• PM To Join • There's plenty of fish in the sea

[Sintih]

Zi'da, 8th, 716th Arc
Frever residence, Midtown, Andaris

The last seven trials had been hard on Sintih. On the second trial of Zi'da Sin had spent his time alone, trying to understand why he felt so unhappy after having spent most of the trial with Faith and Padraig yestertrial. Padraig was there, obviously, but it shouldn't have taken away from the fun. Sin didn't have those kinds of feelings for Faith so why was there such an effect on him from seeing her with Padraig? On the third trial, Sin had decided to drink away his troubles without alcohol so he had invited Heran along to keep him from sitting along in a bar. Familiarity with the man had led to him talk about his problem while staying away from the words like and love.

Heran had responded quite unlike himself and not only invited Sin to a party he and his unit had been invited to but to make sure he was fully prepared for it as well. Heran knew Rudi well enough to know that his son wouldn't have any sense of fashion so he had arranged for Edward to meet him and take him to Ericor's Elegance. As if that wasn't bad enough, Dimitri had been assigned as his dance tutor, giving him a crash course on the subject. When Edward came to pick him up, it took Sin all of three trills to recognize the man he'd shared a tent with for several trials on his first campaign last season. Nothing remained of the knight and instead, Sin looked at a most well dressed gentleman. From his hair to his boots, everything about Edward was so... not Edward.

Dimitri's lessons hadn't been much different. While they were safely away from prying eyes inside of Sin's house, there was no amount of shutters and privacy that could lower the embarrassment Sin felt from dancing with another man twice his person. While Dimitri was muscular and well built, he was capable of twirling Sin across their makeshift dance floor with style and grace. He had managed to remember, roughly, the box step Dimitri had taught him but the rest were flashes of various steps that made no sense when put together. All in all, it had been seven hard trials for Sintih.

The Frever residence was located near the inner most edge of midtown, where the rich lived. For some reason, rich people had to live close to the Crown in order to be rich. Money didn't have anything to do with it. Sin had arrived in his new outfit, feeling like he was standing out more than ever before. Sometime between that moment where he walked through the front door of the mansion and now, Sin had managed to lose all his companions to various other people ranging from other military men to beautiful young ladies. Only Sin had remained alone in the crowd, holding onto his glass for dear life. The crowd consisted mostly of humans but there were enough non humans so that Sintih didn't draw any attention to himself for being an Eidisi. Of course, there were always the curious looks but not more so than normally.

He tilted his head slightly before hooking his finger in the collar of his shirt and pulling it aside, trying to create some space to breathe in. The entire outfit felt off to Sin as he pulled the front of his vest back down. The olive colored vest was decorated with a pattern of four pointed stars and similarly shaped but rounded forms. Underneath it, the white shirt had frilly ends around his wrists and neck which constantly got in his grip whenever he opened and closed his hands. His pants were much the same, although they didn't have any frills on them. They were kept up with a belt and a simple buckle. The underwear underneath, however, seemed to be alive as it continued to ride up. The only thing he did like about the outfit were the socks and leather boots that came up to his ankles, which were quite comfortable.

He had to admit that since he was being pulled around to all these different preparations for this event, Sin had had little time to think about Faith and how he felt about her. Jaks and Dimitri walked past, both with a young lady on their arms, heading towards the dance floor. Sighing into his glass, Sin turned to look around the house. The room they were in was bigger than his entire house alone. Rich people sure knew how to waste the money they had been given. While the room they were in was filled with people, there was still room to navigate between the groups. Through the two double doors to his left, Sin could see the veranda where people were dancing to the music. A group of people were playing instruments in one corner of the room as the people moved to the a rhythm of the music that Sin couldn't find. Looking to his right and up, the hall on the second floor was a balcony overlooking the ground floor, where Sir Frever, the host of the party and owner of the house was sitting and talking with some personal friends.

