Welcome to Gaia! ::

She toed at the ground with one slippered foot, quietly listening. When he was finished, she said, very calmly - as if trying to rationalize his presence for herself - "He's Haki's uncle. Or acts as it, anyway. And since Marc hasn't been around for so long - since he broke up with Hadrian, I'm pretty sure..."

She shrugged. "He has a legitimate reason for being here, however shaky."

Natalie smiled a little. "But if you're so concerned, I won't stop you..." In a way, his obsessive concern, while a tad annoying, was also amazingly endearing. "But tonight's not the night. It's a party! You at least have to try the food. I cooked some of it myself."

Holding out one hand, she motioned to the table with a jerk of her head. "Looks like Ama's over there. I'll need an escort if I want to get a drink."

Truth be told, Stephan didn't feel comfortable. When he entered the room, he was greeted by masked faces, and he almost turned back. He didn't really know why he had come, he didn't know if he'd even know anyone here. It was strange, he wasn't a shy person by any sense of the word, but for some reason, he was nervous being here alone. At least the mask hid it.

He had donned a teme of black, gold, and white for the event, in the form of a gold and black half mask and hat and a similarly patterned Tudor style suit. Accenting it were simple black shoes with gold buckles. It was tight at the shoulders, mostly from the way they were cut. The tailor had told him that that was the way it was supposed to be, and he had agreed at the time, but now it seemed like a mistake.

He hadn't thought to ask who all was coming, not even to ask Remi, and now everyone was a mystery to him. He didn't consider his costume to be wonderful, expecting to be identified soon if only by his height. His mask, unfortunately, blocked some of his vision. He started to pull it off to get a better look around, but decided when he'd just uncovered his eye to put it back on and try to have fun with the "game" of finding identities.

(( Mask: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y60/Dulciespets/Ame/56FantasmaHat160.jpg
Suit: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y60/Dulciespets/Ame/Tudor_Prince.jpg ))

"Don't worry about it," he responded, not really realizing who it was. He knew the voice, but in his nervous state he couldn't quite place it. Cracking a smile that was only half visible, he added, "Could be worse, could be made of something heavier than feathers." He hadn't managed to escape the worst of his fears, tights. His tailor had suggested them, strongly. And truthfully the white tights looked better than his bare legs would have. But they were uncomfortable, and didn't help him much.

Natalie took the cup, oddly surprised that Ama hadn't.. well... said anything. That was good, though, she supposed, and took a sip. And the punch tasted just fine, so it looked like everything would turn out well. "Thanks, Ama.

"I'll come along with you," she said to Carver, staying attached at the elbow. She supposed she should do her hostess jobs, but with at least one good friend (who had been trying to be antisocial in a corner, she reminded herself - this was her God-given duty) by her side, the night should be more enjoyable.

"Behave yourself," Carver reminded his friend, who looked very worryingly angelic and pure, and smiled a little lopsidedly at Natalie. "You're a saint. Ama's always managing to do this to me. Always. - Ah, there's Miss Remi."

They missed Admon's smirk as they went over to Remi and a Tudor gentleman, who Carver couldn't quite identify - it wasn't Tristan - and settled down by them. Fatally, instead of saying exactly who the drink had come from, Carver just smiled and offered the girl the cup

"You looked thirsty," he said, and - "Everybody's got good costumes. I feel cheap."

Remi was about to respond to the new stranger--though his voice sounded extremely familiar, too much noise for her to make a clear guess--but was distracted by a very purple looking...punk? Remi blinked for a few moments, a bit surprised, but took the cup anyways.

"Thank you," she said, still slightly bewildered. The next question made her blush, causing her to look back and forth between the Tudor prince and Natalie.

"Er...well actually, I'm not sure yet," she said truthfully, looking up at Stephan-who-she-didn't-know-was-Stephan. Maybe he'd save them all the trouble and tell who he was, or he could keep up the spirit of the masquerade and leave them all guessing. Considering his voice sounded so familiar, she figured she would find it out soon anyways.

The purple-haired punk had gone bright red and was laughing sheepishly, hands tucked behind his skull, having been - quite thankfully - sans drink. "I promise to come to you next time; anything to not smell like Hubba Bubba all evening. My goodness. Everybody's costumes look quite something." (This was in reaction to Arianna and Ahneta, whom Carver had just spotted, and hastily looked back. Looking at Ahneta probably counted against you in the Ten Commandments.) "I don't think I've been to a party like this in years."

At first Remi was stunned. This was completely unexpected. However, everything started to make sense. Familiar voice, familiar height, and very familiar lips. Stephan. Once this realization hit home--somewhere in the middle of all that--the tension immediately vanished.

"I think you just made that crystal clear," she smiled back, her own way of indicating that she'd figured it out. "You sure look princely tonight."

Then she remembered that everyone else was still there, and promptly blushed. Fortunately her mask covered most of her face, hiding the redness, but anyone could take one look at her and tell she was flushed both from the exhiliration of the kiss and the fact he'd done it in front of people she knew. Not that she minded, but it probably would require some form of explanation.

But only if they asked, of course.