Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala

”Congratulations.” Syed touched him on the wrist before he pulled away to return the photographs, and Lute appeared confused. “Thanks, I guess…? For what though?” He said before Charlotte gushed and the girls excused themselves to dance with a couple of well-dressed partygoers. The virtuoso’s new lady friend gave him a perky wave, accompanied by a “Ring me up when you’re in town so I can introduce you to Claude oh oh oh and you should totally bring your friend’s Schneider along with you okay!?” before bouncing off to the dance floor. Schneider was Robin’s rottweiler and Lute wasn’t entirely sure that the two dogs would get along.

Now that the girls were gone Lute eased up and slouched against his seat, drawing in a deep breath as he listened to the music. All of a sudden Lucien said “… Oh hey Lute, catch” and he opened his eyes barely to prevent the soda can from hitting him square in the face. “Ouch. Hey!” The virtuoso groused as he rubbed on his mask to see if there was a chip. That hurt. “Nope, definitely not forgiven,” Lute quipped as he placed the beverage down on the table, but he was smiling. “Let’s not try this “babe hunting” again, okay? Maybe next time, but twice in one night…”

And then this brown-haired boy shot in from out of nowhere, drawing Lute’s eyes to the bar where Moira was- to his amazement- gyrating like there was no tomorrow. “Oh no… Is she alright? She’s not having a seizure, is she?” The virtuoso turned to Syed, his eyes wide in genuine concern, as he made a move to stand up from his chair. However, the berserker’s bellows soon informed him that no, she wasn’t having a seizure, but… “Are they going to be okay?” Lute gnawed on his lip as he watched their barhopping friends. They all seemed a lot more loose somehow… And that man taking the pictures wasn’t going to publish those, right?

“Wait wait wait, he’s not actually targeting Aria is he? And what about miss Amy? Is miss Moira fine with those flashes?” This time, a buzzing sound filled the area where the three were and Lute’s worried profile turned into an agitated one. Maybe he’s an event photographer. That would explain the zeal. But… “What will we do?” He murmured to himself as the strange buzzing noised faded away and the virtuoso relaxed. He didn’t want to overreact… That being said, Lute just opened the soda can and drank the contents, eyeing the photographer over the metal rim, waiting for a signal to go over and... well... screech at Simon.

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala

A pint of vodka and three shots later, Aria was starting to feel rather tipsy. She happily gave the bartender a salute as he sent three more shots, poking at the last colorful jelly and grinning as it wobbled. Amy and Moira were starting to fall under as well, the cleric now had a large mischievous grin on her face while Moira had stood up to dance, emulating the bartender and shaking it like tere was no tomorrow.

"You do much dancin'? I ain't had a proper dance in forever."

"Not as well as you can," Aria teased, popping the little block of jelly in her mouth before being blinded by a flash that made we flail and nearly fall off the barstool. Blinking away the spots in her eyes and squinting through the flashes, she spotted a very energetic and rather cute guy to be the source of the nonstop lights. Were they doing event photography?

She shifted over, crossing her legs as she posed, winking flirtatiously at the newcomer.

"I'm Aria," she purred happily as the bartender brought out round three, this one each a gradient of bright colors. She downed one before picking up a pink one, toasting Amy and Moira.

"How bout we hit the dance floor after this round?" She looked to the still gyrating Moura, then back to Simon. "You're welcome to join us, of course~"

Tobias' Gala: Table
"So um, am I forgiven?"

Syed looked down at the mug, somewhat suprised that a party like this even served tea. Or that Lucien even thought of asking for it. But hey, Lucien always seemed to know what he felt like or what he wanted. He was a good friend like that. When he actually stopped to think about it, that was. He looked back to his friend, considering him for a good solid moment.

Then without any warning, he reached over with one of his long arms and pulled the panda hat right off Lucien's head, pulling it over his own curls instead. A large dorky grin spread across his features. "Don't be silly," he laughed, patting Lucien on the shoulder. "I'm just wierd with this kind of thing. I'm happy to back you up when you chat with girls, but don't drag me into it okay?"

His smile quickly faded though, as he looked back to his tea. He felt guilty now. Like he had sabotaged Lucien's attempts. Just because... nah, no point thinking about that. "I'm sorry too," he added quietly, cupping his hands around the tea. Then without another word he lifted the cup to his lips, and ding! immediately looked classy as hell. Somehow. The magic of tea.

Syed raised an eyebrow with a slight smile at how Lute spoke Aria's name, along with the strange buzzing which now filled the air around them. He exchanged looks with Lucien. However, Lute was kind of right. Sure, Moira was positively lapping it up, and Aria was going full on flirt-mode, but who knew what they'd think when sober. Okay, yeah, Moira would still love it. But he knew Amy would be mad as hell if she saw a photo of herself like this, that's for sure.

"Let me talk to him," he said quickly, standing up and striding towards Simon. Well, Moira was twerking now. No wonder Lute thought she was having a seizure. "Hey, Simon? Can I have a word-"

"SY!" Moira bellowed as she slammed down her toast drink, causing him to flinch. "Where have you been?! Come on, we're dancin'."

"Moira! Wait-!" Syed spluttered, flushing at the idea. Oh no...

"Ey. Eyyyyyyyy. Ey. Don't ruin her jazz," Moira slurred a little, thumbing towards Aria as she flirted away. And with that she stomped onto the dancefloor, dragging Amy's wrist in one hand and yet another drink in the other. And started rave dancing, shouting at the others to join. The formal dancers on the floor looked disgusted.

Syed pulled the hat he still wore forward over his face - the silly mask wasn't doing enough to cover the vibrant shade of crimson which was staining his cheeks. Oh Vayu let the winds take him away now...

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Bar

"Jelly?" Amy scoffed at the newest shotglass passed her way. She downed it immediately with a smile. "I fuckin' hate jelly!"

"Ey, Ree, you do much dancin'? I ain't had a proper dance in forever." Moira began to gyrate herself, along with the weirdass bartender. Amy too was just about to groove it, just ready to have the time of her life. But then... then the return of those cold, dark flashes.

"My name's Simon! Who might you be?"

"Oh gods, not him again." Amy was close to slamming her head on the countertop, but stopped short due to the glasses in the way. Thankfully she was sober enough to stop herself that time. Then Aria greeted the photographer pleasantly, even posing for him. Amy threw her arm out at this. "What are you... doing!" she yelled with an awkward pause between words. She was ready, so ready to charge out of her barstool and pummel this perv into the ground. But when she swiveled she nearly flopped onto the ground, but luckily managed to keep herself from tumbling over. So she just kinda sat there on the stool. Gods dammit.

Amy was yanked out of her seat anyway by Moira. She wasn't even sure she could walk in her own heels anymore, and opted to 'accidentally' step out of them after Moira had dragged her away a few steps. Then she started to rave to the music, totally out of beat. Amy joined along as well, rocking gently (though unevenly) while rolling her arms around or whatever. She had already forgotten about Simon. That vodka was much stronger than she was prepared for. Nothing like the weak shit at Clockwork.

"Aaaaaria," she called, now stumbling a tad on her bare feet. "Where are you, come on." She snatched whatever remained of Moira's drink right out of her loosened hand and downed the rest in an instant, before chucking the glass behind her - towards the table Syed, Lucien, and Lute were at.

