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"Of course." she rolled her eyes, continuing to make her way through the crowd. Every so often she would stop to say hello or ask someone a question before taking off once more. The captain's pace hardly slowed as she moved from group to group, and had she been any normal person, she would have been fairly tired by the time she pulled free on the other side. Coming to a stop on the rim of the crowd, she smirks mischievously. "How's your head?" she asks, having noticed his darting eyes early on. She had wondered how he would fair being surrounded by all these people with their thoughts, but she felt no sympathy; even though she knew there were people probing his mind, at least there was no wall they had to knock down first. The captain wasn't sure if Nemo could tell if his mind was being invaded, many of her people were very good, but she could feel the assaults on her wall already.

Raising her brows in mild curiosity at the bandit's explanation, the captain seemed to grow more amused as each Strider's thoughts were revealed. Instead of becoming angry or jealous at the woman's thoughts, the captain simply raises an eyebrow at her companion. "Really now? I had not noticed." she saw no reason to boost his ego when it didn't need any help, and so downplayed his comments on his appearance. Instead of doubting his comments, she simply smiled and let it slide. "If you say so, my dear." she had simply been checking, knowing that anyone here would jump at the chance to read the mind of their captain's date; it was a rare sight to see the snowy-haired woman with a man who didn't work for her, and no one had seen her hold the hand of someone who was not critically injured or a child. "I was simply checking in on you, but it seems you are still in good enough condition to be conceited." she took a jab at him, though it was nothing new; they were both prideful, and neither seemed ready to let the other forget it.

"Me? Worried?" she would have laughed, had it been only them. "If I were truly concerned about what they thought, I would not do half the things I already do." she states, sounding more amused than reassuring. If she were worried about what her Striders would say or think, she wouldn't be standing there holding his hand; if she cared what other people thought, she probably wouldn't be holding his hand at all. Neciel had never been one to concern herself with appearances, at least not in her own home. Noting a sudden up in his mood, she looked at him with a raised brow. "Suddenly, you are too happy. Tell me, Nemo, are you plotting something?" while she had no way of knowing for sure, she had very heavy suspicions that whatever had made him so happy was not going to have the same affect on her.

Smirking at his choice of words. the captain simply shrugs. "I believe it is more that the universe disfavors me than it favors you." she responded, yet again passively attacking his pride. She wouldn't have suspected him if he didn't seem so pleased with himself, and while she was still not convinced, she would let the matter drop for now. She would, however, be keeping a very close eye on him throughout the night, for many other reasons that she would try not to bring up. At his next comment however, she let out a quiet and sarcastic laugh. "You would not feel the symptoms of withdrawal, had you actually been on time for once." while he had been attempting to dig himself out, he had really only tunneled his way to another hole. The captain, who was never late, found it slightly irritating that Nemo never felt the need to be punctual; whether he did it on purpose, or he really didn't keep track of time, she wasn't sure.

Rolling her eyes at his statement, she knew he was partially right; she had been running around organizing and greeting up until shortly before he had arrived. Ignoring the first statement, she instead chooses to comment on his gift. "I hardly think those girls would have noticed, considering their age." she points out, one eyebrow raised. She doubted Mori and Jon would have noticed either, especially if Nemo had wanted to slip it somewhere they might have forgotten it. At the offer of a dance, she hesitated only a moment, before nodding her assent. "I suppose it is about time to put my musicians to use." however graceful she was, the captain still wasn't the best of dancers, though she hardly felt need to worry; very few people present would have the nerve to comment on her dancing, and none she couldn't throw across a room or two if necessary.

Most present hadn't yet begun to dance, but those who didn't plan to, and had finished gawking, immediately began to move towards the walls when they noticed the stance taken by their captain. Couples began to pair up around them, doing their best not to stare at the captain and the strange man she was with; the music began to pick up, becoming a focus for everyone to hear, instead of simply background music to be heard only by those who wished to hear it.

Allowing herself to be lead through the dance, the captain does her best to restrain herself; it was true, she wasn't a follower, and she was having a bit of a hard time backing down. "You make it sound like such a simple task." she sighed, keeping with the music and his movements. She knew the steps well enough, Agito had made quite sure of that, but she would have a harder time taking control of the situation with Nemo on the other end; he was much larger than the Strider, and not nearly as easy to intimidate. His mind seemed to wander a bit as they spun across the floor, weaving in and out with the other couples dancing. Quite a few people continued to stare, but most seemed to be trying their best not to stare. Had she been more concerned with their thoughts, or unused to being stared at, she might have blushed; but the captain never blushed, not in public anyway, and the thought of such never even crossed her mind. "Your mind is wandering. What is so important that it draws your attention?" she was curious, wondering if the sudden publicity of their relationship bothered him. She highly doubted this, he would have been a fool not to expect this sort of reaction, and it just didn't seem like something that would get under his skin.