Clumsiness At Its Finest

[Darling Doge1]

Darla tapped her foot in time with the beat of the music, observing as the dancers participated in a lively dance, wishing that she could be one of the few couples out on the ballroom floor. Her desire only seemed to increase once she recognized the familiar form of her twin sister dancing with an unidentifiable gentleman, their steps light and elegant as they flitted about the dance floor. She scowled, and attempted to squash the jealousy that was threatening to creep its way into her very core – the dance was silly anyway, and jealousy was for petty and childish individuals, and Darla prided herself on being the exact opposite.

Finally, Darla managed to tear her eyes away from her twin sister and her dance partner, and instead focused on quenching her thirst. Thus, she made her way to the refreshments table where an assortment of delicacies had been laid out and a selection of drinks was provided. Settling for a glass of champagne, Darla reached out to pluck one from the tray, and resisted the urge to down the entire drink in one gulp – not only was it unladylike, but also did not want to a rumor to circulate that “Miss Darling Doge, daughter of the late Mr. Sterling Doge, was seen drinking copious amounts of alcohol at the 1884 Coming Out Ball”. Not that she would drink generous amounts of champagne, but appearances could be deceiving she knew, and rumors could be misinterpreted.

Darla suddenly heard her name being called from behind, and unfortunately, much to her immense embarrassment, she turned around a little too quickly only to collide with a firm, suit-clad figure, her champagne glass slipping from her grasp and falling to the floor with a loud crash. Darla knew she had attracted attention, and with her eyes wide with astonishment and her face flushed a deep red shade, she looked up to identify whom she had run into, and she quietly gasped.

“Mr. Skeeter!,” she said in a wobbly tone, feeling more mortified by the minute. “I apologize profusely for my clumsiness! Please forgive me!” She stared pleadingly at her classmate’s face, indicating that she was, indeed, quite apologetic for her clumsy blunder, and although she and Thompson were not good friends, she was hopeful that they were well-enough acquainted with one another that he would overlook her moment of immense embarrassment.

Words: 397 | Tag: Thompson | Outfit: here

  

[Thompson Skeeter]

Thompson didn’t know how much of a bother he would be towards the others so, with the first time ever at the Coming Out Ball, he had excused himself and wandered about to see who else he could find. Perhaps he was curious that there would be another around here, someone who he would have known. It was a hope of his, wishing that perhaps he would be able to interact with more than just Gertrude and Annette, as much as they were his friends. He wanted to explore a bit more than what he should have. Making his way through the crowd, his eyes had watched everyone around him. It was interesting to see everyone dressed up in their finest, dancing about and talking to each other. It was a very interesting moment for him, the intermingling was something that he couldn’t help but to be interested of. Of course, he had decided not to talk about one of his dances – with a crazed young lady who thought she was better than he – for Thompson thought it was outlandish. He didn’t need to comment about anything like that and therefore, he allowed it to slide. Thompson would avoid anything else that was outlandish like that dance. Luckily for him, he would soon spot someone that he was familiar with. Miss Darling Doge. She was within his year and house and therefore, he had become familiar with her. Yet, as much as he was acquainted with her, it did not mean that he didn’t know that much about her. As a matter of fact, he didn’t know much about her at all. It made him curious, pondering on whether or not he should talk to her. She looked as though she could use a bit of company, which was one of the reasons why he had decided to approach her.

“Good evening, Miss Doge..”

The reaction however was not what he was expecting at all. As he spun around, she had dropped her glass of whatever it was, causing Thompson to react rather quickly. Fearful that she might fall, he gentle grabbed her shoulders, trying his best to hold her up just as the glass shattered on the ground, sending it contents flying everywhere, including on the pants of his suit. He ignored it however, instead forcing his concern upon her. The way that she had spoken to him was something that he had not expected from her, causing his brow to raise upwards while his eyes remained on her. Never would he have thought of her to act so nervous around him. It was as though she did not know how he would react. He didn’t know if it was because of the way that he looked of not. When he figured that she was steady, he allowed his hands to drop to his side, his eyes looking at her as he forced a gentle smile on his face. Thompson would calm her nerves. “Your apology is accepted, Miss Doge, after all accident do happen. It is only a suit after all..” He shrugged his shoulders, as though proving to her that no one was hurt within the process. However, he was not done with her yet. “I must address a slight concern though about what you have been drinking. Please don’t tell me..” He nodded his head towards the broken glass upon the floor, wondering what she would say to him. If he had to get her out of this tight spot, he was certain that he would have to figure out a way. At the moment, he just needed to ensure that she was alright. He had to admit something though, this was turning into far too much of an interesting night for him.

