The Twentieth Annual Winter Formal

Sophie's embarrassment flooded her cheeks, putting a stammer in her voice. "Thank you! O-oh, I'm sorry, Danae-Alisse," she corrected. "I'm good! I probably should have brought a coat, though," she said, rubbing her hands on her arms. "U-um, yes, I just got here..." Just inside, anyway. "It's so beautiful! I can't believe there's snow! Inside! And I didn't know there would be food, that's nice. I guess I should have expected it, but..." she trailed off, making a mental note to swing by the table once it was less busy and she could pick up an inordinate amount of food to take home to her mother. She tried to remember the last time they'd had sweets, and a pang of guilt shot through her heart. She should have tried to get them something, before then. And she should have brought something that could hide more food for the road; a larger bag or, again, a jacket. She was sure some of it would be thrown away, at the end of the night. Maybe if she lingered around and helped clean up, they would let her take the excess home without her having to steal it.

She followed Danae-Alisse, mimicking her hand positioning, but with otherwise much more insecure body language, her shoulders curving inwards and her head bowed slightly. "The music is nice," Sophie said softly, behind Danae-Alisse's back, where the redhead probably couldn't hear her. She noticed that she was trailing behind and made an effort to walk with her friend rather than following her like a lost puppy. Still, her aura wasn't much help. Just relax, she told herself, dropping her arms to her side and fiddling with the lace at her thighs, her slender fingers pinching at, then smoothing, the black flowers.

She would be infinitely indebted to the beautiful redhead for helping her assimilate in this new place. She had no idea how to introduce herself to new people, whereas Danae-Alisse seemed confident and full of grace. Her new acquaintance probably had loads of friends, judging both by her beauty and her friendliness. If her plants were going to cause trouble, Sophie decided, then this was the best sort of trouble she could get into. She was lucky they had chosen such a kind and forgiving subject to grab onto in the library, if they had to grab onto someone!

Nothing like being forced to chaperone your old high school's dance to send someone into musings over where their life had gone. The mistakes, the what could have beens circling his head, the sweet ache of missed chances. He never really got to experience a dance - or the majority of a normal, happy teenager's life for that matter. The Grand Hall, choking with winter decorations and children was a sick reminder of what he'd lost out on. What he'd never get back. The fact that his daughter was so close, in the same room yet lost somewhere among the crowd and behind emotional barriers she set up against him, only served to rub in the fact that his life was, and always has been a bit of a mess.

Thankfully, he was pushed out of his thoughts, quite literally, as someone came crashing directly into him. He stumbled a few steps back, reaching out to grab the kid by the shoulder to steady him. "Ah, don't worry about it. Although, I'd recommend keeping your eyes open when walking through a crowded room next time." Dublin studied the kid for a moment. He didn't look familiar, and he was certain that he didn't have him in any of his classes. Still, he had only been at the school for a year, so he didn't think much of it. "What're you in such a hurry for anyway, kid? Anxious to get back to your date?" His eyes were light as he teased the student. After all, this was more interesting than just standing around not doing shit.

-

Eliza had stood at the edge of the dance floor for a few minutes, chatting idly with her group. Still, she kept glancing at the throng of people dancing, an electricity flowing through her and pulling her towards the circle. But she needed a bit of.. assistance if she was going to dance freely among a bunch of strangers. Looking around, she determined she was adequately hidden away. When she thought no one was looking, she reached beneath her dress to pull out a slim silver flask that she'd strapped to her leg. Eliza always came prepared, after all. Taking a swig, she made eye contact with a boy who opened his mouth as if to protest, or warn someone. She put all her charm into her words as she pouted at him, pulling out her best puppy dog stare. "You won't tell on me, right?" The boy's eyes glazed over, and he nodded. "Thanks, dear." Patting him on the shoulder, she made her way onto the dance floor, already feeling more light and warm all over.

As she twisted and turned through the crowd, she found herself in front of a girl smiling like she was about to do something she shouldn't. A look Eliza could get behind. The girl was cute, in an almost boyish way, but Eliza noted that her moves and clothes were a bit... outdated? Still, she had to give her some props for wearing those shoes to a dance. She appreciated all fashion statements, even ones she didn't agree with.

When the girl spoke, Eliza raised her eyebrow in interest. "Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady that?" She raised a manicured hand to her heart melodramatically. "Why, are you interested?" Interested in the flask, that is. Not whatever else was under her dress.

Scarlett felt like a goddess in the green dress that draped over her body. By her side was Beecher, the tall handsome Lupo that she knows as a Vulpes she shouldn't be falling for. But lord.. did he dress up nice. Her amber eyes gazed longingly at Beecher, her eyes tracing every inch of his face until he turned to smile at her. A blush ran across her cheeks, her thoughts bringing her back to her saying "yes" to be his date. Scarlett interlocked her arm around Beechers, holding him closer to her as they walked inside the formal floor. Her jaw dropped at the sight of the snow, the room was so gorgeous.. Scarlett pulled on Beecher's arm, looking up at him, "Do you want to get punch to start?" Her eyes darting over to the punch table where she spotted Gaius. The fox-girls heart dropped at the sight of her brother. She knew he was disappointed in her choice of date, she couldn't give him a true reason why she was going against the Vulpes views. This Lupo.. maybe just this one was different.

