ꜱ1ᴇ5　　ballroom

@✠　Klahan Who would have thought gasoline vampires existed? Not Evander. He was guessing that's what this stranger was. Though admittedly Evander's knowledge of other beings was limited to people he had met or things he'd seen in movies, though he still wasn't sure what parts of the movies were made up yet. In Twilight the vampires had superpowers. Maybe this dude had superpowers from that and the gasoline was his own Cullen animal blood thing. Evander tried to peek at the male's eyes but felt like it could be rude and gave up. Ah well. Species was a lot like gender. It didn't really matter and not everyone presented as what they were. And again, Evander was /respectful/.

"Oh well. Lucky for me I can sleep anywhere! Though I also learned sleeping on a full moon is nearly impossible. The movies lied about the part where you can only phase on a full moon, but they were right about the pain. So Twilight was kinda right, but so was Wolf Man." Evander gave a sage nod. "I've been watching lots of werewolf movies lately," he admitted before finishing off his drink. "The Underworld movies are great, but some of the classics from the fifties are decent too once you get past how cheesy they are." Though in a rare moment of clarity Evander wondered if he was boring the male. "Uh...do you watch movies? You don't seem the type, but I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, eh?"

With the previous drink gone, Evander's hands suddenly felt awkward, like he didn't know what to do with them. He picked up his empty glass, grip tightening in his odd desire to do something with his hands, but he ended up breaking it, sending pieces of shattered glass onto the floor. He blinked. "Whoops. Still not used to that." He picked pieces of glass out of his skin, the wounds sealing up nearly immediately. "Or that. You think my blood will cause any vampires to frenzy or were the movies right about the whole rivalry thing?"

@☬　Fang Geming ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: the star of the county down - loreena mckennit

Aurelio didn't usually go to these events, but now that he was here, he supposed he'd make the most of it. He swiped a flute of blood-laced champagne from a passing server and prayed his mother wasn't looking to see. He swept itchy white hairs (wigs officially and Aurelio missed his hair) off his neck and swept across the floor as regally as he could. He was scanning the crowd for someone when he realized he was being approached.

Turning to see who it was, Aurelio beamed. It was Fang! His human friend! His human friend that had been at the cemetery doing a dumb! Aurelio was glad to see no one had gobbled him up. Presumably. He didn't smell vampire or wolf on him when he neared, so he assumed Fang was still in one piece.

Still smelled fruity, Aurelio noted.

"It could be better," Aurelio shrugged, "but less because of the people and more because of this." He pushed his fingers through the coarse hairs of his wig. Did Fang know he'd cut his hair off? Hm, Aurelio didn't know. He didn't think Fang had witnessed his one and only chatroom sulkfest over the short hair. After his uncle lopped off his hair, too, Aurelio hadn't felt that complaining was appropriate. After all, if anyone deserved lovely long hair, it was his uncle Haolan.

"But what about you? Are you enjoying yourself? I don't think you're at risk of being eaten here, but if anyone bothers you I can." He mimed chopping motions with his hand. "And take care of it."

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: beggin for thread - banks (gryffin & hotel garuda remix)

"Yes, I just like the taste," Klahan told the young man. Well, he wasn't the first person the phoenix had met that liked raw meat and at this point, Klahan didn't think anything—anything diet-related, anyway—would phase him. For the time being. He never knew, maybe he'd meet a vampire that was trying to be a vegan. "I imagine that would be expensive."

"No, there was no point in an overnight cell," the Dream Guard agreed with a sigh. Really, he couldn't have one night—not that he had /expected/ to do much in the way of relaxing at Ziminiar's party—without something happening. Now his mood was even more sour and he could practically visualize all the work he had to do whenever he returned to the barracks to try and straighten out more "Guards". "The punishment is a fine and cleanup of the afflicted area," he murmured. Such things were memorized for instances when Klahan had to either defend or condemn the actions of a Guard or Guards.

