Chapter 159: 157 Theme

Donovan and Diana separated themselves to a reasonable distance as the doors opened. It was no secret that they were lovers, fiancés even, but there was an expectation of courtesy that needed to be heeded when meeting in person. Being all over each other during official discussions had a tendency to make it seem like you weren't taking the other party seriously.

There was also the agreement to make themselves look presentable and professional, though from Diana's experience it would appear that most younger nobles didn't much care for that. Sanna was the exception to the rule, surprisingly enough.

"Good evening Gretts, Titanyana." Diana stood up to greet the two of them, beckoning to sit on the chairs to either side.

"Please, Lady Diana, my position doesn't allow me to sit when attending you two."

"Then I am certain you will be happy to hear that I am not going to be speaking to you as a noble, but as someone in need of your experience." Diana accepted the cup of tea from Cherry. It was a cold brew, slightly bitter, but she instantly felt herself pep up as it reached her stomach. "Cherry, you can stay. What we are going to be discussing isn't necessarily a secret, I just didn't want to be interrupted."

"As you wish!" Cherry assumed the same position as before, slightly behind and to the side of the couch.

Diana was the leader of this particular meeting. She knew the topic and she had the details.

"You might be wondering why I've called you all here, so I'll get straight to it. I have been chosen to host a party for a group of my colleagues in my classes." Cherry lightly gasped before squealing in delight. "A time has not yet been determined, nor has a date, but I expect to host in in the next few days."

Gretts clasped her hands on her lap as she leaned back in the chair. She had been worried that there was some important matter that needed her attention, but a party? That was easy.

"Diana, why did you accept that? We've never even been to a party before, much less hosted one!"

"Well, I didn't really have a choice. I was sort of voluntold." Diana grabbed his hand and nodded. She recognized that he had concerns, she had some of her own, but even a relative failure in this case could be remedied. "The conversation naturally evolved to parties over the course of the lecture, and when they discovered that I was in a position to host a party in a Barracks they became incredibly curious. My guess is that they would be satisfied to even step foot in here."

Donovan raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. 

"It's not like we won't be getting anything out of it! I think I could probably extort a favor from Merndil for hosting in his stead, and some of these people seem like the type we would want good relations with."

Donovan sighed. She knew more about the whole politics and relationship angle, so he couldn't really argue.

"Have you decided on a theme for your party?"

Diana froze. A theme? Nobody mentioned anything about a theme!

"It's fine if you haven't, but it is certainly something to consider."

"I didn't even know I needed to do that." Diana was on the brink of sweating, which was a little embarrassing. "How important is it?"

"It's moderately important, whatever you take that to mean. Given the frequency of such social gatherings on the Sanctum, they have a tendency to become fairly bland unless an active attempt is made to make them different. Usually it takes the form of some cultural oddity from the host's home planet, but mask parties and color gatherings are fairly common. Personally, I would avoid those last two because of how difficult they are to organize on such short notice."

"Mask parties?"

"She means a masquerade, Donovan."

". . . I still don't know what that is."

"It's a party where everybody wears masks." Gretts, still reclined, explained to Donovan what a mask party was. "I have been told that it was started by a certain high ranked individual in order to mingle with the lower strata of nobility without being treated as a superior. It has since evolved into a variety of different parties with intentions like 'find the host' or 'make love to a stranger', but for the most part the desire to keep the participants' identities a secret has remained a constant."

Diana didn't know how to react to a the 'make love to a stranger' part. "That sounds like a nightmare."

"If done poorly it can be. I recall a few such parties that ended in feuds that last to this day, but by and large these events will carry on even if they are not particularly organized."

"I see. Do you have any ideas for a theme?" Diana hadn't gone to a party yet, so she didn't know what people were expecting. 

"Given this is effectively your debutante, I would suggest something simpler. Might I get an idea of your background? So long as that isn't prying to hard."

"What do you mean by that?" Diana did not want to reveal too much, making her probe for specifics would make it so she could fuzz up the actual image.

"Your background? You know, social status? What sort of food did you eat? What sort of clothes did you wear? What did you do in your free time?"

