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Xei had wandered off in thought, sadly. It created an awkward silence, in which he contemplated the roof and stared at the food until his stomach reminded him of its fullness.

He sighed, just then noticing Alexi was gone, off doing something or other. Ah well, he planned to meet people, and it wasn't working so well right now...what with the Nester saga and the rigging of the stage.

Speaking of which, how had the man not tripped the enchantment yet? It must have broken somehow, just like his Glue spell earlier...how odd

Ah well, not much to be done about that...

Would it be worth the while to work on the 'Bot in the corner somewhere? ...speaking of which, where had he set it? Had he left it behind the curtains backstage when he set the spell? ...That seemed to be about the time he stopped holding it...it AND the book. Oh well, they're safe enough there.

So what, then? Xei took one look at the crowd, the great, gyrating mass of bodies....yeah, no. Perhaps an idea would occur after a bit of spellworking.

He grabbed a food-like thing and went to a clear corner to begin working on making a something-or-other out of it.

((bah, don't know what to do....)

'Now if I put that there, move that over....now it should fall apart, if I did this right...' Xeiashi thought as he continued poking around his food, trying to make it break from boredom. He started to concentrate again and...

"You alone too?"

There was a tiny burst of food-powder from a failed spell.

"-coughcough-, ugh....yeah, a bit obvious I thought, but ....hold that thought. Sorry, but I think I need to get this off of me."

The food-splatter started to make a hissing noise, and smoke started to rise slowly from his clothing.

"OHCRAP! I really need to go. Sorry I couldn't talk!" Xei shot over his shoulder as he ran through a nearby door, hoping the seawater would help. The ocean was too far away to reach before....whatever it was, happened. The next closest water was...the pool, only about half the distance away. It was still too far to run, at least, that's what it sounded like as the hissing and smoke grew more plentiful. There was only one chance:

"Gotta test that one spell"
[Catch the Wind

He got there barely in time, pulling his top shirt off as he ran and tossing it in the pool. Whatever that stuff was had started to eat a hole in his shirt, but in the water it simply burst into flame. The shirt was mostly fine, having been woven of carbon fiber, and thus more fire-retardant than most shirts. There was still the matter of the strange substance that burst into flame when it contacted the saltwater, not to mention the oddly-shaped marks on the fringes of the eaten-away area. He attempted to repair it with more carbon, taken from a tree, but the marks remained. They seemed to have migrated to the newly-patched area as well.

"Well, nothing to do about that. Maybe I can pass it off as some sort of decoration..." Xeiashi muttered to himself as he dripped back to the Temple. He was dry by the time he got back, thanks to a convenient breeze. He returned to his spot, but the boy was gone. The leftover food splatter seemed to bear the same marks, and he filed this away for later thought.

But now was the time to move around in the crowd again.

After talking to Meta and the other felids for a while, Lorika had somehow managed to drift back over to the right of the stage without being noticed. It was dark outside by the time they were approaching the last few songs of Mirassou's set. Everyone was dancing or talking or eating, totally preoccupied, and she sighed from her little corner. They were about an hour and a half in, and no Gambino in sight. Such a shame. Then again, she hadn't really expected him to deign to come. He only funded their operation to keep them sweet.

She supposed she should try and mingle again. In her mind, she'd been keeping herself on standby just in case anything went wrong and her attention was needed. However, it seemed that after the few initial hiccoughs things were passing smoothly. Storm hadn't tried to get back in. (Why hadn't he tried to get back in...?) Zainire had fallen curiously silent. (That couldn't be good.) No, she was being paranoid. Things were going swimmingly. She could relax, and maybe have a dance before the night was out.

Still hours to go... speeches... the disco...

Stop! Determinedly, she stepped out of her little hiding place and towards the mass of dancers. No one noticed her, and so she stood quietly, clasping her hands in front of her, contemplating what to do since she hadn't been pounced upon as she usually was. She scanned the crowd, and to her right, near the door to the stairwell, a shock of dark hair caught her attention. She turned to look again, but as she did, the lights in the room lowered. A slow song.