Scarlett's dress:

Sketch stepped into the formal room, a black and white suit that he drew himself was fitted perfectly. He smiled as the snow fell from the ceiling. He had to admit, it was a nice touch to the formal. Sketch strolled over to the dance floor where music echoed from the stage, sang by fellow Beata students. The artistic student got his boogie on with a big stupid grin on his face. His eyes surveyed the floor, maybe there was someone cool enough to dance with him.

Sketch's Suit:

Iris stepped into the formal room. She wasn't quite sure where her brother was, maybe she'd speed around and see if he was on the floor somewhere. Her red dress was cut short at her knees and she had bright red high top converse to go with the whole shabang. The speedster zipped into the dance room, causing a few girls dresses to fly up from the sudden burst of wind. Iris came to a stop near the punch table, eyeing down the chocolate cupcakes. Oh.. oh this was a thing. Iris picked up one of the perfect chocolate shells and greedily started peeling away the wrapper.

Iris's Dress:

There was a slight excitement in Sam at how Keir didn't seem phased by their slight awkwardness, their expression lighting up slightly...Only to fade when Keir introduced themselves. Lupo...That name was familiar. Barely. Lupo, Lupo, Lupo. For a few ever awkward seconds, they tried to place it until it hit them that they did recognize it. Outside of being familiar due to remembering a student at Beata with that name fifteen years ago, they were pretty sure it had been mentioned a few times since their arrival at Beata...But sadly they were left unaware of the impact of it and simply smiled once again. "My name is Sam Locke!" they finally said, glancing down at their dress as they gave a soft shake of their body to make the helm of it twist slightly. "Thanks - I wasn't quite sure if other people would like it. I'm...Uh, not up to date on fashion," they sheepishly said. Then again, they weren't even up to date on fashion from fifteen years ago - they just liked wearing whatever was comfortable, trends be damned. "And, ah, I'm here alone," they explained with a sight shrug of their shoulders. "I'm kinda...New to Rivers' Pointe and I'm not super interested in dating anyways so I didn't bother to find a date. Figured I would just...Mingle and makes friends or something I guess."

Keir couldn't help but find the response to his name a little underwhelming, but ultimately shrugged it off. "Yeah, I didn't bring a date either. Besides," he paused as he turned around, looking through the crowd for a moment before pointing out two different boys with hair as snow white as his. "I think a couple of my brothers have that handled anyways." In the process of searching out some of his siblings he took notice of the dance floor and how many people were starting to dance on it, some alone and some with their dates. "Hey Sam, wanna dance as friends? Looks kinda fun and we don't have anything better to do." Keir hadn't exactly picked up on or realized the potential nervousness of Sam before making the offer to them. Of course, he didn't understand what there was to be scared about, especially with someone like him as a dance partner.

Pax, of course, took Eliza putting her hand to her chest as a joke, regardless of if it actually was one or not. Practically everything was a joke that shouldn't be taken too seriously to her, herself included. "You or that "drink" of yours?" She didn't provide much time to give a response, before responding with another wink. "Both, but I think what you have there could make things pretty interesting around here. I hear someone used to spike the punch every year, but I guess its kinda hard now. Still worth a try though, right? I mean, sharing is caring! Even if what you're sharing is gonna get everyone fuckin' shitfaced!" It hadn't occurred to her that despite the extra security around the drinks, someone had still managed to spike it already. Although, even if she did know that she would suggest spiking it some more anyways. Everyone would just get drunk off their asses even faster that way, right? And then the real fun would begin.

Anima looked at the notebook as Durran flipped through it, nodding in approval as she took in the artwork contained inside. She couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealously from it all, feeling like it was leaps and bounds ahead of anything she could ever even help to create, regardless of how true that may or may not have actually been. I'm Anima. Nice to meet you, Durran. Yeah, I am an artist; I draw in this too. I use it to talk to people to. I'm mute. I have a dumb text-to-speech thing on my unity link but I try to avoid using it because most people think it's kind of weird. She blushed a bit as she flipped her notebook around to show the words to Durran, trying to ignore the fact that nervousness had caused her typically clear, even beautiful handwriting to be noticeably sloppy, although still clearly legible. My art is kind of... uhm... I don't know if it's you would be into it or if it would really be your thing. It's kind of crappy not much compared to yours, anyways. But I mean, if you wanna would like to see it... I mean... In addition to her pausing at a few points to try and decide to write, several words were hastily scribbled out as she wrote, although her attempts to conceal them weren't terribly successful.

Enough siblings that he had to think about the answer. He took a long sip of cider. "Five brothers, five sisters. We're all the same age." Yeah, and it was as grisly as it sounded. Evander just hoped she didn't press too hard for details. "Luckily, we're not identical."

---

---

Yes. Yes. Definitely no more than one or two. Cailin glanced conspiratorially from the Guardians, to the platters, to Jon. She scooted further down the table, leaning in, producing folded plastic squares from the beaded corset over her ruffled dress, held between her fingers like a hand of cards. Ziploc bags. "I'm waiting until they announce the royals, and then I'm loading up when no one's looking. Are you in?"

