Mags's blush only deepened as she struggled to keep her power in check. "And you are very likely to end up brawling your eyes out before the night is through...Which I'm sorry in advance for."

Terrie looked at him before slowly shaking her head. "Of course I get the crazy one...Oh well," she mumbled as she followed after him. "Fine by me. I don't do a lot of dancing either...At least vertically anyway."

"Yes. You owe me something. I don't like being made into a scary person. So the thing that you owe me is something you would like to do that I can take a part in. Sound fair?"

Zeke raised an eyebrow as he felt fear eat at the edges of his conscience. Fear? Fear... He shivered and frowned. Fear of what? Of...of.... Magic! There was magic, and it was Mags... "Hmph." he said, steeling himself. "We shall see." Zeke's chaotic magic was typically a sort of antimagic for him, and, with care, he could unravel and render useless most spells. But what if it wasn't a spell, but part of her being that was doing this?

Mambo grinned. "If you think I'm bad, you should see Kilter. That man is dancing like he has a snake in his pants." Another wall of booming laughter rumbled down the hallway. "He really is something."

Karst opened his mouth, then closed it again. Opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I...uhh...what?" It took him a few moments to understand what she was saying, and his mind immediately went to the bedroom. He shut his mouth, hard. "Right. I'll think of something."

Mags just nodded, figuring it was already going to happen. Entering the room, she stopped just inside the doorway. "There are so many people here...Maybe I should just leave and you can find someone else."

Terrie giggled lightly and shook her head. "Glad to hear he is doing better though." She wondered briefly just which sex Mambo went after before letting it go. Wasn't any of her business. "Should we join in and make sure he doesn't stand out too much?"

Amethyst nodded, having no doubt he would think of something. Her mind didn't go to the same place as his; she just thought it would be something mundane and innocent. The way the dark mage figured it, she scared him too much to do anything else. She might just be proven wrong at the end of the night.

Zeke raised an eyebrow and kissed her cheek again. "Now I do recall that I said I'd bring you to the ball, my pretty little flower, and I do believe I'll keep that promise." He felt the fears eating at the edges of his defense, and had to struggle to smile as a shade of gray seemed to take up his field of vision. His hand clasped a bit more tightly around hers.

Mambo nodded. "He seems to come back pretty fast." the big man noted thoughtfully. "He is a lot more resilient than one could assume." Mambo chuckled. "That man thrives on attention..." 

Karst rocked back and forth on his feet, and looked around. "Ummm...." He held his hand out to her. "Can you...will you....ummm....can you dance with me?" he asked shyly.

Mags just looked at him wide-eyed. He really was going to make her stay here...Great. Just great. Although some part of her had to admire him for it; he was sticking to his word. Even at the cost of his mental stability.

"Really?" Terrie tilted her head as she remembered all the times she saw Kilter. "I would think he tried to avoid it."

Amethyst smiled and took his hand. "Now that wasn't so hard was it? I would be delighted to dance with you."

He grinned and dragged her towards the dance floor. "I think I need to show off my new friend..." He positioned himself chest to chest with her, their hands connected. His smile stiffened as he felt the magic attack him again. "Come on, now...don't you know how to dance?"

Mambo chuckled. "Kilter is a bag of surprises and mystery." the witch doctor stated as they glided into the ballroom. "See? There he is..." He pointed at a flury of limbs encased in yellow that was making its way across the floor, breaking up couples and generally causing an amusing disturbance.

Karst swallowed. "Uh. I mean. Yeah. Sure." He held out his sweaty palm for her to take. "You lead?"

Mags stiffened and shook her head. So many people...So many chances for her powers to lash out when she didn't want them to. It didn't help they were already lashing out at Zeke despite her best efforts. "Not really...Couldn't really be taught."

Terrie put her hand over her mouth to restrain herself from laughing. "Oh my...That is certainly...Interesting." She was glad Mambo had showed up now; she wouldn't have missed Kilter's dancing for all the world now.

Amethyst took the hand and slowly shook her head. "Isn't it normal for the guy to lead? Or have they changed the rules since last I truly danced?" She tilted her head to look at him. She didn't know what was wrong; she was keeping her power in check and under control. It was barely noticable even to her.

Zeke nodded and rubbed his cheek against Mags's forehead. "What a pity... a beautiful girl like you not learning how to dance...." He began to gracefully waltz her across the room, his feet smoothly picking out where to step ahead of time. He took the lead, holding Mags up and making her light on her feet, even as he wondered how to resist the urge to lay down and curl up and cry. It hurt to keep the smile oon his face now.

Mambo nodded. "That it is...you know what I think he needs, though? A partner..."  He winked at Terrie. "Care to lose your shame for the night?"

Karst shrugged jerkily, almost terrified to do so. "I...I think it is. But I'm bad at dancing." The handsome man was actually quite the crack at dancing, but when his fears set in, he may as well have had four left feet.

Mags just blushed as she followed his lead. Was he seriously going to do this? Didn't he realize how much danger he was putting himself in? Mags shook her head slightly as she danced. This guy was nuts and as soon as this dance was over, she was gone. She didn't want to send into a mental breakdown.