From somewhere behind him, servants kept bringing in food and drink but that part of the house was off limits for guests as well as the rest of the upstairs besides the hall. So out of his element in this social setting, Sin had decided to claim a spot near the wall and pretend to be a piece of the decoration. His mind wasn't set on talking with people he didn't know and his dancing skills were about as good as his sword skills so he left that to others as well. Twisting the glass in his hand, Sin stared into it as his mind wandered back to Faith. Despite all the effort of his friends, as soon as he had a moment to think for himself, Sin's mind wandered to Faith. Why had she chosen Padraig over him? They were basically two sides of the same coin. One a little more handsome, smarter and with a brighter future ahead of him, the other with a name starting with a P.

Why did he keep thinking like that? It wasn't like he was interested in her like that. She was too short and too... friendly. Always smiling at people and not standing up for herself. Sin shook his head to pull himself from his own thoughts. When he looked up he noticed that people had moved quite a bit, which told him that several bits of time had passed while he'd been off into mental land. Clicking his tongue, Sin pushed himself off of the wall. This wasn't the time to stand around and mope about a girl he barely knew. There were plenty of fish in the sea, like Heran had so eloquently put it that night in the bar.

Sin looked around for a moment until he saw a nicely dressed woman, very pleasant on the eyes, walking through the room. Why should he be sad and alone because he lost his first friend that didn't come with some connection to either of his parents when she was being all lovey-dovey with Padraig? Sin stepped forward and put his empty glass on the tray of a passing servant before walking straight towards the woman. She seemed a little lost in this crowd so it would be easier for Sin to connect with her. "So many people here and yet, you're all by yourself." Sin said as he reached the woman, smiling at her, his empty eyes focused on her face. Great, super opening, Sin.

Off Topic

Complete outfit includes: Undergarments, Extravagant Chiffon Olive Vest, Extravagant Chiffon Shirt, Extravagant Chiffon Black Pants, Leather Boots (knee), socks and a belt and buckle.
Total price: 59 gn 6 sn

[Rey'na]

Why, by the Immortals, were people so interested in parties - Rey asked herself. They were loud, full of annoying people and just generally unpleasant. A few people who attended them were friendly, in a genuine way, but the majority faked friendliness. Someone who acted nice for a moment would be telling tales of you just a trial later.
As well as that, there were the men who were only here for a 'romance'. Most, however, didn't seem to realize that romance didn't last a single night where both participants were so drunk that they couldn't tell you their name for their own life. It was sickening, to say the least.

Speaking of drunk, looking for 'romance', Rey had been approached in the early stages of the party. She was wearing her black dress, one that went down to her knees - leaving as little to the imagination as possible. The man was in ruins, having already drunk a lot. When he had approached her, he seemed to have little acceptance for her answer of 'no' to coming with him - and had decided it would be a good idea to drag her outside. A few people gave looks, but not all had arrived at that point.
Once he had walked some part down the road, Rey agreed to go back to the man's house. As he walked ahead, she pulled out a small vial from the top of her dress. Scarf Rot, a sleeping agent. It wouldn't kill him, and she couldn't risk killing him, she wasn't wearing her mask. But it was an easy escape. Besides, Lissira would find it amusing. She always knew if Lissira would like it, because something in the back of her mind urged her to do it. She closed her fist around the vial, to make sure the man didn't see it.

When she arrived at the man's house, she immediately asking if there was a bathroom. Despite being a sad drunkard, his house was above average. He pointed her in the right direction. When she shut the door, she heard him walk by it and stand beside it - as if he couldn't wait. She wanted to throw up. Instead, however, she drew her dagger out from under her dress and poured the vial carefully over it. Not wanting to ruin her outfit, she took off her shoes and dress, placing them on the other side of the bathroom.
"Hey! What's taking so long?" the man shouted. She stood beside the door, waiting for him to get impatient. Sure enough, after a few more trills, the door opened in towards her - so she was now behind it. As soon as the man had entered, she lunged, digging just the tip of the blade into his back. She then put her hands over his mouth to stop any cries of pain that might escape him. His elbow hit her in the rib once, but the agent then took effect. He stopped struggling, until eventually falling unconscious.
She dropped the man to the floor. He was drunk, nobody would believe he had been stabbed. Besides, even if they did, the bruise on her ribs was already forming. She had much more to defend herself with than he did, assuming she even needed to. "Oh mother, the things I do for you" she thought to herself. She picked up the vial and kept it, so no evidence was left that she had poisoned him.Then she wiped the blood off of her blade on to one of the cloths he had in his house, before leaving, fully geared again.

