We All Hide Behind Masks of our Own [Open]

Ugh. She'd been here for all of thirty seconds and she already felt sick. The music in one ear was enough, but the stuffy air had pretty much gotten to her as soon as she'd walked into the room. She grumbled in her head, making sure to keep up the happy appearance for as long as was necessary. She held a mask with one lightly gloved hand, keeping it up over her eyes and looking around the room at the people. These people bothered her, but she wouldn't let it get to her face. Instead, she would slowly wander through the crowds and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. She didn't enjoy parties like this very much--she wasn't much for hanging out in crowds, and preferred spending her nights in, reading a small novel or two from her gigantic library.

Instead, here she was. Wearing this stupid goddamn outfit to this stupid goddamn masquerade ball, and for what? To find out information based upon a client's questions. Apparently, for some strange reason, there was going to be a meeting going down tonight, in this very place. And it was her job to find out who was meeting, and for what reason. Such a vague request from a client, for sure. Letting out a long breath of warm air, Solas traipsed and swung through the throbbing mass of humans, trying to find someone that looked remotely shady. Approximately fifteen people in her vision at this moment were shady, to her. She'd turn her head and see fifteen more. It was upper-class society, everyone was a criminal in some way, shape or form. Instead, she decided that it would be better to look away from the main ballroom, instead wandering slowly towards the edges of the rooms to see if anyone was trying to slip away for something that seemed out of the ordinary. She didn't mean those men and women disappearing into dark rooms together--no, that was pretty normal. She meant a couple of guys going even further away than that, down into the basement, or around the servant's quarters.

Try as she might, however, she just couldn't see anyone that fit the feeling that she had. In the end, she relegated herself to looking out over the ballroom and sighing softly out of minor frustration. As if this day couldn't get any worse.

"How do you do, my lady?"

She just had to open her big thought. Turning her head, she saw a rather gallant young man approach. He was dressed in the purest of white, with tassels and frilly things everywhere. It was sickening. To any other woman, this guy might've been attractive. Frankly, he was the epitome of sexy. But... he didn't have the woman's figure. Or the woman's voice. And the fact that he was not, in fact, a woman kind of hurt his chances. She decided to let him down smartly, when she saw him get closer and draw a knife, pointing it at her stomach.

"I know why you are here, Miss Detective. I advise you turn around and leave, or simply enjoy the party in the way a civilian would. I do hope you have a good evening." With a smirk, he turned away and disappeared into a crowd of... similarly dressed men. Seriously? She sighed softly, leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes, letting out a groan for good measure. Tonight just got so much better.

"Five ways to disarm him without breaking a bone. Fifteen with the possibility of it happening." She didn't turn at first, but listened--someone else had, apparently, come across this little soiree and decided to comment. She was already somewhat annoyed, and her eyes remained on the group of white men until they disappeared from her view. "Oh, how rude of me. I'm Blues... and probably just as out of place as you are. From your posture I gather that you knew most of the ways to disable him. There must be a good reason not to simply do that." She turned her gaze to him finally, looking him over. He wasn't the tallest person in the world, that was for sure. Solas herself was damn short, and she felt tall around him. She blew out a small puff of air, knocking some stray hair out of her face as she studied him for a moment more, before folding her arms. He wasn't hitting on her, so she was fine with his presence. She adjusted her posture so that she was standing up a bit straighter (she wanted to feel tall for a little while longer) and looked back down at him with a slightly-frustrated expression.

"No point, really," she began, looking away from him and back to the crowds, "If I were to make a scene, I'd lose any hope of finding what I need. And then I'd really have no use here." She chuckled softly, scanning the faces to see if she recognized anyone. The fact that this was a masquerade ball made her job a lot more difficult, but she started to see a few familiar facial shapes, along with one or two scars that she'd caused with her investigations in the past, "But I digress. I'm here looking for specific things, but rich people, y'know? It's pretty much like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. I'm just in a really bad position." She sighed softly and relaxed a bit, standing up straight now and giving the room one last once-over before turning back to the newcomer, "Frankly, he had enough openings for me to take him down in sixteen different ways. Twenty-two, if you count ordnance." She laughed quietly and nodded at him.

"Solas Kearney, Private Investigator and Demolitions Expert. Don't ask how those come together, I don't want to have to explain right now," She laughed, trying not to think about what would happen if a proper fight broke out in this place. She didn't want to force too many lives to be lost. Instead, she needed to remember that she had to be prudent and calm with her actions. She let out a long breath and looked back out over the crowds once more, placing her hands on her hips, "Just know that I have something I'm looking for in this place, but it seems that my reputation precedes me." She gave an aggravated sigh, and returned her gaze to Blues, wondering what his story was. He seemed interesting enough.

