The castle, half pink and half gray, shimmered in the bright sunlight. It was the perfect weather; bright and sunny but not hot, with a clear sky and a gentle breeze to keep everyone cool.

Protector Sausage of Sanctuary smiled excitedly, shifting from foot to foot and making her sunflower skirt sway with the energy of her anticipation.

Next to her, Fwhip of Gobland rolled her eyes, amused. "We're gonna get to the front of the line eventually," she said, eyeing the vibrating ball of energy that was currently her girlfriend and sidling a step away so she wouldn't get knocked over. Much like a dog, Sausage often forgot how big she was and could easily crush the much smaller goblin woman by accident.

Ahead of them, the line to the entrance to the party stretched, most rulers paired with their partners as they waited. Goddess Joelle and her boyfriend Mayor Lizzie, the two of them holding hands and smiling sweetly at each other, Scottie of Chromia and Sheriff Jamie twirling each other in circles, Archaeologist Pixel patiently listening to her girlfriend Oli the bard tell some dramatic story, loud enough that almost the entire line could hear her excited chattering.

Despite not being a couple, Great Witch Shelby and Pirate Jo stood together, seemingly having reconciled after their duel weeks ago for the hand of Prince Kathrin.

At the entrance to the castle, accepting invitations and welcoming everyone into the party, Prince Kathrin stood with Prince Gem, the two royals having hosted and planned everything.

Everyone was in beautiful dresses. Sausage admired her own dress, a gorgeous strapless navy dress decorated with sunflowers and a bright yellow short-sleeve croptop jacket ontop, everything complimenting each other amazingly. Sneaking a look to the side, she admired her girlfriend's dress too, the very form fitting strapless red dress accenting the goblin's curves and the boob window acting as the cherry on top.

Everyone was dressed amazingly, from Pixel's dusky blue ballgown and Oli's embellished lavender gown, to Mayor Lizzie's simple pink dress and Goddess Joelle's green chiton, Jamie's adorable denim skirt and white blouse with suspenders and Scottie's gradient blue-purple and gold decorated dress, and Prince Kathrin's flowery, frilly short skirted dress complimented by Prince Gem's coral-orange and white underskirt ruffle layered gown next to him.

After a few more minutes of waiting, everyone was finally admitted, and the party officially began. The ballroom they were escorted to was a tad spooky and dark for a tea party, Sausage mused to herself, but it was still fantastic.

Scottie and Jamie were already dancing, Scottie whispering something in Jamie's ear that made her blush brightly, protesting loudly at whatever inappropriate comment Scottie had just made.

Despite the party having just started less than half an hour back, Oli was already drunk, clumsily climbing onto a table and strumming her lute off key, singing something about cute archeologists (it took her six tries to pronounce it right in her inebriated state), and shovels going in holes.

Sausage giggled, sneaking up behind Fwhip as she was talking to Mayor Lizzie, who was absolutely rocking his dress, the pink fabric matching amazingly with his short, spiky pink hair. Lizzie made eye contact with her, smiling evilly as Sausage scooped Fwhip up with a snicker, Fwhip herself letting out a shocked yelp as her feet left the ground.

"Sausage, nO-" she wailed, dramatically drooping out of her girlfriend's arms to look back at Lizzie, who was watching avidly as Joelle stopped next to her, not even bothering to conceal her laughter. "Someone save meeeee, I'm being kidnappedddd~" Fwhip whined, making a pouty face at everyone who looked her way as Sausage plopped her down at the dance floor.

Bowing with a flourish, Sausage offered Fwhip her hand with a shy smile, which Fwhip accepted with a fake sigh, and the two swept onto the dancefloor, joining the other couples spinning around to the tune of the actual music, not Oli's drunk wailing.

In the shadowy corner, Kathrin and Shelby were standing together, both holding drinks but more interested in kissing, leaving the rest of the party to its own devices in favor of being with each other.

Gem watched all of this from his vantage point by the drinks table, sipping a cup of orange juice peacefully. Maybe he'd go dance later.