A few breaks later, she was back at the party. Her outfit was clean, as she had hoped, but her ribs hurt. A few men approached her to see if she was alright after what happened, and she said it was fine and that nothing had happened. She gave them all a sweet smile, before turning and wandering alone.
At first, when this new man approached, Rey thought she had just found herself in a spot she didn't want to be in. Another drunkard, more than likely. The party was busier now, there were bound to be more. Served her right for wearing something as playful as she had. But the way he spoke, he wasn't a drunkard. In fact, he wasn't even unpleasant. Admittedly, he was somewhat handsome as well.
"I could say the same to you. Perhaps we can help remedy each-other's loneliness, then?" she said with a genuine laugh. It wasn't even a mocking one. He had seen her alone, and genuinely just wanted to talk. Normally she would take no note of it, but after her experience with men tonight - it was more than relieving.

► Show Spoiler

12sn deducted for heel shoes

[Sintih]

From a distance, she had looked nice. The dress she wore was most likely designed to draw attention, much like his own outfit was there to accentuate the fact that before buying the outfit, this man had money in his purse. As he walked closer to her, she turned to look at him. She didn't need the dress to attract attention, that much was obvious even from a distance. By the time he'd walked up to her, her clear blue eyes, seemingly endless like the open skies, had caused all lingering thoughts of Faith and Padraig to vanish.

Her voice was clear and Sin was happy he'd gotten so lucky. At least she wasn't one of those screechy ones buried under a ton of make up. His breath, or the illusion of it, got stuck in his throat when she laughed. It was a beautiful sound, the closest thing to Ulehi a human could ever produce. "I would be honored to share my loneliness with you." Sin smiled back at her. If a human could look past the sickly colored skin, the empty white eyes and the seemingly random collection of scars across his face, Sin was a handsome young man. While two of those things did give him a more mysterious and exotic vibe, it was usually too much for humans to overcome.

"I had arrived with some friends but I seem to have lost all of them to other, more interesting people." Sin said as he looked around, spotting Heran near the other side of the room, laughing at something. He knew some of the others were dancing or had even gone beyond that and had taken their partners out for something else. Sin wasn't such a stranger to the social scene that he didn't know what young knights and lonely ladies did in their free time. "But where are my manners. I am Sintih, pleasure to meet you." Sin put his right hand on his chest as he bowed lightly towards the woman.

Sin waited for the woman to introduce herself if she wanted to. He paid attention when she spoke, making sure that he did. Nothing was worse than someone not listening when you were talking to them. Besides, wasn't he looking for someone to get his mind off of Faith? There was a moment of silence after she finished her own introductions. Sin was trying to think of something to say before it got awkward before he noticed she didn't have anything to drink. Taking the opportunity to buy himself some time, Sin waved towards one of the many servants walking around with drinks. "Would you care for a drink. It's my treat." It was easy to buy drinks for people when everything was free.

The servant arrived with a tray of white and red wines for her to choose from or to order something else for herself. Once she'd placed her order, Sin ordered some water for himself as well. Sin thought the servant was kind not to look strangely at him for ordering water at an event like this. Most people wanted to enjoy the riches provided for them here or get drunk as quickly as possible. The servant left to put in the order. "Are you enjoying the party so far?" Not really sure what to talk about, Sin hoped that his partner would quickly realize that he wasn't very good in situations like these. He also hoped she wasn't impatiently waiting for him to ask her to dance because there wasn't a very big chance of that either.

