It was shortly after lunchtime and Mariusz found himself out and about on the Mansion grounds wandering around. Today he had decided to check out the grounds on foot today. He had to admit that seeing the grounds from this angle was vastly different than seeing them from the air. It wasn't a bad way to see everything, but it was different.

As he wandered among the trees on the grounds he spotted a couple of women out having a picnic. One of them, Chloe, he recognized from previously but the other one was foreign to him. Mariusz was aware, well aware, that he had not had much luck yet in finding the required date for his father's upcoming party. Maybe one, or both, of these two women would be willing to help him out. It wasn't like he was looking for a romantic date, after all. Just someone that would please his father.

"Good afternoon," he called out to the pair of women, approaching the blanket where they were seated with what appeared to be a picnic lunch. "Would it be terribly burdensome if I joined you for a few moments," he asked.

Butterfly and Paige had decided to go and just have a nice picnic lunch out on the grounds of the mansion. It was a lovely day outside; slightly warm, no wind, and the sun was out and Butterfly thought it would be a lovely way to spend the day with her girlfriend. Butterfly walked with Paige around the grounds just talking and looking for the perfect place to lay down their blanket and have their picnic.

They had just recently found the perfect place to set up. They had laid the blanket down and they were starting to break out the nice goodies that they had packed up to eat when a familiar bird-like face called out to them and asked to join them for a few moments. Butterfly paused for a moment and looked over at Paige, thinking on the matter before answering, "Sure Talon. What's on your mind?"

This was nice. Paige was getting some time to spend with Butterfly on her day off. Though she really didn't do picnics, when Butterfly had an idea...Paige just couldn't say no.

As they were pulling out the food, some...chicken looking thing approached them and started talking all funny and fancy. And Butterfly knew him, apparently. The blonde couldn't help but giggle at the words he used, like 'burdensome.' Granted, the girl nodded at the request.

"What's up, chicken-butt?" she asked lightly, teasing.

"Mariusz Kasparek," the Czech man said, sketching a slight bow in the direction of Paige. He approached the two women, though he stopped short of stepping onto their blanket. The last thing he wanted to do was tear holes in the blanket with his taloned feet, that wouldn't be very nice. As nearly as he could tell the two women were simply out enjoying a friendly lunch with one another. He would never have guessed that he was interrupting a lunch date.

"I find myself in a bit of a predicament and, it occurs to me, that one or even both of you might be able to help me out," Mariusz began, shrugging his shoulders. Since he'd met Chloe once before that would make this process somewhat less awkward. In truth he always felt awkward asking these kinds of questions, but it was a bit easier when it wasn't practically a complete stranger.

"I think I told you, Chloe, that my father is the Czech Ambassador to America. Well, in a few weeks he will be hosting the Embassy's major summer event, a Masquerade Ball on the Summer Solstice. Quite the big fancy party. I will have to go and he has told me I have to bring a date. Would either, or even both, of you women be willing to attend the party with me," Mariusz asked, rocking on his heels a little bit as he asked the question. "I am not asking as a... well, as a romantic date. I just need someone to go with so that my father will be happy."

Butterfly was slightly surprised to hear Paige call Talon chicken butt, her mouth stood agape for a few seconds when she realized that she needed to close her mouth. Thankfully, Talon didn't seem to take it offensively and he carried on with his conversation. As Talon brought up the idea of them going to the party with him, butterfly began to think about it. She felt kinda awkward about it considering she didn't know Talon very well, granted they had only met once before and to be asked something of such grandeur as going to a ball with him, made Butterfly very reluctant to accepting his invitation.

Butterfly tossed the idea around in her head some more and finally decided that she unfortunately had to turn him down, but she wanted to be gentle in declining his offer. "Talon, I'm not sure if..."

"Sure we'll go~" Paige perked up at the thought of a masquerade. After all, hey, it was a fancy smancy party, and one that Paige could potentially turn into a date between her and Chloe. Being from a rich family, she very much loved that kind of scene. But of course, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been to one.

Sure, it seemed like Chloe was going to turn it down, but she'd have to explain this later. Besides, it was fun. Or would be, once the blonde let the other girl know what was going on. Which...yeah she wasn't going to do that in front of Talon.

"Oh, how rude of me. My name's Paige," she said politely, hiding the underlying, possibly evil intentions she had.

"Really," the avian mutant asked, arching an eyebrow at Paige. It had definitely sounded to him like Chloe had been about to say no before the blonde had piped up. Mariusz thought about it for a half second. So far the closest thing to a date he had for the evening, even a purely platonic date, was a female bodyguard that he had hired and not told about the pretend date component. Having two actual women agree to go with him, however things wound up going was far preferable. This was especially true since he had been unable to find the person he wanted to ask after the riots had ended.