Noticing him all alone, Lizzie walked over, leaving Joelle by the table where Pixel was trying to coax Oli down while Joelle laughed and suggested even more inappropriate rhymes for Oli to sing at the top of her lungs.

"Having fun?" Lizzie asked, grabbing a random drink for himself and drinking it in one gulp, leaning on the wall next to Gem, who shrugged.

"I might go dance later, I just don't want to get drunk since I'm absolutely certain everyone here is going to be hammered by the time the party's over and I want to record it all to blackmail them with later-"

Lizzie snickered, nodding. "I will definitely join you in that goal; I've already got a few pictures of Oli's drunk singing and dancing."

Gem snorted, covering his mouth with a hand and turning the laugh into a very fake cough. "Good luck with that, I've never seen Oli have any shame whatsoever-"

Lizzie nodded forlornly in agreement, and took another drink, this one nonalcoholic. Sipping at it, he contemplated the prince next to him. "No partner, huh?"

Gem shook his head. "Was never really interested in that sort of thing. Sausage told me I could be aroace, and she might be right, but I honestly just don't really care."

"Those of us who are immune to the wiles of the body are the highest of us all," Lizzie said solemnly, making Gem choke with laughter and spill his drink a little. "No, don't say it like that-"

Their giggles attracted the attention of Kathrin, who had emerged from his snog-fest with Shelby in the corner and was futilely trying to pretend he hadn't had his tongue down Shelby's throat minutes ago.

"Your lipstick is smudged," Lizzie informed Kathrin in greeting, grinning as Kathrin's eyes widened and he wiped at his mouth, only serving to smear it more. Gem tried and failed to conceal his snickers, and Kathrin gave up and sighed, joining the other two rulers by the wall.

"There's no point in trying to hide it, is there," he said, less of a question than a resigned statement. Lizzie nodded along with Gem, both of them sporting evil smiles.

"Even if your makeup didn't give you away, literally everyone saw you in that corner," Gem added, offering Kathrin a napkin, which he gratefully accepted and used to wipe his makeup off.

At the dance floor, Scottie and Jamie were having a dance off with Sausage and Fwhip, all four of them drunk and mostly just spinning to make their skirts flare out and kissing each other, regardless of whether the person in question was their partner or not.

Pixel had finally bribed Oli down, leading the woozy and stumbling bard to a chair and giving her water. Joelle had wandered away, bored, and was hanging out with Jo, the two of them probably arguing about who was the prettier and better of the two.

Shelby was valiantly attempting to act normal, dancing and spinning around next to the whorefest that was Sausage, Fwhip, Scottie, and Jamie giving up on dancing and kissing in a pile under a table that had somehow ended up in the middle of the dance floor. Kathrin was watching Shelby avidly, trying and failing to hide his attention wavering towards him.

Snickering, Gem gave Kathrin a gentle shove, making them stumble forward. "We can all see your pining, Kathrin, just go dance with him already-" he said, Lizzie nodding in agreement.

Smiling gratefully at the other two rulers, Kathrin put his forgotten drink down, hurrying to the dance floor and joining Shelby, the two of them dancing a romantic slow dance as the musicians started playing a slow and sweet song for them.

The party was winding down, Pixel and Oli having departed at some point, the four very drunk rulers being helped up and out to guest bedrooms by a small army of servants. Gem exchanged money with Lizzie, a bet on whether the four would end up sharing a room or if they were too drunk to do anything but pass out.

Kathrin and Shelby wandered out together, exchanging kisses and probably heading to Kathrin's royal bedchamber, since it was his castle. Joelle came up to Lizzie, swaying and wobbling as she drunkenly flopped onto Lizzie, mumbling something about cuddles.

"Well, that's my cue to get this one back home," Lizzie said good-naturedly, smiling at his silly drunk wife.

The room was empty, servants swooping in to begin the cleanup process. Gem decided to leave as well, heading back to his empire with a content heart. It was a good day.