[Rey'na]

Rey smiled as the man agreed to stay with her. It was a strange experience, to say the least. She had no urge to get away from him, nor was the quiet voice telling her she should kill him. It was a rare occasion her head was so peaceful, but this was one of those moments.
The man's face, albeit empty and scarred, welcomed her. She saw beauty in a lot of things, and ugliness in others. It was often, she thought, that the two masked one another. What would appear to be beautiful could often be deadly, vicious and ugly. But what appeared as ugly to most could have an underlying beauty. The main exception to this, she found, was puppies. Puppies were beautiful, no questions asked. Perhaps this man would be like a puppy?

She snapped out of her mind's wandering, stopping herself from comparing the man to that of a canine. "Well, I struggle to believe they are more interesting, perhaps just closer to the alcohol?" she said jokingly, despite there being some truth to the sentence. It was conflicting for Rey, to say the least. She was used to flattering people for the sake of making friends, not enemies. But this was a somewhat genuine compliment, which surprised her more than anything.
"My name is Rey'na, it's a pleasure" she said, bowing her head politely to the man. Silence then hit, and Rey wasn't going to be the one to break it. Talking to people was far from her specialty. Instead, she took the time to look at the man. He looked well dressed, so presumably had a fair amount of money. Saying that, so did she - and that was far from the truth.
His scars made her curious, however. Presumably in a fight of some kind. Was he some kind of soldier? Normally she would assume he was just a drunkard that had a few too many at the tavern one night, but the fact he was so well dressed and at a party made her think otherwise.

"A drink would be lovely" she said with a polite smile. When the tray came over, she would choose the white wine to drink. She felt it was more elegant, and the taste was generally nicer. Sintih, however, ordered water. It made Rey'na feel a little more comfortable. He was taking care of himself. Perhaps he wouldn't allow himself to get as bad as the man prior to this encounter had been.
"My honest answer, the party isn't that interesting to me. Most of the people keep to their own groups. But my mind is being changed by the Trill" she said, looking to him with a genuine smile.

[Sintih]

As Sin and Rey'na stood in silence after their mutual introduction, Sin noticed Aker walked past and winking towards him from behind the woman. He disappeared behind a group of people before Sin could reprimand him. When he looked back at her, Sin noticed that she was looking over his outfit and had to admit that the fact that she looked impressed by it made the torture of having it fitted worth it. Ericor had insisted on excellence and Sin had remained standing on the small pedestal for almost a break while the man measured, poked and prodded him everywhere. Edward had thought it all quite funny.

His water arrived a bit later, while Sin looked around, not sure what to talk about, and looked at the woman as she sipped from her wine. Rey'na was an impressive creature for a human. Her eyes did something for him, he wasn't quite sure what. The cool, sharp colored blue that made up her eyes had an effect on the Yludih. Sin sipped from his water and let the cold liquid cool him off from the inside out. The double layer of shirt and vest were keeping him quite warm. Sin listened as she explained why the party was not such a success for her. While it was odd that he had managed to pick out the one woman who didn't like being here, Sin was glad that he'd found a kindred soul.

"It seems we both have the same thoughts about this party then. My friends thought it would be a good idea for me to take my mind off some-... things." There was honesty and then there was Honesty. Sin'd rather not tell a complete stranger he was here to deal with some sort of rejection that wasn't quite rejection because he didn't really think he felt a certain way about a certain someone who definitely didn't feel the same way about him. It was all very confusing, even thinking about it. "I'm glad I decided to come over and talk as well." He smiled at her, his lips turning into a small grin as he did. "So you are not a member of any of these groups then?" Sin wasn't sure what to talk about so he kept the subject on their immediate surroundings. If you didn't know what to talk about, talk about what you have in common.

Ugh... Why was this so difficult. Sin couldn't remember the last time he'd been so out of it in a conversation. He took a big sip from his water, swallowed and brought his hand up to his mouth, covering it while he cleared his throat quickly. He tried to remember which immortal was the immortal of small talk but no name came to mind. Never there when you need them. Sin drank some more water before looking towards the less crowded and more open veranda were the dancing was going on. The music playing was something quicker that Sin would never manage to keep up with if he'd been on the floor, dancing. He was glad he wasn't.

