There is no cause to do anything else, really, save to hover near the people he knows, make quiet conversation with them, ponder tiny Orlesian foods, feed some of it to Vysvolod, and otherwise take modestly from whatever the evening has to offer. It is probable that he could be content on the sidelines the entire time, not so much out of anxiety or dislike of the gathering, but because there is plenty to simply watch, from the musicians to the collisions of people and personalities.
Eventually, maybe after a second glass of wine, and while Petrana de Cedoux is entertaining elsewhere nearby, Julius will sense the other man step nearer to his side, Marcus reaching beyond him to set his emptied glass down on the nearest available flat surface. The music has turned over, the end of one song fluidly shifting to another, politely paced enough that those out there have divided into twosomes.
"I'll ask you to dance with me," he says, "if you're willing to show me how."
also for julius.
There is no cause to do anything else, really, save to hover near the people he knows, make quiet conversation with them, ponder tiny Orlesian foods, feed some of it to Vysvolod, and otherwise take modestly from whatever the evening has to offer. It is probable that he could be content on the sidelines the entire time, not so much out of anxiety or dislike of the gathering, but because there is plenty to simply watch, from the musicians to the collisions of people and personalities.
Eventually, maybe after a second glass of wine, and while Petrana de Cedoux is entertaining elsewhere nearby, Julius will sense the other man step nearer to his side, Marcus reaching beyond him to set his emptied glass down on the nearest available flat surface. The music has turned over, the end of one song fluidly shifting to another, politely paced enough that those out there have divided into twosomes.
"I'll ask you to dance with me," he says, "if you're willing to show me how."