"Ackgh-!"

Oh gods. She can [i]feel[/i] the pressure of eyes on her, wondering how the hell a statue is having a coughing fit. Can she blush? She's never blushed before, but she's also never swallowed her own tongue and she's doing a [i]great[/i] job of that! 

Beautiful!

Objectively, it's true! I mean, modeled after Athena, physical perfection, insult to the goddess to imply anything less but--!

Beautiful!

And the coughing is only pressing them closer together, giving her ample opportunity to feel the sheer solidity of the woman holding her--the iron muscles, the softness of the skin. Mmm.

Beautiful!

Oh gods. Oh fuck, Ramses is looking at her--half-lidded, smirking, seeing what she's done and oooh, how it burns. She tucks her chin, not daring to match her gaze--and damn her, even the little chuckle she makes is cute. Breathe, Alexa! You trained for hours! You know how to blend into the background, become part of the scenery! The Warsage beat and drilled courtly etiquette into you! You should be prepared for this!

But none of that training involved cute girls telling her she's beautiful! 

She opens her eyes--and finds Isty there, staring back. Is that fright? Excitement? Is this cowardice, fraternizing with the enemy?

("Fraternizing." Hooboy, wouldn't she just like to.)

Alexa manages a feeble--but very excited--grin, and kind of shrugs. No, this isn't how she wanted the evening to go. But she's open to being persuaded otherwise!

Once she feels she can talk without her tongue immediately swelling and trying to choke her, she turns a timid smile on Ramses. "You know, I do not believe Birmingham said you need to turn us in [i]immediately.[/i] Surely, you could spare some time with us alone? We can continue our dance, and perhaps I [i]can[/i] show you a new Path?"

(13 on Talk Sense with Wisdom.)