Masquerade Ball

[windy]

Windy heard the unusually attention grabbing phrase 'drinking contest' cut through the dull murmuring voices and looked back to where she had just come from. Apparently, the day was just getting better and better for that silly layabout.

"Come on, Sir, let's go see!" She suggested cheerfully to the grumpy bird whose day she had been making progressively worse. Hearing the conversation and scurrying to the scene again, in a somewhat ridiculous fashion, made especially ridiculous after her attempt at framing the scratched floor on him, she clapped eagerly.

After all, this sort of amusement didn't come around every day. And how could such a lazy guy be expected to say anything on his own?

"He accepts!" She claimed authoritatively, with yet another dramatic sweep of her arm, as another announcement was made. "Loser brings shame to his home-world!"

Not even attempting to hide the fact that she was being unbelievably presumptuous by speaking on behalf of the unfortunate boy, she clapped him on the shoulder with an air of sober comradery and nodding sagely. "You can do it, whoever-you-are. I have the utmost confidence in you. Now go! Fight! Win!" She emphasized her last few sentiments by pumping her fist in the air with contagious enthusiasm.

Suddenly hearing a cough directly behind her, she turned her head curiously, just in time to hear the introduction of a strange pompous-sounding fellow. The thief stood stiffly with a bemused blink, as she listened to the stranger.

"My name is Zander Bartholomew Caesar, and I am, if you cannot tell due to the fact everyone here seems to be dressed like one, an aristocrat."

He then proceeded to begin talking about his clothes, which Windy completely neglected to listen to. She filled this gap in her attention span with glancing back over to the impending drinking contest and wondering why in the world this strange man was talking to her about his cape. All of the sudden she realized the man had not been talking for several expectant seconds, and clearly was waiting for a response from her.

"Eh? Oh...right...ehm, appreciate your honesty there, Mister 'aristocrat'. Is that how you introduce yourself all the time?" The girl asked raising an eyebrow incredulously.

[angelous]

Zander heard her question and laughed. His laugh drew a few glances from the other people as it sounded kind of psychotice. He stopped laughing and looked down on the girl, smiling as big as he could, showing two fangs.

"No, I don't usually introduce myself this way, I thought I'd try something new for once." He glanced over at the drinking contest.

"Are they taking bets, because I for one would gladly partake in betting, even for something as trivial as drinking alcohol, or whatever that dreadful stuff is called. He raised his hand up in the air and shouted,

"I will put 15 munny on whomever you wish!" He looked over and saw a mysterious man sitting all alone, someone who appeared relatively wealthy. "Excuse me for a moment." Zander said as he made his way over to the man in question. (ooc: this is ansem the wise zander is heading towards) When he got there, he picked up a delicate glass with wine in it and took a drink.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Zander said, looking down yet again at a party goer. Zander didn't even wait for a reply, but he sat down anyway. He cleared his throat, then spoke again.

"I am Zander, Zander Bartholomew Caesar, of the aristocratic Caesar family back on my world. But that matters not, my good chap, what matters is your name, and what exactly are you doing here, and not mingling with your guests. A man of your stature has to be the one in charge of this castle, isn't that right? Or am I mistaken?" Zander continued, slightly bearing his fang- like teeth.

He laughed. "How rude of me, to ask questions about you without letting you even answer them, not to mention I haven't told you anything about myself other than my name. I shall let you answer me before I tell you anything though, as you have yet to ask me anything." Zander waited, hoping it would not be long until he got a reply. But, he decided this ball was rather tiresome, so he got up and began to walk away.

"Forgive my manners, but I have other matters to attend to." This was a lie, he was merely heading over to be by himself, to make plans on how he was going to get his next victim somewhere he could kill her, because for some reason, he could not draw the blade hidden in his cane here. At least for the moment.

[seysey]

“Likewise to you too, Veaneh,” replied sweetly the purple haired young lady. Seyka liked Veaneh. Her new friend portrayed maturity and wisdom of her years, it reminded her much of her father, kind and wise, appearing strong but at the same time gentle towards frailty and tenderness. It hasn’t really been that long, but perhaps wounds need more time to heal, even through reminiscing something painful.