---

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Second Floor

Trixie trailed after her distraught friend immediately - although she didn't catch onto Estelle's anxiety as easily. The open-mouthed smile on her face was as wide as ever. She raced down the stairs after her heroine, though unlike the redhead Trixie did stumble forward. Dalia had caught her just in time though. Seeing as Rose declined to go and the other two guilders trailed after their leader, Dalia had no choice but to follow after them. And it was only because she had that Trixie's life was spared from the steps of doom - the Pixie's new mortal enemy.

"Wowie, thanks Miss Dollie!" She spun around and hugged the priestess. "You saved my life! Now time to go ruin Supersis'!" Then she twirled around on the same step (nearly falling over again) and continued her trek down. She stopped beside the metallurgist. In the midst of Estelle's fretting, Trixie leaned over to Xandra. She cupped a hand between her mouth and Xandra's ear. "I don't think he's actually dancing. But Supersis is really funny. Heeeeh."

Estelle's view of the guilders was soon blocked by a young man, who also appeared to be wearing a mask. He just walked right up in front of her, looking away from her face and twiddling his thumbs. "Um, lovely mask you have on, madam! It um, it matches mine," the young man said with a bow. His blonde cowlick gave away his clumsiness, but he did his best not to stumble. As if his stammering wasn't enough, he tugged at his collar twice and gulped when he rose to a proper but stiff stance. "Would you, um, would you care to dance? ... Please?"

Trixie bit her lips and puffed her cheeks like a little fat boy getting cotton candy. "This is gonna be so funny," she squeaked. Though she couldn't keep her eyes off the redhead and that blonde kid's backside, she nudged closer to Xandra and continued speaking in her hushed but high-pitched voice. "Should we dance too??"

Syed pulled his hat right off his head and he puffed up his cheeks in indignation.

"Not cool, you gave me hat hair." He began fumbling with his now tousled hair but couldn't help but laugh. "Nah, nah, lying is wrong." Lucien shrugged, before a mischievous smile lit up his own face. "They actually believed me though, they looked really impressed." He puffed out his chest but realization hit and he laughed. "Still, it was wrong." His eyes flitted across the dance floor and for a moment he watched the girls converse with the other guys in suits, they talked on for a little bit before finally disappearing from view. "Oh well," he turned back to face his friends but not long after, there was a loud and cheerful voice followed by the sudden appearance of some guy with a camera.

The summoner watched as he snapped photo after photo of the girls and Lute, he seemed really upset. Unlike Lute, Moira though was enjoying it and even began to dance. Lucien popped up behind the virtuoso and ushered him forward, "if you want to stop him then you're going to have to steal that dance." He gave the virtuoso a determined nod and a broad grin.

Things were getting lively and the boss was a pretty good dancer! He'd never seem moves like those before. It was then that his eyes landed on Tobias and he tapped Syed on the shoulder. "Hey, isn't that the guy Dylan warned us about? Is he looking at the girls?" Wait, wait, was he looking at the girls or was he looking at them? The summoner narrowed his eyes. "Maybe we should stay here, yeah?" Their friends weren't exactly in their right minds at the moment so keeping an eye out for them would probably be a good idea.

---

"I'd love to accompany you, but I think I'll follow after them." Xan gave Dallia an apologetic look. "Sorry to decline your offer."

By the time she had finished Estelle was already downstairs, a blur of red in a sea of colors. In the end Dallia ended up joining them and Trixie raced after her. Xan chuckled at their enthusiasm and made her way downstairs.

"I don't think he's actually dancing. But Supersis is really funny. Heeeeh."

She looked at Trixie for a few moments. Did the girl actually do that on purpose? "Why, aren't you a devious little pixie?" Xan placed a hand on Trixie's head and try as she might, it was impossible to hold back a grin.

It was pretty impressive how speedy Estelle was in a dress. She arched an eyebrow at their leader, a grin still plastered to her face. "Marcus must be someone really special to her, huh?" She laughed again, agreeing with Trixie. "I guess you can say that, poor Estelle though. Are you sure you aren't an evil mastermind in training, pixie?" A young man in a mask approached Estelle and asked her to dance. In reponse to that Trixie looked pretty pleased and asked if they would dance too.

Xan laughed and twirled Trixie around. "If you want, I can help find you a partner. But after that, I'll watch you both from the sidelines." Dancing wasn't exactly something she saw herself doing, and the cake on the refreshment table looked quite delicious. She spotted a young boy around Trixie's age glancing nervously at the dance floor then nudged the prankster softly with her elbow. "Hmm, what do you think?" She joked. Unexpectedly, the party was turning out to be quite fun.

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala

What… What’s happening? The virtuoso caught the glass the cleric had chucked their way and returned it to a waiter before heading towards the bar. “Syed, don’t tell me one of our friends threw that,” He asked the brightly blushing mage before glancing over at the dance floor. The ballroom dancers swept to one side as if repelled by the sudden appearance of a very enthusiastic Moira, who was grooving along with Amy. The two of them seemed to want Aria to join them…

“Hey you! Stop that!” Lute crowed and skirted over in between Simon and Aria, shifting from one foot to another with his arms spread out to intercept the speedy photographer. Flash! A sudden burst of light blinded the virtuoso and he staggered back, tripping on Amy’s discarded heels, orange and blue dots swirling around along with the smattering of people who decided to continue dancing. He turned his back on the energetic student and braced his head on the sides with his arms, still blinking to dispel the last waves of multicolored polka dots.

Wait…

“Are you actually batting your eyelashes? At me?” Well, probably not at him but at Simon since he just got in the way, but Lute exclaimed in disbelief nonetheless as the illusionist gave him a dopey smile. “Wow, this is bad. Just how many- Whoa!” The white-haired man took a step back when he saw the gyrating, chin-jutting bartender mixing a drink. How… How does he do that!? Does he have no bones? Another flash disrupted his vision and Lute turned to the source, who was still posing and taking pictures at different angles at the speed of light. “Can you… stop that!? Enough! Hey! Are you even listening to me!? It's very impolite and- Oof!” The virtuoso grimaced and raised his arm to block the flashes, stepping to the side to catch up when Simon when once again, he tripped on the cleric’s shoes.

This time he fell on his butt, jarred by the sudden fall that was surely caught on cam.

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Second Floor (Recreation Room)

“Poker? Of course. It’s my favourite game.” Marcus smiled a pleasant smile, taking the open chair to sit at the table alongside Angel, Sebastian and their new arrival, Hannah amongst another two players. He ran his fingers along the tops of the coloured plastic chips, counting each of them and internally weighing the value of his stack. Upon being pleased with the results, he calmly folded his hands together, waiting for Angel to shuffle the deck of cards and begin dealing the crisp, shining cards out face down to each player.

Marcus and Sebastian effortlessly picked their cards up with trained practice, Sebastian grasping them in his hooves and bringing them close to his face, so only he could see. His eyes shifting from side to side were done to make sure no one else could see his cards. From across the table, Hannah lifted up her own cards, and then leaned over the table towards Angel, knocking over stacked chips in the middle of the table and revealing her considerable cleavage in the process of leaning forward) to show Angel her cards.

“Hey, Angel? Is this a good hand? This is a good hand, isn’t it?” She asked, fluttering her eyelashes as she looked back and forth between the student’s pretty face and her cards. Sebastian’s hoof slapped his face, and Marcus laughed politely as a vein twitched in Angel’s brow.