"I wish I actually had a reason to be here. But besides the buffet, there isn't any. That's what you get for saving some rich guy's ass from getting robbed, I guess?" Poor thing. Had to deal with just being invited to a shitfest like this, rather than having a reason to be around. She didn't understand how these people could stand to be in each others' presences. She had to deal with rich snobs like this every day and would rather take an arrow through her temples than deal with them for more than half an hour at a time. She sighed softly and raised the glass of wine to her lips. While she didn't really care for alcohol--and it would usually impede her investigation--she figured that she needed something to relax her nerves. In this place, at this time, she was going to definitely need to be calm. If she poked her nose in too far, she could be harmed, or worse. They may have been rich scumbags, but they were also just people having 'fun' with other people. "I'm not a... people-person. But I can tell that these people are... what is the word... sleazy? Yes, sleazy. They behave much like a soldier in the presence of a superior... or like those attempting to flee from a supreme foe. Their attention is focused on you - most probably don't even notice me standing here." She frowned.

"I was afraid of that," motioning slightly with her head, she drew Blues' attention to a particularly stringy man with a perpetual sneer and the aura of someone wealthy beyond measure, who seemed to be quickly shifting glances over to Solas and then back to his group, "See him? That's Michel Tierde. Pretty rich fella. Runs some pretty large stuff here in Lighthaven that supply the armies with weaponry. Also used to run arms trafficking before I found it out and shut him down. Few other people that I've dealt with as well in the mix. If they caught me alone, I'd probably be dead. It's by the power of social graces that they're not all suddenly aiming at me with their personal Enforcers. It makes this party that much more fun, y'know?" She laughed softly, shaking her head with a sigh.

"Maybe they'll slip up... not expect someone other than you watching them. Anything specific you are looking out for?" She blinked and tapped her chin, "I'm not sure," she started, "I just know that there is an auction of some kind going on tonight, in this building. If I could slip away and search, I'd try and find it like that--but with all of the guards trained to recognize me, I'd have a hard time getting around. I'm hoping to have a chance to get out soon, but it'd be nice to at least get a handle on the general direction. I'd say those guys in white are the detail assigned to the auction, but there are a lot of them and they might not all be in on it. It's convoluted, that's for sure." She kept her eyes trailing behind Blues, not really watching him and yet still paying attention to him and his words. She needed to be on guard.

"You've got a lot of courage, then. To be here, despite the danger." She laughed softly, shaking her head, "A girl's gotta eat somehow. It just so happens to be that poking my nose into deadly situations is how I get my food," She narrowed her eyes, noticing the people behind Blues starting to maneuver in ways that she didn't think necessary. She saw that one of them was carrying a weapon underneath his coat--from the way that he was keeping his hand on his chest, it was more than obvious to her. "The one who just brought Michel's group some snacks seemed on guard. The two on the back door there are very relaxed, comparatively. The one on the right is sweating more than usual. And lastly... The one in the middle of them all, that young one? He seems... TOO relaxed. Was probably told to act natural. Well, those are my assumptions as a fighter, not as an investigator. I have to say, my skills in that field are too low to be of any real help, I'm afraid." She tapped her chin, not turning around to look at the people he'd described--she needed to remain focussed on the man with the weapon who was staring at her through the crowds. "Alright. Describe the 'young one' to me. I'll probably recognize him the moment I turn to look, but I want to be certain that the guy I'm watching right now hasn't been paid to watch us. At the moment, it's looking like he's been paid to watch us--er, me." She sighed softly, adjusting her dress with dainty fingers and making sure that she had those explosives in a ready-to-use location--specifically, attached to her garters underneath her dress. She doubted they'd go looking for anything there, and if they did, all they would find would be some metal balls.

"I'd be more help in storming a warehouse of criminals than I'd be at analyzing their behavior, I'm afraid." She grinned lightly, "Good. I may need that help. For now, however, I need to prepare something. Would you mind accompanying me? I simply need you to stand guard outside a room for me." She hooked her arm around his and walked off, leading him towards what seemed to be the bathrooms. Noticing that nobody was going in, she simply nodded--"Dear me, that alcohol went right through. I need to use the bathroom. Would you be so kind as to wait outside?" She had hoped that Blues realized it to be a very simple act as she let go of him and tottered off into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Locking it, she pulled up her dress in a swift motion, revealing her dark stockings, purple panties and some metal balls that were attached to her garters. Pulling them off of their attachments, she quickly felt around them and peeled off some kind of adhesive material cover--showing a small magic circle etched into the metal. With a smirk, she quickly stuffed them into her brassiere--there were places specifically designed to hold these bombs--and flushed the toilet for effect. After washing and drying her hands, she popped out of the bathroom and stood next to Blues once more. "Aaaand prepared. Keep an eye on the guys in white--the auction starts in ten minutes, so they'll be wanting to head off soon. We need to find them."