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And so they went, and Xavier made his way without bumping into anyone, thankfully. Just as planned, they were the only one on the balcony - the crisp autumn air was keeping everyone else at bay, it seemed.

All the better for him.

"...The view is pretty nice from here." He said again, in between two mouthfuls of cake. It was pretty nice, even though in his time as a senshi, he had gotten much better views... But tonight, he wasn't a senshi, if he could help it. Tonight, he was Xavier, and nothing more than that.

Now that he'd gotten that far, though, he wasn't quite sure what to talk about. Oops.

When Adira showed up behind the two of them, Elegancia felt an emotion that was neither excitement nor embarrassment; both were felt, and she didn't know what to call it. Elegancia felt excited because the girl who she had been looking for had now arrived, but she was drop-dead embarrassed to be seen with the ape-woman Gloria. Atleast Gloria had submitted to Elegancia's always-right ways?

"Yes, yes," she said thoughtfully, "a truce sounds lovely. So does some punch. Go fetch us some, if you'd be so kind." Elegancia fanned the tan girl away and towards the juice table, then continued, "Adira! How are you? You look downright stunning!!" So much so, in fact, that Elegancia felt she even rivaled her own beauty. She wasn't sure if she liked it, but she was glad to see Adira all the same. "Did you come with anyone?"

It was perfect. Audrey was determined that it was going to be so, and in because of her force of will, tonight would be perfect. Yes, the teen was mildly still upset with the fact that Elzo had somewhat stood her up, only to come walking out of the shadowy recess of the corn maze with some tramped-up, buxom floozy that she'd never met, but that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that this was the Ball. It had been her technical senior year at Meadowview, and Audrey had been finally able to attend the prom. Hell, she'd even had a date. Three of them!

Then everything had gone to Hell and back, prom had been cancelled, and there hadn't even been a real graduation ceremony for the graduates. They were just all mailed their diplomas from the company that did the work, and called it a day.

So when the invitations and tickets for the Masque had gone out, she'd all but thrown herself at Elzo, begging for tickets. The same wide eyes had been sent in her mother's direction for modifications to a dress, making her the perfect Odile. There were two asymmetrical hems on the black dupioni silk gown, each of them had white feathers accenting the bottom of each. The hem and bust were edged in lace, with more white feathers at the shoulders to form a sort of sleeve. There was the typical charm bracelet that had been worn at Jada's ball, along with the diamonds gifted to her by said friend at neck and ears.

Hours had been spent that afternoon at the hairdressers' salon, piling her multitude of curls into an elegant cascade down the left side of her neck. Atop her head rested what looked to be a headband of alternating white and black feathers, that could be pulled down over her face with two holes for her eyes. In short, Audrey Collins was breathtaking. Breathtaking, breathless, nervous. "Elzo, I'm awful at dancing. What if they play something I can't keep up with you on?" Bare hands clutched at his almost desperately. She didn't really see anyone she knew yet, and it was mortifying to embarrass oneself in front of strangers!

Lily went to the punch table and stood admiring they very extravagant cake while she sipped on her punch, wanting to get her fill before the punch was spike. It was early so she knew the punch was fine, but there was no telling how long that would last.

Out of the corner of her eye, she swore that she saw Bell, with someone she did not know, but she seemed to disappear which caused Lily to frown. She most certainly did not wish to spend the entire evening alone and she did want to dance at some point.

She turned once more and she could have sworn she saw Aurora as well, but the girl seemed to disappear just as Bell had. It was odd, but seemed fitting, as it was a halloween ball. It, however, did not make Lily feel any better about standing alone at the punch bowl.

Lily put down her cup and moved on to mingle.

Where he had time to find a costume to match his brother's and his girl friend's had been a mystery. The few ways to separate the two Xanis brothers was by height and by their colored broaches. Dark Blue for Elzo, Light Blue for Marlo. Overall it wasn't very helpful. Only until Marlo re-tied up his hair did he seem slightly more different then his older brother.
Who's companion was sort of a dead give away.
One didn't see Audrey Collins without one Elzo Xanis far behind. Hand in hand, Elzo was constantly lifting his mask to try and land a few kisses on his date. "You're the most beautiful woman here." He knew she was, and would scream it if he knew it wouldn't get him kicked out. "And you last all night at the clubs, this is hardly different!"