Oh, /wonderful/. That was just what Klahan needed. He hoped he didn't sound too tired when he sighed, "You know not all of them are bad, don't you? Do you have to make it hell for all of them?" Klahan could kiss his two-thousand-year-long nap goodbye (not that Eden would have let him take one anyway). "I agree, security's terrible. I tried to tell Eden that security could have been tighter—and should have—what with all of the tragedies that have occurred in this city as of late, but he wasn't so open to the idea. Ziminiar might have had something to do with that, but." Klahan lifted a forgotten glass from the table beside him—a normal beverage. A lemon flavored, carbonated thing without alcohol.

"Very well, not the library," Klahan conceded. Sometimes he forgot that people used the Internet more than they referred to trustworthy sources, like books—well, some books. Not all books were honest. Klahan supposed that people would lie no matter the medium they used to do so.

@☬　Aurelio Yavetz Nervousness coursed through Fang’s veins as he looked around. He hadn’t particularly wanted to come out, when he was still so paranoid about Mortem finding him. But they wouldn’t cause a scene in public, would they? If he was even recognised. Not that it was difficult to, he wasn’t exactly in disguise. Nonetheless, sticking to the people he knew was the best thing to do. A knife through the ribs was spooky, but not in the funny Halloween way! No, death wasn’t on the cards, as much as the music that he couldn’t escape made him wish for it. Couldn’t the mayor hire something other than a dead guy to play the music for a party? To lift moral? Maybe it helped all the old people relax though, he wasn’t sure. Shaking his head to himself, he made a beeline for one of the few familiar faces in the crowd. Aurelio - since the unfortunate incident of Fang, Human Fang, before he’d figured out all of the wild fae stuff going on, had ended up being the only human at a vampire party. But, it was a fond memory, so he hadn’t given the friend who’d invited him too much for it.

“How’re you enjoying-“ He paused, to make a vague gesture at the crowd of people. “This? It’s not bad, right?” Fang wasn’t finding it /terrible/, he just didn’t want to be there. Besides, he could’ve sworn he’d picked up the wrong glass when he was drinking and tasted metal on his tongue. It wasn’t a nice thought. He was going to pretend it didn’t happen - save himself from getting freaked out.

@✠　Klahan "You just like...the taste," Evander repeated slowly. "Well, to each their own. Once I turned I found out I liked the taste of raw meat. Nice and bloody. The texture was kind of weird at first, but I've gotten over it. Ground meat is still gross though, so I just buy pork chops and the like. It's an expensive eating habit, though. My appetite was ridiculous as a human. It's worse now."

Evander crinkled his nose and grimaced into his cup. "I don't think he cared. Like I said, he was somewhat fond of me. Besides, his skin is kind of green too! I guess he could have seen the frogs as an insult like I was comparing him, but it was a compliment. Really. Frogs are cute. Either way, I didn't mind the arrest. I just didn't see the point in the overnight cell. Vandalism isn't a criminal offense, it's a misdemeanor. That means I should have just gotten a fine or mandatory community service. Not jailed."

The werewolf shrugged. "Whatever. I've now made it a mission to make life hell for the guard. It's fun and a nice past time. Really tests my creativity you know, looking for new ways to piss them off in a way that's technically legal. Like the frogs! Perfectly legal. I need to think of some other ways, too." He sighed. "I guess sneaking in here is kind of like protesting. Like ha-ha, I got in because security was such and none of you even noticed. Or cared, probably. Oh well. Feels like a win to me."

Now Evander made a noise of discontent. "The /library/? As in books? No, mate. I'd fall asleep before I found information. I'll google it."

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: middle of the night - elley duhe

"Slow? No, I don't think so." Klahan blinked, and shrugged, dismissive. "I'm not sure when or how it started. When you get to be my age, you forget things." Did he have a carbon deficiency? Ah, he had to be grasping at straws to make Klahan's drinking habits make sense. Well, that was a lost cause, Klahan could tell him that much. "No, I don't. I just happen to like the taste."

The phoenix held up his hands in a placating manner. "I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm making a statement of the law, darling." As he listened, the phoenix nodded. He could understand why the young man had done what he did, but he knew that it would be considered vandalism by anyone else, whether it was meant to cover a slur or not. Such things were complicated to handle. "Sooner or later, he would have found out. Wouldn't it have been better for him to find out from you and to know you were trying to cover it up than to believe you wanted to vandalize his property?"