Shaking her mind off of the painful things in life, she smiled sweetly to her company, still thinking about valiant heroes that she imagined up earlier. That was amusing, perhaps she was old fashion, and she did enjoy stories like that. Stories of unlikely heroes coming out of the blue and saving the land from evil. Too bad she was too weak to be some valiant heroine like of the stories. Still, it was a nice thought to contemplate.

It was getting far more crowded by the second. As the purple haired young lady took a quick glance around the ballroom, people began to flood the massive room. She didn’t realize that it was going to look like this, it was absolutely amazing. She couldn’t help but awe how everything was turning out. Nonetheless, she was happy that she was at least able to make friends, even if it just meant for tonight.

Her father was always complaining at Seyka to be more confident with herself and socialize with people so they won’t get the impression that you don’t know what you’re doing. What did she need to be self-conscious about? Nothing as of now… as long as she kept cool and didn’t make it seem like a big deal that she wasn’t really human amongst the masses, she was fine.

Suddenly, Seyka became aware of the eyes of someone else in the distant looking over to where Veaneh and she were. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another young lady looking their general direction. She didn’t appear to have anyone else to hang out with hence brought a pleasant smile over to the young lady’s direction. She raised her hand and sent a gentle wave, a sign showing that if she wanted, she could come over and attend company if she wanted before turning her attention back over to Veaneh.

Curious about her newfound friend, “So what brings you here?” she asked first handedly.

[geenween]

An invitation was an invitation, Selia thought as she saw the girl wave at her. there was no way to mistake the gesture, nor the direction the purple girl had looked at. She shrugged, a chat would help her pass the time, at least until that arty was over. She was starting to wonder how good her idea of joining had been. Especially since she had took that decision only after over-hearing to youths talk about the ball.

They had said it was free, wondering why the castle owner had been suddenly so generous with his space. To be honest, they had looked a bit uneasy about going there, but at that time Selia had not been able to pinpoint the meaning of their expression. Actually, she wasn't even right then, since the only danger she had found in that place was boredom, but now that she had started thinking about it, she could help to feel a bit uneasy herself. Why organize such a ball and let people like the 'let's have a drinking contest' join? That wasn't a place for peasant, nor she had seen someone that resemble to the possible owner of the castle around. Why not participate to your own party, even if only to see what your guest did, since they were so... unusual? And why force people to dress up before entering?

Oh, dear, is this a trouble of some kind I'm into?

She looked around. No one looked worried, to be honest. On the contrary, people seemed to be enjoying themselves, more or less. Who knew, maybe it was only her paranoia kicking in.

She could always look around for a bit of information, however, like the reason the other guests were there.Even if just to tranquilize herself about the meaning of all that.

Thus, she approached the neko girl and her companion. "Good evening."

[♥ kats KAT kats ♥]

Veaneh continued to occupy the space against the wall, her talking companion standing across from her. They had introduced themselves and she did not know what else to say. They had both said that it was a pleasure to meet each others acquaitance. Now, there wasn't much else to say... or maybe it was the fact that Veaneh did not know what to say. She looked around at the room, seeing who else had come here. There were a bunch of people on the other side of the room.. No one she knew. Of course she probably did not know anyone here. She only knew the girl in purple who she had just met.

There seemed to be a drinking game over by the tables and food. Well, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.. in a way she wouldn't of thought someone would in such a party as this. She wondered who the host of the party was. She stared suspiciously at the man at the table. He did not seem to be enjoying himself, or mingling with the other folks. Odd. She thought to herself. Then her attention was brought back to Seyka as she saw her wave towards someone.

So what brings you here?

Seyka spoke again asking Veaneh a question. That she herself did not really know. She had only been attracted here because she had ended up in this world somehow and found a castle. She would only say that. How she had gotten to be here was a very long story... that she did not want to tell.

"..Um. Just ended up near the castle and decided to walk in.. to find myself in these clothes and to find a party such as this." She said to the girl in purple. There was something that she hadn't noticed before. There seemed to be cat like ears beneath the big bow that she wore on her head. Was it part of her costume? She couldn't be sure. "Yourself?" She asked her, as the girl that Seyka had waved to started to walk towards them.