  

[Darling Doge1]

Darla was usually a fairly graceful young woman, her extensive lessons with her governess over etiquette matters ensuring that she was nothing but elegant and sophisticated, approaching any social matter with grace and precision, and unfortunately, Darla had disregarded those teachings by losing her composure and most likely making a spectacle of herself. Her blush only seem to deepen once she acknowledged that other pairs of eyes were upon herself and Mr. Skeeter, and in order to seem unfazed by what had transpired – though inwardly she was feeling quite embarrassed, and hoping that her brother had not been a witness to her moment of clumsiness – Darla attempted to regain her dignity, and she stood up a little straighter, brushed down the silkiness of her gown, and contorted her face into one of amenity, her smile pleasant as she regarded Mr. Skeeter with civility.

“I am relieved, Mr. Skeeter,” she began politely, her voice devoid of her earlier wobbliness (though her cheeks still retained the pink flush of embarrassment), “that your attire has not been damaged, and I pray that I have not tainted your evening with displeasure.” She truly was relieved that Mr. Skeeter had decided to overlook her moment of humiliation, though she frowned a little when he assumed that she was intoxicated – it was exactly what she had feared others would interpret her clumsiness as, which only made her more determined to seem as unaffected as possible. She would be very ashamed as well as guilty if she had put herself and her family in a negative light – the Doge family lost enough in recent years without adding the loss of their impeccable reputation to their list.

“I am quite fine, Mr. Skeeter,” she began after a moment, reassurance in her tone as she looked up from the glass upon the floor to Thompson’s face, her brown eyes sincere. “I do, however, appreciate your concern, and am obliged to you for ignoring my bout of ungracefulness.” She hoped her words would suffice, and assure him that she was neither a klutz nor a drunkard, and she mentally cursed herself when she once again felt her face flush, now very much wishing that it was late enough in the evening that it would not be strange for her to fetch her brother and twin sister and return to their Wellingtonshire home. At least in the confines of her bedroom she would be unable to make a fool of herself.

Words: 410 | Tag: Thompson | Outfit: here

  

[Thompson Skeeter]

She was always proper to him, always the lady who knew how to speak. Well, at least in his opinion she did. His words had caused him to smile lightly at her, to listened to the words that she had spoken to him. He could even see the color rise to her cheeks but even so, he decided not to point it out. She had deserved to be at peace, deserved not to worry about what someone thought about her. Certainly, there was someone here who was judging everyone and yet, Thompson didn’t want to see it happening to other people. It was perhaps a fault that he had, the fault of not wanting to see others get hurt. He worried about them, far more than what he sometimes worried about others. Yet she herself was worried about is evening? If only he couldn’t have told her how horrible of a night it had been so far. Women and their confusing state of nature – all of them were confusing to him. It was something that he couldn’t help but to frown about. However, instead of bringing up that topic – one which she might of stressed about, believing that it was herself – Thompson had decided that it was better in order to actually not bring up any subject like that – instead, he decided upon the more milder approach. “I assure you, Miss Doge, that you have done no harm. I’ve had worse..” And that was where he decided to keep it, knowing that there was a good chance she would ask about his evening. Maybe she wouldn’t? It probably was something that most wouldn’t want to hear, considering that there was so much that one had to deal with. He had to deal with quite a bit, including some toe stepping.

His feet were still recovering from that.

When she said that she was fine, he did not mention another at all (including noticing the fact that color rose to her face again). Instead, he allowed his eyes to look out towards the dancing couples, admiring each of them as thy moved. It was only when Darling had talked once more that he allowed his complete attention to turn to look at her, his bow raised in interest. “Ungracefulness? I have seen others much worse than yourself.” He shrugged his shoulders, before speaking once more. “How are you enjoying your evening thus far? Enjoying the dancing? I am positive that someone had danced with you.” He assumed that every young lady here had danced with someone, had someone to lead them across the dance floor. It was something that most would have thought about, especially during a time like this. It must have been important for a young lady to dance with a man, to move and sway with the happiness that she had felt within her heart. Perhaps that was what he had considered that most people wanted but again, it was hard for him to judge. He was just trying his best in order to make sense out of a couple of things. Then again, Thompson did not want to cause any problems. While he was waiting for her respond, he turned his attention back towards the main floor, watching the ladies twirl on the dance floor with their partners. It was interesting up at the moment, he would wait to dance for a bit. It was better that way.