An older couple moved past and an elbow hit Sin in the back, suddenly pushing him forward. As he did his best not to spill any water on the expensive looking dress the woman was wearing he took a step towards her. Suddenly their bodies were close together, her blue eyes right in front of him, seemingly bigger and brighter than before. He even got a whiff of something sweet, most likely her perfume. It was faint enough that he hadn't noticed it until just that moment. For a trill, Sin didn't know what to, standing there so close to her he could just nod and he'd bump heads with her. Then reality came crashing down when the voice of an older man pulled him back. "My apologies, young man." Sin stepped back from Rey'na and turned to the man, smiling. "Ah, no problem."

As the older couple disappeared into the crowd, Sin turned back to Rey'na. Was it hot in here or was that just him? Sin moved his hand up to his collar and pulled it outwards slightly, trying to increase the space air could flow in through but nothing came. "I'm sorry about that. It's quite hot here, would you mind if we moved to the dance area, it's less packed there. More fresh air." And less chance of people pushing me into you again. Despite his thoughts lingering on how close he'd been and his eyes constantly glancing back at hers, Sin remembered the few etiquette lessons his mother had given him some trials after 'the talk'. He held out his arm toward Rey'na so she could hook hers into it if she wanted to.

[Rey'na]

During the silence, Rey'na didn't take her eyes to many places but Sintih. She hadn't had much experience with people, so she didn't know if it came across as rude. But the entirety of the time, she would smile and just watch him with joyful eyes. Be it his eyes, his outfit or just watching him drink his water - it was rare she took her eyes away. Normally this was true when she was studying someone, this time it was true just out of curiosity.
Rey tilted her head to the side, curiously, when he spoke about getting his mind off some things. She wasn't one to ask, at all, but she had to admit to wondering what could have happened. Before she could consider further, the conversation continued. When asked if she was a member of any of these groups, she considered her answer carefully. Thus far she'd been near enough to entirely honest, if not avoiding the full truth.
"No, I'm not. Are you?" she asked, the curiosity evident on her face. If he was a member of one of the militant groups that would be here, this encounter might be dangerous. The man was nice enough, but how long would that last if he realized what she was? Rey stopped herself thinking too much of it before it became evident on her face.

Before she knew it, Sintih was suddenly pushed against her. She was lucky enough to avoid more than a few droplets of water, but unlucky enough to find herself in a somewhat awkward situation. She'd managed to put her wine down by her side in time, so no spills had happened on her side either. She wasn't sure what had happened, entirely, but it seemed that Sintih didn't either. Unless this was his way of making a move on her, she pondered.
Rey watched as the older couple pulled Sintih back and apologized. That explained it. While Sintih was turned, Rey'na watched him with interest, as if she was watching a play that she barely understood but was trying desperately to.

It was then that he asked to move to the dance area. Now Rey'na really questioned if he was trying to pull something. A mischievous and playful smile spread across her face, before she linked her arm to Sintih's. She paused for a second, wincing at the bruise on her ribs. Then linked arms, ignoring the now numb pain in her sides.
"Of course. You'll have to lead, though, I can't dance at all" she said teasingly, knowing that he probably wasn't asking her to dance. But she found it amusing nonetheless. So she pulled him by the arm, heading straight towards the dancing area.
"I don't want you thinking that I would do this for anyone, you know. If you hadn't been so kind, I might not have had my first dance this night" she told him matter-of-factly. If anything, she hoped it would guilt trip the man into dancing anyway. It was a little mean of her, but it wasn't as if standing around would keep them entertained forever - so this would break the silence.

When she finally arrived at the dancing area, Rey let go of Sintih's arm and stood opposite him. She looked around at the women and men dancing. One had one arm held out and the other by her side. Rey mimicked the pose, putting out one arm for Sintih to hold and keeping the other at her side, making sure the bruised side was the one still beside her. She looked to him expectantly, with a playful smile.

[Sintih]

Hearing her answer, Sin understood why she had been standing on her own in a party like this. There were small groups of people everywhere with some guests moving in between the groups to make sure they'd seen everyone on their friend list. Some people just had to be seen. But Rey'na stood here by herself until Sin came along. Now they stood by themselves next to each other. It was all rather difficult and thinking too much about it would give Sin a headache. He preferred imminent defeat on the battlefield over this. "I'm not either. My friends asked me to come with them so I guess I might be part of whatever group they're in but seeing as how they left me in the first ten bits, I can't really say I feel a part of it." Sin smiled at her as he came to his conclusion.

