Who: Grayson Wilkes and Bree Jugson
What: Tomfoolery!
When: October 1977
Where: Aland's party

She wasn't sure why she'd panicked so much about her costume, and that worried her. Bree had tried to figure it out, and even now, at the party, she wasn't sure of the reason. It might be trying to impress some of her coworkers with a good costume, but she didn't want to look as if she tried too hard. But then again, what if her costume wasn't nice enough, and it looked like she didn't care? Then there came the problem of her costume maybe being too muggle, which literally terrified Bree--there was no way she was going to associate herself with anything muggle. And then, then she wanted to look nice, but apropriate, and of course maybe a bit sexy, but not too.

It had taken her ages, obviously, to decide on being a mermaid. Actually, she'd found the costume the day before, when her sister invited her to lunch. Bree was happy with it, for now, and had covered it up a bit more than it originally had. She still thought it was very pretty, and she'd done her hair in a very curly ponytail, her sister Erin using her amazing charm skills putting glimmer spells on it to give her an aquatic glow. Her flat shoes matched the color of her 'fin' and all in all she was quite comfortable.

So why, when she spotted Anthony, did the glass in her hand begin to shake? Bree really hated not knowing things, and feeling unable to make herself go toward him (so stupid, so so stupid) she stood by the refreshments, realizing why she was so nervous. This was the first big event with the two of them being...whatever they were. Oy.

Grayson made sure that his mask was in place before he strode away from his sister, his eyes flicking around the room to find someone ... tolerable to speak to. Or at least someone who might be a little entertaining.

He caught sight of Bree - the Jugson girl, or one of them - and found himself grinning. At least her costume gave the illusion of a proper outfit...he flexed his fingers and moved smoothly behind the girl, speaking just next to her ear.

"Nervous about something?" Yes, the rather ... out of place grin was still on his face. The mask really didn't make matters any better.

Bree jumped at the sound of his voice and turned quickly toward the man, not recognizing him or his voice. She hadn't meant to look so obviously nervous, but now with his unknown man approaching her, the woman couldn't help it. She smiled slightly, albeit nervously and shrugged.

"Just hoping that my costume is up to par," she said, hands wrapping around her glass. Should she ask his name, or was that against the 'rules' of a fancy dress party? Oh, how little she really knew afterall.

"Hn." He made a rather noncommittal noise and gave her a glance over from beneath the mask - tolerable, he supposed. It was rather better than that wholly inappropriate muggle costume of Avery's. But he would only comment on such things with his sister.

"Of course." He kept his glove-clad hands at his sides, wondering if everyone here was planning to indulge in alcohol but himself. It would, at least, put him at an advantage for his little ... plan. And it would give Daniella's plan more plausibility. After all, that Andromeda was clumsy at the best of times, wasn't she? Grayson couldn't remember for the life of him.

She shrugged again, moving the glass around in his hands. Bree rarely drank, the last time, barely, with Juliana the other day at work. Before then...she couldn't remember. Maybe Anthony's party. Holding back a sigh because she didn't want to look insanely flustered toward this mystery man (who was making her more and more uncomfortable as the seconds passed), she put her glass back down on the table.

Bree looked up at him again, knowing that a man just doesn't approach you like he had, as she knew all too well. Smiling again because it seemed like the only thing to do, Bree gestured toward the dance floor lightly, "Are you having a nice time?"

Ah, now he remembered her. One of Juliana's friends ... was she a muggle sympathizer? He didn't remember just now, so he decided to press that thought out of his mind and focus on something that Daniella had said.

"Have you seen Juliana Wilkes so far today? I have heard our host is rather ... fond of her, as it would seem." He picked up his own drink from a tray nearby - perhaps it would calm the girl down - and swirled it in his hand rather than drinking from it.

Bree shook her head, her eyes scanning the crowd instead of looking up at the man at first. She should really ask his name, this would make things so much more comfortable if she at least knew his name. Why, at this certain party, did someone start to talk to her? It had to be the outfit, Bree knew she should've just gone with Circe like Aland had suggested, it covered up so much more. She didn't need other men approaching her, maybe she should just go over to Anthony now--

That would be rude.

"Aland's a very good man," was all she said on the subject, as talking about her friend's personal life (or lack thereof?) was definitely inappropriate.

"Of course he is a --" (waste of air and general effort, it would appear) "-- good man. To run such a wonderful party."

It was an effort to keep his voice level and pleasant, but he'd had practice enough at it that he managed all right. Grayson took a quick scan of the room to make sure that he didn't lose track of Daniella completely and then cast a glance at several more people to cover that perogative up.