Dragging her onto the dance floor, Elzo wasn't sure it it was dragging so much as leading. Memories of formal dinner parties lingered, but this party seemed far more important. Hand in hand, one at her hip, the music was gentle and smooth. One step another, a turn. And soon, the pair was in a classical Waltz. "Trust me."




Marlo on the other hand was busy trying to find something to occupy himself with. So far, he found the event a tad boring in all respects. The bulk of his enjoyment had come from the games and the haunted house. Hardly from another fancy dance. A good cause yes, but he lacked a partner. Heck, he lacked someone, anyone to just make conversation with.
The sight of a possible chick fight was interesting in it's own way. Sadly with his mask covering his face, it looked like he was checking them out rather then just watching from the sidelines, hoping for some entertainment.

It had been more than a little unsettling to see both brothers dressed in matching attire, though both were rather breathtaking and elegant in a way Audrey didn't think she could match. The constant efforts at trying to push her against a wall, or pull her up against him for kisses had brought bubbling laughter that had nothing to do with nerves and everything to do with 'boy and girl things'. The compliments hadn't hurt either, but meant less to her than demonstrations to that same effect.

"I trust you, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten me out here!" It was said affectionately, blue hair stirring in the breeze of the light turns as he led them across the floor. Unlike Jada's party, which had been similar in tone and execution, she hadn't needed to stand on his shoes this time. Practice had paid off! There were also a few dances that Victoria had helped her learn that hopefully she could surprise him with later, if everything went well enough.

"Also, need I remind you that what we do at the club is not really considered proper for polite society? Especially at a place like this." The country roots in Audrey's family tree made her feel rather out of place at fancy, elegant places like this one. Nonetheless, she was determined to try. It also gave her a rather nice view of the guests! "I think your brother is determined to scare the girls off."

There was yet another thing that separated the two brothers. The sound of Elzo's laughter and how it came out like second nature. The hand on Audrey's hip got tight and it tugger her body far to close for the form to be considered one proper for a waltz. "We could always ask the band to strike up a saucy song to spice up out night." Letting go of her hand it went to the other side of her hips and pulled the smaller woman close as the costumes allowed. "Or, we can try a flamenco. You did so enjoy the few attempts we made with that one if I recall." His voice was teasing and light. Lifting Audrey up a bit he spun her around for a while, his laughter echoing slightly and getting more then a few odd looks. "Ignore that sour puss. I want you to spend time with me tonight!"

Truth be told, Marlo hadn't been paying much attention to what was going on around him, so when a girl ran into him, he almost tripped over himself and the heels. Stupid heels. He hardly knew why he'd chosen to keep with traditional attire and keep them. Dress shoes would have been just fine. "It's alright. No harm done." The lace hadn't ripped. If anything, that was the only part of the costume he was concerned about.
"I'm alright. And it's not like I had punch to drop. What about you? You alright?" The mask was making it a bit hard to see if she was.
Damn him and his insistence to dress traditional!

Relief washed over the girl when she heard the boy say that he was okay and that everything was fine. She would hate to be the one who ruined someone's costume especially one that was so nice.

She blinked looked a bit shocked when she asked about her because truthfully she hadn't even thought about herself, despite having ended up on the floor. She quickly looked over her costume, which seemed to be in perfect order and smiled. "I am just fine, thank you. I hardly felt a thing," she said giving a small laugh.

She brushed her hand down her sheer skirt, feeling slightly awkward, but pushed the feeling down. It wasn't as though she had never walked into someone before, it just usually wasn't someone she did not know.

"Your costume is very nice," she offered trying to start of conversation and push away the awkwardness of having walked into the boy. "I have only seen costumes so well made in parades and on television. Is it hand tailored?"