“No, Hannah, honey, you’re not supposed to show me your cards, I’m playing too, I… oh brother.”

---

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala – Ground Floor (Dance Hall)

"Um, lovely mask you have on, madam! It um, it matches mine," the young man said with a bow. His blonde cowlick gave away his clumsiness, but he did his best not to stumble. As if his stammering wasn't enough, he tugged at his collar twice and gulped when he rose to a proper but stiff stance. "Would you, um, would you care to dance? ... Please?"

“Move out of the way, buddy!” Estelle replied without pausing, thrusting her arm out and pushing the poor man out of the way as she stomped past him, looking in every direction she possibly could to try and find Marcus. She couldn’t waste any time dancing with a random man when Marcus could be… could be…!

But she couldn’t find or see him. The dancing was still so lively and packed with bodies that she couldn’t seem to find him anywhere, and the groans from the man behind her suddenly began to register to Estelle. She turned around, to find him sprawled on the floor, gingerly rubbing the back of his head. Guilt began to overwhelm her, and she ran back a little bit, hoping to make matters right and lift him back up to his feet. She hadn’t intended to push him down like that… it was mean.

She bent down, outstretched her arm to the fallen man… and her fingertips touched his. She froze, as did he, and the pair of them stared at each other. This close up, the man was suddenly transfixed by Estelle, and his cheeks grew red. The same then occurred for Estelle, but it wasn’t just the man’s own bashfulness that prompted her own. It was the growing guilt that was developing from the blood dripping down the man’s nose from where she hit him. This was… this was bad. She owed him now.



Meanwhile, across the other side of the dance hall, the bar was filled with yet more excitement and interest. After Simon interrupted the girls’ drinking, Moira had dragged Syed and Amy with her to the dance floor, to bust an embarrassing set of moves that only a mature woman possibly could. With their attempts at picking up girls having failed and with a man lost to the dance floor to join Moira and Syed, Lucien and Lute were left alone. Lute quickly dashed towards the bar, in an attempt mixed of naivety, adorableness and jealousy in hoping to defend Aria from Simon’s photographing advances – something, however, Aria didn’t seem to mind. As Lute tried to dive in, however, he only made matters worse for himself.



Dylan simply turned and stared in disbelief. During the entire time this had been happening, he had been downing shot after shot. Turning back to see his friends again, he couldn’t believe how much had changed so quickly and the perplexing aftermath that had been left to him.

“Lute…? Simon…? Aria…? Whas goin’ on? Whys the room all spinnin-” Flash!

Dylan couldn’t see anything but spots.

Flash, flash flash!

“Oh… hey buddy. I didn’t see you there!” Simon paused briefly from his frenetic photo snapping to see Lute sprawl on the floor after trying to do… ‘something’, multiple times. Simon scooted towards Lute as quickly as he could, skipping practically on tip toes to the fallen virtuoso, and offering him a friendly hands up to mimic events transpiring across the hall with Estelle and her nameless approachee. He gripped Lute firmly, and helped pull him to his feet, slapping his shoulders and body free of dust, and standing back with his arms folded over his chest to inspect him satisfactorily.

“I think you’re looking okay, buddy!” Simon grinned. “Nothing looks hurt or broken! You feel alright, though?”

“Less taaaaaaaaalk more daaaaancingggg!” Aria slurred, hopping off her bar stool and suddenly interlocking both of her arms into Simon’s and Lute’s, dragging them to the dance floor exactly where Moira, Amy and Syed were. Or at least, the general vicinity of them.

The sudden lurch and grabbing of Lute though unbalanced the poor man yet again, and he was sent stumbling backwards and away from her, hip hopping on one foot into the throng of the dance party, his arms bicycle-wheeling over and over again. Despite his best intentions, he was going to fall over again. He knew it, he just knew it. Even the voice inside his head was telling him that, and she did it with a snickering laugh at the approaching inevitability.

The on looking dancers all thought Lute’s jig was some new and crazy dancing fad, and some even started to mimic it, whilst others stared in wonder and bewilderment at Moira, Amy, Aria and Simon.

Lute eventually stopped though, just as his foot slipped out from under him and he tumbled over forwards. But, fortunately for him, he managed to avoid the floor this time. Instead, he landed on something a lot softer that stopped his fall almost as soon as it began. Something soft and bouncy and quite… happy. Something that smelled… nice?

“Why hello again… Lute, isn’t it?”

The man froze on the spot as a chill of dread beaded and sweated down the nape of his neck and spine. He couldn’t forget that voice from earlier on in the day. He couldn’t have landed where… where he thought he had, could he? He… he… he didn’t mean…!

Ooh, naughty boy, chimed the voice in his head.

Lute back-pedalled out, trying his best amongst sputtering coughs and fits to apologise for his gross and completely accidental but still inexcusable actions and that he really didn’t mean to do such a thing because he wouldn’t dare do something like that he wasn’t a pervert like the camera man even if he did grow up and spend a lot of time with girls like Robin it didn’t mean he was one of those guys it was purely an accident of course and oh god where is the nearest exit to run to or toilet stall to hide in oh kill me now please Gods kill me



“Would you care to dance, Lute?” Rose held out her hand regally, the sound of her tranquil voice snapping him out of his panic to stare up at the beautiful woman in her dazzling, glittering diamond dress, her full red lips curled into a delicate smile awaiting him to take her up on her offer. An offer, when looking into her, he realised could not possibly be refused without then departing this world for good.

---

“Your friends are certainly a lively bunch, aren’t they?”

A voice snapped the left behind Lucien to look over his shoulder to a bedazzling man with indigo hair in a smart and well dressed suit standing behind him, smiling as he looked over the party. He took a step forward to stand beside Lucien, flicking his eyes briefly at Dylan, who was otherwise preoccupied with the rest of the antics occurring on the dancefloor.

“I’m glad to see your friends enjoying themselves. Quite a party, hmm?” The man smiled and laughed as Lute crashed into Rose. “My name’s Tobias,” He turned, extending a hand out to Lucien to shake. “What’s yours?”

---

At yet another end of the Dance Hall, leaning against the buffet tables, happily munching the food stacked on top of plastic trays and watching the dancing and gala before them, a tall skinny man and squat, chubby man both dressed in smart and well fitting tuxedos watched the party happily enough whilst eating. Forever... eating. Both of them just stared at all of the Pride's antics as they unfurled. Moira and Amy's drunken dancing. Lute crashing into the gorgeous blonde woman after his weird dance, and the red haired woman knocking some man over onto his behind. Still eating.

"Hey, Biggs?"

"Yes, Wedge?"

"This is one weird party, isn't it?"

"It sure is."

Tobias’ Gala – Ground Floor (Dance Hall)
Unfortunately for Lucien, his request for Syed to remain on watch with him fell upon deaf ears. The mage was already in the process of being dragged onto the dance floor too, abeit in a much less visually obvious manner than Amy. He could do nothing but look back towards Lucien apologetically, his face flushing in second-hand humiliation.

It was a good thing really, that his thoughts were along the same lines. Best to keep an eye on those who had gotten a bit carried away. He knew he sure wasn't going to touch a drop at this point. Not after what happened last time, and with Amy just as drunk all over again...

Shame he'd be keeping an eye on the wrong people.


