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In the glowing, clean light of the ballroom, many footsteps began to echo as the huge doors majestically swung open. There was the hint of expectation and pomp in the air as the chandelier candles flickered and glowed from above and the high walls rang with a growing chatter. The regal pillars stood as a sentiment to glory and dignity. The room was supremely and utterly a dream.

Then a giant hamburger walked in.

"Epanninny why you bump me?" Logic said that the voice should have been at least slightly muffled by the layers of foam forming the bun. Logic also said that logic couldn't possibly apply to Estrelas.

The girls wore black tights to obscure the identities of their legs. One pair was slender and graceful. Unfortunately, the other pair was chunky and muscly and covered in white rabbit fur.

"Eeek!" The right half of the hamburger wiggled nervously. "I-I didn't! I think that was someone else!!"

From the left side, an arm carefully reached out and prodded the doorframe. "No mind, Epaninny. That the door."

"Oh! Okay!" There was a long pause as Eponine nervously tallied up the odds that the Manager would be hiding in the wings. "Errr, Estrelas? I don't hear Angel anywhere..."

"Oh, Angel probably go look for friend."

"...Friend..."

"She like Father 'Madai. Mista Sian. Lai-Lai.. Faaa-stus..."

"...Why, yes... Haha! I thought she would have gone to the food table..."

The left side of the hamburger shrugged. "As long as they no have table cloth."

The right side suddenly went rigid. "Ah... Why?"

"Because Angel like to pull down table cloth. Like to make food go crash-crash-splat. But haha! Mees Shee too smart to use table clothing! Haha! We fine!"

Eponine went silent.

She had not wanted to come to the party. She had wanted to stay in her room with a "headache" and wind down at the end of the day to a quiet, relaxing book... But there was Estrelas. Estrelas with her big brass booming voice and her big bold smile. Estrelas promising a fun, flipping evening. Estrelas grinning and promising everything she could have ever hoped for. Estrelas promising a "mas-kew-ra-deh." And then the costume- it hid her perfectly! Although everyone knew that if Estrelas was in one side, there could be only one person on the other...

"Epaninny we go!" Estrelas called impatiently.

"I am going! It seems... I think we're staying in the same place!"

From both sides of the giant hamburger, arms reached out and prodded the doorframe.

"Estrelas, I feel a doorframe!"

"Good! So we in right place."

"No, I mean we're stuck!"

Mokoyis carefully smoothed down the satin of her dress trying not to snag her fingers on the downy feathers that covered the skirt. The bright white material was likely to be filthy by the end of the evening, but it would be nice to enter the room looking presentable. Her hair at least was cooperating, she had pulled the fronts back and fastened them with a feathered clip. She had curled the normally straight part left loose and hoped it would be enough to hide her identity. The contrast between her dark skin and the snowy white dress was vivid and probably a dead give away.

She had decided to dress herself as a crane and had then spent a whole afternoon in the library discovering exactly what a masquerade was as to be able to make her costume properly. She had then modernized the design based on some fashion magazines. A simple black half-mask with some white feathers glued to one side and some orange paint to make a beak, and her outfit was complete.

She rounded the corner and was confronted with the backside of a hamburger instead of the decorative doors to the hall. Someone was most definately stuck. "Do you need help?"

A soft hum had been held within Rodney's throat as he fixed the cuffs of his shirt. The buttons had proven somewhat tricky, but with the proper maneuver, he had succeeded in fastening them still against his thin wrists. From a sincere perspective, his shirt was rather large, and no amount of buttoning would ever have provided the proper fit. Elegance was hardly an associative property, and he found it better to make-due with what tangible belongings he had to clothe himself with. That, of course, had consisted of nothing extravagant nor flighty. He had donned nothing more than a pair of dim, dusty slacks pattered with stains of all sorts, and the fine-white dress shirt that had become a form of cool-wear when he could not be bothered to wrap himself up in his long coat.

