Event Private Finished A Dance to Bond All Souls

If Right Paw seemed bothered by Liliana's choice to dance with Left Paw it was not shown on her face at all. "Very well," she said as she nodded and put her arm back down. Even as she turned to walk away Left Paw was already approaching and offering his left hand to take Liliana's.

As Left Paw nodded to Liliana, he said, "If you were worried about offending us it is not a problem. Both Paws are of one beast. We are equals in our dance." Indeed they were both well versed in the type of dancing on display at this Ball. The cryptic nature of his message was sort of fun, though in reality the Paws intended to offer to reveal their identity to anyone who they enjoyed dancing with that night. Eventually.

---

Meanwhile as Right Paw stepped a few feet away she gestured for someone else in the crowd to come forward. Actually, as it turned out it was two people. A woman about the same relative age as both Paws stepped forward holding the hand of a young girl with blonde, nearly white, hair. Both were wearing black dresses as well, though the younger one's dress was more of a frilly cute style. Both also had white wolf masks on but instead of paw prints they had small black stripes on the cheek portions of their masks. Two stripes for the older one and three for the younger.

Seri, or Three Stripes as she was going by at the Ball, was pleased by the Paws' willingness to adjust to what Liliana wanted. She had watched as Right Paw approached and then let Left Paw take over. Even more impressive was the fact that Right Paw was calling both her and Two Stripes over to dance with her instead. Could you dance with three people? Especially with one being so much smaller and all girls? It would have been funny if dancing wasn't serious business to her.

Two Stripes, or Arianell in real life, had her red hair done up so that it was poofed up a little at the top. One because it felt a little extra fancy and two because it would help disguise her a little bit. She smiled warmly at Right Paw as Three Stripes pulled her over towards them. Hiding her identity didn't sit super well with her but she had consoled herself with the reasoning that she would happily tell people her name if asked. Plus she really liked going out dancing with the Paws and a few others. Three Stripes was tense but adorable and she was always so happy when actually dancing. Right Paw and Two and Three Stripes all moved closer to Left Paw and began to improvise an unusual and somewhat silly looking dance where they alternated partners. It was a sight for sure.

They were very careful to keep Right Paw within a certain range of Left Paw as the entire "pack" knew that was really important.

Left Paw was fairly certain what Liliana meant when she described what Miss Elaine disapproved of. While the Paws didn't share that viewpoint in the least, nor could they considering what they were, they had read about such people. "Then she is not very adaptable to changing situations and that is a shame. Fortunately we are relatively adaptable so you can dance with a man if that pleases her more," he said without any anger or spite in his tone. Just a calm evaluation and opinion.

Left Paw's form was excellent and very well practiced. He began to lead the two of them on a slow, easy waltz. Though he was technically leading it seemed a lot like he was trying to keep the pace based on what seemed comfortable for Liliana. He did not try to glance around to find this Miss Elaine. Instead he appeared to be entirely focused on Liliana and the steps of their dance. "Do you have a name you wish to use for this event? You may call me Left Paw for now if you like."



Meanwhile the little trio of girls dancing were staying close, always keeping the two Paws roughly 10 feet or so apart. However it almost seemed like as Liliana explained about Miss Elaine they started rotating around a little. At first there was no apparent plan for it. A close investigation would have revealed Right Paw whispering something to Two Stripes and then both of them watching where Liliana was looking. After a fair amount of time they had determined who they thought she had been talking about and moved so that their trio was on the far side of Left Paw and Liliana. Giving Miss Elaine a better view of the "approved" dance partners and hiding the silly group of girls a little.

Two Stripes and Three Stripes were having a really good time doing their own version of the dance but they were also watching how the two Paws danced. The child was quietly critiquing Left Paw's form to Right Paw and the older one was reassuring them that it was all just supposed to be fun and they were doing great.

The little troupe's masks had been a cute decision made by the girl currently going by the name Three Stripes. She had wanted them all to go together but still show they were separate. That was why they were dressed in more or less the same way, all in black except for their white wolf masks. Like costumes for some sort of play. The Paws would gone to the Ball with or without costumes, but it was more fun with their friends. Each "Paw" was easily identified by the black pawprint on one or the other cheek of the mask they wore.

Left Paw slowly but steadily worked slightly more complicated moves into their dance. Nothing too fancy but a turn here or there and the occasional twirl were mixed in. His reflexes were quick enough that any time they seemed to be making a wrong step he adjusted and kept them going. "Lily, like the category of flowers?" He had read of the Lilium genus of flower. Perhaps she had decided to use that as inspiration for her alias at the Ball.

Meanwhile the other group had decided to pause their very unusual, and slightly comical in some ways, three-person dance. Three Stripes had backed off a bit to take a break and let the two pairs of older people dance properly. But she was definitely watching for errors and how they fixed them. Two Stripes seemed to be having a great time as she smiled and whispered with Right Paw.