Just once, Klahan wanted to be able to appear in public without hearing a complaint about the Dream Guard, be it from someone who knew he was affiliated with the Guard or someone who had no idea they were talking to Eden's Deputy Commander. The phoenix sighed and tucked his wig hair behind his ears. "It seems as though every time I leave my nest, I find out about corruption running deeper and deeper in the Guard." Klahan knew there were members who believed humans were inferior, and he tried to weed them out—but he was one man, and he couldn't be seventeen places at once. It was almost embarrassing to think he was responsible for disciplinary action, when there were so many problems. "On patrol by the bars? Hm."

Klahan nodded. "For research, I would recommend going to the library. No one will bother you there, it's peaceful, the librarian is quite kind, and you should be able to find the information you need."

@✧　Derek Mantaya The shifting wig didn’t go unnoticed by Youngmi, but he decided to spare Derek the embarrassment of being teased. He paused at Derek’s words though, feeling his cheeks warm slightly. /Officially/. It made his heart do a little jump, but he quickly nodded. “I’d love to. Let’s have a fourth next time, and come together. We can have our picture taken together!” His lips were shaped in a near permanent smile as they spoke, and he couldn’t help but shiver contently again. Every time they spent time together, Youngmi couldn’t help thinking that they needed more little outings. With eyes shining with pride, the angel leaned up, hand parting the wig again to give Derek a kiss on the cheek when the dance concluded. “Well done! I’m really glad. Though, if you have nightmares, you can always call me, right? You have my number, we could just talk for a while. I spend a lot of nights sitting on the roof at home, anyway, so you wouldn’t have to worry about disturbing me.” He nodded, then looked around. “Want to dance again, or should we find something else to do?”

@✠　Lee Youngmi At the archangel's compliment, the former hunter found himself oddly flustered and reached for his wig to cover his face. He was happy to have finally had their third dance together, but his heart dropped. Would there be more dance in the future? Yes there would. He would make sure of it. "Promise me a forth. No.. I'll promise you one. Next time you're coming with me. Officially.. yea?" He whispered the last few words, unsure of he'd just asked our his friend or not. He groaned inwardly, feeling the embarrassment creep up, onto his cheeks. "And why would they not like them? I personally don't have a great relationship with them, but you lot do what others don't. A lot of people live to see another day if not for the gaurds." He patted Youngmi's hair in attempt to comfort him. "You know..? I.. I don't think I have, no. I don't feel the need to. Before, I drank because I couldn't sleep. I'd wake up too often in the night, screaming and thrashing around.. these days, I don't need to sleep as often, so no drinking."

@✠　Klahan "Was it er...a slow descent to the gas or an all-at-once thing? There's this old TV show called 'My Strange Addiction' and people on it would be into eating and smelling all sorts of weird . Rocks, foam from beds and couches, vapor rub. Apparently it would be due to like, some weird deficiency. Do you have a..." Evander paused. What was even in gas besides refined oil? What was crude oil made up of? Broken down organic matter? Then that would mean gas was mostly..."Carbon deficiency?"

Evander huffed. "See, even you're accusing me! You don't know the full story. The mural of the frogs was painted because I wanted to cover up something someone else tagged on the wall. It was a slur. The owner was a demon. I thought I'd cover up the mean things with something beautiful." Evander scowled into his glass of mystery alcohol as he took another sip. "The owner's nice. Would give me free chips when I bought from his market. I didn't want him to see the slur or know it was there so I just let the guard arrest me without explaining." Now the werewolf wanted to roll his eyes. "The point of art isn't to make it with permission, you know. It's a form of protest and social commentary."

Taking another drink, Evander nodded. "Yeah. They laughed. I wonder if I'd even have this scar if I got helped in a timely manner." The wolf touched the mark on his face. "Apparently they're lower ranked. They're usually on patrol down by the bars. They've arrested me for public intoxication right as I left the bar which hardly seems fair. But anyway. I'll try to do more research on werewolf weaknesses. All I've heard about is silver and wolfsbane."