His attempt to cool down by moving to a more open space completely backfired in his face. What should have been a simple walk from one room to another with a beautiful woman on his arm quickly turned into a major disaster for the Eidisi. In his flustered state trying to work his way out of this one, he didn't notice that his impromptu date was in pain. They walked together to one of the double doors that separated the dancers from the socializers and drinkers. Once they crossed into that room, Rey'na's arm suddenly applied strength and Sin was being pulled towards the edge of the space allocated for dancing. There were several other pairs moving over the floor, some with more style and grace than others but to Sin they all seemed like seasoned veterans compared to him.

Sin tried for a trill or two to gently resist Rey'na's pull but when she told him how he was the only she considered dancing with tonight, his mother's lessons took over and Sin manned up. He couldn't let a pretty lady down like that, now could he. "I don't think I'll be much of a lead of any kind, though. But if you don't mind making a fool of yourself in front of all these people together with me then I don't mind either." For a moment, they both stood on the floor, looking around at the other couples. Sin didn't recognize a single step they were doing but when Rey'na held up her arms in the position she copied from another couple, Sin knew enough to hold up his hands in a mirror of hers. He held one hand with the palm up under the one she had stretched so she could rest her hand in it and the other he placed on the side of her waist, just under her ribs so as to not venture close to either of the danger zones above and below his hand.

"So... Euhm... It starts with a forward right, no, backward left for you." Sin made sure there was enough room between the two so he could look down to their feet. His otherwise pale colored skin turned a deeper shade of purple-blue when he realized he had to look past the cleavage of her dress to see their feet. The fact that she was more than a head shorter than him didn't help. He cleared his throat to try and get a hold of himself before explaining the next step. "And then you slide your other foot to the ri-left one and then out to the left, well right for you." He demonstrated the slide by moving his left foot forward next to his right and then sliding it out to the left. Once he'd done that he moved it back to its starting position. "Ok, so together now. Slide back and to the side." Again, he waited for Rey'na to start moving before he repeated his move with her.

While standing with your legs wide like that wasn't too much of a problem for him, having Rey'na right in front of him while doing it and trying his best not to look at the contours of her breasts while keeping an eye on her feet or stepping on her feet or wandering with his hand on her waist all the while explaining dancing moves in the middle of a public dance floor and not losing himself in her blue eyes when he wasn't looking down and trying not to stare too much at one part of her body for an extended amount of time... Sin could feel the nervous sweet running down his back. Truly, he'd prefer a battlefield right about now. At least he knew the rules there. "And then you move your first foot to slide next to your second one. And then we repeat the whole thing but opposite, starting, for you, with the right foot forward." Once he pulled his right foot against his left, Sin leaned back a little so he could see if Rey'na had understood what he had explained. He smiled at her while he remained in their dancing position, one hand outstretched with hers in it and one hand on her waist.

Having switched now to the position where her moves were the ones he had learned, Sin was quicker to explain the following set of moves. "You slide your right forward." He pulled his left foot back and waited for her to finish her move. "Then left forward and slide to the left." Again, he moved his right foot back and to the right and waited. "And finish up by putting them together again. That's it." He gave her another smile as they had finished the entire box step. "It's really simple, isn't it?" Sin asked while he was clearly shaking his head at her.

"You're supposed to do it on a one, two, three rhythm but let's just try to get it right a few times slowly and then we can try to follow the music." While the people around them were dancing the right dance for the song that was playing, Sin and Rey'na's moves at the edge of the dance floor had drawn some eyes to them with some people wondering what they were doing and others laughing behind their hands or fans. Sin ignored the people around him and focused on Rey'na. "Ready to give it a try?" Dancing wasn't so bad when you weren't doing it with a muscular guy or focusing too much on all the awkwardness between you and the beautiful woman you were leading.