She strained her eyes to see the person, but it was difficult. Almost like peering through... well, a semi-lit room with a lot of bodies in the way, which it was. Then, the person turned, pale face visible in the semi-darkness, and a pair of beautiful hazel eyes met hers. Her heart leapt. Ohmygod. Not only was it a guy, but it was the most gorgeous guy she'd ever seen ever in the past forever.

Actually, she saw an awful lot of good looking men on a daily basis, but meeting the eyes of a brand new one - and a stranger at that - always feels like the first.

Panicked, she immediately turned to make a getaway, and collided directly with a very solid someone in her way. "I'm sorry-!"

"Lorika! Hey!" said the person - man - placing his hands around her bare arms and flashing her a bleach-bright smile that could've brought the most unattainable superstar model to her knees. "Great speech earlier!"

"Liam! Hi!" she gasped, blood flooding into every capillary in her face. "How are you?! Is Gino coming-?"

His smile became knowing, teetering on the three-inch tightrope between charm and arrogance. "Nope, but who cares? I'm here, babe. Aren't you happy to see me?"

Lorika felt off-balance. He was the last person she'd expected to see. But just a few months ago... "I'm surprised you haven't turned up before tonight..."

"Ah, I figured I'd see you around."

"Except you haven't 'seen me around,' because I've been here, working for the Order. Don't tell me you just forgot about your commitments?"

"Oh, come on, Lori!" he cried, face crashing to the ground. Even Hitler's heart would've melted. "It's me, your old pal! We go way back, don't we? When'd you turn into such a stiff?"

She'd been about to correct him - it's Rika! - when his last comment stung her hard. God, sometimes Liam really did remind her of her ex. She was being pedantic, but he didn't have to point it out, did he? He thought he could control her. Well, she wasn't the easily-manipulated little girl she'd once been. She could tell him where to get off.

Before she got round to it, though, he'd taken a strand of her long, wavy hair in his hand and twirled it around. "You've always had such amazing hair. You need to wear it down more often! And I LOVE the dress!"

Just like that, all her moral objection dissolved. "Do you think so...?"

"DEFINITELY! Hey, you know I think you're beautiful, don't you?" he said casually, as if he'd spun the same line a thousand times before. His eyes had travelled down as if admiring her dress, but of course, the quality of the material and the excellent fit of the cut were the last things on his mind. He confirmed this a few seconds later as he touched her lightly on the hip. "I think maybe you should've taken that suggestion from the audience earlier."

She raised her eyebrow at him, but giggled. Good old Liam. "Of course you would say that!"

"I'm not the only one who would," he smiled, more than a hint of lechery in those brown eyes. His other hand went up to the brooch clasped at the center of the dress - between her breasts, of course. Her playful tone had obviously spurred him on. "Do you think if I yanked this off, the whole thing would fall down...?"

"Do you want to find out?" she flirted back.

"Actually, I'd prefer a dance!" he replied gallantly, stepping back and offering his arm out to her. "Lady High Priestess?"

"Oh, you're too much!" she laughed, accepting it happily.

"I still have the Valentine you sent me this year," he said conversationally as they entered the crowd, slyly adding: "Do you still have mine?"

