(Bits in bold written by the charming Cops, [i]or Cal as you peasantry call him[/i]. Thank you!)

"Erika...Hayes." she paused awkwardly in the middle. First name or last name? It didn't matter. She'd blurted it out anyway.
[i]Silly.[/i]
It was quickly dismissed with a minute shake of the head before the woman focused on this man more. He seemed a good couple of decades older, though there was something she could respect. Perhaps it was the attire? The amber drink in his hand that screamed high-class to her? She didn't know too much about all the different kinds of alcohol, or the best or worst brands within, but most of it looked fancy regardless. She'd make it a point to ask around for recommendations whenever she could, since all drinks were indeed on the house.
"I don't believe we have, no. You...were one of us, on the limousine, mm?" a pair of grey eyes settled on the man who had made his way over, and though she had thoughts about him being strange prior, he seemed an honest gentleman. Polite to say the least. That too, it was some company among the Swedish chatter that she could indulge in. She had no idea if any of the gorgeous guests spoke much English at all. And as a group, they seemed intimidating to say the least. "Ah, the pleasure is all mine, doctor."
The eyes lit up finally and she flashed him a smile that almost seemed grateful, taking a sip of her glass of cool water and leaving a faint stain of colour on the rim of the glass. "Ah, the evening seems so lit up and beautiful, yet so dull at the same time, wouldn't you agree? Being in such a strange land with so many unknown people, it's almost a little overwhelming. I wouldn't know what to say or do with them, at all. You're like one of us then, are you not? Flown in from some different country? Whereabouts?"
Her first guess was the states. The accent in the short snippet of speech gave it away.
An eyebrow rose and her smile borrowed a hint of curiosity from her eyes as she gave his attire a quick scan. Not someone who was afraid of dressing their finest. But then again, you had to in such an occasion. It got a silent approval from her before her eyes found his again, her leaning on the arm resting against the arm of the staircase a little more, waiting for his answer to her question and to confirm her suspicions.

[b] Henry put on a charmed smile and continued to drink as the young lady spoke. So far she was doing a rather good job. There was the early fumble, but she had recovered nicely. "Yes, certainly it does feel that way now... But I've always found dull beginnings to be nothing more than an opportunity to create an exciting finish." He said, flashing a roguish grin. "It's funny really, as odd as this manor and its inhabitants seem to be, I can't help but feel at home here, something about it brings me back to a life I thought I'd abandoned long ago... Well, that's enough of that. To answer your question, I am indeed a fellow stranger to this place, flown in from the U.S... Portland, Oregon to be exact, though that's only my most recent home... How about you, though? You're a bit tricky, but I bet I can figure it out..." Henry said, pausing a moment to finish his drink.

"Hmm, alright then, Indian heritage for sure, but judging my your accent, you've never lived there. You're too English to be American, and the mannerisms don't fit, but you're certainly not English enough to be from the U.K... Judging by your fluency though, you were definitely raised speaking the language, which rules out the rest of Europe. Africa is unlikely, but maybe an international school somewhere in Asia? Maybe Singapore? No, there isn't a drinking age there, and since you've got water in your hand, I'm guessing you're not too familiar with alcohol. The Middle East then, so going back to the international schools, we're talking wealthy countries on the southern side of the Persian Gulf... It's got to be Qatar or the UAE? I've spent a fair bit of time in the region, myself actually." [/b]

"An exciting finish, eh? That's the first I've ever heard of that ideology." she smirked before taking another long drag of her drink. He definitely seemed more hopeful about the outcome than she was, though she could respect that. Perhaps he was indeed more at home here than she was, and why wouldn't he be? He'd mentioned it himself, a life he'd left behind far away. Erika made it a point to ask at some point how this would be anywhere close to normalcy for the man. At some point in time. At some point in time, indeed.
"Most recent home, eh? So I take it you're a traveller? I've never been to the states myself...Goodness, do I seem tricky to you?" her lips quirked in an even bigger smile, something resembling an expectant, curious child unwrapping presents to see what was inside. "I always thought I was quite simple, bah. But go ahead. Knock yourself out."
She tilted her head back with a little laugh and took another sip from the glass. He wouldn't be able to pinpoint it spot-on, of course. It wasn't like she was that obvi-

And any water she had taken in that gulp threatened to be forced out of her nose in a double-take when she stared at him with her jaw dropped, him sussing out her entire story in a matter of seconds, was it? Amazing. Incredible.
"Wh-wha...how did you...Whaaaat." she flinched, hand tightening around the glass a little. It was creepy enough to the point of being stalkerish, and she suddenly felt a mixture of uncertainty and curiosity about this man. 
[i]Incredible. Simply incredible.[/i]
Most people would have hardly been able to trace that through a trail of thought like that, but this man was...

"I...y-you're absolutely correct." she gulped hard, grey eyes fixed on the floor and refusing to look the man in the eye for the handful of seconds she held them there. Countless emotions ran through them, suspicion being the main one. But that wasn't to make itself evident. No. That would be bad.
She took a deep breath or two and finally brought her eyes to meet him again, a charming smile of her own plastered onto her lips for the moment. If he'd touched them, he'd figure they were trembling.
"That's...amazing. You've been there? I've hardly met...anyone who's been around home very much. I...but you're a doctor, are you not? What do you specialise in? Rather, what kind of doctor are you, Doctor Halibern? I...I can't say I'm not curious. In fact, now I'm dying to know."

