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"No, the whole world split in... I think last-last year was 1832?" she questioned. The hamburger half jostled a bit. "Oh! And Waterloo was 1815- we were educated, you know, us poor, sort of. I mean... Not that we're all stupid, I mean, not that you guys are all stupid," she mumbled and stopped dancing for a moment. "I'm sorry." Eponine quickly recalled a bit of her French history for a moment. "Well, after Lamarque died, we all had to do something. Not that we wanted to necessarily... Kill off the nobility, you see. Angry people are angry, you see! I mean, I was angry too, but I don't want to kill you or anything, in case you're thinking that!" she rambled. "We were just angry- I'm sorry, I'm ranting, aren't I?" She allowed herself a poigant-seeming pause. "There were people who wanted down with the whole bourgeis. Make them share the bread. You know... As for me, what was I doing in the slums? I never thought they were slums until now, you see. Some people live pretty well there, you know. Bread everyday. Not us though. Why was I there? Well, I was born there, for one thing. I mean, what would I be doing anywhere else? I think a better question is what I'm doing here."

She found that when lying like this, it was... Easier. Much easier to interact with people. And with a growing warmth, she realized that she was even feeling safe talking. It must be the magic of the hamburger costume- no wonder people liked masked parties so much! You could be anyone and no one knew who you were- including yourself! It was just so much safer hidden away inside layers of styrofoam.

Eponine carefully listened to Sebastian's story. "That sounds nice," she slowly admitted wistfully. "Relaxing all day. And hunting- did you have beef for dinner every night? You must have! And eggs for breakfast everyday. And bread right when it's out of the oven. And chicken. And pork with all the drippings... And as much beer as you could drink-" She stopped. "But you're here now, aren't you, Mister Capetian? Why? Who would ever want to leave the courts? What are you doing here?"


Meanwhile, Estrelas spotted a decorative vase that could very well be used as a bowling ball....

The girl was trying hard and that was all that mattered. She even seemed to have a good grasp on what he was saying and had a drive to learn, so that was well and good too. In a more learning oriented setting Lai was certain he could teach Hyo to pronounce everything right. For the time, the way the girl spoke was good enough.

"Pretty good Miss Hyo. I am certain you will get better with practice." He smiled at her to show he was pleased with her hard work but did not pat the Korean on the head. Head pats would be reserved for when the word was just about exactly right. Since Hyo seemed to enjoy the pats, reserving them for when she spoke a word just about perfect would help get her to say more of them correct. At least...He would think so.

"Let us try a different word. Hm...How about," The Russian turned and walked to the bench he was sitting at before. He pressed his hand against the back and spoke its name as clearly as he could. "Bench."

Wraith, vainly looking around for Shee, gave up when he realized all he could see were large fluffy balls of colour. People were so... frivolous when given the chance.

He sank into a chair beside Johannes and turned to look at the man as he spoke. "Not really. All I've done so far is get you some water. I'm not one for these sorts of parties."


Eknephias lips curled up into a mad grin. He liked this one. Willing to go along; that was always a good thing. Laughing at odd intervals was a nice touch too.

"Well, is your singing voice any good? I like my fun, but inflicting a pained voice on all these people is sadistic even for one such as me. Well, no; I suppose it isn't." Eknephias wasn't much of a singer; not compared to Thasios, at least. Shee had always said he had a good voice, he just didn't apply himself properly, as Thasios apparently did. He was drifting further from the masquerade when the perfect idea dawned on him.

"No. I know of the perfect activity to engage in." He grinned again. "I say some unmasking is in order."


"Lamarque? I do not recall the name..." His pace slowed as she kept talking. He smiled slightly. "I am sorry, mademoiselle, but I do not think you could quite kill me even if you wished it." He had not had any contact with anyone but the nobility that he could remember. He was finding it difficult to contextualize her ideas about the poor. He had, of course, in his time with LOTUS, seen much of human suffering, but he had never quite been able to reconcile that reality with what was in his mind a far-off dream of France. "...Well, then, what are you doing here?"

He could not lie to himself; it had been nice. But it had been a lazy sort of nice, and, oh, how quickly moods changed in the courts. "I suppose we did have all these things. But you can have all of this here at LOTUS as well, if you would like." He paused as she asked why he was here. "I... am afraid the Court d'Anjou no longer has a place for me."


Thasios had redressed, this time swathed in his usual gold. The wine-drenched clothing lay in a pile on the floor, forgotten. It would not matter now that he looked archetypically Greek; he had been found out by the Russian man already and there was no point in masking himself again. He looked over his clothing once more; yards and yards of loosely wrapped golden fabric, and strode through the door. He had just reached the fringes of the ballroom once more when he noticed that the two he had left were still in the hall.

"Are you still not ready to rejoin the others? I am sure it is not quite what Shee had envisioned when she planned this masquerade."


