Notes: Today you're getting two events! The first is the 200 Freestyle (a 200-word story about your couple with a choice of any theme), and it takes place during the masquerade ball shown in In Dreams We Dwell.
After that is a poem for the Water Polo Poetry event, taking place in the aftermath of IDWD. I've chosen to write a haiku, and mine is going to have a title because that's how I roll (and also to match all my other events. :P ) I wasn't sure about posting this because I haven't written poetry in nearly fifteen years, and I didn't want to embarrass myself. But Gabri Jade told me I had to post it, so here it is.
Both titles come from songs by Cold: "Happens All the Time" and "Ocean", respectively.
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VII. "If a Dream's All That I've Got" | 59 ABY | 200 Freestyle
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The ballroom is brilliantly lit, though not harsh, bathed in a warm glow that resembles the intimacy of firelight. Here, just outside the door, the lights are low enough that he can watch the proceedings without being noticed.
The man in the naval uniform guides Allana around the dance floor, weaving between the other couples with confidence and grace. She looks happy, he realizes with a dull ache in his chest. A little distant, somehow, but still happy.
That'll change pretty quickly once she sees him.
He knows he should feel sorry for that, and maybe there's a part of him that does – but it's nothing compared to how much he longs to be near her, to drown himself in her gaze, to hold her in his arms.
(nothing compared to how much he yearns to kiss her, or trace his fingers over her skin, or see her smile up at him, or hear her laugh)
For a short time, at least, he can pretend this is real, and that he never has to let her go. He can pretend he doesn't still have a job to do. He can pretend he doesn't already know how badly this will end.
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VIII. "Falling Down a Wave" | 59 ABY | Water Polo Poetry
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futile bid for air,
spiraling into black depths,
your sins never fade
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