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: propaganda - banks

"If I'm being honest, I've only tried gas," shrugged the Dream Guard. He didn't remember when, where, or why he had started drinking gasoline. Perhaps it had been in one of his many dreams and he had simply transferred it over into reality. Who knew? Not Klahan. He watched the stranger swipe a drink and smell it—well, Klahan could /hardly/ blame him for being cautious.

More than ten, less than twenty. That was a lot of times to be arrested. Especially with the—presumably—short lifespan that this young man must have led. "Vandalism is a crime punishable by fines and restitution," Klahan remarked, "if you didn't have permission to place your mural by the owner of the... presumed building you were painting." The Dream Guard tsked. Fighting and public intoxication. Well, wonderful. Hopefully he wouldn't have to arrest the young man for /either/ of those things. He didn't particularly feel like arresting anyone. "Yes, I remember when the mural appeared on the barracks." Klahan considered the young werewolf a talented artist, but his talents were... misplaced when used for vandalism and delinquency. There were ways to go about spreading his art /properly/ throughout the city.

The phoenix's demeanor changed, becoming more serious. Oh, dear. The saga of bad Dream Guards continued, it would seem. How long would Klahan be cleaning up the mess in their ranks? "The Guards on duty /laughed/?" he repeated. "I hadn't heard of this."

Klahan hummed. "I would take what myths say with a grain of salt, but still exercise caution. Some of the things that they say /are/ accurate, you know. There's a reason behind a tale, and there's often truth behind a story, no matter how miniscule and buried."

@✠　Klahan Evander blinked. It had been a joke, one he hadn't been expecting a serious response to. "Ah...I would have guessed that the premium or diesel tasted better. But I guess everyone has a budget these days." Turning his eyes away, Evander quickly grabbed a glass of something blue from a passing server. Sniffing it, Evander found nothing amiss so he took a drink from it.

Clearing his throat, the werewolf tried to think about how many times he'd been arrested. "Um...more than ten times, but less than twenty?" he guessed. "Oh, it was all minor things. I'm an artist so I was painting a mural downtown one day and some guard decided I was vandalizing it. It was a beautiful mural, too! My inspiration was these cute little green poison dart frogs. So I was painting and got arrested. And then after that...fighting, public intoxication, another bull vandalization charge. I got frustrated and painted a mural on the guard barracks of a flower that resembled the female anatomy. It was tasteful. Got in trouble for that, so I released frogs one day. Payback for the frog mural and all. Either way art isn't a crime. My murals look much nicer than a brick wall. Plus the day the wolf er bit me, I went to these guards on duty. I was bleeding and all and they laughed."

Evander made a tsking sound, shaking his head. "Great. Means people in here could have silver on them. I thought that was a myth, you know. Until I tried to put a pair of earrings in that were silver plated. Nearly burned my ing ear off, I tell you! And since I never got a werewolf mentor I'm not even sure what my weaknesses are! I just have to guess or find out for myself."

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: number one fan - muna

Klahan paused. The stranger was looking at his flask like it was going to jump up and bite him. The phoenix almost felt bad—but only almost. "Well, yes, I generally prefer to buy it where it's five cents cheaper," he started, as he zipped the purse back up with the flask inside. "And yes, to answer your initial question—it's gasoline." Klahan hadn't met anyone else who drank gasoline, so he was willing to bet the stranger in front of him probably hadn't either.

Oh... so this was the human-turned-werewolf that the Dream Guard was constantly getting publicly reamed by because of the conduct of some of their members. Oh, and he'd also vandalized the barracks once... Klahan winced. He knew about the stranger's existence, but he didn't know much about the circumstances of his arrests—Klahan was perhaps to blame for any inconvenience, due to his own busy nature—trying to track down and stop hunters and put out fires started around the city took precedence. "Might I ask... Why were you put in the overnight holding cells? And—just how many times /have/ you been arrested?"

