Niklas König thought he looked positively [url=spiffy] in his suit. It was of an older fashion, and something he had privately always enjoyed the appearance of. Of course, one might say that this young heir might not be as up-to-date as he ought to be, but he'd simply reply that knowing one's roots can be just as important. And besides, the first thing his servant had laid out was something that suited a dancer, or maybe the Peacock, a little bit better. Niklas may be proud of his muscles, but he's not going to wear a v-neck tuxedo that'd make a woman hesitate to wear it. And it was so tight! No thank you, he'd much rather wear this thing- which he had actually intended to wear for funzies. 

Nonetheless, he strode down the hallway towards Mai Mei's rooms, armed with much more common polished formal footwear and his usual charm and confidence. 

The moment he caught sight of Mai Mei, he halted for a brief moment, appraising her, before bowing at the waist slightly in her honour. 

"Exquisite as per usual, Princess Mai. You really have to stop doing that, or some of the others might get a little jealous, if you know what I'm saying." Trademark grin of goofiness and warmth, nothing but welcoming. Like a proper gentleman, he approached her and spun around, neatly aligning himself to her and extending his arm for her to take, like a proper gentleman. 

"Time for the festivities, don't you think? Many apologies to keep you waiting, by the way, [i]herr Hauptmann[/i] here was just lecturing me on the importance of being fashionably dressed, and fashionably late. Apparently I'm somewhat old-fashioned."

He grinned to himself, this time, and mumbled under his breath, "Definitely a statement coming from that old dinosaur."

The Captain, who had been ghosting behind Niklas the entire time, gave him a pleasantly blank expression, one that somehow conveyed a [i]what-I'd-do-if-you-were-under-my-command[/i] sort of message. Niklas just beamed at the man, knowing full well that he'd pay for in training later.

"Now, Mai Mei, you seem to have a better grasp of the palace than me," he gestured wildly around them, before pointing in completely the wrong direction. "The ballroom's that way, right?" He knew full well where it was, but nonetheless, it was his part to be the bumbling man. 

[hr]

Fareeha Amari rolled to her feet, almost refusing to go to the ball altogether. She wanted to sleep! Her servants and maids pushed and prodded at her, trying to be as forceful as they could without overstepping their bounds. M'lady, m'lady, you must go to the ball! All the men want to see how lovely you are, and it'd be terribly rude for you not to show! Fareeha was quite tired of it. Well, not that, but of the run she took earlier. Though, run really didn't quite sum it up- it was more of a desperate sprint to escape a super 'dangerous' black-furred predator that had a tongue that leaked too much saliva. 

Well, to be fair, Fareeha did tag Farih first. If the hyena couldn't keep up, shame on him- he was supposed to be fast.

Fareeha had leaped out of the way, thrown herself from the salivating jaws of the laughing beast time and time again, only to be finally tackled by her pet as the rolled on the ground, playfighting and mussing each other up. 

Several stablehands had come out to watch, and all of them were either pale-faced and uncertain from watching a princess be chased by and wrestle with a live hynea, or were grinning from ear to ear at the very human royal from a very distant, exotic land, rolling around on the ground with a laughing feline-like animal.

It took about an hour and a half for her to get cleaned up, and the two or three small cuts from the hyena's dulled claws to be properly mended. Not like she cared much about it, but the maids that follows one of her status made a right fuss of it.

And now she was all [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/5f/4c/57/5f4c576b013731ba04f594d03ebfac59.jpg]dressed up[/url]. And in a dress, no less! Her maids gently scolded her as they tried to smooth out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress. As they did, the gentle pokes and rubbings made her shiver. She turned to stare at the most insistent of them, catching the maid's eyes with her own. The girl- she couldn't be more than 18- froze like a deer in headlights, a sudden, small blush appearing as she tried desperately to hide it.

After a moment, she found the girl's name in the recesses of her mind. Silently adding this exchange to her name, she asked with a sudden wolfish tongue, "Cat caught your tongue?" 

Without another word, she slipped into her slippers- she could go with heels, but decided not to this time- and swept out of the room, leaving confused and tense silence behind. What just happened, all the maids wondered.

Fareeha marched through the hallways, smiling at anyone who even glanced at her. She really liked this slit in the dress- it let her really march quickly. When was the last time she wore a dress like this? She didn't remember. Fareeha'll have to wear these more often.

Then she finally arrived at the ballroom. Without any sort of pomp, ceremony, or dramatics, she just marched right in, glancing around curiously. She took little notice of her own guard ghosting behind her, or any other guard; she'd keep them in mind, and then ignore them. Princes and princesses- oh hey, there was a new one in the room.

She adopted a little more grace, and glided over to the nearest prince. At her approach, the man turned to her, smiling, They greeted each other, Fareeha making just enough small talk to be polite- and then asked where the buffet table was.

Ahah! You have fallen into my trap!

The next five minutes were spent snacking on sausage balls while another Prince asked about her pets.