She met his eyes, the glint in his reflected, as she placed her arms around his neck for the slow dance. "Maybe."

~~~~~~~~

Across the room, Lacine watched the priestess get picked up by that scumbag Liam, following her progress until she was lost in the crowd. She burned with anger. The way he touched her made her feel sick.

Lorika had complained about Liam to her, too. He'd never paid her an inch of attention before she gained her status, even though she'd wished he would for longer than she could remember. Why was she going with him now? She'd come so far - how could she still let a piece of dirt man control her like that? Why did she have to be standing out there now, somewhere, with her arms around him?

Burning with anger, she reached up and fingered her newly re-cut, newly re-dyed hair, and adjusted the front of her shirt. She'd been avoiding the priestess all evening, but that was the final straw. The next time she saw her, alone and free, she'd say all that she'd been rehearsing the whole day through.



[[Please nobody interact with Lacine. She's unrecognisable atm ;D]]

Steff suddenly dug her considerable length of heels in and pulled back mightily on Odin's arm, her hands clamping down firmly.

"I DO mind!" she snarled, and it was suddenly clear that this was one poofy-pigtailed princess who wasn't to be trifled with. This guy had been riling Odin up all day, and her by close association as her newfound BFF. He was NOT going to get away as easily as he thought. "Get your own date, a*****e!!"

"What makes you think she wants to talk to you?!" Steff snapped, quickly parroting Odin as she tugged back with all of her strength. Poor Odin was like a ragdoll being pulled between the two of them.

It was his next sentence that really got her, though. The red mist that descended over her blue eyes was visible to everyone within a radius of several yards. (Even if it did make her only slightly scarier than the slightly-scary little girl in a party frock she had been before the transformation... the change was still noticeable. Steff was evolving! Perhaps a few more shots of Aidan's arrogance and she'd grow horns and talons and rip off his face. Unlikely, but the potential was definitely there.)

"Ooh, you are just so full of yourself! Come on, Odin, dear," she said, imitating his sticky inflection with mockery. She circled forward with a pair of musical, clicking steps and, chest-to-chest, threw both of her arms around her friend's neck. Her eyes, however were levelled in a solid glare towards you-know-who. "Let's get back to our dance, before one of us end up with a pair of badly bruised...bits!" Steff finally cried, stumbling chastely over and eventually escaping the term 'balls.'

She paused for a moment, breathing heavily with anger, before her brain, for whatever reason, deemed it necessary to clarify the threat. "And it won't be either of us! ...Because we don't have any! Stupid-head!"

Steff did combat with her eyes up until the moment Odin began to speak. Her eyes flickered and went to the side, looking up at her. Posture drooping, she looked around, noting all the people who were looking at the commotion she was causing.

She looked back at Aidan, and even though his arrogant smirk sent sparks of righteous fury hissing inside her again, she could suddenly see the situation in a more realistic kind of clarity. She was a little girl under the illusion that she could threaten a man much bigger and stronger than her. He could probably pick her up and throw her with as little effort as if he were tossing a watermelon, just like any of her dance partners. And it really wouldn't be a good idea to start fighting in here anyway.

All the same, she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face, and the perfect words sprang straight into her mind in her own voice. "You think you're so perfect, but you're ugly on the inside." Preferentially accompanied by a well-place slap.

At that moment, however, as if to seal the deal, the song ended, and the singer's voice rang out cheerfully over the speakers. "All right everyone, how about you switch partners for the next song?"

The people who'd been looking in their direction suddenly flicked their heads away, distracted by this new development. As people murmured and began to move around, Steff sighed and gave in, loosening her arms from around Odin's neck before finally taking them away.

"Okay... but be careful, alright?" she said, clasping Odin's hand in her own and looking at her pleadingly. "Don't let him take you outside alone."

"Don't talk as if I'm not here," Aidan said in an exasperated voice. "I'm not going to do anything weird to her if that's what you're thinking."

Odin wanted to much to around and do some form of bodily harm to him, instead she gave her friend's hand a reassuring squeeze and ignored his unsolicited remarks. "Of course I will. Don't worry too much." She offered Steff a small smile before turning around to scowl at the taller man.

With her arms crossed over her chest she turned to Aidan with a scowl and furrowed brows. "Well..?"

"Fiiinally!" His smile returned when he heard her growl with disapproval. "Hmph, since you're being so pissy about it I might as well do it properly."

"What are you talking about?" she deadpanned.

"Tsk, figured you wouldn't know how this goes." He held out a hand to her surprise. "May I have this dance?"

The look of sheer horror and embarrassment on Odin's face was priceless, the best Aidan could elicit from her by far. He didn't regret it even when she pulled her hand back and aimed a punch at his face. Luckily he caught her fist before it connected with his face and he clamped his hand on her wrist firmly.

"H-hey!!"

"Guess, that's a yes?"

"W-whatever, just.. let's get this over with," she stuttered getting red in the face again.

"Hey, whatever you say, dear," he replied putting on that annoying tone of voice again. Then again any tone of voice Aidan used made Odin cringe. "We'll see you later!" And with that he gave Steff another wave and took off with the smaller girl in tow.