Now, she was just a bit more interested. His voice took on a certain tone, slight saracasm; she wasn't used to that as much as she had been, being around Anthony so much, so it was noticeable. Bree kept her eyebrow from raising in interest and wondered for a moment if this man was interested in Juliana, and knew that she was friends with the woman. That made her feel a lot calmer, though she was still wary of all his movements.

"How do you know Juliana?" she asked in a conversational tone, her arms unconciously holding herself around the stomach (therefore covering herself a bit).

He shifted minutely, to put his form at an advantage. It was a distracting technique that had done him well in the past in the presence of ... well, women at least. And some men, but he rather wanted to keep that out of his mind.

"Oh, who doesn't know Juliana? She's rather lovely, after all..." It isn't hard to let the affection for his sister slide into his voice - it would put the girl's guard down, wouldn't it? And she'd probably think he was some would-be suitor - it seemed she was collecting a small group of them at any rate.

"That doesn't answer my question," Bree responded with a slight smile. He talked of her friend with a kind tone, so he might be in the same situation as Aland, looking for something more. It could be the reason he was asking about Aland in the first place, see what his competition was up to.

Which was kind of odd, to be in the middle of. She'd never had a suitor, unless you counted the boy down the road that used to pull the daisies out of his garden for her. That is, until her brother pushed him into the lake and broke his arm. Men.

He pursed his lips a moment. Well, that hadn't worked nearly as well - but she was Anthony's girlfriend, wasn't she? So he didn't push anything more, because that would be ... rather stupid.

And Grayson Wilkes was not stupid. "Well...if you must know, let us call me a concerned admirer." He admired his younger sister's independence, after all.

He just frowned upon the fact she was expressing it in a muggle neighbourhood without a proper house-elf.

Bree pursed her lips slightly in an almost playful manner. It was interesting to see the comings and goings of the high society, to sort of...be on the inside of all of it. She knew that she was no where near the center, where the real nitty gritty occurred, but this was more exposure than she'd ever had in her life, and Bree was learning to enjoy it.

"She is a wonderful person," Bree said with a slightly adoring smile; Juliana made her days at the Ministry much more tolerable. "Any man would be lucky for her a moment of her attention."

"Indeed he would be." And Grayson knew that grabbing only a moment of attention from his sister meant volumes more attention from certain siblings ... but he wouldn't share that with anyone else.

He smiled absently and set the glass of wine down on a passing tray, although it had been untouched. It hadn't smelled terribly good, anyway.

She smiled again, looking back out at the crowd and spotting Anthony again. Bree would never admit it to anyone but...maybe Caitlin, but Merlin's beard did he make her heart race like it was. What had she done in a previous life to deserve him? Merlin, look at these thoughts running through her head, she should be ashamed to be thinking such things about a man, but what a--

Bree felt her face flush and she avoided the masked man's eyes. "Do you know Anthony Mulciber?"

Most people might not pick up on such a thing as the speed of another person's pulse.

But when you are accustomed to listening for the exact (breathtaking) moment that it stops ... you begin to notice things. At least he knew that the woman was true to the Death Eater. That was a good something to know.

"In passing, I suppose." Casually.

She realized now that her question was a stupid one; everyone knew the Mulcibers, by name, in passing, personally. She'd known Anthony far before he'd know her, the girls in her year at Hogwarts constantly gushing about the older Slytherin. Bree would deny forever that she joined in on the gushing, of course.

"In passing," she repeated with a nod. It would be stupid, again, to tell the man that she was his date, and she tried to make the flutter in her stomach disappear, "I didn't catch your name."

"But wouldn't that ruin the point of this particular costume, miss? I'd hate to ... spoil the fun."

And he was having fun, now. "And whyever would you as if I knew Anthony Mulciber? It is a rather good way to rule out that I am him, but that is quite a long-winded way to go about it. The more important question may be ... do you know Anthony Mulciber?"


Her mouth stayed a bit tighter shut than it should've, and finally she allowed her eyebrows to raise ever so slightly at his bold questions. Yes, they were bold! How do you know...maybe he was insinuating things, other things than dating or...things. Things! Other things that Bree just couldn't think about and, ooh.

"I'm his date," she said kindly, tilting her head slightly as if she was happy to tell the masked man this information. Which she was! She just didn't like how he'd asked the question, is all.

"Ah, how splendid for you."

At least that was sincere. Mulciber was ... favorable.

Well, what more could he say to that? He wasn't about to start something that he didn't plan on finishing - he eyed the clock absently, waiting for the time he'd discussed with Daniella. All that this was, really, was small-talk to pass the time until their plan would go into its works.