A Shared Dance

Kingston really couldn't remember why he decided to sneak his way into the masquerade ball in the first place. Most of the other guests were way too uptight for his liking. All dressed up to the nines in their fancy suits and ball gowns, intricate delicate butterfly masks hiding their facial features. His own outfit and mask was formal, but significantly simpler in design, a bit out of place in comparison to most of them around. Until a bun in the crowd caught his attention. He began to make his way over to her, picking up two champagne flutes from a waiter. 

“Yo! Uh, I mean, Good evening? Care for a drink?”

Lilith turned around in surprise and trepidation, wondering if now was the time she would get busted for having sneaked into the masquerade ball. And it wasn't even her idea to begin with! Thankfully, this did not seem to be the case in the slightest and she stared at the bun in front of her with quiet astonishment for a second.

"A bit direct, but I appreciate the effort," she said with a smile, especially amused with his little slip up. "Good evening to you too, I'll gladly take some. I think your mask is my favorite of the evening so far.”

The pride bun handed Lilith one of the glasses, giving a smirk back. “Thank you, your own is quite pretty also. What brings you here this fine evening?” Bad question, she'd obviously been invited... As was he supposed to be. “The decor is quite beautiful this year, isn't it?” He took a sip from his glass, and immediately almost started coughing. The bubbly liquid was not what he'd expected champagne to feel or taste like. Okay, maybe this wasn't his best idea, it was inevitable he'd fail at managing to keep up the high society act, and get kicked out eventually. He swallowed it down, cheeks flushed red. He turned his head away slightly, doing his best to hide his embarrassment. 

Lilith took a careful sip of her glass, grimacing at the taste. She'd never get used to the taste of champagne, that was for certain. Couldn't they serve something classier at something this exclusive? Something fruiter, or something more like rum and coke...

"Ah," she said, shifting a little to hide her discomfort. "My friend managed to secure me an invitation," she said, keeping her tone light despite still being quite irked at having been disrupted in her routine and then ditched for a dance.

"I heard these decorations are as beautiful as last years! Ah-" Lilith paused and gently patted the other buns back in concern. "There, there. Wrong pipe, huh? Take some deep breath's, its gonna be fine in a second!”

“I'm good, I'm good…” He forced a smile, pulling his free hand up into a thumbs up. “Don't get how they drink this stuff…” He mumbled under his breath. His eyes darted around at the crowd around them, making sure no one had picked up on his antics. His eyes moved to the bun he had been talking to. He was typically good at reading people, but the masks on everyone's faces made it quite difficult to do so. This time prepared, he chugged down the rest of the glasses contents, doing his best to hide his discomfort. “Say, want to see if the bar has anything other than these?” He raised the now empty glass. “Could really use a vodka or something.” Shit. Once again eyes darted around, but no one noticed, at least that he could tell. “Then maybe after, would you take part in a dance with me?” He didn't know how these events worked, but that seemed to be what most people were doing. 

Lilith noted his wandering eyes and wondered if he was trying to get away from a date or the like - oh well, she was just glad for the company, no matter the reason behind it. There really was nothing worse than being alone at a ball you weren't invited to in the first place!

Lilith grinned in delight. "Finally someone with taste! I could use some as well, and I'd love to dance!" The question would remain if he would want to continue to dance with her because of her two left feet, but no need to ruin that particular surprise just yet. She enjoyed his company too much to potentially scare him away now.

"By the way, who do I have the pleasure with?”

“Now, that defeats the point of these kinda things, doesn't it?” Wasn't that the point of the masks? He couldn't think of another reason for them anyway. He led her over towards the bar, “A simple vodka coke good?” 

He ordered two, scoffing when he heard the price. “Cmon, that's ridiculous.” He wanted to get argumentative with the bartender, but just sighed, handing over the carats. When received, he gave one of the glasses to the other bun. “These events, it's just vodka, soda and a lime, get it a third the price anywhere else.” He only then realised he was venting aloud. “Shite, I'm sorry. Oh, the name's Kingston, what about yourself?”