"Sounds good," he said, continuing quickly before either of the women had a chance to change their minds about it. In the world of pretend platonic dates two willing women were infinitely better than a bodyguard that he hadn't told anything about it. This was especially true considering that the bodyguard probably had the requisite skill to break every bone in his body.

"Is there anything that either of you will need to shop for before the ball," he asked. If he had to do this he was going to do it right, besides that it would never do for the host's son to show up with people that weren't properly attired for the event. He figured that, at most, he'd arrive with his two dates, take each for a spin on the dance floor, and then leave them to their own devices while he mingled unless they wanted to tag along for the mingling with the various people that would be in attendance.

Butterfly looked over at Paige with a questionable look, but accepted Talon's invitation none the less. She didn't know what Paige was up to, but she trusted her. "What all will we need, Paige? I trust that you know the kind of etiquette that goes on at a ball. Talon, it wouldn't be any trouble to take us shopping?" Butterfly asked. She was kind of worried, considering she had never been to an event like this before, but if Paige wanted to go, then Butterfly would attend with her. Maybe it could be a memorable experience for them as a couple. She thought it would be nice to dance with her girlfriend. It would be a grand nicght of elegance and who better to be with than Paige.

Paige shot her girlfriend a very subtle look that said 'Trust me. I'll explain later.' The shifter knew this was dirty, mean, and just plain wrong. But Paige loved rich-people parties. And dancing! And all the fancy outfits!

Besides...this bird-guy was asking two girls on a date, at the same time. That wasn't exactly right either. So...Fire with fire,then.

"Well...we'll probably need outfits. Dresses and masks. But that's really about it, I think."

"Taking you shopping will not be any trouble at all," Mariusz said in reply to the queries about shopping and getting dresses and masks and everything. He planned to bill everything for this back to the Embassy anyway. After all, he had been instructed to bring a date and now, it seemed, he was bringing two dates plus a body guard. Still, having the guard wouldn't be all bad he supposed. Sara had only been the last resort anyway.

"When would it be most convenient to go shopping," he asked. Since there was nothing big on his plate, other than the party, at the moment then he was free and available to go shopping whenever the girls wanted to go. He hadn't missed the looks that the girls were sharing with one another either. He was a bit naive when it came to women, but he wasn't blind. No doubt they were wondering why he would ask them both on something that would probably be viewed as a romantic date. Best to clear the air on that score right away.

"As I said a moment ago, I am not asking this favor as a sort of romantic date. Merely as friends."

Butterfly relaxed a bit as she saw that Paige was really into going and that she knew what she was doing when it came to the subject of rich people and banquets. Butterfly nodded her head as Talon said that him paying for their shopping wouldn't be a problem and as he reminded them that it would only be as friends. She sat and thought for a moment and then looked over to Paige and asked, "Wanna go after we have lunch? That is if you don't have anything to do this afternoon, Talon? Where would you want us to meet you?

Heh...favor. Something seemed funny about this guy--this giant bird. And not ha-ha funny, either. Not that it mattered, he was playing right into the spork's hand, and she was going to milk this for every bit of what it was worth. "After lunch is fine," suddenly realizing they hadn't eaten because their picnic had been cut short. But hey, it was for the best, it seemed.

Paige tried her best to keep the smile that was trying to surface held in as she took it upon herself to continue unpacking the picnic basket.

OOC: Sorry this one is so short, but there's not much left for him to do here. Are we starting a new thread for shopping?

"Well, in that case, I will not keep you from your lunches any longer. I shall be up at the Mansion, simply come and find me when you are ready to head out to shop and we will go then," the feathered man said, he bowed once more in the direction of the two women and then turned and strode off in the direction of the Mansion. He hadn't been invited to their original picnic and it would have been rude to continue hanging around once the primary reason for his stopping there in the first place had been addressed.

OOC: Nah, we'll just continue in this thread. We're hand waving lunch.

Butterfly nodded and watched Talon as he walked back up to the Mansion. Butterfly was still sort of unsure about everything dealing with the ball, but she figured that Paige would explain it all on their way to the Mansion after lunch. So she and Paige finished taking all the food out and began to help themselves to the nice things that was packed. As they ate, Butterfly nuzzled Paige and kissed her cheek. She was enjoying herself and getting to spend time with her girlfriend.

After both of them finished their lunches, Butterfly grabbed the blanket that they had laid down to sit on and then walked over to her girlfriend and held her hand, squeezing it slightly and looking over at her, smiling to show her love for her. As they got ready to walk to the Mansion, Butterfly asked, "So Baby, tell me about banquets and help me master the art of being around high society. I have no idea how I'm supposed to act or the traditions. Did you go to a lot of them when you were in California?"