Aria soon joined with both Simon and Lute in tow, although Lute was sent pretty much immediately stumbling off into the crowds and out of sight. Not that Moira particularly cared - she was now shaking her chest in a rather alarming manner. Thank the gods she was wearing a corset to keep it all in, else she'll be taking eyes out left right and centre. Not that it stopped anyone immediately next to her from backing off.

"Yeah get in there girl!" she called to Aria. She had a thumbs up prepped and ready if Aria turned towards her. Well, she certainly approved of the photo guy, whatever his name was again. Either way, he was a fine appreciator of the ladies and she had no problems with that at all. "What happens at the party stays at the party, innit?!" Complete with a over-the-top, theatrical wink. And an elbow in the shoulder from her partner.

Syed had given in at this point, and had joined in with the dancing himself. He was no natural dancer, but he knew of a couple of moves. Most of them involving clumsily bouncing on the balls of his feet and lots of hand and arm movements. Well, it stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was better than not dancing at all. Heck, it was pretty fun, and he found himself laughing quietly at both himself and the others. Nothing like looking like a nit with your friends in public.

It was at this point, once they had been dancing for a few minutes, when Moira came to a realisation. A horrible, terrible realisation. She looked down to her hand in horror, flexing her fingers. No...

"Ey! Who the fuck had me drink?!"

Lute fell to the floor, but before he could go and help, the photographer guy stepped in.

He began dusting Lute off before he was pulled off into the dance floor. Lucien grinned a little, everyone was so lively and some of them were starting to look a tad silly. Was this what they had done when they had gotten drunk in Los Paraisos. Oh joy, it must have been a riot. Too bad they were to hammered to witness it though. Lute stomped forward only for him to crash into Rose?

The summoner winced out of sympathy, but instead of knocking the virtuoso all the way to Jupiter, she asked him to dance?

Uh, well, that was good. He turned to give Syed a stare filled with disbelief, but his friend was no longer beside him. He looked around and saw the mage being yanked off into the dance floor. Well, at least they'd have someone watching them up close, yeah?

“I’m glad to see your friends enjoying themselves. Quite a party, hmm?

He turned his head to see Tobias with his hand extended. The summoner narrowed his eyes a little, but hey, at least the guy wasn't going after his drunken friends. He seemed pretty polite too. He wondered why Dylan and his friend were no longer in good terms, but decided to entertain that thought some other time. "Yeah, you sure know how to throw a party, everyone looks like they're having a grand time." They shook hands and Lucien leaned back into his seat, eyes flitting from Syed, to Amy, to Lute and Rose. "Lucien Maddox, it's nice to meet you."

He stopped one of the waiters and asked for a soda before returning his attention to Tobias. Soooo, what did he want? Did he want advice on how to apologize to Dylan or something? "You must like parties, sooo you and Dylan? You guys used to be friends, yeah? What's up now, why the fallout, did you steal one of his paintings and sell it behind his back or something? They're really good."

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala

The photographer helped him up and Aria dragged the two of them over to the dance floor, where Lute suffered yet another event to add to his constantly growing ‘Most Embarrassing Moments’ repertoire. He didn’t know why, but he just slipped out of Aria’s grasp, and the imbalance caused by bumping into one person after another was enough to make his feet slip. Worse, the people around actually thought he was doing it on purpose and Delilah was perfectly content with giggling at him and the idiots who were mimicking his moves! “Somebody help!” The virtuoso cried out before twirling around most ungracefully and landing facefirst on a… cushion?

But as circumstances would have it, he didn’t break his fall on a cushion. Nope, he fell on the lovely young lady from the Academy, Rose…! Color rose up to his face at an alarming rate, making the virtuoso look more like a beet rather than a human as he fumbled for a proper apology. "Wait, what?" Instead of being pummeled into a bloody pulp, Rose extended her hand and asked him if he wanted to dance. With her? 'Of course with her, you ignorant boob,' Delilah sighed and Lute looked positively bewildered. He kept glancing at the woman's hand and her face as if connecting the dots before finally snapping out of his reverie.

"I..." Lute blushed and glanced over his shoulder at his friends. If that Simon pal did something to the girls, Syed would taser him. Hopefully. "It would be my pleasure but..." The virtuoso turned his eyes on Rose and nodded, hesitantly taking her hand and... "But I don't know how to dance." He led her to the dance floor nonetheless, then observed the nearby dancers who were gracefully twirling with their partners.

“So um… Excuse me… I put my other hand here?” The virtuoso faltered before finally placing his palm over the lady’s left shoulder blade. Also, looking at those other dancers, they had their clasped hands raised, so he did that too… After an awkward few seconds of attempting to copy the others, at least Lute managed to get their stance correct, but he was at a complete loss at what to do next and his troubled face clearly showed it.

… Farmhands rarely go to these kinds of parties after all.

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala – Ground Floor (Dance Hall – Table at the Perimeter)

Tobias took one of the seats available besides Lucien, settling down into it after shaking the cute summoner’s hand and leaning forward, resting his chin upon his palm as he overlooked the developing party and the dancing that was occurring. He lifted one hand into the air and snapped his fingers, and within seconds a waitress had appeared with a tray of beverages resting upon it. No words even needed to be spoken before Tobias’ favourite drink was prepared and delicately placed in front of him, the waitress shuffling on as she continued her duties.

"You must like parties-” Lucien began, and Tobias picked up his glass and swirled the contents about before bringing it to his lips to sip. At the same time, Lucien’s sentence didn’t miss a beat or period, and Tobias almost spat his drink back out immediately after. “-sooo you and Dylan? You guys used to be friends, yeah? What's up now, why the fallout, did you steal one of his paintings and sell it behind his back or something? They're really good."

The patron hacked and sputtered, the drink having gone down the wrong hole. With one hand on his chest to catch himself, he looked back at Lucien, and then laughed heartily.

“Ha ha ha! No, no I didn’t steal one of his paintings!” Tobias leaned back and laughed heartily. “But you are indeed right. He’s one of the… if not the best painter I’ve ever seen. I have a few of his works in my collection- given, mind you- and if you’re ever curious to see them, I wouldn’t mind showing you.”

Tobias smiled, and this time took a more delicate sip and looked back out over the dancing, and then with a wayward glance, at the drunk matter artist in question, still knocking back shots at the bar and talking enthusiastically to the barman. He was even beginning to twerk his body in all manner of directions in the exact same way Moira had.

“No, me and Dylan, that was… that was my fault.” Tobias looked downfallen and looked away, staring at the bubbles in his champagne. “Something that was all my fault and which Dylan didn’t deserve… or that I deserve forgiveness for. If I could turn back the hands of time, I would, but of course that’s impossible. It’s too late for forgiveness.”

He sighed. But, with a twitch on his lips, he forced another smile.

“Would you care to dance, Lucien? Or see Dylan’s paintings?”

---

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala – Ground Floor (Dance Hall - Dance Floor)

“Oh please, Lute,” Rose smiled, enjoying the rather cute way Lute blushed and stammered about her. She took his hand the way he offered, and she nodded in the affirmative. “See, you’ve got the stance down right. The rest isn’t too hard. Let me lead the way.”

Lute was snatched off his feet by surprise again, this time succeeding in not falling to the ground on his behind, but only thanks to Rose clutching his hands tightly. She led him over the dance floor, joining the throng of dancers in moving one step there and another step here, effortlessly gliding from one foot to the other. Lute could hardly believe it.

