This is Halloween

[Xander]

Following the red woman to the royal procession Merlin kept silent initially. He smiled to the people that offered their names, and shook the hand Sasha offered, but the characterization as 'shy' seemed rather apt at the moment.

"It's a pleasure." Emrys said to the group. Varyx's question about the studio piqued his interest, but it was the mountain that got his full attention at the moment. "This is my first time. Not much of a club goer, but I love Halloween and the costumes most people can come up with. A lot of them are good, but some of the things people do with it is spectacular."

The Enchanter's gaze moved from the mountain at the final word, falling on one of the many examples of why it's worth going out on the night of fright.

[Varyx]

Varyx lifted a brow at L'aire's mention of working at a dance studio. "You work at a dance studio? How lovely!" Beautiful, graceful, humble, apparently relatively well-spoken and friendly... Hell, she'd be the perfect woman to start her new business with. Of course, that was making the rather huge assumption that L'aire would be interested in that kind of work. Best not to assume such things. Besides, tonight was a night for relaxation, not for business!

She turned her attention to Martha after that, unable to quite stop herself from allowing a hint of an eager smile onto her lips. She did so love a little flirting, here and there."I don't believe I caught your name, darling. What should I call you?" She paused, her gaze raking none-too-subtly up the woman's fish-netted legs. Or, more accurately, leg and peg-leg. Taking a step closer, she lowered her voice slightly, her smile widening. "Your costume is quite fetching. Though I'm not entirely certain who it is you're supposed to be... Is this a magician's costume? Or is a specific person with whom I am apparently unfamiliar?

[Martha Villiers]

Martha chirped a cheery hello; "Good evening, Miss Vanessa! Mister Will! Miss Sahsa!" she queried with a sense of bewildered excitement. So many dazzling Mortals, so amazing and lively...blinking she nodded to L'Aire, "G...good evening! Ohhh... dance studio? Golly! That does sound exciting!" she asked, clearly amazed and nodding to Terri.

"Miss Terri and I both enjoy dancing!" she giggled happily, staring at Terri's legs, Vanessa's legs and then L'Aire's legs in turn, "w...what sort of dance does your studio specialize in..? Do you host ballet class?" she asked with genuine interest, tearing her eyes away from Terri's and Vanessa's legs again and smiling to Malcolm to ensure he's kept in with the chatter.

But as Vanessa is visibly studying her own legs, the tables turn and Martha isn't sure whether to wiggle a playful pose or to shy away. She'd elected to show off her leg and now, Martha realized, Zatanna had to go to work; "oh...thank you, Miss...Martha, Miss Martha Villiers, Miss!" she replied shyly, coyly, to Vanessa.

Dipping a maimed curtsy to introduce herself, she took off her top hat in a caring and theatrical curtsy, showing her remaining toned thigh muscles in definition in the fishnets in the process. Rising from her curtsy, tiny Martha smiled and stammered a bashful reply; "Y...yes, you are correct, Miss...Z...Zatanna, Mistress of Magic...a...at your service..." she tried a shy smile and now, faced with such stunning presence, was unable to do anything but stare at Vanessa's eyes and hope she wasn't blushing...

[Malcolm Green]

Green sat and drank as the conversation ebbed and flowed around him with an ever growing sense of contentment. For once, the press of people didn't irritate him so much - perhaps because a good portion of them were familiar already and their previous connections vetted the rest. Willingly, he allowed himself to drift into the background.

And then he found his glass was empty, drained to the last drop.

"I'll have another. Hey... uh... Anyone else want a drink while I'm at it?"

The question gave him time to flash L'Aire a secret smile.

[Lesingnon]

"Don't mention it." He let his lips linger near her ears as he said the words. It was the only way you really could speak to someone in a club without shouting, really, and letting everyone around you hear it.

Then he tuned back into the conversation around them, offering Vanessa a shrug. "Well...I wouldn't say you're interrupting anything. We just...come to visit, really. Never have any particular plans beyond that, or intend for it just to be the two of us." And then there was the talk of costumes, and dancing...that was all Sasha. He'd let her handle that aspect of the conversation.

Since his contribution to the costumes had basically been picking Kristoff over Olaf. And he'd only ever really learned just enough dancing to get him through his wedding.

[Terri Nutkins]

His warm breath so close to her ear made Terri smile, a secret little expression that only he had ever seen. Turning her attention back to the group, hearing Martha mention her name in the same vein as a passion for dancing, she eagerly nodded, beaming at the memory. Terri had always enjoyed a expressing herself, whether through dance, song, running, or designing, there was something of an artful soul tucked away behind all the fur.

What was also great was seeing L'aire open up about her own love of dance, and from what Terri had witnessed from various Freehold gatherings was that the Fairest was, without a doubt, one of the greatest dancers she had ever had the privilege of seeing move. It wasn't just art. It was physical emotion packaged into a beautiful, exquisite, dreamlike delivery.

"Sasha's being modest," Terri interjected with a smile, placing a friendly hand on L'aire's arm. "Watching her dance will blow your minds."

[Varyx]

"Mistress of Magic?" Varyx repeated, sounding amused. That sounded like a title appropriate for Varyx herself. Well, under a certain definition of "Mistress" anyway. She wasn't familiar with Zatanna as a character - she was only peripherally familiar with comic books to begin with, more out of a desire to keep up to date on pop culture than out of any particular interest in the books themselves. Zatanna wasn't enough of a well-known character for her to recognize the name. Still, she liked the costume, and not just because it made it easy to make adorable little Martha blush.

She turned her attention to Green's question about drinks, and nodded. Then, smiling at Terri's comment about L'aire's talent, she winked at L'aire. "Oh really? Perhaps we might have the pleasure of seeing it some time."

[Martha Villiers]

This was all too much...

"Indeed! Mistress of Magic!" she confirms happily to Vanessa, "I'm meant to invoke my incantations by speaking them backwards... but, I confess, this evening, I must husband my resources and avoid flashy displays of raw cosmic magical power!..." with this Martha adds a very playful shrug and then, as if compensating for her lack of demonstrating flashy powers, flourishes her top hat in a simple act of limited prestidigitation to produce from her top hat a small bouquet of typical multi-colored prop magicians roses.

Presenting the bouquet to Vanessa with a playful smile and in an honest gesture of friendly fun.

Meeting new people almost always made Martha happy, but meeting Malcolm tonight had brought with it the thrill of meeting the flirtatious Vanessa, reuniting with Terri and now the information that Sasha was a fine dancer...

Beaming a smile, tiny Martha coyly glanced again to Varyx and then coo-ed in excitement at hearing of Sasha's skill. Observing the tender gesture between Terri and Sasha made Martha dip her head coyly toward Vanessa once more before adding; "Oh my! If Miss Terri is praising your skill, Miss, you must be skilled!" she enthused, nodding to Malcom and others close by, hoping to unify the chatterers.

The rush of meeting interesting and exciting people was probably getting the better of her and before she'd realized what she said, Martha added; "I'd love to be able to dance..." she offered to Terri, Vanessa and Sasha, before hurriedly adding by way of revealing explanation, "...dance tonight, I mean..."

Turning to Malcolm, with the beginnings of a bright blush, Martha added while hoping she'd get to see the Princess Trio dance; "Oh...a drink... M... may I have a Coke-Cola, please...?"

[Malcolm Green]

Gesturing quietly with one big hand, Green garnered the attention of the bar staff and made his order: a beer for himself and a coke for tiny Martha. His hand dwarfed the perspiring glass as he leaned across the bar and planted the drink next to the Mistress of Magic. Task complete, his hulking fist gathered protectively around his beer.

The man-mountain continued to observe the conversation.