In the case of the evening, it was a matter of formality, however - and within Rodney's mind, it was best to dress as nicely as he could with what little he did have. He had cleaned his shirt, and had attempted to clean his pants, and, of course, he had made certain to grasp the pair of dark suspenders from within the bag beneath his bed to ensure his pants would be of a proper fit. He was of his own stature, and of his own time, though the unfortunate aspect of it all was that he looked less like a gentleman. He was a scruffy young paper-boy, lanky, wiry, and unimpressive. He was oblivious, however; and such was for the better.

Rodney's boots had pattered against the ground as he strode in direction. It was a brisk pace, more of a jog; and a faded potato sack had swung from within his hand as he went along in a hurry. The expression on his face may have been confused for unadulterated fear, but confusion may have been a better statement. He wasn't wholly certain where the ballroom was. He remembered some vague outline of a direction, however, and that had been enough to fuel him to hurry along and try to find it on the basis of guessing and asking himself twenty-questions. For having been sick, he was beginning to feel better. Healthy as an ox, with a boosting sense of memory. He certainly felt less senile. That had not stopped his frustration in searching for the ballroom.

He had given a quick ruffle of his thick brown hair before heaving a great sigh. The running pace he had picked up gradually diminished as he slid the potato sack over his head, a make-shift mask perhaps as disheveled as he himself had shown to be. Three holes had been sliced into the sack, two for the eyes, and one for the nose - nothing more. All things considering, not an ounce of his face showed beyond such features. Not even the smile as he finally found what he thought may have been the ballroom.

There was ... Something there, though. Several things! It appeared as if he had walked in on an interesting circumstance. "What in the name of ... Who is that?" He had whispered to himself in response to the peculiarity of a big four-legged object blocking the entry. There was a crowd gathering, it seemed, all inconvenienced by the four-legged mass.

"What seems to be the trouble here?"

Eknephias was not happy. There was a large circular thing between him and the bar. And that was a problem.

Thasios hung back, amused. Few things upset Eknephias; this appeared to be one of them. When Shee had informed him of her plans to hold a masquerade, he had thought it would be fun, and a welcome change. But he hadn't imagined it would be quite this enjoyable.

Eknephias frowned, although no one could see it, an ivory theatre mask lined in pearls obscuring his face. He tapped the ivory lips of the mask rapidly a few times, staring at the obstruction. It appeared to be... struggling. He stood facing it silently, at the front of the crowd that appeared to be gathering, for a full three minutes. Deciding he would take his chances with whatever ear-splitting, punishing lecture Shee would give him for hurting a recruit, he whirled around to face Thasios, the silver and white satin of his heavy brocade coat swinging with him. "You can tell her it was my fault."

And swinging around again, he realized that this King Henry fellow had been more clever than he had originally given him credit for. You could always use great big shoulders.

And with that in mind, he rammed into the hamburger. Eknephias had always considered himself to be in good shape, but that had been much harder than he had imagined, and he let out a deep breath, bent over in the now clear doorway, as the hamburger appeared to be slightly disoriented and stumbling in the general direction of the food. He had done his part. That was someone else's problem.

He turned, vaguely interested, in the direction of unintelligible screaming. There appeared to be a little girl scared of... something. Too young for him anyways. Wine first; then women. And with that thought, he sauntered off in search of something sweet and hopefully biting.

Thasios shook his head, and followed Eknephias into the room. Forsaking his usual gold, he had decided upon sky blue silks done up with intricate embroidery and fastened with buttons; He'd worn the coat that Eknephias had presented him with, which seemed suspiciously like something of Wraith's, with it's decidedly Eastern flair. But it was a costume party. And although he felt certain that no one would mistake him for Wraith (his shining hair resembled fire more than anything else), it would make for second-guessing. He smiled slightly as he watched Eknephias meander around people, and hoped this was not one of days that Eknephias decided he wanted to be a "fun drunk".

There were many people here Thasios did not recognize. Hopefully there would be someone new who was worth talking to.

