Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sparrow's stomach turned as his mind desperately searched for a number. During this pause, to cover it up, he gently found her side and rested his left hand carefully against it. His right hand reached out for her hand, fingers accidentally hitting her arm during the process until his fingertips ran down her arm to her hand, which he clutched carefully and loosely.

"Twenty-two." he stated calmly after a second, his face hiding any hint of him being unsure that his voice hid pretty well. He was sure she was twenty something... "Give or take a few years." he added with a gentle chuckle, "I rarely see her now."

And so, with a slight hesitation, Sparrow stepped into the movement of the dance. He was half waiting for her to correct his step and put him in time with the rest of the dancers. Not that it really mattered, but it would have been helpful.

--

Up on window ledge of a tall window, high enough to match the height of the third floor of a building, sat a darkly clad figure. A rope hung from the side of the ledge, dangling down to the floor. It moved slightly in the wind, only once or twice moving across the glass of the lower windows - not that anyone noticed.

The dark figure was crouched on the small ledge, gloved hands clutching the side of the window. Cold eyes stared through the stained-glass window at the people, watching them move about in unison. A few were offbeat, the figure noticed, but other than that it was perfect.

A few drops of rain fell from the dark clouds that hid the light of the moon, splashing almost silently against the window pane. The figure was gone.

"Ah. Nineteen." Sparrow responded with a small smile, "A good age I suppose." A flash of lightning from the dark world outside lit up the ballroom with a bright and pure white light as Sparrow spun Reine carefully about, holding her hand lightly - just like everyone else.

As he caught her from the spin he stopped, the rest of the people about them with their partners carrying on. Something didn't feel right and he had lost count of his breaths.

{x_X}

"No.. It's just..." he murmured, his head bowing slightly was a small hint of a frown on his brow, "No. Nothing's wrong." His hand that held hers fell a few inches, his fingers still gently curled around her delicate hand, his hand that was on her waist slipping down slightly to rest upon her hip. He couldn't exactly tell her what was wrong - that would just reveal his identity, not that it was going to be a secret soon anyway; especially if what he thought was going to happen did.

"No, I'm.." he began, trying to concentrate on the sounds around him, "I'm fine."

--

Outside, at the large front doors that stood closed against the weather, there was a quiet thump either side. The two guards, dressed up with fancy armour because of the ocassion, jumped and peered into the darkness.

"What was that?" one of them murmured, his back to the other. There was a strangled noise of which the man didn't hear. "It sounded like something fell... Did you hear it..? Ihra-" the guard turned to blink at the empty space beside him in which his friend should have been. "Ihrael..? Hey, come on - it's not funny.." A few seconds later, however, the guard found a cold feeling runing down the sound of his head, flopping forward to the ground with a definate clunk of metal as his body convulsed slightly, attempting to stay living to no avail. No one inside would have heard the noise, rain beginning to hammer against the windows as a storm rolled in.

{Ey I'm not doing anything with this thread until you other dudes/dudettes come in and post! D:<}

"Forgive me." Sparrow murmured quietly, almost so quiet she could hear over everything else. Within a second he had dropped her hand and moved away, his cane quietly tapping across the floor, his hand feeling the weight of his weapon with familiarity. He had to find his colleague. Something was not at all right.

Reine let out a heavy sigh and nod to the man. Returning her hands to being cupped in front of herself as she made her way back to the chair she was in prior. Her sapphire hues slipping closed as she turned and sat herself in the chair. Sighing heavily.

[Wow, I joined this, didn't I? o.o Oops.]

Giovanni set down his empty wine glass on a nearby table, the glass clinking pleasantly on the polished surface. So far he hadn't managed to locate anyone who seemed to be involved in the buying and seeling of large quantities of wine, but an incoming group of middle aged men might change that. Sure enough, Giovanni was able to gather from their conversation that two of them owned rather wealthy taverns to the north, and the other was a general entrepreneur.

Giovanni detatched himself from the wall on which he had been leaning, and sauntered over to group just as it disbanded, leaving one articularly chubby tavern owner sipping, gulping, rather, at his wine.