Klahan shrugged. "They weren't checking bags and pockets, which is a safety hazard, but I suppose that's why the pompous "—by that he, of course, meant Ziminiar—"always has the Dream Guard at one of his parties. As though any of us even want to be here." Klahan could have been sleeping, in his bed, with Okuthor and Vingthor curled up beside him like the adorable—er, rotten and evil little creatures that they were. "You could have snuck one in."

@✠　Klahan Evander's keen sense of smell was something he still wasn't used to. He could smell someone's perfume from across the room, but he could generally tune smells out. This one though? No way. Evander sniffed the air and stared at the flask like it was a poisonous snake. "Is--is that /gas/? Like pull over it's five cents cheaper here gas?" The werewolf crinkled his nose. He used to not mind the smell back when he was human, but now poignant smells were too much. Not even the breath mint the male followed up with could fully mask the smell. Evander was pretty sure gasoline was not good to drink, but what did he know? The guy had a floating picture frame, maybe he was like a weird car vampire.

Moving on from the strange beverage choice, Evander cleared his throat. "Me? Oh no. I was human until kind of recently and people didn't like me. Now that I'm a werewolf though, even less humans like me and I didn't get a free pack when I signed up for my lifetime subscription to lycanthropy monthly. Shame, isn't it?" The wolf laughed. "Yeah. Thought it would be funny because of how often I've been arrested. All of them were bull charges, I assure you. The most I've ever gotten is a free overnight hotel room courtesy of the Dream Guard holding cells."

Evander took another drink of his champagne, setting the now empty glass down on a table. He wanted to go get a stronger drink, but the sounds of a fight were coming from there and Evander didn't feel like getting involved and then being thrown into jail wearing a cop costume. "Maybe I should have snuck in a flask too," he sighed regrettably.

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: one shot, two shot - boa

Klahan nodded at the confirmation of pronouns. Seeing the stranger drink reminded him that he had a flask of gasoline in his purse—he fished in the small black bag until he could open the flash and tip some of it back. Was it necessary to drink gasoline? No. Was he capable of drinking 'normal' drinks? Yes. But, as strange as it may seem—and Kivari complained /often/—Klahan liked the taste and he could feel it ignite when it flowed through his body, heating him through and invigorating him. He followed the gasoline up with a breath mint, aware of how bad the smell was, and capped the flash before returning it to his bag.

"A date? Oh, no." Klahan brushed strands of his wig out of his face. The stranger was not deterred by his aura and demeanor, so the phoenix decided to give up and accept his fate—conversing with a stranger. Socializing. All of the things he would rather sleep than be doing. "I was third-wheeling, but I ditched the other two once I was through the door. Did you bring someone with you... I presume you're meant to be a cop?"

As a Dream Guard, it was a little strange to see someone dressed up as a ualized law enforcement officer, but because it was a police officer rather than a Dream Guard's emblem plastered somewhere on the stranger's costume, Klahan supposed it didn't directly affect him. It didn't bother him, anyway, it was just... odd. Something that he was sure Reina would laugh at.

@✠　Klahan For a moment Evander wondered how anyone could know for certain about the eyebrow thing before remembering a lot of people here were not human and very old--as shown by the frame floating around this person. Evander inwardly wondered why a werewolf of all things had to be the one to bite him. Being a vampire sounded much cooler, except for the fact that he wouldn't be able to go to the beach in the summer and tan. Oh, and he probably wouldn't be able to eat anything but blood anymore and Evander loved a good dry age steak and...well, maybe a werewolf was better than a vampire after all. But the point was, he felt like super strength and speed weren't all that cool in comparison to this floating frame trick thing.

"Ah," he said briefly with a somewhat awkward nod, taking a sip from his glass. He hoped this was just champagne and not some weird fairy potion. He'd seen that in movies before. Evander looked back to the male, confirming that he was male, or at least preferred male pronouns right now. "He him," he said brightly, his smile making the side of his face where his scar was tight. Maybe people would think the long scar that went through and over his eye was makeup. That would be a shame; it was perfectly y.

"Did you come here with a date?" the werewolf continued on, his friendly and outgoing disposition not bothered by the male's less friendly one.