Lilith wanted to facepalm and barely refrained from actually doing so. Right. Masquerade ball. They wore masks, which were probably the only thing saving her from being thrown out or worse. Such a dummy, she scolded herself, agreeing to the drink offered.

She grimaced when she heard the price - how outrageous! "Oh, I wholly agree. Honestly, the audacity of them charging what may very well be my salary!"

Lilith took a sip of her new drink and gave *Kingston* a teasing grin. "I thought that defeats the point of these kinda things? I'm Lilith, it's nice to meet you, Kingston.”

“Meh, screw formalities and the like. A bit tiring tryna keep it up.” He swirled the tumbler around in his hand, rattling the ice against the glass’s interior. His entire demeanour seemed to change, becoming significantly more relaxed. If he gets kicked out, who cares at this point. “Lilith, that's a nice name. Very pretty. Same to yourself, good to meet ya.” He raised the glass, somewhat mimicking a toast, before downing the entire drink. He then placed it back onto the bar counter. “That friend of yours in with the socialites then? If a drink is most of ya salary, this doesn't really seem like your kind of gig. Unless it is, I don't know ya.”

"Oh, I know right. The way some of them talk, you'd think they have a stick up thei- anyways," she cut herself off, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Kingston seemed to feel the same, at least. Still, it wouldn't do to talk bad about these people in spaces where they might overhear.

She smiled. "Thank you," she said lightly, also raising her glass to him in a mock toast and took another careful sip. "I rather like your name too, it's very fitting in my eyes."

Lilith pursed her damn loose lips for a second before smoothing out her expression. "Oh, something like that." She held out her hand with an award-winning smile, all too eager to change the topic. "How about that dance I was promised?”

He gave a wide grin, taking it. “Hope you don't mind all that much, but I'm not the best when it comes to ballroom dancing.”

He'd learned the waltz a while back, after getting requested to do it, but it was fairly rusty. Shouldn't be that difficult to pick it back up, right? As he led her towards the centre of the ballroom, he scanned what the other guests were doing. One hand under her arm, the other in her hand. Left step forward, right foot right, left to meet, right step back… Yeah, it was coming back to him. He got himself into position, waited for her to be ready, before starting to lead in the dance. 

Lilith sighed in relief. "And here I thought I'd be the only one making a fool of myself," she joked lightly. "But please, do tell me if my stepping on your feet will get too much!"

She tried to follow his lead, her eyes always wandering down to watch her step as she tried to count like she'd seen on television before. Lilith winced each time she stepped on his feet, wondering if perhaps a lesson in dancing was in order for the next time Eve coerced her into crashing a fancy ball.

"I suck," she mumbled, a tiny bit embarrassed. "I'm really so sorry!”

“You're doing alright, don't worry about it.” He wasn't too overly phased, sure it hurt when she was tripping over his feet, but he'd gotten significantly worse injuries during skateboarding and his other antics, so he had no issue with just smiling and bearing it. Once the song had ended, before the next one started, he leaned in, and asked Lilith, “You want to stay here, or head out to somewhere a little less, high class, I'll say? Where we can actually get a drink that doesn't cost a small fortune. Only if you want to, that is.”

She smiled, though still feeling quite sorry because she knew it had to hurt. So when the final notes finally played, she couldn't help but sigh with relief, despite the fun she'd had dancing with Kingston. When she heard his question, her smile grew only bigger. "I'd love to. Next drinks are on me as a thanks for making you suffer with my dancing skills! Got a place in mind?”

"Hey, I'm fine..." He racked his mind, trying to think of a good place to head. "Not really, usually I just hit the streets and see wherever the vibe feels right. Prefer to go about it that way, see where the city takes me. Want to just go, see what happens?”

The pair left the masquerade ball, hitting the streets, searching for a quieter place to spend the rest of the night.