May I Have This Dance? (Private)

Belle looked out at the crowd before her, each sitting respectively in their seats around the round tables. The males were dressed in fine suits or tuxes, and the women were dressed in elegant ballgowns, short dresses, or cocktail dresses. Belle could spot a few very beautiful ones, which Belle admired from the front of the room. A small area was set up behind her with a table containing many wires and technical equipment, all around a centered laptop. On each side of the table were two speakers, belonging to David, the muse cabin leader. He was to be the DJ that evening.

The decorations around the room were extraordinary and simply beautiful. It was mainly white-winter themed with accents of green and red here and there to hint at the holidays. However Belle's interest was purely winter-based, and not Christmas-based, therefore all the decor were things like evergreen garlands, snowflakes that hung from the ceiling, suspended in time, and other iced-decorations.

As Belle stood at the front of the room looking out into the crowd, she noticed a couple of familiar faces, none of which turned to her. Her icy heart gave no waver and expression gave no evidence that she disliked being neglected. Rather, she stood tall with her icy blue eyes pointed forward. After a couple of moments, she decided that there were no more late-arrivals, and so she turned and her shoes clicked the ground as she made her way to the microphone behind her, her golden hair swinging elegantly behind her. Upon reaching the microphone, she removed it from the stand and clicked the ON button.

"Good evening," Belle began. The room instantly died down at the sound of her voice. She got the sneaking suspicion that her reputation as being an uptight control freak had something to do with the immediate lowering in decibels. She cleared her throat, and continued in what was an attempt at a happier and welcoming tone. "It's really great to see you all here, and I hope you are having a fantastic time here at the Winter Festival, and I hope you continue to have a great time at this dance here tonight." After a moment's pause, she resumed once again. "Things might have been a little difficult at Camp Half Blood recently. Do not let that give you an excuse to take some time to rejoice every now and then. I want you guys to have a great time tonight, and I know you want that too. We have refreshments over by that wall," she gave a small gesture, "and music will be played. Thank you," she finished. As she clicked OFF there was silence in the room. Complete silence. Nobody shifted or clapped.

Suddenly, the music started from behind Belle. She turned around, and David stood, looking a bit pained at having to play pop music. She knew well that he as a classical musician. Still, he was the best for the job. She looked back towards the dance floor and campers immediately had gotten up and were dancing to the beat that shook the floor beneath Belle's feet. There were couples dancing together, and even groups of singles. The daughter of Khione turned her back to the crowd and walked to the very front of the room with such an elegant stride it seemed she was floating. As she got behind the speakers, she felt her ears relax from the toned-down volume. She stood straight, folded her hands in front of her, fingers laced together, and watched with a dignified sophistication the frivolity.

Outfit

Belle sighed and glanced down at her shoes for a moment, examining them. When she was standing, they couldn't really be seen under her dress. But she kicked out her foot a little bit, and dragged the dress up with one hand so that the black sandal-style heels were revealed. They cost a great deal of money to not be visible, but as long as Belle appreciated them she didn't figure that it mattered. Belle always found power in looking good. A good appearance could get you far. Job interviewers looked for presentation in first impressions. Subjects looked for dignity in authority. Belle was always extremely careful to carry herself with proper posture and always wore a good design.

Belle dropped her dress over her feet once more and straightened up, lifting her head to look back out at the crowd. However, a shadow had fallen over her and obstructed her view of the dance.At first she was confused, and thought that someone had stood in front of her by mistake, but she realized that she was being faced by a man. And she recognized his face. Oddly enough, it was Samuel Mercer. She had seen him on several occasions in cabin leader meetings and in passing, and perhaps spoken to him a total of one, maybe two, times. She hadn't really ever thought much of him, but only because he had never given her a reason to. He never really spoke very often in the meetings and didn't seem to organize very many events. However, as Belle said before, appearance was a large part of someone's first impression. And his appearance is what she took in now.

Samuel wore a regular black suit that looked extremely fitted, or maybe just too small. Judging by the length of the sleeves rather than the form-fit, it was the latter. Samuel's hair was styled as it always was, the brown strands all formed to look like a mess. In contrast to his hair, Samuel's eyebrows and eyelashes were blond, and his eyes were bright and blue, which really came out due to the bright winter decorations around him. He looked really good, and therefore Belle's opinion of him started with the slightest of positive trends.

Hearing what he said didn't make Belle smile. In fact, it didn't even scratch the surface of her stone-cold expression. He icy blue eyes merely shot into Samuel's more full blue ones. She wasn't really sure if he was joking or not. She never really got to know him enough to tell if he was a joker or if he was a serious kind of guy. As her eyes scanned over his face, she observed his kind of sly smile and surmised that he wasn't being truthful. He was probably mocking her because he'd never known that she was capable of such a thing, which was kind of insulting.

Straightening up even more, if possible, Belle faced him. However, Samuel moved so that he stood beside her. And what came next was appalling. He complimented the dance in such a genuine tone that he couldn't have possibly been lying. She had been so sure that he was, but he seemed to actually think it was beautiful. Belle allowed her eyebrows to raise a quarter of an inch, giving her a slightly shocked expression. Still, however, she remained quiet.

The next thing that happened caught Belle so off-guard that her expression broke, and she looked utterly shocked. Her hand had been placed in his, and he was leaning forward very slightly, looking into her eyes. Belle had never thought that Samuel had taken any interest in her at all, and was dumbfounded that he would ask her to dance. Nobody asked her to dance. She was under the impression that nobody would ask her to dance all night. And yet, here she was, with her hand in someone's who she hardly knew. As the initial shock wore down, the shadow of a smile hinted at Belle's pink-glossed lips.

"I- I don-" she began, about to refuse his request. She was concerned that if people saw her dancing, they'd be under the impression that she was just like them. She'd lose respect. However, as she thought about it, her mind ever so slowly changed. Her fingers kind of tingled in his hand, and she might never get the opportunity to dance at her own dance. "Yeah," Belle breathed, letting herself smile at him slightly. "Yes, you may."

Outfit