[seysey]

“Ah. I was taking a leisurely stroll on through and the castle appeared in my sight,” she started, “This is my first time ever coming to something like this so I jumped with excitement on the thought of coming to a ball.”

It showed within her soft magenta-purple eyes. The curiosity, the interest, and the amazement that the disguised purple cat girl expressed through her adorable eyes. Seyka grew up in a dojo so anything of this sort brought up awe and wonders for her. A feeling of discovery and learning something new provided an extra shine upon her happy-go-lucky smile graced upon her slender youth lips.

So far everything was going good. No one-at least to her knowledge- has acknowledged any weirdness that Seyka may have been. She hoped that no one had noticed her cat ears. She wasn’t so sure how her company would react if they knew she wasn’t exactly human. Oh, it wasn’t very pleasant when you’ve experienced torture in the past and feel insecure now. She fiddled her fingers subtly to get rid of the jitters that suddenly popped into her system.

For a brief moment, the purple-haired femme feline averted her kitty cat eyes on over to other guests. There appeared to be someone taking on a drinking contest, being oblivious to what it meant, she just blinked blankly before noticing other guest. A silent one just settling and keeping to himself. A little strange but nothing out of the ordinary.

Eventually, Seyka came to noticing the girl that she waved at earlier coming into their presence and greeting both Veaneh and she. The more company the merrier or so that was how Seyka liked to believe. Her smile brightly shined across her cheery jubilant youthful face of her new company.

“Good evening to you too, miss,” Seyka curtsied, “Allow me to introduce myself, my name’s Seyka.”

Seyka then turned over to Veaneh and made a gesture good-heartedly so it wouldn’t feel awkward between two companies to feel left out. Seyka had such a way of keeping more then one company together. Not once had her smile faded as she kept everything comfortable and lighthearted.

“And this is my friend, Veaneh,” hoping that Veaneh didn’t mind having the purple haired young lady introduce her as well, “Let’s all enjoy the ball together, if you guys don’t mind, I think it would be nice, even if we just met, if we just enjoyed the night together rather then to be awkwardly alone.”

There she went again, babbling innocently, trying to be as outgoing and jubilant as a cheery teenager could be.

[geenween]

"My name is Selia, nice to meet you" Selia replied, mainly to Seyka, the feline girl. The other was so quiet her companion overshadowed her easily, though she didn't look unfriendly. She gave her a small smile, unsure of what to say to her

The young woman nodded as the bubbly girl spoke, mildly agreeing with her proposal. That night was sort of long and lonely, regardless of the amount of people in that room. The party was sort of 'serious' and the guest not very companionable for the most part. One could pass the entire time looking around and doing nothing else... well, okay, there were those pastries that provided a good diversion on some degree. Besides there was still that tingling sensation on the back of the young woman's mind: something wasn't completely right. Therefore, she thought that if something was going to happen, it was better to have company...

"So, do you know any of the people around here? Or the owner of the castle?" she asked them curiously, showing a nonchalance she wasn't really feeling. She hoped they were less clueless than her about that situation, since at least Seyka looked so at ease in that place.

"I was wondering who would put up such a party for complete strangers like me. Is there any festivity I'm not aware of? I'm kind of new here, and so I don't know about the customs..."

[angelous]

Zander thought that maybe he could invite the young lady to go to another world with him, then he scratched the idea. He then decided that he should probably follow her where she went. He also decided against that idea too, at least for now anyways.

He looked around, and saw that everyone's attention was towards each other, and not towards the surroundings. Zander had been to many elegant parties such as this before, and someone crashing it by becoming violent wasn't unheard of, though he wondered how it would be possible with the magical barrier that kept weapons from being drawn.

