One step at a time. Moonlit Ball. [CLOSEDish]

Varius raised his eyebrow at Haven, he was quite familiar with the look that he was given. It was the look of someone who didn't believe, Haven would not be so easily fooled by Varius' drunk impersonation but that did not matter much his job was already done. Though he could have put more effort and try to actually fool Haven, Varius wasn't a very big fan of that particular face. "Friend is a strong word..." Varius stood up straight and grabbed a drink from a nearby server. "I prefer to think of it as reviving what should have been a lost cause." 

Varius kept his eyes on Li, considering this was as far as he would be willing to help him Varius turned around, looking into the crowd when a dark, red dress (Elizabeth) caught his attention. "Name's Varius now if you'll excuse me." Varius face filled with a smile, "The hunter has spotted his prey." Varius took another drink and headed off toward her. When he reached her Varius gave a short bow and offered a drink. "Good evening Miss, care for a drink?"

Staring after Varius as he walked off, the crossbreed lifted the right extremity, grasping hold of his hat and taking it off. He tossed it onto a nearby table, giving a low mutter as he took a seat by its edge. His legs crossed beneath the tablecloth draped over it, a fusion between what seemed to be a light sigh and a growl escaping his lips. "Guess my thoughts about this thing aren't really changing from earlier..." he whispered to himself, brushing both hands of his through his hair. The left would soon drop onto his lap as he sat, the remaining kept within his hair and scratching behind the right Faunus ear. It would reel into the pocket of his slacks, slipping back out with his mp3 player within its grasp. "Huh...I wonder why I always decide to go to this kinda thing..."

Unwrapping the wire of his earphones from the music player, the hybrid breathed silently, hooking his arms around in order to slip the wire through the back of his shirt. Once it reached his shoulders he parted both, separate earbuds, placing each within the matching human aud while gazing at the dance floor afar. ...Let's see...what should I do, now... he thought, shaking his head faintly while pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

(4 pages.... hoy boy. Might be a little behind q.q)

Staring out the window of the limo, Natalie sat with her arms across her rich blue dress, worn just for the special occasion like now. She sighed quietly, feeling a little awkward in the limo with guest. Bring her attention back to the interior, she looked across the spacious inside at her date for the night, Matt.

"You rehearsed, right?" She was referring to the note cards she had given him early, spelling out how to properly act at the ball. "There are going to be a lot of well known people there, and quite a few of them know my parents. If we're going to convince people that I found a suitable boyfriend that my parents would accept, you can't be... well, you."

She shot Matt a look with daggers in her eyes. "And don't you dare try anything fresh with me."

It was already beginning to feel so stuffy around him, even without his jacket on. He'd run a finger in the collar of the pristine white dress shirt he wore, unable to tell if he was nervous from the pressure put on him for the night, the fact he had to be dressed all fancy, or that he was locked in this limo getting the daggers again from Natalie without even mentioning a word this time. His matching blue bowtie would be slightly off from centered on his neck as he rubbed his eyes.

"I skimmed them... Look, I'll follow your lead like you've reminded me for the twentieth time." Relaxing his posture a bit, he'd rest his hands against the back of the wide seats, across from Natalie in the back of the stretch limo as his feet would extend out to get comfortable. Surprisingly enough, he took it as serious as any other assignment... minus the fact that they had to run around early this morning to get measured and prepared. But, for a girl with wealth and connections, he sure did feel ritzy.

His blue vest only served as more of a complement to Natalie's shade of blue she picked out for her elegant attire, pulling up the leg of his jet black tuxedo pants to flash his socks for her to inspect; black, and both matching as they disappeared into the shined dress shoes he had on. Using fingers to tug on the end of his sleeves, the slight shine of dark sapphire and silver of his cuff links reflected off the dull light as he offered her a reassuring grin. "I gotta say, you do look pretty nice for this unofficial assignment, babe."

Snickering a bit at the pet name, he'd look out the window toward the event they approached. His long hair was now much shorter due to Natalie's demands, clean cut around the sideburns and neck, without a single long hair in sight. The hair he could have was about 3-4 inches in length, a natural looking lift to it thanks to Natalie's hair stylist. "Looks like we are here."