“The only thing you need to be careful of,” Rose commented during mid-waltz. “Is of your partner’s feet. But- no, Lute, look up,” The bashful virtuoso looked back up at Rose, terrified of making an even worse spectacle of himself and hurting his partner in the process. “But I have everything in control here, and you don’t need to worry.”

Indeed Rose did. Every time it seemed as though Lute might accidently misstep onto the Student Council President’s feet (of which those times were scarce and infrequent) she would effortlessly glide or sidestep her feet out of the way, as if there wasn’t a single fault. In time, much to Lute’s own disbelief and surprise… he was actually getting it. Rose’s lips grew into a wider smile. “See, Lute? You’re getting the hang of it. You’re actually a wonderful dancer!”

Around them, the stares of many male patrons watched the pair dancing, and glared at Lute as he not only got the chance to dance with their idol, but make her smile and happy in the process. Each of them fixed him such a stare as if they wished they could stab a dagger into his back. And in the inverse, all of the other female members of the Party, from those watching from the sidelines or even those already with a dance partner regarded Lute more differently. They looked at the handsome man with hearts in their eyes, wishing they too could dance with him. And, as soon as his and Rose’s waltz was over, they intended to charge at him to be the first.

Charlotte wanted nothing more then to dance with her puppy.

“Here, Lute,” Rose grinned. “You take the lead.”

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor

At last, Aria had joined both Amy and Moira, with Dylan in tow. Lute was to join as well it seemed, but with all the luck (or unluck) in the world, ended up becoming the star of the night with Rose. Most of the eyes in the room were focused on the poor virtuoso now, both in love and in hate. Some had even begun to move towards the dancing duo, as if in queue to dance with one or the other. It was wonderful - it meant more room for the three lady guilders plus Syed to shake their arms and wiggle their hips.

Even with Tobias slinking around Lucien, it seemed everyone was having a blast. The night was still young. Wait, was it even nighttime? What time was it, even? Amy could spot some clocks in the distance, but it was all a blur - now whether that was due to being tipsy, or having not-so-perfect eyesight... ah, who gave a shit. All that mattered was - "Ey! Who the fuck had me drink?!"

Amy sputtered, as if she was mid-drink, except she wasn't. The inner drunken rage within Moira began to boil. Any sane person would probably think of a way to calm a berserker from going berserk at this party, perhaps even offer to buy another drink. But to Amy, this was just too funny to abate. "It's the boys!" she called, sloppily strutting her way between Dylan and Syed. She wrung her arms around their shoulders for a second, before shooting her hands off to the side like fireworks. Her impish smile had never left. "It's always the boys! Damn pigs did everything!"

Then she stepped back from them and quickly pushed them closer together, so that the shoulders of both young men met. As a waitress passed her by, Amy laughed and plucked a small glass of champagne for herself. She gulped it down between breaths, keeping her eyes on the redhead.



Trixie too had her eyes on a redhead, whose face seemed to be growing just as red as the drunks on the other side of the dance floor. The young man sitting before Estelle helped himself to his feet (turning down any hand she may have offered), keeping one hand over his nose in a poor effort to hide the bloodloss. "N, no it's okay, don't worry, I'm fine. This um, this happens all the time so it's um..."

Now the blood began coating his palm and leaking beneath it. A waitress crossed from the bar towards the stairs where the duo were. A couple of glasses were missing from her trey. Surprisingly she had a couple of cloths hung over one of her outstretched, perpendicular arms, so the boy was quick to snatch it. As neatly as possible, he wiped his face and his bloody hand all over one side of it, then pinned it to his face in hopes that the blood wouldn't be as bad as it seemed. In hopes. Much more shakily now, he held his hand out to Estelle again. "D, d, d, dance, maybe? I'm not, I'm not creeping you out or, or anything... am I? Oh gods, I'm so-- I'm so sorry. I just wanted to dance..."

"Kukuku," Trixie chuckled with a smile wider than a carved pumpkin. "Shhh Xanny. This is not the work of an evil mastermind... but a mastermind prankster. I am Trixie the Pixie the Wondergirl! ...Oh man that does not sound cool at all." Her voice trailed off as she began to mumble to herself, until Xandra spoke up again. "Wait, wait, you're not gonna dance? What kind of minion I mean sidekick of mine doesn't dance!?"

Xandra had pointed to a boy across the dancefloor, who also looked young, perhaps the brother of a student here. He turned around as if on cue, eyes matching Trixie. The prankster puffed her cheeks in response and looked back to Xandra. "I ain't dancin' if you ain't dancin'. Capiche? Oh-- oh is that cake. I want cake. Xanny, let's get cake!"

Trixie tugged at the metallurgist, dragging her over to the desserts stand. Once they got there, Trixie began to sniff at every little individual piece at the table there. She had earned a few stares, but luckily everyone else was already preoccupied. Satisfied, Trixie grabbed for herself a fancy-shmancy purple-frosting cupcake. "It's okay, Amy told me to. These are totally safe. NOM!"

---

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Second Floor (Recreation Room)

Hannah moved back into her seat and bounced. Considering both her cleavage-revealing corset and chair-engulfing dress layers, it was quite funny to watch. "So, so, what do I do? Oh, Angél my Angel, what do I do? This is a good hand, right, right? Oh!" She stacked four red chips in front of her.

"Hannah... Hannah, honey, you know how to play this game." The young aristocrat let out a loud sigh, while sneaking a glance at her bobbing melons. Yeesh. Even then he did not allow her flamboyancy to influence the smug expression on his face; to everyone else in the room, that was just his natural face, and he wore it no matter what hand he held. But would Marcus be able to tell? Angel didn't even bother thinking about it.

He took another peek at his hand, then moved forward two green chips, along with the four red ones Hannah had called. "Calling two eighty, then." His eyes moved person to person as everyone began to follow up on their bets. Then his eyes met Marcus, whether or not the mage had looked back at him. Angel noticed off the bat that he seemed to have a solid air of confidence about him. But just how well would that hold up?

Tobias hacked and coughed before laughing cheerfully.

He began talking about Dylan and how whatever had happened had been all his fault. To his, Lucien gave him a quizzical look. If it was something personal then he wasn't going to pry though a part of him was curious and Tobias, he looked regretful. So, maybe he had wanted advice on how to apologize or something? Lucien made a sour face before taking a sip out of his Soda. "He doesn't seem to like you very much." As always, he lacked tact and pretty much blurted the statement out without so much as a second thought.

Lucien tapped Tobias on the back, "if you need help though, I can help you out." The summoner grinned.

In response Tobias asked him if he would like to dance? "Oh, I'm not exactly good at dancing, I might end up stepping one of your friend's feet." Lucien assumed Tobias was asking him to dance with one of the many ladies in the room, and while he didn't object to dancing with a girl he remembered his horrid skills. He'd probably end up trampling their feet and getting slapped with a handbag. "I think I'll pass on dancing, but thanks for the offer. Hmm, I wouldn't mind looking at some of his paintings." Lucien gave Tobias a thumbs up.

Mostly, he only saw Dylan's constructs. He rarely saw his friend's actual paintings though the ones he had seen were amazing.