He went over to the orchestra, and listened as the tune they played seemed to calm his nerves. He was not used to being unable to fight at times like this, though it would only be in defense of himself, or another, but only if it meant keeping his "act" from falling apart. He went over to a table that had drinks and food, and helped himself to a few pieces of food, and to a glass of the drink that was in the bowl. He ate the food, and thought that it was rather tasty. He then swirled the drink around in his glass, the red liquid nearly spilling a few times. He then took a sip and decided that the drink, while not the best he had ever tasted, had a distinct bitterness to it while at the same time keeping a slight sweetness about it. It reminded him of the first wine he had ever tasted, wine that was only supposed to be found back on his home world. This brought up feelings of hatred and anger towards those living there now. He was so angry that he tightened his grasp on his glass, causing it to shatter into many different pieces, falling to the floor, and leaving his hand bleeding.

He ignored the blood and the pain, and walked over to a nearby door. He put his hand on the handle, and pushed the handle down, opening the door. He then stepped outside for a moment, getting a bit of fresh air, only to come in a few moments later, leaving the door open, so as to circulate air into the room. Then he walked back to the refreshment table to clean up his hand, and to get another drink.

[donald2]

(Ahem... No fighting... =^^=)
(Yes, I have Angy's permission to steal his monacle)

Watching from the shadows of the statues, I peered to the side cautiously. My presence was no further than a few yards from the main entrance. However, my fear of being discovered was obviously illogical. I knew where everyone, and near everything, was. A man had just opened the doors, the inside of the castle finally being open to me. I didn't have much time, their was no way of telling of when the person standing in the entrance would close my entry point again.

It was now or never. Jumping up, I gracefully and quickly flipped over my gargoyle statue hiding place. I was not in my usual attire of bright garments. No, for the heist, I decided I needed some more...appropriate attire. It was a simple black shirt, and some black pants, with soft shoes on my feet. They were all made of a soft silky cloth that I couldn't specifically identify. All I knew is that they were flexible, and did not restrain my movement any.

On my head, in order to conceal my identity, I wore half of a sparrows mask, with a slip cut in the eye hole to let my other eye see. One might ask, what about the other half? From the pace that I would be moving, it wouldn't matter really.

It's not like I was here to chat... No, my sole purpose at this little party was to rob it. I would steal, and if needed, kill, to gain my wealth. Neither brought any sort of guilt upon me.

Sprinting, my clothed body quickly made short notice to flip over the man who had opened the doors. I grabbed the chain connected to his expensive-looking eyepiece, and ripped it off as I landed behind him. Even if he had saw me, it was not like he could do anything about it. Not even a god could move that fast in the stuffy attire these people were wearing...

The loot was stashed in the empty dark blue bag I had attached to my waist, sewn onto a sash I was wearing. No time to stop here. I quickly made my way around a bunch of young ladies. They did have on some expensive looking jewelry, however, I could come back to them.

My sights were directed to the man sitting in a chair. Don't ask we why I chose him specifically, but, If I started at the back, I could make so as I stole more, I could have a better escape route. It didn't take me three seconds to reach him.

I flipped over him, my feet prepared to land on the wall and then push me backwards so I could flip onto the ground. The soft shoes landed, and my knees bended.

Now horizontal, I pushed on the wall with my legs, moving over the man, aiming to snatch his crown...

[angelous]

Zander felt and saw his monocal being taken by someone wearing half a sparrow mask. He ran after the thief, but he was far to fast for Zander at the moment. He wondered why he would take the monocal, and nothing else. Then he saw the thief running towards the man who seemed to be the castle's lord. He wondered why exactly the thief would even come in here and steal to begin with, but then he realized it was probably all for the wealth he would get from these items. The thought of a peasant stealing his favorite monocal and selling it for money outraged him.

"Stop! Thief! Give me back my monocal!" Zander shouted as he made his way slowly throught the crowd towards the thief. Then he realized what the man had that the thief would want.

'The crown!' Zander thought. The crown was a symbol of wealth, and it itself must be worth a lot of money. He began to pick up speed, hurrying as fast as he could to stop the thief. Soon he got out of the crowd, and ran past the orchestra, which ironically enough, was playing a song that one would here during a chase scene in a t.v. show or movie. About halfway to the table where the Ansem sat, he tripped, and nearly landed flat on his face. He got up, and yelled out in anger.

"Give me back my monocal!" Zander yelled, furious at how hard it was to chase the thief. Then it dawned on him.

