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Remarque seemed surprised—albeit pleasantly. A smile lit on his face immediately when the stranger offered her hand. He had been content to watch, but how could he say no to such a pretty face? …It hadn't really been a question, either, but he happily took her hand and stepped away from the wall.

"I've never heard of Nis," he confessed, "But it is a pleasure to meet you, Sorscha. Your dress is beautiful. I could get lost in your eyes." He looked into them for a moment longer, seeming to truly admire them, and then looked embarrassed. Quickly he shook his head and tried to focus. "—I'm Remarque, of Remarque. Well—I mean, that's not my birth name, but. I mean, I'm the Senshi of Remarque, so I...I usually go by that. Of course, I'm usually powered up, too! But you know—special occasions, and all."

His words eluded him for a few second and he fumbled over trying to clarify before his cheeks, even under all his makeup, turned red.

"…It's a nice place. If you have free time, you should come visit. I mean, if you want." He cleared his throat and chanced another quick smile, trying not to seem so nervous. "What's your Wonder like? I don't think I've ever visited a Cosmos Wonder. But I've read about a few—well, sort of."

His books on them weren't exactly the most well cited or accurate representations, he figured. They were mostly fantasy, anyway, but he wasn't going to drop that bit of information after he'd already done such a fabulous job of not seeming very dignified or professional.

To say there was a twist of delight in Amelia's stomach when Amphirite smiled genuinely at her would be an understatement. It was a fluttering feeling that spread from her belly to her toes and fingertips. It was always heartbreaking to see the way the seashell senshi was forced to be a wall flower, or pretty doll.

Midgard was having none of the patriarchal bullshit thank you very much.

She brought the offered hand to her lips, kissing the back of it in a proper greeting before pulling her away from her world's leaders. "You look lovely, as expected, but I worry that you are not dressed in a way that is pleasing to you." She pushed back her long, pale green hair-- the color that signified she was clearly a child of the surrounding -- and looked upon her companion with concern.

She adjusted her grip in the woman's hand, settled the other against her waist and began the slow, graceful steps of a dance. "I am, obviously, delighted that you are here however," she admitted, offering a kinder, softer smile. "I do not leave the surrounding often and do not get to visit when I would like." A sigh escaped pale lips. "How are you m'lady?"

--

"Just-- follow my lead," Elu told him, laughing pleasantly at his enthusiasm, "and we'll be fine." It was how their friendship worked, most of the time, with the ginger leading the way and the blond following eagerly. It was easy to be around Altais and Elu realized how much she missed him in the time he'd been away.

She didn't look forward to when the gala ended and he left again. One of them was always leaving.

"Yes, Ahe is very lovely. They are lucky to have each other." She believed that wholeheartedly. "I don't think crashing into your garden counts as being better than seeing an angel," she argued, tone light and playful. He sounded so proud of the fact that she'd literally crash-landed in his life and that they'd taken off running after.

She squeezed his hands, beginning to walk along the outskirts of the room, eyes drifting over the guests as the filtered in. Her eyes settled upon Remarque, flashes of memories triggering, and she paused head cocked. "I think I know that one, but it's been so long--"

For all his shyness, Remarque did not misstep once during their dance. He kept himself poised and moved with practiced elegance, despite his multi-layered ensemble. He listened intently as she spoke, even if his gaze did wander once to meet the eyes of woman he would quickly recognize as Elu. He flashed her a quick smile and managed a dainty finger waggle of a wave to her before turning his attention back to Sorscha.

"Flatterer? Me? No," he laughed sheepishly. "But, Nis sounds beautiful. I would love to see it. I'll have to come visit you some time, for certain! It seems peaceful and," he released an exasperated, dramatic sigh (though his smile was quick to return), "What I wouldn't give for a day of peace. I've been to a party every day so far this month. Well. It's not just parties—Remarque has a lot of festivals, so I've been to plenty of those. A few meetings, and a few parties like this. Well—" he clarified quickly, "Not like this. This is the biggest one, and the nicest. The others were, like…fancy dinner parties so I could sit quietly while my counselors do all the talking and I sit there, nice and quiet, but," he shrugged. " It would be so nice to schedule a trip and not have to talk business. Uhm—I mean," he looked to her quickly. "—If that's all right. If you want to talk business, I'm all ears and I didn't mean to offend you! I just mean, you know—Nis sounds so pretty, I'd love to take some time to see it. And if you are ever looking for a party—or some time to be loved and admired, definitely come to Remarque. We love parties." Well, most of the time.