Danae-Alisse was not blind to her new friend's distress and made certain to slow her steps to be in pace with Sophie. "Hey, are you feeling ok?" The redhead was more intimately familiar with the posture Sophie was displaying than she was willing to admit. Yet, despite knowing that she herself would have rather been left alone, Danae-Alisse still found herself reaching out in concern to her comrade. However, not knowing that only a portion of what lay in Sophie's head was social nerves, Danae-Alisse only commented upon what she could tell. "My friends are...well, they're a strange lot. But they're good people. Unless," she considered, "they're all secretly bug people who have taken human form and are planning on gaining our trust before devouring us!" She laughed lightly, to show that she didn't actually think that. At the same time, Danae-Alisse did wonder if any of the people in this place could turn into bugs. Despite being a new-arrival, I wouldn't be surprised.

After a few more weaves of the crowd, the duo arrived with the rest of Danae-Alisse's team, plus one or two she didn't recognize. "See Eliza, I did come. So you needn't have fretted so," she said by way of greeting, "Oliver! You're looking snazzy. This is my friend Sophie. We met in the library and is an avid book lover!" Turning towards Pax, she said, "I don't think we met. I'm Danae-Alisse."

***

Durran's face, if possible, split into a wider grin."That's a clever way of getting around it," he complimented, "spect doin' so much writing helps strengthen ya wrists." Reading onto her next words, he replied with an amicable laugh and said, "I'd love ta see what ye've done. Kin imagine they're as pretty as you." Having no idea as to effect his words would bring, Durran waited eagerly to see what she had to show.

It was uncharacteristic of Theo to be nervous, at least not openly, but he couldn't help the feeling, stalling by the door and waiting for his date. Despite what maybe his siblings had expected, for him to stay at home and continue flipping through his books and hanging out with Sheldon Catpurr, a perfectly normal night, he had decided to come as well. And he wasn't going to look out for them, tonight he wasn't going to care what they were doing, but he couldn't help himself as he began spotting familiar, white-haired figures in the crowd. With dates, or at least friends, too - he was kind of proud of them, actually, considering he had yet to reunite with any.

He'd wanted to meet her at her dorm, walk with her to the Grand Hall, but he ended up getting scared and calling that plan off - he didn't want to seem tacky, or awkward, or God knows what else she'd think he was. Maybe he was just a coward.

Theo's Outfit:

---

Everything was bright and dazzling, and everyone was dressed way more formally (maybe that's why it was called a formal) than what Jessé had ended up deciding to wear. His dad had mailed him this entire suit, all sharp and, admittedly, pretty cool, but, after a failed attempt to "lighten it up" with a sharpie and a handful of markers, it had lost both its sharpness and its coolness. As soon as he made his way into the Grand Hall, dateless but still excited for no particular reason, he spotted a couple, which did not hurt his pride at all, but instead prompted him to blurt out "Damn, you look good." before making a beeline for the snack table.

Firing out compliments to everyone he bumped into on his way, the Autumn ultimately reached his destination. It wasn't that he was particularly hungry, but if it was something that made him feel a million times better, it was hoarding all the food from a large event. His dad used to scold him when he was younger, but joke's on him!

Jessé's Outfit:

---

Just like a real, princess ball!

It was at this point that Jinju was at the pinnacle of excitement, physically trembling but not wanting to allow it to show - after all, this was not something unusual to attend, for a princess. And, apparently, it was nothing odd for the people here to be at. All the girls were so pretty, that she couldn't help feeling a little jealous, even if her dress was nothing short of perfect, at least in her opinion. Still, she wished she also had a date to dance with, just like all princesses.

When it all felt rather hopeless, and she was beginning to become impatient and lonely, she spotted, out of the corner of her eye, a familiar face, accompanied by many unfamiliar ones. It was better than nothing, she decided, and  moved purposefully in their direction, becoming giddier and bouncier with every step. The night was already improving the moment she caught up with Sophie and the unknown crowd, waving her arms to draw their attention to herself. "Hey, hey! You should've given me a heads-up if were going to come, Sophie." she scolded her, slightly breathless, but not upset. She gave the rest a giggle and a tiny bow. "Jinju - nice to meet you!" she introduced herself to the three.

Jinju's Outfit:

"I'm fine," Sophie said, trying harder to relax—or, at the very least, appear more relaxed. She smiled as they approached Danae-Alisse's friends, giving a shy wave and blushing as Danae-Alisse introduced her. "It's nice to meet you all! Wow, all of you look lovely!" She tried not to compare herself and settle easily into her role of watching and listening before becoming a major part of the conversation. She would chime in when she felt it was worthwhile, she promised herself. Until then, she would be content to observe.

Of course, this plan was overruled when she spotted– "Jinju!" She shrieked uncharacteristically, wrapping her arms around who she had come to think of as her very first friend. "I didn't even know I was coming," she giggled, "I hardly even knew it was happening, but Danae-Alisse here convinced me. You look so beautiful! Not that I'm surprised one bit. You are a princess, after all." At this point, with such little information, Sophie wasn't sure if it was true or not. She said it like she believed it, though. It was possible, but considering what little she knew of loyalty, she did know of certain manners they seemed to possess, which were different from Jinju's. Besides, something did seem a bit... off about her. She acted as if she lived in a child's fairytale. Sophie didn't care, though; she liked the energy and excitement Jinju had, as if everything was magical. She lived in a whole different world, but it made this one better, as far as she could tell.