Terrie pretended to think about it, even as she knew what her answer was going to be. "I have no shame." Grinning, she made her way over to Kilter, ducking through the crowd. This was going to be fun.

Amethyst sighed and shook her head. "Very well then." Taking a deep breath, she went over the steps in her head before leading him out onto the dance floor. She wasn't the best at leading to be honest, but she didn't think she did a half bad job.

Zeke's teeth clenched as he missed a few obvious steps in the dance. Everything seemed to be collapsing around him...the darkest dreams had come to life around him, and yet they weren't tangible at the same time. Strong magic, this... He stumbled into Mags accidentally, and mumbled an apology. His mind was working overtime to correct this....but even as he tied his fears up in neat little bundles of trapped magic, more appeared. Perhaps the problem was not in his fears, but in her aura...but how to block her aura? What if.... He groaned and tripped over her feet, almost falling down.

Mambo smiled and conjured up a snake flute from nowhere. Winking at Kilter, who seemed not to notice, he began to play. Although the orchestra was good and loud, Mambo's frenetic tune on the flute seemed to overcome their music, and Kilter's thrashing grew even wilder as he danced.

Karst barely managed to keep his feet in place, and he smiled weakly at her. Well...she really was pretty, up close, and, in the end, she was jsut a girl, right? Like any other girl...except not. She was powerful, and dangerous, and why was he even here?!

Mags may be small, but she certainly wasn't weak. Supporting Zeke so he wouldn't fall completely down, she lead them off the dance floor. As soon as they were both out of the way, she let him go and took a step back. As soon as she did that, the illusions should lose power and therefore easy to break. They only kept up their strength when she wasn't in contact if she was activitely feeding them. Which she wasn't in this case. "I should go now...Thank you though." Leaning close, she was going to barely brush her lips against his cheek to show she really was grateful to him.

Coming closer to the thrasing man, Terrie took a deep breath before joining in. Hearing Mambo's flute, she couldn't help but grin. Closing her eyes, she just let the music dicate how she should move. Who wanted to follow those stiff formal dancing rules anyway?

Amethyst heard the flute and chose to ignore it. "Why don't you take a crack at leading? I promise not to bite your head off if you accidentally step on my feet." She was teasing about the biting off his head; she wouldn't do that to anyone for stepping on her feet during a dance.

Zeke clung to Mags like she was his last hope. He had it, he almost had it...the slippery illusions kept dodging away, but he had it, he almost had it! He barely noticed that he was away from Mags, but took a deep breath, his eyes widening. His lips formed wordless sounds as she went away from him... He seemed to wake up at the kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened as he grabbed Mags chin and kissed her, hard. There...and there...and there!

Kilter grinned and grabbed Terrie's hand. Immediately, a surge of ecstatic power rushed through her body. He winked as he whirled her around powerfully, just barely not letting go so she would not fly. Mambo clapped in tune to his flute, which seemed to be playing itself now.

Karst nodded nervously, and took the lead, his steps taking them along the dance. He winced as he tripped over his own feet, then hers, and closed his eyes fearfully.

Mags let out a startled gasp, but it was lost in the kiss. She brought her hands up to push Zeke away. It was official. She had broken him. Poor guy was the only thing she thought as she tried to escape. She didn't want to further damage his mind.

Terrie let out a yelping laugh as she felt the power rush through her. Laughing, she danced with Kilter, glad she didn't get dizzy easily as she was whirled around. This was quite fun and to think she would have missed it  all by moping in her room.

Amethyst just smiled encouragingly at him. Not even caring that he had tripped over his feet and then hers. Dancing was part pain and part enjoyment usually. And hell, she danced with Leo and he would have stepped on her feet a hundred times by now. In her eyes, Karst's dancing was an huge improvement.

Zeke felt himself being pushed away, and pushed forward. His tongue pushed into her mouth, but she was too strong, and he was too weak with most of his magic tied up. He fell backwards, one of his hands still caught in hers. Slowly, he began to smile. "Hey....it's gone...." he said in a low voice, almost naughty.

Kilter began to pul off more intricate tricks, as if attempting to impress Terrie. He flipped backwards three times in a row, then ended it with a magnificent twirl. His face was  a rictus of happiness as he danced, and danced, and danced.

Karst finally gave it up, pushing Amethyst away as they broke off from the main group. He hobbled over to a chair and collapsed in it, feigning exhaustion. "Alright...I think we're done for the night."

Mags just stared at him in disbelief. "Are you freaking nuts?! And what is gone?" She tugged at the hand he still had, not wanting to hurt him further. Seriously, what was this wizard's deal?

Terrie laughed and clapped in delight. She had no idea that Kilter was such an arcobat. She didn't even attempt to copy that; her body wasn't flexible in that way. She was glad he was happy though. It was much better than seeing him in pain.

Amethyst tilted her at him, a small frown on her face. "That wasn't so bad...Now was it? Do you need anything to drink?"