"How dare you steal from me, normally, I would be calm, staying true to my aristocratic nature, but stealing from me is an easy way to piss me off." Zander said, his aristocratic accent gone, as well as his charming demeanor.

Zander glared at the thief, with a look that said if he could kill him, Zander would've gladly done it by now.

Soon where Zander stood, there was mist. The mist made its way across the room, though the thief was already attempting to take Ansem's crown by the time he had started moving.

[Shinn]

Masquerade.....

Hide your face so the world will never find you.

Said the pianist as he began to play a new song. This was a different person now the other pianist was nowhere in the ballroom. Probably had to leave on short notice and this one was there to fill in thought some who had noticed the new pianist.

Hidden behind the half black half white mask that looked maddening like an insane demon, a devilish smile smeared across this mans face. The reason for this was because he was the only one who really knew what had happened to the pianist. Although he couldn't feel it, he knew that this was humorous moment and he showed this by his fiendish smile. He now seated himself on the pianists chair and gently pulled back his sleeves to give his hands more room. He then began to play a soft mysterious melody on the piano. The other members of the orchestra soon followed. It was a magnificent melody that very few people would easily recognize if they weren't as sophisticated as he was. But he knew one person would be able to recognize this without much thought to it for it was he who taught him how to even play it.

He began to take it up a notch playing with more attitude waving his body around appearing like a mad man working on his latest masterpiece. His long spiky silver hair which was in a ponytail whipped around in every direction. He was really putting on a show for the guests but he was doing this to only grab the attention of one person. Although the music did sound beautiful there was an empty feeling to it. While you were listening to it you couldn't feel any emotion coming from it, it was very strange to think that such a wonderful melody could be so empty.

That was what made this song that much more special.

As the song ended and the guests applauded the masked stranger stood up to take a bow. He then sat back down and continued to play his empty songs. He was waiting to see if "he" had noticed something. It was somewhat surprizing to see him still alive but then again the same could be said about himself. It was only natural that the teacher was able to cheat death if the student did.

[Medy]

[OOC: Not one of my best posts, but meh. It's been a while.]

Impressive; probably the one word that came to the mind of the devil's personal hitman as he watched the pianist accept the praise of the audience after his piece. The empty eyes of the casually dressed assassin continued to watch onwards as the musician would take up his seat once more and proceed with yet another tune, bringing a sense of atmosphere to what seemed to be a rather dull setting otherwise.

That was the general opinion of Kimi Räikkönen, who was taking this opportunity to visit the Masquerade Ball whilst he was off-duty and was certainly enjoying being able to freely relax somewhere where he couldn't be bothered by the hassles of ordinary life. Simply seated on one of the numerous stretch tables, he would watch onwards from behind his disguise and take in the sounds of the melodies played by the performer on stage. Raising a hand and gently lifting his mask to rub his eyes, Kimi would let out a sigh in reflection of how absurdly tired he was. It hadn't been a busy day or anything, so he was rather stumped as to why he felt so fatigued. It was true that his boss had demanded more of him recently, yet he hadn't taken any contracts for almost a week now, simply visiting the Underworld on other business matters.

Perhaps, he would conclude, the lack of motivation didn't awake his body enough and he was in a sort of limbo between feeling alive and somewhat dead. Truth be told, that was more likely the correct answer.

Pushing his chair away from the table gently, he would stand up and his costume for today was more clear to see. The robes matched those of the typical assassin from the Middle Ages, a little later in date than most of the other guests. The bland white robes were covered with assorted chain-mail and sported the emblem of those from the Crusades, the bright red cross that covered the front, held by various belts and decorated with plastic knives. As for his head, it was covered by a large hood that concealed the majority of his face. What was visible to everyone else was hidden by a dull grey mask, which only revealed one eye as it curved around the right-side of his face. In truth, the Ferryman's costume was more bland than anyone else's. However, it was amusing how suited it was to his true identity.

Making his way through the crowds still, all who seemed to be captivated understandably by the entertainment provided, Kimi would slowly turn his attention to picking out certain people who were present at this event. His mind was constantly bothered by how familiar his surroundings were, considering the majority of his "living" life had been spent in the time-frame that the party had intended to resemble. Raising an eyebrow behind the mask that allowed him to contain his general feelings from everyone else, the 'Reaper' slid through the crowd gently as to not disturb anyone until he reached the solitude of the other side of the room.