Diana thought about how she should put this. She had to think about the 'truth' of the matter, and she had to think of a way to word that truth that would not tip Gretts off to everything else.

"Social status . . . I think I would classify myself as upper middle class? Perhaps the bottom of the upper class? No offense Donovan but you definitely belonged to the lower strata."

"With those parents? It would be an insult to the homeless to call them middling."

"True, but you climbed up to our equivalent of a knight by the age of fifteen."

Gretts cringed a little upon learning that these two, the sole survivors of their race, were not born to some of the most influential people in their society. "I apologize for prodding on that specific matter, but I would strongly suggest you keep that specific information to yourselves. Especially you Donovan, though I hope you don't take offense."

"We wouldn't dare." Donovan nodded, his eyes locked with Gretts. There was an understanding that not only would they not speak of their origins, Gretts would never let that secret spill either. Cherry and Titanyana were different matters, but Titanyana already knew far more detailed information about them and was excellent at keeping her mouth shut, while rumors that spawned from Cherry were already taken with a grain of salt.

"As for the food I ate, I suppose it would encapsulate almost all of what was available."

"None of which we have access to now."

Gretts nodded. It was possible to find replacement items for the raw foods they cooked with in the past, but replicating the recipes with them would take time that they didn't have.

"As for clothing, I'm sure you've seen what I wear on my days off?"

"You mean the shirts and pants made of strange fabric?"

Diana nodded. "Unfortunately we lack the ability to provide that sort of clothing for the attendees given, you know." Every time the topic of Earth got brought up, Diana always found herself becoming a little depressed.

"For almost every day of the last ten years of my life I wore a military uniform of some sort, so I similarly can't say that we can provide those."

"That is unfortunate, but I wasn't expecting you to organize something on that scale for your first party anyways. What did you do in your free time."

"I didn't have free time."

Gretts didn't know whether or not she should be surprised.

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"My free time was limited as well, but most of what I did have was spent reading. Unfortunately I think that is also a bit of a non-starter given we are really the only ones who understand our language, so. . ."

Gretts licked her lips in frustration. How was it possible for two people who seemed so different to have next to nothing to offer for a party? She knew it wasn't their fault, their planet had gone kaput with their race in tow. 

"I will admit that it is going to be harder than I thought to come up with a theme for this party." Gretts started to rub her chin, irritated. "Do you have any ideas, Titanyana?"

"Huh? Me?!" Titanyana hadn't really been paying much attention, social gatherings were not her favorite. "I-I wouldn't know."

"You've never attended a party?"

"No . . . I have, I just didn't really . . . participate?" The 'parties' she knew of back home were usually just funerals. Someone was always dying, often times that someone was somebody important. The only real 'happy' parties she had ever attended were her own birthday parties, celebrations thrown in her honor, which had the effect of making the naturally anxious Titanyana cower in her seat of honor.

She knew that those celebrations were not for her, but for everybody else. The celebration of the potential of a future was the only source of joy people had on Nekh, and those celebrations had become decreasingly energetic in the years before she left. Joy would return, she hoped, for a fateful few. Once they made a life for themselves on the Terran's new planet, perhaps they could celebrate once more.

"I understand. You always struck me as the wallflower type. Cherry?"

"This is she."

"Do you have any ideas?" Gretts often forgot that she needed to ask her questions more directly when working with that child. How Diana managed to hold conversations escaped her.

"Ideas for a party? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Oh! How about we show them how servants live! I think that would be fun!"

Gretts sighed while Diana giggled. One viewed this behavior as 'unbecoming', while the other was refreshed by it. Cherry might not be the sharpest bulb in the sock drawer, but she was certainly entertaining.

"I don't think that quite approaches a theme for a party, but I appreciate your input."

"You're welcome Granny Gretts!" Another sigh from Gretts. How did this girl even get to the position of maid?

Diana on the other hand. 

"Wouldn't that be a good idea though? Basing our party around giving the nobility the 'commoner' treatment?" She had found some inspiration, but she didn't know if it would work.

"The commoner treatment?"

"Yes. I think it would be interesting for these nobles to be exposed to, say, the cooking of the lower class. We wouldn't have to hire a catering service either."