Oliver was not in his element at all. Too many people, too much spiking of the punch, just too much. He almost didn't hear Danae-Alisse. "Oh, uh, hi Sophie. Nice to meet you," he said, awkwardly sticking out his hand for him to shake. God, he was awful around new people. A complete dunce.

Stephen chuckled at Jo. "Only once or twice? C'mon, I wanna show off my sweet dance moves!" he teased back. "Should we join Shep and Rin or just let them do their own thing?" On one hand, he wanted to keep having a great night with his blood brother. He almost laughed just thinking about that incident. But on the other hand, even he could tell that Shep wasn't having the greatest of nights.

Danni had peeled away from Beecher and his treasonous date and was just hanging around near the stage listening to the band play some ancient songs that felt like they were typical prom/formal songs of their time. Which was better than anything made in the present, at least. But she hoped that soon there'd be something a little faster than the current slow-songs-that-make-couples-want-to-dance-and-singles-want-to-vom.

Listening to the girl intently, Eliza decided that she'd never met such a mischievous little spirit. This school had thrown her in the middle of the weirdest mix of people that she'd ever come across, and she had a feeling it was only half due to the presence of magic. Mostly, everyone was just weird. This girl included. At least it kept things interesting. For a moment after the girl finished talking, Eliza stared at her keenly, in thought. Then, an almost evil smile stretched across her face. A school tradition of spiking the punch? Supposedly a real challenge, probably with high stakes? And if they succeeded, she'd have the added pleasure of watching everyone go crazy for a bit? That should definitely make things interesting. After a moment, she reached out her hand, as if to shake the other girl's. Hidden in her palm, she held the flask. Subtly, she slipped it over.

"I like the way you think. Alright, let's make this happen. I'll distract them, you think you can handle the rest?" This whole mission was making her feel like a secret agent, and the most important part of being an agent was to make use of all of one's assets. She took a moment to make sure her hair was perfectly in place and looked down to adjust her said assets. Then she strutted away. Eliza realized belatedly that she never told the girl her name. Oh well. If one of them got caught, it was best if they didn't bring their partner down with them.

She made her way up to the table, making sure to stand a bit further down from where the guardian stood, protecting the punch bowl. Discreetly, she checked out the guardian. Though their expression was blank, she could read in their eyes that they wished they could be anywhere but here, serving a stupid mix of fruit punch and Sprite to a bunch of children. Eyes were very important. They were, after all, the window to the soul. Which was probably why eye contact was so crucial for her powers to work effectively. If she could reach into your soul, you were practically her's. At least, that was what she was hoping for. Suddenly, Eliza let out a yelp. "Oh shit, I mean - oh dang." Her eyes flicked over to the guardian, but she had yet to capture their attention. "Ow ow ow! I think I have something in my eye. Oh, ow that hurts. Mister?" The guardian, pulling themselves out of a daze to finally look over. She smiled at him sheepishly. "Is there something in my eye? Could you check please?" Sighing, probably thinking I mean there's nothing else to do the guardian took a few steps and leaned over, meeting her gaze.

"Look closely, please. Don't look away from me." Her voice was low, wrapping around the guardian. Her eyes, a strange purple that pulled him in, completely mesmerizing him. The good thing about drinking, aside from like, everything else about it, was that it gave Eliza a crazy boost to her powers. The only problem was it became hard to control, almost impossible for her to shut off. That was far from what she needed right now though, so she welcomed the power flowing through her as she put everything into entrancing the man. Alright, partner in crime. Time to step up to the plate.

Sam followed Keir's gaze, watching the two other white-haired students with a curious look. Their gaze only lingered for a few seconds, before blinking in surprise as Keir's offer sank in. Dancing? They turned to stare at him, confused but yet...Excited by the offer. If there was one thing that Sam was detemined to do since they had started to settle back into being a student, it was being as normal as they could be - but making sure they stayed true to themselves all the while. And this was a formal, it was expected to dance...It only took a few seconds for a smile to flicker across their face as the held out their hand. "You know what? Why not! I would love to dance. I'm...Uh, not that good of a dancer thought," they warned sheepishly, giving another shrug of their shoulders. "Never really gave it a try, even at the last Winter Formal I went to."

Keir returned the smile before gently taking Sam's hand in his own and starting to lead them over to the dance floor. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure it'll be fine. It's just dancing." He practically radiated confidence and pride, as if the possibility of something bad happening while they danced didn't even exist. Once they were both to the dance floor Keir took Sam's other hand in his before starting to slowly dance along with them to the music. His movements and footwork, while far from perfect, were practiced enough that it was clear he at least knew what he was doing, even if dancing wasn't exactly one of his strengths. Of course, Keir would have put far more effort into practicing if he knew the skill would actually be put to use. He of all people shouldn't be settling for good enough after all. But for the time being, he did just that.

Pax was careful to keep the hand-off of the flask as subtle as possible, not even doing anything to acknowledge it had happened, only giving a quick nod in response to the question. She snuck a glance at Eliza's chest when she adjusted her dress before looking down at her own chest after Eliza strutted away, pouting for a moment. She sure was a lucky one, wasn't she? Pax continued to dance on her own as she had been doing, watching Eliza whenever she happened to be facing the right way to do so without making it painfully obvious. Couldn't risk blowing their cover at any point during this, after all. Almost getting carried away by her dancing, Pax hardly noticed Eliza drawing away one of the guardians, leaving a punch bowl vulnerable and defenseless. She started off towards the bowl, forcing herself to keep her gaze off of Eliza and the guardian now as she made her approach. Now it was time for a little extra trickery, just to be safe. Suddenly she faked a sneeze, a dark grey cloud of smoke erupting around her for just long enough to conceal her pouring the entire flask into the bowl. As soon as the deed was done the smoke flew up one of her sleeves and promptly vanished. A student nearby was looking right at Pax, who simply offered him a shrug and an awkward smile that said "Sorry!" before backing off from the punch a bit. Mission accomplished.

Anima's blushing only grew more intense at the compliments, a shy and embarrassed grin forming on her face. She flipped through the notebook for a moment, seemingly to a different section of it before turning it towards Durran. Across two side-by-side pages was a drawing of Beata from the front gates, neatly colored in. Of note was the level of detail in the drawing: she'd seen and drawn in every little thing she could, even if doing so made the drawing take far longer. She gave him plenty of time to take the drawing in, before flipping to the next page. This time there was a separate drawing on each page, one that was art of the sunset, and one that showed some of the buildings in the Aurum District. Her nervousness getting the best of her, she started to glance around a bit, unable to keep her gaze on the considerably taller man. Tall people  are rather scary, to be fair. She continued to flip through a few more pages as she looked around, some colored and some not, but always showing the same level of detail. Unknowingly, Anima then turned the page onto a nude drawing of herself that left absolutely nothing to the imagination and that had yet to be colored in, presumably one of her more recent ones. As if it were any other drawing it was left for Durran to look at for plenty of time as Anima started to run out of things to look at in the room. At least her anatomy was pretty good.

Eliza was very careful not to look away and break the spell, but caught her accomplice in her peripheral. The smoke was a nice little touch, she observed, admiring her work. Secret agents, and all that. Once Pax had successfully faded into the crowd, Eliza flashed a smile to the guardian, who was basically in a trance. He looked like he was a moment away from drooling. Pathetic. "Oh, I think I got it! Those pesky fake lashes, you get it sir. Thank you so much!" He blinked rapidly as the spell snapped, but after a moment regained himself. "No problem?" Eliza was already turning away, but she paused. "Actually, could I have some punch? Two cups, please."

It took her a moment to find the girl (she'd been so short after all), but Eliza snaked through the crowd over to her and handed her a cup. "Cheers?" She smirked, before tapping the cups together and taking a drink. Over the rim of the plastic, she spotted her group, and to her pleasant surprise she realized Danae-Alisse had shown up. "Hit me up next time you're looking for trouble, okay cutie?" She patted the girl on the shoulder and winked, before disappearing into the crowd.

Eliza was practically grinning from ear to ear as she ran over and almost tackled Danae-Alisse in a hug. (Blame the alcohol.) "Danae-Alisse!" She took care to pronounce ever syllable, over-enunciating it a bit. "I'm so happy you came! Hi Sophie, it's so nice to meet you!" She smiled, and though it seemed like someone couldn't be this happy about everything, Eliza clearly genuinely was. (Definitely blame the alcohol.)

Sophie shook Oliver's hand politely, easily noticing that he seemed at least as shy as she was. At least I'm in good company, she thought. She usually got along with her fellow shy introverts, as they typically gave her the chance to ask all the questions she wanted, and they usually answered them. Though she had a hard time interacting in crowds, once she had someone's attention whose brain she could pick for answers, she tended to zoom in on them and forget the rest of the room. It was beginning to happen with Oliver, as she took in his height, his suit, his striking blue eyes, and the apparent age difference between them.

"Nice to meet you, too, Oliver," she said, smiling sweetly. "I'm brand-new at Beata, so I hope you all don't mind me hanging out with your group here. I don't really know anyone. Well, obviously I know Danae-Alisse and Jinju, and I've met one other..." she wanted to say person, but Ben was a cat, and there was no chance of forgetting it. "Well, anyway, thank you for letting me join you all, for the moment." Why was she so nervous? She really needed to relax. Wasn't this night supposed to be fun? Just keep smiling... try not to be creepy about it...

Suddenly Eliza was there, bubbly and exciting, to once again shift the atmosphere and focus. Sometimes it was hard to keep up in busy social circumstances like this. But Sophie beamed at the way the girl easily picked up her name, as if they had known each other for weeks. What a delightfully friendly girl, she must be. "Hi!" She responded cheerfully, trying to absorb at least a small amount of the bouncy girl's energy. "It's nice to meet you, too!"

