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Edan Alaric Carden was 'new money'; one lucky son of a b***h, as most would say. He had been charismatic enough as a young man to charm his way right into her mother's heart, bound and determined to support her even after she had lost her inheritance in marrying for love... And he'd done it, somehow. He'd faced the odds and now he was well known amongst the various circles for his giving nature, his charming wife and lovely daughter.

Candice Abigail Edeline had been born into money, something that her own parents had never let her forget, even after she had run away to marry. Her 'scandal' had been whispered about for some time after she and her husband had left Destiny City, only seeming to fade out (at least in public) once they had returned and enrolled their daughter in Crystal Academy.

To both of their pleasures their daughter, Cordelia Edena Carden, had finally consented to joining them... As long as she could choose her own escort, which she had.

While her parents had arrived 'on time', she and her escort had arrived 'fashionably late', where 'fashionably late' meant that they were amongst the last to arrive before Jada Chamberlain was presented to the masses. She was apologetic and nervous, one gloved hand clinging to the envelope her parents had told her to bring with her, the other holding tightly to her escort's arm. He was a lucky b*****d. He didn't seem to have a care in the world.

It seemed as though she might have a fit up until her escort leaned down to whisper something in her ear. Whatever it was (likely something completely off the wall, and not at all anything anyone else would have thought of) it made her laugh, eyes lighting up as a bit of a rosy glow worked its way into the soft features of her face. Then, and only then, was she ready to put on her 'game face' so that he could present her to the host and hostess before they moved on.

Raven hair had been pulled up in elegant ringlets, held in place by ebony hair sticks topped with diamonds that shimmered like the flecks of silver in her dress. The rest of her jewelry was modest; a simple drop necklace with matching earrings and one of her favorite bracelets, most of her emphasis put on her natural beauty. It had been a long time (months could be a long time for a teenager) since she had considered this sort of thing her element... But deep down maybe Gabrielle, Gabbie, had been right. Maybe it would be good to dance.

Once he had the girl's hand within his own, he easily manipulated the movement as smoothly as possible so that the girl's arm was tucked up against his own. It was as if the lovely young man was truly in his element in such an event. In a delicate scolding tone, he faced the brunette, nodding his head once as he warned "Now Mother, I insist you behave yourself while I am away."

The woman laughed at her son before turning her head to face a nearby table. Howl's eyes managed to catch this subtle hint that she would be waiting for him there. Mother was always so kind to him, since she could have easily already been on the dance floor as well. She obviously understood how he wanted to keep an eye on her in his father's place.

Not letting her glance linger too long towards the table, Anastasia returned her eyes to Calintha Johnson's dark ones. "Oh, the pleasure has been all mine, Miss Johnson." A well practiced smile was upon the woman's lips as Howl guided his current partner towards the dance floor. Unfortunately, the young man knew that the girl's attempt at being polite might have gone less appreciated than it should have. His mother was quite the stickler of the English language, and mistaking "meet your acquaintance" versus "make your acquaintance" probably stuck out like the boy in the doctor's coat on the dance floor.

It was an issue for another time. As he guided the gussied up girl towards the dance floor, he had to give her a well earned compliment. "I must confess, Miss Calintha. I could hardly recognize you earlier. You look rather lovely." At least he was back to using the young lady's first name (though probably still a bit more formal than Calintha would have preferred). Before they reached the floor, he added "I apologize if my mother made you feel uncomfortable. I must confess, she can be quite a handful to take care of at this sort of event." Normally it was his father who kept his mother at bay, but tonight it was his responsibility.

When they arrived on the floor, he once more managed to unlatch his arm from the girl's side, to ease her into facing him, to set one hand upon her back and to take one hand to lead her with on single fluid motion. He smiled and uttered "Shall we?" before starting to ease her into the dance. He was easily able to note the occasional snag of shoe to dress, but as any decent dance partner would do, he compensated the occasional slip without a word.

"Well, I am glad that I can keep you company for at least a small amount of time. I must admit, it is a pleasant surprise to see you here as well." His lips smiled in the kindest of fashions. It was just the way Howl was.