"I would seriously suggest taking this up with the prospective attendees before committing. There is the possibility that they will find such an event insulting."

"Really?"

Gretts nodded. "I haven't heard of such a party in my time so I cannot say for sure, but I would imagine they might find the idea that they would be treated like the common man insulting. Of course they could always see it as an interesting opportunity, so it really depends more on the person. Where do you plan to get the food from?"

"Hm? Wouldn't the chefs make it?"

"Lady Diana, they aren't allowed to make food for parties. It is very much a violation of the neutrality principle. Attending guests is fine, it falls under the purview of facilitating relationships, but large social gatherings have to be funded by the host, they are displays of power and prestige after all."

Diana pouted a little. It would seem there was no avoiding the hiring process, which was annoying, but she was finally beginning to understand the limits of what they could do on her behalf. Considering the fact that nobody had rejected her requests up to this point, mundane as they might have been, it was good to know that they also had rules to follow. 

"Do you think Manama would do it?" Donovan whispered to Diana. The secrecy wasn't necessary, but he didn't quite get that. "Her restaurant qualifies as commoner food, right?"

"How many people often come to parties, Gretts?"

"Anywhere from fifty to a hundred for most house parties. Particularly large house parties can have more than two hundred, some even reaching three hundred, but I doubt they would saddle you with something like that for your first event. Anything larger than that is grounds for renting a purpose built space."

Titanyana's brow furrowed as her ears dropped. Was she really going to have to mingle with such a large group of people?

"She could probably handle that if she had time, right?" Diana started thinking to herself about how busy her restaurant was. How often did people go in and out? It had to be more than fifty in an hour, right?

"We should probably ask before we decide on anything, but she could probably hire help right?"

A knock on the door grabbed their attention. "Lord Strauss, Lady Diana, Lord Trebar is here to speak with you." One of the maids had escorted him here, though Donovan seemed to recall asking Trebar to wait for him rather than seeking him out.

"Do come in." Diana had no qualms with Trebar learning of this party. In fact it would probably be better that he did. "Cherry, would you be a dear and grab another cup for him?"

"Of course!" Cherry bowed, slightly lifting the edges of her skirt before heading out the door. " 'Scuse me."

". . . odd." Trebar had to do a double take, his first confrontation with Cherry revealed her lack of deference to people other than Diana. "Am I intruding?"

"No, not at all. In fact you are here at the perfect time. Take a seat." Diana was practically jumping at the opportunity to use this new resource at her disposal. "I would actually like to ask for your opinion on something."

"Well, I am happy to help if I can, but I pray I won't be forced into having to decide the color of a dress." Trebar did not do a good job of disguising his quivering legs as he squatted into the chair, but Donovan could not shake the thought that he was somehow speaking from experience on the matter of the dress.

"Oh it isn't anything like that. You see, I have been given the opportunity to host a party here at the barracks, so I was wondering what I should do."

"A party? How interesting. Would I be able to attend?"

"I would be happy if your entire squad attended, I would be much more comfortable with people used to these sorts of social conventions I can rely on. That aside for now, I was wondering if the party having the theme of 'the Common Touch' would be offensive to those who trusted me to host such an event."

Trebar inhaled, frowning as he thought about what Gawan might say. Trebar made a habit of not mingling with foreign nobility on account of his status, so he didn't have the best idea of how they thought, but he could make a guess. "I think it would depend on which nation they hail from. I would think it to be a cultural thing most of the time."

"So there's no escaping having to check, huh?" Diana wasn't disappointed, she had no illusions that she would have to put in the leg work for such an event, but it still hurt to think that her idea might be shot down.

"I would think not, especially for your first party. I take it you were asked to host this party by someone else, correct?" Diana nodded. "I see. In that case it would be proper courtesy to confirm most of the details with them. They have offered you an opportunity to get your foot into their social circle, but a failure on your part would reflect poorly on them. Still, if you want someone to check on what that group might like, then I can have Gawan do a check."

"You would do that?"

"Gawan would be happy to, so long as he also gets an invite. He always complains about how bored he is. If I could get a few names and nations, I can probably get you a response by tomorrow night."

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