@✧　Evander Yale ↳ ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 31, 2051
↳ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: concert for aliens - machine gun kelly

Klahan had assumed no one would approach him. He'd been doing a pretty good job of being unapproachable, standing in a corner with his picture frame floating in front of him. No, there wasn't a ghost holding it, it was his telekinesis at work. Klahan was too pretty to hold the frame himself—or something like that. Astryr had said it, not him. Personally, Klahan just wanted his hands free. Either way, he'd been doing a good job of menacing away anyone who thought to come start a conversation with the second-in-command of the Dream Guard, and he was /resolutely/ ignoring the sounds of things breaking from the bar area. Eden was over there, he could take care of it, as far as Klahan was concerned.

Apparently, Klahan's attempts to be unapproachable weren't as effective as he thought they were, because he was approached by someone wearing a—well, Klahan gathered that it was supposed to be a police costume, but he wasn't even going to ask about the fuzzy pink handcuffs that the stranger had. Was this a kink thing? It was probably a kink thing. Well, to each their own, Klahan wouldn't judge. "Oh, yes, she had eyebrows," Klahan agreed. "But my best friend and her wife insisted, and so." He gestured at his costume.

"Pronouns?" Well, Klahan supposed that was a thing that was never obvious, but especially at a costume party. Times had changed a lot, from when he was young. People asked those questions now, rather than just making assumptions. Well, sometimes. There would always be those who were s and would make the assumption regardless and not change when they were corrected. "He and him. What are yours?" the Dream Guard asked, to be polite.

@✠　Klahan A cop seemed like an ironic costume. Evander hated cops, but he knew it would be an injustice to deny the people the sight of him in a y cop uniform with the shirt ed halfway and a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs on his waist. After sneaking in through the side entrance and flirting up a storm with a poor wide-eyed young server, Evander stumbled around the ridiculously large venue before finally deciding to follow the music. Now he ended up in a...guess this is what a ballroom was. Evander was already bored; the music was live, but it wasn't /good/ music. It looked like a symphony playing at one end of the room, except wasn't a symphony big? There were only four people. Some violins and bigger violins and...even bigger violins. Evander didn't know what any of them were called except that they were making him sleepy.

Shaking his head and resolving to have a /good time/, Evander took two drinks from a passing server and downed one in one shot. He was about to down the other when he saw a costume that made him choke on the burning alcohol. Evander might have been a delinquent, but dammit he was a delinquent with an appreciation for the fine arts. Art was the only thing he had been able to concentrate on in school. Without his good grade in it he probably would have failed high school.

Walking forward, Evander's yellow eyes darted around uncertainly. He righted the chain around his neck--he had to switch to gold from silver lately due to his unexpected lycanthropy--and cleared his throat. "So...Mona Lisa," he started with a nod. "You know I heard she may have had eyebrows, but the paint could have just faded with time. Either way you look very..." Evander paused. "What are your pronouns?"

Again. Delinquent. But /respectful/ delinquent.

@✧　Derek Mantaya Dancing with Derek, the archangel was having a hard time controlling his grinning face. “You’re the handsomest person I’ve ever seen,” He declared. “And you finally gave me that third dance, so you’re all caught up and I don’t have to badger you for more.” He flashed his friend a smile. “Mhm, I do. I don’t really want to get /too/ drunk, in case it looks bad on the guard! Plenty of people don’t like us to much, anyway.” He shrugged. He felt bad that people didn’t like them, because they were definitely at fault for a lot of things, but they were his family, and he loved them all a lot. “Are you still drinking, after.. you know?”

@✠　Lee Youngmi The reapers smile was met with Youngmi's, his only growing wider. Youngmi did want to see him and the happiness and relief that Derek felt couldn't be put into words. "Youngmi. " He whispered. "You talk a lot." The former hunter chuckled, brushing a strand of hair from the angel's forehead. "Just tell me I'm the handsomest person you've ever seen and we're good. " He cleared his throat, indecisive if he wanted to compliment Youngmi or not, afraid he'd slip up and say something embarrassing instead. "Do you still drink that weak that they were serving at the last ball? "

@✧　Derek Mantaya They were definitely awkward, but Youngmi was delighted nonetheless. Nobody had asked him to dance yet, and gradually he was connecting the dots. He blinked, looking up at the costumed person, and reached to just carefully try to brush some of the hair out of their face so he could peek at who it was. When his suspicions were confirmed, he grinned. And not just a little grin, the angel fully beamed for the person scaring him to be his friend. He’d been worried he wouldn’t be able to see his friend all evening, had been starting to regret not asking for his company. “Derek! I didn’t realise it would be you - you look really good! I mean, like, in a scary way, you know. But you look good most of the time too!”