[Denebah]

Continuing to play his violin on the streets of low town, the rest of the world almost seemed to vanish. His frustrations with the blasted thing were so very absorbing of his attention. His fingers had numbed in the cold and holding the bow had become awkward, that was his excuse for being bad at playing the instrument anyway - blame the weather. What does it matter anyway? The street trash he was playing for wouldn't know good music if it broke into their homes and slit their throats while they slept, he didn't have to worry about displeasing anyone. Running his bow over the strings, a violent screech pierced his eardrums from the instrument. It was becoming more and more difficult to act as Iden as his anger grew more and more apparent, he'd be better off playing as Merlion - he would at least then be allowed to lose his temper without Iden suffering the consequences. He acted a calm visage for any passers-by, focusing on the angle at which he would strum the strings, eventually landing a note that didn't make his ears bleed.

Satisfied, he looked up from his Violin to see Rey, dressed all fancy. What? If that wasn't cause for alarm, she seemed to be coming from a stranger’s house. Where was she going? What had he told her about strangers? Curse the brat. He took the violin from the crease of his neck and put it with his bow, following her from a distance. He sincerely hoped she hadn't done something reckless - last season had been difficult enough to clean up. He continued to tail her, blending in with the crowd and only looking at her from the corners of his vision, a simple enough tactic that didn't draw too much attention to himself, it looked as though he was just heading the same way as her, nothing to be alarmed about. Return to chewing your cud, cattle.

He watched as she entered a noble-man’s home. His palm met with his forehead where else would she go? was she trying to draw attention to herself!? In all fairness, she'd gotten better at controlling her murderous tendencies, but they still had some rough patches to work through like the difference between injuring and killing. One being a much more justifiable means of escape than the other, he prayed she hadn't done something so stupid.

He followed her into the house and took to a position hidden amongst the crowd, she wouldn't have noticed him from here - the party was busy after all. She'd what, come her to walk around in a party alone? Why? Was she trying to prove she was ready for the outside world? Or was this a mere act of defiance? He grit his teeth, it had better not be. Whether it was the stench of the filthy meat bags that filled the room that had set him off or Rey'na's ignorance of his instructions he didn't know, but knew that he should calm down. Let the girl have some fun, she's been trying real hard recently. He sighed, releasing some of his tension, better he didn't ruin Iden's reputation before he'd even had a chance to shine. He watched with amusement, almost hoping the girl would mess up so that he could intervene and scold her.

Sure enough, a man approached her - of course, why wouldn't they when she was dressed like that? 'Well, it was fun Rey, you did good, time to attack the stranger, receive a slap and head home.' He thought to himself, sure enough that she wouldn't take kindly to this drunkard. His jaw dropped as the exact opposite happened - She'd taken to the man, having a drink with him and all, smiling no less!? What!? Rey can enjoy the company of strangers!? He stared bewildered. What is more, they head off for the dancing floor? How? What on earth had he put in that wine to make her so willing to cooperate? Did Rey even know how to dance? Regardless, he'd let her have it then step out into plain sight, leaning against a wall where she'd easily see him after she'd had her fun.

[Rey'na]

As Sintih spoke, Rey'na had to snap herself out of a trance. She would follow his moves, but she couldn't help but feel comfortable in this position. Perhaps it was just the beautiful music playing, or the fact she felt peaceful for what was the first time in a while. But she loved it, and it was evident on her face due to the fact that as Sintih messed up directions and taught her to dance she couldn't help but smile.
Rey took in his directions and followed them as best she could. She figured that she did the opposite of him. If he stepped back, her leg followed forward. Almost as if her legs followed his. She smiled at him as she did that, starting slowly so she could get used to the movement. Despite knowing what to do, she still felt comfortable following his lead, meaning she was always a little behind him. Her steps were clumsy in her heels, making her near enough to fall at a few intervals.
Rey chuckled. "Simple is one word for it" she said, knowing that just a few seconds earlier she had been falling over her own heels. She then nodded when he asked if she were ready. She heard the laughs and knew it was directed at her, but it didn't bother her. Perhaps people didn't realize how difficult it was to learn a new skill? She could teach them with poison, show them the error of touching a contact poison like her father had learnt the hard way. Then they wouldn't laugh, it's hard to laugh when you're dead.

