Evening 1/5 - The Opera (Zach and Ami)

[Zacharie Babineaux]

"More laid back than those silly movie openings," Zach nodded, "Though not quite so glamorous as the Queen's ball." He winked and placed his free hand over hers as he lead her up the steps into the opera house. There was some paparazzi there, he noticed, though he didn't acknowledge them directly. For the first time since his arrival in Japan they were taking a sudden notice of him--he continued to smile at Ami and pretended the rest of the world didn't exist.

"They don't throw those often, do they?"

[Mizuno Ami]

Ami chuckled, relaxing a bit as he made the observation she'd thought of herself. She'd been fine at the ball and that was much more high profile than the opera opening. "I've never been to one of those either..." Though she supposed that she'd be going to one of those too when Minako...and Zach's...movie opened.

She grimaced slightly at the unexpected flashes, though she turned her attention back to Zach and her smile returned. "Balls? No...They seem to bring the whole business of the government to a halt... and... no. Thankfully they're relatively rare." She really did not want to think about what it would mean once she was confirmed as Surgeon General. Would she have to be more prominent at those events? She shuddered slightly before dismissing those thoughts.

"I'd think these are much more frequent than the balls..."

[Zacharie Babineaux]

"That's a good thing. Stuffy lot at those events, present company excluded. Not that I expected much less out of government types." He chuckled a little and nodded to the doorman as they passed through the entrance which had been held open for them. The Papparazzi wasn't allowed to follow inside the building, and thus they were left with the rest of the black-tie group attending the lobby, and the soft classical music tinkling from the speakers above.

Zach leaned in to add in a playful whisper, "Not that this crowd is much better."

Throwing her a conspirital wink, the man stood upright again to easily lift two champagne flutes from a passing waiter and offered her the one held on the tips of his fingers. It was a trick he'd picked up long ago, and a quite helpful one at that. "For you, if you so desire."

[Mizuno Ami]

Ami bit her lip a bit at his description of "government officials." She glanced at him, slightly, wondering if he knew what her own role was. Well, technically, her new role was rather new and she was still getting used to the possibility of it. However, she was close friends with the queen herself, and she realized that Usagi would probably agree with Zach's assessment.

She giggled softly, relaxing again at his whisper. "At least we know they have good taste..." Ami grinned as she accepted the glass he offered her. "Thank you."

Unlike the first night she'd met him, she was not overly nervous and knew that she'd be much more careful with her drinking, though she'd not really gotten drunk that night. She took a careful sip and looked around, "So, do we hobnob or just enjoy the evening?"

[Zacharie Babineaux]

"Or so we hope," Zach grinned. He lead Ami through the room more by instinct than actual knowledge of where to go.. but most of these opera houses were the same. He found them a quiet alcove to wait in until seating times were called. "Well.. I don't know about you, but the only person I'm interested in speaking with here is already on my arm..."

He smiled down at her and then leaned in and pitched his voice carefully so that only she could hear him. "There's a game I like to play at these events. I don't really have a name for it, I'm not that clever, but I watch the crowd and pick out which people will be the first to fall asleep during the performance. Would you care to play?"

[Mizuno Ami]

She blushed beet red at his comment. She had hoped that would be his choice. She did not mind socializing in certain settings, but something like the opera (or a royal ball!) made her extremely uncomfortable. That did not mean that his answer did not bring a full blush to her cheeks. She wondered if she'd always blush so easily.

However, at his next question, she could not help but giggle, and she raised her hand to her lips to keep from being too loud and disturbing the others in the lobby. "I would love to." Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she grinned to him, her cheeks still stained red and then she glanced about the room, taking another careful sip of the champagne, as she tried to determine her first suspect.

After a moment she looked back to him and nodded her head slightly to the left, "Bored looking middle aged man, appears uncomfortable in a tux and entirely like he's simply humoring the woman on his arm."

[Zacharie Babineaux]

Zach snickered a little as he glanced at the man. "Good call," He agreed into his champagne. Long since having decided that mentioning her blushing would be a bad idea, Zach ignored it in favour of sweeping the crowd for "game pieces."

"I call friar tuck in the side hand pocket," He replied after a moment, meaning a squat, bald gentleman loitering about a group of older women to their far left. "Ten bucks says he snores, too."

[Mizuno Ami]

She turned to eye him slightly, "Mmm... before I take any bets... what is your record in this game." Ami grinned, "Not that I won't take the bet, I just want to know exactly what I'm getting into first."

"Though..." She glanced back to the man that Zach was pointing out. "I would think that one's a fairly safe bet on your part. The real question is, does he drool?" She wrinkled her nose slightly, "Though admittedly, I'm not really sure that I want to know."

"Same group... the overly made up woman with the ropes of pearls, she's here to be seen, not for the opera itself..."

[Zacharie Babineaux]

"Oh I'm pretty good, but then I invented this," Zach had to chuckle at that, then his brows lifted in mild surprise, "Ah, touche mademoiselle! I admire your spirit and raise you a drooler. Man like that probably dribbles like a baby."

He snickered faintly and cast an eye at the lady with the pearls. After a second, he shook his head, "I'm going to have to disagree with you about the Cougar. She definitely won't understand a word of it, but she's the sort who would pretend to. Paranoid that everyone would be watching her every move. Her friend, though, the blue-haired bint to the left... definitely going to be yawning, at least."

[Mizuno Ami]

Ami couldn't help but giggle and had to hide it behind her drink, not wanting to draw attention to them. Though she did manage to hold out her other hand in the western tradition of shaking on a bet. "It's a bet then." She winked to him.

She grinned over to him, "You are horrible, you know that." Her eyes were positively glittering with mischief, and she meant that as a compliment. "Oh... perhaps, but I think she'll fight it. I have a feeling that she's really here for the performance." She grinned to him, "Five credits that she fights to stay awake..."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, to keep from giggling, "Dr. Colbert! He hates the opera..." She giggled, "He'll be asleep before the overture is over..."