Left Paw was curious about his dance partner. Some of the people at the Ball seemed right at home and others seemed like they had been forced to come. She didn't seem like one of the latter. "So Lily, do you attend very many functions similar to this one. This is technically our first Ball, though Right Paw and I have been to events involving dancing before. Different themes and styles however." It was very difficult to tell if he was showing any kind of emotion with his face mostly covered by the mask but his mouth did slowly start showing a small smile as they continued dancing. He couldn't help it.

Left Paw was pleased that Lily seemed to be following the moved quite well. She was an excellent dance partner. Perhaps not quite as perfectly in harmony as the two Paws would have been together but that was an impossible standard to measure someone else up to. He continued softly smiling though it did not really get any wider. He wasn't emotionless, it was just that actually expressing emotions wasn't as easy.

He nodded when she confirmed his suspicion about the source of her alias. "One of our acquaintances has been helping us learn more about the flowers and other plants here. We have been told those types of flowers are quite popular for their beauty." Honestly the appreciation for plants in general was fairly new to him but learning about pretty much any topic was interesting and rewarding.

Their waltz continued and at a certain point Left Paw stopped adding any new flourishes to the steps. They had reached a comfortable level that could be maintained without being too tiring or risking an accident or injury. Third or fourth masquerade, coming since she was 13 or 14. That put her as being between 16 and 18 years old. There wasn't really a reason for doing that math but the result was that Left Paw had confirmed Lily was similar in age to both the Paws and their closer friends.

"Then you are the expert here between us. We are similar in age but we- I was living on the space station for the past three years so the events were slightly different." He was struggling to keep using the singular pronoun and starting to slip up more as they talked. It felt so unnatural. "But you said you are going to more events than normal?"


Nearby as Two Stripes danced with the other Paw she smiled and then bowed out for a bit. As she stepped back Three Stripes ran in and took over dancing with Right Paw. The little girl was cute, and as soon as she was dancing again she seemed so happy. The red-haired woman stood back about where Three Stripes had been watching from, though she wasn't actually judging the others on their technique. She was just enjoying all the fun.

"You could say they're a plant expert. They're a spirit that is quite in tune with the various plants here and where they comes from. Apparently they are able to feel what the plants are feeling as well. Our- my knowledge on plants though is not nearly as extensive but it is something we are working on. Before coming here the opportunities for interacting with live plants were limited," he said. As difficult as it was to keep using the 'wrong' pronouns in his speech, everything else about talking to Lily and dancing felt easy.

The comment about the beauty of lilies had truthfully begun as simply a comment on what they knew about the flowers but... well by the time it had been halfway uttered they had realized it applied to this Lily as well. Was that an appropriate thing to say? Left Paw had been unsure so he had left that bit unsaid.

The music shifted as they danced towards a slower, calmer, version of the waltz. Left Paw gently slowed the two of them down as well, trying to keep the transition as smooth as possible. There was a flash of panic when Lily looked at him like he had said something unusual and he wondered if he had shared something he shouldn't have. But it had just been curiosity about the space station. The problem was that he was getting more and more likely to just outright explaining who he was. "Yes, I lived on the station for three years before transferring down here. We were enrolled in school at the Satellite Academy, as many people call it," he began as there was movement from their satellite group nearby.

---

At the same time as Left Paw and Liliana had been talking Right Paw had leaned down to whisper to Three Stripes that she was glad to dance more with her in a few minutes but at the moment she needed to speak with Two Stripes. The girl was truthfully in need of a drink of water so she nodded and curtsied as she waved at Two Stripes to come over and then skipped off to the refreshments for a moment.

There was no hesitation as the red-haired woman rejoined Right Paw in the waltz near the others but out of earshot due to the music. In a very quiet conversation Right Paw was asking Two Stripes whether revealing who they were to Lily would ruin the purpose of this event. She explained that they were struggling with pretending to be two people and were enjoying the dancing and talk too much to let that ruin it for them. Two Stripes had giggled and then sneakily pulled the other woman in for a hug. "It's ok, just tell her what you feel like telling her. It sounds like you're having a good night and that's what matters most."

They resumed dancing properly and Three Stripes watched as best she could from over near the refreshments table. The pack wasn't just there to have a good time. There was safety in numbers so the Paws could relax a little more, and there were friends available to help them through social situations just like this one.

---

An honest approach it was going to be then. they just had to work their way there in the conversation. "Living on the station was relatively comfortable- or as much as we could have wished for at the time. Artificial gravity and high levels of technology both human and alien were comforting to us... because we had lived almost our entire lives on a space station before that." It was the first step in a line of revelations but Left Paw had to wait to see Lily's reaction to know whether he was oversharing or not.

Even as they talked the slow and steady waltz continued. From above the scene probably looked quite interesting as the two dancing duos slowly rotated within the larger dancing crowd, with the all-girl duo carefully staying nearby and yet on the far side from Miss Elaine so that Left Paw and Lily were the ones visible to the older woman. There was never a even the hint of a chance of the two duos colliding either- they were almost perfectly synced.