---

Xan grinned, "a hungry sidekick, that's what." She was just about to ruffle the girl's hair when her eyes flitted towards Estelle and the young man.

Wait? Was that blood? She watched as Estelle grew several shades of red and as the boy sputtered an apology. "Do you think we should help them?" Trixie puffed up her cheeks and before suggesting they go and get cake. Now, that was an idea she could get behind 100% but were they just going to leave Estelle with the bleeding young man. Her eyes flitted from their leader to all the delicious treats on the table.

The answer was as clear as day. Oh well, their leader would be just fine. At worst, it'd just be a tad awkward. Xan smiled sympathetically in Estelle's direction before Trixie dragged her all the way to the refreshment table.

Everything looked great and she laughed as Trixie began talking about how the cupcakes were safe.

Xan took a plate for herself then passed one to Trixie. "Safe, hm? Do you think the villains heard about our arrival?" She narrowed her eyes and tried to look suspicious but she couldn't stop a smile from worming itself onto her face. "If they knew about our plans to invade their ball," she lowered her voice into a whisper. "They could have poisoned the food. In fact, they might be waiting and hiding themselves in the crowd right now." The girl scooped a piece of chocolate cake onto her plate before her eyes landed on a chocolate fountain farther down the table.

"Come on Pixie, we can dip some marshmallows in it." As soon as Xan had done just that she resumed their little game. "We'll never know, Estelle's dance partner could be a mastermind in disguise. Oh, that table looks free, would you like to sit there?"

Tobias’ Gala – Ground Floor (Dance Hall)
"It's the boys! It's always the boys! Damn pigs did everything!"

"-Hey!" Syed protested, about to turn to her when she suddenly shoved him right into Dylan. Unfortunately, Syed still towered over Dylan as much as pretty much anyone else, so he ended up with Dylan's shoulder driving into his upper arm. Ow!

"Yer what?! Yeah, they fuck everythin' up!" Moira bellowed. "Who needs 'em! All this kids needing two parents bullshit, what a load of crap!" She pointed towards the pair, although her hand sort of drifted as she swayed to the side. "Which one was it?!"

"Nobody stole your drink, Moira," Syed said sternly, crossing his arms. To be honest, he didn't see Amy take it either, he was too busy looking to Lucien at the time. As far as he was concerned... "you probably just dropped it or something."

"I dropped it?! You fuckin' shittin' me?! LIKE FUCK WOULD I DROP A DRINK!" She seized him by his tie and pulled him towards herself. Oh, how convenient ties were. Convenient grabbing areas that is. It only took her a couple of seconds - during which she was oblivious that her hold on his tie was choking him - before she released him in disgust. Was he fucking sober?! At a party?! Urgh! She turned to Dylan instead. "So it was you!" She pointed at him again, "Guilty!"

"I doubt Dylan had it either!" Syed had turned to Amy, a hand rubbing at his neck. She still wore that impish grin, as much as she hid it behind her glass. Well, she looked guilty as hell with a face like that. Part of him was annoyed with her - that she would try and put the blame on them, that even after all this time she was just as hateful towards men as ever. Despite all this... he couldn't help his expression from softening.

She looked like she was having fun. And Amy... Amy rarely really did. At least, not as obviously as this. And usually when she did, it did involve a large amount of alcohol like this. He knew she liked to laugh... it was just a shame she never really seemed to find a reason to do so. And that... that was quite the sad thought.

"No wonder Trixie's such a prankster," he said softly with a crooked smile, shoving his hands awkwardly into his pockets. After all, Amy was quite the trickster herself.

Aliquam: Tobias’ Gala

Dance seemed to rely heavily on footwork, which was an area that Lute was sorely lacking in. However, the contrary could be said of Rose; it seemed as if dancing was secondary to her nature, judging from the flawless way she executed steps and glides that Lute would never have done by himself. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first since he kept expecting himself to trip, but for some miraculous reason accidents and missteps were few and far between, which began to inspire confidence in the virtuoso. Said confidence was mixed with a staggering amount of admiration of his lady partner’s poise.

“See, Lute? You’re getting the hang of it. You’re actually a wonderful dancer!” Ah. He kept close tabs on how it seemed easier to keep his feet away from each other the longer they danced, but hearing it from someone far more experienced felt wonderful. “It’s all because of you, miss Rose. You’re the amazing one,” Lute blushed in reply and ducked his head to avoid meeting her gaze.

The music slowed- it seemed as if the band was close to switching to another song- and Lute was able to more clearly hear some sort of commotion coming from Moira and the others. That and Rose giving him the chance to take the lead. “All right then!” He replied cheerfully and beamed back at Rose, the shy and insecure façade from earlier long brightened by her patience and the glee that came from executing a set of steps without failing. The virtuoso steered away from his drunk friends and stayed within the circle of formal dancers who were now swaying gently in time to the tempo, still blissfully oblivious to the glares thrown at him from all directions.

“So um… miss Rose,” Lute fidgeted and he averted his eyes for a brief moment. “T-the song, it might change soon, because… because the band might play a hip something for them-,” He tilted his head at Amy and company, plus their small gathering of followers, “-but…” The white-haired man seemed to ignite from within as his face was now lighting up in a warm light red, and what followed next were rushed but sincere words. “But I really enjoyed it though! I meant, dancing. With you. So… Thank you very much for the opportunity!”

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor

“D-dance?” Estelle repeated, blinking rapidly and with increasing worry and surprise at seeing just how bloody the man’s nose was, or the fact that despite it he still wanted to dance? She nervously looked around either side, to see if she could find anything to help her with, someone she could call to assist her, but Trixie and Xandra were already moving towards the food tables. Estelle’s lips trembled again, and then she turned the other way, noticing Dalia standing with a throng of male students crowded around, all pestering the Priestess for a dance of their own. She wouldn’t be able to help either.

Estelle turned back to the bloody nosed man, and heaved a heavy sigh. She caused this, so the least she could do was…

“Oh, alright,” Estelle bit her lower lip. “I’m a bad dancer, though, just so you know…”

---

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Second Floor (Recreation Room)

“I’ll… call as well,” Marcus briefly paused to deliberate, as he glanced back down at his cards and then across the table to Hannah and Angel. His face was as straight and consistently smiling as always, but internally Marcus was given pause as he had to consider his opponents and their actions. Hannah appeared to be bubbly and almost foolish, but from Marcus’ prior experience in playing the game, that could have just as well been an act. Nothing could be taken for granted, except to play the probability game and make certain he won…

He counted from his stack of chips the particular amount that was being betted by the other players, and threw it forward into the centre of the table. He made no effort to re-raise the stakes, merely calling what had already been thrown down. He wanted to wait a while first and gauge Angel, Hannah, and the other players’ particular mode of play before he would attempt any aggressive actions from the outset. Especially as his current hand was middling. It was favourable, but it could be better depending on what cards were presented in the flop.

For the other players, they made passing remarks to Hannah’s ditziness and groans at Angel’s desire to up the ante as soon as the game had begun, and between them either decided to call the bet or fold their hand. The game was progressing as standard, with the rest of the players looking to call Angel’s bet, when suddenly…

Without warning, the table rattled with a heavy thud as two mighty hooves smacked the table, drawing everyone’s attention to that of the mighty and large white stallion with the distinguished black moustache at the far end. Drawing all eyes to him, he pushed in his entire stack of chips… already calling all in and pushing the game to the extreme already!!

