Cora had watched, delighted as the two couples danced. Though she was trying to give both pairs equal time, she found herself eyeing Akane more than the other three. She watched her face, her shoulders, her hands, her legs...as she twirled across the floor in Lucien's arms, and felt her heart almost glowing with happiness. It radiated from her like the rays of the sun, but there was nothing she could do in her slightly inebriated state to hold it back.

The mermaid's light mood was raining down on everyone this evening, even Illyana, who was focused intently on Geralt and Ivory's dance. For a moment, she had been afraid that The Magician had hypnotized or otherwise altered Ivory's state of mind, but as she searched the dhampir's face from afar, she saw no signs of this and felt no residual effects. Despite her worry, she felt the urge to smile as she caught sight of Lucien and Akane, noticing that everyone was smiling at some point during the dance, even if Ivory's was sarcastic more than anything else. No, maybe the dhampir had simply accepted his offer to show him that she was not so easily frightened. In any case, the song ended rather quickly, and Illyana watched as Ivory made her way rather quickly back to her seat.

She leaned forward, keeping her eyes on the young woman's face, but noticed nothing unusual aside from the unease in her eyes. This was unusual for the dhampir, but Illy knew not to point it out, that would only make it worse. Instead of engaging Ivory directly, the fortune teller looked over at Aurel and said, [color=598527]"I'm glad we skipped that one, it looked...complicated,"[/color] loud enough for the other young woman to hear her. Distraction would be best for now, she knew that Ivory would tell her if she noticed or felt anything strange during her time of close proximity with the magician.

Cora had decided as the song came to a close to join the rest of the troupe at the table, and so began making her way there with Akane. To the kitsune's question, she smiled up at her, noting that the uneasiness from before had almost passed entirely and now felt like a tiny little seed in her stomach. [color=00a99d]"Oh, just fine,"[/color] she nodded vigorously to accompany her answer. While she could tell that the drink was effecting her mind and body, she still felt as though she were in control of herself. [color=00a99d]"I might want another, actually..."[/color] she added, glancing back toward Geralt and Lucien as they stood by the drink table.

[color=crimson]"Hm?"[/color] Geralt had been so fixated on his dance partner that he had not noticed when Lucien approached him. This lack of focus, his distraction, it was unlike him. It had been years since he had allowed himself to be so open, and then he had been living at the bottom of a bottle. While he'd decided to let the night take him where it would, he would not let even a second more of Lucien's company go to waste.

He looked back at the Frenchman, his eyes clarifying. [color=crimson]"My apologies, patron, how rude of me. [i]That[/i] is a German twist on a Sidecar, and [i]this[/i]..."[/color] He picked up his glass and looked into it for a moment, letting that trademark smile spread its way across his face once more as his gaze sharpened. [color=crimson]"Is magnifique. In fact..."[/color] he let his eyes flash to Lucien and kept them there as he downed the liquid in the glass and set it back down on the table, empty. [color=crimson]"I'd love another,"[/color] he finished, winking at the Frenchman, who now had his full attention as he leaned against the tall table on his elbow.