There was a mention of a familiar name, and his expression seemed to light up vaguely, just because he knew the name. "Miss Fallon? A young lady with cinnamon colored hair? I met at the Ink & Pen. Charming young lady, but I was unable to catch her last name." Leave it to Howl to fret over not knowing someone's last name. "I take it she is a friend of yours? I do recall you sitting at her table at Miss Chamberlyn's previous dance event."

Lily smiled and nodded, "I do not mind a pause. I would absolutely love to meet some new faces. I am always up for making a new friend," she said ignoring the unneeded excuse.

Lily grinned, "Well," she said softly. "Lead me to this Aurora you speak of. It is such a lovely name"

Lily was actually glad that they would not go on dancing if there were new friends to meet. Her brother had been right, this little party seemed to be nothing to worry about after all. And later she would not have to make an excuse to slip away.

"Just promise me a dance later and we'll call ourselves even," she said joking with Azzo.

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Xander stood sipping his tea and watching his sister from a distance. She was dancing with the boy she had been speaking with earlier and his eyes were trained on the pair. There was no way he was letting them out of his sights.

However, the debutante entrance interrupted his sister watching, knowing he could not ignore the debut of the girl into society. It would be rude, so Xander watched. He noted the girls all looked lovely, but hadn't an opinion on the situation otherwise.

He had to say he was glad when it was over and his eyes quickly returned to the spot where his sister had been. Only not to see her and on top of that there was now a young girl obstructing his view.

"Good evening," he greeted her.

The girl was practically drooling at the mouth as she asked him to dance, though Xander hardly noticed. He excepted her hand and led her to the dance floor, allowing the dance and momentarily allowing his sister a bit more freedom.

Azzo smiled, "I promise." He said with a chuckle, "There's a few others, if they're here, I'd like to nab a small dance from as well." He said, doubting that Fallon would like to dance.

He lead the way towards where he thought Aurora and a few others might be. He also noticed Melody as he slipped past. Unsure who to divulge, there was a green haired girl he didn't know either. He was curious trying to figure out who visit first.

He didn't really see where Aurora had disappeared to. He gave a soft pout, "I don't see where Auora went..." He said softly. However, he nodded towards Melody and Esen, "I do see Melody, and a few people I don't know..." He said softly, as he lead her over. "Lets see them first then? Shall we?"

It was pure luck he'd actually seen Melody, the shocking green hair had called his attention to it. He had to double take to make sure it was Mel.

He lead Lily over and gave a bow, "Hello there Ladies, Melody." He paused, "Lily, meet Melody, she plays the Cello quite well." He said before pausing, "Melody, girls, I'd like you to meet Lily."

Azzo's grandmother saw him come off the dance floor and watched him as he headed over to some brightly haired ladies and a pretty blonde. She made her way over curiously. Readily Eavesdropping as she did. Azzo had noticed her, not saying a word at the moment.

Emmy looked at her friends and then back at him. "I'm sure they won't mind, and I'd love to dance. It was nice meeting you Kallista, I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of each other."

She took Trevor's hand and gently led him onto the dance floor. Emmy got into position and let him lead. Though, she often had a habit of taking control, just to be different. She also didn't want to throw him off, as that could lead to more embarrassing situations. It wouldn't be the first time she had fallen dancing unfortunately.

Elzo saw Audrey. He was wanting to run over to her. Pick her up, dance with her, and-
"You must be Elzo."
Get c**k blocked by Jada's little sister. Not what he wanted. Not what he needed. The little kid looked ready to attack him, and really he did not want to be attacked. "Kaileh, er, K-something right? Uh look, can- I- Just-" He kept trying to stop closer towards Audrey's direction, eyes catching Marlo's who all but had a small s**t eating grin on his face. "Um, look. Just..." This kid was jailbait. Why couldn't she have at least been legal?
"What do you want?" The elder Xanis boy crossed his arms. He wanted Audrey, not some....kid!
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Marlo snorted. "Obviously Audrey. Even after last night he was hell bent on coming. Mostly to see you I assume, as normally, he'd rather play hookie then do as our father asks." He was about to go on as Zora stuck her hound out at him. It was shaken with a light grip. He was more used to bowing with girls then shaking hands at dinner parties and dances. "Why was she mad at me? I didn't think I did anything offensive." His mind replayed the events. "Uh, unless...forget about it." Pink covered his face. "I must be imagining such things."