Mokoyis had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as the hamburger went flying. It was a good idea though, she should have thought of it herself- if she hadn't been so concerned for her dress of course. But it was a problem solved and she cast a glance at the crowd that had gathered around the blocked door before sweeping into the ballroom at last.

Shee had done a lovely job. The candlelight cast a dim luminosity about the room which disguised forms and provided a number of dark corners that could prove to be interesting later. And there was food and music and everything else the books had promised. Mokoyis was impressed, though she fought to keep her face in its normal stern expression.

Other people were already in the room, some gathered around what she assumed was a bar. None were dancing yet, or at least no one was doing anything she associated with dancing- there was no bouncing or spinning.

There was no one she recognized, that of course being the point of the evening, but it did make starting a conversation a bit more difficult.

Having received notification of the masquerade while in Rome, Asmadai had been able to take according measures while there. Such measures had included stopping off at that house and picking up a few things from the last time he'd actually attended a party. It had been some years ago, but he was gratified to find that the old costume still fit. Out of nostalgia, he'd gone to Maria's room- miraculously untouched- and gathered a few more things. His sister had been one for parties, especially masquerades. It still felt odd, though she was dead, to have any of her possessions.

Still, it seemed to have a certain continuity. Last time he'd attended a masquerade, he'd borrowed this same mask- featureless and made out of a mirrored substance. He could see out, but none could see in. Nor did he have to worry about his hair, since he'd acquired a wig in a black color that surely didn't occur in nature (though, looking around, he thought perhaps it did) and ended at his shoulders. Instead of his normal cassock or slacks and sweater, he'd dug out a black robe with silver embroidery around the hem that fastened at the throat with small opal buttons. The clothes underneath- consisting of white slacks and a matching coat with asymmetrical hemline- only showed when he moved faster than a sedate walk.

Which he was currently doing. Asmadai had been distracted by his journal once more- not writing, just reading and marveling at the change of tone between just a month ago and today. He didn't even really want to participate in this, but... He probably had to. It would be a good chance to meet the others (he knew he hadn't yet met every member of LOTUS) and to... stop wallowing.

It seemed he wasn't too late, though. People seemed to only just be streaming into the room- a dazzling river of costume, he thought as he tried vainly to identify someone he knew. No one, which was unfortunate... He looked about, spotted an androgynous person in black with a white mask with a fearful demeanor, as if about to cut and run. "Hello," he called, approaching the black-clothed person. He stopped a bit away and extended a black-gloved hand. "Are you alright?"

Lai had given a greeting to a tall woman dressed in white and feathers whom he was sure he wouldn't know out of costume when he had realized the metal on stone flooring sound had gotten within him and the door. He turned to face the owner of the racket and was taken aback by the mask he was wearing. Startled, but nothing more than a few quick blinks to take in the whole picture and behind the mask he was wearing it would be even harder to tell that he was. He realized he had been momentarily stunned, so Lai covered that up with a polite smile and a nod back. At the statement he shrugged, making out the words but having some difficulty at that.

"It is all up to you com-...Ah...Sir." It was well known Lai would use the word 'comrade' to the men of LOTUS, excluding Einar and the Father for their separate reasons, so if that wouldn't be a dead giveaway to who was under the mask and tuxedo, nothing was. He hoped he had saved himself in time before the unrecognized Einar noticed. Lai cleared his throat with a quick covered cough, and still flushed a dull pink at his almost slip up, but due to the form of the mask it remained unseen. He'd have to be careful nonetheless. He gave a quick shake of his head before speaking again.

"Do not worry about it. Go and have a good time." He extended his right arm and hand out to the side, gesturing to the people already convening in the ballroom and lighting a smile back on his face. "I do not think formalities are required, but I am choosing to do so. I shall not prattle on and bore you though. There are plenty of people here far more interesting than I, plus trying to find out who is under what mask is part of the fun in this event. Enjoy yourself and have a good evening sir."