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@Aila and Dancing People

Even as Izaya and Natalia passed them, Asch didn't look at Izaya. His expression too was a bit distant. Although whether it was because he was purposely ignoring them, hadn't noticed, or otherwise, wasn't plain. Either way, he paid Izaya no mind, but knew where he and Natalia were. Keeping watch out of the corner of his eye without making direct eye contact.

However, he had noticed Aila's silence and looked at her briefly as he continued to lead her in a slow dance across the floor. "Etes-vous d'accord?" he asked with little emotion in his voice. He himself was a bit distracted with his own thoughts, but there was still a bit of concern over his partner's welfare.

Mairu answered the Umbreon cheekily. She tried to prance ahead, but the older dark-type had longer strides and she kept falling behind.

(Shizuo's a trainer)...Kasuka (Kasuka's trainer).> Kururi explained meekly. (what's wrong)...?> the older twin asked as she trailed after Umbreon. She hoped they wouldn't be asked to harm one of their favorite humans. Not only that, but it would dramatically lower their chances of meeting Kasuka.

Mairu told her urgently.

The informant rolled his eyes and turned back to his dance partner as both Aila and Asch seemed to be off in their own, individual mental worlds. At least that was a little more characteristic of them, dancing on auto-pilot, even if the 'dancing' part was still hard to swallow.

Though he still had yet to learn what the red-head's connection was with his look-alike, Asch really was a lot like Luke fon Fabre, and not just by appearances. Despite hardly knowing him, both of them had been equally rude and snobbish towards Izaya. That couldn't have been a Grande Isle trait, seeing as Natalia and Aila were exactly the opposite. Maybe it was just the hormonal teenage males from that place.

(Trainer group/dance floor)

Sera gratefully accepted the cup from Bro - not that she thanked him or anything frivolous like that - and took a sip from it. Hmm - wine. Not the best thing to spike punch with, but better than nothing. With a small shrug she downed it very quickly, then tossed the cup at the nearest trash bin. It bounced off the rim and landed with a light clatter that was inaudible compared to the music. Seraphine didn't seem to notice that it landed on the floor, as she continued to dance near the group of trainers, easily matching her moves with the beat and rhythm of the music. Hmm... either cute boys would come to her, or she'd need to go find some. Either way, she kept a look-out for any potential partners for the evening. There had to be at least a few.

(Punch Club, Isadora, Aulus, Frost, Faleen, Sierra)

"No worries," Hayes grinned at Isadora as the situation seemed to defuse. "Guess some people are really getting into character." He wasn't - just because he was dressed as one of moviedom's great icons of manliness didn't mean he needed to act the part. Aulus was taking care of the testosterone levels for both of them, as well as the off-color thinking. "I guess someone'll clean it up.." Where was that girl with the Golbat who'd seemed to know Aulus? Maybe she'd gone off to let one of the party staff know what happened.

"Ooh, he's foreign. And cute." "Dani-" It was a good-natured groan from Hayes, and went completely ignored. The girl flashed a bright grin at said scarred Rocket, eyes sparking with interest. "Hi." She slipped off Hayes' shoulders. "I'm Dani."

"Sort of," Hayes told Frost distractedly; he was keeping an eye on the brunette girl as she continued: "Thanks for getting my brother out of the house; he must really like you or something." The way she moved past Claire to approach Aulus suggested such traits might run in the family.

Yup, there she goes.

A fedora was unceremoniously plunked over her eyes. "Hey, squirt." Hayes grinned knowingly at his sister as she turned back and pulled the hat off her goggles. "What happened to my friends being off limits?" "That was when most of your friends were in the chess club, Alex." Dani tipped the fedora at a rakish angle on her head and turned a pretty smile on Aulus. "You don't look like you're in the chess club."

If the scarred Rocket happened to catch his partner's eye at that moment, he'd get a shrug. If it was the moment after, Hayes' attention would be on the girl talking with Claire. Sure he'd been distracted, but.. how long had Faleen been standing there? "Hey." This was what you said to people you knew and recognized, and perhaps it was the effect of being taken off-guard by her sudden appearance that stalled the blond's next words. "Nice costume."

(Kratos)

Naomi stood there for a bit longer, fiddling with the hem of the skirt once again, a little unsure of what to do now. She took in a breath, gathering up the nerve to venture out into the crowd. Well, perhaps she could get some punch first. Yeah, that would be her plan. First punch, then mingle. That was a common thing to do she believed, not really being to a party as large or lavish as this before. Her eyes scanned around, looking for the punch table among the mass of people. If the blue haired trainer knew that there were Rockets among the crowd, she would have left instantly. So, for now, she remained blissfully unaware.

After finally locating where she could acquire some punch, she was about to make her way toward it when something caught her attention. Turning her attention toward a motion in the corner of her green eyes, she immediately noticed the bouncing pink Pikachu from within the hat of a magician boy. Though pink wasn't exactly her color, she still couldn't help smile at the enthusiastic mouse Pokemon as it and its trainer approached her. She watched as the trainer calmed his Pokemon and giggled, turning to face him fully as he stopped in front of her. During the time the trainer approached, the Poke Ball that contained her Aggron had wiggled, eager to meet the small Pokemon. That was where she placed her hand on it gently, thinking, Sorry Aggro, you wouldn't want to come out now... to many people around.