"He's not even drunk," Lí deadpans, making his lack of being impressed with the lion faunus readily apparent. After getting a sense of being evaluated, the effeminate man tenses, fighting briefly to suppress a shudder at being under such close scrutiny. It quickly clears when the woman asks her questions and looses a brief chuckle, and he responds in turn, saying, "I have nothing to gain from poisoning anyone here. It's merely a drink."

Alicia smirked and plucked the drink from Lí's hand, bringing it to her mouth and taking a sip in one fluid motion. "I was just being sarcastic," she said, a defensively humorous edge to her voice, "But you know, when you're training to be a huntress you never know who might try and off you, you know?" She raised an eyebrow to Lí, taking another sip of her new drink. It didn't smell poisoned, so she felt generally okay drinking it.

With the end of the dance, Alex gave a curtsy-bow to the audience. The band did not start playing another song immediately, so they went back to the table were Alex had left the rose. "So Alonso, tell me about yourself. Besides dancing, what else do you do?"

At the woman's posed question, Lí quirks a brow in response, not believing in the slightest that it was as simple as that. Rather than voicing this doubt, however, he merely says, "Right," before taking a sip from his own drink. Rather than simply allowing conversation to die, however, he looks the woman in the eye and asks, "If you don't mind, may I ask your name?"

Alicia caught some of Lí's doubt, but didn't address it, deciding instead to take a longer swig of her drink. She felt a bit more comfortable around the guy (girl? she couldn't really tell) and her wings relaxed a bit, not pressing themselves quite so tightly down. She reached to her right wing and straightened the mussed up feathers there, giving herself a great deal of relief.
She looked back at the other's question, a tad annoyed that she had let herself preen, even for something that would be as normal as sweeping a lock of hair behind her ear. "Alicia," she said, offering a hand, "Alicia Ryan."
She'd never been skittish about giving out her name. After all, she wasn't exactly hard to find without it, so what harm could it do?

"A lovely sounding name, Alicia," Lí comments, smiling slightly as he sips from his drink. "I must say, it's near as beautiful as you look, yourself." He flashes her a small smile, then take another small mouthful of his drink, nearly emptying it before firmly taking her hand in greeting. "My name is Lí. It's a pleasure to meet you, Alicia."

Alicia blushed, and internally scolded herself for having blood and skin and anything that would cause such a reaction. "Thank you, Lí," she said. Her wings twitched, and the feathers puffed up for a second, as if her wings were separate entities, flattered by the compliment, even if it weren't directed at them.
It didn't help either that Alicia was a veritable dunce when it came to flirting, romance or anything that couldn't necessarily be fixed with a few swings of Hiljainen.
"You look very nice yourself," she finished off her drink, nothing that the small cocktail glass had been quick to drain, and grabbed two more from a passing waiter, noticing her now-companion's near-emtpy one. Holding it out to him in offering, she asked, "So, what brings you out here?"
Smooth.

Fionn had been wandering around the ball for several minutes after being shrugged off by Li, this had however come to an end when he had seen it, the liquor table.
Oh the liquor table such a beautiful site, filled with various classy and aged alcohols; there were wines, vodkas, beers, even authentic brandies and whiskeys from all around the world, he had began to sample each.
His first was a nice aged wine, very classy very tasty, shined off in a minute.
His second was a high quality vodka, very classy very spicy, shined off in two.
He continued on like this for a while, drinking more and more of the classy posh drinks, until he felt himself pleasantly buzzed.

"Thank you, Alicia," Lí says, smiling slightly at the compliment, as well as the offered drink. At her question, however, his smile falters slightly as he looks after Varius, who is now trying to get with a woman in a red dress. "For better or worse, the boar of a lion over there convinced me to come along. Right now, I'm thinking that's a good thing, though." Lí's smile returns after his statement, and he looks back to Alicia, eyes twinkling with merriment.

Alicia followed Lí's gaze, to where the 'drunk' guy from before was talking to a pretty girl in a red dress. Looking back to Lí at the subtle compliment (or at least, what she thought was a subtle compliment), she looked down at her drink, inwardly cursing herself for being so awkward. Maybe a few more of those would help.
Taking a long drink to test the theory, she replied, "Yeah, I was actually roped into this because a 'friend-" she made air quotes with her free hand, "-wanted me to go with her. Now I'm stuck here showing off her dress. Is it obvious I don't belong on heels?" She raised an eyebrow, kicking one leg out in mild frustration.