Danae-Alisse was about to great Jinju, thinking that it wasn't surprising at all that she'd be a princess with how many crazy things she'd seen at this school. In fact, the redhead felt that if an entire royal procession strolled into the assembly she wouldn't bat an eye. However, her attempt was interrupted by a comet of energy bowling into her. "Eliza! How are you? I'm happy to see you too." She took a moment to take in the appearance of her teammate while also gently prying herself from Eliza's death hug. "You look lovely!" she continued. Still, she felt there was something off in how the girl spoke. Slurred and...and... Oh, sweet Jesus, she thought, is she drunk?! Why?! The how was easy enough to guess. Spiked punch. Or she simply brought some in herself. Resigning herself to not drinking anything throughout the night, she set herself about being social.

***

Durran eagerly peered at each drawing she showed, enjoying her skill. He made no comment, but his joy was evident upon his face and soft humming sounds he made as he examined various parts of her drawing. When her final picture showed up, he didn't even bat an eye, assuming that this was simply part of her intended display. After all, there had been a nude model drawing in class before. Certainly, it was, to him, a bit strange she'd be fine showing, well, herself. And, while he didn't draw any nude himself, unless instructed, he wasn't one to judge. Durran, completely oblivious to her growing embarrassment, simply eagerly awaited her next drawing.

The complete opposite of her date, Mary-Jane came waltzing into the hall, her hands wrapped around the fur coat that covered her torso.  Her smile was wide and bright as she pushed the mountain lion coat away, exposing her midriff. She wore a two-piece dress, the top made of lace flowers, the bottom just a silk, pleated skirt. Part of her hair was done up in a small bun, while the rest fell with their normal curly bounce. Without a word, she tossed the fur off towards the coat check and glided towards where her date stood in a matching blue suit.

Even without the wedge heels she wore, she stood taller than her date. It didn't bother her, in fact, she felt more powerful than the wolf boy that she easily snaked an arm around his neck. "Should we get a drink?"

"Knowing this school, everything's probably spiked by now. Hope that's good with you!" Having a semi-alcoholic father did wonders for her tolerance. She'd be lucky if she got a buzz tonight.

---

Along with the many other Andrews came the oldest of the male cousins. Jackson wore a straight black suit with electric yellow accents. It almost seemed to match his spiked hair. With a jump in his step, he made his way towards the various food tables, stuffing his mouth full of cakes and squares.

He spotted Cailin out of the corner of his eye. She was preoccupied with some poor bloke who looked like he was about to explode. Upon further inspection, he recognized the boy. One of the Wright kids. What was his name again? Jim? James? Jackson's eyes drifted between the two before he grabbed a small brownie and chucked it at his sister. It wouldn't stick to her dress like the rest of the assembly of treats, but he was damn sure she would rip his face off if he stayed too long. "Don't tell dad you have a boyfriend! Especially one of the Wright boys!" he spoke, mouth full of sweets as he ran off with a cheeky smile.

The blond slipped through dancing couples until he happened upon a group of girls and one lucky boy. Wiping his mouth free of crumbs and adjusting his tie, he walked up to the group, surprised by a familiar face. "Lizzy!" he cheered, running up to his cousin and throwing an arm around her shoulders. He pulled at the girl's cheeks with his free hand. "Introduce me to your friends!"

Mother had fussed over his appearance when attending this formal - casual clothes wouldn't do; he had to look at his very best -, and so, here he was, sitting on stage in a terribly stiff suit that he was sure hadn't been used before, feeling as though he had cardboard slipped down his back to force him to keep straight. Inigo suppressed a grimace as he tapped away at the cymbals and drums, occasionally spinning his drum sticks and playing with them as a boastful show of his skill. The other Sirens had tried talking him into singing with them, but he wouldn't have any of that, only promising that he might for other songs later into the night. All he had to do was keep tempo for their melodies and harmonies. If anything, through his slight nods and beating shoes, Inigo was almost ready to break out into complaints from boredom.

Staring down at the rest of the attendees only made his curiosity skyrocket, the unfamiliar and familiar faces swimming around in chatter and dance. He loved playing along with the rest of the band, but nothing could beat his desire to sate this curiosity of his and dire need to interact with others. So he crossed his fingers with a silent plea.

Please tell me we're going to have a break from playing soon.

outfit:

---

"Anniiiiiie~!" Snow-white wolf ears bounced atop her head, the frilly dress flouncing behind her with the gallop in her energetic steps until she wrapped her arms around her older sister's figure, a little too tightly (almost as though she were aiming to squeeze the life out of Danni, only that wasn't the case at all) for an elated greeting.

Bianca's head raised to face Danni. She wasn’t much taller than her and she didn’t have to turn her head far to make eye-contact with her… Stars in her eyes in utter adoration, Bianca stepped back moments after to look around for a moment, left, right, up, down, back to Danni. "Were you stood up by your date or did they ditch you? Because either way, lemme at 'em for you!"

outfit:

---

Charcoal-dyed gloves fiddled around with the brim of the cap in his fingers, not in its rightful place atop his head, overshadowing over nonexistent eyes and expressions in a subtle display of timidness. Behind the digital mask plastered across his face, Aine felt the corners of his lips turn down into a slight frown. In response, the screen flickered to an exasperated sigh for an emoticon before switching back to the usual cheesy and obnoxious smile. For him to dress up like this, neatly (but even now, straggles of hair stuck out, turning white in their overcast light above) and formally, and attend one of these uptight events was... not expected, but he'd ended up coming anyway, slinking in the corners without any intentions of taking off his mask to actually show his face, as ridiculous as it looked in the current atmosphere.