"Hello!" The pirate exclaimed sweetly, shaking her head softly. "No interruption at all, I love seeing energetic Pokemon." She added looking to the Pikachu, then back to the male in front of her. "So far, though it's still a bit early to tell. How about you?"

@ Shizuo

She was standing, and he was still too tall. Why did everyone have to be huge? Presea was glad though that she hadn't hurt or offended him in any way. She held his hand a moment longer before it got to feeling awkward. She wanted to whip out her note pad and drill him about the event. Interview him, find out what he liked about this event, this holiday. Anything.

But after her previous failed attempts, she had told herself she wasn't going to do so. It seemed no one had fun when she was questioning them about the dance. There was a pang of self doubt then. It's not like anyone would read her article. She had always been told she wasn't invested enough in her stories. They all sounded ... Mechanical. Maybe her costume was more fitting then she first thought. Ok, so she wasn't going to interview him. But then again, one question wouldn't hurt, right? It was a dance after all.

"... Wouldyouliketodance?" She half blurted awkwardly. Though she was prepared for the inevitable rejection. She looked like a kid, and she knew it. That wasn't most people's cup of tea.

(Punch bowl club)

Dani's behavior with Hayes was amusing - sister, definitely, with how she was acting - but the way she swept right past her and onto Aulus made one eyebrow raise. Okay, that wasn't amusing. At all.

Just as a strange feeling had started whirling around her head - possibly her stomach too - her attention snapped to Faleen when the blond touched a piece of her wings. Blue eyes studied the fading glow momentarily - not that she realized it was fading yet - then focused on Faleen instead. "Something wrong?" Were they on crooked? Had one or two rods stopped glowing? Did they look bad? Aulus didn't seem too interested in them, they probably looked bad.

Unfortunately she was too distracted to notice that Isadora had left. She was also too distracted to notice that she had yet to open her can of soda that she held with both hands - actually it'd probably be warm by the time she remembered it. Her fingers fidgeting over its smooth surface were likely the only indication of the surge of confusing indecision that suddenly plagued her.

Sierra and Khalon (@ punch bowl group)

((No worries, BG, it happens and it's pretty busy in here XD))

Khalon quirked an eye at the Gengar only briefly. Eh, it was a Ghost-type afterall. It would be strange if the other were well-behaved and polite, wouldn't it? The Umbreon knew that he himself was already a bit of an oddity, likely one of the calmer of Sierra's Pokemon. Then again, given the team, that wasn't hard. And he still had his moments, being a Dark-type.

He only nodded to the Gengar before he disappeared, then leaned in to inspect the cup. The sweet, yet pungent scent assaulting his senses was definitely not punch. Not in the slightest. And yet... He glanced over at Sierra thoughtfully, still awkwardly trying to make conversation at the punch bowl. Oh that hopeless girl. She really needed to relax a little. Besides, Khalon was here to look after her in case things got TOO out of hand, right?

Chuckling to himself, the Umbreon bent and took the very edge of the cup lip between his teeth, then padded over to the drink table, careful not to spill a drop of what was left in the cup. Upon reaching his destination, he pawed lightly at Sierra's leg to get her attention and held the cup up as an offering.

"Varied, yes..." Sierra was saying distractedly, watching the crowd alongside Frost. The light brush of something against her leg caused her to look down and blink at Khalon. "Oh, thank you, Khalon," she said, taking the cup as recognition dawned. She gave him a quick ear scratch, then straightened up. She had been about to take a drink when she paused, sniffing the cup. Wait a minute... Sierra aimed a suspicious look at the Umbreon...if he could have detached one of his glowing rings to use as a halo, that was the look he was giving her now.

It wasn't as if Sierra had never partaken of alcohol before...and she felt it had its place...but was now the time? Her anxiety and awkwardness looming in the background told her...heck yes. Still, might as well make it taste better. Grabbing one of the soda cans from the table, she popped the top and poured a bit of the clear citrus soda into the mix, filling it to the brim. Mmm...wine spritzer.

"At least the day-glo Golbat with the cake seems to have moved along," she commented idlly, taking a drink.



Sheena (@ Luke, Rosie, Charlotte, and dance floor)

"Charlotte? A pleasure," Sheena returned with another half-bow. She had just heard Luke's comment and was starting to ask, "One of yours? Really? And here I thought he was one-of-a-ki--" and the pair of them were suddenly pulled onto the dance floor with Rosie. She actually let out a startled squeak (much to Gnome's amusement), as she tried to keep her footing amidst the chaos.

Feel the music? Really? Sheena hadn't really been one for dancing much before, but...she did have other skills. Maybe something that might be helpful here? Especially if it really didn't matter what she did...as long as she didn't completely embarrass herself.

Tentatively at first, she tried to focus on the music and the beat, rocking from one foot to the other in time, then slowly adding her hips to the movement. After a while, she seemed to forget her self-consciousness over her costume and even started to smile while bouncing to the up-tempo beat. Rosie's enthusiasm was contageous.

How long had it been since she'd allowed herself to cut loose like this?