"I thought I noticed you earlier. You did uncomfortable," Lí comments, glancing down to see the shoes poking out from under the flowing fabric. "If they're enough of an issue, you could just take them off," he suggests, before raising up his right leg to cross it over his left, showing the heel his boots have. "It took me some time to get accustomed to the heel on these. I think it's more about being used to them, really."

Alicia half frowned and nodded, tilting her head to the side. "Yeah, I suppose so. But that would just make too much sense, now wouldn't it?" She chuckled lightly, more of a rush of air through the nose than an actual laugh. Looking at Lí's boot, she grimaced. "Good grief, you don't wear those all the time do you? I could never wear those all the time, god. I've seen girls with high heels on their combat boots, never did understand how the hell they didn't break their own ankles every step." She stomped her foot on the floor lightly for emphasis, and almost fell again, ankle rolling.
"Dammit, see?" she laughed outright this time, glancing between her shoes, Lí's boot, and Lí's face, finally deciding not to try and be coy.
"Okay, maybe I'm an asshole or maybe these drinks are stronger than I thought, but you're a guy, right? Because I honestly can't tell." She stiffened slightly, embarrassed and hoping she didn't offend Lí. She wasn't exactly the most gentle person, but some areas tended to be more touchy than others, especially gender.
A sudden thought dawned on her, and she stammered, "Oh, I;m sorry, if you're one of those non-binary people I- ah, dammit. I just suck at interaction, is it obvious?" The last words were uttered in frustrated sarcasm as she mentally bonked herself on the head.

Lí sets his foot back down on the ground as she glances between his boot, her shoes, and his face, and at the blatant question of gender, he smiles, then bursts into a slightly lilting laughter as Alicia tries doubling back to cover her blunder of being so unintentionally rude. "I do believe that you're the first to assume I'm male in quite some time." he comments, a mirthful tone ringing through his voice. "Don't worry, you haven't offended me. I know how confusing my appearance is."

Fully aware that he didn't answer the question, Lí attempts diverting attention back to her, and how uncomfortable she seems to be. "I think taking off the heels might be a good idea, Alicia. It wouldn't do for you to hurt yourself simply for the sake of appearing taller and fashionable."

Alicia exhaled gratefully, shoulders slumping a tad in relief. "Oh, okay." she laughed a bit too, to diffuse the tension. "Um, good to know?" She broke out laughing again, thankful she hadn't offended him. "I don't know, the suit made a more or less male-looking outfit. I mean, it's not impossible, you just wouldn't expect a girl to be wearing a suit in a place like this, right?"
At his comment on the shoes, Alicia shrugged. "Maybe in a bit when they really start to bother me, but right now I have to keep them on to 'show off the outfit'." She made air quotes, repeating what her firmed had said earlier. "You'd swear she belonged on a catwalk, the way she fawns over clothes..."

"Well, if you're meant to be showing it off, wouldn't it make more sense to do so in a manner that allows you to be both more comfortable, as well as more graceful?" Lí asks, looking away from Alicia's face long enough to glance at her large wings behind her before returning his attention to her properly.

"Well, not much really." He said, scratching his head upon thinking about the question. "You see, I'm actually studying at Beacon. I do things like this during my free time. " As he took his seat at Alexandra's table, Alonso decided to ask as well, "How bout you? Are you from around here as well?"

Alicia raised an eyebrow, a wry smirk spreading across her face. "Why are you trying so hard to get me out of my shoes, Lí?" She laughed lightly, but the laughter died a tad when she caught Lí looking at her wings. It was just a glance, sure, but it still made her feathers press down a bit. She knew that they were obviously something to see, as avian faunas were rather rare, but for some reason she always felt scrutinized when people looked at them. She hoped her discomfort wasn't obvious, though, and took a sip of her drink in an effort to hide it.

"You were looking distinctly uncomfortable earlier, and you did say that they're the source of that," Lí explains, looking to the ground and flushing slightly at the possible insinuations behind her question, then reddening further as she gives a brief laugh. When her laughter trails off and suddenly dies away, he looks back up at her and sees her wings seemingly wilt.

With a look of concern on his face once more, Lí asks her, "What's wrong?" suspecting that he had been the source of her new posture, despite the lack of indications towards that conclusion.