As she was about to start dancing, she saw Denebah - disguised as Iden. What was he doing here? Was he performing tonight? A smile spread across her face. "Could we hold on a moment? There's somebody I need to see. You can come as well, he's a friend, I'm sure you'd like him. His name's Iden" she said politely.
Whether followed or not, she walked over to where Denenbah was standing. She bowed her head politely. "I didn't expect to see you here, Iden?" she said curiously, making sure to use his fake name. "Are you here for the party?"
Rey shook her head a little. "Oh, how rude of me. The man I was dancing with was Sintih, he came and spoke to me because I was lonely" she explained like a child confessing to a parent. If Sintih had followed, she would turn to him and smile. "This is Iden, he's like a father to me."

[Sintih]

Once the instructions had been properly passed on, Sin and Rey'na managed to dance quite well considering neither of them had more than five trials of experience with it. At first they moved slow, completely off from the rhythm of the music that was being played. Even Sin's mental one-two-three rhythm didn't match to their steps. But as the trills passed and both of them seemed to slip into some sort of trance, the steps became easier and more fluid. Rey'na stood a bit wobbly on her legs, it seemed, but Sin led her well, he thought, as they were stepping around within their little box.

He vaguely registered that people were still looking at them, some pointing and a lot of them laughing behind their fans or hands. It mattered very little as Rey'na and him started to fall into the counting rhythm in his head. One-two-three, forward and left, one-two-three, backwards and right and repeat. The surrounding people and even the music started to fade away as Sin focused on the rhythm in his head and the smile right in front of him. The awkwardness from before was gone as he sank ever deeper into the rhythm. Barely two bits later, reality came crashing down on him as Rey'na suddenly asked to stop for some reason.

In the instant that she told him that she wanted to take a break Sin realized a couple of things. Because Rey'na had been still a little clumsy and somewhat uneven on her heels Sin's stance had shifted to provide her more support. His outstretched hand had wrapped around hers while the one on her waist had slipped to the small of her back so he could hold her up somewhat when she tripped. Because of this, Sin had closed the distance between them enough that their bodies almost pressed together. There was barely enough space for a hand between the two of them. As the moment shattered, Sin realized he had been smelling her sweet scent for a while now.

As if he suddenly realized that he might have done something bad, Sin stepped back, his hand still holding hers while the one on her back slid back to the side of her waist. The sudden rush of energy to his cheeks would have darkened them in a blush had his entire face not looked flushed from the little dancing they had done. Sin was reluctant and relieved at the same time as Rey'na stepped away from their dance and invited him to meet a friend of hers. Of course she had a 'friend' to come and bail her out of the situation. Father, just once I would love to just spend a trial without your influence. I think I've earned a short respite, don't you? "I'd love to meet your friend." Sin said with a polite smile before they stepped out of the dancing area.

Sin looked the man up and down as Rey'na spoke with him. He was definitely not dressed for the occasion and probably fit in better with the servants than with the actual guests. If anything, the man looked like he had just walked in off the street. He wondered how he had gotten in without a commotion. When he was introduced to the man, Sin quickly placed a hand on his chest and gave a quick bow with his head. "Rey'na was so kind as to ask me to the dancefloor. I'm glad she did, I've never danced with such a wonderful partner before." Smiling at Rey'na as he spoke, Sin took that moment to re-evaluate his thoughts on the woman. If she considered this young man to be her father when Sin thought they looked not a day older than brother and sister, he had definitely misjudged her.

"Are you a friend of Sir Frever then?" While he'd rather spend these social bits dancing with a lovely creature like Rey'na, Sin was educated and versed enough to know that the man of the house, this Iden, was most likely expecting some attention from his end before they could get back to it, -if- they could get back to it. Sin's mind wandered back to the blur of rhythm, energy and a sweet smell. He wondered if these other dances Dimitri had mentioned had a similar effect.