Finally, some breathing space.

Looking around at the rest of the people separate, he noticed that quite a few people had taken this chance to meet new people and engage in conversation. Not one to go out of his way to talk with people he didn't know, Kimi would settle for simply walking around the small crowds of people, deeply exchanging pleasantries, with the exception of Zander and the person who had appeared to have stolen his monocle. Not paying the matter any more attention, he turned to the side where there were fewer people gathered. Not quite a wallflower, but certainly someone who preferred for people to approach him rather than the other way around, he would make his way over to the more shadowed area of the room, slowly drifting across to a place where he could still clearly see the band playing.

Unaware that Ansem was sitting only a few feet away until he took a seat, Kimi would know that the awkward feeling of the situation would lead somebody to eventually strike up conversation. Sitting down not far away from the "host" of the event, he would lean back in his chair and direct his attention momentarily towards the music. Eventually however, after only a brief pause of silence, he would turn towards Ansem and break the ice with a question. Unaware of who he was speaking to, his manner of addressing one who he suspected was no more than another guest was less respectful than usual, lacking the necessary etiquette that Kimi would typically use.

So then, in a quiet and conserved tone, he would motion with his hand towards a bottle next to Ansem and turn his head only slightly to face him and deliver the request.

"Would you mind passing the wine across?"

[Shinn]

As the Superior continued to play he took notice at the crowd and how they all seemed dull to him. They simply weren't doing anything but making some small talk or just posted up at the walls trying to be invisible. That wasn't how a masquerade was supposed to be like. He had always been told of how it was so lively and full of laughter and fun. This was almost like a funeral to him. Even a Nobody like him had more emotion than this place.

And so after he finished up his song Xemnas decided to take a break from playing since Ansem most likely had gotten the message that he was here and try to make this party an actual party. He stood up and bowed to the applauding audience before heading towards the crowd. Usually he wouldn't be doing something like this but Xemnas felt that if he was going to be at a party the least he could do was make this a party worth going to.

He walked up to the guests and gave a traditional gentleman's greeting and began to mingle with them. They asked him various question such as where he was from. Xemnas could only chuckle at that question. He simply replied "Somewhere very far from here."

The guests then asked if he would show his face but Xemnas kindly declined saying that it wouldn't be a masquerade if he were to take off his mask. They all just laughed at his remark and continued to have meaningless conversations.

Xemnas walked over to various crowds and had many more meaningless conversations. Conversations about the worlds politics, various other parties, meaningless things of that nature. Nothing that sparked any interest in him. Although someone mentioned about the castles young ruler. Xemnas was aware that Beast was the ruler of this castle since he had ordered Xaldin to turn him into a Nobody and a Heartless but failed but hadn't known that the monster had become human again. How very interesting it was to hear that bit of information.


Finally he was near where his old teacher Ansem was. He had hoped that he already figured out who he was especially after playing that song.

Someone that sat near him had asked Ansem for some wine. Xemnas turned over to see a row of bottles and glasses.

"Allow me." he said as he grabbed a bottle and two glasses. He then poured the wine into the two glasses and handed one to Kimi and the other one to Ansem. "Here you go Master Ansem." he said in a fiendishly sly tone of voice.

[Medy]

As Xemnas would address the person sat just across from Kimi as 'Master', the reaper would pause initially as he wondered whether he'd caused any offence with the almost disrespectful sheer demand to pass the wine across. Whilst the assassin had no intention of upsetting anyone at this party in the slightest, he couldn't help but wonder whether he had caused this 'Ansem' any upset. What bothered him even more was the fact that he had no idea who this 'Ansem' was, having never heard the name before in his travels. True, he hadn't been in the universe of Kingdom Hearts for that long, but from the way that Xemnas appeared to treat the person he seemed to call his superior, Kimi should surely know more about who he was in company with.