“Really, Sebastian? All that already?” Hannah fluttered her eyelashes at the horse.

Marcus could barely hold on to his smile. His brow twitched and sweat dripped down the side on his face. What kind of players were these?!

---

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor

“Heeheehee. No, I’m sure the pleasure was all mine, Lute,” Rose smiled and curtseyed as the song the band was playing drew itself near to a close. She could understand the man’s hesitation to continue dancing, considering how this was his first time and all, but he was a natural at it, and should have had more confidence in himself.

“Thank you for dancing with me,” Rose smiled again, leaning forwards and kissing Lute on the cheek.

A chorus of shrieks erupted from the women watching at the sidelines, whilst a low ominous grumble from the men began to bubble as well. Rose didn’t seem to take any notice of either of these, however, or the red which decorated Lute’s face. “I’d love to dance again, but this dress isn’t really suited for… well, whatever dancing it is your friends are doing. Speaking of which…”

Rose cast a sideways glance towards Moira and Amy, and the scene that was erupting from them. The volume of their speech, and the intensity alongside it… if it wasn’t kept in check, she wouldn’t be surprised if it were to escalate into a real situation. If this was the Academy, she’d step in at once to put a stop to it and usher the offending parties out of the building, but this was neither the school nor her home, and her presence would probably only serve to antagonise things, and if there was an alternative to that, then all the better.

“Lute… would you be a dear and control your friends?” Rose asked, nodding in their direction. “Both of them appear to be unduly inebriated, and we wouldn’t want them to spoil the party for everyone else, would we?”

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor

Even after all the screaming at Dylan, he stood there with a near blank expression on his face. Only after Syed looked back to Amy did the matter artist seem to snap back to reality. "I- I'm sorry, what happened?"

Amy laughed so hard it sounded like a cackle. She couldn't help it. Who knew pigs could be so funny? She continued sipping away at her champagne glass, and with her other hand she made a sharp peace sign by her neck. Almost like some gangster. As soon as she finished her drink - "You try hanging around a punk rat for too long and you become a master in no time!" - she chucked her glass forward again... only it slipped and flipped behind her as a result. A deft waitress who pretty much waited for that to happen caught it and departed.

With the movements of Dalia and her fanboys, as well as both Rose and Lute moments ago, some of the dancers from the middle floor had cleared up a bit. At least, enough to see a particular redhead in a gorgeous white dress stick out. With some nobody wrapping his arms around her (or attempting to, at least). "Hehehe," Amy snickered, wrapping her arms around both Aria and Moira as she nudged in Estelle's direction. "Heeey, woudlja look at that!"



Trixie's sights were still on the nose-blooded boy when Xandra offered to dip marshmallows into something. Trixie cocked her head, drawing a look of perplexity beneath her mask. "Huh?? Dip it in his blood?? Oh Xanny I think you're the..." she turned around to see the metallurgist dipping her sweets into a chocolate fountain. "...criminal mastermind... ... ohhh. Chocolate dip- okay yeah, that sounds a lot better than blood."

Trixie helped herself to dipping the sweet, sweet marshmallows in chocolate as well. The taste was absolutely mesmerizing. She had never eaten the two together before. It was obvious in her face - her smile quivered and tiny tears sparkled in her eyes. It was so brilliantly rich. So rich that her cupcake dropped to the floor while heaven danced on her tastebuds and she didn't even notice.

But then she remembered what Xandra said as soon as she swallowed down everything. While the food was indeed not poisoned... they could be being spied on this very second. Despite Xandra's attempt to rest at a free table, her metallic wrist was yanked by Trixie as she dragged her back to the dance floor. "Sit? Sit!? We cannot sit while there is evil afoot... any minion I mean sidekick of mine should know this... now, lemme see..."

Some dancers seemed as inebriated as Amy and Moira, though they weren't making nearly as much noise. One of the fancier white suits had a cool mini-binoculars-on-a-stick dangling from his pocket, and Trixie was quick to swipe it. With it pressed to her face against her mask, she scanned the entire dance floor for hiding baddies - "Yep, Amy's drunk again all right..." - and stopped as soon as she landed on Estelle's backside. Turned out the duo wounded up right next to their redheaded leader again! She gave her super secret scanny thing to Xandra. "Here, you look for some bad guys too!"

As for the blond masked kid, he didn't seem to mind Estelle's bashfulness and was excited she would be willing to dance. She was the first who'd accepted his request! The poor, poor guy. The next song was a slow one, and he knew well it meant doing that awkward sway thing. So he had his hands on Estelle's waist - though they hovered entirely, which made his poor footing even more awkward. "Oh, geez, I'm... I don't know if I... I, uh... thank you for..."

The little imp cooed behind Estelle. "Oooh... I'm telling Marcus~"

And the boy's eyes widened, even beneath his mask. "M, Marcus? Wait, wait, do you have a boyfriend...!? Oh, oh gods." His hands dropped from Estelle's instantly. With the snatched towel already on the floor, little blood droplets began to dribble down his nostril again "I am so sorry!"

---

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Second Floor (Recreation Room)

Outside of poker, Angel would have sputtered at Sebastian's brashness. But considering the steed was his most consistent gaming buddy, this was not uncommon for him. Like Marcus, he made sure to keep a straight face the entire time. Even if this was all pre-flop. Whether this was a bluff or not, Angel knew this method was enough to scare off anyone with a relatively poor hand from even trying.

Angel looked back to his cards. Nine of hearts and ten of hearts. If his luck served him well today, he'd win with a straight flush, but - "Well, that's a fold for me." He let his cards flop on the table surface, leaned back, and crossed his arms. Once everyone reacted (with Hannah throwing in everything she had too??), Angel paused briefly before drawing the first three community cards in the center of the table.

Ace of Spades. King of Diamonds. Three of Diamonds.

Angel silently sighed from his nose. No telling what the next two cards could mean for either Hannah or Sebastian; despite the former shoving her cards in Angel's face earlier, he tried to be as ethical as possible and kept his eyes off them. With his fingers lingering on the middle deck, Angel's eyes turned to Sebastian again. "Okay horsie. You still feeling pretty hot?" His smile still as smug as ever, he made eye contact with all the others as well, whether they were still in the game or not, before drawing the next two cards...

Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor
"Heeey, woudlja look at that!"

Moira allowed herself to be steered away from Dylan, somewhat curious as to what exactly Amy was talking about. She had already pretty much forgotten what she was accusing Dylan of, so it was no big deal. She staggered a little, still easily dwarfed by them both even in her heels, before squinting in the direction Amy was cackling at.

Wait, was that...? And with her... "Who the fuck is that?!" she bellowed, not quite realising the volume of her own voice. If he was the type to sweep her off her feet, she could picture it. If he was whirling her around the dance floor at terrific speeds with precision and skill. But... he wasn't. He was bumbling and fumbling, hesitating and talking a lot, even if they were pretty obviously out of earshot. What?!

Was he bleeding?!

"Did he try anythin'?!" Moira looked to the others. There was no denying that Estelle could defend herself, especially against a spinless looking welp like that. Maybe she socked him in the honker. Moira would have. There was one thing she was sure of though.

Estelle looked awkward as hell. Right. "Ey, reckon I should punch him too?"


