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Crystal was nearly beside herself. It was hard enough to find a pair of pants in her size, because she would most certainly [i]not[/i] be attending a dance of any sort in a skirt, nevermind that she left on the stockings that were part of the girls' uniform underneath the borrowed pants, but she was specifically and explicitly told that chewing gum would not be allowed. Yes, she understood that the purpose of the Ball was entirely appearance, she'd of course been to similar pointless events before, but it's not as if she couldn't hide the fact that she had a piece in her mouth! She was a master of the art of making it seem like there was nothing there when she was in fact chewing gum, but the risk presented with practicing this art was too high, this time. And worse still, she was forced to let her hair down for the first time in public since being accepted to the Academy, solely because she knew that at the least a representative of her uncle would be there, and Hell would take her before she let it get back to her father that she still wore twintails when able. 

... 

Perhaps her new teammates were a bad influence, for her to be so upset. She could feel the very air around one of those teammates radiate with metaphorical, and perhaps even literal, heat. Though the ban on her favorite coping mechanism was certainly not helping, nor was the very real raised heat from the bodies in the hall. She was very tempted to use what magic she could without transforming to cool herself down, but decided that that too was a risk too large; should it be necessary to show her magic for some likely meaningless but impressive folly, she would be remiss to have already used it up for her comfort. Though her reasoning ability was certainly wavering, likely due to a double dose of her medication that morning in preparation for this event, and the temptation was growing stronger. 

Still, she sat there dressed impeccably with the full outfit required of her, albeit mismatched between the tie, top, and stockings of the female uniform but the pants of the Officer Academy; she even had on a read hairbow to keep her hair tied to at least fifty-percent of the level she preferred. Unlike how she was certain her teammates felt, Crystal did not mind the tie. This presumption was proven at least partially true by Rivka nearly tearing hers in her attempt to get it off as soon as the speech ended. And the speech! As bland and pointless as any she had been forced to endure before. But at least it was something to take the attention of the other four at her table away from her, or away from anything more likely, so that they likely wouldn't notice her apprehension growing as the speech went on. It was natural; the more the speech went on the closer it was to coming to a close, and the closer she got to having to present her ideas to her team. Luckily Rivka took her earliest opportunity to leave the table and took the approaching event horizon with her. If her whole team wasn't there then she could put off the reveal until they were all together again, which she hoped would be the end of the Ball. Giving her a thumbs up in response to her smile, Crystal took an opposing position to her fiery teammate by choosing to remain seated. If there was any need for her to interact then let it be not by her own choice, especially not in the state she was in. Nervousness and manufactured calmness were fighting in her enough to not need to worry about anything other than keeping the latter at more force than the former. 

And so she sat.