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Okay. First order of business. Rob this place blind. Second, find that cider. Now on a dual mission for this apparently delightful drink, and something shiny, Imp skirted the edges of the dance floor, her silver eyes scanning the crowd, the tables, anything that glittered. Where was that kid that came in earlier? Looked like he'd have neat things to snatch, and kids were easy. She placed her empty flute on a passing tray without breaking stride, her movements fluid and practiced - And yet, like an utter fool who did not know how to navigate a crowd, she 'accidentally' stumbled directly into Zechs as she grew close to him.

"Terribly sorry," Imp said, her voice dripping with synthetic remorse as she steadied herself with a light touch on Zechs' arm. Her fingers lingered for a fraction of a second too long. Her other hand, now free from its flute-holding duties, was a blur of motion. "These crowded dance floors are a menace, aren't they?" She smiled, a dazzling, toothy (but careful) display, her silver eyes locking with Zechs' from behind her caprine mask. Her mind was already working, probing, a delicate psychic tendril reaching out to brush against the surface of Zechs' thoughts, searching for... anything. A sense of unease, a pocket to watch, the location of a wallet. Anything she could use. Good practice.

Sliver happily let Ess lead her around the dance floor. She laughed. "Yes, it really does overwhelm." She decided that from now on, she would listen to its whispers. She leaned a little toward the center, sensing she might want to go there.

When Ess made the comment about the many different people, she involuntarily looked around at all the other people. She was right and smiled.

Sliver smiled at her invitation and felt touched. Pretty soon, though, she'd need a drink to help her nervous and quench her thirst.

Malachite finally took a break from his dance, dabbing a few beads of sweat off his face with a handkerchief. He went to retrieve another glass of cider, retreating to the edges of the dance floor to observe the other partygoers. While he’d been busy dancing, there had been many new arrivals- the adorable golden retriever standing out to him in particular.

“A talking dog.. hehe, just like the air bud movies.” He muttered to himself, taking a sip of his drink. A part of him wondered if a basketball was anywhere nearby, maybe they could test if this was a descendent of the dog from those iconic films.

His gaze wandered around the party some more, eyes befalling the imp again. His intuition, after having been a vigilante for the past few months, told him that she was up to something fishy

So what did he do? Nothing. He averted his gaze, as if he hadn’t seen anything. Instead he listened closely, taking advantage of his acute sense of hearing. Until he caught evidence of her doing anything bad, it wasn’t his business to intervene.

Goodnight Aurelian! I really loved your character
Edit- i forgot to mark this as OOC please forgive me lol))

The offer of a return gift was, in fact, expected. "I thank you and the Grande Duchesse on behalf of Her Eminence," he says with a low bow as he accepts the box, "And assure you that Her Eminence will receive your generosity the moment I return to her Citadel. The note in the case will convey the goddess's well wishes, and includes an invitation of her own. A pleasant evening to you."

With that, Niskali will also take his leave, departing to the cloaked shuttle waiting out of view of the bluffs and the ongoing celebration.

((Get good rest, Aurelian!))
((I have to go for a run before fancy breakfast things, but am glad I got to at least kinda visit, even if it was as much of a token gesture OOC as it was IC! Happy writing, everyone!))

Ollie gobbled down the offered treats, then snuffled around on the ground for all of the crumbs that he'd sprayed. "Oh yes, I like ribbons," he borked to Chiara confidently, even though he actually wasn't sure what a ribbon was or what he would do with it. If this charming person thought it was a good idea, surely it was a good idea. It was then that he heard someone say "dog", and his head whipped around to see who wanted his attention. Spotting Mr. Malachite, he trotted over, tail gently wagging. "Hello! I'm Ollie! You wanted me!" It was a statement, not question. He was certain he was wanted.

Iyan takes his first step into the forest arena, the tall pine trees standing in tireless guard as the guests mingle and dance. He offers a blink as he processed all that he was seeing. Or, not what he was seeing, as this was typical for high society gatherings, but he struggled with how he'd gotten here.
Definitely odd, but not the strangest thing he'd done. Not even this month alone.

His boots crushed softly on the fallen needles as he crossed toward the nearest option of drink, scooping up a crystal flask that held a bubbly golden liquid. A sniff gave his nose a tickle of fruity aroma. Something exotic. He expected nothing less of the Duchess.

With a sip of drink dancing upon his tongue, Iyan turned around take in the figures who were actually dancing, taking note of their costumes and masks. There was no one he could identify at once, but that was the point. Everyone could be anybody, or nobody.

Cheers, Iyan thought to himself as he raised his flute in a wordless toast before he drank.

Malachite was surprised to be approached by the talking dog, smiling in response. “Well hello there, Ollie! You can call me Malachite.”
He crouched down to meet the gaze of the dog, offering him a scratch behind the ears.

“Say- i’m a bit curious. Are you any good at basketball?” Malachite asked, trying to hide the embarrasment in his tone due to the absurdity of the question.
“Where I come from there’s a movie about a talking dog, and he looks alot like you, and he’s REALLY good at basketball.”

"Is it the one with the puppies and their adventures?" Chiara turned her little head toward Mr. Malachite, and wagged her tail, looking more than ever like a little snowflake. "I know that one! One of the puppies is a girl and I love her!.... but Mr Pupper here is even more cool!" Realizing the little dragon was no longer near her, she called out: "Draghetto? Lil dragon? Come to meet Mr Pupper!"