Syed took a deep sigh, before removing a hand from one of his pockets and stepping forward. "Estelle?" He called, waving his arm above his head. He didn't have the volume in his voice that Moira had, but his height would certainly play to his advantage here. "Estelle! Come on, you... uh... promised me a dance, remember?" he cringed a little, fully aware of how flimsy his words sounded. Damn.

"Don't do or say anything," he muttered to Moira, who folded her arms with a scowl. Pah! Of course, there was no such promise. But if Estelle needed the lifeline to get out of there, here it was.

"Evil? The only thing sinister here is this uneaten chocolate cake." She grabbed the plate just as Trixie yanked her away.

Xan took a bite out of the cake only to see Trixie yank a monacle off some guys' face. "Sorry about that," she apologized in the prankster's stead only to have the monocle shoved into her hands. "We should probably give this back--"

Before Xan could finish her sentence an irritated looking man began storming towards them.

He yanked the monacle out of her hand and gave her the dirtiest look he could muster. "To think some people have no sense of proper decorum! I'll take this, thank you very much!" He narrowed his eyes at Trixie but decided to let it slide, he wouldn't look good in front of his friends if he started yelling at some child.

The metallurgist turned several shades of red before mumbling an apology. "We're really sorry about that," but before she could finish talking he had disappeared into the crowd and that was pretty much a relief. "Please don't do that again, as a superhero you can't just take things from people." Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, Trixie was staring intently at Estelle and the fumbling boy, she winced sympathetically at the awkward dancing only for a voice to boom through the dance hall.

Her eyes flitted towards Moira, Aria, and Amy. Were they drunk? She shuddered when she remembered Moira chucking a table back at Los Paraisos. Hopefully, none of that would be happening here. Gods, she seemed to be giving the poor boy a I'm-going-to-kill-you look.

Thankfully Syed began waving, reminding Estelle about a dance she had promised him.

Xan turned to face their leader and the fumbling boy. "Oh, there's Marcus now," it wouldn't hurt to lie once in awhile and what the boy didn't know wouldn't hurt him. She pointed towards Syed's direction. "You better not keep him waiting, leader. You did promise him yesterday." The boy began panicking and Xan gave him a sympathetic smile. "He's a nice guy, don't worry, though you probably shouldn't keep her man waiting." It was hard not to chuckle at the last sentence, but she managed to keep a straight face.

Aliquam: Tobias' Gala - Dance Floor

“The paintings it is then!” Tobias clapped his hands together with a delightful smile, rubbing them together as he skidded his chair back enough to offer his legs the room to stand up. He hopped up, and with a grin sent back towards Lucien, prompted the man to follow suit. As another waitress passed by, he lifted one finger to draw her attention, and received another glass of champagne for himself, and with his free hand, helped himself to a soda which he then gave to Lucien.

“Dylan’s paintings are on the third floor. Wonderful works of art, they are.” Tobias’ lips curled into a serene smile, as he and the other dark indigo haired youth started to walk across the perimeter of the main hall, to the curved stairs at the far end that would lead up to the second floor. “I really wished he stayed at the Academy and continued to work on his art here, but of course I can understand why he didn’t. Still, I and everyone here missed him dearly and… what is going on?”

Tobias’ brow furrowed as he stared at the noisy commotion erupting from the centre of the dance floor. Most specifically, at the loud mouthed, voluminous red head who stalked across the dance floor and began loudly bellowing at the girl whom he had met that morning with Dylan. Estelle was her name, and the other young man he was with, an acquaintance of Tobias’ from the Academy. They weren’t the only ones there- they were surrounded by Simon and Dylan and the rest of Dylan’s friends. Guilders, each and every one of them being almost as loud as the last, and disruptive to the party as a whole. Most of the other guests, especially those whom had been dancing, had left the dance floor, to discreetly back themselves away to the far perimeters, away from the possible danger that might occur.




Even Rose and Dalia, whom were both now free of a number of male suitors trying to garner their interest for a dance, free from no male wanting to go near the screaming that was occurring, watched with unease at what was transpiring. Dalia made a start for the Pride, hoping to calm things down and discreetly move the most drunkern and loudmouthed of them all, Moira, Amy and unfortunately her own brother, Dylan, yet she still had some ways to cross before reaching them. And the rest of the party was thrown into an uneasy silence, one which the Pride didn’t even seem to notice.

Tobias looked towards Lucien, and the other man shrugged sympathetically. Tobias turned back, his eye twitching. He would have already started to cross to the Pride, and to establish order where there was chaos, even despite whatever dangerous reaction Dylan might bring, if Dalia hadn’t exchanged glances with him. He and Lucien would stay there for a spell, Tobias silently sipping his glass of champagne, until he could be certain his party was returned to its splendid function.



“H-huh?! T-trixie!” Estelle stuttered in surprise, jumping into the air. She turned back at the grinning, devious prankster, whose eyes seemed to twinkle as she looked between her Big Sis and her hopeful partner. Both of them turned immediately flustered, not sure to know exactly how to react, and then it started to grow even worse when Moira strolled up towards them, her drunk voice far louder and more deafening then she could have realised.

“Did he try anythin’?” Moira asked. “Ey, reckon I should punch him too?"

The blonde masked man jumped on the spot, sweat running down his face and intermingling with his bloody nose. P-p-punched?!

"Oh, there's Marcus now," Xan commented, pointing towards Syed's direction. "You better not keep him waiting, leader. You did promise him yesterday." The boy began panicking even more. Her boyfriend was right there!! "He's a nice guy, don't worry, though you probably shouldn't keep her man waiting."

“I- I- I-, I’m so sorry!!” The blonde haired man began bowing profusely, tears forming in his eyes. “I… I didn’t know! I honestly didn’t, I-”

“That’s… that’s okay.” Estelle smiled. “Really, guys, this was… er… kind of my fault. Look,” She turned back to the boy, and placed both her palms together apologetically. “I promised my friend here a dance,” She smiled at Syed, before turning with a devious twinkle to Trixie. “Trixie here would love to dance with you though, wouldn’t you Trix?”

“Ehhhh??” She replied loudly. Amy started guffawing loudly, her own loud voice complimenting the slapping of her knees.

“Yeah, I’m sure the pipsqueak would love to dance!”

“Dance?” Moira turned around, almost spinning and tumbling to the ground with unsteady balance. “Fuck yeah I love dancing! Let’s dance some more!”

“Everyone? What’s going on here?” The gentle voice from behind caused all of them to turn, to face Dalia, who looked back at them with a stern expression mixed with worry. Her eyes darted across the rest of the hall, guiding the Pride to follow them and look at the rest of the silent and sombre dance hall. “You’re all making too much noise and disruption. Please… control yourselves, or…”



“Control ourselves? Ha!” Dylan sputtered out with a laugh. Moira, Amy and Aria were drunk, but looking back towards Dylan, they saw the Matter Artist was by now absolutely wasted. Could he just not hold his liquor well? “Who caresh if we make a little schene an… an… ruin ToBIushes party? He desherves it.” Dylan lifted the glass up again in an effort to down what was in it, but it was already empty.

“Oh, Dylan, please…” Dalia sighed.

Before the scene within the centre of the room could escalate any further, it was immediately silenced with every single light within the room suddenly becoming extinguished. All throughout Tobias’ manor, a blackout engulfed it, submerging the building into complete darkness.