"Remarque is all about showing your creativity. You can't step outside without someone showing off their art—which I love. Everything is so beautiful. Rowdy! But they mean well. Everyone just gets so excited. There are a lot of peaceful places on my homeworld, too. The sun is almost always out—it's this nice color orange, like before sunset. The downside is that half the place is covered in total darkness and these weird blood thirsty monsters sometimes get confused and wander out into our half, but," he shrugged like it was nothing. "It's my job to take care of that. —Oh, and we have a lot of pretty gems. If you come with me, I'll help you pick some out. I'll be there's even some that match your eyes."

He was looking into them again and seemed to genuinely adore the color.

The woman moved them easily across the floor, mindful of where his and her feet were at all times, with their laced fingers held up in the air and her other hand resting delicately on his shoulder after his settled on her waist. "No, you wouldn't," she agreed, smile faltering as she considered the alternative.

It left an uneasy feeling in her stomach, a twinge in her heart.

"I'm hardly a space angel Al," she disagreed, head shaking and disrupting the braid that cascaded down her shoulder. One of the flowers fell loose and fell against his vest.


Elu was pleasantly surprised when Remarque caught her eye and waved at her and it showed in the way dark brows rose and her lips twisted upward. "Yes," the name of the gentleman popping into her head. "Remarque, he came to visit once, before--" she trailed off.

"I, uh," she swallowed, struggling with her words and the sudden desire to latch onto a different subject. "I missed you too. Very much so." She averted her gaze when she spoke. "Of course you can visit, I'd like that very much."

Altais was her best friend after all, of course she wanted him to visit.

It was not normally in Liesel's nature to cave to bitterness. He'd had a long time to grow accustomed to his lot in life. But he grew weary of the parties. They were all tedious affairs. Had he any choice in the matter, he might not have shown his face at all.

Of course, that was the entire point. He didn't have a choice.

His response to Signy's observations was to hum in agreement, eyes settling on one foreign guest or another. He appreciated their presence at the same time that he dreaded it. Foreign affairs meant more politics. Naturally, the pressure on Liesel was greater. He much preferred parties on other worlds, in which he was the guest, rather than parties on Ganymede where he was expected to play the gracious host to those visiting off-world.

“I see some unfamiliar faces,” he conceded, “but I also see just as many familiar ones. You underestimate the lengths certain individuals might go for the sake of an extravagant party. Tourism is a booming industry on Ganymede.”

He finished his glass of wine. Pausing a moment, he glanced around the immediate area and spied a closely passing tray. He quickly snatched another glass as the tray was gliding by. He didn't have the time to exchange it for his empty glass, so he absentmindedly passed off the empty one to Serge.

Liesel struggled to keep his expression welcoming and at ease. Unfortunately, the best he could manage at the moment was bland. The amount of people in the ballroom made him uncomfortable. The cultural differences between them made him equally so. Normally he was fascinated by it, but in such large quantities it left him uneasy. An argument could break out over differing opinions. He might unintentionally offend someone. Educated as he was, it was not always easy to recall certain pieces of information when it came to different cultures and societies. The universe was a very big place, after all.

He could hear snippets of conversations, many in different accents. Every once in a while he caught a strong whiff of someone's perfume. He saw couples on the dance floor, some standing a bit too close to one another to be appropriate. He squirmed at the displays of affection being expressed between couples. His stomach turned with discomfort.

And jealousy. He could never express such things himself.

“I apologize if I seem callous,” Liesel said. He averted his eyes from the crowds to look into his wine glass. “I find this whole affair exhausting. Fortunately I seem to be blending into the crowd rather well.”

Signy flushed with embarrassment. Joke or not, he'd struck a nerve. "Serge," she corrected, composing herself. "Sorry. I wasn't sure." It was dizzying to remember who went by personal names in public and who was strictly ceremonial - when in doubt, a title was always appropriate, and if Liesel couldn't show public preference to his preferred knight, who wasn't to say that Signy was supposed to keep her distance from him as well?

"Sorry," she said again, watching Liesel's delicate bit of choreography with his wine glasses. "I do suppose you have the best weather for it, of all the Galilean moons. Tourism, I mean. Europa's freezing, Callisto's dreary, and Io's, well, Io."

They'd both spent long enough there to know what she was getting at. Liesel's attention, it would seem, had gone elsewhere however. Signy followed his gaze to the dance floor.

"We could all three go dance," she suggested, "One of the ones where you switch partners every thirty seconds, only I could very purposefully forget to switch back and apologize for being so dreadfully clumsy. And you would get to dance."

Sure - it might cause an interlunar incident, but only a small one.

It would be worth it.

Pix twirled her dress for Alphonse before pulling from his wallflower position and towards the dance floor. Like many, the young woman was skilled in many types of dance and lead the white haired saturn knight. Eventually she made herself in the area of her sibling and cried in happiness once she saw them.

"AHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE."