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

After waiting for a bit, Alex looked at the people going in to the ballroom. "Looks like I don't know anyone here tonight," she thought. "I guess I'll have to meet some new people." With that, she entered into the ballroom and sat down at a table near the dance floor.

Upon reaching the ballroom, he notices a girl taking a seat near the dance floor, she definitely looked the part so he decided to take his chances. "Excuse me, madame but may I have the pleasure of asking you for the first dance?" Alonso said, bowing slightly before extending his hand to Alexandra. "You see, my partner had an accident so I'm in desperate need of one at the moment. It's but a slight Waltz is all, and if you don't know how, I'll gladly show you how." With that he pulls a rose out of his inner coat pocket and presents it to Alexandra as well, more hoping for a dance partner at the moment than a woman to flirt with.

Alex was a little surprised to be asked to dance so quickly. She looked at the young man and his rose, recognizing him as the one who had noticed her and winked at her. She wondered a little about the intent of the young man and what to think of him. However, Alex put those thoughts that to rest, for she was in the mood for some ballroom dancing. After briefly smelling the rose, she laid the flower on the table and took his hand.

Grabbing another flower from his coat, he places it in his mouth while saying, "Let us dance!" Just as he brings Alex to the center of the dance floor an announcement is made by a woman wearing a black dress near the muscicians.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Annual moonlit ball. While waiting for your dinners to be brought to your tables please feel free to take to the dance floor, the first dance being performed by our very own Alonso Quixano. You are all free to follow through after the music starts." With that the music starts playing, filling the room with a serene blend of Violins, Cello's, and a variety of other instruments, as if there were a miniature orchestra inside the venue.

At the center of the dance floor, Alonso pulls Alex closer, putting one hand on her waist and the other holding her free hand. "We'll start with a simple waltz, my dear." Alonso said, taking the opportunity to both flirt and do his job. "If you have any trouble midway just say so." Locking his eyes to his partners' he starts leading the way, swaying around with her in hand, the gentle moonlight shining through, naturally giving a serene feel to the scene.

"Well I'm glad to hear you'd be up for it Haven, anyway you want to head in? Maybe we can do some "Observation" on some of the nice women inside." Fionn said before laughing loudly at the idea of staring at and hitting on attractive women.

While Alicia wasn't one to just throw on clothes she found on the floor, it was rare that the avian faunus put quite as much effort into her appearance as she had for the Moonlit Ball. Her golden blonde hair was twisted into an elegant braided undo, the one long feather on her left side hanging down stubbornly. Her golden brown eyes were adorned with a smokey eye look (begging the question of who wrestled her into that) and her lips shimmered with sparkling gloss. If one were to find their way close enough, they would find that the gloss had a minty smell (and taste, were things to go so far). Her wings had been tirelessly preened (though she would have probably done so anyway) and folded neatly behind her, every beautiful feather in it's place. The tips of her flight feathers barely brushed the back of her ankles as she walked. Her dress was a rich royal blue, shimmering with gold sparkle at the hips and neckline. It was backless, the wide strap of a halter top tapering from her sloping neckline around the back of her neck, while the rest of the dress was backless. There was a wide strap around the back of her waist, right over where her tail feathers flowed out of the back, hidden by her wings. The ankle-length skirt was ruffled with a shimmering gossamer cover, that splayed out near-flat if she were to spin.

After a quick trip to the coat check to put a certain spear-bow in a safe place, Alicia strode into the ballroom, glancing around for something to do. While she may look the part, the dress was borrowed and the invitation given to her by a friend who's fallen ill the day before. She was filling in for her, though to do what, Alicia had no idea. Maybe just to show off the dress, which was what her friend had said was her reason for going.

Sighing, she strode past the entrance, glancing and smiling at a pair of guys as she did so, one of which wore a very fancy and noticeable hat.

"Ah, you'd just love that, wouldn't you?" the crossbreed joked, a small yet bright smile spread across his lips for once. Pointed fangs of his would stand out slightly from the grin, more than likely giving him a look that was quite literally devilish, though completely harmless at the same time. Shaking his head, azure voids would veil over slightly as he turned heel once more, continuing his way down toward the entrance. He assumed that no words would be needed to be said, and that this continuation of his stride would be enough of a "yes" for the other's suggestion. The sound of what seemed to be a gentle orchestra from within caught the attention of his ears, both human and Faunus alike, as he neared the main entrance. As a result both bestial auds of his would give a flicker before perking up, the melodious sound from within appearing to be personally complimenting to him.

At the same time he would open his eyes, averting them to their previous and normally-narrowed state. While he did so he would look towards his flank, noticing the coming of the lass some ways away. Catching her gaze for a moment he would allow his grin to lose its joking vibe and to fall into one of a more gentle, silent greeting. All the while he would raise the eastern extremity, tipping the front of his hat slightly to further emphasize his little greeting. After keeping his gaze upon her for just a second more, the hybrid would then shift his attention to Fionn. "So. Are you just gonna spend all your time scouting the ladies and doing some recon for that job of yours, or are you actually gonna rack a conversation with someone and maybe even take a dance?" he would ask the neighboring student as soon as he came within an appropriate distance.

"I've already danced with one girl tonight, what's a couple more?" Fionn said before chuckling and taking another swig of his glass, the easily seen fact that he did not actually care about his mission, and simply wanted to dance with some nice girls and enjoy the atmosphere of the classy event which he so rarely went to painfully obvious.

"Anyway, maybe I shouldn't be overestimating what I'm capable of, but really though I don't actually care about my mission that much, I'd rather dance with a nice girl, maybe bring her home afterwards you follow?" He said, still standing next to the halfbreed before deciding to begin walking towards the entrance of the ball, his basketball shoes making a nice "pat pat" as he stepped from bricks to carpet when he entered the building, the loud but beautiful orchestral music slamming into his unready ears as he took a long and hard breath, breathing in the posh smells that echoed throughout the busy halls that he was now within.

Lí sighs as Varius steers him toward the server, and replies, "You say I need a drink, but really, you just want to see me drunk, right?" with more than a hint of snark in his tone. However, he takes the drinks without complaint, and heads to the periphery of the dance floor, standing next to a high table where he sets one of the drinks Varius had handed him before beginning to sample his own. An evaluative eye scans the people attending, out on the dance floor or otherwise. Dancing with the man whom he'd received the rose from is one woman, and two others are also noteworthy enough to catch his attention, one being a faunus he can't immediately identify, and another being avian in nature. For the time being, however, he simply stands at the table and watches.

A slight chuckle would escape the lad's throat at his acquaintance's remark regarding his mission. "And the truth comes out!" he would exclaim, shooting his hands freely into the air in the process. They would go on to rest by his flanks once more, however, as swiftly as they had gone airborne. "Aha, but really. Seems like you have your hopes high," the Huntsman added, giving the one accompanying him a good pat on the shoulder while walking along.

Within moments he himself would step across the entrance doors, finding himself greeted with the lightning of the building's interior. Though as a human he would have been perfectly fine with the darkness, he felt his bestial genetics slipping in as his night vision began to work, scouting out the darker portions of the sector with ease. His attention would soon shift over to the side of the area, taking note of the arrangement of tables and chairs set up afar. Glimpsing toward Fionn for a moment, he would give the chap another pat on the shoulder, saying, "Yo, I'm off for a little while. Gonna fix myself a bit before I head to the floor." While saying this the crossbreed would lift a hand to his hat once more, grasping the edge of it between the thumb and index finger before swiping it across its fabric in a slick fashion. Afterwards he would lower said extremity down to his tie, joining it with the remaining one and adjusting his tie while beginning to walk off. "We'll see if we meet up again. Good luck scouting out the ladies, man," he added with a sly grin.

Alexandra smiled, and said, "Oh I know my way around a waltz. She followed Alonso's lead in the classic 1-2-3 step of the opening dance. While it was intimidating at first, given that they were the only couple on the dance floor, that thought soon left her mind as she spun with Alonso in his arms.

After a few more pairs started joining the dance floor, Alonso decides to take things up a notch. "Now, for a twirl, my dear." he says as he spins pulls Alex in for a twirl and then continuing their coordinated stepping. As they danced Alonso couldn't help but mutter the classic, "1,2,3...1,2,3" as they took their steps, smiling all the while at Alex. "Is this your first time at a ball?" Alonso asked, somewhat having an interest in his current dance partner.

"Thank you Haven, I wish you the same!" Fionn said happily as he raised his hand and waved at Haven as the two of them walked away from eachother, seeing a table with a familiar face at it, oh yes a familiar face. "Looks like I get to have a bit more fun at this ball than I thought i would!" He thought as he began to silently walk towards the table that contained the drinking trap whom he had met a while before at a Truth or Dare game.
Laughing internally he crept up behind Li with a devious grin on his face before putting himself into his best posture and sticking out his hand in offering.
"Exxxcuuuuse me pretty lady, may I have this dance?" He asked faking a Posh accent before chuckling a bit and retracting his hand back towards his side. "Haha, sorry; Hi Li, long time to no see!"

Alicia had spent a few minutes effectively wandering, admiring the architecture of the building and the lighting. After all, anything featuring the moon was good for her.
Anyone looking could tell that she didn't know what she was doing. At one point, she was offered a drink by a waiter, and had hesitated a few seconds before taking it, unfamiliar with the concept of things just being brought to her and not needing to pay. And if you were to watch her carefully, you would see a slight stumble in her step, and her wings shifting now and then and tail feathers flaring out to keep her balance. No, she wasn't drunk; just horrible on heels.
During her second circle of the ballroom, Alicia paused a moment to watch the dancers on the floor. At first it was just one couple, hen a few more. She was tempted to enter herself, but decided against it. By the looks of things, it was probably odd to dance without a partner.
She was turning around when she slipped on her heels again, and almost fell, caught by one wing shooting out to almost full span to her right. Unfortunately, her wing hit somebody with the force of a punch.

((I'll leave that open to whoever wants to be wing-punched))

On the way to the tables afar, the halfbreed seemed to have his full focus upon his outfitting. His hands would remain as they were when he had left Fionn; rubbing his tie down faintly and adjusting it to a comfortable perfection...in his eyes, at least. A low, long whistle escaped his lips as he finally finished doing so. By the time that he had ended his little tidying session he had arrived by his destination, and was standing before an arrangement of chairs stationed by a table. Whispering something to himself, he would heave a slight sigh before turning heel and sitting himself upon it.

Allowing himself to be caught within the music once more, he would soon find his vision fading and his ears taking full control over his senses as the melodies flowed throughout Faunus and human auds alike. Grinning slightly to himself, the swordsman would tap his foot beneath the table as if creating some kind of slow, quiet beat to accompany the musical symphony afar. Blissful was he at that moment, though his little trance of his would seem to be knocked from him, quite literally, as he felt a sudden impact on his right shoulder - and quite a strong one, at that.

With a semi-loud, "Kuso...!" the teen would fall from his seat at an awkward angle, landing upon the floor beneath him in an equally odd position. He said this little curse with a sudden, heavy accent of what seemed to be of an Asian background, giving way to his primary bloodlines. His back would collide with the ground with a faint 'thud,' and it would be sprawled across while his legs remained lightly hooked around the chair that he had sat on. Breathing deeply, the man gave a low mutter while adjusting his hat, which had tipped a tad and was covering his eyes. "...Aw, Hell..."

"Ah!" Alicia yelped, barely stopping herself from falling. The impact of her wing hurt, the same as hitting an arm or a leg on something. Not only that, but the feathers were ruffled quite uncomfortably.
"Oh, hell!" She exclaimed, just then noticing the boy she'd sent sprawling to the ground, "Bleedin' shoes! Son of a-"
It was just then that she registered the fact that she should probably apologize, and also stop running her mouth off. Heaven knew she didn't need any other way to tell the entire ballroom that she did not belong here.
Face reddening (much to her chagrin), she stepped over to the guy she'd hit and offered a hand, recognizing him and his hat from the entrance a little while ago. "Sorry!" She said. While she may not always be the most personable of people, she wasn't a complete jackass, after all.

Clear, blue eyes would be brought to catch sight of a hand outstretched toward him, after his head wear had been appropriately situated...somewhat. They would blink slowly, soon shifting over to the extremity owner and taking note of its host that stood some ways above him...from the angle he was at, at least. The right Tasmanian Devil aud of his would flicker as he took his turn in recognition, realizing that this was the lass that he had seen by the entrance. A faint, slightly pained grin spread across his lips as he brought a hand of his own forward, meeting the other's. "Aha...no worries, no worries..." he claimed while undoing his legs from the chair.

Afterwards he would stand up once more, nodding at the girl for the support she had given him while releasing her hand from his grasp. It would soon hook over, taking a gentle hold of the shoulder that was stricken while rolling it all the while, getting to work on shaking the faint, sore sensation from his being. "Quite the wing strength you have, there.  I mean...holy shit, man," he would say, laughing while speaking this. The way that he cursed freely would more than likely be enough of a message, saying that he didn't mind when someone else used similar language. He would fully bring himself back to focus after saying this, giving the other a small glance. Another low chuckle would escape his lips at the sight of the scarlet upon her expression before going on to quickly scan her appearance. "I find it somewhat rare to come across someone with both strength and elegance alike," the crossbreed added, tilting his hat to the angle that it was before the fall. When he said things such as this, it was almost always just for sheer politeness - especially when he was speaking to someone that he had just met. Despite his true intentions, however, he had been told in the past by his younger sister, time and time again, that he often sounded like a flirt alongside a gentleman.

...And, of course, he rejected both things with such vigor every time that she claimed so.

Alex twirled as Alonso lead. She answered him, "No, I've been to a few balls before. Of course those were always organized affairs with the same old families attending. It's nice to come out and meet new people." They continued to dance. Drawn close in to him, she asked, "and what about you? You seem to know your way quite well around the ballroom dances."

Varius stood behind Li not making a sound as he saw his leader watching people with a drink in hand. "Li word of advice. Don't stand on the outside watching people like a serial killer picking his next target." At one point in the night Varius did consider taking it easy on Li knowing he wasn't well suited for these events but based on the current conditions Li did not have the luxury to take it easy. For three years that Varius knew Li, not once had he seen him with a woman. Varius took a quick glance around the ball and noticed a person of interest with blonde hair and avian features but she seemed to be talking to another person already. "His loss is your gain, come on Li." Varius grabbed hold of Li's arm and lead him toward the couple (Alicia and Haven) "When I do my thing you apologize for me and offer her a drink." Without waiting for Li to respond the two reached the couple. "MARC! Marc is that you!? Buddy! I haven't seen you in forever!" After practicing for so many years making a false personality to hide his true selfish nature, faking a drunken state was child's play for Varius. He stumbled his way over to Haven and wrapped his arm around his man's shoulder letting the other take Varius' full weight. "Marc I've missed you so much we have to catch up." Varius attempted to direct Haven away from Alicia using his larger size and weight.

Alonso chuckled a bit at Alex's question before saying, "Well, I''m quite a veteran at these things, ever since I was little I've been dancing. Be it a waltz such as this or even a high tempo Flamenco. It's my life, my passion." That and beautiful women. Noticing her drawing close to him he adds, "Now, may I ask for your name, my dear?' with a gentle but alluring tone.

When Varius grabs his arm, Lí grunts slightly out of surprise, though his skillful manipulation of the glassware in his hands prevents a drop of the drinks from spilling at the sudden motion. "Be more careful, Varius," he chides, though the words go completely ignored as his brash partner continues dragging him along. For a moment, he wrinkles his brow in confusion as to the large faunus' intentions, though the feeling swiftly passes as Varius runs himself into the man who'd taken to talking with the avian faunus woman.

"Wait, Varius!" Lí calls, though he knows it to be in vain. With a defeated sigh, Lí slumps as he watches Varius quickly depart, but he swiftly corrects his posture as he remembers the lady standing nearby. "I'm really sorry about him. I honestly have no idea what that was about," the effeminate man says, a bow of the head adding to the sincerity of his words. The action brings his attention back to the drinks in his hands, though, and he offers almost immediately, "Would you care for a drink at all?"

Alex smiled at the veiled complement, and she was rather taken by Alonso' smooth tone. "My name is Alexandra Reinhardt." She did a twirl.

"Alexandra, what a beautiful name." Alonso said he gave her a twirl. The music was now nearing the end so Alonso decided to end things with a bang. Quickening the pace he leads Alex around the dance floor in a series of twirls and pulls, easily finding the right steps while carefully avoiding the other pairs. As the song reaches it's end, Alonso subconsciously manifests multiple swords above him and Alex causing some of the dancers to gasp and back away but the staff merely smile and calm them down since they knew Alonso's style. Not wanting to scare his partner he says, "Don't worry about these. They're all part of the show." One by one more swords appear until all 20 of them are fanned out behind the pair, sweat trickling down his forehead as he exerted more concentration to keep things in check, carefully moderating the amount of aura he was channeling into each sword. Now at the height of the song, the swords quickly change their positions multiple times before finally surrounding Alonso and Alex before he dips her down for a final pose and the swords shoot upwards, exploding in a bright array of red power but only to the extent of shaking the chandelier a bit, not causing any damage whatsoever.

Staying in his position for a few seconds he counts to 3 in his head before finally noticing the applause. Looking down at the girl in his arms, he says, "That was wonderful, now we bow to our amazing audience." With that he brings her back up, hands still clasped together and bows to the people around them.

The lad had been fixing a select few words to speak up as a following, though never exactly found himself able to finish as something caught his attention. A faint weight upon both shoulders of his would soon be felt, which would then lead to his figure being dragged across the area some bit, due to the lad who had embraced him in a rather unsteady fashion. Looking over his shoulder when he was distanced some bit, the crossbreed quickly ducked from under the other’s arm, spinning himself around swiftly upon his heels in order to face him.

For a moment, a serious, somewhat strict expression would be cast upon his face as he looked this sudden newcomer over. It would grow ever worse as he twitched his nose faintly, his crossbreed senses kicking in as he attempted to take the man’s scent from his current distance. …He does smell like alcohol, but not enough to possibly give him this bad of a buzz… he thought silently to himself while seemingly sending the chap a faint, chilling glare, recalling the actions that had brought him to the current location. It was then that furred, nicked auds of his would flicker, his gaze leaving the one before him and looming over his shoulder and at the third boy that he hadn’t exactly noticed until then, though the face was familiar all the same from a…certain game, for say. He didn’t know much about Li from that one experience, though what he did remember – which was actually very little – was that, in the beginning, he seemed to be quite the bashful one who more than likely would need some aid with talking to another straight off the bat...perhaps from a friend. And the fact that Li seemed to appear as soon as this man dragged him away from the girl…? The connection would settle his doubts and suspicions.

With his eyes still catching a glimpse at the new duo afar rather than the ‘drunk,’ the swordsman said, “Hah…well, aren’t you one Hell of a friend.” At these words he would finally shift his gaze back to the actor, of sorts, giving him a slight grin that replaced the look of annoyance he held moments beforehand. "...Yo, and the name's Haven, by the way."

Alicia helped pull the guy to his feet, wringing her hands afterwards. "Yeah," she said, in response to his comment about her wing strength, "They're just like another set of arms, in a way. More of a hindrance than a help most of the time." She grinned weakly, and grew slightly uncomfortable as he scanned her appearance, wings pressing tighter to her back. Her discomfort eased a bit at the compliment, though.
"Well," she chuckled, absentmindedly fingering the shimmering fabric of her dress, "I find that often they seem to be one in the-"
Her phrase was cut off when an obviously drunk man leaned on her conversational partner, who was apparently named Marc, and dragged him away to be quickly followed by a very feminine-looking man holding drinks.
"...same." she finished her sentence as she watched the pair go, before turning to pay attention to the new guy who'd come along.
"It's okay," was her response to his apology, "Some people are unpredictable, especially when alcohol is involved." She smiled. Her feathers puffed for a moment in an attempt to rearrange themselves comfortably after having been mussed when she hit that guy. She moved her wing a bit, reaching to smooth the feathers down expertly.
When offered a drink, she looked at her new partner cautiously, almost warily, but then quickly cleared her throat. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "You didn't poison it, did you?" Chuckling a bit when she finished.

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.