Elements of Madness

A Special Event

Luka fussed with the clasp to his half-cape, trying to get the whole thing to lay better across his shoulders. The green snake's head wouldn't let go of the cloth, but he was afraid to force it and tear the whole thing. Juleka came to his rescue, swishing in her layered purple silk dress. She undid the clasp and straightened the whole affair across the shoulders of his formal tuxedo with a newly sure hand,"Since when did you get so good with formalwear Jul?" He teased.

Juleka gave him her eye-crinkle smile and on its heels a real one also blossomed, a new habit. "Been getting practice." she replied as if he didn't know the answer. She stepped back, finally satisfied.

Luka turned to look himself over in the mirror again. The tuxedo was a grand affair in black; coat tails, gloves, the half cape with it's snake clasp and aqua inner lining, There was even a top hat he was going to be leaving behind. He'd gone so far as to remove his nail polish for the occasion,"How do I look?" he prompted.

Juleka moved to stand beside him. It was becoming more natural to see her with both eyes visible these days, but Luka couldn't help missing his little half-a-sister from time to time. Her dress matched her highlights perfectly, though Luka had doubts about the plunging neckline he thought the opera gloves a nice touch. "As good as you can I guess." her reflection grinned at him.

"Thanks." he nudged her.

She smiled again,"Just don't mess it up, okay?"

"Don't want me upsetting your boss?"

"I like seeing you happy."

Luka reached out to muss Juleka's hair but she battled him off this time,"Thanks Jul." he settled for. "I suppose we should head up, the limo will be here soon. Rose meeting you there?"

Juleka nodded, and mrmrred,"Remember your gloves." as she stepped out of their shared room.

Luka grumbled to himself, he had NOT been about to forget them, they were right... Where were they? He did a 360 and spotted them against the white of his pillow, where anyone could have been forgiven for forgetting them. He paused to regard himself in the mirror one last time,"Luka, you're in over your head." he accused out of habit, but he'd come to terms with it. Chloe was a girl worth drowning in.

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The limo ride over felt like the break point from reality. It was far from his first time in Chloe's limo, but it was his first time without her. Instead he and Juleka sat quietly in the posh interior both somewhat out of place, though he thought perhaps Juleka was a little more comfortable than he was.

The quiet car ride, the strobe of passing street lights, it all combined to separate the evening from the world he knew. It wasn't even his night, but Luka felt the import. He'd been able to feel it building for weeks now, a current flowing just beneath Chloe's skin when they touched. Tonight was important to her, and that meant it was important to him too.

The light grew as they approached and queued up with other arrivals. Limos were the only transport visible through tinted windows. Luka knew from school that more than one classmate was riding in style for the first time ever thanks to the Mayor's outlay.

Luka's nerves must have shown worse than he thought. Juleka laid a hand atop his own and gave a gentle squeeze,"It's not your debut, silly."

Luka chuckled softly,"Feels like it a little."

"Just make it special, you know?" With a careful tilt of her head she fixed him with one amber eye, just like old times.

It was their turn. The door was opened, not by a butler, but by a footman. Juleka exited, then Luka slid over, and remembered at the last second to pull on his gloves before stepping into the noon-at-night lighting of the Salons and Gardens of Le Pre Catelan.