As she danced she couldn't help me notice the cutest little dog getting all the loves. He reminded her of her dog who was always the center of attention. She missed her dog.

Moon Drop - better known as The Winter Shade - received her letter, and she grew curious. She knew no Duchess, nor had she ever been invited to a ball for recreational means. Typically, those who sought her out wished for a spell or potion, perhaps even a curse in exchange for magic-fueled items. But this invite held no malice, no demand. It was an ask, a polite request which piqued her interest greatly.

So she decided to attend even if she were to arrive late. She put on her signature light blue cloak with the blue rose on the front and created herself a mask as white and sparkling as freshly fallen snow. The instructions that had come to her simply required her to take a fork in the woods away from the closet village, then she found herself wondering into the set-up with white tents and a band. There was also food, but since she was a dead husk of a body, food did not concern her.

Instead, she decided to look for this Duchess, curious to see who would invite a shade to their ball.

Piemyth's envy was already starting to override their fear, with Chiara calling for them being the deciding factor. Slowly they emerged from Tairloth's cloak and flew back to Chiara, examining this large beast much more curiously than before.

Seeing Piemyth peek out from behind a much taller person who seemed to be friendly with her mum, Chiara clapped her hands beckoning the tiny dragon closer. "Look, Mr Puppy, this is..." then she remembred something. She didn't know this little dragon's name! She couldn't go on just calling them Draghetto, could she? Turning toward Tairloth, she curtsied and asked: "Excuse me, what's your little dragon's name? They're adorable!"

"BALL?" borked Ollie, his eyes going wide. This was the best word in the entire world. No, the best word in the entire universe. His corn-chip scented paws went pitter-patting on the floor in a dance of giddy glee. "Oh I am so good at ball. There is no one who does ball better than Ollie. Do you have a ball? Let's play ball!"

The Duchess seemed to sense that she was being looked for, and turned toward Moon Drop with a whisper of ballgown skirts. "Ah, my dear winter shade, you made it. I am so happy to see you," she greeted her as if they were long lost friends, not some stranger that had somehow managed to sneak an invite into Moon's life. Or. Err. Unlife.

And, nothing... That was alright, sometimes you came up empty handed. Surely there was something else around here. Seriously, where did that kid go...?

Wow. Maybe Bonnabella was right about her, she did have a problem. Morality was a disease that was chasing her like she was prone to colds. She was going to have to find something expensive and get out of here before she started feeling too bad. Something shiny, something novel, something... Her eyes drifted to the Grand Duchess and the rose, glowing under its glass dome. The magical nature of it radiated off it in waves, making the parts of her that had grown up in the Wallow, in the thickness of dark and death, shrink back. It was too much magic. Too much risk.

Okay. Imp knew about three things; Pink was her color, that invitation shouldn't have been in her bag, and this place was starting to annoy her. That was fine. If there was nothing good to steal, she could at least get that cider and see if any of these rich idiots were gullible enough to play a few hands of cards. With the deck she had tucked away in her dress, she was bound to win.

Still, her gaze notably kept drifting back to the rose, and the Duchess. A little worm of an idea began to wiggle in the back of her mind. She had to at least get a plan in, right? This was why she never went anywhere without Avira - the spirit's wispy nature made it so easy to get your hands on things you shouldn't. First step still in progress. Second step slowly becoming, 'maybe take a magic rose'.

Trotting towards the edges of the crowd again, to do another round and pick a mark, Imp caught sight of a newcomer from the thick of the pines - still no hooves. Fine enough. Her path was rerouted, this new person seeming far less... distracting than a talking not-canidae, and a mushroom, and she approached the table rather than Iyan himself. She sidled up beside him, though, her gaze on the array of drinks. The satyr took her time perusing, before she murmured to herself, complaints about not finding 'it', before she turned to him with a small, practiced smile playing on her lips. Her mask made it difficult to read her expression, but her eyes were sharp, intelligent. "New face. You just get here?"

He glanced at Light briefly, “oh, you mean the air buddies movies?- Those are the kids of air bud. The girl puppy was called rosebud.”

Malachite just casually listed this all from the top of his head. He’d watched all the air bud and air buddies films not too long ago.. It was a lot of movies.

His attention returned to Ollie, “oh, you’re good at ball? Heh, that’s close enough.” He grinned, patting the dog on the side affectionately.

“Hmm, I don’t have a ball.. but i’m sure I can find something just as good.” He briefly looked around nearby, quickly procuring-

A stick!

“I bet you can’t catch this!” He teased the dog, throwing the stick in a less populated area of the party (he didn’t want the canine to trample anyone.)

Tairloth kneeled down to try to be eye level with Chiara--key word try. "They are, aren't they?" She responded happily "And their name's Piemyth"

Meanwhile Piemyth was slowly realizing that Ollie had far more bite that bark. Seeing others hold out their hands for Ollie to sniff, Piemyth held out of of their claws to the same effect.

"May I ask how you translated the instructions into my thoughts?" the shade asked, head tilting to the side, words coming out with a thick, indistinguishable accent. "Was it some sort of telepathy magic? Or a wide-scale broadcasting spell?"


As a shade, Moon Drop used to be a witch in life. Magic of all kind drew her interest, especially new spells she didn't already know. And Duchess was already using magic with the rose.