Alicia's head snapped up from her drink, as if she had just remembered Lí was there. "Oh, um, nothing!" She stammered in a hasty, albeit sloppy recovery. All of these formalities and such were really screwing with her. Or maybe it was the drink, she didn't know. Hell, she didn't even know how long it took alcohol to kick in, what with being so unfamiliar with it.
"Sorry," she apologized, "I've said it a million times I know, but I just feel really out of place here, okay?" She frowned slightly, looking around. "Maybe you would be better off talking to some heiress or aristocrat who knows what they're doing the way you apparently do."
Yes, Alicia's people skills needed polishing, of that she needed no reminder.

"During your free time?" Alex asked. "Well, you must have a lot of free time, then" she joked. "I'm also a student, at Beacon. I'm a First Year, and while the training does keep me busy, I'm honestly just wasting time here and there until I can take up a job in my family's company."

Natalie was not all that pleased to hear that he 'skimmed' through the notes. "Ugh, fine." She decided that she was time for her to just drop the issue; she didn't want her anger to overcome her again, especially at a place like this. Her parents were really testing her tonight. She also didn't have time to argue because she was behind herself. Her hair still hung down past her shoulders.

Leaning forward, she began the process of tying her hair in a bun. She brushed her hair back with her hairs, putting it into a bundle like a pony tail, holding it still with one hand while grabbing an elastic. Her hands moved swiftly as she bound her hair up in a pony tail. Wrapping the tail around the center of the bow, she grabbed two bobby pins she had clipped to her dress, using them to hold the tail of the bun in place. And for the last touch she had a simple tiara that would go on just over her rounded ears, keeping them out of sight.

Looking back over at Matt for just a second, she caught the sight of him grinning at her as he showed off that he had everything in place for his wardrobe. She blushed slightly at this comment, looking out the window in embarrassment. "S-stuff it!" She pulled the long flowing skirt up slight to show off her heels. "There's a reason I brought these, and you'll find out why if you keep that up!"

As Matt looked out the window, she couldn't help but glance back at him while he was distracted. 'I guess he does look alright too...' She practically slapped herself for that thought as she quickly looked out the window on her side of the car, blushing a bright red.

The door to Matt's side slowly opened, revealing the old family butler in his driver's uniform holding the door open. She scooted across the sit, bumping Matt. "Well? Get going, and don't forget to give me your hand when you get out." She snapped at him quietly, hoping he wouldn't make a fool out of himself.

The sight of Natalie's heels wasn't very comforting-- knowing how quick she could be off the trigger, those could do some serious damage tonight upon one extremely minor mistake. With her reaffirming that procrastinating probably wasn't a good idea, he'd chuckle nervously as they pulled up to the Ball entrance. A few people had still mingled outside, but it looked like the party was going on inside now from the figures standing about in sight of the opened double doors. Matt would peek over briefly as Natalie adjusted her hair and set up the tiara, slipping into his jacket.

For a moment, she had seemed completely different from the hot headed Faunus he's known so far. The regal-looking tiara hid those rounded ears, her makeup and hair looking nicer than usual as she set up a more elaborate ponytail than what he was used to seeing. Turning his focus to his suit, he'd smooth the sleeves and button the top button; strangely enough, she was... cute.

The sudden bump startled him from his thoughts, turning his attention to her with a look of surprise as his fingers fumbled with his pocket, making sure the handkerchief inside still was at a perfect triangle. Her harsh whisper would only be met with a sigh, bickering back with a hissing, "Okay, okay Princess."

Sliding from his seat, he'd get out of the limo, nodding to her butler with a smile as he smoothed his hands against the black jacket. Standing up straight, he'd take a slight breath as he took a more regal posture, free hand going behind his back, one hand extending out to his partner in the vehicle as he stared back inside. Blushing lightly, his green eyes would look away a moment before returning back to the Faunus before him, replying, "We've arrived... Miss." It felt completely unnatural to call her that, pausing slightly and hesitating to call her by that title.

"Well, I'm certainly flattered you think I know what I'm doing, because I certainly don't," Lí says, a genial half-smile in place as he confesses his lack of knowledge for such formal events.

He looks into his glass, seeing that his second drink is already near gone, then brings it up to his lips and tilts his head back, quickly finishing off the last of it. He brings himself to face Alicia once more, his smile still in place, and merrily suggests, "Rather than wallowing in misery, how about we just have fun with this?"