him onto the dance floor, allowing himself to be uncharacteristically moved from one place to another against his own will. However, once he was in the middle of the floor and realized what she was doing as she placed his hand on her hip and continued to grasp his other hand, the slightest frown crossed his features for a moment. He hated dancing, and this was becoming more and more like that ridiculous birthday bash. Was someone going to end up 'dying' at this one, too? Seifer hardly had time to deal with such drama once again, and besides...right now he had something much, much more interesting on his mind than another silly murder...

However, his unpleasant thoughts faded rather quickly as the realization came to the blonde that this dancing business put him at a rather close proximity to Kairi, and that she had placed his hand on her waist without him even having to make the effort - and he quite liked it there. Thus, he tightened his grip on her waist a bit, pulling her entire smaller frame closer to him with the action as he grasped her hand back with his other hand. Just because he did not like to dance, did not mean that he did not know how - it was something one tended to pick up at Balamb Garden if one attended events enough, and back in his Disciplinary Committee days there, he had attended most of them. And besides, he was not about to let Kairi have all the control here - that was one thing that Seifer could not even handle the thought of.

"So, do I just get your eyes?" Seifer's confident smirk had returned as he picked up their previous conversation once again as the waltz began, "because yeah, they're nice and all, but the rest of you seems to hold a lot of promise too." He was perhaps not the smoothest talker that had ever existed - not by far - but he tended to get his point across all the same. And the more they spun around the dance floor, the less he found himself focusing on his general hate of dancing, and on the pink mist, and on this strange world and his other tasks that had felt so pressing only minutes before, and the more he found himself rather....well, lost in the moment. Lost in those azure eyes, getting a high feeling off the heat rushing through his veins...losing himself to this unfamiliar feeling that was both a bit uncomfortable....and beyond words at the same time.

Who would have ever thought that thoughts like that would EVER go through Seifer Almasy's head. Valentine's Day could really do strange, dangerous things to a man...

[kairi]

It seemed her challenge had been accepted~!

The Princess did wonder when Seifer would come to from his thoughts. Really, she did not expect to lead the dance all by herself, especially when she knew how much he loved being in charge. The music permeated the air, and the tune was so easy to dance to, and it sang within her veins. Her feet moved effortlessly in tune with the music, leading Seifer as well, until he came from his thoughts. He seemed to snap back to reality, and Kairi held back a gasp when she felt his grip tighten upon her waist. Oceanic orbs widened, and she was soon held much closer to him than she had been a mere moment ago. Surprised, the Princess quickly tried to compose her expression, but no doubt Seifer was smug that he had caught her off guard. A blush dusted across her pale cheeks, and she managed to smile up at the taller male. Her fingers were laced through his, and soon both were whirring around the dance floor.

Kairi was rather surprised that Seifer was a good dancer. He hardly seemed like the type to even bother wit such a trivial thing, but everyone had some secret~! The Princess was so happily lost within the moment, feeling his hold around her, and the music drowning her senses. The world around her was quickly becoming a blur, and her total attention and focus was upon Seifer. Really, his eyes were such a lovely color, and Kairi would not mind staring into them for the rest of the night. Oh, what were the consequences of these actions, once this night was over? Would they remember what had happened? Were these emotions even real? They certainly felt real to her, and Kairi hardly ever regretted feeling what she did in any situation. Slowly her gaze lowered, only for her expression to turn into one of surprise. When had her dress suddenly turned red? And had become strapless? With rather strappy, red heels instead of her sneakers? Really, could this night become any more odd?

Alright, better not to answer that question.

Kairi quickly looked back up to Seifer, his words sending another blush dusting across her cheeks. He really was not quite the sweet-talker, was he? A giggle escaped her, though, and she tilted her head to the side. That same smile crossed her lips, and her oceanic eyes glittered at the challenge once more. "We'll just have to see, won't we~? You seem to hold a little promise, too," she answered with a wink. Her fingers extricated from his, and she suddenly pushed herself outward in a quick twirl, before pulling herself back in. The dress flared out at her movement, the black lace peeking through the red fabric. It was a rather nice dress~! The Princess was quickly back within his hold once more, a little out of breath, and much closer than she had been before. A grin flirted across her lips, and she gazed up at Seifer with her own smug confidence. Really, this was so much fun! Her hand soon slid back into his, and she lead him across the dance floor.

"Let's see if you can surprise me~!"