Reaching across to gratefully accept the glass of wine poured for him, Kimi would nod his head politely and hold the thin neck of the glass gently as he swirled the contents inside around, turning his head to watch the crowds around him in the meantime. Loosening his grip, the glass would then slide down so that Kimi's fingers were wrapped around the curved top of the container, before lifting it slowly to take a sip and discover how exactly it tasted. In truth, the Ferryman wasn't much of a wine connoisseur, so there was little judgement that he could pass upon the drink. Resting the glass down on his lap, he leaned back and sighed quietly. Turning his head towards Xemnas, he decided that if he was going to make any progress in discovering who exactly he was sat with, he'd best make conversation.

"Some party, eh?"

Placing the glass delicately on the table in front of him, he'd turn fully to face both Xemnas and Ansem raising his right hand between the two of them to offer a formal shake to make their acquaintance. An honest smile crossed his face as he watched to see whether they'd accept before his lips parted and he introduced himself.

"The name's Kimi, Kimi Räikkönen."

That was pretty much all he intended to give away as far as personal information went. No-one around here needed to know anything about his occupation, nor what he did with his spare time. In truth, he thought to himself, anyone who became aware of what he did to pass the time would probably be quite horrified of knowing who they were sat with. Not many people were overly keen to announce themselves as being friends with an assassin. Lesser still, the personal assassin of the Devil himself.

Having said that, as his eyes waited for a response to come from either Ansem sat next to him or Xemnas stood just across from him, he felt that there was something not quite 'normal' about his fellow 'wallflowers'. The sinister tone in the voice of the Nobody before him was probably what alerted him, combined with the sly expression that had crossed his face. Not only that, but he seemed rather comfortable using such tone in the company of this 'Master' of his. Not showing any signs of suspicion nor curiosity in his expression, he would wonder who exactly these people were. His inquisition was aimed mainly at the person sat directly to his left, this Ansem. He'd been rather quiet so far and had yet to reply to Xemnas. Surely a response would give Kimi more of an idea of what he had stepped into the middle of.

For now, he'd just sit back and find out more. Given the current situation, he couldn't do much to draw attention to himself. Especially not at a party. But Kimi didn't mind. On the contrary, gathering information was a hobby of his. He was quite suited to his position right now. His eyes watched on as his offer stood before the two.

[Shinn]

"Indeed it is." Xemnas said responding to his first comment. Although Xemnas had no intention of talking to this person from the beginning, it would have been rude to just ignore him right at his face. Not that Xemnas cared if he was rude to anyone really, he just knew when to behave like a gentleman and not like some arrogant person. He shifted his eyes towards Ansem, his mask still covering his face and spoke to him once more.

"Wouldn't you think so Master Ansem?"

Master, it was quite funny for someone like Xemnas to call Ansem that. Well that is if you knew the history these two men of science had. For Xemnas to address Ansem as 'Master Ansem' was a mere mockery to that man. And he knew Ansem would most likely be infuriated at being called Master Ansem by his old apprentice. Especially the one who had betrayed him and banished him to the Realm of Nothingness, then took his name and did unthinkable, dark deeds in his name. But he did it anyways, just to see what he would do. It wouldn't have brought him any kind of pleasure even if he had wanted it. Having no heart, no emotions period just gave Xemnas an already empty feeling within him. This was just to see his former teachers response.

The young man then addressed himself telling Xemnas and Ansem only his name then reaching his hand out as a friendly gesture.

"A pleasure it is to meet you Mr. Kimi." Xemnas said responding to the young man once again. He gave a short bow as was a custom for people there. Holding your hand out wasn't but Xemnas assumed that Kimi wasn't from this world his name being very foreign so he excused him from that and shook his hand.

The instant he did Xemnas could feel the darkness this man had. He wasn't a Heartless but something much more darker. Xemnas could feel nothing but death from this man. But not in the sense that this person was a cold blooded killer, it was as if death was a part of his very being. Xemnas was rather curious as to why someone like him was at this ball. It was most likely that a death was going to occur here tonight. But Xemnas didn't bother to figure this out. Things such as death would be a mere thing of the past once Xemnas accomplished his goals.

Xemnas reached for a glass for himself, then poured the bottle of wine into the glass. He lifted the glass preparing to make a toast.

"To an eventful night, one that we shall never forget."