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That was certainly not something Riley wanted to hear when she took Jericho out on the dance floor. She couldn't actually answer him, but the last thing she wanted was a dance partner without any confidence. His ability was less of an issue. So, she lied.

You are excellent.

And she hoped for the best.

Her hands settled on his shoulders, and she tried to steer clear of his feet. Don't worry. We'll start out slow. Until you're back to your old self. Just like always.

There was a reason Mathias had shown up to the party as late as he had, and one reason only. While he had told a certain pest that he would take her to the next Student Council hosted event as a date, he had hardly been expecting an invitation to some kind of New Years celebration to come to his doorway so soon afterwards, and he most certainly was not expecting to read that he had to bring somebody for an obligatory kiss.

Obligatory meant that it was an absolute, definite thing that had to happen. He had to bring somebody to kiss. He had already invited Mut.

He was going to have to kiss Mut.

To say that he was unhappy and more then just a tad bit nervous over the entire situation would have been an understatement. The moment he walked into the room, head bowed so that he was staring grumpily at the floor, he wanted nothing more then the make his way over to the pillow pile in the corner and completely bury himself in it.

This was going to be awful.

Hopefully Mut knew enough to just meet him there because he had made absolutely no effort to contact her before hand. Clearly his invitation to take her out a few days ago had been more then enough. There was no need at all to chat with her leading up to the actual date itself.

"Really? Awesome,"

Jericho beamed, then placed his hands to her hips, taking in a deep breath. Well... how hard could this be? If he could dance like she said, he should be into the swing of things in no time.

Right?

Well, well he nearly stepped on her feet to start off with.

Nkosazana's tense shoulders slumped a bit when she was greeted, as formal as it was. Honestly, it was a sense of normalcy, especially from one she presumed was likely a guardian. Maybe Nergui's? They seemed rather close.

"Well met, Guardian," offered Nkosazana, not knowing his name either. It was best to keep to formalities in this circumstance. "And you as well," she added, to the Conquestian.

It seemed that the Guardian who greeted her was having a bit of an argument with the ... much smalller Conquest horsewoman about something. She didn't really know the route of it due to her time of arrival, but the list of adjectives the conquestian was rattling off was enough to make the not-quite-as-nervous Nkosazana giggle quietly behind her hand.

To be greeted by someone who was actually familiar, a fellow Sister at that, though, was enough to finally get rid of some of the tension in her back. What was she doing? She was being silly. These were her fellow clansmembers. It wasn't like they were going to bite her head off or something. No reason to be nervous. "A pleasure to see you, Sister," greeted Nkosazana, formally, bowing her head to the ashen horsewoman. "I have been... alright. Adjustment is still difficult in such a foreign society with so many changes," and foreign was the nice way of putting it, at times, "but I have been managing better these days." Even if she still didn't quite understand what her place was, or where she fit.

After a moment, she added softly, "I still appreciate the help you gave many months ago."

Personally, the darker priestess had not yet noticed any flasks or drinks getting passed around, but if they were offered, she would at least take a small sip. This was time to celebrate, after all.

After a pause Yin looked over at Jack, slightly nervous. Perhaps he had infringed, or perhaps the party had been so loud they had not been noticed. Either way, a moment ago he had seen Alexander shoot him a slightly frantic look, so now he purposefully searched for him, wings unfolding so he could flit just a foot or so off the ground, enough to let him scan over various heads, horns, and ridiculous hats.

"Alexander is over by the food tables, and he may require some assistance." Or not, but Yin was rather wanting to move on, and he could always assist in distracting the zomboil. It was something he was probably better at than he realized. "I believe I shall go check on him, you are welcome to join me if you so desire."

And with that Yin was moving through the crowd, practically contorting around bodies and people and making a rather quick path to his fiance. And then he stopped, standing nearby but not saying anything like a creeper. The key point was that he was there if Alexander needed him, but he was not about to just offer to help Alexander with such a boring looking task.

Jove had debated coming to the party, so as usual, he showed up well dressed and... quite late. He hadn't even planned on attending at first. The music was often too loud, and he couldn't hear himself think at school dances and events. But LW had sent him a text, so of course he had to show up. For her. And... he supposed, for his brother.

The added height of his older form did little to help him see over the crowd, but it meant he had to turn his neck less to see where he was going and who he was pushing past. It was almost nice, being able to look some of his peers in the eye.

His tattered scarf trailed behind him as he meandered through the crowd, wispy ends trailing through the air as though untouched by gravity. When he stopped by the snack table, they swirled around him.

Jove's tail wagged, and he picked up a spookie. There was always one good reason for making an appearance at a party.

Jericho almost stepped on her feet, as expected. She was always one step ahead of him, moving her toes just out of reach a split second before his foot came down where they'd been. Marvelous. She coo'd at him, commended him for a job well done despite his actual ineptitude. She pulled away, and held his hand in hers, before spinning him out. Though I think, your favorite kind of dancing was the faster, more individual movements, wasn't it? I feel like it was.

As she pulled him back in, she caught a glance at the tables, and chuckled at the sight of Christof cleaning up after the mess. Jericho was back in her arms, and she dropped her head on his shoulder, watching the igor do the only thing he felt comfortable doing at a party.

Look there. She murmured to her dance partner, nudging her face towards the tables. In a world where everything has changed, somehow, it doesn't feel so different after all.