The tingling sensation crawled down his spine every time one person made physical contact with another - hugs, handshakes, accidental nudges -, every time he registered another voice in his head, joining the masses of sensations that fogged over his mind until he couldn't tell whether he was able to discern them too clearly or they had became an uncharacteristic muddle that he found incomprehensible. Whichever it was, Aine could already feel his toes turning towards the exit, almost subconsciously as if he wanted to leave already.

Side-eyed glance.

Any reason he could've had to stay at the formal (blackmail material, gossip, rumors, overly saccharine interactions between one-night dates...) didn't seem worth the headache.

outfit:

Sam let out a soft nervous laugh as they followed Keir out onto the dance floor, happily taking his hand as they started to dance - their movements a soft echo of Keir's, doing their best to mimic his footwork lest make a fool of themselves. And it was...Nice. It was nice, dancing with a friend - they supposed Keir was technically their friend now. To simply dance and relax, to act like everything was normal for once and be at ease. They wouldn't admit it but things had been stressful, trying to find where they fit in the 'future' they now found themselves in. They felt conflicted in so many ways, but dancing without a care in the world...

It truly was nice.

They allowed their gaze to shift across the hall, taking in the other students as they mingled and spoke in hushed tones with one another. There was a familiar blonde head that stuck out, their eyes lighting up as they realized they recognized that student. Shepard Herman. It wasn't hard not to recognize him - they had seen them in the hall and had easily learned their name but there was a giddiness to Sam as they realized that once their dance with Keir was done, they could have some fun messing with him - there wasn't many people that Sam could declare that they knew them as a baby despite being just slightly older.

Keir continued to dance with Sam for another song, before leading them back off of the dance floor as gently as he had first led them there to begin with. He smiled wide as he let go of their hands, having clearly enjoyed the dance quite a bit. Keir hadn't danced with anyone for the hell of it before this; all of his experience dancing prior was part of one clan celebration or another, which of course the heir to the clan's leader had to attend and participate in. Not that he minded that, however. But dancing with a friend just because he could was... different. A good kind of different. "That was nice. 'Cause you said you came here to make friends, I'll let you go make some more. See you later, Sam." And with that Keir was off, once again starting to navigate the crowds of people in the grand hall, looking for more people to socialize with. Maybe if he got particularly lucky, his dance with Sam wouldn't be the last one of the night.

Pax returned the wink to Eliza as she took the cup full of spiked punch. As opposed to her pat on the shoulder however, Pax gave Eliza a light slap on the rear as she turned to walk off, before going to disappear back into the crowds herself. She realized it would probably be best to try and lay low after spiking the punch, just in case someone else saw and realized what she did. The second Pax took a swig from the spiked punch however, she realized that if anything she would probably be drawing even more attention to herself before long. She was a... lightweight to say the least, and considering what she poured into the punch, just one cup would likely get her more than a little tipsy. God damn, this was going to be a fun night. Going to lean on the wall near where she was, she, against her better judgment, downed what was left of her drink all at once. A cough erupted from Pax immediately after, the alcohol failing to be entirely kind to her throat going down. Now it was time to wait unless someone came over to her.

After a few more page turns (which turned out to be blank, only further indicating that the last piece of art was the most recent) Anima looked down at her notebook. Upon seeing that she was now presenting to Durran a pair of blank pieces of notebook paper in all their glory, she frantically started to flip back in the opposite direction, seeking out the last page that did actually have something drawn on it. Thus she came to the drawing of her naked form, and in that moment her face became the new definition of the color red. Panic overtaking her, she stared at the page for a few moments before her gaze slowly moved up to Durran. Anima looked like a deer in headlights, completely lost on how the hell she could possibly salvage the horrendous, irredeemable gaffe that she had just committed. The fact that Durran was indifferent to what he was seeing was completely lost on her, and the look plastered on her own face showed nothing but a combination of fear and shame that screamed "holy shit I just fucked up really, really bad."

Perhaps he should have been more careful with himself, but Theodore could not help but gape a bit, as his date joined him. Pushing aside the fact that she looked stunning, they did as well match colors, which might have been both extra, and at the same time very satisfying. Sheepishly, he place his arm around her waist and followed her into the crowd, towards the table with (recently) spiked punch.

"You'd be surprised how much my family drinks." the Summer remarked, walking with a slight sway in his step, a hint of dancing. When they reached the table, he allowed his hand to drop from around her, getting the two of them full cups of the available refreshment. Theodore sniffed the liquid and smacked his lips subtly, eyes narrowing. "Definitely something in this." the boy remarked. "Well, bottoms up."

---

Jinju giggled and hugged her back excitedly, brushing locks out of her face when they had finally parted. It made her blush, to be finally called a princess at school, and she nodded eagerly. "And you look beautiful as well!" she replied, holding her handbag to her chest as she peeked at the others curiously. Especially the girl in the blue dress, the one that Sophie was with - she was quite a bit jealous of her dress, but she didn't say anything. Princesses weren't jealous.