@✠　Lee Youngmi Beneath all the hair and and fabric, Derek couldn't help but smile. Youngmi was so en cute sometimes. Once the other's slender fingers slipped into his rough ones, with one single tug, the reaper swooped the princess into a twirl and brought the smaller frame closer by the waist. It was definitely a sight to see. A graceful, disney princess dancing with a horrifying awkward grudge. The scene caused many eyes and whisper to come their way. But it didn't matter to Derek. The only person in the room was the angelic princess in front of him.

@✧　Derek Mantaya Whatever the noise had been, it was enough for the angel to startle. Had his wings been visible, they’d probably have ruffled like a distressed cat. He called quickly though, his shock replaced by confusion. Whoever it was didn’t seem to want to do much talking. It couldn’t be Derek, could it? He paused at the hand. Last time, he’d gotten his dances on the condition he’d drank. He seemed unsure about the long haired creature for a moment - then took the hand, his lips forming a bright grin. Dancing was dancing, and he loved dancing. Even if he wasn’t so experienced, there was something entirely magical about dancing with someone. “So, you’re a gentleman when you’re not creeping up on people? I like it!”

@✠　Lee Youngmi Derek wasn't sure if he even made the right sound. And quite honestly, he was a little embarrassed that such a sound came out of his mouth. He was usually a serious and callous person. Such sounds would never have come out of his mouth. But Youngmi’s reaction was pure gold and Derek decided he regretted nothing. "Pfft-" He clamped his mouth shut. He still wasn't sure if youngmi wanted to see his face at the moment and Derek didn't want to end the night without spending time with his favorite person. With no words spoken, the grudge lifted his hand out to the princess, bowing slightly as his other hand gestured to the dance floor.

@✧　Derek Mantaya With a drawn out breath, Youngmi straightened his back, disappointed. It was okay! He could spend the evening with some of the guard, and it served him right for not inviting Derek to come to the party with him in the first place. He was about to shuffle to the bird mother when he heard the strange noise, quite horrifying when it was so close to his ear. He didn’t mean to, but he might’ve let out the tiniest (loud) shriek. His hand flew up to cover his ear, his eyes wide as he span around to see the taller figure in front of him. It took a moment for his mind to make the link that, this was a costume party, there were people in costume around, and that he wasn’t about to have his soul eaten. Ears burning with embarrassment, he looked at his scarer. “That’s- that’s a great costume, well done!”

@✠　Lee Youngmi Derek wandered past the doors and into the ballroom where he was sure he'd find his friend. It was hard to see through his long, back wig but there was just enough room between the strands of hair to spot the blonde haired Disney princess from across the ballroom floor. The former hunter was worried that Youngmi wouldn't want to see him, but seemed as if the angel was looking for someone as well. Derek was hopeful. Pressing his lips together to contain a smile, the reaper weaved skillfully through the mass of people and settled behind the princess silently before letting out a low, guttural croak right beside Youngmi's ear.

@✧　Derek Mantaya Youngmi paused as he looked around at the gathered faces. He was confused - he couldn’t find the person he was looking for. Derek. Where was he? Why wasn’t he around?? It had seemed like he was going, when they’d spoken in the chatroom. He paused, wearing a thoughtful frown as he looked around, between individuals and groups of people. /Where was he/? Did he not want to see Youngmi, after all of the drama that had gone on in their lives? He blinked. The thought upset him, and he slipped between a bunch of people, to continue looking around, seeming quite lost as he took a final glance for his friend before sighing with defeat. Maybe his old friend didn’t want to see him, this time.