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It was one of "those" parties. The kind that came with the special envelopes and the RVSP and the plus ones. Mathias had of course, refrained from dragging Cora to the damn thing. She was still recovering from her injuries and as much as he would rather be home - he had an "obligation" as being part of the White family to attend this little flash-in-the-pan.

He checked his suit again to make sure it looked halfway decent. He hadn't pulled it out of the closet in years so he'd had to have it taken in a bit. All the training he'd been doing for his "job" was starting to pay off somewhat. He pinched the bridge of his nose took one of the glasses of wine of the tray one of the serving staff was carting around and went in search for "the center of attention."

Well that wasn't entirely true.

The Whites had a bad habit of showing off at the littlest excuse. Sure, Delilah, his cousin by blood, was having her birthday this weekend, but that didn't mean her father couldn't also announce the fact that they were experiencing record profits or some other stupid bullshit Mathias really didn't give two craps about.

So really it was an excuse for Delilah's parents to rub elbows and chat it up with all their business associates and friends - while Delilah kind of just sat in the wings, looking pretty, sweet and perfect. Happy with her luxurious presents that would be worthless in a years time. It made Mathias quite angry, really.

Mathias was something of a black sheep - he was sure he'd received an invitation ONLY because he was the only White on his side of the family in the area. He had not made himself known to Delilah's parents yet, and was busy looking for his second cousin.

This was her party dammit - and he was going to make sure she had fun. Downing the wine in one go, and drawing a few sickened looks from some nearby fat-cats. Mathias made his way to seek out what he felt, was the real reason for the party.

Ah, there she was, in the middle of the social-butterfly free-for-all that really should have been called a shark pit. Mathias grimaced at the thought of what he was about to do, but - it was now or never and if he didn't get Delilah away from them soon she was probably going to lose her mind from boredom alone.

Shouldering through the line, cutting places and out-and-out making a nuisance of himself he managed to make it to the front of the "gravy train" and stopped right in front of Delilah, gracelessly hip-checking poor Ms. McCullen out of the way to give off a showy bow to his second cousin.

"M'lady," He laughed, rising up and taking her hand. "I've come to save you from this fetid party" He looked around the room at all the rich people staring at him and he couldn't help it. Turning he bowed to them all.

"Ladies, Gentlemen... entitled swine - I am here to steal the real jewel of this party. I am sure you won't notice though. Philistines."

With that, he shot his Father's cousin a cheeky nod, scooped Delilah up Princess style and ran laughing for the exit. Her parents could play damage control - he and Delilah were going to actually have some fun.

"Happy birthday, shrimp," Mathias smirked as he double-timed it out of the venue toward his car. "So where do you really want to go for your birthday? My treat."

"Well they kinda had to let me in, I WAS given an invitation - though I wonder if that was your mother's doing, as far as I know, your father want's nothing to do with me," Mathias smirked before slowing to a walk and then finally setting her down next to his car. He did not believe in valet parking and he was glad. He'd parked decently away from the venue so he was taking a moment to catch his breath.

Yes, the training was helping - loads.

Though, he would have killed to see her old-man's face right about now.

Five bucks said he burst a vessel.

"Let the rich ninnies and their trophy children grumble, tonight should be about you and not some stupid half baked reason your dad came up with to show off."

He popped the passenger side of the car open for her and motioned for her to hop in. "Come on, it's not like you really want to be here - and I'm sure I will be made to apologize profusely once the evening is through."

He shot her his best winning smile, you know - the one that meant he was up to no good what so ever. "Come on, I played the role of the kidnapper the least you can do is be kidnapped for a few hours."

Mathias smirked and closed the door, moving around quickly to the driver's side he hopped in and started the car, heading down the long drive of the country club before turning out onto the highway. He laughed a little and shook his head.

"Well then, where are we headed?" He asked as they got on the main highway and headed back toward the heart of the city. "We've got an entire night to burn and I'll take you anywhere you want to go. Consider this your real party."

He hadn't really had a plan short of getting her the hell out of there - and even most of that had been ad-libbed.

Mathias laughed, looking over at her with a grin. "Hey, kidnapping isn't my usual wheelhouse," He said with a shake of his head, before turning his attention back to the road.

"To be honest, when I was your age I was trying to sneak into bars and what not, but let's not try and get your cousin arrested, eh?" He admitted sheepishly, turning off the main highway as they got closer to downtown.

"But you know what - I know a few places that'd be fun," he continued, making his way toward a parking garage. "We're a little overdressed but I don't think it really matters. How about hitting the big arcade in the mall?"

Mathias gave her the pleasure of seeing him check his own side mirror to ensure they weren't being tailed, and even if they were - he's pretty sure her mother would vouch for him if it really came down to it. But really - if her father had been smart he'd of played it off as dinner theater and gotten a pat on the back for it. The people hadn't been there for Delilah anyway.

"I'll totally kick your a**, but sure, I'm game,"Mathias said with a light chuckle as he parked in the mall's parking garage and hopped out of the car, moving to open the door for her.

"Your evening awaits, m'lady."

Mathias chuckled moving quickly to catch up with her once he was sure the car was locked. It's not that he didn't trust people - it was just that he didn't trust people. He'd seen enough being an agent of the Negaverse to know that people were - at their best, selfish.

At their worst they were monstrous.

But that wasn't the focus of his evening. He intended to show his cousin what a real birthday was supposed to be like - like he did every year. It just didn't make sense for her to suffer in the long and boring party that she'd been subjected to - especially since it wasn't even in her honor.

Nobody should have their lives used as an excuse to do something - that just pissed him off.

"Naw, I'm not scared, besides I've been driving way longer than you have," he said with a smirk. "Come on, let's put our money where our mouths are."

As he caught up with her he offered her his arm - his intent was to escort her to the arcade.

"You've seen me drive - you tell me," Mathias chuckled, before slowly escorting her into the mall. He didn't walk super fast - let people stare, that was really half the fun. Make them think they were completely out of place - just for shits and giggles really.

"Yeah, it's still got all the stuff - the claw machine is still there - rigged as usual." He made a face at that. "I think you cheat - or have magical powers."

Who knew - he had something akin to those now but he doubted they'd help him win at rigged claw games.