[b]Henry allowed himself a bit of a contained laugh at Erika's shocked response, "How? It's a simple trick really, so long as you're extraordinarily well versed in the history and cultures of the world, of course, but otherwise simple. See, you speak English with a predominately American accent, which means you learned the language from an American, and because the U.S. was never an imperialist nation, that immediately rules out a gigantic portion of the world. At this point I'd be tempted to just say America, but in conversation I noticed that your vocabulary isn't particularly stylized or lazy like most Americans, suggesting that you learned the language in a 'linguistically sterile' environment, like a classroom, definitely outside the U.S. I took a leap of faith on the alcohol, assuming you were raised in a typically conservative Muslim country. Put those two bits together and you'll find there are rather few countries left. Qatar and the UAE are some of the only Muslim nations that possess enough economic draw to attract a large number of American businessmen, resulting in the foundation of a number of international schools, making them the most likely candidates. So you can see, I only really needed two pieces of information about you, how you speak, and what you drink, the kind of things you can learn in a minute. The rest is just history and culture." As he finished the explanation, Henry just smiled warmly young lady and raised two fingers to flag down the waiter.

"As for my time in the Middle East, that was back in the First Gulf War, but maybe that's a story for another time." He said, happy to be interrupted by the waiter, "Another glass, please. Perhaps you'd like one as well?" He asked, unsure of Erika's disposition towards liquor. "It's Cognac, essentially a brandy aged in barrels, and made only with grapes from the Cognac region of France. It's not quite a beginner's drink, but this particular bottle is really something you won't get anywhere else, 40 years in an oak barrel, the stuff is worth it's weight in gold."

Henry waited for Erika to respond, and then began again once the waiter had gone, "Anyways, you wanted to know what kind of doctor I am? Well, I'm currently a professor of both Philosophy and Anthropology, but I technically also have a doctorate in economics, I just don't get much use out of it these days. In essence, I study people, both inside and out. I study how people used to behave, and I study how they behave now. I study how we communicate abstract ideas to each other, and even how we represent them to ourselves. But most important of all, I study the soul." [/b]

"I...I see." were the only words that left the woman's lips, still recovering from the shock. An immediate sense of respect for this man blossomed in the back of her mind. It was almost like a fortune-teller, but instead of predicting one's future, it was reciting one's past or tracing their origins. And it was all based on cold, hard fact, like the man before her had just done. She had to commend it. Everything he'd said hit the nail right on the head. Such a perceptive eye and the ability to make such deductions had almost made her swoon. Her smile, previously plastered on by force, now returned the warmth of the doctor's. She'd made a note to definitely sit down and have more little chats with the man. Perhaps he could teach her some of the tricks he had up his sleeve? He was a doctor, after all. She'd need all the help she could get, looking to pursue medicine to a degree herself, albeit not in the exact same way as most traditional doctors. Veterinary medicine, in the end however, was still a course that held equal value, except tailoring to the needs of animals, and perhaps not as many human beings.
"The UAE, yes. That's where I call home. Our little Gulf-Pearl. I'm glad you've been. I'd have to ask what you thought of it later. And hear this story about the Gulf War."

[i]He could be more than he lets on, though...and making up an explanation just to cover for it. But I trust it. For now. It's a good explanation as any.[/i]

The waiter made his way by at the doctor's call, and she gave the man in the tux a welcoming smile in greeting. There was nothing she'd wanted for the moment, though. Maybe some more cold water, since her glass seemed to be running out surprisingly quickly...
"M-me?" she was shaken back to Dr Halibern's question, and was left to ponder for a moment. "I've actually never tried much before. But since I can now...hah, the family back home wasn't too strict about things, but liquor and drinking under-age was definitely one of those things. I suppose if it's on the house, I wouldn't mind a glass. Though I'm worried now that you say it's not for beginners, haha. It sounds a real treat, though. Now that I can, and now that I'm in such a place [i]where[/i] I can, I'd like to try everything offered to me."

She listened intently to the doctor's description of his profession, with more questions than answers when he was finished, but a respect for the man nonetheless. It seemed a little too much on the spiritual side to 'study the soul' but she brushed it off with a minute, barely detectable shake of her head. The rest of it sounded interesting enough, and if there were so many people out there trying to understand the mysteries of life she, as well as a good chunk of other people, took for granted, it wasn't something that singled this man out particularly. If in his search and study he found tangible answers, then all the better for him. If he did, or had any to discuss as of the moment, the logical little lady in blue he was conversing with would love to be given more explanations, whenever and if ever the time came and enlightenment led to result.

She paused for a little while, taking a bit of a deep breath before smirking up at the older man with a little laugh she couldn't contain following right after, too. Going back on the question of whether she'd wanted anything to drink. "And if I, for any reason, act out of alcohol-induced motives after having said drink, the good doctor will most definitely have an earful when I'm sober again. Besides, if the drink really isn't for me, I could always find him and pass my drink over to him. I'm sure he'd have no objections. And hey, if I'm having it at all, I'll enjoy it before the hour ends, and I think it's quite close."

[b] "Don't worry," Henry laughed, "If you feel sick, I'll help you back up to your room. In the most chivalrous way possible of course!" Not only did he not feel like getting on her bad side, Erika seemed like a sweet girl, and it would be wrong to take advantage of her naiveté... Right?... Right.

Right?

The question had to hit the backburner as the clock struck 8 and and the doors to the Great Hall opened up. [/b]

"The most chivalrous way. Right. What a good doctor." Erika gave him an over-exaggerated eye-roll but a smirk right after, the chiming of the clock to signal the time catching her off guard. "Goodness, that's it, then! Time for it to all go down..."