Shee laughed at Rodney's explanation. "I don't know; the tool box would have been so unexpected." She leaned in slightly closer, trying to figure out who he was. He wasn't giving her that much to work with.

"Are you saying I'm pretty? Why, thank you for the compliment." She paused as he asked her where she was from. She couldn't tell him; that would just give it away.

"Well... you can ask, but I won't tell."

She saw Sebastien, and what she surmised was the Eponine-half of the hamburger (Sebastien would not have been left standing if it had been the Estrelas-half) dancing, and was seized by a desire to do the same. Conveniently forgetting that she didn't know how to dance, she turned excitedly to Rodney and tried to suppress a smile.

"But... maybe I'll tell you if you ask me to dance?"

"Hiuirbi bak! Hiuirbi Tuashioos? Tuashioos bak?" Hyo wasn't sure which part of that saying meant what, only what it meant whole, so he was doing a bit of guessing, when trying say in engrish something, that he wasn't taught yet.
Hopefully he did good enough for the kind spirit. It seems last time he didn't.

But now, when that person was back with them, the spirit looked like he wanted to go back to that demon-infested maskorade...
...who was he to tell him he shouldn't?
Hyo stood up from his seat, with his hands folded politely in front of him, and nodded his head.
"Bak. Okai." He nodded his head, and waited for the spirit to lead the way.

"Oh, I see." "Might explain why you're in black in the first place." Johannes shrugged and chuckled nervously as he commented. "You don't look like you're dressed 'in costume' like the rest of us." "Are you?"

"Still, one should try to look like one's enjoying it, even if you're having a horrible time." "You wouldn't want to make the host or the hostess feel bad." Johannes smiled at Wraith when he said. "Then again, there are just some very frivolous people or really nasty people who throw parties on a whim." "Now, those people, you can act like you're displeased." "They'd deserve it, since they themselves have been not very pleasant."


"Aah, I'm rambling, forgive me." Johannes was thinking of important people back home, who would invite Johannes' adoptive family and seemed to live without a care in the world. They seemed to not care what would happen outside their cozy world...which could explain why certain events happened.

"What would you prefer to be doing, sir?" "If not be here at this party?"

Vashan let himself relax for a bit. This lady was trying to make decent conversation, and here he was being so uptight, it really wasn't fair. He let his eyes explore her mask, her costume, the way she carried herself. She really wasn't like anyone he had seen before.

"There were many mountains where I used to live, but I didn't need to climb them, or anything," he responded in a dazed tone, on the verge of remembering and deciding not to. "It was very warm, though, even though I lived next to the harbour."

He thought about her words, and imagined himself there- wide prairies, long grass, mountains? He had never climbed a mountain before. He wondered if he would develop an affinity towards it, and see his own Jamaica in a new light, though it was hardly possible, the way he felt about it now.

At her question, he quirked a brow, then shook his head softly.

"Nothing alcoholic, I'll just have water," he responded, secretly feeling a pang of regret at forgetting to ask her. But it was natural, as he had not developed such manners with his own personality. "I-I'll come with you."

Looking quizzically between the two, Thasios smiled slightly. "I should think that I would come back. The masquerade is not yet at its end, I think."

He nodded appreciatively in Lai's direction. "Yes. She should learn. Although why Wraith has let this happen, a recruit join the organization without even a primary rudimentary working of the language strikes me as out of character. I shall have to ask him what his reasoning was."

He shook his head as Lai detailed his plans for the evening. "You are too nice of a person to be of much use in these times at LOTUS." He turned to the door and held it open for his companions. "Shall we?"


Wraith gave Johannes a look that indicated he was not impressed. "Of course I am. You can't tell who I am, can you?" He grunted slightly. "And I happen to enjoy the colour black. It has an understated elegance."

He started as Johannes talked about upsetting their hosts. He instantly felt a tinge of guilt; Johannes was right. Wraith didn't care in the least about upsetting Lai, but Shee was a different matter. Lowering his head, Wraith continued. "What would I rather be doing? Reading, hitting things, paperwork." Damn. He was not good at being in a good mood.

"Sorry. I-- I'm going to try and enjoy myself now." He got up, and twisted to face Johannes. "You will be alright, won't you?"


Suppressing it was not working, so Shee smiled full force at Rodney. "But discovery's good, isn't it? You can learn something new." Tilting her head as Rodney continued, she felt relief. Finally! She had only two names left that she hadn't eliminated. That last clue had been a good one. And such a lovely way of putting it... Shee didn't particularly enjoy flying, but the way the man had spoken of it almost made her want to give it another try.

Shee looked down and tugged lightly at the skirt of her dress, making sure she was appropriately poofy. Smiling again, she placed her hand in Rodney's outstretched one. "I hope you know how to dance. Because I don't."