As the conversation continued, she found herself slowly drifting away from the group, taken by the music to a place inside of her own head. That place in her own head, unfortunately, was too far for her to notice the stranger she bumped into, tethering on the heels she was not at all used to walking on, but managing to stay upright. Jinju excused herself, slightly flustered to have been so clumsy - but, oh well, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet a new person. "I guess the music is beautiful enough to capture one's attention completely, hm... I'm Jinju - and you?" she introduced herself, gracefully grabbing the sides of her red dress and bowing.

---

The sight was appalling.

Anatheus understood the professional aspect of going to such an event - to gather information on other students, whether it served to a certain end, or merely to amuse him. But he did not understand why someone would attend such a circus for fun. He watched them from the dark, the ones that were out there and enjoyed themselves, but, to be perfectly honest, there was another kind that interested him more - the ones like him.

They always proved to be fun to pick out. Hard to notice, sometimes, but always there. Whoever was behind that mask had managed to capture the attention of the spider-shifter. So he followed, getting himself a cup of punch to keep his hands occupied, to blend in, perhaps. Reaching the stranger, Anatheus cut them off from the way to the exit, without giving them a direct glance. "Someone mess up your face?" the adolescent inquired idly, sliding one hand in his pocket to feel the comfort of the knife he had taken with himself. Not for any particular purpose.

Anatheus' Outfit:

Durran was not oblivious to her distress, but was vaguely confused to what caused it. To him, her art was great. Nothing to be ashamed about. Sure, the last one was incomplete, but still a lovely start. However, it was that precise page that she had turned to when her embarrassment skyrocketed like a leaping bonfire. Considering for a second, Durran arrived at the, fortunately, correct conclusion that it was because it was a naked drawing of herself that had caused his companion's discomfort. But then, he thought, why have something ye don't want seen drawn in a notebook ye show people. T'was yet another baffling mystery that extended to the whole human race, rather than just the people living in these technological dwellings. After all, he kept the drawings of his visions well and separate from his other work. They were for himself, the one who he trusted to help figure them out with him, and those that they contained.  Pushing the thought aside, Durran attempted to console Anima with a distracting tidbit of information and pulling the focus of the art from her entire body to just her face. "Fi, lass. You need not look so distressed. I've helped a mother or two with delivery in my time, so it tain't nothing I haven't seen before. Tis also an excellent start. The face was near a striking likeness to ye own."

Staccato footsteps crescendoed in his direction, surpassing his languid carefree pace until a faceless stranger intervened in his path to solace. The pixelated smile stuck like glue onto the screen, and with a tilt of his head and wave, Aine shook his head, a quiet lofty giggle bubbling up his throat with the stutter and start of a bird beginning to take flight into the empyrean skies above. His gaze didn't seem to focus on the other's face quite properly, as difficult as it was to tell where exactly he was looking; a direct glance at a metaphorical knife point, he locked his arms behind his back, leaning in a little as a threat to intervene the stranger's personal bubble.

"It's awfully bold of you to assume that of someone you just met~" An energetic chirp-like beat laced into his words, spoken innocently but teasingly through a paperthin effeminate voice. A shift in the hands to fiddle in their pockets preceded the crawling pinprick sensation against his alabaster skin. "I don't suppose you're about to stab me with that knife in front of hundreds of people so the party really gets started now, are you?"

Keir caught his balance with ease when the girl bumped into him. Turning around to look at the girl, he offered her a smile when he saw her bow, responding with a curtsy of his own. "I'm Keir. Keir Lupo." He didn't recognize the girl or her name, but that was no big deal. He'd get to meet another person tonight, after all. "The music is really nice. The band must have been practising a lot before this." Putting in the time and effort needed to get really good at something was definitely something Keir could respect.

Anima snapped out of it upon hearing Durran's reassurances, turning the notebook back around after a moment and hurriedly writing where there was empty space on the page. Thanks. I just didn't mean to shiw you myself naked but if you like it I mean I'm glad you think it's really good and I did my best to make it as accurate as I could so I mean if you want- She abruptly cut herself off, pausing to try and think of how to even continue her strange combination of thanks, flirting, and damage control. I have more art like that in here too, even if some of it is a little more... lewd. But I mean you don't have to see it or anything- Now she was stopped by running out of space in the margins of the page, deciding to turn it back around and show the words to Durran, along with that same nude picture.

Durran let out a bark of laugher. "Wa ha! Aye, tis good likeness. Though, what do ye mean by 'lewd?' Bit baffling really. But ye only need show what yer comfortable showing me. After all, ye just said ye didn't mean to be showing yerself. Don't feel pressured to show more just cause I like the talent it shows. That would be a might ungentlemanly of me to try and push a lass to have her show me things she don't want to showing off ta others. Though, might I recommend ye ta keep pictures ye don't want shown in a different book. Makes it simpler to show off everything ye want seen."

He grinned down at her. She was already proving to be a fun lass to spend time with. Eager in her own way, yet nervous. Almost like some reindeer he knew back home.